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Battle Of Wolf 359
We are the Borg. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance... is futile.
I am a massive, lifelong Trek fan. Of all the various nerdy, geeky fandoms to which I subscribe, Trek is my first and foremost love. So I am a sucker for a Star Trek game - but I'm often left feeling a bit deflated. Finding a game which truly captured the feel of Trek outwith an RPG (and sometimes, even that) had evaded me... until now with Battle Of Wolf 359.
Battle Of Wolf 359, I cannot stress how much fun this game is. It feels utterly like an episode of Star Trek as you run around the ship trying to lock Borg out of systems, eject the core or even blow up the damn ship! Or, as Borg, you're more focused on taking over systems and assimilation than combat, slowly building up - which feels very thematic. The Federation away team is an elite Skills machine: Riker, Worf, Shelby and Data - though other crew appear in your deck of Support cards to help solve your Missions. The Borg, on the other hand, start slow but can share actions across each other, feeling exactly like a Hivemind. It's very quick, with only 3 turns and 2 actions per character - though you get bonus actions equal to the difference in number of characters if you have fewer, and cards from your hand can also generate free/additional actions. What little downtime there is spent planning your next actions, but because there are also cards that allow you to interrupt and respond to your opponent's actions, you're fully engaged in their turn also.
In Battle of wolf 359, over 3 rounds, you're aiming to complete one of 2 primary faction missions: Assimilating technology or biology as borg, saving or destroying the ship as feds. During Battle Of Wolf 359 each round, those two actions can be used to move (Borg are very slow, others species are not), interact with the ship (accessing or assimilating consoles), take cover (i.e. hide), draw a card or attack a hostile. Whilst combat is a part of the game, it really isn't the main thing. Even though Worf IS a killing machine, he's probably more use running around accessing security systems (also, in a neat touch, Bat'leths add to your defence, not attack). Phasers are set to stun by default for the Federation - which the Borg ignore, so if you really want to wipe them out, you need to play the Set Phasers to Kill card - but then, the Borg will eventually Adapt, and the more they Adapt, the better they get. The Borg, incidentally, are quite physically fragile: the game uses a neat system of + shaped pegs in the character boards which you remove one of for each point of damage until there are none left, at which point you're neutralised - or, if it was a Borg that did it, the character is assimilated, placing a drone overlay onto the board. Also, Borg have multiple ways of reactivating and recycling drones, so they're never gone for long. It can feel a little like the Borg are playing catch-up and the Federation running away, but that's a deliberate choice in the pacing - the Borg's rules for Escalation (more turn up in subsequent turns) and Hivemind mean that they are progressively better in the late game; they're actually very well matched.
Your actions are complemented by your hand of 10 cards: 5 Secondary Missions (which score you points towards your goal) and 5 Support cards (equipment, minor crew, and so on). Each turn the cards refresh (and there are multiple ways of drawing extras, particularly for the Borg: Locutus, for example, "downloads" a Subcommand card directly into play when he activates), whilst drones can Scout and do quick tests to search for a specific assimilation card. However, the Federation crew in the deck are super versatile: Miles, for example, allowing you to beam freely around the ship (normally you would have to use a series of move actions or use the turbolifts which function as Cluedo-style shortcuts). The decks are preconstructed (20 of each card type) but an additional set of cards allow you to customise, for example leaning into Captain Riker giving bonus orders or a much more aggressive, annihilating Borg approach. It's this that keeps the game fresh and stand up to repeat play - never mind the fact that you can easily get a game done in an hour!
The tokens are excellent (different shapes, very accessible), the modular ship tiles double-sided Federation / Borg Cube (allowing for a good variety of ship layouts, especially for Federation), and the cards evoke TNG and First Contact perfectly with their screenshots. It's a brilliant twist on the dungeon crawl board game, and as a lifelong fan I'm bowled over by how evocative it is. The faction dice look great and the dice board, for lining up successes in opposed rule, is a lovely touch - not strictly necessary, but just speaks of a quality product; whilst there are many tokens and components, nothing feels unnecessary or cluttered. However... I cannot overstate how much I hate the aesthetic of the miniatures. I suspect it may be a licensing issue - Modiphius has its own range of Trek figures for the rpg - but they are dorky, fuggly, Lord Farquaad bobbleheads. I could *just* about tolerate Chibis ala Marvel United but these really suck. The only thing I would say is that once you're playing the game, you don't really notice and it DOES make it easier to see which character is which. I honestly thought the models were a deal-breaker for me - and I know that for many people, that is a real concern - but don't let it put you off what is a truly excellent game.
On balance, Battle of Wolf 359 is a must-by for Star Trek fans, no doubt, but also a strong contender for anyone looking for a fresh take on what can feel like a cluttered, even tired place in the market. I can't wait to try out the Klingon and Romulan teams trying to bring glory to the Empire or steal Federation technology - my eldest does love a bit of sneaky back-stabbing - and this expands the game to both 3/4 competitive and 4 player team games (and it's a nice touch that the rules for these variants are also found in the core box, along with strategy guides for all 4 factions). What else can I say? Make it so!
