I got a couple friends together to try out GSF.
Game 1: Vindicator, Conclave of Niphon, and the Tharendim vs. the Technovores. This seemed really easy. We all started in one sector and cleared it (a trade outpost), while letting Vognis Prime and the Wastes go. The Wastes got overrun immediately, and this summoned the Hive Mother. But a quick of flipped station cards, the Hive Mother got moved to another sector; we sent her to the trade outpost and managed to take her out. The game was over on the third round.
Game 2: Basilieos, Bjarlsphere, and Ranak Warbeast vs. the Singularity. This game went on forever. Half a dozen mission cards got played, and we never could get rid of them. The Omega kept getting stronger, and it was never safe to engage. By the end of the game, it had 30 attack and 23 shield. Basileiors eventually had 24 attack and 12 shield, so was able to survive one round with it but was crippled. We eventually won the game by clearing away the enemy fleet, and just leaving the Omega alone as an unkillable monstocity. We noticed that the game could get hard, but in a weird way - it was easy to avoid dying, but hard to actually make progress.
We decided the game was fun and worth playing again, but the unpredictable game time is a liability. SotM is nice because we have a pretty good idea of how long it will take (30-60 minutes). GSF might be over in 30 minutes, or it might take 2-3 hours...
Have any of you found a way to run the game with a more predicatable play time?
