Initially, we were not looking forward to DoomTown: RangeWars because we assumed it was not going to be much better than some mutated version of Old West DiskWars. However, after reading the rules and playing a few games, we quickly realized that our initial assumption was totally incorrect. DT: RangeWars proved to be an interesting mix of DiskWars with bullets, cards, and buildings. The game is quite different from DiskWars, with gunfire being generally more important. The disks have considerably more information on them than in DiskWars, making it a bit harder to digest. Of course, we were only playing an alpha or beta version, so who knows how things will change between now and the game release? The game was fun in that it replicated the feeling of running from building to building, grabbing cover in a building, and trying to avoid the lead flying through the air–all the while fannin’ the heck out our your own six-gun. We also enjoyed the spell system, being a bit different from DiskWars.

One of the biggest differences between DiskWars and DT: RangeWars is that unlike DiskWars, almost every disk in DT: RangeWars has the ability to shoot a gun, whether it be a derringer, pistol or a rifle and disks can move and shoot in the same turn or visa a versa. They can even shoot out of turn using “Quickdraw”. We found it amazing how much this seemingly small change can completely alter the way the game “plays and feels.” Relative to DiskWars, there is hardly any actual attacking (read: 2 disks overlapping or pinning one another). Instead, DT: RangeWars is a game of distances and shooting. You genuinely get the feel of being in an old west town ducking in and out of buildings dodging bullets and trying to shoot the cowpokes to smithereens. Another major difference between the two games is that DT: RangeWars is a much less deterministic game than DiskWars. Gun fire in DT: RangeWars is resolved by tossing the appropriate number of “Jokers” or “Bullets” (spell shaped disks with a bullet on one side and a faction color on the other). The number of jokers that land bullet side up determine how many “vigor” points the target disk loses. The Jokers that “hit” are placed on the target disk and kept there throughout the rest of the game until the disk finally dies. So, unlike DiskWars, damage is cumulative from turn to turn. There are also two classes of bullets to help take care of those pesky Harrowed folks who just keep coming back from the grave.

Another important difference between DiskWars and DT: RangeWars is the ingenious initiative mechanism, directly borrowed from the Deadlands RPG. Each player gets 13 “cards”, from Ace to King (ace is low). Players simply lay one “card” face down on each disk. This can (and it should!) be done simultaneously to speed things up a bit. When all players have placed their cards, thus “readying” their disks, they turn all the cards face up. King’s go first and Ace’s go last. If there are multiple disks that have been “readied” with the same value card, then the disk with the highest “influence” goes first. Although there are no card suits, this clever initiative system works especially well to balance out special powers. For example, there is a particularly destructive disk called “The Gatling Gun.” As you can imagine, it can really tear through it’s enemies. However, the text on this disk reads, “Gun may only be fired if readied with -4″, which means that you can only fire the gun if you “readied” it with a #4 or lower card. Therefore, this gives your opponents a chance to rush it and take it down before it kills them all.

We got a chance to play Star Trek: Red Alert! by Last Unicorn Games. As with DT: RangeWars, we had our reservations about another disc-based game, but ST: Red Alert! is far from being “DiskWars in Outer Space”. In fact, we feel that ST: Red Alert! is even more divergent from DiskWars then DT: RangeWars.

In ST: Red Alert!, there are 3 main types of disks, Starships, Crew and Tech. Starships are circular disks that have two sides chopped off so that there are two opposing flat spots on an otherwise circular disk. The disk is flipped in such a way that one of the flat spots is always on the table. Thus, you can only flip a ship in a straight line to simulate warp speed in space. We thought this was extremely clever.

The crux of the game is a little “control panel” that you set in front of you. This is a rectangle of cardboard that has diagrams for speed, shields, hull damage and orders along with space for your crew and tech. Not to mention your torpedoes! Spell sized disks labeled like a clock are used to keep track of the various (and variable) aspects of your starship by placing them on the “control panel” in the correct position. The game proceeds by turns. Each turn consists of 3 “orders” or “commands” from the bridge crew, with five different orders to choose from; Change Speed, Change Heading, Raise Shields, Attack, and Activate Crew/Tech. The “orders” of a turn are predetermined by each player before the first command is give on any one ship, so that you may have programmed an Attack when there are no targets around. We love this part of the game, trying to outguess your opponent. Another feature that we like about the game is that LUG tried to, as much as a “beer and pretzels” game is capable of, simulate space flight. That is, once you are moving, you are always moving. The only way to stop (or slow down/speed up) is to order it via one of your three “orders.” The first game is always entertaining to watch as people’s ships go flying past each other over and over again, making full use of the ENTIRE playing surface. However, after a few games, people get the knack of “space travel” and eventually get pretty good at space warfare with Beam Weapons and Torpedoes. (Watch out for those Mark III Torpedoes that the Federation gets to use sometimes.) As with DT: RangeWars, there are many other clever differences between ST: Red Alert! and DiskWars, but I’ll refrain from revealing them all.

After playing several ST: Red Alert! demos, we all quickly learned how useful good commanders (aka bridge crew) and advanced technology were on your starship. Specifically, most commanders let you override your predetermined “orders” and take advantage of the situations that present themselves throughout the game. It also proved quite useful to have someone who could fix things that had been damaged. Many a time one player was pressing the attack when some lucky hit took out their shield generators. After that, they can no longer raise shields, and it was only a matter of time before they were blown into space dust. All in all, ST: Red Alert! proved to be a stupendously fun game and yet very different from DiskWars. (PS We also enjoyed the fact that both of the “Captains” for the two largest Star Trek Fan Clubs in the 7th Fleet (SLC area) were able to enjoy numerous demo games of ST: Red Alert! at CONduit 10.)

CONCLUSION

After playing Doomtown: RangeWars, we came to an interesting conclusion. Not only is it very different from DiskWars, but DT: RangeWars could also appeal to a potentially different crowd than DiskWars does. For example, one criticism we have seen for DiskWars is that it is too deterministic (chess-like). DoomTown: RangeWars, with the constant “tossing of the jokers”, removes much of the determinism. It is possible for a single small disk to take out a single large disk if one player gets lucky. We like this game.

Star Trek: Red Alert! is a simple but clever “space battle” game. You are in command of a starship fighting other starships in space. We’ve always loved the idea of commanding starships and developing strategies and tactics; however, we found that most “wargames” take far too much time to play and learn, but not ST: Red Alert!. It is very important to note that LUG sent one of their Official Representatives (Thank you Don Mappin, you were a great asset at the con) to attend CONduit 10 and help out with the Demos. We have a feeling that Star Trek: Red Alert is going to really appeal to lots of people, not to mention to all of the Star Trek Fans world wide. As with Doomtown: RangeWars, we know we like it.