Warpwar Microgame 4 Spaceship Design and Combat

An old school wargame with three levels of play that purports to be an introduction to the hobby of wargaming in general and I believe them. Back in the day (1978) a friend begged me to try this, but there was never time given all the other wargames I was playing. More fool me. He was absolutely right in that the whole thing is simple (caveat: read on) and innovative.It does mention in the intro that the rules are a bit more intense than one might expect with "toy" boardgames (like Monopoly and its ilk). If you can't play a game with more than one page of rules, move on. Wargames cope with all envisaged situations and NEVER assume people will invent house rules or flip a coin to do the work the game designer was too bone idle to do.The rules are broken down into categories like "movement" and "combat" and these broken down still further. This with the process of playing games with rules turned off (the Basic Game) then turning some on (The Intermediate Game) and finally playing with all rules (The Advanced Game) gives those that want to invest the time an easy passage through the learning process.So what do you get for your money?One folded cartridge-paper hex-printed map of a star field marked with stars and warp-routes between them.One black type on white paper booklet of rules and tables (the Combat Resolution Table or CRT was a staple of wargames of he era)One sheet of card counters representing two players' worth of spaceships, each of two classes: warp capable ships and stationary "system ships" that don't travel between stars.Scratch paper and pencils will be required to play but are not provided.The game is economic points-driven. Build points are assigned depending on scenario and level of game play, and the player must then use them to build out his/her fleets or spaceships. The objectives vary from game level to level, but essentially involve taking a set number of home stars from the other player.Warp ships can move quickly from star to star, burning Movement Points (another wargame staple) as they go. They can carry system ships too, if the builder remembered to buy racks for them. The actual design of any one warpship is extremely flexible. Gunships, Transport Barges and everything in between are all possible configurations, the only limitation being where the points get spent. System ships are essentially static gun emplacements that warpships move from place to place.Combat is diceless. It involves checking on the attack strength and factoring in the defense shielding, tactical movement allocated and so forth. It will eventually become possible to "game" this out, but players will also get the chance to "psych-out" an opponent using the same factors.Yes it looks complicated from the rulebook when compared to some games today, but the game isn't really complex if approached in the right way.I does require a small investment in arithmetic. Personally I find this a positive thing, certainly no more onerous than figuring one's relative standing in games like Seven Cities.The only real color in use is on the counters, which will be either white icons on a red background or red icons on a white background.The cost of obtaining the game is now a collector's market-driven affair. I paid about 28 bucks all told to get what was a three quid game in the day. It was expensive and collectible because it was unpunched and unplayed. I plan on invalidating both those clauses. Only you can say whether the cost is justified. As a comparison, this cost about the same as the original OGRE game by Steve Jackson originally, and that was just re-issued with much the same quality parts for about eight dollars.Can't wait to root out a co-player and play.

great game old school