Every Friday at 4:00 PM PT, a talented crew roleplays their way through the galaxy to fulfill a mission: to boldly go where no one has gone before. Follow the adventures of the USS Sally Ride on Shield of Tomorrow on Twitch and Alpha.
Star Trek Adventures stood out from its predecessors by focusing on what matters to Star Trek characters. Our heroes are defined by their Values and history rather than their levels in Phaser skill or how much damage they can do with a punch based on their strength. However, when push comes to shove, members of Starfleet still need to step up and fight for what they believe in.
The game has excellent rules on how to handle conflicts of all sorts from political intrigues to bare-knuckle brawls, but for those fans coming from a more traditional RPG background or who really love a good tactical throwdown, they may be seeking battle rules with a little bit of crunch to them. Enter Star Trek Adventures: Red Alert, a tactical miniatures rules set from Modiphius for away team battles. This free PDF serves two purposes: to allow fans that invested in the excellent range of Star Trek Adventures minis play with them in a new way and to beta test these rules before their release in the Operations Division Handbook.
In addition to the miniatures, Red Alert also recommends the Star Trek Adventures tilesets, plenty of 20-sided dice, tokens to represent Momentum and Threat and the tokens included in the rules to represent cover and objectives. Fans fully vested in Star Trek Adventures will get the most out of the experience, but in many ways, the beta rules function like a cut down version of those rules.
Characters have the same attributes and disciplines. The focus may be on combat (and the Security discipline) but others are important for things like battlefield healing and completing objectives. Squads can be built for individual pieces to represent named characters like Worf or William Riker or they can be built as squads to represent unnamed threats like Klingon Warbands. Conflicts flow with each side alternating actions to inflict stress on opposing pieces. Unlike the RPG, when a piece takes enough stress, it is taken out. Range is determined quickly. If a piece is in the same zone in a tile, it’s in melee. If it’s on the same tile, it’s within range. Cover offers damage resistance and Jeffries Tubes allow for quick movement around the battlefield.
These rules are an excellent addition for Star Trek Adventures fans who want a meatier tactical element in their games, but they can also be an excellent introduction to the system that leads to the full game. The beta rules provide a small skirmish campaign about an attempted takeover of the NCC-1701-D by a group of Klingons. The branching story puts players in control of the Enterprise crew defending parts of the ship. Will you keep the Federation flagship out of enemy hands? Download Red Alert today for free and find out!
Do you prefer miniature or theater of the mind combat? Tell us in the comments! And be sure to tune into our Star Trek RPG show, Shield of Tomorrow on Geek & Sundry Twitch and Alpha every Friday starting at 4 PM PT, followed by our aftershow on Alpha, Behind The Shield, where the crew discusses the episode and other Star Trek topics.
Want more Star Trek goodness?
- For ship battles, here are some great Star Trek starship miniatures.
- Test your real-life command abilities with the Artemis simulator.
- Here are 5 things every beginning miniature painter should know.
Image Credits: CBS
Rob Wieland is an author, game designer and professional nerd. He writes about kaiju, Jedi, gangsters, elves and is a writer for the Star Trek Adventures RPG line. His blog is here, where he is currently reviewing classic Star Wars RPG adventures. His Twitter is here. His meat body can be found in scenic Milwaukee, WI.