Core Space (Finally!)

 

I bought the Core Space starter set quite a while ago (2 years maybe) and have been meaning to get it on the table for quite a while.  The appeal of the game is that it is an SF skirmish game with set missions, has a small number of figures and some lovely card scenery in 3d.

I was discussing it with Anthony, my regular opponent, and decided to bite the bullet and finally assemble all the little items that are needed in a game (such as chests, furniture, etc).  I spent an hour punching things out such as counters, walls, etc and then assembled the furniture in about 30 minutes - it was much easier than I was expecting.

We played the opening scenario where teams of traders are basically running onto a space station warehouse and grabbing as much loot as they can and then getting out again.  The mechanism I really like is that equipment is held in chests on the board that you search, so there is the tactile action of opening a chest and tipping out the contents.

 

You are quite limited in what you can carry, so you are continually evaluating whether to swap items around and drop some current items to replace them with better items.
 

 

While this is going on, the Purge threat track is gradually increasing in threat level and Purge start appearing on the board.  These are a robot race that will attack all the teams and which you sometimes have to cooperate with other teams to overcome.  You add a peg to the Purge track each turn and then another peg the first time someone figures a gun that round.

We had several rolls for new Purge that resulted in a blank die face and no Purge arriving.

However, in an effort to try out the assault rules (and use the incinerator gun I had found) we soon opened fire on each other and bullets were flying everywhere.  Then the Purge started in arrive in numbers and there was a general agreement that we should get out of there.

We called the game before quite finishing it but Anthony had managed to collect the most valuable equipment.

The game was a little slow as it was our first time, so we were looking up rules and checking on the symbols on the character cards that represent your skills. Once you get the hang of the mechanisms and what you are looking for, the game moves along quite quickly.

I really liked the game - the board is fantastic to play on and I like the interaction between crews that can be cooperative or you can stab someone in the back to grab the equipment they have.

There is about 20-30 minutes setup time at the start of the game as you have to build the layout of walls, etc by clipping them together.  But that is quite easy and takes no longer than setting up my City terrain for a Gangster game.

I liked the event cards that are drawn each turn that helped mi up the action, and the Purge and Civilian rules which govern how the Purge and any civilians move and interact.

It has me thinking about getting some expansions of crew so I could run a 4 player game and I will be playing it through solo as well.