Core Space Expansions Preivew

Core Space by Battle Systems' is an adventure skirmish game. The Core Set offers an incredible and versatile experience, just like the scenery included in the set. Core Space has several expansions available, each adding its own new detail and variety of experience. If you're interested in learning more about Core Space, check out our On The Tabletop article here.

In this article, we're going to look at several Core Space expansions, and what they can add to your games.

Deluxe Rulebook

If you're looking for more depth for your games of Core Space, then your first stop should be the Deluxe rulebook. The Deluxe Rulebook contains everything in the softback rulebook in the core set, along with loads of other information to take your games to the next level.

The Deluxe Rulebook has the rules and information for the additional Purge units, Galactic Corps, Security Forces, and Criminal Gangs, along with the character backgrounds from all the currently released expansion packs, some of which we'll discuss below. If you want the official stat cards for each of those factions, you'll still need to pick up those expansion packs, but it does enable you to use your own miniatures, and the creation rules also included in the book to use those forces. It also means that if you have those factions, you don't need to carry around their individual expansion booklets as it's all included in this book.

Also included are advanced rules for taking your Core Space games beyond a skirmish game, into a deeper roleplaying experience. It included rules for adding a Games Master, who overseas the Purge, civilians and security units, along with the overall mission. It also includes details for deeper interaction with the terrain with multi-level terrain, climbing, and jumping, including leaping through windows. It also shows how to raise the difficulty in-game, adds in repair and injured character rules.

The most exciting part of the Deluxe Rulebook is the design elements. It includes the rules for creating your own missions, trader characters, civilians, enemies, and items. These can be combined with the Generation Boards that are available for Core Space or printed at home using the official online design tools.

The Deluxe rulebook closes with several pages of details of the Core Space setting and a handy Index (which is missing from the core set rulebook).

With the token sheet and dice available separately, you can just pick up the Deluxe Rulebook and start your games of Core Space, but the core set is incredible value with the miniatures, scenery and additional items like the Hostility Tracker and Purge stat cards.

If you're enjoying Core Space, then the Deluxe Rulebook is an essential purchase and adds a huge amount of depth and longevity to your games. Being able to create your own crews, and the advanced rules makes games even better than the already fantastic Core Set experience.

Crew Expansion Packs

The Core Space starter set comes with 2 crews and an additional 4 crews are available in separate boxes. These crews can be used in place of the starter set crews or added in for 3 or more player games. If you are looking to have more than 2 players, some additional crew boards will be required, and these can be purchased in packs of 4 (they also come with additional pegs for tracking health, ammo, and skills).

Each crew pack adds a unique crew, a new mission, and some extra equipment items.

4 crew packs are available:

• The Yamato
• The Poseidon
• The Skylark
• The Cygnus

As an example, in the Yamato Crew, they include a new class/species, the Merg. Merg's are strong, but unstable characters and require another trader to be a handler who must stay within range of them. If they don't, they suffer some disadvantages like having to act last. They have their own skill sheet for use in-game and can get access to the powerful Disconnect skill, which lets them move an additional 2 inches and roll 2 extra combat dice but become disconnected at the end of the turn.

The mission included in the Yamato set is set around getting hold of a Merg and is great for introducing the Yamato crew and can act as back-story into how they have a Merg on their crew.

Shootout at Zed's

Shootout at Zed's adds a huge amount of content to your games. It has additional scenery, with some interesting aspects such as Zed’s crows nest, which sits on the regular Core Space walls, a rounded secure room, and a bar. It also includes another sheet of cyberpunk walls, the same as those included with the core set, so that you don’t need to use your normal walls to build Zed’s scenery.

Also included are the rules for gang NPCs and series of missions at Zed’s. Zed’s gang can also be used as a crew in their own right, with their double-sided character cards and ship card included. It also includes some new items, event cards and civilians.

The Criminal Gang characters can be added to games as NPCs and operate slightly differently to civillians, adding another dimension to your games.

The rules for the gangs, and adding in the upper level are included in the booklet, so even if you don't have the Deluxe Ruleook, you can still use all the Shootout at Zed's components.

The Galactic Corps

The Galactic Corps expansion adds a huge amount of depth to Core Space games. 2 new types of NPCs are added with the Galactic Corps and Security Staff. Both of these new NPC types have different objectives. The Galactic Corps are after the Purge, but if they don’t have targets, the may find interest in what your traders are up to. The Security Staff are entirely interested in what the traders are up to, and will interrogate and seize equipment as they see fit. The Security Staff also have their own new dice which dictates how they will operate in the NPC phase.

These all add extra dimensions to your games and some very entertaining moments can be had if this is all combined with the gangers from Zeds.

The set also includes new scenery and a series of missions using the new forces, but they can be added to your regular games at the start, or spawned with the events cards that are included.

We're really enjoying Core Space. The core set has a lot of longevity, but these extra expansions add a huge amount of replayability to it. Adding all the expasions in to a 4-player game is insanity, but highly enjoyable insanity. The kind of insanity that gives you incredible tales that you remember and share, and relive and can't wait to play again.

We want to make a point here, that we managed to get the entire contents of the core set, 2 trader expansions, 8 extra character boards, Shootout at Zed's and the Galactic Corps into the core set box, whilst keeping all of the internal core set components. This is a huge plus for Battle Systems, and shows the level of detail they go to when creating their products. Being able to transport all this content around, in a single box is not something to be taken lightly.

The copies of the Core Space Expansions used in this article were provided by Battle Systems.

Have you played Core Space? Which is your favorite expansion? Let us know in the comments below.