[Review] Space Dreadnought 3000

Hi All,

I was poking around Star Ranger's Starship Combat News site, and decided
to
take a look at some of the smaller systems that I'd never heard of
before.
Mistake.

Space Dreadnought 3000 (SD3K) is printed by Kallistra Limited
(http://www.kallistra.co.uk/)

I took the suggestion on Star Ranger's page and ordered through POP
Enterprises (http://www.p-o-p.demon.co.uk/). They were VERY quick and
packaged the book with great care to ensure it got to me with no damage.

It's a 48 page book with color covers and suprisingly good illustrations
throughout. There is also a cardstock counter sheet so you can play
without
buying minis (this is also available as a JPG at their site).

The game is strategic in nature, not tactical. The basic game involves
conquest of a Star Centre (s.i.c.), made up of an arrangement of
approximately 14 hexes, of which 3 or 4 are Supply Planets. Your fleet,
made up of up to 5 Task Forces, must be victorious within 10 Time Phases
(turns).

Combat is abstracted and very simple. If two opposing TFs are within the
same hex, they fight. The ships are lined up on opposite sides of the
hex.
Each ship chooses either offensive or defensive posture and a target.
The
target is either destroyed or missed. If the ships of a TF are In
Supply,
they are much more effective than if not. Ships may also be screened
with
fighters, meaning that the fighters must be destroyed before the ship
may
be attacked.

Movement is also very simple. Pick a destination hex in the Star Centre.
If
you can trace a path of hexes to it without going through a hex with an
enemy TF, you get there. If you must cross a hex with an enemy TF, your
TF
is DESTROYED. So strategic maneuver is very important.

Supply is also a key factor. If your TF can trace a path to a friendly
Supply Planet, it is considered "in supply," and thus much more
effective
in combat. If not, its combat ratings go down significantly.

Other goodies include Naval Bases, Freighters, Terminator Vessels
(essentially fire ships in the 1800's sense of the term), and oodles of
Background.

There is also a campaign game which essentially links a number of Star
Centres together and adds economics and ship construction. Once again,
simplicity and fun are emphasized.

The game is supported by a rather large range of miniatures which are
very
nice. I was quite surprised at the quality of the figures (which could
also
easily be used for FT).

Overall:

I give SD3K a rating of 4 out of 5. I'd say that it's a MUST for anyone
looking to make a FT campaign system, not because it would make an ideal
system itself, but because it provides a large number of ideas for
elegantly solving many "complex" campaign problems.

The real key, however, is that it's a blast. Really fun and plays very
fast. Schoon sez: check it out!!