''Star Fleet Battle Manual'' is a 1977 miniatures game published by

Gamescience Gamescience is an American game company that produces role-playing games and game supplements. History Gamescience Corp. was started by Phillip E. Orbanes in 1965. In that year, the company published the wargame Vietnam which was reviewed in is ...

. It was designed by

Lou Zocchi Louis Zocchi is a gaming hobbyist, former game distributor and publisher, and maker and seller of polyhedral game dice. In 1986, he was elected to the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame. Career Lou Zocchi was one of the first editors for Av ...

and Michael Scott Kurtick. It was based on elements from the

Star Fleet Technical Manual The ''Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual'' (, Ballantine Books 1975, reprinted 1986, 1996, 2006) is a fiction reference book by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt, about the workings of Starfleet, a military, exploratory, and diplomatic organization fe ...

and licensed from the author,

Franz Joseph Schnaubelt Franz Joseph (born Franz Anton Joseph Schnaubelt; June 29, 1914 – June 2, 1994) was an artist and author loosely associated with the 1960s American television show ''Star Trek''. Career Born in Chicago, Franz Joseph had a successful 30-year care ...

. Gamescience also released several plastic and metal miniatures based on the ships used in the game.

Gameplay

''Star Fleet Battle Manual'' is a miniatures game where the players each control one or more starships, playable on any large flat surface. Besides the contents of the book, players also needed a

20-sided die A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating Statistical randomness, random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including List ...

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

fishing line A fishing line is any flexible, high-tensile cord used in angling to tether and pull in fish, in conjunction with at least one hook. Fishing lines are usually pulled by and stored in a reel, but can also be retrieved by hand, with a fixed att ...

at least five foot in length, a washer and the capability to mark up the starship logs with

grease pencil The grease pencil, a wax writing tool also known as a wax pencil, china marker, or chinagraph pencil (especially in the United Kingdom), is a writing implement made of hardened colored wax and is useful for marking on hard, glossy non-porous sur ...

s. The designer notes stated that ''Star Fleet Battle Manual'' was compatible with their 1973 game ''

Alien Space Battle Manual ''Alien Space'' is a science fiction board wargame published by Gamescience in 1973 that simulates space combat as seen in the ''Star Trek'' television show. Gameplay ''Alien Space'' is a two-player game in which each player chooses one of eight ...

''.

Available Ships

There are eight different classes of starships available for the game with logs for record keeping. Instructions were provided on the removal of the silhouettes from the book and preparation for the play. * Heavy Cruiser (the Constitution-class starship from the Technical Manual) * Scout (the Hermes-class starship from the Technical Manual) * Destroyer (the Saladin-class starship from the Technical Manual) * Dreadnought (the Federation-class starship from the Technical Manual) * T-Type Patrol Ship (the Tholian vessel seen from the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' episode ''

The Tholian Web "The Tholian Web" is the ninth episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series season 3, third season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek''. Written by Judy Burns and Chet Richards and dire ...

'') * R-Type Warbird (the Romulan Bird-of-Prey vessel seen from the ''Star Trek'' episode ''

Balance of Terror "Balance of Terror" is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Paul Schneider and directed by Vincent McEveety, it first aired on December 15, 1966. The series, ...

'') * Transport/Tug (the Ptolemy-class starship from the Technical Manual) * K-Type or R-Type Battle Cruiser (the Klingon D-7 class starship, also used by the Romulans, as seen in various episodes of ''Star Trek'')

Reception

Denis Loubet Denis Loubet is an artist who has worked on several Role-playing games#Tabletop, pen-and-paper role-playing games and video games, including the MMORPG ''Ashen Empires''. Career Loubet designed a set of miniature figure (gaming), miniatures called ...

reviewed ''Star Fleet Battle Manual'' in ''

The Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' No. 42. Loubet commented that "I might have enjoyed it more if I had never played ''

Star Fleet Battles ''Star Fleet Battles'' (SFB) is a Military tactics, tactical board wargame set in an offshoot of the ''Star Trek'' setting called the Star Fleet Universe. Originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole, it has had four major editions. The current ...

''. I'm spoiled. But the ''Star Fleet Battle Manual'' is a worthy precursor to that game, and should not be ignored."

References

{{reflist Board games introduced in 1977 Gamescience games Lou Zocchi games