Babylon 5 Wars

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Babylon 5 Wars (informally known as B5W) is a science fiction tabletop miniature wargame, produced by the gaming company Agents of Gaming. Play centers on miniature figurines based the TV show Babylon 5.

Contents

[edit] History

The first edition of the game was published in 1998. The two men responsible were Bruce Graw and Robert Glass. The original rules were very complex and the ship selection was very minimal.

The second edition was produced less than one year later. In it were several key rules revisions and clarifications. Some players were angry due to the double dipping of rulebooks, but most were happy with a now playable game.

Over the life span of the game many supplements were released. With the supplements many new races and ships came about.

Due to the cancellation of the Babylon 5 television show Agents of Gaming chose not to renew their contract. The game is officially dead with all unsold miniatures, molds, and books destroyed, and the new B5-based game being produced by Mongoose Publishing, an official comeback is unlikely.

However, a relatively strong player-base continues to produce new, free content for the game system.

[edit] Canon

Due to the close cooperation with the creators of the show, the Babylon 5 Wars material published by Agents of Gaming is considered canon by J. Michael Straczynski. [1]

[edit] Babylon 5 Wars, the Game

[edit] Overview

Each player assembles a fleet, represented by counters or miniatures, which equal to a set point limit. A player is generally limited to a single race to choose his ships. There is also a limit to ship usage based on fighter space, rarity, and year.

The game is broken down into turns. Each player interacts in a turn at the same time. A die roll with certain bonuses determines movement order. Actions such as drift; power usage, electronic warfare, thrust, and fighter operations must be done every turn. A turn can be very long and complex. Some turns can take up to hours depending on fleet sizes.

Supplied by supplements and rules expansions historic scenarios can also be played out. In a scenario, specific fleet composition is spelled out for each player along with map geography and objectives.

[edit] Collecting

Compared to other games in the tabletop miniature wargame genre the cost of a fighting force is relatively cheap. The majority of the ships published had associated minis made for them. A chronic problem with Agents of Gaming though was finding a reliable sculptor. Sometimes throughout the life of the game no miniatures would be released for months at a time.

The only current source for B5W miniatures is online auction houses and discount bins at local gaming stores. Mongoose gaming is now producing some of the line of miniatures using, in many cases, the exact same molds that Agents of Gaming used to produce them.

[edit] Modeling

A strong point of the game was its models. The ships were made with a high degree of quality. All ship models were released in pewter. Some ships were very large, taking up several base stands on the playing map.

[edit] Armies/Races/Species

[edit] External links

  • Babylon 5 Wars: official game site.
  • B5Wars.net: Formerly hosted by Agents of Gaming, this is a heavily trafficked forums site for the B5Wars game system.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Graw, B. and Glass, R.: "Babylon 5 Wars Second Edition Rules Compendium.", page 1. Agents of Gaming, 2000
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