XCOM, is a science fiction video game franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with countering alien invasions of Earth. The series began with the strategy video game X-COM: UFO Defense created by Julian Gollop's Mythos Games and MicroProse in 1994. The original lineup by MicroProse included six published and at least two canceled games, as well as two novels. The X-COM series, in particular its original entry, achieved a sizable cult following and has influenced many other video games; including the creation of a number of clones, spiritual successors, and unofficial remakes.
Star Fleet Battles (SFB) is a tactical board wargame set in an offshoot of the Star Trek setting called the Star Fleet Universe. Originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole, it has had four major editions. The current edition is published by Amarillo Design Bureau as Star Fleet Battles, Captain's Edition.
4X is a subgenre of strategy-based computer and board games, and includes both turn-based and real-time strategy titles. The gameplay generally involves building an empire. Emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of military and non-military routes to supremacy.
Federation and Empire (F&E) is a strategic-level board wargame set in the fictional Star Fleet Universe spinoff of Star Trek, currently published by Amarillo Design Bureau Inc. (ADB). It is a stand-alone product, but has sometimes been considered the official campaign generator for Star Fleet Battles.
Prime Directive is a role-playing game set in the Star Trek-derived Star Fleet Universe. The game has gone through two different incarnations.
GURPS Prime Directive is a sourcebook for GURPS, first published in 2002. It is named after the Prime Directive in Star Trek, the universe it adapts. It spawned several associated sourcebooks.
Federation Commander is a tactical starship combat board wargame system, produced and developed by Amarillo Design Bureau Inc. (ADB) It is designed to represent combat between vessels of various factions in the Star Fleet Universe, such as the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. The Star Fleet Universe is based upon a licence to use properties in the fictional Star Trek universe as it stood in 1979. Thus it includes the original series and the animated series as well as fan contributions but diverges from then and does not include anything from the movies or any subsequent television series. Much of the combat in Federation Commander is said to take place around the time of the fictional "General War", a large scale conflict in the Milky Way that involved prolonged conflict between a multitude of star-faring cultures.
Starfire is a board wargame simulating space warfare and empire building in the 23rd century, created by Stephen V. Cole in 1979.
Star Fleet Battle Force is a card-based starship combat game system, produced and developed by Amarillo Design Bureau Inc. It allows fast-paced multiplayer combat between vessels of various factions in the Star Fleet Universe, such as the Federation, the Klingon and Romulan Empires, the Gorn Confederation, Kzinti Hegemony, Tholian Holdfast and Orion Pirates. The game is based on the races that appear in the original Star Trek television series.
[Star Fleet Battle Force] is a very intrigu[ing] mix of rules that simplify miniature space based games while maintaining a level of detail that preserves the flavor and excitement of the Star Fleet universe.
Task Force Games was a game company started in 1979 by Allen Eldridge and Stephen V. Cole. TFG published many games, most notably including both Star Fleet Battles and the Starfire series of games, which were later novelized by David Weber into such books as In Death Ground, The Shiva Option and Insurrection. Eldridge sold the company to New World Computing in 1988, which became a division of The 3DO Company in 1996 and went out of business in 2003.
Stephen V. Cole is an American game designer and the CEO of Amarillo Design Bureau which publishes Star Fleet Battles, Federation and Empire, Federation Commander, Prime Directive, and other wargames set in the Star Fleet Universe. ADB became ADB, Inc., in 1999.
Strategy is a major video game genre that emphasizes thinking and planning over direct instant action in order to achieve victory. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, as a genre, strategy games are most commonly defined as those with a primary focus on high-level strategy, logistics and resource management. They are also usually divided into two main sub-categories: turn-based and real-time, but there are also many strategy cross/sub-genres that feature additional elements such as tactics, diplomacy, economics and exploration.
A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby developed in 1954 following the publication and commercial success of Tactics. The board wargaming hobby continues to enjoy a sizeable following, with a number of game publishers and gaming conventions dedicated to the hobby both in the English-speaking world and further afield.
Allen D. Eldridge is a game designer who has worked primarily on board games.
Federation Space is a Star Trek-based space naval combat board game published by Task Force Games in 1981.
JagdPanther is a game magazine that was published from 1973 to 1976.
Star Fleet Battles: Commander's SSD Book is a series of nine separate supplements published by Amarillo Design Bureau from 1983 to 1987 for the tactical science fiction wargame Star Fleet Battles, which was based on Star Trek.
