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REVIEW: WizKids Games Star Trek Attack Wing The Doomsday Machine OP Kit
Recreate The Classic Original Series Episode...
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If you’re a fan of Star Trek, spaceship battles, and board/miniatures games, you should already be playing Star Trek Attack Wing from WizKids Games. Attack Wing started in 2013 and brings fast-paced, “easy to learn/challenging to master” capital ship combat to your gaming table using the unique FlightPath Maneuver System, upgrade cards letting you customize your crews, weapons, and more, and of course high quality small-scale miniatures of your favorite starships from across the Star Trek universe. There are vessels from all of the major races/factions (and several minor ones) stretching from the Original Series to Enterprise, Voyager to the movies, and the game has even been a pioneer in bringing players and fans ships that have never before been made as collectibles! And because it’s WizKids, in addition to great game elements you can buy in stores there’s also a thriving competitive community fueled by Organized Play prize kits with exclusive content you can only get access to in brick and mortar shops. The latest, which we’ll be looking at here today, is The Original Series Organized Play Event: The Doomsday Machine that celebrates the classic Star Trek episode and brings familiar faces and ships into the game!
“The Doomsday Machine” was the sixth episode in Star Trek’s second season, first appearing on television on October 20, 1967. In it the Enterprise encounters a sister ship, the U.S.S. Constellation, which has been severely damaged by a wandering colossal craft (hence the “Doomsday Machine”). The mysterious device had been destroying planets and when the Constellation’s commanding officer, Commodore Decker, attacked it the results were disastrous. Only after an ineffectual suicide attack by Decker did Kirk come up with a plan to stop the machine and rigged the Constellation to explode in its interior. The plot worked, saving countless planets and civilizations from destruction.
Like previous Star Trek Attack Wing Organized Play kits, the Doomsday Machine replicates events from the episode as a scenario for tournament play including specific terrain and special tokens as well as themed prizes for the winners. Each kit includes an Instruction/Score Sheet for the organizer, an Overview Sheet, 5 Map Element sets (good for 5 games/10 players in an event), 10 Structural Damage Check Cards for participation prizes, and 3 U.S.S. Constellation/Constitution-class prize kits with a maneuver dial, tokens, Ship, Maneuver, Captain, and Upgrade Cards. Note that this prize kit does not include a physical ship, but one of the great things about this game is that you can re-purpose models for different factions, named ships, etc. So, whether you have the original U.S.S. Enterprise from Wave 0, the Mirror Universe I.S.S. Enterprise, or the U.S.S. Intrepid you can use the ship you already have plus the materials in this kit to field the Constellation or a Federation Constitution-class vessel.
So how does the Doomsday Episode translate into a Star Trek Attack Wing game? The included Overview pamphlet has all the rules and instructions. An in-universe briefing sets the stage, describing your investigation into destroyed planets and a subsequent battle when you come across another faction doing the same thing. But, then the planet-killer arrives and attacks everyone! To play this scenario you’ll use the standard set up with one player on either side of the map. The Doomsday Machine token, a 5 inch long token representing the distinctive spacefaring device from the show, is centered along the East border of the battlefield, and each player takes turns placing two Objective Tokens (at least Range 1 from edges and further than Range 3 from any other tokens). During the game the Objective Tokens will act as Obstacles and if at any point the Doomsday Machine overlaps one the Objective is removed and the Machine repairs 2 damage! The planet-killer is a fearsome opponent with Primary Weapon 8, Agility 0, Hull 10, and Shields 0. Each turn after all other ships have moved the Doomsday Machine targets the nearest ship in range and moves toward it, maneuvered by the player opposing the targeted ship. The Machine has a host of special abilities including ignoring critical damage, only taking damage when hit on its front edge (the exposed “mouth”), and self-healing each End Phase. It attacks last in the Combat Phase, with the player opposing the targeted ship rolling its dice. This scenario ends when one player is eliminated or the time limit is reached, and a player that destroyed the Doomsday Machine gets a huge bonus of +20 Fleet Points!
Just for participating in a Doomsday Machine event players will get an exclusive Structural Damage Check Card, a new resource you can add to your Attack Wing fleets. The card lays out all the rules for this 5 point add on. At the start of the game put 5 Auxiliary Power Tokens beside the card, and at the end of each Activation Phase you can move one of those tokens to one of your ships. In exchange for applying the Auxiliary Power Token you have a choice of two effects: 1) repair 1 damage to that ship’s hull or 2) flip 1 Critical Damage card face down! For 5 points this is a useful resource, especially for those players who always seem to get struck with lingering and annoying Critical Damage, though you do have to balance the effects of the auxiliary power condition. There are certain abilities and actions in the game that key off of or avoid these effects and work especially well with Structural Damage Check, like the new Auxiliary Control Room Upgrade (see below).
If you’re lucky, brave, and skilled enough to win the scenario (or are so cool and helpful to the other players that you’re awarded a fellowship prize), you’ll go home with the Limited Edition U.S.S. Constellation/Constitution-class Starship materials! The 20 point Constitution-class ship of the line has the same stat line (3/1/4/2), action bar (Evade, Target Lock, Scan, Battle Stations), and upgrades (2 Crew, 1 Weapon) we’ve seen before along with the same maneuvers (not the fastest but agile at low speed and capable of a 2 speed reverse movement). For 2 more points you can field the U.S.S. Constellation which gets an additional Shield (like the original Enterprise), another Weapon slot, and a unique ability that says when all of the ship’s Shields are down and it attacks with its Primary Weapon it can use +2 Attack Dice in return for an Auxiliary Power Token and the inability to roll any defense dice that round.
The Constellation comes with a standard 1 Skill Federation Captain and the 2 cost 3 Skill Captain Matt Decker who adds an Elite Upgrade slot. He has two special abilities: when he’s on a Federation ship you can disable him to get +1 attack die during the Roll Attack Dice step, and when his ship is destroyed you can transfer him to replace the captain on another ship within Range 2! The 5 point Damage Control Party Crew Upgrade has two Action options: discard to repair 1 Hull or Shield or disable to flip one Critical Damage Card face down. The Elite Talent Standby Battle Stations costs 4 points and can only be purchased for a ship with Battle Stations; during the Combat Phase you can discard it to replace an Evade or Scan token next to your ship with a Battle Stations token. Finally there are two Upgrades that can fill variable slots and are limited to one per ship. Automated Distress Beacon costs 3 points, fills either a Crew, Tech, or Weapon slot and when it’s discarded as an Action a ship of your choice outside Range 3 immediately performs an additional 2 speed maneuver. Lastly the 5 point Auxiliary Control Room serves as a Tech or Weapon Upgrade and you can disable it to perform an action while your ship has an Auxiliary Power Token! The U.S.S. Constellation pack also includes the requisite double-sided Ship Token, Captain ID Tokens, 1 Shield Token, and 1 Effect Token.
Fans of Star Trek The Original Series will love playing in this iconic scenario, and the Doomsday Machine token and rules will let you play out your own version of the episode in your home games. Plus you’ll want to get your hands on the Structural Damage Check resource and the U.S.S. Constellation pack so you can run this reckless ship and its vessel-hopping captain plus get access to its cool new Upgrades. Check out WizKids.com for more information on Star Trek Attack Wing and find a participating venue near you on the WizKids Event System.
Review and photos by Scott Rubin
Review sample courtesy of WizKids Games
For hobby miniatures and all your gaming needs, including WizKids Star Trek Attack Wing, visit MiniatureMarket.com!
