High Frontier - Mars Report

IM on Ares Magazine Facebook page got me a (relatively) rapid reply.

I did change my address on the Kickstarter eight months ago and got my copy, so I don’t think that’s it.

I hope you get your copy soon!

Nothing for my copy bound for Oz yet, either.

Ares Mag said my AU copy should be posted by next weekend. Mind you, I’m guessing it was only the social media person saying they’d chase that up, but it’s better than nothing!

They got back to me with a Fedex tracking number, seems it’s due for delivery tomorrow! :) Shipped on 18/4, but I never received any notification.

Mine was delivered today.

Wow, that map!

Impressive isn’t it? You need some serious table for that!

There’s only 13 copies of High Frontier left with OSS and it’s selling fast. I couldn’t pull the trigger as the shipping charges to Asia is the same as the game itself! Why do so many board game companies hate Asia?? I want to use my own DHL account to import this game and see if I can discuss this with OSS but nobody’s in the office to pick up the phone now :(.

Well, got to play the new edition today. Full colonization game, 3 players. We finished, but it took quite a long time. I won through getting a bit lucky with a claim on a comet (I had a crappy robonaut, I had already claimed Ceres but I needed a D or V site). My plan was to just hop from comet to comet until I found something, and hit the first time. Took me forever to get my Bernal out there for a lab, but after that I get a Terawatt thruster up and running pretty quickly, and then I found any easy future (get a factory on the Jovian Trojans and the Greek Trojans, no epic hazard op required).

Fun!

I saw a copy of HF+Expansion (seems to be the first edition). I read somewhere, that the first edition has a solo component. Is it worth buying for that? I’ll never find someone here to play with, but I’m interested in the game.

No idea. I’ve never read the solo rules. It does seem like a game that would lend itself to solo play, if you were in to that sort of thing. At heart it is a race game (how fast can you meet the goals), so if just trying to do it as fast as you can (as opposed to faster than other players) appeals, it might work.

There are several solitaire scenarios in the original (with Colonization) print living rules (ie can be played with those components):


V. WERNER’S STAR, A 2-HR. SOLITAIRE VARIANT

Little Werner dreams of becoming an astronaut (or cosmonaut, taikonaut, etc.) and traveling to another star. Can this dream come true? Werner is represented by your crew card, and wins if he attains a TW thruster future before he dies of old age. Play with all modules and events.


V5. HERMES FALL (SOLITAIRE, SUPPORT MODULE)
Earth is threatened by the binary asteroid Hermes [expanded map], which has been calculated to impact in 23 turns. You must decommission a refinery (or mass driver thruster) plus its supports (except radiators, see O1) on both of them, before the sunspot disk passes the senility threshold for the second time. (The refineries represent mass drivers that gradually deflect the path of the twin asteroids away from Earth. Prospecting is unnecessary.).


V6. ANDY GRAHAM’S MARS FLOTILLA (SOLITAIRE)
This is a Solo Game to pass the time between playing High Frontier or to practice building rockets.

Objective. Make as many valid prospecting rockets as possible using just the High Frontier decks [Basic and Expanded] and the crew modules. To be considered a valid prospector, it must be able to travel to Phobos [a moon of Mars] and be able to prospect that site {Hydration 3, which all robonauts can prospect}. This requires two burns worth of fuel and (if the net thrust is less than two at Phobos) one step of lander fuel. Assume that all rockets are successfully boosted and fueled in LEO, and that they travel through the radiation belt safely. Likewise do not consider the success or failure of the prospecting roll. All the normal High Frontier rules for making a functional rocket apply. So support cards of the correct type and quantity must be in place. . In most cases the validity of a prospector will be self-evident but for some you may have to check the map.


V10. CEO SOLITAIRE (BY VICTOR CAMINHA)

At the end of a round which is marked with the “Senility” sign on the solar cycle, there is a high-level executive meeting, concerning whether the space program of the faction should continue or not. Unless the player keeps making significant achievements, the board will eventually decide to disband the program and it is game over. In order to keep playing, a player must score a minimum of victory points at the end of a directory meeting round. Winning occurs if the the player’s faction successfully creates a future.


Y. HIGH FRONTIER INTERSTELLAR SOLITAIRE (You will need a copy of the Interstellar Poster-Map, which includes the Starship Government, Event Table, and Rocket Diagrams. This map is available at Zazzle.

This one is basically a whole game unto itself that just requires a copy of HF:C and the additional Interstellar map - High Frontier Interstellar is a solitaire expansion to High Frontier Colonization that allows players to travel out of our solar system to the stars beyond. It can be played independently or as an extension of a standard (Colonization) game

There are three ways to start a game of High Frontier Interstellar:
• Quick Start, i.e. starting a fresh one-player game. Choose from one of two kinds of starship: a starship (Y.1A) or a beehive (Y.1B).
• Colonization Start (i.e. as a postscript to a High Frontier Colonization or Hermes Fall (V5) game, which can involve one or more players trying to get additional VP.) To enter the Interstellar Map during or after a High Frontier Colonization game, either move your rocket (using High Frontier rules) to one of the three Sol Exits (Y.1C) and convert it either into a starship per Y.1D or into a beehive ark per Y.1B.
• Colonization Cooperative Start. At the end of a Colonization Game, two or more players can join resources for an interstellar starshot. If this cooperative effort succeeds, the participating players can all combine their scores into one grand final score. For example, two losing players reaching a new star in a joint venture might overtake the VP leader


I think there is plenty of meat to keep you entertained as a soloist, if you can put in the effort in to learn it (it is more intimidating than difficult). And it is just so damn interesting in theme and mechanics that I personally think it is well worth it. I bought 2nd ed. with the intention of soloing it. I backed 3rd ed. for the same reason.

Of course you can always join a forum game as well. I think the one we ran here worked pretty well, Vassal quirks aside.

BTW, 1st and 2nd editions are almost identical. Minor map and card changes with most of the changes in the rules. I am almost certain playing 2nd ed. with 1st ed. components is a relative non-issue.

Oh wait up, let me clarify. I think it went something like this:

HF 1st ed
HF 1st ed:Expansion

HF 2nd ed (includes 1st ed Expansion)
HF:Colonization (basically a 2nd expansion)

If it is 1st ed and 1st ed expansion, I’d hold off as the game really needs Colonization to shine and pretty much all those solo variants use some or all the Colonization rules.

If it is 2nd ed and Colonization, go for it if the price is right.

Seems to have been the 2nd edition as it cam with Colonization, but… I was one hour late, it was already gone. Price was 75€ :-(

I’m read for that forum game now! I’m not volunteering to run it though :)

Has vassal/the 3rd ed module improved?

I might volunteer to run it if there’s interest!

There’s also a cyberboard version, but I’ve never used that nor I know if it’s friendlier than Vassal.

This poped up on the yahoo High Frontier group:

[quote][email protected]
[HighFrontier]
[email protected]
7:44 PM (23 minutes ago)
to HighFrontier

On September 1, 2014, I entered into a licensing agreement to allow Jon Compton of One Small Step Games (OSS) to publish the third edition of High Frontier. OSS initiated a Kickstarter campaign that successfully funded on August 1, 2015, and which the publisher is now delivering on.

On March 28, 2017, I directed my attorney to notify OSS of the termination of the license agreement under its own terms.

Although I am glad to hear that backers and other direct customers are receiving their copies of High Frontier (3rd Edition), reports have indicated various errata and numerous misprints on the cards, in the rulebooks, and on the box. Although I am disappointed both by the length of time it took for OSS to deliver and the apparent lack of attention to detail in the process, I would like to be clear that the licensing agreement was terminated for other reasons.

I would also like to clarify the following: after I delivered the original game files in 2015 to OSS for review and editing—the same files which Panda Game Manufacturing used to publish the second edition of High Frontier—OSS did not include me in the development of changes to High Frontier for the third edition. I attempted to contact OSS several times to provide input but was rebuffed with silence. Any implications that I willingly failed to participate in the development of the third edition are simply and categorically untrue.

OSS informed my attorney that it plans to correct the misprinted cards and send them to customers needing replacements at its expense. I have also read various reports of OSS promptly tending to replacement requests by customers with responsive customer service.

For those of you who have not received the signed game you have paid for, please contact Jon Compton directly. I have not been sent any games for signature, or indeed for any purpose.

Even with the errata in the third edition of High Frontier, I hope it will be eminently playable and that it will bring players many hours of intellectual exploration, joyful competition, and satisfaction. I also sincerely hope that the third edition turns out to improve upon the second edition, and I look forward to hearing from players about what they like in terms of the changes to the game and in its playability.

Thank you very much for your loyal support.
[/quote]

So it seems we might be seeing replacement cards after all!

UGGGGHHHHHHH. What a shitshow.

I do like the game though.

Alright, found a copy on eBay. First edition with expansion and colonization plus a map for interstellar. I’m rather intimidated by the rules because everyone says they are horribly written. As I want to play it solo there’s no one with whom I could learn the rules. Any tips for a newbie?