Summary
There is an abundance ofscience fiction board gameson the market, varying in genre from peaceful engine-building games to large-scale war games that consume entire afternoons or even days. However, many science fiction board games feature combat, be it in space or on the ground of exotic alien planets.
Although hyper-detailed and complex space combat exists on the tabletop, these experiences often include print-and-play manuals and tedious rules that generally make them inaccessible. The games featured here offer a variety of streamlined experiences set in science-fiction universes that almost anyone can pick up and play.
7Twilight Imperium
This long-running tabletop war game is renowned for its deep and complex mechanics, varied playstyles, and the sheer amount of time and space required to play it.Twilight Imperiummanages to be both complex and accessible, partly thanks to its combat system.
Twilight Imperiumis full of complex rules and edge cases, but when it comes to combat the game becomes incredibly simple. To fight, all players have to do is roll dice and hope for higher numbers, maybe playing the occasional game-changing action card to turn the tide of battle. This simplistic approach to combat makes every battle inTwilight Imperiumengaging without slowing down the pace of the game and puts the focus on positional awareness and technology over any form of micromanagement.
6Star Wars: Imperial Assault
ThisStar Warstabletop gameplays very similarly to the hittabletop dungeon crawler,Descent. In the game, one player controls the Empire while the other players make up a small crew of ragtag rebels attempting to complete various missions throughout an overarching campaign.
The combat inStar Wars: Imperial Assaultis fairly simplistic, mostly revolving around rolling dice and using character skills. However, throughout a mission, every rebel will begin to take on stress and get worn down by the forces of the Empire until they can’t go on any further, which makes combat inStar Wars: Imperial Assaultconstantly engaging. Since the rebel players are stronger at the beginning of a mission, they’re constantly forced to play as fast and as efficiently as possible, which in turn forces players into tense and often dire situations. Furthermore, players can’t be killed inStar Wars: Imperial Assault, instead becoming officially exhausted and much less powerful after taking one too many hits.
5Space Empires 4X
This science fiction 4X strategy game has players exploring space and expanding their empires as they research new technologies and develop their fleets to ensure success during the inevitable and often devastating ship-to-ship combat.
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Outnumbering opponents inSpace Empires 4Xis of the utmost importance. If a player outnumbers their opponent in a two-to-one ratio, all of their ships receive a hefty bonus. The player with the most ships can also choose to “screen” ships, holding them back until the next firing round while simultaneously preventing them from being targeted. Supporting this emphasis on outnumbering is the fact that the number of ships a player may have in a specific hex can be hidden from players until combat starts, tasking players with deducing how many ships a player might have in any one space.
4Eclipse: Second Dawn For The Galaxy
Similar toTwilight Imperium, this second edition ofEclipseis a space-faring large-scale war game that takes up a lot of space and time to play. However, unlikeTwilight Imperium,Eclipseis much more focused on combat and ship design over positioning and political tension.
LikeTwilight Imperium, combat inEclipseis fast and simple. InEclipse, the fastest ships in the combat always go first, beginning with each player firing off their potentially deadly missiles before trading round after round of cannon fire until one side has fled or been completely decimated. WhereEclipseshines the most, however, is in its extensive ship design and upgrade system: there are several ship classes inEclipse, each with its own schematic that allows for a variety of modules. These modules allow players to switch out and stack up different upgrades such as shields, targeting systems, and different weapons to counter and outplay their opponents. This is where the strategy ofEclipse’scombat happens, and seeing these strategies unfold in the game’s explosive combat is what makes it so great.
3Cosmic Encounter
This tabletop game of invading alien planets, negotiation, and colonization is a fast-paced and easy-to-learn game for three to five players.Cosmic Encounter’s combat is simple, but the variety of its playable alien races, each with their unique power, as well as the added layers of bluffing and diplomacy, make ita deeply tactical experience.
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InCosmic Encounter, players are tasked with establishing five colonies on the planets of their opponents. Each round, players draw a “destiny” card that tells them which opponent to target and tasks them with deciding which of that opponent’s planets to invade. The invading player then chooses up to four ships to bring with them before both sides call for support from the other players, which is where the game’s diplomacy elements come into play. Furthermore, players can use their asymmetric powers as well as attack or negotiation cards to swing the combat in their favor. All of these simple mechanics combine to create a highly strategic experience that’s easy to learn and tremendously replayable.
2Dune
This popular reprint of the legendaryDunetabletop game originally published in 1979 is acomplex tabletop gamefor two-to-six players that features a variety of thematic mechanics in line with the iconic works of Frank Herbert.
Dune’s combat system, however, is extremely unique in its design, featuring combat wheels and strategies that often involve bluffing and deduction. When combat begins, each player takes a combat wheel and secretly dials a number from zero up to the number of soldiers they have in the encounter. After this, players reveal their dials, and the player with the highest number wins, with the strategic caveat being that the winning player also loses troops equal to the number on their dial. This, combined with special cards like the “Lasgun” and the various leader tokens in the game, makesDune’s combat a brilliantly strategic gamble.
1Star Wars: X-Wing
ThisStar Warsminiatures game tasks players with battling it out in space withthe iconic spaceshipsof the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. It’s an expensive game to get into, especially as it requires several purchases outside the starter set to get the most fun out of its rules, but fans ofStar Warswould be pushed to find a more thematic experience in line with the legendary franchise.
In theX-Wingminiatures game, players field an army of spaceships in line with a predetermined “points” value not dissimilar to most miniatures war games, even equipping them with a variety of different cards that add an extra level of strategy to preparation. Although there’s plenty of dice rolling to be had inX-Wing, the combat is decidedly skill-based, with players using a series of combat maneuvers represented by cardboard templates to zip around the table, flanking enemy ships and avoiding enemy attacks. This combination of players attempting to predict their opponents, mastering the different combat maneuvers, and the layer of randomness added bythe dice rollingmakes the combat ofX-Winga fast-paced and thematic tactical experience.
