It’s 1984, 3:30 PM, San Diego State University, myself and a group of other students gather regularly in our dorm lounge to watch a new anime called “Robotech.” Now it’s 2019, and this classic still holds its ground. Without Robotech Macross, there may not have been Neon Genesis Evangelion or Gundam.
Several different board games have come out in the Macross universe, but one that stands out to me is “Robotech Ace” pilot. Here you will see all the main heroes; Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes, Roy Fokker, Max and Miriya Sterling, Ben Dixon, Claudia Grant, and of Course Captain Gloval.
This is a very simple game, but with enough strategy to make it a challenge. In Ace pilot, 2-4 players are attempting to recruit the best pilots to destroy the most enemy ships aka the Zentrati. Each ship is worth points and the player with the most points wins.
To start, lay out the pilot cards, and take a number of enemy ship tokens based on the number of players. For 2 players, its 7 per stack. Place them in stacks filling out the token tray included. Shuffle the small deck of upgrade cards and take out the 5 custom dice. You are ready to start.
The game is played in several rounds before the ending event occurs and scores are determined.
To determine the first player, roll the 5 dice, and the one who has the most UN space force emblems goes first. Hand that player the first player token.
On a players turn they roll the 5 customized dice in an attempt to recruit pilots to attack the Zentrati grid. Each pilot attacks the grid in specific patterns and each pilot costs a specific dice pattern. If the dice match the pilot’s card, a player recruits that pilot. The pilot then deals damage to the grid.
Each Zentrati ship has a number of damage needed to destroy it. If the damage is equal or over the threshold, the ship is destroyed, the player collects the token for its point cost.
The game continues until one of the stacks in the grid is eliminated. Once this happens, all remaining players take their final turn. Each player then counts the number of victory points they have, and the player with the most is the winner.
After a player has finished recruiting and attacking, the pilots used are turned over and cannot be used again until the pilots refresh.
I enjoy this game for its ease of play, game time, and strategy. It’s a great filler or intro game for non-gamers. Fans of Robotech I’m sure you will enjoy it. The mechanics are easy to teach a new player.
Strategy wise, there is a lot going on this little game. Deciding whether to attack a lot of small ships or go for the big kill. But watch out, you may just leave enough damage that another player can come in and add the final kill, gaining points after all of your efforts.
A good player analyzes the grid seeing where they can acquire the most points based on the roll of their dice. The dice are the push your luck element, never knowing what you will roll and deciding who to recruit requires some thinking.
Overall Robotech Ace Pilot is a fun strategic game and one I recommend to fans of the series.
Radho of Radho runs through has a short video showing the game in action
https://youtu.be/rTgy_bURlak
Written by Ed Carter