gunshipI was more than a little bit excited when I received a copy of Gunship: First Strike in the mail. Upon opening the box, I was greeted with a ton of quality components. Quick note here, pretty much the only really negative thing I have to say about Gunship is about the cards. The cards are a bit flimsy, and don’t really fit in with the rest of the top notch components the game comes with.

Anyway, on to the game! The goal of the game is to destroy your opponent’s carrier. You do this by customizing your Gunship at the beginning of the game, and using a combination of your Gunship and fighters to weaken your opponent and making strafing runs on their carrier. Carriers also have a chance of just taking damage at the start of each round (which simulates the constant barrage of fire between both sides.)

The rules are written really well, and are pretty easy to pick up. Again, my game partner was my 7 year old, and after a few rounds of play he had the game down and was able to make decisions for himself. Decisions that led him to victory.

Combat is played out via a combination of cards and dice, so there’s a little luck there, but not enough to make it feel like the game comes down to chance die rolls. The game boils down to a fast-paced, constant stream of attacks between players.

Is it good. Yes. Yes it is. The game delivers what it promises. Space combat, and nothing but space combat. I look forward to eventually picking up the additions to the game, Gunship: Arsenal and the Gunship MKII.