Starship Troopers (board game)
Encyclopedia
Starship Troopers is a board wargame
by Avalon Hill
based on the novel
of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein
. It was originally released in 1976 and designed by Randall C. Reed. Avalon Hill redesigned and re-released a "movie" version (entitled Starship Troopers: Prepare for Battle!) in 1997 to coincide with the movie's
release.
The game is a hexagon-based
wargame for two players. The player who takes the side of Arachnids
has a sheet of paper with a copy of the map-board on which he plots out his bug-hive and tunnel system. The Mobile Infantry
player sends in his soldiers and tries to dig them out. A third faction, the Skinnies, starts out playing on the bug side, but switches to the human side during later scenarios.
In a 1977 review of the original (1976) Avalon Hill game, Martin Easterbrook stated that "All in all this is probably the best SF game currently on the market because it has the well worked out background of Heinlein's novel and because it is an extrapolation of current military technology, allowing Avalon Hill to use their experience in game design" and gave the game an overall 9/10 rating.
1. Feint against the humanoids: A single squad of Rasczak's Roughnecks hits a Skinny colony.
2. Operation Bughouse: A complete platoon takes on an Arachnid hive.
3. Invasion of Skinny-5: A platoon's attack on a Skinny industrial center.
4. Revolt!: The Skinnies change sides and attack the Arachnids with the help of the Mobile Infantry.
5. Sheol (two parts) - Operation Corkscrew: The combat engineers enter the battle and - Retreat and Evacuation: A group of wounded M.I. are rescued.
6. Operation Royalty: A reinforced platoon takes on two Arachnids complexes to capture a Brain Bug.
7. Klendathu: Two platoons vs. two Arachnids complexes in a fight to free human prisoners of war.
Board wargame
A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer, or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The hobby around this type of game got its start in 1954 with the publication of Tactics, and saw its greatest popularity in the...
by Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
based on the novel
Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December, 1959.The first-person narrative is about a young soldier from the Philippines named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his...
of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
. It was originally released in 1976 and designed by Randall C. Reed. Avalon Hill redesigned and re-released a "movie" version (entitled Starship Troopers: Prepare for Battle!) in 1997 to coincide with the movie's
Starship Troopers (film)
Starship Troopers is a 1997 American military science fiction film, written by Edward Neumeier , directed by Paul Verhoeven, loosely adapted from Starship Troopers, a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. It is the only theatrically released film in the Starship Troopers franchise...
release.
The game is a hexagon-based
Hex map
A hex map, hex board or hex grid is a gameboard design commonly used in wargames of all scales. The map is subdivided into small regular hexagons of identical size.-Advantages and disadvantages:...
wargame for two players. The player who takes the side of Arachnids
Bug (Starship Troopers)
The Bugs are an extraterrestrial race in the novel Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, its film adaptation , sometimes also referred to as the Arachnids, although this is a misnomer, as the aliens are not related to Earth arachnids...
has a sheet of paper with a copy of the map-board on which he plots out his bug-hive and tunnel system. The Mobile Infantry
Mobile Infantry (Starship Troopers)
The Mobile Infantry is a fictional military force in Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers and in the movies Starship Troopers, released in 1997, the 2004 sequel, Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, the 2008 film Starship Troopers 3: Marauder and the TV series Roughnecks: Starship...
player sends in his soldiers and tries to dig them out. A third faction, the Skinnies, starts out playing on the bug side, but switches to the human side during later scenarios.
In a 1977 review of the original (1976) Avalon Hill game, Martin Easterbrook stated that "All in all this is probably the best SF game currently on the market because it has the well worked out background of Heinlein's novel and because it is an extrapolation of current military technology, allowing Avalon Hill to use their experience in game design" and gave the game an overall 9/10 rating.
Scenarios
The scenarios for the game were used to recreate the battles described in the novel in a realistic way. The game is broken down into seven different scenarios, and the scenarios are designed so that the game rules are introduced a few at a time as the scenarios progress (but can then all be played using the full set of rules).1. Feint against the humanoids: A single squad of Rasczak's Roughnecks hits a Skinny colony.
2. Operation Bughouse: A complete platoon takes on an Arachnid hive.
3. Invasion of Skinny-5: A platoon's attack on a Skinny industrial center.
4. Revolt!: The Skinnies change sides and attack the Arachnids with the help of the Mobile Infantry.
5. Sheol (two parts) - Operation Corkscrew: The combat engineers enter the battle and - Retreat and Evacuation: A group of wounded M.I. are rescued.
6. Operation Royalty: A reinforced platoon takes on two Arachnids complexes to capture a Brain Bug.
7. Klendathu: Two platoons vs. two Arachnids complexes in a fight to free human prisoners of war.
See also
- Starship Troopers: The Miniatures GameStarship Troopers: The Miniatures GameStarship Troopers: The Miniatures Game was a short-lived miniature wargame released in 2005 by Mongoose Publishing, a gaming company based in the United Kingdom. It drew upon the novel, films, and TV series as inspiration through a license from Sony...
, a miniatures wargame released in 2005 by Mongoose PublishingMongoose PublishingMongoose Publishing is a prolific British manufacturer of role-playing games, miniatures, and card games, actively publishing material since 2001...
.
External links
- Starship Troopers AH '76 at TrooperPX
- Starship Troopers at MSU