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Background

About the game

Star Trek: Into the Unknown (STIU) is a two-player tactical miniatures game where you command a fleet of starships from the major civilizations of the galaxy.

Compete in evolving, multi-part missions by manoeuvring your fleet, exploring new sectors, and engaging in diplomacy. When conflict is unavoidable, use every tactical advantage to outmanoeuvre your opponent and secure victory in thrilling space combat!

The product is a significant evolution from the company's previous title, Star Trek: Attack Wing, representing a deliberate strategic pivot from a traditional skirmish wargame to a narrative-driven simulation. Designed by Alex Davy, Max Brooke & Michael Gernes, the game emphasizes diplomacy, exploration, and crew management alongside tactical space combat, mirroring the thematic core of the source material.

The core set, Star Trek: Into the Unknown - Federation vs. Dominion, features highly detailed, pre-painted miniatures and a rich set of components, a direct response to prior criticisms of model quality. Initial reception from the market is mixed, with players and reviewers praising the game's deep thematic integration and component quality while noting a steep learning curve and a lengthy playtime as potential barriers to a wider audience.

The announcement of the Rising Tensions expansion confirms WizKids' commitment to an expansive, campaign-based product roadmap, positioning the game as a long-term narrative experience rather than a one-off skirmish title.

Product Overview and Core Components

Game at a Glance

Star Trek: Into the Unknown (STIU) is a tactical miniatures game for two players, designed by Alex Davy and Max Brooke, with contributions from Michael Gernes. These designers worked together at Fantasy Flight Games, particularly on Star Wars-themed miniatures and role-playing games such as Star Wars: Armada and Star Wars: X-Wing.

Published by WizKids. The game's out-of-the-box playtime is extensive, with an estimated duration of 120-180 minutes.

Some reviewers suggest that a two-player game with the full core set could easily extend to two or three hours, making it a game intended for a dedicated evening session rather than a quick play.

The game is designed for players aged 14 and older and is classified as a Movies/TV/Radio themed game with mechanics that include an Action Queue, Dice Rolling, Line of Sight, Movement Templates, and Variable Player Powers. While it contains elements of tactical space combat, its core identity is that of a narrative simulation rather than a traditional wargame.

Core Set Contents: Federation vs. Dominion

The core set, titled Star Trek: Into the Unknown - Federation vs. Dominion, serves as the foundation for the game's narrative and tactical experience. A key selling point and a major point of differentiation from WizKids' previous Star Trek products is the quality and scale of its physical components.

The game features "huge and highly detailed, pre-painted starship miniatures built to scale". The core set includes a total of six miniatures, representing the opposing factions in the Dominion War: a Galaxy-class starship, a Constellation-class starship, and a Defiant-class starship for the Federation, along with a Jem'Hadar Battle Cruiser and two Jem'Hadar Fighters for the Dominion.

Beyond the miniatures, the game box is equipped with a comprehensive set of components required for play. These include three acrylic range rulers, 15 acrylic system markers, two turning tools, and 12 custom dice.

The game's narrative and strategic depth are driven by multiple decks of cards: 24 Mission Cards, 30 Officer Cards, 30 Damage Effect Cards, and 30 Equipment, Directive, and Other Unit Cards. The set also contains assorted gameplay tokens, a learning guide, and a rulebook, providing a complete and self-contained experience.

Core Set Contents and Value Proposition

The substantial contents of the core set reinforce its positioning as a premium product. The inclusion of a full suite of components, from custom dice to multiple decks of cards, demonstrates a design intent to deliver a rich experience from the very first play. The decision to provide pre-painted, highly detailed miniatures directly addresses a common critique of miniatures games, where the quality of the unpainted or poorly painted models can detract from the overall experience.

This approach provides a significant value proposition for both business stakeholders and enthusiasts, offering a complete, high-quality product that does not require additional purchases or hobby skills like painting to enjoy. It also will allow collectors from other systems to purchase in scale Star Trek models so can allow a certain premium pricing to be deployed.

Historical Context and Design Philosophy

The Legacy of Star Trek: Attack Wing (STAW)

To fully understand the design and market position of Star Trek: Into the Unknown, one must first examine its predecessor, Star Trek: Attack Wing (STAW). Released in 2013, STAW was a multiplayer tactical miniatures game produced by WizKids that adopted the core mechanics of Fantasy Flight Games' highly successful Star Wars: X-Wing miniatures game.

Players would field a small fleet of starships, using manoeuvre templates to plot their movement and engaging in dice-based combat. The game featured a collectible element, where players could purchase individual ship packs to acquire new miniatures, captains, crew, and upgrade cards to customize their fleets.

Despite its popular source material and accessible mechanics, STAW faced significant criticisms throughout its lifespan. Player communities expressed frustration with the game's physical components, noting that the miniatures were often "less than ideal" in their paint schemes and overall quality.

The collectible nature of the game, with its emphasis on individual ship packs and a trading card-like element, was also perceived as creating an unbalanced experience, with some players describing it as having a "pay-to-win" feel. Furthermore, the complexity of the card text was sometimes unclear, and the overall preparation time for games could be lengthy.

A Departure in Design Philosophy

Star Trek: Into the Unknown represents a conscious and deliberate course correction by WizKids. The design of the new game appears to be a direct response to the shortcomings of STAW, signalling a significant strategic change. Instead of focusing on a skirmish-based wargame model, which defined its predecessor, the new title is explicitly framed as a "simulation/narrative game".

This shift moves the game away from the naval combat-centric design of titles like Star Wars: Armada while also distancing it from the manoeuvre-driven dogfighting of Star Trek: Attack Wing.

This new philosophy is centered on thematic immersion and a campaign-driven narrative. The game is designed to replicate the episodic nature of the Star Trek television series, with objectives that frequently prioritize diplomacy, research, and exploration over pure combat.

The campaign narrative is an extensive, ongoing story where player decisions are intended to have a meaningful impact on the outcome.

The shift from a collectible card game format to a self-contained core set with campaign-based expansions is a fundamental change to the product's business model. It suggests that WizKids is aiming to provide a more balanced and complete experience for players from the start, mitigating the perceived imbalance that came from having to "chase" rare or powerful cards.

By focusing on a single, narrative-driven product line, the company is targeting a niche of dedicated players who value a rich, continuous story over a competitive, "buy-to-win" experience.

Detailed Gameplay Mechanics and Narrative Structure

An "Episodic" Experience

Star Trek: Into the Unknown is distinguished by its unique "episodic" structure, which is designed to emulate a television show episode.

Each game is divided into "acts," beginning with an "Overture" that establishes the initial mission objectives and sets the stage for the conflict.

At a specific, predetermined point in the mission, a "Complication" is introduced, which acts as the game's second act. This complication alters the rules for the remainder of the game and is often triggered based on the current state of play or which side holds the advantage.

A significant design element is that victory is not exclusively tied to the destruction of the opposing fleet. Players earn Victory Points (VPs) by successfully completing their mission objectives, which can be achieved through non-combat means like diplomacy, research, or exploration.

The game's narrative structure subtly guides players to favor non-violent solutions. In some scenarios, a player who initiates hostilities may incur a Victory Point penalty, reinforcing the thematic priority of peaceful resolution.

The Five Phases of a Round

The game's complexity is rooted in its round structure, which consists of five distinct phases. This stands in contrast to the more straightforward four-phase turn sequence of its predecessor.

Priority Phase: This is the most extensive and time-consuming phase of each round. Players alternate performing actions tied to specific stations on their ship boards, such as Command, Helm, or Engineering. To perform an action, a player must "commit" an officer to that station and may need to expend ship power. The number of available officers and the allocation of power serve as critical strategic limitations, forcing players to make difficult choices about which actions to prioritize.
Standby Phase: Following the Priority Phase, each ship is granted a single, un-gated action that does not require an officer to be committed. This phase allows players to perform a quick, supplemental action without draining their limited officer pool.
Hazard Phase: As the name suggests, this phase is where "all the bad stuff happens". Any damage, environmental effects, or other negative consequences are resolved during this period.
Ready Phase: This is a preparatory phase for the next round. Players can "ready" up to three officers who were previously committed, move officers to new stations, and regain ship power. This phase is crucial for resetting a player's strategic options for the upcoming round.
Hail Phase: A unique mechanic that reinforces the game's thematic focus on diplomacy. The Hail Phase allows players to use "trust" tokens to engage in negotiation and earn Victory Points. This phase ensures that non-combat objectives remain a viable and valuable path to victory.

Crew, Stations, and Skills

Central to the game's strategic depth is its robust crew management system. Each ship board is a command hub with several stations to which players can assign officers.

The skills and abilities of the assigned officers determine the available actions at each station. For instance, an action to fire weapons is a "skill test" that relies on the skill of the officer committed to the attack, with success or failure determined by dice rolls.

Players can modify these rolls using advantage tokens accrued by their ships. The game also features damage cards that can affect a ship's systems and require a strategic response.

The interplay between a player's limited number of officers, their strategic placement, and the specific actions available at each station creates a complex and challenging puzzle that is both tactically rich and thematically faithful.

Initial Market Reception and Critical Analysis

Strengths and Praises

Early impressions of Star Trek: Into the Unknown highlight several significant strengths. The most consistent praise is for the game's successful thematic integration. Reviewers note that the emphasis on multi-part missions, diplomacy, and exploration makes the game feel authentically like a Star Trek "episode," distinguishing it from the simple "blow up the other team" mentality of many miniatures games.

The game is really a hybrid wargame and RPG and the officer cards are very much like simple role playing characters.

The game's component quality is also a major selling point. The high-quality, pre-painted miniatures are a marked improvement over the models in Star Trek: Attack Wing and are frequently cited as a reason to purchase the game.

This attention to detail demonstrates a commitment to a premium product. Finally, the game is lauded for its strategic depth. The interplay between crew management, resource allocation, and a wide array of tactical choices provides a high degree of replayability and rewards careful planning.

Points of Critique

Despite its strengths, the game is not without its critics. The most prominent concern is the game's complexity and its associated steep learning curve. The sheer number of icons, rules, and phases can be overwhelming for new or casual players.

The rule book suffers from a continuous lack of clarity for even explaining the basic game and one reviewer did not understand the basic mechanics of the officer cards in the "Ready" phase from reading them alone. It's difficult to play the game without resorting to online videos or asking frequent questions on Discord, Reddit or facebook. See our FAQ.

There is already a 9 page FAQ full or clarifications and errata. One of the main reasons this website exists is to help over-come the shortfalls in the game supporting materials. It's a hard game to play with an opponent who might be a "rules lawyer".

Into the Unknown requires a significant time investment, making it inaccessible for players looking for a quick, casual session.

One reviewer noted that the single-ship demo kit, while a good starting point, did not adequately prepare players for the complexity of a full fleet game. This complexity directly contributes to another major critique: the lengthy playtime. With games stretching to three hours or more.

Some critics also suggest that the game's emphasis on non-combat objectives and multi-phase rounds may "steal time from the tactics on the table," making it feel less dynamic than a traditional wargame.

There is a perceived trade-off: the game's thematic depth and complexity come at the cost of a brisk, fluid gameplay experience. For some players, the non-combat focus and extended setup time may not provide the "wow factor" they are seeking.

Future Prospects and Product Roadmap

The "Rising Tensions" Expansion

WizKids has already announced its long-term plan for the game, with the first major expansion titled Rising Tensions. This expansion is explicitly framed as a "Campaign Expansion," which reinforces the core game's narrative-first design philosophy. Releases can be found on the Whizkids Information Network WIN.

Rising Tensions will introduce the Klingon Empire as a new faction, which can be played as a standalone force or as allies to the Federation or Dominion.

The expansion's contents are set to broaden the gameplay experience with four new miniatures, including a Vor'cha class Attack Cruiser, a B'rel class Bird of Prey, a Miranda class Cruiser, and a second Defiant class Escort. It also includes a new campaign book, additional officer and gameplay cards, and new mechanics such as a "stealth tracker" and rules for "cloaking".

The introduction of the Klingon Empire and new gameplay elements demonstrates a clear commitment to providing continuous, evolving content to support the game's narrative structure.

There has been criticism that the set doesn't contain a Klingon D7/Ktinga ship, or only new ships, but rather has a duplicate Defiant class ship although with different markings.

Realistically most players joining now, will not have explored the core game in full, before this expansion is released.

Addressing Release Date Discrepancies

The fluidity of product release schedules in the pre-order market is a common challenge for hobbyists and retailers. While the core set has an expected release date of October 31, 2024, the Rising Tensions expansion has seen a few different dates, with one source citing a release in "Q3 2025" and another listing July 2025 (now passed), Whizkids Information Network WIN shows 09/2025 currently.

This highlights the importance of relying on official publisher announcements over retailer listings, as release dates are frequently subject to change. The pre-order strategy, however, serves to build anticipation and lock in a dedicated player base early on.

But there is a downside there are lots of negative comments about missed dates and Whizkids would be better not promising a date, than missing it. This negative publicity, causes a negative feedback loop. It affects sales and thus reduces the product development budget and this increases delays.

The consensus is to buy it while you still can, Star Wars: Armada is already cancelled. There also seems to be a bit of a pointless panic about the expansion being late. There is plenty to get your fix from the core game and the campaign system.

Conclusion: A Strategic Outlook

Star Trek: Into the Unknown is a bold and strategic product for WizKids, a direct response to years of market feedback and player dissatisfaction with its predecessor. The game successfully leverages the core tenets of the Star Trek franchise—exploration, diplomacy, and crew-driven problem-solving—to create a compelling and deeply thematic experience.

Its high-quality, pre-painted miniatures and campaign-first design model are significant improvements that position it as a premium product in the miniatures gaming or role playing space. These are a significant selling point and can actually be used in other starship combat game systems.

The game is not designed to appeal to a broad, casual audience. Its complexity, extensive playtime, and reliance on a heavy narrative structure create a natural barrier to entry. Instead of competing directly with the fast-paced, skirmish-based wargames that are common in the market, Into the Unknown has carved out a distinct niche.

It is a game for the dedicated Star Trek enthusiast and the serious board gamer who appreciates a complex, rules-heavy simulation that can fill an entire evening.

The future success of Star Trek: Into the Unknown hinges on the consistent delivery of high-quality campaign expansions like Rising Tensions. By building a continuous, unfolding narrative, WizKids can maintain the long-term engagement of its core player base and fulfill the promise of a truly immersive, episodic journey.

The game is a testament to the idea that a deep, narrative-first design can be a powerful differentiator in a crowded market, even if it sacrifices some degree of accessibility. This game goes wide and deep.

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