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Ares Nr.1 World Killer 

The Game of Planetary Assault 

World Killer is a simulation of the classic science fiction theme of planetary assault. In the standard scenario, one Player commands the ships and orbital fortresses of the defending human forces; and the other Player commands the ships of the marauding alien force. Beyond the standard scenario there are provided additional rules and types of ships in order that play might be varied and scenarios of the Players' own devising be gamed. 

Ares Nr. 2 The Wreck of the BSM Pandora

As Pandora enters FTL mode, the nearby blue-white Wolf-Rayt star emits a powerful burst of near ultraviolet radiation.  Pandora's computer has placed the ship too close to the pulse and the results are catastrophic. All over the ship, electronic components are burned out. Systems begin to fail, first the primaries, then the backups. As the shaken crew members begin to regain consciousness of their surroundings, they can hear the ship's distress beacon playing repeatedly over the intercom: "BSM Pandora calling. Rescue alert. Position approximate at 339317987 714. Autostatis red: Out of FTL. Out of stasis. Power down. Nav down. Envio down. Con down. Comp down. Ship approaching cold shutdown... BSM Pandora call­ing. Rescue..."

Ares Nr. 3 Barbarian Kings

Fantasy Empires in Conflicts

Political and military wargame set in a fantasy world. The players assume the roles of provincial kings set on conquest and consolidation.

Ares Nr. 4 Arena of Death

Dragon Quest Combat System

Arena of Death is a game of gladiatorial combat in a fantasy setting. The players take on the role of fighters in the arena, pitting these fighters against each other and against fearsome beasts over the course of a variable number of "combats". Each combat consists of one or more players' characters entering the arena where they meet one or more characters controlled by other players.
The combat lasts until only dead or mutually friendly characters remain in the arena. [This is the standalone game version of the combat system used in the RPG DragonQuest by SPI].

Ares Nr. 5 Citadel of Blood

A daring party of adventurers trapped in a deadly maze

A massive fortress serves as the refuge for the most powerful Mage in the world, X the Unknown. With the aid of an Orc army, he has transformed ruins into the strongest fortress in existence. His possession of the ancient Hellgate now poses a threat to the Empire itself. Citadel of Blood represents a series of raids on X the Unknown's Citadel by a mixed force of Free People. The game is similar to many fantasy role-playing games, but it requires no games-master. It may be played solitaire or with 2 to 6 players. The characters and premise of this game are taken from SPI's game Swords and Sorcery.

Ares Nr. 6 Voyage of the BSM Pandora

Voyage of the Pandora is a solitaire game of interstellar exploration. The player controls the Biological Survey Mission Pandora as it travels the star ways in search of extraterrestrial life forms. The player uses the crew, robots, and equipment of the Pandora to collect exotic specimens while attempting to minimize the loss of human life and return home with the Pandora intact.

Ares Nr. 7 Rescue from the Hive

Soon after man's first contact with the Znons, humanoid insect like aliens, began diplomatic talks. When Ambassador Helstrom and his daughter Athena, left for a vacation following preliminary negotiations, a Hiveship crewed by Znon radicals intercepted and boarded the diplomat's ship. With the ambassador and his daughter as hostages, the extremists broad­cast a host of ridiculous demands to Earth. Terran authorities decided that a show of force was necessary; the Znons could not be allowed to believe that Earth would submit to the demands of terrorists. A small Space Marine task force with Darter spacecraft was dispatched to intercept the renegade Hiveship, rescue the ambassador and his daughter, and punish the marauding subversives.

Ares Nr. 8 Ragnarok

The Twilight of the Gods

Ragnarok is a game depicting the struggle of the Aesir race of Norse gods against an invasion of enemies led by the traitorous god, Loki. The map depicts the Plain of Vigrid, lying between the Rainbow Bridge and the city of the gods, Asgard. Playing pieces represent warriors, Valkyries, Frost Giants, Fire Giants, and such celebrated individuals as Odin, Thor, Loki, and the Midgard Serpent. Each player maneuvers his forces across the map in an effort to fulfill his victory conditions. To win, the player commanding the invading Jotun forces must destroy Asgard, thus bringing about Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods. The Aesir player must repel the Jotun invasion to win, thus postponing Asgard's fall.

Ares Nr. 9 DeltaVee

Tactical Space Combat System

DeltaVee is a tactical simulation of combat among Spacecraft in the 24th Century. The game is intended for two players, although more may participate in scenarios devised by the players. Each hex on the DeltaVee game maps represents a volume 20,000 kilometers in diameter. The game uses a two-dimensional movement system; the "plane" of the playing area represents the ecliptic of the star system in which each battle occurs. Each Game-Turn represents 15 minutes.

Ares Nr. 10 The Return of the Stainless Steel Rat

Slippery Jim diGriz faces a deadly maze controlled by a computer programmed to kill!

Based on Harry Harrison's famous character, Slippery Jim diGriz, aka the Stainless Steel Rat, this solitaire paragraph game pits the SSR against a deadly maze controlled by a computer programmed to kill.

Ares Nr. 11 Albion: Land of Faerie

A fantasy war of Trolls versus Faeries and Humans in the Enchanted Isles (Ireland and England).

Ares Nr. 12 StarTrader

The game of interstellar exploitation and piracy

StarTrader is a game of interstellar economics set in the 24th Century. Each of up to six players is master of a fleet of space-faring trade vessels, competing with opponents to increase his own profits at the expense of the other players.

Players familiar with SPI's role-playing game of the future, Universe will find that the spaceships. Star Systems, commodities, and other features in StarTrader are adapted from concepts presented in Universe. Although designed as an independent multi-player game, StarTrader may be used in conjunction with a Universe campaign as an adventure generator or as an economic sub­system.

Ares Nr. 13 Damocles Mission

The Game of First Contact

On 15 September 1988, a dark spherical object approximately 1.2 kilometers in diameter of unknown origin assumed a geosynchronous orbit over the Galapagos Islands. Upon orders of the president, an investigating shuttle mission was configured (code name Damocles)...  Damocles Mission is a solitaire paragraph based game to explore the alien craft around the earth. Tiles will allow the player to expand the known area of the craft, and a variable handicap system at the end of each play will allow you to adjust the initial allocation of units for the next time to make it easier/harder.

Ares Nr. 14 Omega War

The Omega War is a post-apocalyptic fight for North America, 2419. World Union forces fight against "Omega Organization" rebels.

Ares Nr. 15 Nightmare House

A Gothic Horror Boardgame

Nightmare House is a two to five-player game of ghost hunting and exorcism. One player (the House) takes the role of the evil Entity that has spun its web of power over the Darkholm Manor. The other players (called the Hunters) each represent a ghost hunter who has entered the house one dark night to confront and banish its evil.

Ares Nr. 16 High Crusade

1345AD, Aliens land a starship on earth, unfortunately the local knight defeats the aliens, and steals the starship. Thus starts the crusade against the aliens, with some help from independent races.

Ares Special Edition 1 First Contacts

Meet the Sh'k'tlp in - First Contacts addition to SPI’s UNIVERSE RPG.

Ares Nr. 17 (FINAL) Mongoose & Cobra

Mongoose & Cobra. An adventure for SPI’s Universe RPG.

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The Creature that Ate Sheboygan

Rising from the depths of Lake Michigan, the creature shook its massive head, and looked north on Route 42. Slowly, it pulled its massive body from the waters, and began trundling down the superhighway. The eighteen-wheelers it ate provided the steel needed to maintain its strength. Panic reports from motorists and residents came pouring into police, Army and Airforce stations and bases; but were too incredible to credit. Only when Manitowac vanished into the creature's insatiable, cavernous maw were the reports believed... and IT was headed for Sheboygan! Trembling with apprehension, Milwaukee and Chicago lay just beyond.

DeathMaze

Deathmaze is a game for one to six players in which each player controls the actions of one or more adventurers exploring the depths of a horror filled catacomb in pursuit of glory and gold. Like fantasy role playing games, Deathmaze deals with personal heroic fantasy; unlike such games, Deathmaze requires no gamesmaster, but pits the players' skills against an un-gamemastered game system.

Demons

Demons is a game of conjuration and treasure hunting for one to four players based on the ancient manuscripts comprising the "Lamegeton." The players take the roles of magicians questing after treasure in medieval Armenia. The "mortal powers" of Armenia pursue the magicians whose major defense is their ability to conjure fearsome demons. This power was to have been used for curing disease and preventing harm, but when printed examples appeared again in the 17th century the emphasis had switched to the finding of treasure and personal gain by the magician instead.

Dragonslayer

In Dragonslayer, you are a magician embarked on a quest to destroy Vermithrx Pejorative, the last dragon. Before you confront the dread beast, you must travel throughout the island kingdom of Urland in search of companions, magical items, spells, and weapons. Your journey will be eased or hindered by events that occur along the road, and your every step will be dogged by the King's men - desperate men who would take you captive to thwart your mission. And should your good fortune and skill see you through all the dangers of the road, the greatest peril yet awaits you. You must face and match the awesome creature you have sworn to destroy before you can win ... before you can claim the title, Dragonslayer.

StarGate

The Final Space Battle for Galactic Freedom

"Streaming through the mysterious stargates, the power-hungry Virunian forces have wracked the Milky Way for nearly 80 years in the War of Purification. Remnants of the civilizations devastated by the Virunian Tri-Ships, banded together in a determined coalition, awaited the moment to launch their counter-stroke. In 2519 AD, the moment had arrived: StarGate re-creates this climatic battle using a stylized, semi-abstract system of movement that allows combatants to conceal themselves from one another in the various planes and dimensions created by the Nullgate. 

Time Tripper

Encounters through Time

A solitaire game in which a Vietnam era soldier is teleported through space and time to battle everything from T-Rexes to Hell's Angels to Psionic Flesh Eating Plants.

Titan Strike

Battle for the moon of Saturn

Titan is a nightmare world, methane atmosphere, ammonia oceans, lifeless and barren. There was only one thing of value under Titan's orange sky: ore. Massive lodes of fissionables. Represented are 5-man infantry maniples (some on hover platforms) and 20-man engineer platoons supporting individual Titan Environment Combat Vehicles (advanced descendents of 20th Century tanks). Jet-propelled Hoppers, surface-to-sky missile launchers, laser platforms, and drone robot tanks in raids on enemy mining bases and spaceports in an effort to capture all of Titan. The prize - enough energy to sustain Earth's crowded billions for a century.

Vector 3

Tactical Space Combat in Three Dimensions

Warfare is almost constant in the densely populated Gilgamesh Cluster. Vector 3 ships carry cargo in the interstellar lanes; they consist of a central cylinder, with attached and replaceable cargo and cabin pods. Vector 3 prime components are mass-produced throughout the Cluster. The ships' modular design allows pods to be quickly interchanged at short notice, giving them a flexible transport function; each is unique and dependent on various cargoes on a specific trip.

Thus, when war threatens, the cargo pods are removed and weapons pods installed. Within a period of months, a nation's entire interstellar fleet can be converted from merchants to men-of-war. 

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Battle Fleet Mars

Space Combat in the 21st Century

Battle Fleet Mars is a simulation of interplanetary conflict in the Solar system during the late 21st century. Earth is dependent on extra-terrestrial resources, the procurement of which is managed, executed, and controlled by privately owned conglomerates.

The game concerns an attempt by disenchanted employees of the corporation living in space and on Mars to seize the means of production to gain autonomy.

Berlin '85

The Enemy at the Gates

Is an operational level simulation of a hypothetical attempt by the Warsaw Pact to seize the city of West Berlin within the context of a general conventional East-West war.

Commando

Daring Missions, Against Impossible Odds...

Commando allows players to play small unit raids in eras from WW1 to the Cold War of the 1980's. Each unit represents a single man each with his own statistics for a role-playing type game. The game has rules to play it with a gamemaster.

Donau Front

Central Front Series 

Donau Front is part of the "Central Front" series of games which include: 'North German Plain', B.A.O.R.', 'Fifth Corps', and 'Hof Gap'. Maps from all of the games may be linked and rules exist for a full Campaign game. Donua Front was first published in Strategy & Tactics magazine (#131). The games are designed to depict hypothetical Warsaw Pact versus NATO conflict during the first five days of a future war.

Combined Arms

Combat Operations in the 20th Century 

Combined Arms is a simulation of company/ battalion level warfare from the 1930's to the present. The units represent companies and battalions of tanks or infantry. Artillery units are represented as battalion-sized units. The purpose of the game is to show the relationship of infantry, armor and artillery as integral parts of the combined arms team. Six scenarios are given, each representing an actual battle.

The East is Red

The Sino-Soviet War 

The East is Red is a simulation on a strategic/operational level of a possible attempt by Soviet forces to invade and occupy Manchuria and North China sometime in the 1970s. Within the theatre of operations it is assumed that tactical nuclear weapons and atomic demolitions will be used. The game is played with variants of two basic scenarios. The M-1 scenario variants postulate a hasty Soviet attack into China and the M-30 variants describe a later stronger attack.

Freedom in the Galaxy

The Star Rebellions 5764AD

Freedom In The Galaxy is a medium complexity strategic and tactical game of galactic conquest. Can a small band a valiant rebels withstand the oppression of the mighty galactic empire?

The map board represents over 30 solar systems. Unit types include armed forces, spaceships, imperial characters and individual rebels. The rebel player must start insurrections hoping to cause a domino effect and topple the empire's power base. The Imperial player must garrison planets, quash rebellion and conduct diplomatic missions to maintain a high loyalty factor. 

Hannibal

The 2nd Punic War

Hannibal is a turn based game (24 turns each representing 1 year). During each year there is a Diplomacy Segment, a Carthaginian turn and a Roman turn. Basic and Advanced Rules.

Group of Soviet Forces Germany

The Soviets invade Germany

Group of Soviet Forces Germany is a Strategy and Tactics issue #220 magazine game. It features a simulation about what if the Soviets had invaded Germany in the second of 1970's. It is a two-player alternative history game intended to examine what could've happened during the first month of fighting had the Soviets opted to invade Germany during the Cold War. The assumption is made that the invasion would've been begun without lengthy (open) preparation or forewarning.

This game is an update and revision of SPI's 1973 release, "NATO: Operational Combat in Europe in the 1970s." 

North German Plain

Central Front Series

Depicts the early days of World War III in West Germany. Combat is conducted at the company, battalion, and regiment level, with a map scale of 4 km per hex. The map covers the North German Plain and includes the major West German cities of Hamburg and Bremen.

"North German Plain" was the first game in the renewed Central Front Series, and marks a return to more conventional game mechanics. As with most modern warfare games, "North German Plain" includes rules for airpower, airmobile operations, and nuclear/chemical warfare. The game has a single scenario, "Drive on the Channel Ports", which depicts a surprise attack by the PACT Northern Front.

Nord Kapp

NATO in Scandinavia

Nord Kapp is a two player covering potential warfare between NATO and the USSR in the area of Scandinavia north of the Arctic Circle. The game presumes this action to be part of a general European war taking place in the late 1980s. The focus of the game is the Soviet attempt to secure airfields in Norway in order to extend the range of Soviet naval aviation to dominate the North Atlantic sea-lanes. The map scale is 16 kilometers per hex and the timescale is 48 hours per turn. 

Outreach

The Conquest of the Galaxy, 3000AD

Outreach is a simulation of intra-Galactic exploration and conflict. Extrapolating some of the trends depicted in SPI's StarForce game, Outreach posits large-scale, telesthetically-guided interstellar travel by a variety of species. The game centers on a period of relatively rapid expansion by ambitious, dynamic civilizations striving to increase the range, and perfect the utilization of their access to the resources and experiences of the Universe.  The object of the game is to locate and explore star systems, obtaining resources from them while attempting to neutralize similar efforts by other players. Outreach may be played by one, two, three, or four players.

MechWar '77

Man to Man Combat in the 20th Century 

MechWar '77 is a simulation of tactical combat in West Germany and Asia during the 1970's. The game is played by scenario. Eight scenarios revolve around a hypothetical Soviet-American clash in West Germany. One scenario is drawn from the Yom Kippur War. The tenth scenario pictures a Sino-Soviet clash. Each hex represents 200 meters from side to side. Each Game-Turn represents one to six minutes of elapsed time.

Patrol

Man to Man Combat in the 20th Century 

Patrol is an individual man level simulation of non-urban infantry combat from World War I to the present. The game features various scenarios in which the average infantry squad would become involved. Typical scenarios simulate meeting engagements, ambushes, raids, snatch missions, and assaults on fortified positions.

All major combatants and all major wars of the Twentieth Century are covered in the game.

Hetzer (Sniper! 2nd Edition)

Sniper! Companion Game #1

Hetzer expands the popular Sniper! game system with an in-depth examination of man-to-man combat on the Western Front in World War II. Scenarios cover the German blitz of 1940, the Allied crawl up the Italian peninsula, and the furious fighting in the dense hedgerow country in northern France. Fighting vehicles are covered in great detail, with game statistics on over 40 tanks, trucks, halftracks, and armored cars. Players can select squads from seven nations, plus paratroopers, S.S., and volksgrenadiers. Campaign rules allow individual squads to fight their way through an endless series of battles, losing casualties and gaining experience along the way.

Special Forces (Sniper! 2nd Edition)

Sniper! Companion Game #2

Special Forces is the second companion game to SPI's Sniper! Game System. SPECIAL Forces expands the popular SNIPER! game system with an up-close look at man-to-man combat in small unit actions in the modern period. Scenarios include anti-terrorist raids, guerilla actions, border wars, and more. New rules cover rafts and water movement, weather, squad specialists and new equipment. Players can select squads from 36 different nations (from Afghanistan to Zaire), or create their own. The fight against terrorism requires split-second timing and perfect execution-do you have what it takes?

Bughunter (Sniper! 2nd Edition)

Sniper! Companion Game #3

Bug Hunter is a 'Sniper!/Patrol!' (q.v.) series game about hypothetical clashes between space faring human adventurers and hostile alien monsters.

As in all games in the Sniper! series, this game focuses on combat as experienced by the individual soldier. This game examines the problems and situations peculiar to close combat in strange environments and against unknown foes.

Multiple geomorphic 2-sided maps are included in the game to play out numerous scenarios (for from 1 to 3 players), each with their own set of victory conditions. The game also includes rules to Sniper!, exclusive Bug Hunter rules, scenario booklet, random event cards, cut out vehicles, and 400 personnel counters and markers.

Sorcerer (Designer's Edition)

The Game of Magical Conflict

Sorcerer is a fantasy wargame. Each Sorcerer player has an army of human infantry, and magical units (trolls, demons, and dragons). Sorcerers specialize in types of magic represented by 7 different colors. Sorcerer adds a twist to the old "combat differential" system (attack strength minus defense strength) by adding a circular system of combat bonuses based upon what colors of magic are attacking each other.

StarForce

Interstellar Conflict in the 25th Century

StarForce is a simulation of interstellar warfare as it might be fought in the 25th through 27th centuries.  The main technological advance which makes the whole game "future" possible is a means of "shifting". Shifting relies upon a combination of human telesthetic and telekinetic abilities with sophisticated, intelligent machines, to temporarily join two widely separated points in space in order that a ship may shift instantly from one point to the other. In this manner, all relativistic time-space problems are neatly side-stepped and communications between star systems light years apart are made feasible.

StarSoldier

Tactical Warfare in the 25th Century

StarSoldier is a tactical level simulation of man-to-man combat in the 25th Century. Each Player controls from three to a dozen Star Soldiers, which he deploys and conducts in combat, attempting either to accomplish, or prevent his opponent from accomplishing a particular mission. The game features simultaneous movement and combat, and thereby portrays realistically the swift and/or rapid problematical pace of tactical level operations. Each Player pre-plots all activity for his Soldiers before any movement or combat is actually executed on the map; therefore, one Player never knows what precisely the other will be doing.

Superpowers at War

NATO vs. Warsaw Pact

The Superpowers at War game presents two hypothetical regimental level campaign scenarios set in West Germany following the hypothetical outbreak of a conflict between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries.

The game is played in a series of double-impulse game turns, during which the initiative (first move, first attack) may pass from player to player. Movement and attacks are halved in the second impulse. The ground scale is 4 kilometers per hex, with each game turn representing about 24 hours.

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DragonQuest

Fantasy Role-Playing Game System

DOWNLOAD: 1.933Mb 

Covers

Game Information

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UNIVERSE 1st Edition

The Science Fiction Role-Playing Game of the Future

SPI's Universe is still the best Science Fiction Role Playing Game System around for it's flexibility, inspiration and approach to the subject. Many of SPI's previous game themes and elements featured here, have been wrapped up into the fine science fiction role playing experience called Universe.

UNIVERSE 1st Edition (PDF Version)

Universe Gamesmaster's Guide: 

Delta Vee: Rules, Map and Counters.

Adventure Guide: Encounters, Maps, Adventure Lost on Laidley.

Plus the UNIVERSE July 1981 ADDENDA

DOWNLOAD: 206.905Mb 

UNIVERSE 2nd Edition (PDF Version)

UNIVERSE 2nd Edition: includes; 

Universe Gamesmaster's Guide: 

Delta Vee: Rules, Map and Counters.

Adventure Guide: Encounters, Maps, Adventure Lost on Laidley.

DOWNLOAD: 188.206Mb 

UNIVERSE: Ares Universe Articles Collection

ARES the UNIVERSE Articles

Ares Articles: includes Mongoose & Cobra, Special Issue 1: First Contacts with new skills for Universe, Alien Characters and various Designer's Notes and Variants. Everything written for Universe that appeared in SPI's Ares Magazine.

DOWNLOAD: 129.114Mb

UNIVERSE: Gamesmaster's Screen 

Gamesmaster's Screen: All the UNIVERSE tables in one convenient place.

DOWNLOAD: 27.771Mb

UNIVERSE: Interstellar Charts are the entire original, Universe Interstellar Display of 192 Stars located within a 30 Light Year radius from Sol is set out into 16 individual hard card colour charts each measuring 15 Light Years x 15 Light Years by 60 Light years. 

UNIVERSE: Interstellar Charts are an exact duplicate of data from the original Universe Interstellar Display star map poster only updated with current astronomical knowledge and in A4 format. 

Click on the book cover or the link above to visit the UNIVERSE: Interstellar Charts page. 

DOWNLOAD: 11.274Mb

UNIVERSE INTERACTIVE: Interstellar Charts

An exact duplicate of data from the original UNIVERSE: Interstellar Charts only in a printer compatible software application! But it does much more.

Allows instant legend changes to see Spectral Types, Distance Relationships and other stellar colour codes. Calculates distances. Place Jump Routes and enter Database notes for any of 192 Stars within Universe space. Easy viewing down to a light year. Print out entire Star Maps and Star Systems in colour. Print out campaign, gamemaster and separate player notes. A must have tool for any Universe gamesmaster.

The first of the UNIVERSE INTERACTIVE Software Tools!

Click on the picture to the left to see more details.

Download the Demo

DOWNLOAD: 1.916Mb