[Review] Galactic Civil War (Expansion # 1 for Battlestations)

(I'm assuming that the reader already knows how to play Battlestations)

Galactic Civil War (Gorilla Games, 2005 - Jeff and Jason Siedak) is
the first expansion of at least three to the space simulation
Battlestations. Battlestations is over a hundred pages of space combat
mixed with an RPG and allows players to accomplish hundreds of
different things in missions. Galactic Civil War adds another whole
booklet, with almost a hundred pages of additions to the base game.
Galactic Civil War isn't necessary to enjoy the base game, but
certainly adds enough options to make it worth while for those who play
the base game quite a bit.

Here's a rundown of the things added with this expansion...

1.) Whistlers: A new species has been added to the game, the
"Whistlers". They are basically a big ball of feathers who are fairly
easy to kill but have better movement than any other aliens. More than
the actual creature race as a player character, the best thing about
the Whistlers is the history they add to the game, as it helps plunge
the whole Universal Republic into Civil War.

2.) Civil War: The Civil War provides the opportunity for thirty-six
missions that are quite interesting. In fact, the missions are better
than the original book. This is because the book doesn't need to have
all the rules that the original did, so that there is room for large
maps, better ship diagrams, and special rules. I think that these
missions were better thought out than the original (although the
original ones were certainly satisfactory). The missions are lined up
so that they can be run together in an entire campaign simulating the
heroes and their roles in the Civil War. This isn't a linear method,
but it allows some randomness between missions and how they affect
players. I enjoy this quite a bit - so much so that we quickly
converted over to these missions rather than use the ones in the first
book.

3.) Actions and Special Abilities: A pile of new actions and special
abilities are added to the game, allowing players to quicksnatch,
deliver a coup de grace, grapple with their opponent, become an ace
engineer, saboteur, wrestler, or hot dog pilot. All of these are nice
added to the original game, although remembering which book the special
abilities or rules are in can be confusing. (With more than one
expansion, I can see how some might get frustrated). Still, this
allows players to customize their already diverse characters even more.

4.) Equipment: Quite a few new weapons are added to the game, as well
as equipment for the ships, including several new types of missiles.
The biggest addition is Power Armor, which players can wear to assist
them in combat and even in space. There are detailed rules on power
armor, how to upgrade it, etc. Since Power Armor is the equivalent of
tanks in this universe, these are very popular amongst players, making
this expansion highly desirable to those who like to fight.

5.) New Modules: A Fighter Bay module is added in this expansion,
which for me was the number one drawing point. Adding fighters, which
are fairly weak but highly maneuverable, changes the entire face of
ship to ship combat. Players can dogfight with the fighters, be
tractored in by the larger ships, board enemy ships, and basically be
the "X-wings" to the larger ships. I love this aspect, as it allows
two pilots to play - one controlling the larger ship, the other in the
fighter. Adding fighters adds slightly to the complexity of ship
battles, but the payoff is worth it - as they add many options. Mine
Layer modules are also added, but they didn't excite me near as much,
although some may enjoy them.

6.) Other Stuff: Some errata for the original rules (very small,
considering they were 100+ pages), dossiers on each races' homeworld
(useful if you like the backstory and history), sample characters, and
tips for the Gamemaster are all included. This is a full-blown
expansion, folks, and certainly adds a lot to the original - more so
than most expansions I've seen.

The choice for you to purchase this expansion is simple - and that is
as to how much you play Battlestations. If you are a big fan of the
original game, but only play it once or twice a year, than there's no
real need for the expansion. If, on the other hand, you play
Battlestations as a campaign and play at least once a month, then this
expansion is full of tremendous options to add to the game, to spice it
up. It's almost like a sourcebook for an RPG. If you need variety,
get it. If you're satisfied with the basic game, then there's no need.
As for me, I'm glad to have it - I love diversity!

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.tomvasel.com

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