A Call to Arms Revised Edition (B5 A Call to Arms)

An excellent product; I have played many games like it though one of the most obvious comparisons is with Games Workshops battle fleet gothic. Whilst I did enjoy BFG it simply does not compare to the quality of a call to arms. As an example; the ships in BFG could often be crippled in just a few hits reducing they're abilities to almost 'certain death' values and making them feel much like little escorts than the behemoths they are. Call to arms makes a battleship feel like a battleship by making them far more sturdy and yet incredibly powerful in the right hands. In this system ships can move and shoot in an 'I go you go fashion' which really does simulate an ever changing combat perfectly. There are no complex tables to look up hit values; or shields to fuss around with and clumsy blast markers to clog the battlefield. The system makes the simple things like shooting, moving and the issue of special orders simple. In this way it can introduce a number of advanced rules to simulate the B5 world and add the necessary complexity to make it hard to master. All this is presented in about 30 pages so experienced players will be amazed at how advanced the ideas are whilst newcomers will find it easy to grasp quickly. The rest of the book is given to a large array of scenarios as well as a campaign system that is very impressive.

They have also come up with a very smart way to pick your force; no points here, just the logical idea that the bigger the ship the less likely it will be available in a regular mission. It’s a concept that would never work in most games but here it does wonders.

Not convinced? The box contents is the next selling point; for under 30 quid you are effectively given a lovely army book covering in detail every race and ship in the game as well as counters to represent them on the table top! How many counters? Easily enough to fight any major conflict from the series and have some to spare (so alot!) plus the chance for you and your opponents to try out every single fleet in the game before the need to buy anything else. It’s almost worth buying just to tryout with so much on offer.

Negative points would probably be the large number of recordings you have to make on each ship entry during a game for a larger battle; newer players will almost certainly find this point difficult (time to join a gaming club!). The ships presented in the fleet book are not customizable so despite there being a large number to pick and tons of strategies some people aren’t going to like this point (though variant ships are available through various expansion sets). The games appeal should also not be limited to B5 fans (though for the record I am one) as it really is an excellent game system anyway that has had glowing reviews everywhere I have looked. Suffice to say if you are actually a fan of the show you are in for a treat!

So there you have B5 a call to arms revised addition; superb in almost every war-game department I can think of and mega cheap in price. As a tip if you do decide to buy it; once you are use to the rules check out the homepage where they offer a free monthly gaming magazine that contains tons of new scenarios and rules.

Oh and buy it from infinity and you’ll almost certainly get it incredibly fast too!