#starcadre
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cyningstan.bsky.social
Rescue missions are subtly different. With multiple hostages to find, some of whom have useful skills, you can recruit the hostages themselves to help. You also score per hostage freed. cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Finding the first hostage in a Rescue mission. The scout peeked through the door and retreated, which is why we can see the hostage and their kidnapper currently not in the line of sight.
February 7, 2026 at 2:01 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The Hostage mission has a clear focus: find the named individual and get them out alive. Hostages need to be cut free; if your team doesn't have a blade you'll need to find one. cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Entering the location for a Hostage mission. Hostages look like team members but are depicted without a weapon. The hostage in this mission is yet to be found.
January 31, 2026 at 1:30 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
If you like games where you kill everything that moves, the Annihilation mission is for you. Hunt them all down, and leave none alive! In this mission, every kill contributes to your score. cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
The team is just starting out on its Annihilation mission. Adlana's next shot will hopefully kill Ectar.
January 24, 2026 at 2:36 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
In an Assassination mission, your team must find the named individual and kill them. Rendering them unconscious is not enough: they must be dead. Other kills don't count towards your mission score. cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
An Assassination mission in Star Cadre: Combat Class. Anetnell had to die because they were in the way, but the real target is Eemastan.
January 17, 2026 at 2:32 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Star Cadre: Combat Class offers a choice of six different missions to play. You can get the game and try them out at cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Star Cadre: Combat Class's new game screen. The mission type can be set to Random, or to one of the six different mission types.
January 10, 2026 at 1:29 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Skill in Medicine allows a #StarCadre Combat Class unit to heal themselves and their comrades. Anyone with Medicine level 4 or above is given a medikit; those with a lower level of skill will have to look for a spare medikit. cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #ibmpc #msdos #cga
A screenshot showing Medic Casteki, who has Medicine skill at level 6. The critical success effect in Medicine allows healing without the expenditure of action points; normally healing takes 6 action points.
January 3, 2026 at 5:00 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Stealth is for creeping around a location in #StarCadre Combat Class without being noticed. It's useful for peeking around corners or silently approaching an enemy to attack them. This is a Scout's primary skill. cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Scout Kergeprild shows off an ideal Scout skill set: Stealth and Blade, both at level 6. Level 6, like level 5, gives a 35 in 36 chance of success, but also has an 11 in 36 chance of a critical success. This has different effects for each skill. Stealth has no critical success effect, but the combat skills' effect is an instant kill.
December 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Unarmed Combat skill allows a #StarCadre Combat Class character to brawl or bludgeon an enemy at close range. A Soldier might use this to attack an enemy too close to fire at with their Laser Rifle. cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #ibmpc #msdos #cga
A screenshot showing that Scout Joel has rendered Auchiart unconscious using the Unarmed Combat skill, level 3. Note that Joel has put away his Laser Pistol in order to use unarmed combat, since his Light Firearms skill is inferior to his Unarmed Combat skill. Level 3 in a skill gives a 75% chance of success, while level 2 gives only a 44% chance, or 4 in 9.
December 20, 2025 at 2:02 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Blade Combat in #StarCadre Combat Class allows for accuracy in stabbing with a blade. This is a common skill for Medics and Scouts. You don't need this to use a blade to free hostages though. cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Scout Braniethyn has Blade 4 as their main combat skill. Which is fortunate, as the only equipment they are supplied with is a blade. Level 4 in a skill gives an 8 in 9 chance of success when using it.
December 14, 2025 at 2:41 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Light Firearms skill in #StarCadre Combat Class is for firing the laser pistol. The Auxiliary has this as their primary skill, but scouts and medics may also have Light Firearms as their main combat skill. Get the game from cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #ibmpc #msdos #cga
A screenshot showing Auxilliary Fenel, with Light Firearm skill at level 5, and carrying the pistol whose use it facilitates.
November 22, 2025 at 6:34 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
#StarCadre Combat Class has a skills-based system. For instance, Heavy Firearms skill allows a character to fire a laser rifle accurately. Soldiers will have this skill, but other characters might have it too. Get the game from cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Soldier Atryxil's main skill is Heavy Firearms, allowing effective use of the Laser Rifle. Level 5 in a skill gives a near-certain chance of success, specifically a 35 in 36 chance.
November 15, 2025 at 3:04 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Some spacecraft I designed for a possible future game in the #StarCadre series. Imagine boarding missions aboard these ships. It's going to be a long time before I get around to that game, though. #gamedev #msdos #cga
A lightly armed ship with some cargo space and some empty rooms awaiting a purpose. To the left is the rear of the ship, with engines and cargo bay. At the top, left of centre, is the crew quarters. The projecting sections at the sides of the ship (top and bottom of the plan) are the turrets with seats for the gunners. Ahead of this is a meeting room, and on the right is the bridge. An armed merchant ship. The bridge is to the left, and the "pods" above and below the central corridor are a crew quarters pod and three cargo pods. Towards the rear is a meeting room and the engines. The bridge needs more decoration. A heavily armed starship with four turrets. At the top is the bridge. Forward left and right are the turrets and room for the gunners. Straddling the central corridor are the crew quarters. Between the engines at the bottom are a meeting room on the left, and a cargo bay to the right.
November 8, 2025 at 1:27 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Shortly after its release, Sparcie made this review video about #StarCadre Combat Class. www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4yi... #ibmpc #msdos #cga
MS-DOS Homebrew: Star Cadre: Combat Class
YouTube video by Sparcie
www.youtube.com
November 1, 2025 at 1:26 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
If you like the #cga nostalgia palette, you can play #StarCadre in those colours. Just launch the game with the '-p' option (for palette, or purple, or pink, take your pick). #ibmpc #msdos
Star Cadre: Combat Class in play. Scout Aremiy creeps into a doorway and spots Emynt in the adjacent room. The game is played in a palette of black, cyan, magenta and white, which is the default palette for CGA graphics and is used by many CGA games.
October 25, 2025 at 1:07 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Hostages are present in two missions: Hostage, a single hostage to free, and Rescue, where you must rescue as many captured hostages as you can. Hostages may have useful skills. Download Star Cadre: Combat Class at cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #StarCadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Aphe the Hostage has yet to be freed, and the player team doesn't have a blade among them to do the job. So they'll need to go and find one, and come back and rescue Aphe and their companion. Notice the range of combat skills which, once freed and armed, Aphe can lend to the team.
October 18, 2025 at 12:50 PM
brewotaku.bsky.social
Star Cadre: Combat Class is here! A tactical combat RPG from @cyningstan that's a true MS-DOS throwback. Command your four-unit squad in challenging missions. Get that perfect score,cadet!

Read full review in BrewOataku 003: www.brewotaku.com/2025/10/star...

#StarCadre #MSDOS #BrewOatku
Star Cadre: Combat Class (2024) MS-DOS » BrewOtaku Homebrew Retro Gaming Magazine
Star Cadre: Combat Class is a free MS-DOS tactical combat game where you command squads, complete missions, and prove your worth as a Star Academy cadet.
www.brewotaku.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Enemies are a distinct class in Star Cadre: Combat Class. The game difficulty level determines the extent of their combat skills. Enemy stats and skills are not shown to the player. You can download the game at cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
The enemy unit Othier was the object of this assassination mission, so the player units can now exit the mission location. All of Othier's stats and skills are hidden, but he was presumably most comfortable with Heavy Firearms, as evidenced by the laser rifle that he was holding.
October 11, 2025 at 1:33 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The Soldier is the strongest unit type in Star Cadre: Combat Class. Equipped with the laser rifle, a helmet and body armour, this is the best unit for taking out strong, armoured enemies at range. You can download the game at cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Sollie the Soldier ponders their next move after immobilising the enemy unit Einua in the doorway. This is a retrieval mission, so the all-important data card might be on Einua's unconscious body.
September 27, 2025 at 12:41 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Auxiliaries are light armed units that support the soldiers and other units. Equipped with a laser pistol, sometimes auxilliaries also have armour. You can download the Star Cadre: Combat Class at cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Tapheran the Auxilliary hangs back at the rear of the group in this Gathering mission, ready to defend colleagues against any attacks that come from behind.
September 20, 2025 at 12:44 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The Scout class are useful for sneaking into rooms and corridors without being detected. Scouts' high agility tends to make them the most speedy units in the game. You can download the Star Cadre: Combat Class at cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Wetto the Scout sneaks into the upper corridor and spots the enemy Brarikirt. Wetto can report back on Brarikirt's equipped weapons an armour, so that the player knows which member(s) of the team to send to deal with the threat - or perhaps to avoid the danger altogether.
September 13, 2025 at 12:39 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Medics are an essential part of any successful Star Cadre: Combat Class mission. A medic will carry a medikit to help heal injured comrades. You can download the Star Cadre: Combat Class at cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
While Aciran the Soldier deals with enemies like Endala, Brace the Medic is at hand to tend to any injuries that Aciran might sustain. Brace has various combat skills, but all are secondary to Medicine skill which determines the chance of success of each attempt at healing.
September 6, 2025 at 12:33 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
To play with these items, either visit the game's web site earlier in the thread, or download it instead from Itch: cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
The team continues the mission, with Blancifeth collecting more cards. Note Blanceifeth's low strength. Carrying all these things will slow them down a great deal.
August 23, 2025 at 1:21 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The Data Card is a macguffin, you need to collect one or more of these to achieve success in Retrieval and Gathering missions. A Gathering mission will have between two and twelve of these in cabinets and in the inventories of enemy units. #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
While all this has been going on, Blancifeth the Scout has been looting the bodies of fallen enemies. Enlarged in the inset is a data card scavenged from an unfortunate adversary earlier in the mission.
August 16, 2025 at 1:18 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
A Medikit is given to any of your team with Medicine skill at level 4 or better. Which basically means Medics. There's an extra medikit somewhere at the mission location, so any non-medic with medicine skill can make use of their skill. #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Nasa comes for Patlan but is shot and rendered unconscious in the attempt. Dilsuactal has a Medikit at the ready, which we see enlarged in the inset.
August 9, 2025 at 12:30 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Body Armour protects the body against enemy attacks, and tends to prevent more harm than the helmet does. As with the Helmet, soldiers are always equipped with body armour, while other units might have to loot armour from fallen enemies. #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Patlan has a shootout with Nasa in the corridor, and retreats for healing. Patlan was protected by body Armour, which is enlarged in the inset.
August 2, 2025 at 12:08 PM