I've got a little gaming groove going on this week...
In the early 90s, I played a fair bit of Cosmic Encounter and my Mayfair boxes (CE and More CE) are still among my prized gaming possessions. There's a new version out with plastic pieces and a warped design, but mine looks like this:
For the uninitiated, Cosmic Encounter is a board/war game in which each player has an alien star system and attempts to put bases on another player's planets. The twist is that each alien (and there are more than 100) has its own way to bend the rules or "cheat". Every game is different because players don't draw the same aliens, and the more players there are (3-6), the crazier the strategy gets.
I still have the scoring sheet my group used to mark points (I was in second place when we stopped), and we had this thing where when an alien invaded another, that race would be "locked" (or subjugated) and could not longer be pulled. If a player wanted to free his favorite aliens, he could, but only be defeating the subjugator species. Ultimately, there would only have been one species standing. Probably Vampire or Zombie. Assassin, Will and Trader seemed to be doing well too. And we were hard core about it: None of that 3 bases for the win. Only total domination counted.
Apparently unsatisfied with the 48 alien powers from the Basic Set + 60 aliens from More CE, I made cards for the couple dozen in the copy of Encounter magazine included in the first box. The more, the crazier, is pretty much my motto. AND I also made three that, judging by the geek content, came out of my brain. I share them with you here today.
DALEK
Discards compromise and low cards
You have the power to exterminate. Whenever you have compromise cards or attack cards with a value of 6 or less inclusively, you may discard them and pick the same number of new cards from the deck. You must show the discarded cards to the other players by putting them face up.
History: The Daleks are an evil race of mutant cyborgs from the planet Skaro bent on conquering the cosmos. They have a reputation for having no mercy as they scream out their war cry: "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Siskoid's notes today: Pretty badass, and no doubt created just so I could do my Dalek impression at the top of my lungs as my enemies fell.
HUMAN
Uses reverse planet hex
You have the power to adapt. Before play starts, pick a Destiny card containing all the cones. You must pick the solar system of the color you picked from the deck. Take the system and inverse it. You then play with whatever powers the more complex system offers. If you picked a wild card from the destiny pile, you may choose the color you want.
History: The Humans come from an ancient planet known as Dirt or Earth on which many climates co-exist. The Humans have thus learned to adapt to almost any environment or situation.
Do not use with reverse hexes.
Siskoid's notes today: My great love for the crazy reverse hexes (world ships, gas giant, asteroid field, ringed planet) combined with the fact humanity wasn't in the game gave rise to this, my favorite design.
KRYPTON
Gets stronger as he gets away from home
You have the power of tourism. On your own system, your tokens have the normal value of one. On the adjacent systems (i.e. hexes), the value of your tokens is two when defending a base on an alien planet. On the next two systems, the tokens are worth three and on the last, furthest system, the tokens are worth four. The tokens regain their normal value when they are in the cone or in the warp. Only when defending as a main player are the new values used.
History: The Krypton are very powerful beings when not exposed to the low energies of their star. When they gained space travel, they discovered that the furthest away from their star they were, the more powerful they became, making them relatively easy to destroy on their homeworld.
Siskoid's notes today: If Daleks were based on offense, Kryptonians were based on defense.
I've spared you the scratch drawings I'd done for each one. So... any other Cosmic Encounter players out there?
In the early 90s, I played a fair bit of Cosmic Encounter and my Mayfair boxes (CE and More CE) are still among my prized gaming possessions. There's a new version out with plastic pieces and a warped design, but mine looks like this:
For the uninitiated, Cosmic Encounter is a board/war game in which each player has an alien star system and attempts to put bases on another player's planets. The twist is that each alien (and there are more than 100) has its own way to bend the rules or "cheat". Every game is different because players don't draw the same aliens, and the more players there are (3-6), the crazier the strategy gets.I still have the scoring sheet my group used to mark points (I was in second place when we stopped), and we had this thing where when an alien invaded another, that race would be "locked" (or subjugated) and could not longer be pulled. If a player wanted to free his favorite aliens, he could, but only be defeating the subjugator species. Ultimately, there would only have been one species standing. Probably Vampire or Zombie. Assassin, Will and Trader seemed to be doing well too. And we were hard core about it: None of that 3 bases for the win. Only total domination counted.
Apparently unsatisfied with the 48 alien powers from the Basic Set + 60 aliens from More CE, I made cards for the couple dozen in the copy of Encounter magazine included in the first box. The more, the crazier, is pretty much my motto. AND I also made three that, judging by the geek content, came out of my brain. I share them with you here today.
DALEK
Discards compromise and low cards
You have the power to exterminate. Whenever you have compromise cards or attack cards with a value of 6 or less inclusively, you may discard them and pick the same number of new cards from the deck. You must show the discarded cards to the other players by putting them face up.History: The Daleks are an evil race of mutant cyborgs from the planet Skaro bent on conquering the cosmos. They have a reputation for having no mercy as they scream out their war cry: "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Siskoid's notes today: Pretty badass, and no doubt created just so I could do my Dalek impression at the top of my lungs as my enemies fell.
HUMAN
Uses reverse planet hex
You have the power to adapt. Before play starts, pick a Destiny card containing all the cones. You must pick the solar system of the color you picked from the deck. Take the system and inverse it. You then play with whatever powers the more complex system offers. If you picked a wild card from the destiny pile, you may choose the color you want.History: The Humans come from an ancient planet known as Dirt or Earth on which many climates co-exist. The Humans have thus learned to adapt to almost any environment or situation.
Do not use with reverse hexes.
Siskoid's notes today: My great love for the crazy reverse hexes (world ships, gas giant, asteroid field, ringed planet) combined with the fact humanity wasn't in the game gave rise to this, my favorite design.
KRYPTON
Gets stronger as he gets away from home
You have the power of tourism. On your own system, your tokens have the normal value of one. On the adjacent systems (i.e. hexes), the value of your tokens is two when defending a base on an alien planet. On the next two systems, the tokens are worth three and on the last, furthest system, the tokens are worth four. The tokens regain their normal value when they are in the cone or in the warp. Only when defending as a main player are the new values used.History: The Krypton are very powerful beings when not exposed to the low energies of their star. When they gained space travel, they discovered that the furthest away from their star they were, the more powerful they became, making them relatively easy to destroy on their homeworld.
Siskoid's notes today: If Daleks were based on offense, Kryptonians were based on defense.
I've spared you the scratch drawings I'd done for each one. So... any other Cosmic Encounter players out there?
Comments
And, sadly, enough, I also worked on a Doctor Who expansion: Daleks, Cybermen, the works. They were pretty lame...
Just like any forum dedicated to a niche subject has more messages in Off-Topic than anywhere else.