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December 2020
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Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS: Star Fleet Battles: Module J – Fighters! Available
Wanna Dogfight? Even More Big News
Stay tuned! Star Fleet Battles: Module E5 should be released by this weekend!
ADB Releases Ships for December 2020 On November 29, 2020, ADB released a total of 54 new items to its shop on Shapeways with over 2,400 items available in total. Notably this month we released new ships for the Federation and Klingons, along with the new North Polar Snowman Dreadnought that will appear in the December issue of Hailing Frequencies. Please note that all ships are available in both 3788 and 3125 scales, except when noted. The Federation starts with the Destroyer Escort-R (designed for facing Romulan ships), Fast Fleet Scout, and Medium Cruiser. These are available in both the Federation (gridded saucer) and Fed Classic (smooth saucer) styles. The Klingons gain their D5WD Drone Bombardment Cruiser, D6D Drone Cruiser, and D7E Survey Cruiser. With more aztecking, they are also available as the D5WDK Drone Bombardment Cruiser, D6DK Refitted Drone Cruiser, and D7EK Refitted Survey Cruiser. The Tholians have two new X-ships: the Neo-Tholian X-Ship Destroyer and Neo-Tholian X-Ship Frigate. The Hydrans gain their first X-ships with the X-Ship Dragoon-X Heavy Cruiser and X-Ship Ranger-X Heavy Cruiser. The Lyrans and their wayward county of the Lyran Democratic Republic gain their first X-Ship with the X-Ship Command Cruiser. Note that LDR ships are only in the 3125 Scale. The Lyrans also get the same ship in a “refitted” version with aztecking in the 3788 Scale. In the 7000 Scale, the Lyrans gain their Cave Lion Battleship. The Borak, neighbors of the Hydrans (according to Hydran disinformation, in reality, they were conquered by the Hydrans), gain their Assault Cruiser, Carrier, and Strike Carrier. In the 7000 Scale, they have their Fleet Core Collection (one each of the dreadnought, battlecruiser, heavy cruiser, light cruiser, destroyer, and frigate) and Fleet Builder Collection (a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, two destroyers, and two frigates). And the North Polar fleet gains a versatile ship for its fleet: the Snowman Dreadnought. Uniquely, the ship can separate into three different Snowball Destroyers. The Snowman Dreadnought and each of the Snowball Destroyers are available in both the 3788 and 3125 scales. They also gained the 7000 Scale Fleet Core Collection which includes one each of the Snowman Dreadnought, Snowflake Command Cruiser, Gingerbread Attack Cruiser, Christmas Tree Cruiser, Star Strike Cruiser, and Candy Cane Light Cruiser. Check all these out here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/amarillo-design-bureau-inc
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 Crown 2020
This tournament pits four different winners of previous Sapphire Star tournaments against each other. The winner will be declared a Fleet Captain. After six Sapphire star tournaments, we finally had four winners: Peter Bakija, Andy Koch, Bill Schoeller, and Jack Taylor. One game has been played: Peter Bakija defeated Bill Schoeller. This tournament should be completed by the end of 2020. Steven Petrick is the judge for this tournament.
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES Due to the COVID-19 virus, many conventions have been cancelled. We encourage you to check out Star Fleet Battles Online where there is a free demo version. It is a good way to hang out with others who play Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander. Check it out here: https://www.sfbonline.com/index.jsp
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.
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.
Mini of the Month Kent Ing painted this Federation Battle Frigate (3125 Scale, Smooth Fine Detail Plastic).
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New Releases EXTRAS FOR THE MONTH: ACTASF NORTH POLAR REPUBLIC SNOWMAN DREADNOUGHT You can look at Hailing Frequencies Extras here. Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies.
Recently Released SFB: Module J – Fighters! 2020, SKU 5604, $19.95 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 Ask Admiral Vanaxilth TRACTOR BEAMS
Roch Chartrand asks: Two friendly ships are tractored together. Both ships are scheduled to move on Impulse #32. Per (G7.36-C-3) the biggest ship will move and the movement for the smallest is executed on the following impulse (Impulse #1 of the following turn) if the tractor link is maintained. Can the big ship rotate the smaller ship on Impulse #1 before the smaller ship moves? Tractor Rotation takes place in Step 5 of the Initial Activity Phase, and movement is conducted in Step 6A2 of the Impulse Procedure.
ANSWER: You have answered your own question. Tractor rotation takes place first, before Impulse #1 movement. The smaller ship can be rotated by the larger ship (if the larger ship is operating the tractor beam), or the smaller ship can rotate itself (if it is the one operating the tractor beam), and then the carried-over movement is conducted during Impulse #1. Clayton Krueger asks: When two ships are linked by a tractor, and neither ship is using an impulse engine for movement, does impulse power still factor into their respective pseudo speeds? ANSWER: No. Eric Phillips asks: According to the Sequence of Play, Operate Tractors happens before the Direct Fire stage. So, you have to use tractors before you can use point defense fire? This is backwards from Federation Commander. ANSWER: That is correct. Also unlike Federation Commander, you cannot wait until the seeking weapons are in your hex before you take defensive action. And, most annoying when you are fighting a drone-user, you must employ your tractors before you attempt to identify seeking weapons. (That is when you discover you tractored the dogfight drone, and now have to shoot the armored type-IV drone.) Josh Driscol asks: Can somebody give me an example of how to use the net effective vector (C2.451) speeds to determine if shuttles will be death dragged (G7.54) when two units are linked by tractors? I understand that when pulling each other the same direction, the pseudo speeds are added and when directly opposing each other's movement they are subtracted, but what happens when your facing is 60° from opposing or pulling in the same direction? ANSWER: Let's say a Klingon D7, which was moving Speed 20, tractors a Federation heavy cruiser, which was moving Speed 16. Neither was using impulse power for movement, so their pseudo speeds are now 10 and eight. The Klingon also tractors a Federation admin shuttle. Case 1: Both ships are heading the same direction, e.g., both moving in direction A. The net effective vector is the sum of the pseudo speeds, or 18, so the next time either ship moves, the shuttle will be death-dragged. Case 2: Heading differs by 60 degrees, e.g., Klingon is heading in direction A and Federation is heading in direction B. The net effective vector is still 18, as above. (If you move 10 hexes in direction A, and eight in direction B, you still have moved 18 hexes.) Case 3: Heading differs by 120 degrees, e.g., Klingon is heading in direction A and Federation is heading in direction C. The net effective vector in this case will always be the greater of the two pseudo speeds: in this case, 10. (If you move 10 hexes in direction A, and eight hexes in direction C, you will net 10 hexes from the starting point.) The shuttle will not be subject to death-dragging unless it gets crippled. Case 4: Heading differs by 180 degrees, e.g., Klingon is heading in direction A and Federation is heading in direction D. The net effective vector in this case will always be the difference of the two pseudo speeds, in this case, two. The shuttle is safe from death dragging, for now. Note the net effective vector is the same, regardless of which ship moves (or if both ships move), and whether they move straight or sideslip. However, if either ship turns, or changes speed, the net effective vector could change. Josh Driscol asks: I am a hex away from my opponent and tractored, my opponent targets his suicide shuttle on an incoming suicide shuttle but his shuttle does not move for several impulses. If I were to tractor his counter suicide shuttle, would it still be able to intercept my suicide shuttle before hitting? Rule (G7.525) makes it seem like that is what would happen but I wanted to ask to make sure. ANSWER: Under (F2.31) and its sub-rules, if the target of a seeking weapon and the seeking weapon are in the same hex on any given impulse except the impulse of launch, the seeking weapon impacts the target, even if the seeking weapon were held by a tractor beam (F2.314). Follow-up question: Glenn Hoepfner asks: It has been awhile since I played but if memory serves a ship that is tractored cannot tractor a different unit. ANSWER: Under (G7.91) a ship held in a tractor beam is unable to tractor another ship, just as it cannot fire direct-fire weapons at another ship. The restriction is on "ships" and while the subsequent sentence does not specifically mention tractors, the rule is clear that the tractored ship can fire weapons, and use its tractors, against "units" which includes tractoring a shuttle. Francois Lemay asks: Can Interceptors and fast patrol ships allocate power into negative tractor? I noticed there is no spot on their Energy Allocation Form for that. ANSWER: Kommodore Ketrick replies: Any ship (and fast patrol ships and Interceptors count as ships) can allocate power to negative tractor up to the total amount of power the player can make available. A fast patrol ship with six points of warp, six points of warp booster, two points of impulse power, an APR, and a battery could allocate all of it to negative tractor if the player wished. (You would not have shields and would be relying on your phaser capacitors and plasma-F stasis boxes and the like to fire any weapons, and your built-in electronic warfare points for any electronic warfare, and etc.) But no rule prevents you from doing so that I am aware of. There is no spot on the Interceptor Energy Allocation Form for negative tractor because that is normally part of the tractor line on the Energy Allocation Form. When Interceptors were first published there was no "Fi-Con" Interceptor (or electronic warfare Interceptor); those were created later and added to the Module K rulebook in later printings. Therefore prior to the Fi-Con Interceptor, no Interceptor had a tractor beam, so the Interceptor Energy Allocation Form had no specific line for it. Interceptors are, however, covered by (G7.354) in that negative tractor ". . . does not require or use a tractor beam box on the SSD." You are not required to have a tractor beam box to use negative tractor (hence, small freighters, for example, can use negative tractor whether they have a ducktail or not, as can fast patrol ships and Interceptors). This is reinforced by (G7.355), which notes that shuttles and smaller units cannot use negative tractor, but does not list Interceptors or fast patrol ships. (And note that specific overrides general, so while "drones" cannot use negative tractor, some seeking weapons in their own specific rules can use negative tractor, usually as warhead modifications, see tachyon missiles in the Omega Octant.)
So, in the case of Interceptors, if you wanted to use negative tractor there were two blank lines that could be purposed to that task. Those lines could also be purposed for allocating energy for erratic maneuvers or a high energy turn which are also not included on the Interceptor Energy Allocation Form, but not prohibited to its operations. Stephen McCann asks: On Impulse #31 a Gorn (Speed Zero facing B) in hex 3913 has a tractor on a WYN (Speed 9 heading B) in hex 3914. The WYN launches two drones and a shuttle at the Gorn. Next impulse the WYN moves. The way I read (G7.9433), the drones and shuttle are moved with me due to the tractor, and since it is Impulse #32, they will then take their movement and hit the Gorn. Is this correct? ANSWER: Correct. Clayton Krueger asks: Ship A tractors Ship B. Ship A launches drones targeted on Ship B. Are Ship A's drones in the "tractor tunnel" and move in the tunnel when the linked ships move? Or does the "tractor tunnel" (G7.9433) condition only apply to drones or suicide shuttles launched from Ship B? ANSWER: Kommodore Ketrick replies: In your example, any drones, scatter-packs, dummy scatter-packs, suicide shuttles, or dummy suicide shuttles launched by Ship B would be in the tractor tunnel because Ship B has been tractored by Ship A. Nothing launched by Ship A would be in the tractor tunnel because Ship A is generating the tractor link. Ron Brimeyer asks: Ship A (heading E, on Ship B's #2 shield) has Ship B (heading A and on Ship A's #1 shield) in a Range 1 tractor beam. The tractor is maintained over the turn break. Ship A wishes to rotate Ship B to Range 2, but in direction F. I believe Rule (G7.715) only allows him to move me in direction E directly away from him, or in direction B, into his hex. ANSWER: See the last paragraph of (G7.715). When pushing a ship from Range 1 to Range 2, you will always have a choice of three hexes to move the ship to, directly away or to either hex spine. Note this is a push, not a rotation. Chris Proper asks: Ship B is held in a tractor beam by Ship A. Hit-and-run raids against both tractor beams yield one dead tractor. Is the link broken? ANSWER: Kommodore Ketrick replies: It sounds as if neither of you were aware that it is known in advance which tractor is the one actually holding the ship. And you cannot transfer the tractor link in response to damage (you can voluntarily transfer tractor links, but you cannot do it involuntarily as a result of damage; if a tractor maintaining a link is destroyed, the link is lost along with the energy used). I would therefore suggest that it be dealt with in the order of the die rolls. If the first hit-and-run raid (the first die-roll) destroyed its target, the link is broken (by definition that would have been the priority target). If the first hit-and-run raid did not succeed, then the tractor link remains. However, I would further suggest that the second hit-and-run raid does not occur (there is no reason to attack the second tractor beam as only by destroying the first can the link be broken). At that point pretty much normal rules would apply. The second hit-and-run attempt could be made again four impulses later under (D7.84), but a new die roll would be required (you do not get to keep the earlier success). However, it is worse than that as I would expect the defender (the commander of the tractoring ship) to avail himself of (D7.86) and assign a guard to the tractor beam before the second attempt can be made.
Note: The above is not a fiat that you must do it this way, it is what I would suggest to resolve the issue. Gregory Flusche asks: A fighter is held in a friendly tractor beam. Can it fire at ships on the impulse it is released from the tractor? ANSWER: Yes, see (G7.331). Follow-up question: How soon after being released can the same ship that had it tractored reestablish the tractor link? (With a different tractor beam, of course.) ANSWER: Eight impulses, per (G7.332). Seth Shimansky asks: A Romulan is at Range 2 facing a WYN Auxiliary Battlecruiser (A.K.A "Pig"). Next impulse, both go straight to end up at Range Zero, with their #1 shields facing, the Romulan heading in direction D and the Pig heading in direction A. The Pig tractors the Romulan and the resulting pseudo speeds mean both move the next impulse. The Romulan launches three plasma-F torpedoes, all heading E, and the Pig launches two plasma-F torpedoes heading A. To add to the fun, the Pig has four drones, two hexes away, facing the Romulan's #2 shield, and they will move next impulse. Next impulse, everything moves. The Pig moves first and slips in direction F, taking the ships out of the hex with the five torpedoes. Then the Romulan slips in direction C, moving both ships back into the hex. What shield do the Romulan's three plasma-F torpedoes hit? ANSWER: By (G7.36-C1), the situation is treated as if neither ship had moved. (Well, almost. They are considered to have both moved for purposes of turn and slip modes. But otherwise, it is as if neither left the hex.) The Romulan's torpedoes will strike the Pig's #1 shield (and do feedback to the Romulan ship), and the Pig's torpedoes will strike the Romulan's #1 shield (and do feedback to the Pig). The drones will move to Range 1, they do not impact yet. (End of Admiral Vanaxilth) F&E Q&A
SURVEY Q: Do colonies obtained using HRS (high risk survey) count against the limits imposed by rule (446.15)? I have surveyed five off-map provinces in addition to the starting off-map provinces. On a previous turn I rolled a "2" using HRS and got my first "free" colony. By rule (446.15) I am now able to start normal colony development for one colony. However, if the "free" colony I obtained by HRS counts against the limit in (446.15), then I will have to wait until I have surveyed my 10th additional off-map province before developing another off-map colony. Rule (446.15) provides that an empire could develop one colony in its off-map area for every five new provinces surveyed there (not including pre-game "at start" provinces). Rule (542.27) provides that, upon rolling a "2," you create an off-map colony without going through the colony set-up rules. If more than one colony already exists per off-map province, there is no effect. This colony is created in zero time and at zero cost. A: The limits imposed by (446.15) are for colonial development by standard methods delineated in (446.1). High risk survey (542.27) allows for the possibility of creating more colonies. The limits in (446.1) are for both types of colonies. The limits for (542.27) are for the number of provinces. So, for example, if you have four provinces surveyed, you cannot develop any colonies but could find one via (542.27). Another example: You have 10 provinces discovered and a number of colonies greater than two you cannot develop more (446.15), but could find up to eight more by (542.27). Q: If a "6" (Monster found) is rolled in high risk survey, does the survey ship miss the next opportunity to make any form of survey roll? A: The rule (542.27) states that the ship encountering the monster loses one turn of surveying. Its survey result for this turn was the monster (which is not worth anything). The ship spends a retrograde phase getting back to a repair facility in a previously surveyed area and is repaired on the next turn and then moves operationally to the survey area and then is eligible for survey on the next turn after that. So, if you roll a six on High Risk Survey you lose any survey opportunity for that turn and the next. ASK AUNT JEAN Dear Aunt Jean, What is this we hear about you retiring? What will happen to our RPGs?
A: First, GURPS Klingons and GURPS Romulans will be updated before I leave. Then, I will continue to work part-time. Since RPGs are important to me, I want to work on them in my spare time. What I'd like to focus on are the more creative aspects. Traveller Prime Directive is just part of what I want to accomplish.
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 MonthDIVIDE BY THREE AND CONQUER When launching drones at a base, always launch at a range evenly divisible by three. Drones move three hexes per impulse, so this ensures that the last chance the base gets to fire at the drone, before impact, will be at range three. This is a bad range for phaser-3s and it is also out of tractor range. The drones should also be timed to impact on an even-numbered shield, because a battle station will only be able to fire two-thirds of its defensive phasers through those shields. For maximum effect, time the drones to arrive at the same time as your suicide freighter.
The same thing works for plasma torpedoes, but as they move four hexes per impulse, launch at a range evenly divisible by four, and they will be four hexes from the base (and an even worse target) at the last chance before impact for the defender. The base defender may respond by sending a ship to intercept your drones so it can fire at the drones or tractor them at range zero or one. If he does, you can fire your own overloaded heavy weapons at the intercepting ship without being in range of the base's overloaded weapons. A big wave of drones can force the defender to choose between sending ships forward (losing the protection of the base's guns), or have the base's drone defenses overwhelmed. This lets the attacker apply all of his firepower against a part of the defender's forces, and that is always an important advantage.
It is standard battle doctrine in a fleet engagement to concentrate the firepower of the entire fleet on one target, causing it to explode. Obviously, adjustments must be made based on the total firepower available (after some weapons are assigned to defense), range to potential targets, any of your ships out of position, and the amount of damage needed to destroy any given enemy ship. Sometimes the fleet can destroy only one target; other times two closer small targets can be destroyed in the same turn. Sometimes one of your ships is out of position for the primary target but can at least dent the shields of a target of opportunity.
Assuming that your fleet has the firepower to destroy the smallest enemy unit (e.g., a frigate), you might well be better off to break with standard doctrine. Fire enough of your fleet's volley to cripple a war destroyer, and use the remaining firepower to knock down the front shield of a cruiser (or any suitable target). The war destroyer (more dangerous than a mere frigate) is out of the fight while the undamaged cruiser now has maneuver problems because of the down shield. Let's assume equal fleets of three frigates (arbitrary Federation & Empire combat power four each), three war destroyers (combat power six each), three cruisers (combat power eight each), and a dreadnought (combat power 12 for a total of 66 in rough Federation & Empire terms). Over three turns, you might lose the three frigates to an opponent using standard battle doctrine (reducing your total power from 66 to 54). But you have eliminated the firepower of three larger war destroyers (combat power 18) and restricted the movement of some cruisers (reducing his effective combat power by somewhere between four and 24). If we call the reduction 12 points, he lost about 30 total effectiveness while you lost only 12. Half of his firepower is now out of the fight or unable to maneuver into it, while you lost only a fifth of your firepower. Turn #4 will see you with a superiority (54 to 36) that will only get better. (In a campaign you might want to be sure to pick off a crippled war destroyer before it heads for a repair yard, but in a patrol battle the victory points for crippling a war destroyer are nearly those for destroying a frigate.) (End of SFB Tactic of the Month)
The Hydrans have a couple of problems with retreat supply priorities in the game that can be solved with the use of a ship most people either do not use or do not reuse once it has been lost. This ship is the Hydran Supply Tug (509.5). This ship is initially assigned to the Hydran Expeditionary Fleet and if using Combined Operations also carries the Fighter Conveyor Pallet (FCP) (513.5). If the Hydrans decide to go for the Expedition, the supply tug is sent along with the expedition and is likely lost along with it. If they do not try the expedition they keep the tug and the FCP with the main fleet and use it to help supply replacement fighters and once the FCP is empty, it can start using the supply tug as a regular tug to carry some other pod.
But there is an excellent reason to keep using the supply tug long after the fighters are gone or to designate another tug (509.1-O) as the supply tug after the original is lost. This is the ability for the tug to be considered a source of supply for ships retreating in the same force (509.52). This means that a Hydran force of any size is at Range Zero to a supply source, which will open retreat hex options not normally available.
The two most common uses for this retreat ability are during a retreat from the Hydran capital when you do not want to be forced away from the off-map area and toward 0718. The other and even more important role is to help keep the Hydrans on the map once they have been pushed off. When the Hydrans are trying to get back on the map they are usually pinned in the 01xx row and have trouble winning battles since they need to limit the number of ships they can cripple or destroy. So, they often use up their fighters and then retreat. Since the off-map is Range Zero any other hex in the 01xx row is farther away from supply and you then have to retreat back to the off-map area meaning your main combat asset, your fighters, is unable to be used on the Coalition Turn. With the addition of the supply tug, any direction you retreat to will be Range Zero and as long as you remain in supply to replace all your fighters, you now have a chance to work toward winning the battle of attrition against the Coalition. (End of F&E Strategy of the Month)
A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month At first glance, plasma bolts seem like a very weak option for plasma-armed ships. The maximum range is shorter (10"), damage is halved, and on top of that you must roll to hit. Statistically, your torpedoes will do around one-quarter or less of the damage they might if launched (and they hit).
There are two advantages to plasma bolts, however. Bolts cannot be intercepted by defensive fire, and may bypass shields (by rolling a "six"). If your target still has enough unfired phasers to stop your plasma volley, or is protected by other ships using their weaponry in defense of the target, then bolting your plasma torpedoes may be a better option.
(End of A Call to Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month)
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show our games and to teach potential players some basics. 
