Star Viking

About this board game

Star Viking is a two-player game of interstellar raiding and plunder, with play lasting about 60 minutes. Released in 1981, it uses 12 mapboard tiles to represent the star systems of the Outrim sector.

One side brings the star-born horror of the Vikings: dark cruisers materialize from hyperspace and launch clouds of fighters against local in-system patrol boats. Once defenses are weakened, powersuited raiding parties and grav-armor detachments descend to plunder whole planets.

Opposing them are the scattered frigates of the Federate squadron. These forces must attempt to weld undermanned planetary defenses and low-tech local militias into a cohesive resistance against the raiders sweeping across the star systems.

The game’s 12-tile map system captures the uncertainty of an interstellar war, where sudden battles can flash into existence from system to system. Its setting combines space combat with planetary conflict, bringing a wide range of units into the struggle.

• Viking cruisers, sloops, and fighters
• Federate and local frigates, battle-cruisers, and patrol boats
• Raiding detachments, security forces, and grav-armor units
• Specialized warfare pods and conventional low-tech forces, including atmospheric aircraft and stone-age hordes

With its mix of hyperspace raids, desperate planetary defense, and varied forces, Star Viking presents a compact science-fiction conflict for two players. A free, authorized print-and-play version is available for download from Dwarfstar’s website.