Starguard! (1974) by McEwan Miniatures. 2nd Edition 1975. "In those glorious golden days of the 23rd Century, when the Terrian Federation was still in its infancy, long before the Peace of the Empire, when no ship traveled the Starlanes unarmed, all that stood between the fragile glassine towers of Terra the Beautiful and the ravaging hordes of Ralni, Dreenoi and other lurkers in the darkness were the men of the Starfleet Command. It is to the marines of the Federation Navy, the STARGUARD, that this record is respectfully dedicated." Man to man (or alien) SF miniatures tabletop warfare. This is a skirmish-level game, with a relatively small (perhaps up to a dozen) figures per player. The figure / building / vehicle scale is roughly 1" = 2 yards; the ground scale is 1" = 20 yards. "HO" scale model train buildings, trees, etc can be used as tabletop terrain, although the publisher makes a lot of cut-and-fold papercraft buildings. Starguard, and its associated miniatures line, has been around since 1974. The first edition (available in a facsimile edition by RRB Minis and More) introduced the Starguard (human marines), Amerons (rebellious human colonists), Dreenoi (telepathic insectoid aliens), and the reptilian Ralnai. The 2nd edition (1975) added the Eli ("Space Vikings"), Thogs (bestial reptilians, implanted with brain control devices and used as shock troops by the Ralnai) and Rep-Com (humans from the Republic of Commerce). The Orilla supplement introduced the Orilla (sturdy gorilla-like humanoids), Terrellians (non-humanoid creatures from a planet conquored by the Dreenoi), Necromorphs (animated human corpses, used as cannon fodder), and Nektons (amphibians humanoids). Other human factions (e.g. the Fabians and Terran Empire, Colonial militia) and aliens (Taurans) came later, as did robot warriors of many types. The rules went from a simple system with to-hit (d12) and penetrate (d6) rolls. Starting with the fourth edition, a percentage based system was used. A parallel game system for fighting giant robots, Warbots and Death Machines, used this system. In the 7th edition, a d10 based system was introduced, with range based effects of penetration added. The figures are slightly smaller than the 25mm figures common in the 1970s, and much smaller than the 28mm figure size popularized by RPG gaming. Most early figures, and some later versions, had weapons molded separately. There are many vehicles available, in both metal and cut-and-fold paper. Expanded by: Orilla: 1st StarGuard Supplement

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