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February 2012
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Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS: this month is that Star Fleet Marines: Assault finally has an official release date (April). The game was delayed by the cover art, which would not have been a factor previously but the wholesalers have made it clear that they are tired of having ADB release new products with no prior warning because we didn't have cover art until the last minute. (The wholesalers use the cover art in their catalogs to get retailers to place pre-orders. Getting the cover art and product info to the wholesalers two months in advance means more pre-orders and more stores carrying the product. We've always known this but our New Year's Resolution was to actually do the marketing job we have allowed to slide for too long.)
SHIPPING NEWS: We always hate to hear that either UPS or the US Postal Service has raised rates. In January, there was a double whammy in that both did. Unfortunately we do have to pass that on to our customers. While the shipping rates assume "worst case scenario," if we find we can ship it cheaper, then we'll refund the difference. 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. 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 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 JAGDPANTHER
Custom Decals for Starline ships Have you ever wished you could accessorize your Starline 2500 Federation fleet with your own names and hull numbers? Well now you can!
Online TOURNAMENTs NetKill: NK11Q4 ended in January. Jon Taylor was declared the winner. CONVENTIONS WITH SFU GAMES Please send information to Jean via the email in her BBS profile, PM on the Mongoose or Federation Commander forums, or Message on Facebook. If you want convention support, please contact Mike Sparks at support@StarFleetGames.com. Your convention must meet a few simple requirements (one of which is being held in the United States due to shipping costs) which are here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/sfb/tournament/tourn_main.shtml 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. FC Forum Recent Posts
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. The greatest strength of drones is their power-to-damage ratio. For zero power, you get 12 points of warhead. No other weapon can hope to match that. While it may be discouraging that those 12 points are by no means guaranteed (particularly when you consider that phasers will always do damage up close), drones have much, much longer ranges.
While it doesn't happen often, one common tournament tactic with Hydran Tournament Lord Marshal is to hold the Stingers in the bay and launch them after the opponent has fired the bulk of his weapons at the Hydran ship. The Stingers get launched, loiter for eight impulses (usually trying to end a move in the target's hex for close combat maneuvers), and all is well (for the Hydran, anyway).
F&E Strategy of the Month The Third Way rules provide the Federation with a unique opportunity to add a second, almost damage-proof, free scout slot. Carrier battle groups (CVBGs) can include a single ship carrier as one of the two included carriers. By combining a standard carrier group with a CVL, the Federation gets an extra four-point scout that does not count against Command Rating limits, and boosts the survivability of the carrier group by adding a ship that is almost combat-equivalent to an NAE. Overstuffing the original carrier group with an extra DWA means that, with an FCR substitution, three Directed-Damage attacks will usually be required to force the extra scout off the line.
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. To see our previous Demotivationals click here. Mini of the Month Starline 2500 Klingon C8
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New Releases Communique #74 has been posted to the Commander's Circle. Recently Released To be releases on March 2012 To be Released in 2012 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 RECENTLY RELEASED ON DRIVE THRU RPG NEW MINIS
Star Fleet Fiction The flotilla was operating short-handed since we lost the 839 boat a week earlier. Now, I was suddenly in command, and I had four boats left, with about half of their drones still in the racks. The mission was to hit an enemy convoy trying to work its way through our sector to supply a Tigerman force that broken through in Sector Delta a week earlier. I had to instantly decide if I was going to abandon that mission and go for the cruiser, or continue to target the convoy. No doubt, the cruiser was the more glorious target, but the Tigermen had plenty of cruisers and only one breakthrough on this front. By killing the convoy, I could do what an entire fleet had failed to do, and force the Tigermen to pull their squadron out of our space. To be sure, once the cruiser was dead the convoy would be an easy target, but the 431 Scout Boat had already reported more ships on the way and we just didn't have time. Going after the convoy wasn't a popular decision. For one thing, ignoring an enemy cruiser is all too often fatal, and for another, there is more glory in killing a cruiser than a freighter, but the mission was, above all, the mission, and other Klingons were counting on us to get the job done. My own gunnery officer snarled at me, and two of the other boat commanders demanded that I confirm the order, but the iron discipline of the fleet prevailed. I had made a decision and the others had to assume I knew what I was doing. If I was wrong, I would answer for it later. We salvoed our third wave of drones in a huge sheaf, more of them than the cruiser could stop with its remaining weapons. As we circled to port to line up for the fourth and last wave, Vorl reported hits on five of the six remaining freighters, two of which were obviously destroyed. That meant we had killed three of the original seven freighters and had damaged three of the rest. I considered ordering each boat to launch only one drone, but with the cruiser in the battle anything less than the full wave would be within his ability to kill. Ignoring phaser damage from the cruiser on my rear shields, I drove in to fire my disruptor and phasers on a wounded large freighter; the cruiser killed both of my drones before they could hit. For that matter, the Tigerman cruiser killed all but one of our drones, which hit one of the damaged freighters, leaving it dead in space. Slish-tak, my wingman, finished it off with disruptor fire. The cruiser used his last drones against us but between phasers and counter-drones we took only one hit, which badly damaged the 941 Boat. (Continue reading here) Ask Admiral Growler DRONES Terry O'Carroll asks: Ken Burnside wrote, in a tournament report: "I specify that one of the drone racks is half empty (a cheesy trick to load the second ECM drone in one turn, rather than a turn spent unloading and a turn spent reloading)." Can someone tell me which rule allows this? I thought ships always started the game with full racks? ANSWER: I am unaware of any rule that allows this with the exception of (FD3.45) for type-D drone racks and (FD3.85) for starbase drone racks. The applicable rules seem to be the following: (FD2.31), (FD2.422), and (FD2.451), none of which allows the partial unloading of a drone rack at any weapon status. Rule (S4.13) might seem to allow a partial exception in that you can have launched one drone from each rack during Turn #0. Andy Vancil asks a follow-up question: I suppose at WS-III you could say that the drones in your scatter-packs came out of the drone racks, rather than the reloads? That would leave space in the racks to put special drones from storage in without delay. ANSWER: Not if you are playing in accordance with the rules: (FD7.212) The drones used for a scatter-pack are drawn from the reserve stocks (FD2.44) or the drone racks of the ship which prepares and launches the scatter-pack. Drones loaded onto an scatter-pack at the start of a scenario under WS-II or WS-III are drawn from the ship's reload stockpile (FD2.44) and do not cost any BPV since they were paid for under (FD2.45). Any drones in the reload stockpile not prohibited by (FD7.12) can be loaded in the scatter-pack at start without regard to availability (FD10.6). George Duffy asks a follow-up question: With regards to unloading drones from a drone rack. Is not the loading/unloading of a rack and the transferring of drones to/from a storage area done by drone-rack crews, while the tranferring of drones to/from the storage facility to either a fighter ready rack or a scatter-pack done by deck crews? [Based on what it says in (FD7.25).] If so, then could not the drone-rack crews unload a drone from the rack and place it the storage facility, while the storage facility was being pilfered by deck crews trying to load a scatter-pack at the same time? Could this be done during WS-II? ANSWER: There is, to the best of my knowledge, no rule allowing you to begin a scenario with partially unloaded drone racks, except for some "special scenario rules" reflecting unusual circumstances. Unless such a rule is found (I have looked with no success), the answer has to be "no". John Trauger asks a follow-up question: Could a ship start with voluntarily reduced rack loads if one accepted appropriately reduced reloads? ANSWER: There is no rule that allows this, nor is there a need for such a rule. The only thing we can figure out is that you're looking for a way to reduce BPV cost and doing it that way is just not something that would be under the control of the ship's captain (or the player). (Ask Growler continues here. ) F&E Q&A SMALL SCALE COMBAT: THE TEAPOT OF VICTORY Q: Under rule (310.14) [which was rule (323.14) when I first asked this], if you have an X-ship, you get a +1, and if you face an X-ship, you get a -1. There is a note saying to ignore the -1s if both sides have an X-ship, implying that both sides still get the +1 bonus. Can this be right?
Q: A few questions about the "Mesmerizing Gaze" special rule for the Orion Slave
Girl/Escort prestige class in PD20M (page 81):
Send questions to Jean at design@StarFleetGames.com and SVC will decide which one Jean will answer next. 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. 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 NEW MINIATURES! Starline 2500 Federation Light Dreadnought
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