Starfire is a series of games which simulate combat in space at sub-light speed. Ships are made up of various combat and non-combat systems each represented by a letter (or combination of letters). A 'word' makes up a ship. As damage is done between ships, letters are crossed off from left to right within the 'word' until the ship is destroyed. Movement is on an 'endless' hex map, and occurs in 6 impulses. Galactic travel is accomplished through 'Warp Points' which connect star systems in a random manner. The game includes scenarios for a fictional future ('Future History') of the conflicts between the Terrans of Earth and the other races of the galaxy. Also included are ship construction rules for designing custom ships for open fleet battles.The Original Version (1st Edition) of Starfire was titled as Task Force Game #1. It was one of the Pocket Games from Task Force Games. The original pocket game had two pocket expansions: Starfire II which added fighters to the Starfire series, and Starfire III, Empires which added a campaign system.The Second Edition of Starfire came in a boxed version. It included a combination of the original Starfire and Starfire II with rules editing and corrections several rules changes were made to fighters. Additional designers were Barry Jacobs and David W. Crump. It appeared in 1984. It also had two expansions: Starfire New Empires which added a campaign system (replaced Starfire III, Empires) and Starfire, The Gorm-Khanate War.A third edition, Starfire 3rd Edition was a complete rewrite of the 1st and 2nd edition rules combined with some other material published in Nexus magazine and other prior products.The Starfire series was purchased from Task Force Games by the Starfire Design Studio during the end of production for products for Starfire 3rd Edition. Starfire Design Studio released a fourth edition: Galactic Starfire. - BoardGameGeek