Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2015
Star Hammer: The Vanguard Prophecy
Developer Black Lab Games
Star Hammer: The Vanguard Prophecy is a science fiction turn-based strategy video game developed by Black Lab Games and published by Slitherine Software for Windows and macOS on June 4, 2015. It is the second game in the Star Hammer series after Star Hammer Tactics. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
114 reactions from 1 source (Steam reviews) · newest May 29, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
80
LovedLoved
91 positive · 23 negative
95% range 72–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 91 | 23 | 0 |
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
121 of 161 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 114 · most liked firstThis review is a tough one, because I wanted to like this game - a lot. The concept is a really nifty thing: Deliver tactical-pause mechanics to the same genre occupied by, say, "Homeworld." In a trailer it looks VERY cool. Guide the trajectories of fighters, use 3D space to your advantage, set up some killer pincer movements, and just generally have some real control. That's the promise. The reality is slow, clunky, and - strategically - just like everything else. Mass your firepower, and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to like this game, but there's certain things missing from it which I can't forgive in a game like this. All the weapons fire look the same, just with different colours. It can't be difficult to design a different shape salvo for different weapons. As it stands most battles look like a few ships with a rainbow crying in the middle of them. There's a crap load of salvage missions, mostly escorting some frigate to a wreck through a series of waypoints that are entirely irrelevant…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The good: - Simultaneous turn-based space combat! Was looking for this for a long time. - Decent AI, with some tough scenarios (played on hard). - Shield management is actually fun. The bad: - The ship variety is limited. - Fourteen hours in and I never had the chance to customize my fleet. Every mission I have to use exactly what they give me. I never got any points to buy new ships. - War Scale mechanics is opaque and seems pointless. - Ammunition is unpredictable from mission to mission.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Greetings fellow spaceship warfare enthusiast! Starhammer: TVP as i will shorthand it, is a well designed space naval combat game. I say naval because you do fight on a 2D plane with 3 "layers" pretending at "height" and "depth". Your ships can move up and down but it does matter very little in th end as far as combat tactics go, its more useful to avoid colissions (oh yes, you can ram and be rammed). A clever tactician might abuse this by flying low or high all the time and using the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Read danny_maland's review (most helpful) to contrast with this. Similar points, he barely gave a thumbs down, I barely give a thumbs up. TL;DR: Spacy. Combines elements for a story above its price. Gameplay gets more challenging and more complex as the game progresses. About 20 total ship types in game between two factions. Many bugs. No voiceovers. If they had more time or budget, this could have rivalled Homeworld. Longer version, but I'll try to keep points short. Story guy did his/her…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's the Star Wars Armada Miniatures game on the PC and it's great. I've played the first 3 missions and found it really interesting. You can rebalance your shields, use special abilities (missiles so far), aimed fire or auto fire for your normal guns and there's firing arcs that you need to position the enemy in while trying to position yourself outside the enemies firing arcs as much as possible. Turn based combat where the decisions are made and then the results are played out for a set…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun mix between Nexus: The Jupiter Incident and Flotilla where you go mission to mission manuveuring battleships and frigates in space while trying to outsmart your enemies. Holds your hand enough for you to learn the basics of the game yet isn't afraid to throw you in the fire after a few missions. Features a skill tree full of passive bonuses which boost your fleet's effectiveness, a decent selection of different ships, different factions with different strategies to fight against and a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hate the campaign. Fell in love with the skirmish mode. Took a ginormous fleet into battle, limped away an hour later with a single smoking frigate and a huge grin. Disappointed in the complete lack of customization options. Really Slitherine, I would have loved to tinker with the ship designs, or at least the weapon loadouts.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do you like Battlefleet Gothic? How about any of the other tactical table top fleet games? Then you'll love this game. I've been waiting SO LONG for a tactical fleet game. There are a ton of 4x games (and they are cool) but I wish their combat was like Star Hammer. Thank you so much Slitherine for making this game, I will be putting many hours into.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lacking in depth. There are only 8 ships and you cannot customize your characters or ship loadouts. You will never command more than 8 ships at a time, so if you are looking for large scale fleet command, this isn't for you. Combat is challenging and demands tactical foresight as there is no "rock paper scissors" system. Superior formation of your strike force (I wouldn't call it a fleet) and overall positioning is what gets you the win, so in that regard, the game has done a fantastic job…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall I've enjoyed what I've played of the game. The more I've played it the more its grown on me. At this point I'd give it an 8/10. I doesn't come across as anything revolutionary but its a pretty solid game. It mixes neat elements like ships only being able to fire in a limited number of directions with turn based gameplay. So its kind of like naval combat in some of the Total War games (and probably other games) I guess in that sense. Combat also reminds me of the combat in Space Rangers…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game at first reminded me of chess in space, star wolves and space ranger with a bit of homeworld, but now after i have played it for a while it's more like X-COM except with star ships. You need to put a lot of thought into your moves or you can screw yourself. You have to watch your play style and not be too agressive imo or you can screw yourself later on when the reinforcements and reload on ammo aint coming. Very polished game with excellent sound and music. Easy Tutorial takes…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Star Hammer, Oh what a ride you gave me. Some major points people bring up about this game is how clunky the game is to control and how weak the storyline and writing is. While I agree that the game is fairly clunky to start out with until you get familiar with the control scheme, the writing is anything but weak. Let me explain. This game have a couple ways of playing it. Defensive, Neutral and Aggressive. The genius of the writing is that you get out what you put into this game. A lot of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I own my fair share of Slitherine games, and I always approach them with a bit of caution - I'm still feeling a bit burned by Sovereignty, for example. Pike & Shot has scratched my historical wargaming itch, but it doesn't feel particularly polished. But like every other Slitherine game I've purchased, Star Hammer drew me in with it's concept. While their games are sometimes a bit rough (Sovereignty, I'm looking at you), Slitherine tackles concepts and mechanics very few other companies will -…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Initially I wanted to recommend this game, but it's just not even remotly worth the asking price and there is no long-term factor that makes the game any fun. The premise is that your federation or whatever is attacked by aliens. So far so standard. You're sent into battle with a few of your starting ships. In the upper left corner someone is talking (writing, since there is no VO in the game. At all. Not even in combat.), but you really couldn't care any less. The characters lack depth, the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very deep and complex turn-based space strategy with RPG elements! More details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PFrqxf8esc
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic turn-based starship combat, with energy management, shield management, all that good stuff. Plus, it looks great, and everything just feels "right". I have way more hours in this than Steam indicates, so everyone believe me when I tell you, if turn-based tactical spaceships is your thing, you should have already clicked "Add to Cart".
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like this game but it doesnt work on windows 10. Even if you run it in windows 8 compatible mode. From what I found out on their website the steam version of the game doesnt work on windows 10 but if you get it from distributers website and run it without steam it will work. I dont know why it wont work with steam but is doesnt. If your running windows 8 and below then you shouldnt have a promblem. Im recomending this game because its a really good game but im warning those who run win…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tactics is space, along the lines of Nexus: The Jupiter Incident. Although graphics (especially on higher zoom levels) and story wise it could use some improvement; the tactical part, which is the core of the game, is very well done. I have played about 2.5 hrs so far and there is likely much more to comment upon, but from what I can see so far it is worth a buy, especially for the price. If you are a turn based tactics fan, this is something you will very likely enjoy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great story, depth of mechanics are insanely gratifying and the combination of turn-based strategy with real time is excellent. Visually the game is stunning too and will keep you glued for hours on end! Check out my first impressions for a great in-depth look at the title itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEcws7SE-GQ
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't normally write reviews, but this game is so much fun that I thought I'd do a quick one… I've only played a few missions but I can already see the great game play and fun story… The graphics look nice which isn't the most important thing but it's worth mentioning - the sound works well and the music seems appropriate for the games style etc. What I really like is the combat which is good because the game is a combat simulation - It reminds me of some of star fleet games in that you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is playable and I would love to be able to recommend it, but it really has no "soul" or direction to it. You just keep your fleet moving through a series of uninteresting battles with no real advancement or progression. What little story there is appears to be told through communication transcript blurbs, but the writing was bad enough that I lost interest in that pretty quickly. I was expecting the branching choices for the missions to matter, but it never seemed to have any…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an exceptional game of tactical skill, prowess, patience and intelligence, and all of these will be needed in order to succeed. I'm almost giddy over the amount of control one has over their ships in this game. It's so freaking great. It's also a pretty game and the story is pretty fun. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlZX8ni0O4k&list=PL6K1_LepsaN9psN9ie6hLy6Q23KrLLxwV
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game and most importantly, a lot of fun. If you like space strategy, you'll most likely like this even if you side more typically towards RTS instead of TBS but it certainly isn't, as obvious from the media posted, a bulletfest action game. It's still TBS space battles, with a good amount of complexity that you can delve into as deep as you want, that play out in RTS as you finish a turn. The game has a fun story overriding the campaign as you go from mission to mission which are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game together with Battlefleet Gothic during the autumn sale last month. I figured it could wet my appetite for Battlefleet gothic since I'm a huge fan of Warhammer 40.000. Boy was I wrong! SH:VP is a magnificent game. Graphics are good with lots of details. Controls are incredibly simple for its genre, yet the tactical, forward-thinking required to win the game (without too many ship-losses) is still very much present. At first this game seemed a bit low budget to me. 2D…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finally the tactical space fleet game I´ve been looking for. It feels a little like a tabletop game, but with height variation (which, contrary to some reviews I´ve seen, IS important in the battles) and rts graphical execution. Also, I´m a sucker for "we go" systems. If you like tactical games and space combat, the game is a must. If the campaign and RPG elements were deeper, I´d give it a 10/10. As is, a 9/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →4 hours in to the game right now and I have to say I like this game. Graphics are decent, sounds is good, music is pretty much the same thing over and over. My favorite part would have to be how you give commands. You give several seconds or orders to your fleet and then watch it play out. Tactical, but feels quick. The only thing I'm finding that I'm not a fan of would be a lack of ship customizing. Ships do improve with experience, but weapon and equipment loadouts are set and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excellent strategy game. Now that i have completed the game, i understand why this team was chosen to do a game on Battlestar Galactica, look forward to play that game as well. In this game, you manage you fleets and follow a non linear campaign. There's a small management of you crew as well. While tricky, it'a really relaxing game as it's turn-based. The campaign is not too long (about 10 hours). The story itself is too much focused on texts. Overall, a very nice game if you want to be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you don't care about graphical quality and are looking for a small fun space fleet combat game, then you will have a great time with this game. While feeling graphically incomplete and unpolished there is a solid core game that is fun to play through multiple times. Pros: * This space combat portion of the game is great. * The combat controls give you a sense of the characteristics of each ship, and the ships don't all feel the same. * The methods used to control your ship are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not worth $20; try $5. Lots of reading, no voice acting, and the battles are far less in-depth than I had expected. The combat is just, move around, shoot, then repeat till all enemies are gone...over & over again. I expected better.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After about 4.5 hours in this game I feel sad. That game might became really good, but waste its potential. Story was plausible. Language actually pretty good - it feels like developers consults with navy officers. Dialogues feels real. Units pretty balanced and have logical roles. Aggressive and defensive warfare style could affect campaign plot... slightly. Soundtrack too epic for my taste but its fits. Too bad that game was abandoned by developers. Achievements didn't work correctly - I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boring... there's nothing to this game. No real substance. You have no real control over anything but turning your ships and setting their fire mode. Where's the strategy, upgrades, storyline, etc... No thanks. Probably won't play this much unless I need a brain drain afternoon where I don't have to think
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like the combat in this game i like it alot the look of the ships the managment of shields weapons engines all that jazz this is done well and im a fan. However the reasons this game is ruined for me are as follows. the story is poor and the lack of voice acting really damages emersion reading and having to wait for the next page is very annoying the devs should have got family and friends in if they were that hard up for cash. Having missles not replenish while the enemy have them…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game wants to be good, it really does. Unfortunately, it misses the mark. Battles are repetitive click fests and some what boring. Character development is rather lacking. Story is rudimentary at best. Ultimately this is an adequate space/naval game at best, amusing enough for a while but not really worth much time or investment.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its really fun, no real cons yet.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, totally enjoy it. Pros: 1. Deep and interesting tactics, full of options. 2. Easy to learn. 3. Funny crew conversations. Cons: 1. No voice acting. 2. No animation on characters. Nice price for good game play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game if you like space combat.----worth the money get it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would only get this game on discount. I like the idea well enough and the ships are fun but there are too many bugs. I had a tough fight to escort these shuttles to the evac navpoint. All the enemies are dead and my ships are circling the nav point but the scenario doesn't end. Go play something with fewer bugs. The storyline is weak at best.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →OK, the game is ok. It's not fantastic, its not rubbish, its just ok. Needs more variety, needs more ability to modify ships, loadout, crew. I know its an old game, but its new to me.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is alright, but not that fun. It's very repetitive with very few variations of enemies or victory conditions. The interface is bad, you have to micro-manage every aspect of your ships, which is especially annoying when the "balanced" setting doesn't even allow shield regen. The AI is dumb as bricks and is balanced by outnumbering you quite a lot, on top of the micro-management if you ever want to target something it's super cumbersome. The graphics are meh as are the sound, the story…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yep... I really like it: It's turnbased and it's really looking good. Got some kind of real Space Battle Feel. Sure there are some MINOR Issues but not game breakers or something but more in overall game design and looks. This game has such an enourmos, unbelivable, awesome potential in it that the gap what this game actual is and what it could be nearly made me cry. I found myself daydreaming about the best 4x Space Game ever. Take the best Ideas of Master of Orion, GalCiv, Sword of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bottom Line: Everything Sid Meiers Starships should of been. Asides from the constant dialog box of Mr. Angry guy in the top right, a spot on turn-based space battle game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good promise, but far too simplistic. Like a dumbed-down chess game in space. I was hoping for more customizability and choice. The story so far seems like a rehash of every other space sim (an evil alien race awakens plus the usual human pirates for a little variety). Not enough to hook me in or keep me playing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is one that i have been looking for an excedingly long time, This game is more dynamic then anything else. this is the type of command game that i am always on the hunt for. Facing the Nautilid or facing raiders the game dlivers a vibrant ship to ship universe.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got this yesterday and it is well worth the price. A wego space ship game, and it good so far. Its like combat mission but on a smaller scale. This is something that was needed because so many games seem to just be bigger better copies of each other these days.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A nice little tactical space combat game -- reminds me a little of Starfleet Battles from my tabletop gaming youth!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ship combat is OK but given the small fleet sizes, lack of customization for ships and repetitive feeling maps the game can get stale quickly. Pick it up if your into space combat but only on a good sale.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoy this game, it's almost perfect for me since battles are short. I only wish it was less focused on the bioenemys than actual humonoid ones that build ships. It is addictivly fun for people who like spaceship combat.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to like this game, but its too much of a mobile game. Basically you move your ships, thats it and it bores pretty fast. nice idea, but to simple, theres not much to do.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a lovely game with a remarkably forgettable title. For shame, whomever named it! Star Hammer: WE HAD TO FIT THE WORD PROPHECY IN THERE SOMEWHERE - is all about the story of a promotion seeking navy brat with a famous father and a burning desire to slaughter helpless aliens and people who disagree with her point of view. I guess it could also be about a patriot trying to make the best of a tough situation? I dunno, there's a branching campaign, but I plainly picked the correct branch…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I remember I played this game back in the day and I really enjoy it. I bought it when I saw it in steam to support the devs. Yes, its limited in various points, already mentioned in other comments. The thing I didn't like the most was the lack of customization between ships and the limited things you can set up with your battle-group pre deployment...almost nothing actually. But never the less, I had tons of fun, this game is unique in its kind along side with Battlestar Galactica. Its a shame…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Decent graphics, interesting mechanics, story didn't really pull me in but the gameplay was unique and fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall I loved the mechanics of the actual battles. Where the game was weak is on story and enemy ship variation. Constantly fighting against the same faction got old. It is good for an evening or two of fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →decent graphics ♥♥♥♥ game missing even the most basic controls how about a stop command like dont move weapons like counter missle need instant resupply every mssion reinforcements take far to long, limit on how many ship u can bring u cant even stock all the different ship and choose what one u need. lose a ship(s) previous mission to bad u ♥♥♥♥♥♥ go start the game from scratch again cause u wont beat the next mission cause u dont have enough ships. serious bad dev go play command and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd give it an 8/10. I doesn't come across as anything revolutionary but its a pretty solid game. You fight on a 2D plane with 3 "layers" pretending at "height" and "depth" what makes this game great is just that everything works. The developers clearly put a lot of effort in both the gameplay as the campaign and the main characters and interactions are very well portrayed.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finally. Someone got strategic and tactical space combat right. The sim requires the player to think ahead and plan for what he beleives his opponents will do. This requires that you manage each ship. The optional tiers one can place their fleet on help make management of several ships much less difficult. Even though the Vanguard universe is awesome, I kept thinking about the Honor Harrinton book series, and yes, even Battlestar Galactica as I played. The game immerses you into the sim…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game reminds me of old school 1990s tactical space combat games (Star Fleet Battles, Babylon 5 Wars and the like). It has the production values of an indie game, but since it is in fact an indie game, I have no complaints. Others have commented on the lack of voice acting, but that stuff is expensive (or done poorly, if cheap)...so again, no complaints here. The tactical map is well designed. There is complexity to a 3-D map that this game manages to thread surprisingly well. The music is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's... okay. The total lack of ship customization is appalling. In a game like this I just can't imagine how any design team could arrive at the decision to not include it yet include a basically meangingless and bugged "crew" system that really is pointless. Can't really select your ships before battle either. It's basically an illusion of choice for what little there is. Upgrading is slow, for what little there is. It has some randomness to it, will you have a dozen missiles this mission or…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →On windows 10 Tried to fire a missle in the intro Misson Game crashed. Lost all progress... Tried again, random crash before i got very far in that same first mission. Rinse and Repeat. Go to comapny support form. Didn't really find any help. Asked for refund.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yes yes and yes. This is how turn based space combat should be done.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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