Star Trek: The Dominion War

We’ve decided to take on an ambitious challenge: playing through the Dominion War as a 28mm miniatures wargame, using Galactic Heroes, 2nd Edition by Wiley Games. It’s an exciting project, but the sheer scope of what we’re planning has us both energized and a little intimidated!

The Dominion War offers such a rich setting to explore, and we’re aiming to dive deep into it. That means:

• Painting: Bringing a variety of Star Trek factions to life in miniature form, from Federation forces to Dominion shock troops, and everything in between.
• Rules Writing: Adapting the Galactic Heroes system to capture the unique flavor and tactical diversity of the Dominion War.
• Scenario Design: Developing missions that reflect the epic moments of the conflict, while also creating tools to generate new, unpredictable challenges.
• Terrain Creation: Building immersive environments, from war-ravaged planetary battlefields to the cold, strategic interiors of space stations and starships.
• 3D Modeling and Printing: Designing and producing custom miniatures and terrain pieces to add personal touches to our games.
• Creative Writing: Infusing our campaign with story-driven elements, like briefings and lore, to bring it all together.

It’s a lot to take on, but the blend of creativity, strategy, and storytelling makes it worth the effort. We’re looking forward to sharing our progress, challenges, and victories as we bring the Dominion War to the tabletop.

The Dominion War is a conflict of two distinct arenas: the sweeping clashes of space battles and the gritty struggles of ground combat. To keep things manageable, we’ve decided to start with ground battles while working on the space combat rules in parallel.

Ground combat is easier to replicate on the tabletop, especially with a system like Galactic Heroes (part of the Fistful of Lead series) that strikes a great balance between depth and ease of play. Adapting it to fit the Dominion War has been straightforward, allowing us to focus on painting miniatures, designing scenarios, and creating terrain for planetary skirmishes.

Space combat, however, is proving more challenging. Most tabletop systems for space battles adapt rules designed for fighter combat, which doesn’t fully capture the scale and tactics of capital ship engagements. Conversely, the large ship combat systems we’ve explored often become overly complex, bogging down play rather than enhancing it. We’re searching for a sweet spot—something with the simplicity and flexibility of Fistful of Lead but tailored for the Dominion War’s massive fleets and strategic maneuvers.

As we refine the rules for space combat, we’ll continue focusing on ground engagements, building out our Dominion War campaign step by step

As we expand the scope of our Star Trek tabletop gaming to encompass the full scale of the Dominion War, we’ve found ourselves venturing into uncharted territory. While Star Trek provides a wealth of lore, some areas of the Dominion War—particularly its battles and the operational details—remain undefined. That’s where we need to get creative.

Drawing from what’s established in Trek canon, we’ve been fleshing out the untold stories and imagining how these massive conflicts might have unfolded. From the grueling planetary campaigns to the high-stakes naval clashes in deep space, we’re shaping a vision of the Dominion War that captures its epic scale while keeping true to the tone and themes of Star Trek.

Filling in these gaps has allowed us to put our own stamp on the Dominion War while staying rooted in the established Trek universe.