🚀 Join the Battle for the Galaxy!
The Battle Systems BSGCSC001 Core Space Starter Set is a thrilling tabletop strategy game featuring 20 unpainted miniatures, a modular 3D terrain, and versatile gameplay options for 1 to 6 players. Designed for ages 14 and up, this game invites players to navigate a dangerous galaxy filled with traders and the alien Purge, all while utilizing a detailed, no-assembly-required neoprene gaming mat.
Product Dimensions | 29.5 x 29.5 x 8.5 cm; 2.94 kg |
Manufacturer recommended age | 14 years and up |
Item model number | BSGCSC001 |
Language: | English |
Number of Game Players | 1, 2, 6 |
Number of pieces | 20 |
Assembly Required | No |
Batteries Required? | No |
Batteries included? | No |
Material Type(s) | Plastic |
Colour | Multicoloured |
Release date | 1 Jan. 2020 |
ASIN | B07RCGQYBN |
G**R
Fantastic game, great scenery and good miniatures.
I bought this mainly to use the scenery for any and all sci-fi/ cyberpunk rpgs but the game system that comes with it is great. I enjoy solo RPGs and have also enjoyed Warhammer 40k but the rules are too crunchy for me and it fries my brain. This box set allows me to scratch my solo rpg itch with themed minis and the actual coop/multiplayer game scratches my 40k itch without frying my brain! Lovely neoprene mat goes well with the scenery. A great box set either just for those wanting a stand alone game, or more serious ttrpg/sci fi wargame hobbyists looking to expand their scenery and/or miniature range.
R**H
Looks and plays great
This game looks and plays great and you get a lot for your money. Can be played solo, co-op and competitively against another player. All the components are high quality. Great all round
A**R
Great Space Game
Sturdy terrain pieces, fit together well, (watch companies instruction vid first) solid game play either solo, 2-4 player, or co-op.
J**H
Great game, super useful scenery kit.
Great game, super useful scenery which can be used for 40k, stargrave, 5 parsecs etc... card stock of scenery is good. Game tokens have a shiny coated paper layer on each side of card which is super irritating as with most games with this finish on tokens the side that isn't punched has the tenancy to rip easily taking the backs of other tokens with it. Game itself is great very in depth systems 4 levelling your crew and ship. Like with most dungeon crawlers setup is easily 30 - 40 minutes per scenario... but hey if you are after a space themed dungeon crawling system it's not bad at all. Wish the game came with more minis... feel like these boxes are more of a demo kit to make you pay for more minis and scenery kits.... but you know what? Even knowing this im definately going to buy either new version of the game or scenery expansions..
D**E
Great game, amazing value
Amazing box set. Has everything you need to play. Ypu can play solo, co-op or vs. The scenery is easy to put together, the minis have good detail. The loot system is fun and unique. Give it a go.
J**L
Great game
Great value game with fantastic components and some really interesting rules. The terrain included could also do double duty in any number of other sci fi game systems.
D**C
Great game
Great quality, very enjoyable game, lots of replay value
A**H
Best
Best game ever
J**Y
Epic board game- require patience!
Hate long winded reviews that don't get to the point? Yeah, me too. (:Scroll to the bottom for my PROS/CONS & BUY/DON'T. (:I'm a board gamer. I love 'dudes on a map' skirmish style games- especially ones with a rich narrative to pull you into their world and leave you with stories to tell afterwards. Games like: Mansions of Madness 2nd edition, any Zombicide, TMNT Change is Constant, and Shadows of Brimstone to name a few. But...I'm not a war gamer/war hammer guy. While envious of seeing it on the table- the rules, pricing, and painting of it kept me away. I've played Heroscape but the plain hexagon tiles left much to the imagination- and storage was a bear with brittle components. Heroclix (yea pre-painted minis!) rules changing drove me crazy and building terrain out of Formular took up way too much space in my closet.Could I find a game that was as fun as those mentioned above and include terrain that was immersive as well as functional? Enter Core Space.Core Space is the first in a series of UK based board games built around the Battle Systems product- punch-out STURDY paper 3-D tabletop terrain with themes of busy space ports to desolate trading posts, rustic fantasy villages and modern cities that have been through a war zone. It's a sight to behold in person and even more fun once you start your first mission. A second starter box called: Core Space First Born is also available. It plays the same but features a different enemy and the setting of a mossy like alien infested tunnels. Both feature expansions as you could guess- I preferred the original Core Space as I like the setting better and it had more available to enhance the main game. You can add in criminals at a space bar shootout or galactic police to maintain order. It's entirely up to you- but not necessary. Core Space is enough to keep you busy- and satisfied. A third game based on a D&D fantasy setting called Maladum is coming soon to Kickstarter and looks even more amazing with rope bridges, staircases, crumbling stone walls, and more.I won't go into full detail on how to play as I've been rambling on at this points. Lol. Just know that you are essentially Han & Chewy, or the crew of Firefly, or even Fry and the Planet Express Crew- a rag tag bunch of space pirates scouring the map for weapons, gear, and objectives while battling the evil Purge who want to rule the galaxy- and interacting with the locals who may want to join your crew, trade items, run in fear, or kill you. You won't know for sure- it's handled by the roll of die with icons. In my first game I had a NPC join my team only to stab us in the back when it was revealed the following turn he was actually a Purge alien in disguise!You- like me, upon discovering this and wondering, "As a dudes on a map skirmish player, will I like this? Is it worth it?" I can answer yes to both questions but with a caveat: You will need patience. There's A LOT here to sort thru...Upon opening the box you get a gorgeous 2ft x 2ft neoprene mat with a spaceport floor full of panels, wires, vents, etc. It lays relatively flat and doesn't rise up in too many places. Placing books on top overnight for a few days should help alleviate this issue- but you'll probably still have some small bubbling- just not so much that it ruins pieces standing up on it.There's 6 plastic player dashboards that serve as your characters stat center- recessed edges to place in cards, and holes to fill with included colored pegs to represent health, ammo, and level skill points. A really nice design and similar to the dashboards you'd find in Zombicide. Along with those you'll get a series of playable character cards, NPC's (who can also become playable characters as I mentioned), events cards, and a 105 bound rulebook that feels like a graphic novel. Really good weight in your hands and will last quite awhile as opposed to flimsy rulebooks in other games. You'll get a slip box with minis of two crews to play in gray, 3 NPCS in blue, and several of the Purge in various versions of deadliness in a tan/brown color -and various dice. You'll also get a long plastic track with peg holes that shows the rising threat of the aliens- The Purge. Each turn you add one peg, and the danger rises and ties to the Event Card deck as well. A neat mechanic that adds to the tension. There's a sturdy but extremely light plastic tray to hold all the components and it all fits together nicely. Everything has its place.The remaining contents are punchboard. This is where the patience I mentioned comes in. There's a lot to punch out here. You have two sets of boards- one non glossy (the walls of the space port and the terrain found within like computer kiosks, chairs, crates, etc.) the other, glossy (weapons, items, and character cards). The non glossy walls pop out with ease. The glossy ones- not so much. I think in part to the nature of the paper and the fact it isn't scored the same on both sides- so you will undoubtably have tears or frayed edges if you aren't careful. Take your time and go slow. You'll probably need an X-Acto blade on some, or just fold the frayed edge back and forth until it breaks off. Side note, after you finish and have a mountain of chits, luckily- they do provide you with drawstring bag to store them in. The tokens are printed on glossy paper because during the game you'll use a dry erase marker (not included) to update your skills in the game. A neat mechanic but I wish the player cards were a bit larger. The icons can be a bit hard to read but I'm sure once you get in a few games it won't be as daunting.Getting back to the terrain itself, you end up with a pile of square terrain walls, rectangular walls, and furniture pieces. They contain pop-out (and pop-back in) windows, doors, and signage that latch from the top or bottom of the walls with grooves. I recommend going to battlesystems.co.uk to view tutorials on how to build the furniture or you can eyeball it from the photos in the rulebook. Next, you have a set of gray plastic tabs in various shapes to build out the wall structure. You simply slide it in place and connect whatever wall you'd like. It fits snug without damaging or fraying the wall itself. I could see over time however, if not treated carefully, it could bend and break apart. So be gentle. One cool aspect of the game is that all those TINY chits you punched out fit inside the crates you built. Each crate has a lid and a extra piece to glue on it- this makes a snug fit so the lid doesn't slide off. Note, you don't need any glue to build the furniture, except for the crates. You'll be handling them a lot and it's best to reinforced them with superglue. At the start of the mission you randomly draw a set number of tokens to place inside the crates and then place them on the board. Once your character reaches a crate, they can use an action to open it- and reveal what's inside and choose whether or not to add to your plastic dashboard slot. The slot is only so long however, so between rectangular and square shaped chits, you can only fit so many. Choose wisely! A fun mechanic that I don't see much in other games. A simple deck of cards would've worked- but this makes it that much more toy-like and immersive.The rulebook has 9 missions that feature an objective, number of players, and a top down map for placing furniture and wall layout. The layout of the rulebook takes getting used to however as the icons listed below the map aren't explained until after a few pages of missions, so you'll have to keep flipping back and forth to verify what each is and where it goes. Same can be said for the rules themselves as there is a lot of iconography on the players cards, dice, and skill trees. It's not too overwhelming, more frustrating as "see page 45, 87, 3, 16...". It reads like a choose your own adventure book. Highly recommend printing out players aids pdfs on battlesystems.co.uk or lookup Core Space on boardgamegeek.com and checkout the files section for player aids pdfs to learn the game easier. I won' lie, it took me awhile to figure out what I was doing and how it all fit -but counting the grid line squares next to each wall piece- along with a gray square to represent the plastic clip to hold the walls together, and the icon key showing me that a dashed line meant a door and a white line was a window, it all started to make sense. You'll want to rush to play the game immediately- but the initial setup is almost a game within itself. Frustrating yes. Worth the frustration in the end - YES.Turn order is explained in the back two pages of the book and the specifics of each turn is scattered throughout the rulebook- at least they give you pages numbers. Again, I'd print out the player aids to help ease into the game so you aren't overwhelmed. Despite this criticism, the rules are fun to read and detailed pictures with painted miniatures help break up the text and get you amped to play.The good news is they've included white divider pieces to make a gridded bottom for the box to place all your built furniture. Don't throw the white dividers out! Works well enough and as I said earlier, everything has a place and it all fits back in the box....except the walls you built. You will need to pull those apart from their gray connector tabs each time you play and then build the new map for each mission. This is the repeated complaint I see from reviews of Core Space and Battle Systems as a whole. Unless you plan on leaving it setup, you'll need to do this every time- so know that going into this. I think however, the more you build this terrain, the easier and faster setup and tear down time will be over time.In conclusion, Core Space reminds me of the old model kits I used to build as a kid- the excitement of choosing which plane/car/boat to purchase, pouring over the contents and instructions, and then assembling it for display....then it would gather dust.Core Space does one better by including a game system to go with it, mission variety and a narrative to make you feel like you are playing out Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars, or whatever space opera you prefer. Like me, you'll spend hours/days putting it all together, learning the rules, and getting deep into the world. The company Battle Systems is extremely helpful in addressing any questions you may have in addition to supporting the content and continues to grow. The FB community as well as boardgamegeek.com threads are also very welcoming and helpful with explaining the rules and pros/cons of each expansion and how it all goes together. Speaking of Pros/Cons...PROS-a great value for your money: sturdy paper furniture, multiple wall layouts with non-fraying clips, minis, dice, neoprene mat, etc. The terrain also works well for other 28mm figures too. Can be combined with other Battle Systems terrain to build even larger maps.-dripping in space adventure theme-easy to follow turn order and variety of missions, not just run to the middle and KO your opponent like Heroscape/Heroclix.-beautiful table presence-fun to play, line of sight with minis hiding behind crates/signs/etc.-fits back in the box without needing plastic storage boxes-cards can be sleeved and still fit inside included insert-can be played solo, co-op, semi-co-op, and competitively: game includes enough for two players each controlling their own team of Space Pirates/Traders- if you want to play with 3 or more people, you'd need to buy additional Trader team packs (just cards and minis) and the player dashboard pack (think Zombicide dashboard with pegs).CONS-time suck: punching out terrain, building terrain (only need to do this once for the furniture pieces) building walls and taking apart only to rebuild in a new layout for the next mission-icon-o-rama: lots of icons to keep track of. No handy player aids (but can be fixed by going to company website to print out- just should've been included in the box)-rulebook pingpong: you'll be flipping back and forth to get understand all the rules. They aren't complex just organized poorly.-minis unpainted, but in different colors to easily tell apart from one another.-player cards and chits on dashboard are too small-money suck: if you love this game, you'll want to get expansions. Not necessary, but adds more options to make it more enjoyable.OK, BUT SHOULD I BUY IT?Do you like tabletop skirmish games that immerse you in a world with choices, twists, and suspense?YES!Do you not mind punching out hundreds of chits and then assembling it all?THAT CAN BE FUN...Do you also not mind taking the time to setup the game for possibly 25 minutes beforehand and then taking it apart when not in use only to do it again for your next game?MAYBE?If you grimace at those last two questions- jettison out the airlock now. But..if you have the strength and patience to get past the pesky setup/tear down hurdle, you will LOVE this game. Buy it or don't. I hope this review gave you a little more insight into a game that I think is a sleeper hit with a medium bar for entry.Thanks for reading!
G**E
Core Space
Bien emballé, excellent produit !
D**K
Super spannend
Absolut spannender skirmish crawler. Egal ob man koop oder gegeneinander spielt. Es gibt viel Abwechslung und das Gelände lässt sich sehr vielseitig nutzen.Absolute Empfehlung!
J**S
Una obra maestra.
Creo que con el título ya no puedo decir más.
G**3
Gioco di miniature tutto incluso inbattibile.
Gioco di miniature che comprende tutto quanto necessario per iniziare le prorpie avventure come banda di "contrabbandieri" spaziali: 2 squadre complete per poter giocare anche in 2 ( il titolo è giocabilissimo in solitario), unità nemiche, i Purge, comandati dall'IA del gioco, tappeto di giochi e scenario componibile in un infinità di modi in cartoncino rigido, manuale che comprende un sacco di missioni ( altre sono scaricabili dal sito della Battle System) e una miriade di regole che permettono di trasformarlo in un RPG spaziale altamente customizzabile e dall'altissima componente randomica da rendere ogni partita unica. Consigliatissimo.
Trustpilot
4 days ago
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