Asteroid Zero-Four is a science fiction board wargame published by Task Force Games in 1979.
Asteroid Zero-Four is a science fiction board wargame published by Task Force Games in 1979.
American and Soviet miners in the asteroid belt have been cut off from contact with Earth by solar flares, and become engaged in a nuclear war for dominance. [1]
The game is played with: [2]
During a turn,
At the end of the last turn, the player with the asteroid still best able to function as a mine is the winner. [2]
Although best known for their boxed game Starfleet Battles , Task Force Games started in 1979 by publishing a series of microgames designed by Stephen V. Cole, the second being Asteroid Zero-Four, released in 1979 with artwork by Alvin Belflower and Allen D. Eldridge. [3]
Task Force Games continued the same storyline in a sequel, Cerberus , in which the combined U.S.-Russia forces from Asteroid Zero-Four invade another planet. [4]
Task Force Games developed a 16K computer version of Asteroid Zero-Four. [5]
In the September 1979 edition of Dragon , Tim Kask compared Asteroid Zero-Four to Starfire , also published at the same time by Task Force Games, and found that Asteroid Zero-Four was "slightly more involved than Starfire" but promised to be excellent because both were designed by Stephen Cole.
In Ares Magazine #1 (March 1980), Steve List rated Asteroid Zero-Four at 6 out of 9, saying, "the key to the game is the static defenses; missiles to pick off the incoming ships at long range and lasers to swallow up those who close. Massed attacks are necessary to saturate these defenses. While this game is not particularly good science fiction, it is fun to play." [6]
In the September 1980 issue of The Space Gamer (Issue No. 31), Steve Winter found "Asteroid Zero-Four to be "an intelligent, challenging game. It takes nerves and strategy to play well. If you can handle the bookkeeping, this one will make you sweat." [1]
In the October 1980 issue of Fantastic , game designer Greg Costikyan wrote "If there is a fault, it lies in the lack of innovative design: the premise seems an attempt to rationalize using a carrier system for space combat. Thus, the premise comes after the fact, rather than being the basis for the design of the game. This, in fact, seems to be Task Force's usual problem: a lack of imagination." [7]
Alestair Brown in White Dwarf #22 (December 1980 – January 1981) gave it a 6, and said "verdicts ranged from almost total bewilderment ... to enthusiastic enjoyment". [8]
In Issue 35 of Phoenix , Richard Jordan found the missile damage resolution too time-consuming, and concluded "A good idea, although too much bookkeeping for my liking [...] For Sc-Fi buffs well worth looking at, and for Wargamers in general an excellent cobination of Strategy and Tactics." [2]
In Issue 27 of Simulacrum, Joe Scoleri commented, "At its core, Asteroid Zero-Four is a shoot-em-up slugfest. The victory conditions require you to blast the hell out of the mining operations on the opposing asteroid while trying to keep yours from being blasted as badly." Scoleri did note the relative complexity of the game compared to other microgames, saying, "Of course, the game's detail comes at a price. While not overly complex or onerous for its time, today’s gamers may find Asteroid Zero-Four too labor intensive for a pure slugfest style game. [9]
Ares was an American science fiction wargame magazine published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI), and then TSR, Inc., between 1980 and 1984. In addition to the articles, each issue contained a small science-fiction-themed board wargame.
Starfire is a board wargame simulating space warfare and empire building in the 23rd century, created by Stephen V. Cole in 1979.
The Creature That Ate Sheboygan is a science fiction board game released in 1979 by Simulations Publications (SPI). The game received good reviews and won an industry award.
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.
WarpWar is a science fiction board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1977 that simulates interstellar combat. It was the fourth in Metagaming's MicroGame series.
Melee is a board wargame designed by Steve Jackson, and released in 1977 by Metagaming Concepts. In 2019, Melee was revived and re-released by Steve Jackson Games.
Chitin: I is a science fiction microgame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1977 in which bands of intelligent insects vie for resources.
Belter, subtitled "Mining the Asteroids, 2076", is a science fiction board game published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1979.
Hot Spot is a science fiction board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1979 that simulates the battle for possession of a molten planet.
Double Star is a 1979 science fiction board wargame, designed by Marc Miller, and published by Game Designers' Workshop that simulates interplanetary warfare in a double-star solar system.
Cerberus is a science fiction board wargame published by Task Force Games in 1979.
Star Quest is a science fiction board game published by Operational Studies Group (OSG) in 1979.
Holy War is a science fiction board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1979 in which two groups battle each other inside a pocket universe.
Ice War is a board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1978 that hypothesizes a Eurasian attack against American oilfields in Alaska.
Black Hole is a science fiction board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1978 as part of its MicroGame line.
Invasion of the Air-eaters is a science fiction near-future board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1979 in which aliens invaders attempt to replace the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere with sulfur dioxide.
John Carter: Warlord of Mars is a two-player board game published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1979 that is based on the Barsoom novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs featuring the hero John Carter.
Rivets is a post-apocalyptic board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1977.
Prochorovka: Armor at Kursk is a board wargame published by Task Force Games in 1979 that attempts to simulate the 1943 Battle of Prokhorovka.
Escape from Altassar is a board game published by Task Force Games in 1982 that simulates an attempted escape by human prisoners from an alien penal colony.