"Space, the final frontier - to boldly go where no man has gone before." These are the words that we have come to know from countless episodes of Star Trek. Well, who would have ever thought these words would apply to a game on Pax Britannica in the year 1889, when the frontier in questions the red planet Mars? Sounds bizarre? You bet you.

The folks at GDW have created a new setting for a host of role-playing and science fiction games based on this very concept. It is obviously intended to attract new gamers to a different kind of gaming experience. Even though some of the games offered include ship-to-ship combat, hard core wargamers will probably be turned off. Space 1889 is a far cry from Russian front games. True wargaming it is not. However, it will definitely interest those with open minds and/or who have a yearning for something different. At the very least, it should raise some curiosity with a new game system, which might be the rage in years to come. Its originality certainly warrants attention.

So what exactly is the premise for this outrageous game setting? Lets take a look at a few of the historical notes that accompany in the game manual:

1868:	Thomas Edison patents the first working ether flyer.
1870:	Edison Martian expedition returns from Mars in an ether flyer.
1872:	British establish their first base on Mars.
1874:	Belgians and French establish bases on Mars.
1880:	Germans establish base on Venus.
1885:	Edison's patent expires. The Golden Age of Exploration begins.
1889:	Queen Victoria's Royal Navy patrols the skies of Mars.

There you have it. This little bit of creative work has spawned the game this article focuses on, Sky Galleons of Mars.

A quick look at the outside of the game's box reveals a game with plastic molded miniatures. The miniatures represent British and Continental European gunboats and Martian screw galleys. There are also an assortment of information and miscellaneous counters provided with the game.

Despite the accompanying diagrams that promised quick and easy assembly of the molded pieces, I experienced a bit of difficulty with mine. However, with a sharp knife in one hand and a container of Œcrazy glue' in the other, I managed to put the ships together. For the more adventurous, the brown and grey miniatures beg for painting. For those like myself, the trouble of assembling the contraptions warranted enough preliminary distractions.

The miniature ships are functional. A nice touch to the game pieces is that each airship comes complete with its own pedestal stand. The effect is impressive. They actually look like ships flying through the air. A closer look at each pedestal will reveal a hexagonally shaped stand. The reason? When one is moving his airships he can orient the base to the actual direction of each ship's movement. Nice touch, my pith helmet off to GDW. This minor detail cuts down on needless references to a ship's actual direction.

Anyway, before we proceed any further let us delineate the progression of this article. It presents a discussion of the basic rules followed by some of the scenarios, and then concludes with an overall appraisal of the game. Let us begin.

The sequence of play is deceivingly simple. Each turn is composed of three phases: initiative, first player, and second player. Additional players can be added after the second player's phase. A roll, high roll determining the order of play, determines initiative. Everything so far seems straightforward. Well it isn't. Unless the players are willing to make up a chart they will be in for some rough times, especially when five or six players are involved. Let me explain. First of all, each player's phase is made up of two different segments. A player will move, fire at his opponents and then wait for their return fire. Secondly, a gun fired in the first phase will not be allowed to fire in the second phase of a turn. The problem here is that in multi-player scenarios, such as scenario one, there is a possibility that there will be a lot of different ships involved. Keeping track of who fired at whom and in which phase is confusing. Also, distinguishing when a turn and/or phase has begun or ended can be really trying. The solution? Come up with a chart for each player, which will allow a quick reference in case of disputes. Once such a chart is devised (or if play is limited to two or three players) there should be few problems.

As in other tactical naval games facing is important. Stern, port, bow and starboard are distinguished and should be familiar to most naval gamers. To move, a player will usually expend one point to either move forward, descend, ascend or change facing, if allowed. The possibilities of in air collisions are also discussed. Collisions are, by the way, highly possible, especially when a player is desperate and tries to deliberately ram an enemy ship. Altitude is very important to movement and combatŠit is to a ship's advantage to be at the same or higher level than an opponent(s). If it is not and tries to fire at an enemy warship cruising at higher altitude than itself ­ good luck, it will need it. There are four possible altitudes: high, medium, low and very low. As ships take damage they will be compelled to drop altitudes and even risk crash landings. As expected, there are various penalties and rewards for movement and combat, depending on the board. To determine what the altitudes are for each player, the game provides counters. These are placed on the base of each miniature ship.

The essence of the game lies in the fun combat can bring. All players can fire at their adversaries at the end of each movement phase. However each weapon can only fire once per turn. It is essential that players keep track of their rate of fire as the game progresses. This is especially important for one's survival. A player does not want to be caught in the crossfire of two opponents and denied the ability to return fire. I knowŠ I experienced that very situation in my first game. The result? A ship with two fires raging, and a gun knocked out. However in a multi-player scenario a ship's plight can be shared by all. In the basic scenario there can only be one winner (survivor?). Every one will be forced to fight whether they want to o not. To continue, each weapon has a limited arc of fire, a penetration value, a damage value, a rate of fire, and a range. Weapons hit at close range with a roll of 3,4,5 or 6. When at long range they only hit with a roll of 5 or 6. Once a hit is made, play goes to the Hit Location Chart. The player rolls a die and damage is taken in either the hull, the crew, a gun, or worse yet, as a critical hit. If the ship is the victim of too many critical hits its playing days are numbered.

What is a critical hit? Critical hits include an exploding magazine, a fire, dead crewmen, jammed rudders and/or lifters, and loss of trim (total loss of ship control). Of note, the latter three items are critical to a player's ability to move and/or fight. What is worse is that once a ship is caught in this type of vulnerable position its opponent(s) will usually jump at him like a pack of wild wolves. If damaged, a ship's best bet is to maintain a higher altitude than anyone else - not always possible - and stay out of trouble.

Once a player has mastered the basic game and achieved survival he can move on to the advanced rules and really test the system. Be wary though... there is a lot to read through. Triflers should not bother at all.

Advanced Rules The turn sequence in the advanced version looks something like this:

Initiative Phase: Increase all fires Change crew assignments Declare ramming/grappling attempts Determine player with initiative

First Player Movement Phase: First Player Moves First player resolves ramming/grappling attempts Both players fire First player resolves boarding actions First player conducts repairs

Second Player Movement Phase: Second Player Moves Second player resolves ramming/grappling attempts Both players fire Second player resolves boarding actions Second player conducts repairs

As you can see, it is a bit more detailed than the basic game. Now, it's obvious that the advanced game requires a lot more time. As a side note here, I highly recommend that each player controls only one ship, if possible. This makes it easier to keep track of the game sequence. For example, in Scenario #7 the British player starts off with three ships, fighting against eight Martian ships. This scenario will be a lot more fun if you can split the eleven ships between four or five players. As an option here you might stipulate that friendly players can only communicate during a designated time of play. This will add some element of suspense to each turn.

Sky Galleons also includes additional rules to reflect the importance of armor and show weapons penetration value. Generally, if a ship's armor is of greater value than the gun firing at it, less damage is inflicted upon it. To be more Œrealistic' there are limitations put on damage taken depending upon what part of the ship is hit.

By the way, I qualified the last sentence because, really, when you stop to think about it, how realistic can you get with a game with such an outrageous premise? I must admit that for an old wargamer I found some of the action in the first scenario to be quite fun. Hey, it's great to see your opponent go down in flames; especially when they initiated the combat. However, let's not get carried away. The game was fun because I dropped a lot of the extra rules. Maybe it doesn't reflect on the system at all, but regardless of the games played, most of Sky Galleon's players regarded it as merely a break from our regular wargaming. It was not hailed as the new rage of our future gaming sessions.

To clarify the previous points, consider that the game offers a plethora of additional rules to develop out the system. Sky Galleon's advanced rules to introduce ramming, grappling, towing, boarding actions, small arms fire, marines, signal communications, torpedoes, mines, air-to-ground-combat and the optional line of sight rules. Of course, there's even more. For those really deep into it, there are rules to play a campaign game. In the campaign game, players will be able to wage war and trade goods on a strategic level game. As well, for those who love to determine their own fate, there are even rules to build their own ships. And, get this, a player can, if he wishes, custom design his own fleet of ships.

Let's take a look at some of the most interesting aspects of the above rules.

BOARDING: In the basic game, players can loose if they take too many crew hits. However, in the advanced game, the crew takes on a new importance. Each player can form a boarding party in the initiative phase of each turn. Now, assuming that the player that forms a boarding party also has successfully grappled with an enemy ship (thereby allowing him to board), he can board it. To attain control of the ship, a boarding party must kill of all the defenders on the deck level of the ship. This is accomplished by rolling a six for each boarding party member. Both the defender and the boarding party trade shots until one side achieves control. Officers get to roll on a 5 or 6 to get hits giving them an extra edge. The catch here is that if a boarding party ends a phase without a living officer they must retreat to their own ship. Conversely, if the defender is caught without an officer they surrender. Obviously, then, the loss of crewmen, especially officers in combat can prove fatal in the long run. Further, the game system forces players to plan for the limits and abilities of their own ships. In multi-ship games it is usually wiser for ships with depleted crews to fight at long range.

SMALL ARMS FIRE: Only vessels that carry marines and/or have anti-personne; weapons suffer the effects of small arms fire. Dice are thrown to determine the resulting casualties. The number needed to hit an opponent is either a 5 or 6 depending on the range involved. The number of dice thrown is also dependent on the types of weapons used.

Modern Rifles:	1 die per 2 marines firing.
Bows:	1 die per 3 marines firing.
Muskets:	1 die per 3 marines firing.
Rifled Muskets:	1 die per 4 marines firing.

Once the hits have been determined the player suffering the casualties gets to roll dice equal to the number of hits suffered. On a roll of 1 or 2 per die, casualties are ignored. Question: why on earth do the players have to go through the two steps when essentially only one step was needed? Couldn't the last step be factored into the previous one? It sure would save a lot of die rolling. (This seems to be a carry over from the "saving throw" rules of miniature gaming... ed.) The added chance to cause personnel losses at close range will deter a lot of would-be boarders. Certainly a ship with less than an ample allotment of crewmen will think twice before attempting to board.

THE BOTTOM LINE