Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set board game base set from Mantic Games, 2017 - Board game base set review

image © Mantic Games

Star Saga: The Eiras Contract is a futuristic board game from Mantic Games, set in the Warpath setting. It is a reimplementation of their earlier Project Pandora: Grim Cargo game. It was first produced in 2017.

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Details - Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set from Mantic Games

Board game base set: Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set

Product name: Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set, Product code: ?, Set type: Board game base set (Game base set), System: Star Saga system, Range: Warpath range - Star Saga range (Futuristic), Series: Warpath universe, Company: Mantic Games company, Production: 2017.11.30-2021-
Designer: Stewart Gibbs
Features: Miniatures

Players: 1-5

"Guide a team of mercenaries on a mission to retrieve stolen technology from a highly guarded research facility deep beneath the surface of the planet Eiras. In Star Saga you’ll take on platoons of minions and powerful alien bosses. You will quickly discover there’s more to your mission than a simple case of corporate espionage."

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Contents - Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set from Mantic Games

 image © Mantic Games

System

1x Star Saga Rulebook

1x Eiras Contract Mission Book

Card Counters and Templates

10x Star Saga dice

5x Attack dice

5x Defence dice

Over 130 Cards

Miniature figures

6 Plastic Mercenary Miniatures

1x Alyse

1x Captain Erika Dulinsky

1x Combat Utility Robot B07153 'Curby'

1x Francesco 'The Devil' Silvaggio

1x Ogan Helkkare

1x Wrath #2 with sword

5 Plastic Boss Miniatures

1x Dr. Lucas Koyner

1x Enforcer ES435 ‘Monarch’

1x Guard Commander Graves

1x Organic Data Storage Unit X-02-A

1x Plague Aberration (pre-assembled)

24 Plastic Minions

4x Lab Technician

2x Lab Technician #1

2x Lab Technician #2

6x Security Guard

2x Security Guard #1

2x Security Guard #2

2x Security Guard #3

6x Corporation Marine

2x GCPS Marine #1

2x GCPS Marine #2

2x GCPS Marine #3

2x Corporation Ranger

2x GCPS Ranger #1

2x Corporation Ranger with Flamer

2x GCPS Ranger with Flamer #1

4x Plague Victim

2x Plague Victim #1

2x Plague Victim #2

Miniature scenery

The Eiras Contract tiles

33 Double Sided Card Tiles

Star Saga doors set: 10 doors

2x Double Door #1

2x Double Door #2

2x Single Door #1

2x Single Door #2

2x Single Door #3

Star Saga scenery set: 26 pieces of scenery

2x Cabinet #1 - Laboratory Cabinet

2x Computer Terminal #1

2x Computer Terminal #2

2x Computer Terminal #3

2x Containment Tank #1

2x Crate #1

2x Crate #2 - Refrigeration Crate

2x Crate #3

2x Small Cabinet #1

2x Table #1

2x Table #2

2x Table #3

2x Weapons Locker #1

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Review - Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set from Mantic Games

Opening the package

Package: The box is big, sturdy. It looks good, but doesn't provide any additional extra beyond holding the game components. The insert is good, strong enough, although I couldn't figure out how should I organise the contents inside.

Rulebook: Read the Star Saga Rulebook review

Rules: Read the Star Saga board game system analysis

Scenarios: The missions are fine, there's a good variety in them.They usually include enough futuristic themes (computer hacking, hidden sentry guns, explosives) to make Star Saga different from fantasy dungeon crawlers.

Be prepared that the maps will take up a large space, and as you only reveal a small part of the map, you should try to set up the starting part in a way that will allow every additional part to fit on your table. It can be frustrating to move the map tiles with the minis and scenery on them.

There are a couple of hidden scenario rules that would be fine if this would be indicated. For example in Mission B you need to wait for a certain Event card to come up to finish the game, but this is not told in the scenario description. When we reached the end of the scenario, we tried to find out what is the end goal, but we couldn't find any. As there was no indication of an end objective, we concluded that this must be an error, and that reaching the Exit point with all characters will be the objective.

One of my problems is that you set up only a part of the map in the beginning, and add parts when the players progress. It takes some time to find the correct tile, as they are very similar in size and colour, and the scenario maps are not very helpful with this. Also, if you are playing full cooperative, it somewhat hinders the joy for the player who needs to set up the map.

Another thing I don't like is that while the box includes several boss miniatures, most of theml gets used only once. I feel they could receive more "screen time" if  not every boss would be there for a final boss fight. They could be just there to make the players job harder, or be there as a background menace to avoid. One of the bosses is just a giant monster, so it could be there in a couple of scenarios even if that specific creature was killed in a previous mission. If the others were also less specific - for example a "Lead Scientist" instead of the pretty unique "Doctor Koyner" -, you could include them easier.

Tiles: Read the The Eiras Contract tiles review

Miniatures: The minis are good, one piece casts. They are flexible, and I won't be afraid to give them to small kids. Unless they chew on them, there's no way they could damage the figures. The miniatures come in 3 colours. Blue is used for the heroes and most of the enemy bosses. Red is used for the minions. Gray is used for one of the bosses. If they used gray for all of the bosses, it would have been probably better. It's confusing to see blue minis on both sides, while you can't be sure which one belongs to your team, unless to check them separately.

Most of the miniatures and scenery from the first run of the game is bent. As they are made of PVC, you can heat them up in hot water or even with a hair dryer to fix them.

Scenery: The scenery is small, easy to topple and mess up. There's no way to attach them safely to each other or to the map tiles. It would be useful to have holes in the board, and pegs on the scenery to fit them.

Dice: Read the Star Saga dice review

Foreign editions:

• French
• Italian
• Spanish: Star Saga El Contrato de Eiras

Uses on the website

• Board game / Tactical skirmish game - Makettfesztivál Miskolc 2018 Star Saga games - Gameplay coverage

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Videos - Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set from Mantic Games

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Resources - Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set from Mantic Games

Official

Mantic Games: Star Saga: Official webpage.

Mantic Games: Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set: Official webpage for the product.

Kickstarter: Star Saga - The Sci-fi Dungeon Crawler by Mantic Games: The crowdfunding page for the game.

Mantic Forum: Star Saga: Official forum. (2021: The forum is offline.)

Mantic Games: Star Saga Ed1 v0 (2017) - Playtest rules (PDF)

Star Saga Fanatics Facebook group

Beasts of War: Star Saga articles

Preview - Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set

Mantic Games: Star Saga Kickstarter Trailer: Preview video.

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Buying the product - Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set from Mantic Games

Price

Base price (Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set)(2017): 80 EUR / 60 GBP / 85 USD

Where can you buy it?

Mantic Games: Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set: Official webpage for the product.

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Buy the Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set from Element Games (UK) -10%, ref. code:KAD935 Buy the Star Saga: The Eiras Contract from Firestorm Games (UK) -15% Buy the Star Saga: The Eiras Contract from Wayland Games (UK) -20% Buy the Star Saga: The Eiras Contract from Noble Knight Games (USA) -18% Buy board games from Book Depository

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Do you have Star Saga: The Eiras Contract Core Set board game from Mantic Games? How do you like it? Would you recommend them to others? Tell your opinion in the comments!