December 2011

Star Fleet Universe News

THE BIG NEWS: This month is the release of Captain's Log #44, Starline 2500, Call to Arms: Star Fleet, and Boosters 31, 32, and 33.

Starline 2500 and A Call to Arms: Star Fleet are approaching!
The joint venture between Mongoose Publishing and ADB, Inc. is moving along quite well. ACTASF should be available in stores before Christmas. This will be a beautiful hardbound rulebook with spectacular color photos of many ships.

The Starline 2500 ships are designed for use with SFB, FC, Starmada, and ACTASF, so the ship types that appear in the Squadron boxes won't change from the 2400 line (and the price for 2500 SQUADRON BOXES will actually go down to $29.95). What will change is that the 2500-series ships will be cast in hard resin, not pewter, and they will be about 20% larger so that all the details that you asked us to add will be there!

Our European customers will have the option of ordering from Mongoose-UK so their shipping will be perhaps more "local." Both ADB, Inc. and Mongoose-US will stock the minis as will many game stores, so you should have easy access to these new, highly detailed ships.

New 2500-series Border Boxes priced at $124.95 will contain 24 ships.
New 2500-Series Fleet Boxes will be priced at $99.95 and will contain 16 ships and a quick start rulebook.  

SPECIAL OFFER: We have 53 Fed clear plastic dreadnoughts on consignment. We must buy these or send them back by 31 Dec. So, we're going to fire sale them out for TWO DOLLARS each. Yes, you can buy an entire fleet of Zocchi clear plastic dreadnoughts for TWO DOLLARS each (and the bother of a quick zap of spray paint)!
http://store.starfleetstore.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=0202ZC&Category_Code=FM
This offer will last until we go on mail order blackout in late December. After that, we won't have these any more.
We have plenty of white plastic DNs in Squadron Box #91 for regular price and won't run out of those for years.
This offer is for as long as they last. 
We also have 2 glow-in-the-dark DNs left as well, these are $4.95 each, and are the last of those that will ever be available.
http://store.starfleetstore.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=0202Z&Category_Code=FM

WEBSITE: Our website, www.StarFleetGames.com, continues to grow and improve. You are welcome to send us your requests, comments, and suggestions. Joel Shutts, 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. One of our newest pages is for Starline 2500 where we display photos and 3d renders of the new starships.

FACEBOOK: Jean continues to improve our page on Facebook, adding many new photos and other features.
Facebook
If you haven't seen the 400+ pieces of art in the albums, you should drop by and visit. You don't have to be a member of Facebook to see our page, but if you are, please become our friend so you can get information in your newsfeed.

VIDEOS: StarFleetGames has taken its act to YouTube and we now have a YouTube channel. Our goal is to create a video for the new product releases during each month. We have "In the Box" videos to show you what you will see when you unpack your new game. We have also done "Spotlights" on a single product or product line. So pull up a chair and join us at the movies! Our newest uploads are:

Star Fleet Marines Part 1
Star Fleet Marines Part 2
ADB Late May 2011

STARBLOG: Our StarBlog has moved to a new URL and all links on StarFleetGames.com websites have been changed to match. The new site is
http://federationcommander.blogspot.com
The blog covers all aspects of the company.

AMBASSADORS: Jean Sexton has succeeded in recruiting two ambassadors (Michael C. Baker and A. David Merritt) to carry the word of the Star Fleet Universe to other websites. They (and Jean) have been awarded the first ever "Star Fleet Ambassador Badges" as well as appropriate medals for their service to date. These ambassadors do not just repeat press releases; they answer questions, encourage discussion, and help people find the relevant documents on our website. Contact Jean Sexton if you want to volunteer for ambassador duty.
Forum
BBS
Ambassador Badge

FFAC HAS A WINNER!

Peter Bakija won his fifth-round game over Paul Scott. That left Peter flying his Gorn ship against Ken Lin's Kzinti. The five-turn game was exciting and Peter came out on top. This win follows on the heels of Peter's win in the Platinum Hat tournament (you can read his Victory article in Captain's Log #44).

We'd like to thank Andrew J. Koch and Roger Rardain, the judges for the tournament, and Peter Bakija and Gregg Dieckhaus who helped keep things moving.

MORE TOURNAMENTS ON SFBOL

There's really never a dull period in the tournaments on SFBOL. We have two current contests and a playtest of a new Andromedan TC. Rated Ace Tournament 37 with judge Kerry Mullen is in the opening stages. Some Round 1 games have been played (many against BYE who must be the worst SFB player EVER) as well as some second-round games. Masters 2011 has completed all first-round games. This challenging format has the winner of a round flying his opponent's ship in the next round. Andrew J. Koch is the judge for the Masters tournament. Finally, the playtest of the Andromedan TC is being run by Peter Bakija. This initial run has pitted four players flying the Andromedan ship against people flying a Lyran, an Orion (HHgbb), a Gorn, and the WYN Shark (bb). Each Andromedan player will face each of the various empires.

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: The latest Communique brings you more Ship Cards, scenarios, and more news from the Star Fleet Universe! It can be downloaded from the Commander's Circle.

COMMANDER'S CIRCLE: We continue to improve the Commander's Circle. All of the ships and scenarios are available as separate documents (the ships are organized by empire) so you can quickly see what is available. The FC Scenario Database and Master Ship Chart documents are also here. Our newest project was suggested by our players and is uploading low-toner Ship Cards. The Commander's Circle is the best place to find free additions to Federation Commander!

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 him know. Come see what the commotion is about and join the Federation Commander Forum now.

We are very pleased to see the medals, honor bars, and ribbons awarded to players being incorporated into their signatures. It is exciting to see lots of interesting conversations about a wide variety of subjects. Get in on the activity!

While for new players the Federation Commander Forum is a little easier to manage, the original (Discus-based) BBS is where most product development takes place. If you have a proposal you'd like to see worked on, don't forget to make sure it is mentioned here. It also has active F&E and SFB forums where players run campaigns, Rated Ace tournaments and other SFB tournaments are organized (most FC tournaments are organized on the Forum), SVC's "My Day" appears, along with current news and strategies dealing with Prime Directive, and each issue of Captain's Log is created. While less colorful (no avatars or sigs), it is a vital part of ADB, Inc.'s communication.


FC Tactic of the Month
FILL THEM UP

     When placing power in the batteries of Andromedan ships, some players may be tempted to fill the batteries up "evenly," placing equal power in each battery.
     However, you gain more flexibility by filling up the batteries one at a time, so that you have a mix of full and empty batteries, with only one partly filled.
     If you then receive damage to your batteries, you can choose whether to take that damage on a full battery or an empty battery, depending on the tactical situation.
     You may anticipate a power absorber cascade, in which case you keep the empty battery; alternatively, you may be short on power, so you keep the full one.
(End of FC Tactic of the Month)


SFB Tactic of the Month
TRACTORS VERSUS BOMBERS

     Bombers may choose to come to close range to use their heavy weapons and phasers (many have phaser-2s), and here ships can fight back with tractors.
     Bombers cannot use a High Energy Turn to escape tractors like fighters can, so if a bomber comes into tractor range, grab it and shove it into some terrain or drag it across a T-bomb.
     Uncrippled bombers cannot be death-dragged, but if you cripple them, they can be death-dragged like any other shuttle.
     This can be especially deadly if there are terrain features like airless rocks, planets, moons, asteroids, dust, and such that you can drag them through.
     As a bonus, a bomber in your tractor grip does not slow you down like a PF or another ship would.
     Imagine grabbing a bomber in an asteroid field (Jindarians for example) and then warping past some asteroid clusters at high speed, making sure the bomber gets "swiped" through multiple asteroid hexes. A cheap kill indeed.
(End of SFB Tactic of the Month)

F&E Strategy of the Month
DECAPITATING THE SNAKE'S HEAD

     One seldom-used rule in Planetary Operations is blockade running (other than when it is used for running Economic Points back and forth to the WYN Cluster). If you are defending your own territory, there may be a much better use for raiding ships: blockade running and remaining in a friendly hex.
     By judicious use of both police ships and blockade-running ships (as you can only send one blockade runner to each province) it may be possible to cut off enemy ships, which are deep into your empire and far from their Main Supply Grid, prior to the Operational Movement supply check.
     Although the cut-off enemy forces will have full their full combat potential for the Combat Phase (as they were in supply at the start of the turn), by cutting them off from supply you will prevent them from using extended Reaction Movement. This should make it easier for you to outmaneuver them.
     With luck, it might be possible to keep the noose around the enemy ships (although enemy raids might break the noose, their being expended to do so will indirectly protect other of your assets from raids). You do need to be careful and not allow the enemy an opportunity to land a reserve fleet in a key area, thereby restoring supply to the forces you are attacking.
     So as with anything else there are risks, but you might just turn that "narrow crack" in the enemy front into a wide open door, just waiting for your own ships to race through it!
(End F&E Strategy of the Month)

Demotivationals

Throughout the month our graphics director places on the website various cards called Demotivationals. These are like postcards with a image and a phrase that is often used for humor.
These are the Demotivationals for the month of November:
Blood Haze
Veterans Day
Solitary
Titans

To see our previous Demotivationals click here.

Mini of the Month
Every month we will feature one or more of our miniatures that has been painted by a fan. If you paint miniatures, submit pictures of your minis and they may be selected for the next Mini of the Month!

Federation Dreadnought
By
Jim Lewis

Kzinti

New Releases

Communique #72 has been posted to the Commander's Circle.

Recently Released
Captain's Log #44, Stock 5744, $19.95
Star Fleet Battles Module E3: Borak Star League, Stock #7103, $12.00
Booster 31, Stock #4231, $9.95
Booster 32, Stock #4232, $9.95
Booster 33, Stock #4233, $9.95
A Call to Arms: Star Fleet, Stock #30000, $29.99
Starline 2500: Squadron Boxes #1, Stock #30002, $29.99
Starline 2500: Squadron Boxes #2, Stock #30003, $29.99
Starline 2500: Squadron Boxes #9, Stock #30004, $29.99
Starline 2500: Squadron Box #9a, Stock #30005, $39.99
Starline 2500: Federation Fleet Box, Stock #30006, $99.99
Starline 2500: Klingon Fleet Box, Stock #30006, $99.99
Starline 2500: Romulan Fleet Box, Stock #30006, $99.99

To be Released in 2012
Captain's Log #45, Stock #5745, $TBA
Captain's Log #46, Stock #5746, $TBA
Traveller Prime Directive (four or five books)
Federation Admiral, Stock #4080, $TBA
Star Fleet Marines Assault, Stock #2101, $TBA
Starmada: Battleships Armada, TBA
Federation Commander: Reinforcements Attack: TBA
A Call to Arms Star Fleet #2, TBA

PDF SALES: ADB, Inc. continues its relationship with Steve Jackson Games and their e23 Warehouse. We chose e23 because they have a philosophy that agrees with ours -- our customers are honest and honorable and wouldn't aid people who want to steal our products. Furthermore, we know from experience how devastating a computer crash can be and want our customers to know that they don't have to worry about the loss of their e-products bought through e23. What do we have there? We have created a new page that allows easy access to our PDFs for sale on e23. From here you can see what we currently have posted and have links to those products.

RECENTLY RELEASED ON e23
Star Fleet Battles: Playtest Module E2 - Triangulum Galaxy
Star Fleet Battles: Module R4 SSD book
Captain's Log #16
2011 Star Fleet Battles Basic Set SSD book
Captain's Log #15
Federation Commander LDR Ship card Pack #1
Captain's Log #14
Captain's Log #13
Omega Master Rulebook
Captain's Log #12
Captain's Log #11

RECENTLY RELEASED ON DRIVE THRU RPG
Prime Directive PD20M
Klingons PD20 Modern

NEW MINIS
FC: Border Box #10, SKU 4410, $99.95
Federation LTT, SKU 0238, $9.95
Federation Old CA, SKU 0239, $8.95
Tholian TK5, SKU 0717, $7.95

Star Fleet Fiction
Burden of Duty, Debt of Revenge


     Dunn braced his back against a panel and heaved himself up off the floor. His entire body ached; the parts of it that weren't numb anyway. Should have been strapped in my chair. He had been leaning over the weapons console when the exchange had occurred, the Bridge had been damaged. That didn't happen often, but perhaps half the panels he could see were visibly damaged, blinking, or off-line. Damn. He was still a little shaky, reached a hand out to steady himself. A young ensign, approached him.
     "Captain, are you all right?"
     "Yes, yes, I'm fine." The question itself seemed to waken him from his daze, and his eyes opened to the catastrophe before him. Wounded were everywhere, some in positions that implied more than mere injuries. A haze of smoke hung in the air, the sour smell of burning something. Someone was discharging a fire extinguisher on the other side of the Bridge. "I'm fine," he repeated, as the ensign reached out a hand to steady him. "Get a medical team with a stretcher up here."
     Dunn looked around again, trying to note stations that were unattended or inoperable. The junior engineer was still at his station, but weapons, helm, navigation, sensors, and communications were unmanned.
     "Engineering, work up a report. Ensign, tell Auxiliary Control to take command and move us away while reloading, then call the Emergency Bridge and have them get their people up here. That'll do for starters." He noticed his weapons officer lying on the floor near him, and bent down; good, still breathing. Damn fine officer. The ensign nodded and moved to the nearest station, began rattling off orders into the intercom. Good, she's doing something useful; gotta get everybody moving again.
     He noticed his XO helping one of the wounded. The XO was wounded also, holding a bloody scrap of something to his head. "XO," Dunn called, "Take the weapons panel. Ensign, when you're done with that, take the sensor station. I'll take the helm. See if your panels function. Let Auxiliary Control handle coms for now." The others jumped to their new assignments.
     Another blast rocked the ship, Dunn realized he was still moving in a daze, how else could he have forgotten combat? Blow to the head must have been harder than I thought. Maybe I should go get checked out. A glance at a monitor showing the unmistakable hull pattern of a Klingon heavy cruiser cleared that thought from his mind. Later, he growled to himself.
     "Damage report," he snapped, moving toward his chair, knowing he had lost precious seconds while he had contemplated the wounded.
     "They hurt us bad, Sir," the junior engineer reported. "Total power available is down to 35%; for weapons we have two torpedo tubes and three phasers. Shuttle deck is a wreck, and there's a fire raging in the Science Department. Long-range-sensor systems are degraded also."
     "Not much to work with. Sensors, any idea what we did to them?"
(Continue reading here)


Ask Admiral Growler

GUNBOATS

     Michael C. Grafton asks: I am buying a PF flotilla. Let's assume a regular Klingon flotilla with leader, four G1s, and a scout. The six PFs have a total of eleven drone racks with 44 rack spaces. Do the PFs have to abide by the special drone percentages rules if they also pay for a base (off map) and say they loaded all the special types just this time?
     As I understand the rule, the racks must be filled under the special drone percentage rules and paid for. The base gets proportional reloads for "free." These free reloads are not available unless loaded during the scenario.
     ANSWER: PFs are not fighter squadrons. They purchase the drones for their racks individually, that is to say that each PF is a single "ship". And yes, they do not get reloads even though they purchase the loadouts under the normal rules.
     In order to violate that, you have to have a "special scenario rule" (or an agreement with your opponent, or some kind of campaign rule about buying drones) that says in effect that on this particular mission the racks were specially loaded.

     Follow-up question: When you buy a PF flotilla, do you buy all of them at their stated costs and use the greater of the Combat or Economic BPV? Or do you buy the "regular PFs" at their Combat BPV and the scout and leader at their Economic BPV? My understanding was that you only buy scouts at their "Combat BPV" when they are alone.
     ANSWER: You are partly right. There is a specific rule (G24.35) applying to the purchase of scouts at their Economic BPV if they appear with other units. They are otherwise purchased at their Combat BPV:
     (G24.35) BPV: The BPV of scout ships and PF-scouts is expressed on the chart as A/B, where A represents the economic value (what it costs to build) and B represents the combat value (how well it can fight). If a scout ship is used alone, it uses these values as they are stated. If it is used with other non-scout ships on the same side, the reduced Combat BPV is ignored and the Economic BPV is used for both purposes. This procedure does not apply to the Federation SWACS shuttle (J9.0).
     A PF-scout purchased with one, or more, units (to include PFs of its flotilla) is purchased at Economic BPV as stated in the above rule.
     There is no rule stating that other PFs, to include leader variants, are purchased at their economic cost. So in the case of your PF flotilla (using the costs for Lyran PFs) the base cost for a flotilla of Lyran Bobcats would be 148 BPV for the four standard PFs, 50 BPV for the leader, and 100 BPV for the scout for a total of 298 BPV for the whole flotilla. The value of the flotilla, if it were wiped out by the enemy, would be 220 BPV. (Each standard PF has an economic value of only twenty points, so all four are worth 80 points, the leader has an economic value of 40 points, and the scout is 100 points.) Shield refits will increase these costs (both the combat value cost of buying the flotilla, and the economic cost of the scout when buying the flotilla, but usually not the leader which does not have a shield refit, but the cost of the shield refits is added to the economic costs of the PFs if they are destroyed).
     If the PF-scout were to appear in a scenario all by itself, it would use its Combat BPV of 50 points.
(End of Ask Growler. )

F&E Q&A
CONVERSIONS, UPGRADES, AND MISSIONS

      Q: I want to convert my Kzinti CVH to a BCV(H). Can I do this for the same cost as a CV-to-BCV conversion?
      A: Well, one problem is that there is no BCV(H) in the game, but presuming that one is added, and presuming that the two carriers have the same size fighter group, one would assume that your plan is workable.
      Q: Can a Klingon CVT or CVT+ carry an additional pod?
      A: The Klingon CVT or CVT+ is a tug with hard-welded carrier pods. As such, it's not really a tug at all, but even if it were, it already has two pods and cannot carry any more pods.
      Q: When does the completion of the upgrade of a base to the next larger base occur? Rule (443.41B) in CO talks about an interrupted upgrade but doesn't define a non-interrupted upgrade.
      A: A base upgrade is finished in the next player turn on Step 1A; this is a change in F&E2KX. Note that improved base will have the improved repair capacity on that turn since repairs occur on Step 2A2, and the base will be able to do later base operations allowed at the new base level after Step 1A.
(F&E Q&A continues here )


ASK AUNT JEAN

      Q: I noticed the E3 module is being released and saw the sketches on ADB's page on Facebook. When are you going to spec out the Borak so we can play them?

      A: Gosh, I wish all my questions were so easy to answer! There's an article about them in Captain's Log #44 and it includes PD20M and GURPS stats.
You can find a link to the Captain's Log page here.

     Send questions to Jean at design@StarFleetGames.com and SVC will decide which one Jean will answer next.
(End of Ask Aunt Jean )

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".
Here are links to the new pages of Starline 2500 miniatures pictures.
Starline 2500 Federation Miniatures
Starline 2500 Klingon Miniatures
Starline 2500 Romulan Miniatures
Star Fleet Command
Starline 2500
Traveller Prime Directive
Call to Arms Star Fleet

We have also uploaded new Xander wallpapers to our Wallpapers section on the website.
Wallpapers

We have new images of our next game Star Fleet Marines posted on our BBS topic page.

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

Alert 111129 CL44 (Adobe Reader Required)
Alert 110830 OMRB (Adobe Reader Required)
Alert 110615 Mongoose (Adobe Reader Required)
Alert 110504 GURPS Fed & C3A
(Adobe Reader Required)
Alert 110221 Schedule (Adobe Reader Required)
Alert 101231 New Year (Adobe Reader Required)
Alert 101026 Fight For A Cure
(Adobe Reader Required)
Alert 101019 Video (Adobe Reader Required)
Alert 100928 Mod Y3 Release (Adobe Reader Required)

NEW MINIATURES!

Starline 2500 Romulan Condor


THolian CA