By: Ken Whitehurst

“Greetings Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada.”
Starfighter, The Last Starfighter

Once in a while, a game comes around that truly takes the hobby in a new and exciting direction, or reveal a truly unique genre in their own right. The most famous examples include: Little Wars (Miniatures Wargames), Dungeons & Dragons (Role-Playing Games), Magic: The Gathering (Collectible Card Games), We The People (Card-Driven Wargames), Mage Knight (Collectible Pre-Painted Miniatures Games), and Pirates of the Spanish Main (Constructible Strategy Game). With Wormhole, the undeniably talented team of Denny Unger, Bob Cooper, and their crew at WorldWorks Games may have created such a game.

Like many great ideas, the concept behind Wormhole is simple. Wormhole is a miniatures wargame, played with miniatures you print onto cardstock and assemble yourself. The game is sold directly as a digital product from WorldWorks Games’ website. However, this is not your everyday print ‘n’ play black and white boardgame. Unlike other game downloads, Wormhole comes with an evocative graphical user interface (complete with ambient music on the PC only) that resembles an in-universe ship-board computer screen. From this interface, you can easily select which components you wish to view and/or print. The components come in PDF format, and can be printed as many times as you have cardstock and ink to support.

Wormhole allows you to recreate the battles between the Royalist and Separatist factions of the Sathricans, a space-faring race caught up in a dispute over the best way to preserve itself in the face of an unexplained destructive force known as the Pariyan Mega-Outburst. The two factions have splintered from the same society. Accordingly, both sides have access to the same fleet of spacecraft. In effect, there is little difference in the two sides of the conflict, except that the Royalists receive a free “Skilled Commander,” and the Separatists receive a free “Ace Fighters” upgrade for one of their squadrons. Royalists have a slight advantage in taking initiative, but Separatists gain a bonus to successfully navigate wormholes. The differences are minor, but do add enough interest to differentiate the otherwise identical fleets.

Components
“We’ve all got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Striker. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking and beeping and flashing - they’re flashing and they’re beeping. I can’t stand it anymore! They’re blinking and beeping and flashing! Why doesn’t somebody pull the plug?!” - Cdr. Buck Murdock, Airplane II: The Sequel

The Wormhole download contains a staggering amount of components, including:

• Rulebook
• Detailed Assembly Guide
• 6 different classes of vessel (both blue (Royalist) and Orange (Separatist)), including: Skirmish Fighters, Missile Fighters, Control Corvette, Particlebow Frigate, Convoy Carrier, and Hammerhead Battlecruiser
• TOS (Tactical Orders and Status) for each class of vessel
• Command Trays for organizing fighter and ship TOS
• Ruler
• Explosion and debris markers
• Wormholes
• Counters representing missile salvos, escape pods, shuttles, and Self-Destruct orders
• Data Inserts
• ModChips (for attaching data inserts to TOS)
• Data Cubes and Data Cubbies
• ID Numbers to differentiate units
• Data Cards for each class of ship

The Books
The rulebook is 51 full color pages, and richly illustrated with artwork, photographs, and plenty of gameplay examples. The page count is somewhat misleading as most pages contain very little text, opting for detailed photographic examples of each gameplay or other example. There are many parts of the rulebook where the pictures explain a situation far better, and quicker, than the text itself. The basic rules of the game occupy only 14 of these pages, and could probably be distilled to fewer than five. The remaining pages cover background, setup, advanced rules, scenarios (eight of them) and a glossary.

The assembly guide is very well written. It includes detailed step-by-step instructions for each component to be assembled. The instructions are accompanied by clear diagrams and photographs of each step of assembly. The PDF is well organized, and includes an index that links you directly to the particular section of the instructions you are looking for. I found it an invaluable resource while putting the review copy together, and referred to it constantly.

The Ships
The ships themselves come as individual PDFs, one per ship class, per faction. The smaller ships come three or more per three page PDF, often with extra bases. The larger capital ships are 1 per 5-6 page PDF. The renderings are highly detailed, and remind me of 3D computer game model skins. The ships are complete with subtle details and markings, and are colored to show lighting and shadow. They look like they came straight out of a video game or the CGI portion of your favorite science fiction movie or television show. Denny Unger’s illustration talents really show through here.

The Command Trays and TOS
Instead of elaborate record sheets and charts, the details and record keeping of Wormhole are maintained on a series of cardstock control panels called TOS: Tactical, Orders, and Status.Each commander will have one TOS for each ship (or fighter squadron) in his fleet. The TOS are arranged onto large (approx. 12″ x 9″) control panels, which allow the player, at a glance, to survey the status of his entire fleet.

The TOS are a bit fiddly at first, but they are so elegantly arranged that, once you get accustomed to them, they are indispensable. The TOS distill a lot of in-game information into a few colors and symbols.

The Other Components
The remaining components, including the data cards, counters, explosions, data inserts, etc., are all very nicely illustrated and contain all of the information needed to play the game. Overall, Wormhole has a very coherent look and feel, and the high quality iconography and illustrations carry over to the smallest of component details.

Assembly
Wormhole requires a substantial amount of up-front assembly effort to get to the table. First, you will need to print out the necessary components. My home printer is a fairly old colour inkjet. I had some serious concerns about whether it would hold up to page after page of black and full color printing. After a fresh set of cartridges, the printer performed admirably, albeit extremely slowly (minutes per page). Given the number of pages I would have to print, I obtained access to a full color laser printer. Printing became a snap, and the result was noticeably sharper, with a greater depth of colors.

I highly recommend finding a good quality laser printer for this game. That said, I was more than pleased with the results of my humble inkjet printer. If I had never seen the laser results, I would not have any concerns with the inkjet printouts. Judging from a quick scan of WorldWorks Games’ forums, advice exists for squeezing the best possible results out of every printer configuration imaginable.

Once printed, the various components must be cut out and scored. The appropriate score and cut lines are clearly marked on the pieces, and the accompanying instructions are very clear. The simplest ship to assemble is probably the Particlebow Frigate, which requires little more than folding over in half, gluing, and cutting out. The accompanying bases and stand is nearly as simple. A set of four Particlebows (one printing’s worth, with extra bases), took me less than an hour to assemble on the first attempt, complete with edging. “Edging” is the art of marking the white paper edges of the model with a black marker, which has the effect of significantly reducing the obvious foldlines and unsightly edges. Edging is tedious, but makes for a much nicer result.

The more complex vessels involved a bit more effort, including some tricky box folds and the simultaneous gluing of two or three tabs. All in all, I found the process enjoyable, and very forgiving. Most simple mistakes could be determined before the glue dried, and simply moved. Any slight overlaps or white edges could be trimmed away with scissors or sharp knife, or simply hidden with a black marker. The worst case scenario is, of course, to simply print another ship. This is a far superior solution than scrapping a ruined metal or plastic miniature and buying a second.

In the end, the initial assembly work is time-consuming. I assembled two 150 point fleets, including five fighter squadrons, four Particlebows, one Hammerhead, one carrier, two control corvettes, two command trays, thirteen TOS, thirteen data cubes, multiple data inserts and various markers (missiles, explosions, etc.). I didn’t clock myself, but it took me at least 5 or 6 nights of assembly, working two hours a night. Those without kids and those with kids old enough to be trusted with hobby knives may be more efficient.

Gameplay
“His pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking.”
Capt. Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The Wormhole rules were written with ease of play in mind. The core game mechanics are easy to learn. The designers have clearly chosen to make Wormhole more of a fun and cinematic space combat game, than a hardcore vector-physics simulation. Part and parcel of this choice is the decision to keep the game two-dimensional. In my experience, space combat gamers divide themselves sharply along the line between 2D and 3D movement in games. If you play space combat games, you already know which camp you fall into. In short, if you want a study in three-dimensional Newtonian physics, Wormhole is not the game for you. I, for one, prefer the simplicity of a two-dimensional system, as the reward of a full-3D simulation does not justify (to me) the calculations and record keeping necessary to track full 3D movement. Your mileage may vary.

Wormhole is played on a 30″ x 40″ tabletop. The game can be played in empty space, or with a number of wormholes, which allow your ships to teleport from point to point in a variety of interesting ways. The game download includes the wormhole templates, and their use is explained in the advanced rules section of the rulebook.

Setup
Fleet selection in Wormhole is based on points, and is very easy. The points value of each ship class is printed on its data card, and various upgrades, such as ace fighters, engineers, extra missile salvoes, etc., may be purchased for the point value indicated on the corresponding “data insert”, which is simply mounted on the ship’s TOS.

Once the players have selected their fleets and arranged their TOS and data cards in their command trays near the playing area, they roll for initiative. Ships are then placed on the table in an order dictated by their initiative statistic: more agile ships first, slower capital ships last. The players alternate, placing all initiative 5 ships, then initiative 4, etc. For each class of initiative, the player who won the initiative advantage roll places his ships second. When the ships are all placed the game turns begin.

Game turns in Wormhole are divided into a series of phases: Orders, Special Orders, Movement, Attack, and Cleanup. Each phase, except Cleanup, proceeds through the initiative bands, alternating between the players. The Orders phase begins, for example, with the non-advantage having ships in initiative class 0, and proceeds back and forth up to initiative class 5. The Special Orders phase then proceeds in the opposite order, starting at class 5 ships with initiative and alternating players and initiative classes back down to 0. Movement begins at initiative 0 and alternates back up to 5. Attacks begin with the class 5 ships, and proceed back down to 0. The rule book and the command tray used in play both include a clear diagram of the turn order and alternating initiative system.

Orders
“Action stations. Action stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill.”
Lt. Gaeta, Battlestar Galactica

In Wormhole you command a fleet of ships from the deck of a mighty command ship, which can be represented on the table, or off-board. As a result, the game does not force you to focus on the individual details of each ship in your fleet. The orders system really brings this perspective home. In the orders phase, the players alternate issuing orders to the ships in their fleet. Orders are represented by literally flipping various switches on each ship’s corresponding TOS. Each class of ship has its own unique panel of TOS switches, reflecting its capabilities in combat. The Particlebow Frigate, for example, can receive orders to move, attack, repair, and charge or fire (if already charged) its fusion-powered particlebow. The limitations of each class of ship are listed on its corresponding data card. For example, the Particlebow Frigate may not receive any other orders if ordered to charge its particlebow weapon. The ships, subject to certain exceptions, can typically receive multiple orders in their turn. The number (and type) of orders a ship may receive in a given turn decrease as the ships take damage. A badly damaged ship, for example, may be unable to move or attack, and thus be limited to receive only repair orders.

Special Orders
In this phase, all ships that received special orders in the Orders Phase resolve those orders. Continuing my example from above, a Particlebow Frigate ordered to charge its main weapon would, in this phase, resolve the order by flipping the Charged switch down on the ship’s TOS, indicating the weapon has been charged. Some special orders allow vessels to fire certain weapons, scramble enemy targeting systems, fire missile salvos, or initiate the ship’s self-destruct sequence.

Movement
Movement in Womhole is two-dimensional. The ships ordered to move are moved in the alternating initiative sequence. Once all the ships are moved, those with a second move order are moved again. For its move, a ship may turn once up to its turn radius, which is conveniently marked on its base, then move forward up to its full movement stat. Large capital ships have tight turning radii, and relatively short movement distances. Fighter squadrons have relatively short movement distances, but may turn up to 180 degrees. Additionally, they may move two (and even three, if they have the “Ace Fighters” mod) times per turn. Movement can be further complicated by the addition of the optional wormholes, which serve to teleport ships from one wormhole to another. The rules include options for damageable wormholes that become more unstable as the game progresses, as well as rules for linking multiple wormholes that don’t always teleport ships to the same place.

Attack
Attacks are resolved in the reverse initiative order of the movement phase. A vessel with an attack order may fire a weapon system with range to a target within its arc of fire. Arcs of fire are clearly marked on the ship’s base, and the relevant weapon statistics are shown on its data card. The attacker rolls a number of dice equivalent to its Damage (DMG) stat. For each 4+ roll, the target is “marked.” The target then rolls a die for each “mark,” hoping to beat its defensive value (DEF). Any “marks” not successfully defended become hits. Hits are recorded on the TOS. Each ship can absorb a certain amount of damage, but will eventually begin to degrade. The ship’s status will eventually fall into “powerloss,” then “damaged,” “crippled” and finally, destroyed. As the ships status degrades, various orders become unavailable, weapon systems lose range and effectiveness, and the ship loses velocity. There may come a point where the ship can do little more than drift and hope to succeed on a repair roll. Once the attacks are completed, there is a clean-up phase, and play returns to the orders phase, with initiative going to the side that caused more hits in the preceding turn.

All in all, the combat system of Wormhole is nothing particularly new or inventive. What is inventive, however, is the TOS system that tracks the relevant stats and changes in status of all of the ships on the table. As the game progresses, it is easy to tell at a glance how your fleet is faring. As your ships take on more and more damage, the tension mounts. This game lends itself to the sorts of dramatic dice rolls that, for me, make me love this hobby. Like a good epic space battle from the movies, the game often has one player praying the supercharged attack on his crippled battlercruiser is deflected, only to shout “I spit my last breath at thee” as it is destroyed. The beautiful TOS and coherent look and feel of the game only serve to further this feeling.

Conclusion
“Thank you for pressing the self destruct button.”
Mega-Maid, Spaceballs

When I first received Wormhole for this review, I had no experience with the hobby of cardstock modelling. I have been assembling and painting model kits and wargaming miniatures for over fifteen years, and I even did a two-year stint in architecture school. However, nothing prepared me for this. Cardstock modeling, like plastic modelling or wargaming, is a hobby unto itself. It has its own terminology of relevant skills, including “scoring,” “reverse scoring,” “sandwich folding,” “box folding,” and “edging.” It is, at first, a bit intimidating. To their credit, WorldWorks Games are aware of this initial hurdle.

The WorldWorks website contains a complete and thorough selection of instructional videos, along with an exhaustive discussion of nearly every issue in the forums. Not sure which glue is best? There’s a thread for that. Having trouble folding up your Hammerhead Battlecruiser? Check out the instructional video. WorldWorks Games’ devotion to this product is undeniable. Their website is an immense benefit to the enjoyment of Wormhole. I encountered both of these issues while working on this review, and was quickly rewarded with the tutorials and forum threads with minimal effort.

The initial investment in time to assemble the necessary game components to play is not unsubstantial, particularly if you are assembling both sides of the conflict. Once you have a few pieces under your belt, however, assembly moves fairly quickly. I found that assembling two fleets and the attendant TOS and data cubes became a bit tedious (particularly when edging them in black). Nevertheless, the process is rewarding, as you end up with a nice looking model fairly quickly, and with much less effort than cleaning, assembling, priming, painting, highlighting, decaling, basing, and sealing a metal miniature.

And here, it would seem, is the whole point of this game. In about ten man-hours (and probably less, I’m a bit slow), you can have an entire two-sided space battle game with an elaborate and useful recordkeeping system, and all the cards and markers you need and two sizeable fleets of perfectly rendered models. With little further effort, you can rapidly expand your fleets. Assembling and painting a comparable set of ships with anywhere near the level of detail shown on these ships would be very time consuming.

Wormhole succeeds in this respect: it makes a space battle look exactly the way they have been presented to us in the movies and on TV. It is not, and does not claim to be, a study in space combat. Wormhole is a game, and a fun game at that. Yes, there are definitely strategies to employ, and the vessels can be customized to a degree, but this is not Federation Commander or Saganami Island Tactical Simulator. In fact, it is in many ways more akin to Man o’ War than those games. The strategic possibilities in Wormhole will no doubt increase as additional ships and/or races become available, a possibility that WorldWorks Games has more than hinted at. Nevertheless, the six ships included with the game are quite different from one another, and each serve a unique purpose in the game. Will you come heavy with battlecruisers, or more agile, with a carrier and scores of fighter squadrons? It is definitely possibly to tailor a fleet to your preferences, and you can even add small tweaks, such as extra missile salvoes, engineers who are better at repairs, and ace pilots and commanders who can squeeze an extra move or attack out of their ships.

Wormhole is available for $25 (USD) as a direct download from WorldWorks Games. Without a doubt, $25 is a bargain for this game. Even figuring in the cost of printing (which, for me, was about $10 for a package of nice cardstock, plus $30 for recycled printer ink cartridges (not all of which were used), and a few spare pieces of black foamcore board), the game is a steal. Unlike other miniatures games, the cost (per figure) of Wormhole actually decreases as you assemble larger fleets, because there are no more figures to purchase. In a world where the price of metal is skyrocketing, the setup cost of plastic moulding is expensive, and the miniature manufacturers are raising their prices, WorldWorks Games is well poised to capitilize with the highest quality DIY game on the market.

WorldWorks Games maintains a free supplement to Wormhole on its website. On the same page, there is a free sample download of the Particlebow Frigate. If you are the sort to “try before you buy,” then this is your chance to test assemble one of the most common (and dangerous) ships in the game. The free download will give you a good taste of what to expect.

In summary, I highly recommend Wormhole to any fan of space opera / space combat movies (many of which are quoted in this review). Cook up a bowl of popcorn, pass out your beverage of choice, and start pushing some cardboard. I defy you to play this game without having at least one player quote some TV show or movie.

Pros

• Beautiful graphic presentation with a cinematic look and feel
• Innovative record-keeping system through command trays and TOS
• Unrivalled online support with forums, videos, and tutorials
• Uncomplicated gameplay, with a variety of add-ons to vary the experience
• Affordable price

Cons

• Initial set-up and assembly can be time consuming.
• Cardstock modeling may not appeal to traditional miniatures hobbyists
• Hardcore simulation fans will be disappointed by simple two-dimensional gameplay
• Only six different vessel classes currently available