Star Trek: Fleet Captains

Star Trek: Fleet Captains, designed for two or four players, is set in the "Prime Universe" of STAR TREK (as seen in the various TV series and movies up to Star Trek: Nemesis) and is more adversarial in nature when compared to Star Trek: Expeditions. Each player takes the role of a faction (or race) from the universe. In the base game, the choices are Klingons and Federation. Each faction has a number of ships (on Clix dials similar to the Heroclix line of components) of varying ability and with a corresponding “size.” Fleets of ships are drafted to a given size total which reflects the victory points required to win. Thus, larger fleet sizes lead to higher point (and longer games).

Players then “shuffle build” a deck of command cards. Choosing four decks from a set of ten decks per faction. Each deck has a unique flavor or theme, with corresponding major characters. For instance the Klingons have a deck themed around larger ships and imperial domination and Gowron is a central character. The four decks chosen will help to set the player’s strategy for winning.

Overall, the game can best be thought of as playing out an entire season of Star Trek with the conflict between players representing the major story arc and the turns, missions, and random encounters representing individual episodes. Players will move their ships, explore space, complete missions, play cards to upgrade their ships (and staff them with famous and not so famous crewmembers), or boost their stats in combat. Combat, while important, is not the sole path to victory, with the mission cards being the primary factor (some of which will encourage combat). The style of game will depend heavily on individual player decisions, but no matter what, it will feel like Star Trek.