|
||||||||
January 2020
|
||||||||
Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS:
Hailing Frequencies and Communique have merged into a single newsletter under the Hailing Frequencies title. This means the following changes to Hailing Frequencies:
1. The ships and scenarios that used to be presented in Communique will now be provided as Hailing Frequencies Extras. Each Hailing Frequencies will include links to two or more of these Extras. Unlike Communique which only had ships and scenarios for Federation Commander, Hailing Frequencies Extras will cover all of our games (but not all in the same month). For example, this issue includes a new FC ship card and a new SSD for Star Fleet Battles. In a later issue, we will provide the Franz Joseph Federation Destroyer for ACTASF.
2. The Q&A section for Federation Commander will move from Communique to Hailing Frequencies.
MORE BIG NEWS NEW PRODUCTS Soon we will release an SFB SSD pack of 12 variants of the Tholian Police Destroyer and Tholian Police War destroyer. This is in response to a player request posted on Facebook.
Soon after that release, we will release an FC Ship Card Pack of the same ships.
Sometime in February we will release another SFB SSD Pack of Tholian ships along with the SFB Tholian Master Starship Book.
Last month we did release Federation Commander Booster Packs #37 and #38 each with eight "leaders" for war destroyers and war cruisers.
SHAPEWAYS
On January 6, 2020, ADB released a total of 39 new items to its shop on Shapeways with over 1,900 items in total available. There are some styles of ships designed to work within the price increase that Shapeways imposed. We also added more ships in the new, larger scale that we named the Prestige Scale which is 1/2500. These larger ships are perfect for one-on-one tabletop duels. They can always be used as a display model when not being used for battles. Notably we began to add the Peladine Empire that our fans have been requesting for years.
The Federation starts with one of the best deals for Federation ships that we have offered to date. The 3788 Scale Frigate Collection with Corvettes has six ships (a Battle Frigate, Scout Frigate, two Burke-class Frigates, and two Corvettes). The new Omni Scale "General" Monitor is based upon the Federation Monitor. (We plan to release empire specific monitors in future months.) The Klingons gain their B10 Battleship in the 7000 Scale. This is the start of the new 7000 single releases of the larger ships, such as the battleships. The Romulans get ships at both ends of the scale. The iconic War Eagle with an etched belly bird is in the 2500 "Prestige" Scale; the King Condor Battleship is now available in the 7000 Scale. The Gorns have their 3788/3125 Medium Dreadnought in both the regular and refitted versions. They also get their 7000 Scale Fleet Builder Collection (medium cruiser, two heavy destroyers, two battle destroyers, and a destroyer) and 7000 Scale Fleet Core Collection (dreadnought, heavy battlecruiser, battlecruiser, light cruiser, destroyer, and frigate) in two versions, as regular and refitted ships. The Tholians gain their Patrol Corvette and the Neo-Tholian Light Cruiser in the 2500 "Prestige" Scale. The Kzintis have their Battle Station and Augmented Battle Station. These Omni Scale battle stations are done to reflect the style of the Kzinti designers. In the 7000 Scale, they also get their Battleship (as a single) and another sprue of two ships (War Destroyer and Frigate). The Lyrans and their wayward county of the Lyran Democratic Republic gain several variations of the Panther Light Cruiser. There is the Light Escort Cruiser, Light Scout Cruiser, and Light Carrier. Note that LDR ships are only in the 3125 Scale but smooth 3788 scale ships are available for the Lyrans. The Lyrans also get the same ships in a "refitted" version with aztecking in the 3788 Scale.
The Hydrans get the Lord Marshal Command Cruiser and Templar Early Dreadnought in the 3788 Scale and 3125 Scale; the Lord Marshal is also available in the 2500 "Prestige" Scale. The ISC gains its Battleship as a single ship in the 7000 Scale. Finally, the Peladine Empire, which is one of the "also rans" in the history of the Alpha Quadrant, gets its Heavy Cruiser in 3788/3125 scale as the first of the ships for that empire. You can check out the store here:
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  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:
The conclusion of the Sapphire Star 2 tournament saw Jack Taylor's WYN Black Shark (type-B drone racks in the options) triumph over Dana Madsen's Orion (center options 2xHellbore, 1xphaser-G; wing options type-B drone racks) in a bitter contest that saw heavy damage to the WYN before the Orion finally went down.
Stay tuned for word on the Sapphire Star 3 tournament.
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES Star Fleet Battles will be demoed at the Steam Maker Workshop gaming club in San Diego, California. They will be meeting at 4619B Mission Gorge Place from 6-9 pm on February 13, 2020. Ranger Tim Foat will be running the demo. 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/ A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month These are immense clouds of gas, light years across. Nebulae are easily large enough to encompass the entire playing area and then some. When battles take place in a nebula, the ships suffer from these debilitating effects: o All weapon ranges are halved. o All Attack Dice suffer a -2 penalty. o Shields are set to 0 and may not be increased in any way. o Shuttles are instantly destroyed. o Plasma torpedoes automatically lose one of their Attack Dice. o The Cloak, Scout, and Transporter traits do not function at all. In addition, during every End Phase, every ship must roll two dice. The first die determines if the ship has been moved off course by the weird, twisting and turning energy patterns inside the nebula. On a 1-2, turn the ship 45° left, on a 3-4, the ship does not turn, and on a 5-6, turn the ship 45° right. The ship is then moved forward a number of inches equal to the roll of the second die. This is considered compulsory movement. (End of A Call to Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month)
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
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.
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.
Mini of the Month Daniel Bostwick painted this Andromedan Conquistador (3788 Scale, Smooth Fine Detail Plastic).
|
||||||||
|
New Releases You can look at Hailing Frequencies Extras here. Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies. Recently Released A Call to Arms: Starfleet Book 2 To be released in 2020
FC Federation Epack #5
GURPS Klingons Revision
Star fleet Universe Index
To be released in 2020
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 Prime Time Newsletter #1-4(DriveThru RPG) Conference Room, USS Mallory (Continue reading here)
Ask Admiral Vanaxilth Flivver Hyperdrones
Matthew Potter asks: Just what is the sequence for launching, moving, firing at, and the impact of hyperdrones?
ANSWER: In the first step of (6D1), the Flivver player announces the launch of hyperdrones. He then proceeds to move them one hex at a time toward the target, until either he announces they are stopping (e.g., they have reached their limit of 20 hexes or he wants to stop them earlier for tactical reasons) or the defending player asks for a defensive fire opportunity. This all happens during the hyperdrone fire step of (6D1). During the Fire Decision Step of (6D1), all fire (including defensive fire at hyperdrones, and other direct fire) is recorded. Damage is calculated in (6D2) and resolved in (6D3). In (6D5), any surviving hyperdrones complete their movement, and damage is resolved from any that impact. Follow-on question: A note in (E55.332) states some confusing thing about not being able to fire at other targets on the same step as firing at hyperdrones. So how does it work? ANSWER: This note is simply describing a situation where you are trying to shoot down hyperdrones, and rolling badly. Realizing that some hyperdrones are going to hit anyway, you cannot decide in the middle of (6D2) that you want to reallocate your remaining anti-hyperdrone fire to other targets. This is no different than firing at drones or anything else, really, but was called out here because of the unusual play sequence for hyperdrones. Follow-up question: How is (E55.331) handled in a scenario involving more than two players? Does the first player to stop the hyperdrone mean everyone has to fire at it from that spot? Or is it that each player can stop it at a hex of their own choosing [in effect, doing segment (6D) over and over for each player + hyperdrone. Note that I say "player," and not "unit"]? ANSWER: Rule (E55.331) makes it clear that the player controlling the target of the hyperdrone chooses when to stop it for a defensive fire opportunity. Each hyperdrone only gets stopped once, regardless of the number of players or units in the scenario. However, any unit, from any side, could take the opportunity to fire on the hyperdrone at whatever location it was stopped. F&E Q&A
BATTLE FORCES Q: Do carrier groups in the support echelon sending fighters to the battle line count in (302.321) determining the 50% of total ships required to be of the same empire as the flagship in the battle force? Various rules provide argument for or against this.
A: See (302.563) which specifically says that the support echelon is outside the battle force and (302.35) which further supports that they are "not part of the Battle Force." As such, they do not count in the battle force requirement of ships from a given empire, although, since the fighter equivalents are in the battle force they would. This is the general rule. Certain units in the support echelon (drone ships, scouts, etc.) have specific rules which do count them as part of the battle force. Carriers and escorts feeding fighters into the battle force do not have those specific rules. A specific rule overrules a general rule. Q: Does an Admiral (316.2) affect the command rating of the ship chosen as the flagship for the purposes of the pinning exception (203.55)? A: See (203.55), (316.21), and (316.214). The presence of an admiral (or Marine major general) does not increase the command rating of a given unit for pinning calculation purposes. The presence of a flag officer only permits one additional unit beyond the command rating of a battle force. Q: Rule (316.213) makes reference to an admiral increasing the command rating of the flagship in a battle force (not specifying that the ADM is aboard), and in one case specifying that an admiral increases the command rating of his ship. This contradicts the above answer. A: The designer pleads sloppy rules writing. The clear writing of (316.11) and (316.21) indicates that the battle force is increased but not by increasing the command rating of the flagship. In a theoretical case of a battle force consisting of a battle tug and 11 frigates, the admiral is prohibited from being on the battle tug but still increases the battle force by one ship.
Q: Are tugs with different pods (511.53) considered the same type or different type (i.e., tug with two scout pods vs. a tug with two carrier pods)? A: Tugs are a specific type of ship and are divided as such per (511.531) and not by their assigned pod or mission. If there are sub-classes (types) of tugs (such as combat tugs and cargo tugs) then these are divided by types. One cannot have two combat tugs in one group and two transport tugs in the other. This also applies to theater transports in a similar manner. (End of F&E Q&A) ASK AUNT JEAN ASK AUNT JEAN
Q: Can anything be done to recover the lost Prime Time Newsletters done 25 years ago for the original PD1 game system?
A: Yes! All four issues of this rare newsletter were recently found by a fan. The newsletter is dedicated to ADB's PD One: Prime Directive game system. There are new skills and new equipment, along with looks at more species (most were included in the Federation Sourcebook, but the Vudar were new).
You can find these newsletters from the following sources:
Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB5812
DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/300032/
I hope you enjoy them.--Jean
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 MonthDEFEATING STINGERS Hydran Stingers can easily wreck your ship if you do not use the proper tactics. Let us look at those proper tactics by first identifying the Stinger¹s weaknesses and then describing the tactics to take advantage of those weaknesses. So, to begin, what are a Stinger¹s weaknesses?
First, it has no shields, cannot use shield reinforcement, and cannot repair itself. This means every hit scored will cause damage. Additionally, a Stinger is limited to a maximum speed of 16 and can be death dragged by ships using tractor beams. It cannot fire weapons on the first impulse after launch and cannot reload its fusion beams. Crippling a Stinger is almost as good as killing it, and it has limited firepower outside of Range 3. Furthermore, it can only fire in the FA arc. Finally, landing and re-arming operations take forever. So, how do you take advantage of these weaknesses?
First, maintain your distance. If you close within Range 3, you deserve what you get, and what you get will be bad. Keep the range open and snipe at the Stingers. They have no shields and cannot repair themselves so there are no "wasted" damage points. Also, do your best to maneuver into their RX arc. As long as you are in the RX arc, they cannot fire at you. Next, do not "overkill" a Stinger. Try to spread your fire among multiple Stingers to avoid wasting too much fire on a single one. Notice I said multiple Stingers not all Stingers. Doing a little damage to a lot of Stingers is just as useless as firing all of your weapons at only one Stinger. When allocating your fire, you should aim for a 10-point kill on each Stinger, but be happy with a seven-point cripple. If you score more than 10 points on a Stinger, you have let another Stinger survive. If your weapons score damage in multiples of four, use only two of them, as eight points cripples a Stinger and leaves another weapon to start working on a second one. Remember that fighters cannot fire on the impulse after launch. This gives you a free shot at them before they can reply in kind. Take advantage of this as much as possible. Cripple as many as you can to "destroy" their fusion beams and phaser-Gs before they can fire. Next, use seeking weapons. Drones and plasma torpedoes are serious dangers to a Stinger, and if you can maneuver them so they hit from the rear, the Stinger cannot use defensive fire. If the Stinger gets a defensive shot, at least that phaser shot will not be targeted on your ship. Death dragging a Stinger is more of a suicide mission (for you!), but the advantage of death dragging is that you score 10 points of damage for one point of energy. That is a very efficient energy curve, but there are really only two occasions for doing this on purpose: closing on the rear of a Stinger or if the Hydran launches Stingers at close range. In either case, cripple or destroy the Stingers you cannot tractor and then tractor the rest, or at least as many as you can. You will death drag the Stingers before they can fire on you (by turning or being two impulses from launch) and get a fighter kill for one point of energy. In fleet combat against Stingers, splitting up is a viable option. Stingers do not have shields so you do not have to worry about splitting fire over multiple shields. If you split your force, the Stingers will either focus on one portion of your force or split up themselves. If they split, you can outmaneuver them to reform your fleet with the Stingers divided up on different shields and firing arcs. This will allow you to split their fire on multiple shields and engage with more weapons that would be out of arc if they had stayed together. If the Stingers pursue only a portion of your force, then your unengaged force can fire into the rear of the Stingers and eliminate them without taking fire. If the Stingers actually survive long enough to head for the carrier, do not let them land without some parting shots. Your goal is to prevent the Stingers from being repaired or reloaded. Landing operations limit the Hydran¹s options and you can easily upset the landings. When possible, launch seeking weapons at the Stingers. If the Hydran lands the Stinger, the ship becomes the target. If the Stinger does not land, it will have to deal with the seeking weapon prior to landing to reload or repair. Any of these tactics will disrupt the landing operations and limit the Hydran¹s options. So, in summary, snipe from long-range, do not overkill or disperse your fire too much, use seeking weapons, hit them right after launch, maneuver into their RX arc, and death-drag if you get caught at close range. Finally, for fleet combat, splitting up is actually a good option against Stingers. With these tactics as a starting point, you can learn to effectively deal with Stingers and give that Hydran player a match to remember.
Assuming you are closing on your target and do not plan to launch plasma torpedoes as a seeking weapon for tactical reasons (such as a receding target, or a target obviously ready to weasel), do not bolt your plasma-F torpedoes. The only time to bolt a plasma-F torpedo (from a plasma-F torpedo launcher) is if your target is at Range 6 or greater. Otherwise, it is almost always better to fire the (fully loaded) plasma-F torpedo as a carronade (assuming, of course, that your ship is able to use a plasma carronade).
At Range 5, a plasma-F torpedo bolt will do ten points of damage if it hits, and it hits only 66% of the time (1-4 on a d6), assuming no electronic warfare shift. A carronade at that same range will do a guaranteed six-to-eight points of damage at that range, even with an electronic warfare shift, making it a far more reliable weapon ‹ even if the high-end jackpot is a few points less. (End of SFB Tactic of the Month) F&E Strategy of the Month In basic Federation & Empire the Romulans have a pretty easy time figuring out what to do with their survey ships. (They have to explore both the five on-map provinces and two planets in the southeast part of their Empire before they can move off map.) Since a planet and the province are separate entities you have to spend a turn in the hex before income is produced. To do this fastest all three Romulan survey ships start at Romulus (4613).
During Turn #10 move one survey ship to 5216 to activate the province and two to Vespasia (5117), one to activate the planet and the other to activate the province. On Turn #11 move the survey ship from 5216 to 5617, and the two from 5117 to 5519 and Tranjanus (5619) to activate two provinces and the planet. On Turn #12, move the survey ship in 5617 through 5919, 6018, 6118 and then off-map. Move the ship at Tranjanus through 5919, 6019, 6119, and then off-map. Finally move 5519 to 5819 to activate the province. Then move it off-map on Turn #13. Simple and easy. However, with the addition of Strategic Operations, the Romulans receive two additional survey ships (704.212) in the form of two KREs assigned to the Home Fleet. These ships do not release until Turn #10 Coalition operational movement, so what do you do with them? The Romulans could certainly use them as additional scouts in combat, but there is actually a more valuable role for them in their survey mode. As survey ships the two KREs can provide much needed economic support for the Empire until they can be converted to KRPs. Many people would think the best idea would be to send them to the off-map area and conduct survey in the regular way, however that would be the wrong choice. Since you have to spend three economic points per off-map survey line (542.26) these two ships would cost six economic points and could not start survey until Turn #14 or Turn #15, depending on whether or not they are on a strategic movement node on Alliance Turn #13. It would take them five turns to give you a return on investment. The better option is for them to continue on-map survey activities in a safe location to the southeast of the capitals. Here these two ships can make two economic points per turn for the Empire and be immune to interference from Alliance raids. So by Turn #20 when you reach off-map survey return on investment, on-map survey will have earned the empire 16 economic points.
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
show our games and to teach potential players some basics. 
