They're also not terribly hard to put together, although a few of the Covenant craft did give me some trouble, leading to nasty scars on the surface of the minis from dripping glue.
The ships themselves look exactly like they do on the small screen. Working hand-in-hand with the Halo loremasters at 343 has paid tremendous dividends. What's even better is the attention to detail Spartan Games has lavished on these minis. But I can't stress enough just how much gameplay there is inside that one box. Yes, it's something like $120 here in the States. This grants the game many meaty, tactical options - even with just the starter set, The Fall of Reach. Simply building an army, for me at least, is an exciting way to spend an evening.Īnd all of this customization is done by simply swapping out the cards on a miniatures' platform, perhaps moving a ship from one platform to another. Or you can specialize each one, creating a tricked-out fleet purpose-built to do this one cool thing you've always wanted to try. You can do all of these things within one fleet, making it well-balanced and ready for any eventuality. Or you can opt for smaller, more nimble ships like frigates and cruisers in order to outmaneuver your opponent and hit them in the rear.
You can fill another battle group with bombers, and another with fighters to work in tandem to destroy the enemy in detail. You can double up on capital ships, creating a fearsome damage-dealing battle group. This gives would-be space admirals tremendous flexibility in how they comprise their fleets. Inside those ships are hangers, which you get to fill with your choice of fighters and bombers. Each battle group must have a capital ship, and may contain additional support ships. Before any dice can be rolled in anger, each side of the table must prepare their fleets, which are divided into battle groups. What makes Fleet Battles so special is its fleet building mechanic. Over the last month or two, I've been putting it through its paces and I'm fairly impressed with how it's holding up. Halo: Fleet Battles is about those ships, and it turned a lot of heads at this year's Gen Con convention.