|
||||||||
April 2020
|
||||||||
Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS:
STAR FLEET UNIVERSE COLORING BOOKS ON SALE
To help you deal with kids and gamers trapped inside during the COVID19 crisis, we have placed our coloring books on "pay whatever you want" status on DRIVE THRU RPG, WARGAME VAULT, AND DRIVE THRU COMICS. The books are available for $1.95 on Warehouse 23.
This includes the original book done some time ago, the new "Aliens and Crew" book just released, and Book #3 More Starships to be released next week.
STAR FLEET UNIVERSE COLORING BOOK #1: STARSHIPS
This incudes Federation, Klingon, Tholian, and Romulan starships The first coloring book is available as a PDF from the following sources:
Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB-CB001
DriveThru RPG: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/194641/
Wargame Vault: http://www.wargamevault.com/product/194641/
DriveThru Comics: http://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/194641/
STAR FLEET UNIVERSE COLORING BOOK #2: ALIENS AND CREW This second book focuses on the people of the Star Fleet Universe and includes crew and other folks you might meet (and a few ships) from the following empires: Federation, Andromedans (robots only!), Gorns, Romulans, Klingons, Lyrans, Kzintis, and Orions. There are some creatures, notably a space manta and space dragon. Much thanks to Dale McKee who did all of the art for this book.
The second coloring book is available as a PDF from the following sources:
DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/309033/
Wargame Vault: https://www.wargamevault.com/product/309033
DriveThru Comics: https://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/309033/
Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB-CB002
A PDF sample is also available in the extras page! click here for the sample page. STAR FLEET UNIVERSE COLORING BOOK #3: MORE STARSHIPS This will be available next week with ships from the Federation, Romulans, Klingons, Kzintis, Gorns, Lyrans, and others.
FED COMMANDER ON LINE EXPANDS SHIP LIBRARY
Over the last month, more than 150 new ships have been added to the library of available designs for Federation Commander On Line. These come from REINFORCEMENTS and it's boosters and the huge file of ships from Communique, Captain's Log, and various special projects.
SHAPEWAYS
On April 3, 2020, ADB released a total of 35 new items to its shop on Shapeways with over 2,000 items available in total. Notably, we added more advanced technology ships (sometimes called X-technology or "X-ships") to the shop. There are some styles of ships designed to work within the price increase that Shapeways imposed. We also added more ships in the 7000 Scale that is designed to allow you to play with multiple ships on a "regular" map with 5/8-inch hexes. Please note that all ships are available in both 3788 and 3125 scales unless specifically noted, then they are only available in the scale noted. Check all these out here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/amarillo-design-bureau-inc Don't forget to follow us: https://www.shapeways.com/designer/adbinc
Romulan X-Ship BattleHawk-X Destroyer WEBSITE:
Our website, www.StarFleetGames.com, continues to grow and improve. You are welcome to send us your requests, comments, and suggestions. Samantha Todd, our graphics director, continues to update the website, do covers for the new products, shut down pirate websites, help out around the company, and learn more about the game business.
TWITTER: VIDEOS: Star Fleet Marines Part 1 DOING VIDEOS OF THE SFU
A customer asked about posting "tutorial videos" for our games. We like it when people do that (and even give commendation medals) but you need to have us check the videos to make sure you aren't violating something somehow (or that you didn't make a rules error). Doing such videos to make money is not cool. Please drop us an email before you post the videos.
STARBLOG: STAR FLEET'S LEGIONS EXPAND: This month we feature Battle Group Hampton Roads, headquartered in Hampton, Virginia. CO William Phillips reports they play Star Fleet Battles and Federation & Empire. They also enjoy attending gaming conventions. Read more here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/battlegroup_HamptonRoads.shtml
Do you have a battle group? Be sure to report your activities here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/report.shtml
Do you want to see if there's a battle group near you? Check out the map here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/gather.shtml#US
Facebook Fan Pages
So join us on Facebook and get a fix of your favorite game there, too! JAGDPANTHER
Custom Decals for Starline ships Tenneshington Decals continues to provide custom decals for all currently produced Federation Starline 2500 miniatures. For more information or to download the order sheet, check them out at www.tenneshington.com. Or if you prefer, email Will McCammon at: will@tenneshington.com or Tony L. Thomas at: scoutdad@tenneshington.com.
Jupiter IV Decals is a source of decals for the 2400 line and will do custom decals as well as all official SFB names. In the near future Jupiter IV will move into the 2500 line and will work to get every listed name on the Starfleet registry completed in both scales.
Their website is: JupiterIvdecals.com
ONLINE TOURNAMENTS Sapphire Star:
Looking to play in a Star Fleet Battles Tournament? Sign up for the Sapphire Star 4 Tournament. Tournament Marshal Steven P. Petrick judges the Sapphire tournaments. He will be in charge of rulings, adjudications, wild card assignments, and the tree. He must be CCed on all tournament emails. Each tournament will have exactly 16 players; anyone who signs up too late will be put into the next tournament (or might be offered a wild card seat in the first round of the ongoing tournament). There will be four single-elimination rounds resulting in the winner, who will be a Rated Ace. There will be a non-refundable $10 entry fee, which must be paid through our web store within one day of registration. Registration is done on SFBOL. All $160 will be distributed as prizes. There are $10 prizes for 5th-8th place, so if you win one game you get your money back; keep playing to win more. You can take cash or use triple the value of the prize in merchandise or PDF credit. (If used for credit, this must all be used in one order within 30 days of the award. You do not have to use matching cash in redeeming the prize, but will have to pay cash or use prize cash for the shipping costs. Tripled prize credit cannot be used for Shapeways, Starmada, ACTASF, Starline 2500, or SFBOL due to those contracts.) Prize notifications will be distributed within five business days of the conclusion of the final game. The winner is encouraged to write an article on his tactics for Captain’s Log (for which he will be paid $50) but is not required to do so. There will be strict deadlines: three weeks for round one and two weeks for the later rounds. When matched with an opponent you have 72 hours to agree to a time to play. If the game cannot be completed, you must agree to a schedule to resume the game at the time the session ends, and must finish within the deadline. Any game not completed on time (or if both players request it) will be adjudicated and, if the game is inconclusive, the judge reserves the right to declare both players lost and fill the spot with a wild card. If someone drops out, disappears, or just won't schedule his game and there is time to put a wild card player into his place, we will do this if we can find one. If not, it will count as a forfeit and the other player will win and advance. There will be no forfeits in the final game, even if we have to find a wild card player (or have two players fight for the wild card spot) and start the two-week clock over again. Wild cards for the second and third rounds (and possibly the first round) will come from those who did not advance from those rounds. These are links that should be useful. Sign up on SFBOL here: https://www.sfbonline.com/tourn_signup.jsp +++
The Sapphire Star 3 Tournament ended with Bill Schoeller defeating Andy Koch. Congratulations to all who played and especially to Bill. Steven Petrick was the judge for this tournament.
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES Star Fleet Battles games are held weekly in Tempe Arizona each Friday at Game Depot from 2:00 -7:00 pm. Eric Phillips is the person to contact. Star Fleet Battles games are held regularly in Indianapolis, Indiana at Family Time Games. Anthony Harding is the contact person. For more information see: http://www.meetup.com/Star-Fleet-Battles-Indy/.
Star Fleet Battles games are played regularly in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday afternoons at the Soldiery. Lee Hanna is the contact person. Games are held in Spokane, Washington on an irregular basis. Contact them to see if there's a game scheduled. They meet at The Gamer's Haven, 2114 N. Pines St., Suites 1 & 2, Spokane Valley, WA 99206, (509) 443-5992 http://www.thegamershaven.net/ Download Transmissions HAILING FREQUENCIES: This is our newsletter and will let you know all the news for all our games. You can subscribe here. Have you missed an earlier newsletter? Click here to get caught up! COMMUNIQUE: This monthly magazine repeated much of the same information that Hailing Frequencies does. December 2019 was the last month it was published. Old issues can be downloaded from the Commander's Circle.
Mini of the Month Kent Ing painted this Romulan SparrowHawk (3125 Scale Smooth Fine Detail Plastic).
|
||||||||
|
New Releases EXTRAS FOR THE MONTH: Federation Commander Klingon WD5 You can look at Hailing Frequencies Extras here. Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies. Recently Released GURPS Prime Directive Vol 1, SKU 8406, $29.95 To be released in 2020
FC Federation Epack #5
GURPS Klingons Revision
Star Fleet Universe Index Captain's Log #54
SFB Module R13
The rest of the Starmada Unity Edition
A new F&E module to be named later
ACTASF Book 3
SHAPEWAYS:
We’re now offering some of our miniatures and some new designs on Shapeways. You can check out the store here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/amarillo-design-bureau-inc?sort=newest
PDF and EBOOK SALES: RECENTLY RELEASED ON Warehouse 23 Star Fleet Universe Coloring Book #2: Aliens and crew Star Fleet Universe Coloring Book #2: Aliens and crew (DriveThru RPG or Wargame Vault) MEMO: June 22, 2013 (Continue reading here)
Ask Admiral Vanaxilth Tactical Maneuvers
Francois Lemay asks: For a ship to earn a warp tactical maneuver, it must be at Speed Zero at the start of an impulse where it would earn one (Impulses #2, #8, #16 and #24). Is this correct?
ANSWER: No. Ships earn warp tactical maneuvers on those impulses, whether or not they are eligible to use them. If you declare Emergency Deceleration on Impulse #14 (and stop on Impulse #16), per (C5.532), you could use reserve warp power to do a warp tactical maneuver on Impulse #20. Note that you would earn a warp tactical maneuver on Impulse #16 whether you are going Speed Zero or Speed 31. Of course, if you are going faster than Speed Zero you cannot actually do the warp tactical maneuver, but you still earn one. If you later drop to Speed Zero, you can use the warp tactical maneuver you have earned, subject to applicable delays. For example, if you hit the tournament barrier on Impulse #25, per (P17.22) you can use a warp tactical maneuver (would have to use reserve warp) on Impulse #26. F&E Q&A
ODDS AND ENDS Q: Is a monitor (519.0) with a CV pallet a carrier? Specifically for purposes of (534.0) Espionage & Sabotage (E & S) raids, is a monitor an eligible target for crippling a size-class-3 ship under (534.223)? The monitor rules state that it can¹t be escorted (519.23) so you aren¹t limited by the rule that says you can't attack a ship with escorts. Or, do you have to use (534.224) to attack it with an E & S raid where you attack its fighters.
A: Monitors are a bit of an odd duck. They are specifically listed as non-carrier groups under (515.437) and are not permitted to be escorted (essentially a non-carrier group on one ship). The same is true under (519.23). Monitors cannot react (519.35), enter the hex of the enemy (519.33), or be used in an approach battle (519.32). However, a monitor assigned attrition units can react, and can open or block supply paths, and can be used in approach battles. Monitors act much like a base when assigned an attrition unit. We have reviewed the E&S mission (534.223) "Cripple a ship" and (534.224) "Damage a carrier/PFT." Under (534.223) it states: "A ship cannot be attacked if it has escorts, but the escorts could be." We have interpreted this to also mean that a ship can be attacked with an E&S raid under (534.223) if the ship has no assigned escorts. This includes monitors and single-ship carriers with no escorts. In a like manner, under E&S mission (534.224), if a carrier or PFT is escorted, then the attrition units of the carrier or PFT cannot be attacked by this E&S raid. The key to understanding both these rules is the escorts. If any carrier or PFT has escorts assigned, then no E&S raid can be used against the carrier and PFT. If any carrier or PFT does not have escorts assigned, then an E&S raid can be used against the carrier and PFT. See the ruling section. While escorts are normally assigned at the start of combat (and that remains the primary time to do so), they can be assigned to a carrier in the same hex during Operational Movement and any assignment stays in force until the escort and escorted ships move to separate hexes or the owning player says they are no longer a group. Q: I have a partial supply grid with one ship in it (413.41), and a starbase that is missing two of its fighters. Do I have to spend a full EP to supply them? Or would 0.2 pay for it all? A: Rule (413.41) says "Each Economic Point produced in a Partial Supply Grid can be used to supply up to five units, including up to twelve replacement fighters." It doesn¹t say each .2 EP can be used to supply a ship and replace two fighters. Therefore, one EP will supply up to five ships and provide up to 12 replacement fighters. No fractions are indicated in this rule. The supply clerks kept the leftover cash. Q: Does the Federation being at limited war block a strategic movement path (540.22) between the Klingon and Romulan capitals and the Lyran and Romulan capitals? Rule (204.0) is silent on this as well. A: Rule (540.143) gives guidance on this with the movement of diplomats. Once a war status is in effect (Limited or just war) diplomatic movement is blocked through the war status side. So, yes, in your specific case, such movement is blocked. (End of F&E Q&A) ASK AUNT JEAN Dear Aunt Jean, when will we see the print version of the revised GURPS Prime Directive?
A: It is now out. I admit I set the print version's date to February 14 for Valentine's Day -- my gift to the fans of this game. You'll see a sample of what was enhanced as an "extra" for this issue of Hailing Frequencies.
Send questions to Jean at marketing@StarFleetGames.com and she will answer as soon as she can. Cool Stuff on the Website In this section we will provide links to various web pages and items that we think you will find "cool". We have also uploaded new Xander wallpapers to our Wallpapers section on the website: Wallpapers STAR FLEET ALERTS These are the press releases we send to the wholesalers, retailers, and media. You can get on the mailing list for them by asking Marketing@StarFleetGames.com to add you to the list. (Obviously, they are free.) They are uploaded to the Star Fleet Alert page FC Tactic of the MonthRELOAD ON THE RUN
In Federation Commander you can reload the drone racks of a ship by "repairing" them (4G8). Doing so requires that the drone rack not have launched any munitions during the current turn (5G5a). Rule (5G5b) allows you to do partial reloads of multiple drone racks in a turn as long as any given drone rack you start reloading is fully reloaded before you begin reloading another drone rack. What all of this means is that at the end of any given turn you should remember whether or not a given drone rack was used in that turn. If it was not (and nothing else is desperately crying for repairs), go ahead and reload it rather than let your repair points for that turn go to waste.
Consider a Kzinti frigate. Some tactics require the frigate to launch four drones on Turn #X, follow them towards the target, and then during Turn #X+1 launch two more drones for a total of six, the frigate¹s maximum control rating, and follow all six toward the target. At the end of Turn #X+1 the frigate could use damage control to load one drone into each of the two racks that did not launch a drone with one repair point each. The fact that you have these two extra drones in those racks might come in handy late in the battle when you do not have time to both repair a rack and reload it. The two currently undamaged racks (mark any damage on the two racks with fewer drones) will each still have a drone available to launch. This obviously has more utility for the Kzintis with their multiple drone racks. However even Federation ships should pay attention to whether or not they used a drone rack on a current turn. If repair points are going begging then take the time to reload a rack with a couple of anti-drones or a drone (or two). You cannot save up repair points; if you cannot use them you lose them. So before you just go to the next turn, take a look at your ship¹s drone racks, and if you did not use them, and have a few repair points, then reload a few rack spaces now. Having those drones and launching them late in the game may, at the least, draw enemy fire that might have scored more internal damage on your ship (saving more repair points) and let you perhaps score the decisive damage on your opponent.
When flying an Andromedan, you need to take into account the need to clear your panels. This means planning ahead to have space in the batteries. Clearing the panels is done at the end of the turn, before Energy Allocation (D10.41). If you started the current turn with your phasers fully charged and your batteries fully charged, you may come to the end of the turn needing a few extra points of space in your batteries to remove power from the panels. The trick is to not fire the power in your phaser capacitors. When it comes time to fire your phasers, use (H6.22) to fire the phasers from the batteries. You will reach the end of the turn with your phaser capacitors still full, but have created space in the batteries to take power from your power absorber panels.
(End of SFB Tactic of the Month) F&E Strategy of the Month Federation & Empire economic strategy can be conceived of as a Venn diagram between pin count, ComPot, specialty missions, and infrastructure. Pin count is raw ship equivalent production for moveable warships, although for players on the defensive fighters on bases and auxiliaries should also be counted. I count both "repair" and total "ship production" under "pin count." ComPot refers to high-cost units, which help maximize the ComPot put on a battle line, which is necessary to win battles and to win them at a lower cost. Infrastructure is your supply grid and your efforts to grow your economy.
Your economic allocation changes the relative value of these four factors on the Venn diagram. The optimum economic allocation is probably not on any extreme of the Venn diagram, but probably somewhere in the middle of the four. However, you can from turn-to-turn slide the values of the four factors, and hence change the Venn diagram. Generally speaking, I recommend favoring pin count slightly over ComPot, and valuing ComPot slightly over specialty missions, and valuing specialty missions slightly over infrastructure. You need pin count to dominate movement on the map, but you need ComPot to win battles, and winning battles is made easier with specialty missions and ships. Infrastructure is needed to prosecute a war at all, but Federation & Empire does not allow you to grow your economy all that much relative to your initial economy outside of direct conquest. I favor pin count the highest, because pin count is what allows you to dominate the map and control where your opponent is able to go. That means buying more cheap frigates and destroyers. For the Coalition in the early turns, I recommend 30% of your EPs to compot, 50% to pincount, 10% to infrastructure, and 10% to specialty units. For the Alliance in the early turns, I recommend 15% to compot, 40% to pincount, 40% to infrastructure, and 5% to specialty units. The strategic situation will force you to adjust these numbers, but dividing the budget like this at least insures that each category gets some money. Otherwise you start spending and run out of money before you run out of staff officers asking for money. Your total economic output makes all four factors stronger, but your total output can affect how you want to slide the numbers between these four factors on the Venn diagram. Pin count is favored at very low economies (conquered Hydrans) and very high economies (Federation). Klingons and most of the empires in between probably are better off going the middle road (balancing in the general case above). Note, however, that some purchases affect multiple factors on the Venn diagram. For example, building a convoy for use in colonial development and/or a supply point (an infrastructure expense) actually increases pin count because now a tug or theater transport is not needed for that mission. Therefore, this type of expense should be favored when possible because it simultaneously increases two or more factors on the Venn diagram, thereby maximizing the efficiency of your economic allocations. Another example of this type of multi-factor allocation would be a Kzinti auxiliary drone bombardment ship (a "ComPot" expense, but it also expands infrastructure to the extent that you will save money on drone bombardment). Another example is a base upgrade if the base is at or near the front. The base is an infrastructure factor (a supply and/or repair point), but it also makes the base a hard point (a ComPot factor, although of course it is not moveable). Thus, the strategy to be taken from the above approach to economic allocation is to maximize your economic allocation efficiency by paying for those things that increase multiple factors on the Venn diagram. However, as always, changing conditions might cause you to vary from this approach on critical turns. For example, if you are playing the Hydrans and are expecting the Coalition to take your capital next turn, then you are probably better off maximizing the number of PDUs and high-value ships (maximizing the ComPot factor). That decision maximizes damage to the Coalition and possibly might allow you to keep the capital another turn. Then, after the capital is taken, you adjust your four factors strongly in favor of pin count. Spend less on infrastructure by building a medium shipyard as you will not have the resources to take advantage of a full shipyard, and with the money you save you can buy more actual ships. You will have less need for high ComPot ships until you can maintain an offensive, which you will not be able to do (really) until you have forced a change in the pin count situation. The more ships the Hydrans build, the more the Coalition must send to the Hydran theater and the fewer ships the Coalition has to send to the Federation. If you are fortunate to get to the later stages of the war and begin a "Hydran war of return," then you will want to rebalance the four spending areas to reduce pin count and increase ComPot and infrastructure (and maybe some specialty ships). Similar approaches can be made with respect to any empire. However, unless there is an exigent need on a given turn, overall you are likely going to benefit the most from balancing the four factors with a slight order of priority from pin count to ComPot to specialty to infrastructure, with special attention paid to economic outlays that affect multiple factors.
FEDERATION COMMANDER QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Q: Sometimes the Reference Ship Chart (on the website), the PDF version of a card, and the laminated version of a card have different point values. Which is right?
A: If the Reference Ship Chart has a note saying "corrected" or "confirmed" or something similar, that is the correct point value. If not, then the printed and laminated card has the correct value (in which case let us know to correct the PDF copy). If the printed and PDF copies agree but the Reference Ship Chart does not (and isn't marked) then the RSC is probably a typo. Let us know to fix it.
FC Forum Recent Posts
The Federation Commander site and Forum continue to grow as more gamers continue to find them. All of our games currently have topics in the Forum. If you have any comments, questions, or requests for our Graphics Director, this is the place to let her know. Come see what the commotion is about and join the Federation Commander Forum now.
A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month A Call To Arms: Star Fleet¹s I-go-you-go initiative system rewards shooting first and disabling an opposing ship before it can fire. Dreadnoughts are great for this, because they pack a lot of firepower onto one hull and can do "in one go" what smaller ships would need two or three "goes" to do. That gives the opponent less time to react. Most dreadnoughts also have the Command +1 trait, so you will win initiative (and fire first) more often!
On the other hand, the movement initiative system rewards having a larger number of more maneuverable ships like frigates. Also, a ship which fires all of its phasers in an "alpha strike" is vulnerable to seeking weapons as it has no phasers left to fire. The solution is to balance one or two big ships with smaller ships. The smaller ships will act as "initiative sinks" during the Movement Phase, and can use their weapons during Defensive Fire to protect the dreadnought against seeking-weapon retribution. In general, move your dreadnought last and fire its weapons first.
(End of A Call to Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month)
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
show our games and to teach potential players some basics. 
