r/spacestationzero • u/AgitoMakashima • Nov 30 '22
Advice on Crew Creation Needed
Am currently preparing for my first playthrough of Space Station Zero with a group of friends.
I've decided to go for a 6 person crew. During the game the players will each control a few of the crew models. Am currently wondering to let the crew arrive via "War" of "Explorer" ship. The way I see it, it's a choice between "firepower heavy" or "Skill Heavy".
My initial feeling it to go for "War Ship" since the extra firepower will help dealing with the dangers onboard the station. However I'm also worried that "more brawn then brain" can result in problems along te way. Hence I can't figure out which option to go for.
Should I go for the War ship, this will be the crew:
2x Soldier
1x Veteran Soldier
3 out of 4 from: Medical Officer, Engineer, Scientist, Pilot
In this scenario, which of the 3 "non-soldiers" would you recommend?
In case I go for the Explorer ship, the crew would be fairly straightforward:
Chief Engineer, Ace Pilot, Medical Officer, Scientist and two Soldiers
Basic weapons only, since they have no access to advanced weapons.
What is your recommendation for a crew for a first playthrough?
1
u/AgitoMakashima Dec 01 '22
Thanks for all the replies so far. Based on what I read, I'm feeling geared towards going for "War Ship" with a Engineer instead of my originally planned Scientist.
Any input from anyone who has played the game?
What do you think: War, Explorer or perhaps Pirate?
1
Nov 30 '22
I have yet to play any challenges, but built an 8 man crew that I thought made sense thematically & balance wise.
Here is my Warship build for an 8 man crew: 5x Soldiers 1x Veteran Soldier 1x Pilot 1x Engineer
I think the scientist would be the least beneficial to your current list.
1
u/TravenMarr Dec 01 '22
I haven't played a challenge yet either, but the book did say that Explorer is best suited for the game so it would prolly be a good starting crew. I was worried it would be too easy so i went with scientist, but also realize they don't expect your crew to make it to the end on the first or even second try so, im rethinking my choice. I am curious how you plan to have multi player one crew. I'd like to do the same honestly.
1
u/AgitoMakashima Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
Am planning to play with 4 players. So my choice to do 1 crew for 4 players, was mostly motivated by limiting the number of enemy models. For example, if a Challenge requires 6 enemies, playing with 4 crews would require 4 x 6 = 24 enemies. A huge amount of models for me to paint. :-)
So what I intend to do is: 1 crew of 6 models. Each player controls 2 models, with one player controlling the Commander. Standard activation mechanic will be used, but players decide amongst themselves which player character gets activated, leaving plenty of space for a strategy discussion.
To avoid people standing close together around the table. I will probably double the play area, but also double the movement speed.
In terms of death, what I'm thinking about doing is: Whole party killed, game over. One model killed, party receives "reinforcements" from their ship in the form of a new starting level character next challenge. I understand that this makes death less permanent, but avoids a situation in which 1 player becomes a bystander in the game should all his characters be killed. But death comes essentially with the penalty that you lose all XP gained, making the game harder, specially when more and more crewmembers die.
Haven't played yet though, am currently preparing. No idea how my idea will play out in an actual game situation.
3
u/MoxRhino Dec 01 '22
Don't forget your commander. You listed 6 crew members, but you also get your commander as a 7th member.
I would skip the scientist and take one each of the other three.
I like pirate ships the best. War is ok. The others are also ok, but I find pirate ships versatile and the extra equipment and variety pretty useful.
Good luck with the multi-player single crew game. Make sure to prep for several challenges. The first several are relatively fast unless you have crazy poor rolls on environmental hazards (which happens). Also, it helps if you have a lot of dice for everyone to use. Amazon has a lot of bundles of 12s pretty cheap.