Gale Force Nine have revealed a HUGE IP that will be hitting the tabletop as a board game. This time it's Star Trek getting the tabletop treatment with their new title Ascendancy. Prepare to go where no man has gone before...

This is looking like a great game packed with really interesting mechanics. Now, to delve into what they've revealed from the box so far.

Command A Fleet Of Ships & More

One of the things that has become clear from looking at the game is that you'll be at the head of a fleet of ships traversing space in search of new worlds and of course clashing with the other factions in the game. Maybe you'll be able to find a peaceful solution to conflicts but it's always good to fire a few photon torpedo.

"Command starships, establish space lanes, construct starbases, and bring other systems under your banner. With more than 200 plastic miniatures and 30 star systems representing some of the Star Trek Galaxy's most notable planets and locations, Star Trek: Ascendancy puts the fate of the Galaxy in your hands."

Fun Fan-Service Components

One of the best things about the components we've seen so far, are those awesome consoles (you can see them below) for each of the factions which actually have little moving sliders allowing you to feel like you're actually working at a ships console. It's hard to resist making the noise.

Everything has been done to give the components the feel of a given faction. As you can see above they all have distinctive designs dropping you right into the world of Star Trek. Immersion is key to board games and Gale Force Nine are doing a good job of this with all of their IPs.

Explore The Stars

We were able to have a good chat with John Paul Brisigotti about Ascendancy a few months ago and he revealed to us the exciting prospect of taking our ships out to explore star systems.

One of the interesting mechanics that came up through out discussion with John Paul was the way in which the map is formed. Because of the node-like nature of the way systems are created you could create interesting and diverse looking tabletop spaces which will look different each time you put them down onto the table.

The game lends itself a little towards the expansive exploration that you see in the likes of Eclipse. Of course similarity this is a 4X game where you'll be exploring, exterminating, expanding and exploiting your foes.

Which Side Will You Choose?

Currently the game is three player (taking on the roles of the Federation, Romulans and Klingons) but there is plenty of room for expansion in this game with new races, new ship packs and more. There should be two more factions available as expansions at launch taking the player count up to give.

Imagine different scenarios and missions focused on the different TV shows...

Of course each of the factions are going to have their own way of playing (one imagines the Klingons might be a little bit focused on military!) but you could always try a different tact. Why not see how the Klingons fared if they were more focused on expansion and exploration?

Plastic Ships Galore

Another thing that Gale Force Nine have been getting right with their games is the plastic element. As well as the ships, which were always going to be exciting to see, we also have these fantastic node-based buildings allowing you to focus on the likes of science and military.

Star Trek is hard to get right in tabletop form given that is involves a lot of exploration as well as fighting but from what we heard this seems to mesh things together nicely.

There's plenty more details on the way about this game and we are discussing it on The Weekender this Saturday.

Go ahead and pre-order Star Trek: Ascendancy from their webstore now!

Stay tuned for more information!