The basic lowdown for the F&E module:

If you haven't already, go to www.java.com and make sure you have the most recent version of Sun's JVM installed.

Go to Vassal and click on the link under "Get Vassal" to download and install Vassal on your system, and then run through the little intro included with it (tour.mod and tour.log).

All the Federation & Empire stuff is in a zip file:

'F&E x.mod' is the main file. Start Vassal, click on the 'File' menu, click on 'Open Module...' and point it at that file. The next time you run Vassal, it should appear in the main Module Manager window; just double-click on it there.

There are pre-done set-up files for most of the major F&E scenarios that have appeared in the game or expansions. When loading the module, select 'Start a new game offline', hit next, and select one of the choices there. Or, once the module is fully started, they're all available from the File menu.

'Base Setup' is just a new game with all the bases plunked down already. Good for getting a brand new game started. 'New Game' is completely blank with no bases or anything beyond the main map.

All the others should give the scenario name as well as the rule number.

The zip also includes a number of extensions which add optional counters and the like. These are mostly for unpublished ships, but the ISC War materials are contained in the ISC.mdx file. These need to to be in a sub-folder of where the main F&E.mod file is. The folder name needs to be the same as the file name (without extension) of the F&E.mod file with '_ext' added to the end (e.g., "F&E 1.2_ext"), which the zip file should already have for you. If you keep the folder structure intact while unzipping, they'll be in an 'inactive' folder. The main Vassal interface should find them, and display them greyed out when the module is expanded in the Module Manager. Right-click on an extension and select 'Activate' to load an extension with the main module. The extensions should include:
    4PW.mdx - Extra counters for the early ships found in the Four Powers War scenario (K-C6, K-E4J, Z-DNE, H-TEM, L-DNE).
    Andro.mdx - This has the basic playtest counters for the Andromedans from CL11.
    BB.mdx - This has all the optional battleships from Reinforcements.
    Enclave.mdx - This should have everything needed to run the Orion Enclave as a separate minor power.
    Extra.mdx - This contains all the unpublished counters that any sort of official factors exist for, other than what's already in other extensions.
    ISC.mdx - This is all the counters and charts for using the ISC in the main game.
    Maulers.mdx - This has the Alliance maulers that were originally presented in CL16.
    Pirates.mdx - This is all the counters needed to run the Orion Pirates under the normal or optional non-player rules.

This module is should have everything needed for the main game plus all the expansions. Please send comments, error reports, and feature requests to rindis@rindis.com

Warning:
The module+ISC War extension adds up to a large load on Vassal, which has problems saving the Driving Winds scenario. Do these two things before using the ISC extension: 1) In the Vassal Module Manager go to 'File|Preferences' choose the Importer tab and change the JVM Maximum heap size to 1024. 2) Start the F&E module, and go to 'File|Preferences', and most of the way down the General tab, set JVM maximum heap to 1024.

Some extra links:

My website

Vassal Forum

Vassal Module Page

Amarillo Design Bureau
    Federation & Empire products.
    Forum thread for this module.
    On-line SITs