Web and Starship
Entry updated 24 June 2014. Tagged: Game.
Board and counter Wargame (1984). West End Games (WEG). Designed by Greg Costikyan.
Web and Starship is a Hard SF Wargame played on a two-dimensional map of nearby stars, with the third dimension represented by notations on the display. The setting is asymmetric; there are three players, each of whom has different capabilities. The Pereen can travel between stars by means of an instantaneous "Web", but must use slower-than-light probes to add new planets to the network, while the Gwynhyfarr use Faster Than Light ships, which are too small to move large amounts of material from one star to another. As a result, the Pereen will generally win in any ground combat, while the Gwynhyfarr forces are superior in space engagements. The third player, Earth, has access to both the Web and faster than light starships, but begins the game with limited versions of both Technologies, which only slowly improve. Earth is initially located directly between the Pereen and Gwynhyfarr spheres of influence, leading to a great deal of diplomacy as player alliances form and reform. The result is an interesting exercise in strategy in which gameplay is generally focused on economic expansion, interrupted by intermittent warfare. [NT]
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