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Silent Death: Rookie Rules

Author: Kevin Barrett
Category: miniature
Company/Publisher: Iron Crown Enterprises

Reviewed by Bob Cahill on 08/14/97. Genre tags: none

Silent Deathhttp: Rookie Rules//www

Silent Death: Rookie Rules
Iron Crown Enterprises

Silent Death: Rookie Rules is a quick moving, easy to learn miniature game from Iron Crown Enterprises. Those that have had little experience with miniatures should be able to quickly dive into the rules and start playing in under an hour.

Overview
In this game you control one or more starcraft moving them around a hex map attempting to wipe out your opponent's starcraft. The game plays well with two or more players, but for simplicity should only have two sides. It is simple and easy to learn and a full game can be played in two to three hours, depending on the number of ships involved.

Game Contents
The boxed set is quite impressive. It comes with three pamphlets of rules, charts and scenarios; two large hexagonal maps; dice; and plastic miniatures with stands (including cute little missile and torpedo figures.) This makes a complete miniature game, playable right out of the box with no need to buy figures or maps to play the game.

Rules
The rules are contained in a single 16 page pamphlet that is very simple and straightforward, with plenty of examples listed in the columns. The rules start with an overview of the starcraft sheet, and then launch into the sequence of play, detailing each sequence of a turn.

The rules should be read through a couple of times. One to get an idea of what they say, and another while you move your ships around the board to see the rules in action. As some of the missile and torpedo rules can be quite confusing at first glance. Otherwise movement, normal weapons fire, and damage allocation is pretty simple.

The scenarios, listed in a separate pamphlet are very basic and simple to setup and run, giving very clear objectives and time frames to accomplish those objectives. Most are balanced and easy to play.

Flaws
The Silent Death: Rookie Rules is nothing more than the basic combat system contained within the Silent Death: The Next Millennium. Though listed as a rookie game, it is rather daunting to get started. There is no overview that would tell a true rookie player how to start. Each pamphlet is complete, but all need to be flipped through to find out what to do (it took me a few moments to find the scenarios buried in the ship designs.)

If you are interested in trying miniatures I would suggest skipping this set and jumping right into the Silent Death: The Next Millennium, as it is complete and better fleshed out. These rules are for someone that already understands playing and just needs a quit set of rules to go buy, like perhaps someone participating in a larger Silent Death: The Next Millennium campaign, and need a copy of the rules to look over.

Bob Cahill

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

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