Starships has been out for almost a year now, and I’m thinking I’m going to need a 2nd edition eventually. Right now, there aren’t that many changes in the pipeline, so I don’t feel a rush to get them done before a partial art refresh, which should be sometime in 2016.

Given that’s a year away, I figured I’d share the changes that are possible for 2nd edition.

First off, we finally found an error in the 1st edition. It’s in Section 18.4.5, “Evacuating a Station.” The attacker’s objective should be “Attack the Station” instead of “Attack the Convoy.” I doubt it’s affected anybody’s enjoyment of the game, but there’s an overlap between the erroneous scenario and “Blockade.”

As for possible 2nd edition changes, there’s going to be a name change. To make a long story short: when I first published Starships, Flagship Games was out of business; and their Starships! rules, out of print. Since I didn’t really like the name Jump War, I reverted to (Purple Fuzzy) Starships as the title. Then Starships! got bought/licensed by a new publisher, and came back into print. If that weren’t enough, there’s a new video game out — Sid Meier’s Starships — so a name change is inevitable.

I’ve got a new name, which will be the new title the 2nd Edition. If Wargame Vault works the way I think it does, those of you who bought through them will get the update.

The next change should be familiar to those of you who’ve played the the Battle of Ascension: the new special order, Mark A Target. So far, it’s playtested well, though the offensive mark might be too potent. (A –1 modifier to hit might be added.)

Finally, there is going to be a tweak to the interaction of escorts, squadrons, and point defense. I haven’t gotten around to wordsmithing the actual rules change, but it goes something like this: Escorts that provide point defense to its squadron will take damage from ordinance first. (This means that the attacker can no longer ignore escorts on attack, either.)

Without this rule, escorts have been protected from risk, and fighters became ineffective. With this rule, a squadron should still be able to repulse fighters, but the effort will attrit its escorts, making it easier for the next wave of fighters. It’s also more flavorful: who ever heard of an escort providing defense from behind a capital ship?