Simviation Forums

Obviously enough, most of you people have already read the lost post regarding this tactical card game. However, that post is probably on the 2nd or 3rd page of this forum (called Favorite Card Games).

I like to go into a little more datail on the game.

How to win the game:

There are 3 victory conditions you can choose in order to win the game.

1. Standard Victory - The first player to conquer all of his opponent's homeworlds, wins the game.

2. Trancendent Victory - The first player reach a Tech (technology level) of 30 wins the game.

3. Alternate Victory - This is caused by the Advantage card that each player should have. These card can alter the rules for a victory condition.

Is there limit as to how many players can be in the game?

No. The minimum number of players needed is just 2. On average, there are 4 players in the game since there are only 4 different Alien Decks (The Muero, the the Dysori, the Humans, and the Soven) for a player to choose from.

However, it is possible for 2 or more players to represent the same alien race.

Can an Alien deck be modified like the Yu-gi-yo and Pokemon cards?

Yes. Each deck has a set of booster cards (cards that can be used by any player) that give the player more strength or tactics.

What can a hero card do?

Heroes have certain traits that can give them an advantage over your opponent's Heroes. They have these traits:

- Diplomat, Spy, Assassin, Explorer, Military, Oracle, Medic, Mechanic, Scientist, and so on.

What can Planet Cards do?

Planets are the backbone of your starsystem's economic strength. They work like factories. At the start of each turn, they produce Resources for you to use as expense.

If you lose some of your planets (because your opponent conquered them), you will begin to lose resources that are vital to your success in the game.

During the game, you can also modify the planets so that they can produce more resources faster.

That's all I can say for now (more info later).

Here is a set pics that can give you an idea on how the cards look like. These cards are from the Soven Deck.

The reason why I am posting this is kind of simple.

This tactical card game is not that well-known. It is not on advertisments or anything.

It is also (and possibly) the most complex card game ever.

So, what I'm trying to do is encourage people to know the game. It's not that I want you people to play it, it's that I suggest you play it.

There is a website that is already planning to host the game FIRESTORM. I heard that when it's finished, it will be available to anyone (just make a free registration) for on-line multiplay.

But since this is a complex game, I'm trying to get some of you people ready (if you like Collectable Card Games) if you really want to play it.

The website is www.ccgworkshop.com

For more info on game rules and tactics, go to www.thirdworldgames.com

I have carefully studied the rule book of the game. Trust me, you people won't be able to understand it at first sight.

That's also why I am posting this thread, so that I can simplify the rules and concepts for you.

Rules and concepts (continued)

Each turn is divided into 3 part (PHASES): Reset Phase, Main Phase, and End Phase. More of this later on.

How are each of the card's information setup?

1. At the upper-left corner of the card, there is a number inside a black circle. This is the card's resource cost. This is how much resources you need to cough up in order to use it.

2. Just next to the circle, you will see a small dot. The number of dots indicates how have commands you will have to cough up as well.

3. And next to that dot, you will see a number inside an orange circle. That tells you how high your technology level (Tech) has to be in order to use that card (no, you do not expend the amount of tech you have).

4. On the upper-right corner of the card, you will see a red box with a number in it. This is the card's Cosmic Value. It is a random number from 1 to 4. More on this later.

5. A lot of cards in the player's deck have red ovals with numbers on them. This is the card's statistic. More on this later.

6. Many cards (mainly Hero cards, Ships, and planets) will have a small list of traits printed on the side. This list describes the card's detail.

7. There is a small word at the upper-right corner (just below and to the right of the card's BOLD NAME) of the card. This tells you what type of card it is (ship, tactical, hero, planet, fate, support, alien, and advantage).

8. Each card will also have a symbol located at the lower-left corner (or on the side). It is a circular symbol. The card that you see above indicates that it is Soven. There are 5 different symbols of the game (4 of them represent each alien). Only one of them represents a Booster card.

9. And finally, the Bold letter text that you see below the card's image. This tells you what the card can do.

10. There is usually a word written at the start of the text with with 2 dots after it (ex: Combat: or Reset: or Any: and so on). This tells you when the card's action (effects) can be used. When it says Any:, it means that you can use at any phase of the turn.

Phases (in order from top to bottom) of each turn:

1. Reset
2. Main

At least Pokemon got a TV show.

There are 3 card piles in the game for every player.

The Draw pile: This is where you draw your cards.

The Recycle pile: If you have played Yu-gi-yo, you would call this a Graveyard. This is for cards that are TEMPORARALY out of the game. If you run out of cards in your draw pile, you can use the recycled cards as your new draw pile to keep the game going.

The Terminate pile: This is for cards that are PERMINANTLY out of the game. Fate cards will usually end up in this pile after being used. Other cards will instruct you to terminate a certain, and so on.

Just like Yu-gi-yo, you will have the so-called HAND.

However, your Maximum hand size will be up to 6 cards. Once you have placed a card on the field from your hand, draw a card from the Draw pile to fill up your hand back up to 6.

Review:

There are 4 different kinds of decks. Each represents an Alien (along with boster cards). Here is a small list of the decks in order of strength from top to bottom:

1. The Muero
2. The Dysori
3. The Humans
5. The Soven

Rules on deck-construction:

1. You must have a minimum of 50 cards in your deck (including the one required card, see below).
2. One of you planets must have a Homeworld trait (this is your starting planet).
3. You can only have a maximum of 3 copies of any particalur card by card name (ex: 3 Gaurdian Platforms).
4. You cannot have more than 1 copy a any card that has the Restricted trait or the Unique trait (this includes fate cards).
5. You can only have 1 fate card for every 10 regular cards in your deck (ex: 50 cards will yield 5 fate cards).


Information of the Alien card:

The Alien card tells you what alien you will be representing during the game.

1. The printed Tech level (printed in the ovals) tells you what Technology level you will start with.
2. The printed Resource (printed in the ovals) tells how many resources you will start with. I will soon explain more about this statistic because it get confusing after this.
3. The Symbol tells you the alien represents.
5. The Bold Card Name at the top is the name of the Alien.
6. The printed Commands (printed in the ovals) tells you how many commands you will start with.

The Alien Card (continued)

There is something I must be clear about regarding the starting resource statistic on this particular type of card.

The Resource number printed in the oval is how much you will have to spend in order to PURCHASE your planets. I think I know the reason for this, but later on that.

Each planet has the printed Resource Cost at the top. The combined cost of all your planets you wish to purchase CANNOT exceed the starting resource statistic printed on your Alien card.

It is recommended that you purchase all of your planets because any starting resources (RES) left over will be automatically lost at the start of the game.

However, you don't have to purchase all the planets in your deck. You save some planets by not purchasing them and storing them in you draw pile so that they be later deployed.

Careful note: If you draw out one of your unused planets, and you wish to deploy during the main phase of either the turn you're on or the next one, this is what happens.

A) Pay the costs as usual.
B) The planet that you deploy must be placed outside any player's Starsystem (Including yours) because it will be designated as an UNEXPLORED planet and it will also begin it own seperate starsystem.

Note: Unexplored planets are considered PUBLIC property (that planet is up grabs) until they are explored. If you manage to explore those planets (at least one of them), you will be able to gain Tech very quickly (this can help you for your Trancendent Victory).

To explore an unexplored planet, you should deploy a ship that has an Explore:X (where X is a number) trait listed. When ever the Main phase comes up, you have the chance to starting moving your ship to that planet (more on ship-movement later).

Once you have reached that planet, you can issue 1 command and then turning any number of ships or heroes you control with the Explore:X trait. The combined X value will be how much you will be able to extract Tech from that planet.

Example: If a ship with Explore:3 trait reaches an unexplored planet with a printed tech (in the oval) of 5, turn the ship to extract 3 tech levels from the planet (the planet now has a printed tech of 2).

But: If a ship with a Explore:3 trait reaches a planet with a tech of 2, the ship will only be able to extract 2 tech levels.

I'm starting to get a little bit tired (my fingers, actually) of typing the entire set of instructions. But I'm still willing to make this one last set.

The fun part of the game. COMBAT!!!!

This is one of the most exciting parts of Firestorm. Here, you will see 3 kinds of Combat: Ship-to-Ship, Hero-to-Hero, and Ship-to-Planet.

SHIP-TO-SHIP Combat:

Attacker Declaration: You have 2 ways of declaring combat (attack) against your opponent's ship.

1) Issue 1 command, move your attacking ship to the location of your target ship, then declare the attack.

2) If you are in the same location as your opponent's ship, issue 1 command and declare the attack on that ship (your target).

***Automatic Actions for Ship-to-ship combat***

What the attacker does:

1. Choose any number of ships (yours) that are Adjacent (next to) to location of combat and move them to the combat area (where your attacking ship is).

2. Choose any number of ships (yours) that are IN the location of combat.

2. Starting from the person to your left, you can ask a player to help you in combat (if he accepts, he will be your Attack-Support (or just Support).

What the Defender does:

1. You gather up your forces using the same steps mentioned above.

2. The player that helps you will be you Defense-Support.

***Battle***

Starting from the Attacker and moving to the next player (Clockwise), the attacker and other players can perform a Combat action (such as firing your ship's GUNS). The defender can fire back as well (when it's his chance to perform the action).

RULE: A player can't attack a ship that has already been attacked by someone else in this TURN.

When all players pass consecutively, the combat subphase ends (and you move on to the END phase).

The damage inflicted by the Guns (1st value on the ship's printed COMBAT statistic) will reduce the target ship's printed STRUCTURE statistic.
HERO-TO-HERO Combat:

This kind of combat only involves 2 players and NO supporters (this is a personal fight).

How to declare a Hero combat:

1. Just simply say which hero (your target) you want to attack and which hero (yours) you will use to attack that hero.

***Automatic Actions for Hero-to-Hero combat***

1. Both players will draw a card from their draw pile (kept FACE-DOWN) and place it next to their own hero (the ones that will fight).

2. Flip the cards over to reveal them. Look for the card's Cosmic Value (upper-right corner of the flipped card).

3. The Attacker will ADD his value to the COMBAT statistic printed on his attacking hero.

4. The Defender will then SUBSTRACT his value from the attacking hero's Combat statistic.

5. How much the attacking hero has left will be how much damage that hero will inflict on the LIFE statistic printed on the Defending hero.

If the defending hero survives the first blow, the defending hero now becomes the attacker while the attacking hero becomes the defender.

Note: Both heroes will continue to attack each other until one of the hero's LIFE statistic drops to "0".

Note: Whenever a ship's STRUCTURE is down to 0, or when a hero's LIFE is down to 0, those cards will be sent to the RECYCLE pile unless the card's text say otherwise.

I have found a link that provide a lot of information (resources) of the game including a full manual of the game.

http://www.thirdworldgames.com/html/fs_re/

This is as far as I can tell you before my fingers die on me.

Here is a pic of one of the heroes that is not included in the Human Deck (the symbol for the Humans is a Dark Fist surrounded by a blue background).

This image was gathered from Third World Games' website. If you read the text carefully, you will see that this card has some very nice features.


According to Third World Games' website, this is a Promo card (Promotional) that is available for free to anyone who is interested in having this card on their Human deck.

Just simply print out the card (save this image first).

Note: Third World Gmaes, Inc. advises everyone that this card should be wrapped in a card sleeve. In fact, they recommend that all other regular card in the game be put inside card sleeves as well.

Here is a pic I made that shows how the planets are laid out.

If you notice, each player is only limited to a maximum of 6 different planets in their star system. Each player is required to have a planet that has the Homeworld trait printed on it. Also notice that the planets are laid out in letter-order.


What else can a Hero card do?

1. They can destroy your opponent's ships.
2. They can alter the rules of the game.
3. They can enhance the guns of the ships that you control.
4. They can enhance the Combat, Life, and Influence of other heroes that you control.
5. They can protect other heroes.
6. If they have the Spy trait, they can ride on any ship that is controled by your enemy.

What can support cards do?

1. They enhance the guns, shields, structure, or energy of any ship that you control (retrofits)
2. They can add weapons to your planets (installations)
3. They can add special abilities to your heroes (gears)

What can Advantage cards do?

1. They can GREATLY alter the victory conditions of the game (this only works for you, not your enemies).
2. They improve your ships or tactics.

What can ship cards do?

1. They can destroy ships and planets.
2. They can ride on bigger ships as if the big ships are carriers.

Firestorm is a really good tactical card game for those who have a military mind and want to put those minds to the test.

This game can last for hours.