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The latest Communique brings you more Ship Cards, scenarios, fiction, and more news from the Star Fleet Universe! It can be downloaded from the Commander's Circle. Don’t forget, you have to register before being able to download the latest full color Communique!
The big news this month is that the company is moving to a new office at 1504 West 10th in Amarillo. This office is SIX times the size of the current office, meaning that the two Steves will have private offices instead of sharing the conference room, there will be a separate conference room AND a separate kitchen, Mike and Eric will no longer have to share an office the size of a phone booth (they will share one the size of three or four phone booths) and the warehouse crew won't have to assemble, pack, and ship games in the hot/cold warehouse, but in the climate controlled office.
Even better, it will finally be possible to go in and out the front door without tripping over a Kyocera repairman! Moving the company will take a couple of weeks and will delay the release of some new products by two weeks, but we'll be far more efficient in the new space and get even more new products done.
Our combined and reorganized website, www.StarFleetGames.com, continues to grow and improve. You are welcome to send us your requests, comments, and suggestions.
We are looking for a few good Star Fleet Ambassadors! Our marketing director can't be everywhere and that's where you come in! Do you go to gaming forums like Board Game Geek, RPG Net, or The Miniatures Page? Then WE NEED YOU! To get complete details of the Ambassador program, please see the Federation Commander Ambassadors category on the Federation Commander forum.
Have you missed an earlier Newsletter? Click here to get caught up!
The Federation Commander Site and Forum continue to grow as more gamers find it. We have added a new section to the Forum called Web Requests. If you have any comments, questions, or requests for our Graphics Director, this is the place to let him know.
We have added a new Star Fleet Battles section to the forum to discus everything SFB. For new players, the Federation Commander Forum is a little easier to manage whereas the Legacy Discus BBS can be a bit overwhelming. Come see what the commotion is about and join the Federation Commander Forum now!
Don't forget our original (discus-based) BBS where most product development takes place.
Hydrans Attack!
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by Captain Scott Moellmer
Hydran fusion-armed ships need to be close to the target to be effective. Stingers can't move faster than speed 16, so you can never chase down the enemy, and if you try, the Klingons and Lyrans will just kill your fighters at long range. To avoid this, the basic tactic is to charge at speed 24 (or 24+1) using Evasive Maneuvering. When you reach firing range, drop Evasive and launch the Stingers. If the target ship has enough weapons armed to hurt you, they are slow enough for the Stingers to overwhelm them.
(Continue reading here)
Café Press is an online marketplace that allows the Star Fleet Universe to produce unique products such as coffee mugs, t-shirts, tote bags, and more with the Star Fleet logos, cover art, and other artwork used for our products. We have added tons of new shirts, mugs, and other products. Want something you don’t see? Please contact Eric Olivarez (Graphics Director) with your request. Visit our Star Fleet Café Press Store for a complete listing of the products available.
SFB Tactic of the Month
CHOOSING A PINWHEEL PUSHER
- Junior Lieutenant Michael C. Grafton, USS South Carolina
When pushing a pinwheel into a combat situation, it may not be intuitively obvious which ship (if you have four similar hulls all eligible for pinwheeling) should push and who should be in the pinwheel.
The answer is the Scout should push the pinwheeled ships from range three. There are a couple reasons for this
1) The Scout, at a range three greater than the pinwheel, makes a poorer target;
2) If the Scout is IN the pinwheel, firing weapons results in blinding its channels.
(Continue reading here)
KLINGON SFG RAID SHIELD
- Commander Trent Telenko, USS Texas
The Klingons placing SFGs on their forward starbase will be able to protect their FRD repair parks and troop ships from (320.0) Advanced Raids. This will stop "cheap kills" of FRDs by Kzinti and Federation drone raids, or Alliance Fighter Raids, and make Alliance fleets have to come into range of Klingon SFGs to get FRD kills.
Rule (320.331) in Planetary Operations makes that possible via the following statement: "The following units located with a Tholian Base can be assumed to be inside the web and immune from attacks: FRDs, SAFs, LTFs, troop ships; monitors only if the base is co-located with the planet the monitor is protecting. The same units located with a base with an SFG would be protected by the SFG and immune to attack."
(Continue reading here)
Every month we will feature one of our miniatures that has been painted by a fan. If you paint miniatures, submit your pictures and you may be our next Mini of the Month!
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Communique #37 has been posted to the Commander's Circle.
JUST RELEASED
Captain's Log #38, Doomward and the Vortex, SKU 5738, $19.95
Squadron Box #22, SKU 4322, $39.95
Squadron Box #23, SKU 4323, $39.95
Squadron Box #24, SKU 4324, $39.95
TO BE RELEASED ON 9 FEBRUARY 2009
SFB Module G3: Master Annexes, SKU 5423, Price $29.95
Federation Commander: Border Box #8, SKU 4408, $99.95
Orion Dreadnought Miniature, SKU 0826, $9.95
(Items delayed due to the company moving to a new office.)
TO BE RELEASED ON 23 FEBRUARY 2009
Federation Commander: Briefing #2, SKU 4022, $19.95
Prime Directive: Federation (d20), SKU 8702, $24.95
TO BE RELEASED IN 23 MARCH 2009
GURPS Federation, SKU 8402, $24.95
FC Reference Rulebook (5th Edition), SKU 4020, $14.95
TO BE RELEASED IN APRIL 2009
Federation Commander: Borders of Madness #1, SKU 4051, $19.95
TO BE RELEASED IN MAY 2009
Captain's Log #39, SKU 5739, $19.95
TO BE RELEASED AT ORIGINS 2009
Federation Commander: Hydran Attack, SKU 4107, $29.95
Star Fleet Battles Module to be announced
SNAP COUNT Part 5 of 10
- By Stephen V. Cole
Auxiliary Control, USS Auchinlek, 1345 hrs, 17 Jan Y169
"Incoming audio," the technician said.
"Put it on speakers," Lieutenant Grayson said.
"This is Beta," came the voice. "Your ship dropped its warp engines. This was the signal for surrender. Do you confirm that you have surrendered?"
"Yes," Grayson said, "we have surrendered."
"You are paroled," the voice of Beta said. "Make your way to the nearest facility that can help you. Your ship is to take no further action against me. This includes providing any data from our encounter. You are to purge your computer files of all data relating to my design, weapons, and capabilities. Is this clear?"
"Yes," Grayson said. "We have many casualties. Can you provide any help?"
"No," said the voice of Beta. "I realize that under the Organian Treaty, I am to provide such medical support, but I have neither the personnel nor the facilities to do so. Therefore, I cannot. While I am not subject to the Organian Treaty, I honor its principles. You may summon help from your own people if you can."
"We cannot," Grayson said. "Our long range transmitters were damaged."
"Repair them," the voice of Beta said.
"We cannot," Grayson said. "Our ship is a wreck and all available effort must go into surviving."
"I have no way to repair your ship," the voice of Beta said. "I suggest you consider whatever measures are appropriate."
"Our safety is your responsibility," Grayson said. "We are your prisoners."
"Very well," the voice of Beta said. "I shall find a way to send help to you."
(Continue reading here)
ANDROMEDANS
- by Mike Filsinger
Scott Tenhoff asks: If I have an Andromedan Sat Base (or bigger) located on a planet, what are its PA arcs? Normally a base's shields on a planet are split between 2 or 3 firing arcs (depending on the location on the planet). With an Andromedan Base are all PA Panels combined to shield the 180° arc, or are they split to cover a 90° arc. For example the RH panels protecting the left 90° arc, the FH panels protecting the right 90° arc, and if you are directly center-lined (above the base) both apply.
ANSWER: You have to follow (P2.73) where possible. Obviously the Satellite Base (R10.12) with only two PA panel banks would combine them into a single 180° arc. The Desecrator (R10.7) and Battlestation (R10.30), both of which have six panel banks, would operate as any Galactic base with six shields. The Andromedan Base Station (R10.29) is a unique case as normally half of its PA panels are only available for the transfer of energy from its two facing panel banks, so operationally only two of its panel banks can be combined (Banks 1-6 and 19-24), and would be combined as a single panel bank. The two inner banks would also be combined, but would otherwise operate normally under the rules for the Base Station.
Follow-up question: If I transport from an Andromedan ship to an Andromedan, ship can I transport directly into a Satellite Ship within another ship? Can I beam crew from a SatB to a Cobra inside an Intruder? This is so I can "launch" the Cobra the next impulse through the Intruder's Transporters or DisDev.
ANSWER: Technically, no unit outside the Intruder would have lock-on to the Cobra, so you could not beam directly. Furthermore, as a technicality, (D10.524) would prevent the Intruder from making a simultaneous transfer, since both the target and destination must use their transporters as part of the operation.
(Continue reading here)
SCENARIO QUESTIONS
- by Nick Blank
QUESTION: I am confused by The War That Almost Was in Captain's Log #21. It says that the Federation cannot enter Gorn space, but that Gorn fleets are released when the Federation enters Gorn space. Huh?
ANSWER: The Federation cannot initiate the war by invading the Gorns, but if the Gorns start the war, the Federation can counter-attack into Gorn space, which might release some other Gorn fleets if the Federation goes too far.
QUESTION: The rules allow me to send one ship from an unreleased fleet outside the deployment zone for conversion. My opponent insists that this allows him to set up one ship from any unreleased fleet in another sector.
ANSWER: Not so fast! Rule (600.322) allows any unreleased fleet to send a ship outside the sector to be converted, but only if that fleet has no starbase in its sector. There is, moreover, no rule allowing you to set up a ship outside of its assigned sector; you can only do this during a scenario.
(Continue reading here)
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 81231 New Year (Adobe Acrobat Required)
Alert 81224 Christmas (Adobe Acrobat Required)
Alert 81222 B2MY (Adobe Acrobat Required)
Alert 81215 New Releases (Adobe Acrobat Required)
We have just received the long-awaited shipment of Orion Dreadnoughts! These will be released as soon as we complete the move to a new office.
 
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