Star Trek Ascendancy (Gale Force Nine) Review

Conclusions at 25:06

[@eomat]

I love this game. I bought all the faction expansions. I’m really hoping to get a load of people together for a truly epic game. I love the way the factions all play differently and thematically. Also highly recommend the Unofficial Rules on BGG. It’s a pdf with hyperlinks.

[@ap315]

Gale Force Nine just keep nailing the feel of the material they are working with. Sons of Anarchy, Firefly, etc. ....They need to start making video games

[@robertnomok9750]

wait, it them?! Those I THE best TV licence boardgames ever. Hell, they actually one of the most tight, thematic and clean games in boardgame history. All elements just work. Now i defenetly do not regret preordering this.

[@skinflutey]

So the SoA board game is bad like the show?

[@robertnomok9750]

skinflutey nope its a good boardgame. Combat is deterministic if you use d3 instead of d6 rule. Game has more diplomacy than games of throne game. You fight to control locations and their abilities but you cant just throw biggest stack like in kemet. Its better to lose 1 location and use another 2 than to control just 1 location 100% and lose everything else. You constantly make choices about how to spend money. Money is your VP but you can spend money for guns to potentialy earn more money trough better control. But that migh bite you later as guns give no vp on their own and attaract police attention. Police attention makes selling drugs your main income harder. Drugs is another resourse which you can buy to sell higher later in auction style phasse.

[@styxxrivers7576]

Great Review Marco. Thanks for doing this. I love your suggested house rule of number of planets controlled as a win condition.

[@sebastianstark8517]

Thanks for the review, Marco. I like your alternate victory condition and think I would likely suggest such a variation as well. I look forward to expansions adding other races. Most notably, I'm hoping for Gorn as a former SFB player, but I'd also like to see Hydran and Tholian. I know Cardassian and Ferengi are already announced, so that's a good sign. Just hope they don't stop there.

[@danielpotter3603]

We know we'll be getting the Borg and the Dominion as antagonist factions (vs. everyone). Perhaps there will be another victory condition with games including those.

[@Mailed-Knight]

Gorn!?

[@r.l.jeffries1091]

Hey, Marco. I like lots of your reviews, we have similar taste in games it seems. I've made many purchases from your recommendations and haven't regretted anything yet. You were mentioning old epics, such as Homer and Virgil etc. Have you heard of the Malazan series of books? Or the Black Company series? Really good dark, medieval fantasy. It has light magic, but the setting is gritty. It's like reading war fiction, about military campaigns and the soldiers' stories. Very well written as well. But, as you pointed out, with epics it can take some commitment. Some readers dislike the books because of all of the information being thrown at them in the first book, and it takes time to develop an understanding of the universe the author is weaving. But, once you get your bearings inside that new world, it is epic indeed.

[@Cymrusaint]

This is a game I've pre-ordered and have been looking forward to. I was becoming concerned that there didn't seem to be any buzz coming out of Gen Con for it. Your video has put my mind at rest, and now I can't wait to get it. But, the date for release has been put back to the end of September, this is really disappointing. I know you don't usually do play throughs, but would you consider it for this game? I sure lots of others waiting eagerly would be interested.

[@nerzenjaeger]

Marco, your thoughts on Star Trek Fleet Captains?

[@moshdang]

I would also like a comparison between this and Fleet Captains. Thanks!

[@GeekaddNet]

Fleet Captains was so disappointing for me that it caused me to also do a thorough search through every Star Trek game to find one that actually played like Star Trek. I haven't played Ascendancy yet, but Marco definitely makes it sound like we finally have the game we're looking for.

[@myrec8883]

I liked Fleet Captains. It held up to Star Trek ideas, but somehow fell short on fun side of the game. That's why I would like to hear about comparison with this game too.

[@bgm-1961]

Wow... I came here to comment that when you kept saying, "Finally, finally, we have Star Trek in a box", it was obvious to me that you've never seen the game, 'Star Trek Fleet Captains'! And I see below that others are also wondering the same thing! I've played both Ascendancy and Fleet Captains, and I've got to say that Fleet Captains does a better job of capturing that epic Star Trek "feel" that you were looking for. While both are *superb* and "epic" games, I claim that Fleet Captains is "Star Trek in a box", whereas Ascendancy is merely a Star Trek themed 4X game (though a very good Star Trek game in its own right as you said). On the "epic scale", both are epic in their own way. Ascendancy is "epic" by the large amount of time and vastness of space that the game covers. The player will play through several generations of time (hence the name of the game). Whereas Fleet Captains is epic in it's scope of how you experience the Star Trek universe... the TV shows and the movies. It's all there. But time is kept "current"... i.e., the entire game covers just a short amount of time. But it's also epic in the places you can explore, and what you will find there, and the encounters you need to resolve. Plus if you enjoy being the Romulans, then Fleet Captains makes playing the Romulans very fun! (They are very sneaky, after all)! Don't get me wrong - both games are great. But as you are a Star Trek fan, I'm really surprised that you haven't gotten to 'Star Trek Fleet Captains' yet.

[@brycegarrett6010]

Do you think the game could support a science-based victory condition? Maybe if a player completed all of their advancements they would win a technological victory? It seems that this would still force players to expand their influence in order to earn research tokens, as well as hold enough research nodes to advance multiple projects at once.

[@gorkoan]

Great review! I'm a big fan of Twilight imperium so this sounds like a must have.

[@impostor53]

Looks great! Finally a real star trek game!!! But, Marco, have you played Star Trek deck building game? It has fall under the radar but I think it has a great Star Trek felling. Not as heavy as Ascendancy seems to be, but Star Trek is there big time. You build your crew, go out there to explore and face the enemy.

[@dougposkitt1690]

Forgetting the Star Trek theme for a moment, this game reminds me in some ways of Twilight Imperium. If you have one, is it worth getting the other?

[@Mark-OutWest]

Why isn't the fifth captain on the box? What Scott didn't sign over rights to use his likeness?

[@mjackson9143]

Hello Marco. Have you played Star Trek Fleet Captains and, if so, how does Ascendancy compare with it ?

[@edcope123421]

Marco, you really must try fleet captains. that game actually feels like you are going on missions for your faction. it creates very memorable star trek "moments"

[@edcope123421]

Marco, you really must try fleet captains. that game actually feels like you are going on missions for your faction. it creates very memorable star trek "moments"

[@edcope123421]

Marco, you really must try fleet captains. that game actually feels like you are going on missions for your faction. it creates very memorable star trek "moments"

[@edcope123421]

Marco, you really must try fleet captains. that game actually feels like you are going on misions for your faction. it creates very memorable star trek "moments"

[@edcope123421]

Marco, you really must try fleet captains. that game actually feels like you are going on misions for your faction. it creates very memorable star trek "moments"

[@callasmar]

Thanks Marco! Can´t wait... How would you compare this to Eclipse..?

[@neeleyfolk]

Thanks for the review. Hopefully someone at my gaming store will purchase one and I can try it. a bit $ to invest right now.

[@trentaraggi]

Some comparison with TI3? Would you say they provide the same satisfactory gaming experience or TI3 is still the king of 4x?

[@spcwolf]

Thanks for doing this! Your opinion of this for solo play?

[@EpicKing]

Hey Marco, how would you compare this to Star Trek Fleet Captains?

[@boardgamesociety]

That seems like a great sunday :D

[@kascally]

Size is far from everything. I will, for example, dispute the idea that The Hobbit is less of an epic than The Lord of the Rings, merely because the latter is five times longer. Epic, for me, is as much about ideas of the heroic and the relative importance of the challenge, as it is about the scale or scope of time taken, distance travelled, or the number of words (or worlds) used to deliver it. Art is everything here. A totally immersive one hour game can feel epic while a four hour game may feel simply like a dull slog. Regardless of the time taken, it has to convince me I'm looking at the vast universe, not just pieces of cardboard.

[@skinflutey]

No Ferengi Alliance? Then no buy.😜

[@Grumshable]

Coming in an expansion.

[@rbaynosa]

mare nostrum empires or this?

[@oddjob428]

What is the best Roman or Egypt themed strategy game Marco?

[@marcowargamer]

Mare Nostrum Empires!

[@oddjob428]

+marcowargamer ok thank you sir!

[@Mailed-Knight]

There is also Hail Ceaser! from Warlord games.

[@gnomechompsky4996]

Cool review!

[@Mailed-Knight]

I find your lack of Gorn... Disturbing.

[@jobroni5927]

Must be an SFB guy? ;)