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July 2022
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Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS: NEW SHIP FOR FOUR GAMES This month we bring you the new Seltorian Heavy Web Breaker Cruiser, proposed by Alan Trevor, a swell guy who once upon a time gave his seat in an F111B fighter bomber to Stephen V. Cole for a mission to bomb a dam in an undisclosed country.
WEBSITE:
Our website, www.StarFleetGames.com, continues to grow and improve. You are welcome to send us your requests, comments, and suggestions. Simone Dale, 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! As announced in Captain's Log #54, Jean Sexton Beddow's husband, Al Beddow has been appointed to take over the day-to-day of running the SFU Ranger demo team. He comes with a bit of experience both teaching various types of games as well as having been in quite a few demo teams (and ran/helped run a few). He is most familiar with GURPS Prime Directive but early on played ACTASF and spent Gencon 2012 demoing it in the Mongoose Publishing booth there. So, we are asking each of you to email Al at the address below with the following: - Name Al will add you to the Ranger group on the forum once he has this info, which will let you access our area there. He is looking forward to working with all of you to spread the news of the Star Fleet Universe! Current stats: We have heard from 22 of our Rangers and have three new ones! We are excited to see the Rangers becoming active as playing in person and cons once again start up. Jean Sexton Beddow Al Beddow Ranger Email: adbrangerhq@gmail.com FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/517647465103651/ ADB Forums: http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/phpbb2/index.php ADB BBS: http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/
JAGDPANTHER
Custom Decals for Starline ships
Tenneshington Decals is proud to announce that, as of June 10th 2022, they are now accepting orders for decal sets made to fit Federation starships in ADB's Shapeways 3788, 3125, 7000 "Elite", and 2500 "Prestige" scales. A wide selection of ships are available now, with more to come in the following months. The 3788 scale decals are also great to use on ADB's metal Starline 2400 ships and the 3125 scale decals can be used on ADB's metal Starline 2500 ships. Tenneshington will also continue to offer their legacy decals for Starline 2500 ships as special orders, for customers wishing to match their existing minis.
As with all of their products, the names on the ships are up to the customer and all sheets are custom-printed to order.
Additional decal sets are available for shuttlecraft and to sets to detail any ship with additional window blocks, sensors, hatches, and even phaser scars.
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 Update to Sapphire Star IX: With Sapphire Star tournaments IX and X finished, XI is now running. The second Sapphire Crown tournament will kick off on 1 June with the four most recent winners.
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 played regularly in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday afternoons at the Soldiery. Lee Hanna is the contact person. 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. Mini of the Month Romulan X-Ship King Eagle painted by Kent Ing.
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New Releases EXTRAS FOR THE MONTH: Seltorian Heavy Web Breaker Cruiser
You can look at Hailing Frequencies Extras here.
Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies.
Recently Released
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 DOCKING
Shawn Hantke asks: If a Klingon D6 and six fast patrol ships dock separately inside a module they take up (7+6=) 13 docking points. A D6P also takes up seven docking points. A tug with pods docked generally does not take up more space with the pods. Does a fast patrol ship tender take up more space with patrol ships docked to it?
ANSWER: No, there is no provision that patrol ship tenders with patrol ships docked to them take up more space. Each patrol ship would take up one docking point if docked separately, but not if docked to the tender. Shawn Hantke asks: A severely crippled ship is docked to a base and the base extended its shields to protect the ship. Some damage gets through the base's shields (e.g., Spearfish drones or the leaky shields rules) and scores enough damage to cause the ship to explode. Does the explosion hit the base without its shields since the ship (and the explosion) is now inside the extended shields? ANSWER: There is no special procedure given for this (fairly arcane) situation under (C13.731) or (C13.74). Therefore I would have to say the unit in question is treated as being outside the base's shield. (Even though the shield is enveloping the unit, it is still also protecting the base, as the rulebook says.) The explosion would be applied to that shield by (C13.74), doing double shield damage per (C13.7311).
Roch Chartrand asks: I have a frigate that is externally docked to a battle station and I would like to have a clarification on the rule (C13.761) in relation to (D6.68): Would my frigate's fire control be "disrupted" for four impulses for every turn it is docked to the base? ANSWER: Fire control is disrupted as long as you are docked, and for four impulses after undocking, per (C13.762). However, due to (C13.7621) you will be able to hold a lock-on. You can also use labs, tactical intelligence, electronic warfare, and aegis. Also, because of (C13.761) you may fire your frigate's weapons (under passive fire control) but you cannot launch or control seeking weapons. Roch Chartrand asks a follow-up question: By (C13.761) you may fire weapons and launch/control seeking weapons offensively, or only defensively at incoming seeking weapons? ANSWER: If your fire control is disrupted, you may not fire weapons, even under passive fire control, or control seeking weapons, except that you can fire direct-fire weapons at seeking weapons within three hexes (D6.682). The text of (C13.761) does not change this. It is merely meant to show that there is no additional restriction on firing weapons because you are docked. You can fire weapons, but your fire control is disrupted, so that limits what you can fire at. Francois Lemay asks: A frigate is docked to a battle station with its #1 shield facing outward from the battle station's #1 shield (i.e., the frigate's #4 shield is facing the battle station's #1 docking station). As I understand (C13.72), the frigate's shields #3, #4, and #5 are not in arc of any fire at all, but are protected by the mass and bulk of the battle station. The frigate's #1, #2, and #6 shields, however, can be hit by enemy fire. ANSWER: You are correct. F&E Q&A
CARRIERS AND GROUP THERAPY Q: Can I send prime teams to sabotage the "inner escort" of a carrier group?
A: Yes, you can. The rule prohibits sabotage of the "escorted" unit but nothing says that the "inner" escort is "being escorted." Q: Are the B10's fighters (436.0) considered a squadron, or hybrid? I say "hybrid" since the SIT doesn't call it a carrier.
A: The SIT for the B10 does classify it as a single ship carrier, so the fighters are their own squadron for that single ship carrier and have the appropriate cost. Q: Do both the UH and CV have oversized squadrons? A: Yes (318.8). Filthy, methane-breathing squadrons. Q: I am trying to manage my carrier groups honestly within the rules (515.2) in the face of an opposing player who delights in picking off escorts. To keep the carriers alive, I added an extra escort to many groups, such as CVL+CLE+CLE+FFE but when the FFE was destroyed, my opponent said I had to drop one CLE from the group as the rules did not allow a group without a light escort. I protested that the group CVL+CLE+CLE+Empty was valid as long as it consumed four command slots.
A: Yes, it's legal, if you use a command slot for the missing escort. Rule (515.35) prohibits CVL+CLE+CLE as a three-ship group but allows it as a four-ship group. Q: A Kzinti battle force has the following carriers (plus escorts): CVL (4.5 fighters), CVE (3 fighters), 2CV (6 fighters each). For these ships, how many ship equivalents (501.91) of fighters are there? A: You can do this two different ways. One is to count each carrier separate: CVL = 4.5 fighters = 0.77 ship equivalents (SE), CVE = 3 fighters = 0.5 SE, 2x(CV = 6 fighters = 1.0 SE). You then add them together (0.77+0.5+2x(1.0)) to come up with 3.27 SE. You need to consider each group separate before adding them together. Anything less than 0.5 is dropped. You can also, with fighter types of all the same kind, just add up all the factors and divide by the standard squadron size for that type, six in this case. So, in this example, we would have (4.5+3+2x6) = 19.5 and divide that by 6 for 3.25 SE. Anything less than 0.5 is dropped. Note that the parenthetical (6-8) refers to the squadron size for the unit in question. A Federation CVB with an F-15 squadron would have a standard squadron size of 8 and would only count as one SE instead of 1.33 SE when counting for SE calculations. Q: In the case of a tug or LTT (515.0) using a borrowed allied carrier pod, which empire provides the escorts? A: The empire that provided the tug or LTT. Q: The rules say that a tug with a carrier pod can be escorted as a carrier. Is there a rule saying that a tug with a carrier pod and a battle pod cannot be escorted? A: There is no such rule, but of course, the carrier pod must be one that actually has enough fighters for the tug to be classified as a carrier-tug. Q: Does (or should) rule (517.36) apply to the Lyran KVP (and KVH) for purposes of mixing with other Lyran K-type pods? A: Yes, all the restrictions on the Klingon pods with weight restrictions carry over to those pods when they are being used by the Lyrans. Q: What if the Lyran tug borrows a Klingon VAP (or VHP) pod (517.13); would (517.36) apply? Also, what if a Klingon tug borrows the Lyran KVP or KVH pods does (517.36) still apply? A: Yes, in both situations. 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 MonthOH, NO YOU DON'T! If you are flying a ship with lots of Marines and transporters (e.g., a Klingon D6 or D7, or a Seltorian ship), and you are dueling a ship without many Marines for its hull size (e.g., a Federation ship), and your opponent declares Marine raids, use your "me-too" opportunity to declare you are boarding him. His attempts at raiding will likely reduce his total number of Marines, giving you a much better chance to eventually capture his ship.
If nothing else, this might make your opponent think twice before sending Marines over on raids. As a corollary to this, when in a fleet or squadron battle, watch your opponent's Marine levels. If a ship uses too many Marines in raiding attempts (or a capture attempt), use the opportunity to overwhelm his remaining Marines with your own.
The Andromedan spatial distorter refit of the displacement device was featured in Module C3A: The Andromedan Threat File [Rule (CG7.0)]. It could be used (if it existed) to stop an enemy unit from moving or changing facing for a few critical impulses or to stop a friendly Andromedan unit from moving when it does not wish to. This could allow an Andromedan player to set up a shot on a weak shield, hold a target still while a T-bomb arms, or stop a plasma torpedo just long enough for its warhead to lose strength, or just cause the target to lose a couple of hexes of movement.
The spatial distorter works by "elevating" the target above the map as if it were in a temporal elevator (G31.0). The unit then descends one level per impulse until it returns to the same level as everything else on the map. Until the affected unit descends to Level Zero, it is affected by rule (G31.2221) which states, in part: "Movement on the part of the unit is ignored, and any Movement Points are lost . . ." It is also unable to turn (including by high energy turn). The other effect is that the true range between the target and every other unit on the map is increased by rule (G31.23). Therefore, the best time to fire a spatial distorter can be just before the target will move several impulses in a row. That gives the best chance of the target losing movement. Example: An Andromedan Python with the spatial distorter refit is in a duel with a Klingon D5. The Python knocked down the D5's #5 shield with his last battle pass, but the wily Klingon has been able to keep the Python from getting a clear shot through the down shield with his (now reloaded) tractor-repulsor beams. The D5 is moving at Speed 20, and on Impulse #18 the Python's captain notes that the D5 is scheduled to move twice in the next two impulses. He also notes that if the D5 did not move for those two impulses, he could bring weapons to bear on the D5's down shield. He fires the spatial distorter at a range of 10 and rolls a "1," elevating the D5 five levels. This was actually more than the Andromedan captain was hoping for, because the D5's true range is increased by five, which will make the Python's weapons less useful when it is time to fire. On Impulses #19 and #20, the Python also moves and the D5 descends two levels in the temporal elevator shaft (to level three). The Python's maneuver has taken it to Range 8 to the D5, but three is added to the Range making it Range 11. (If the Andromedan captain had rolled a "3," the D5 would have been elevated exactly two levels and would be at Level Zero on this impulse, putting it in a better range bracket for the Python's weapons.) The Andromedan captain decides that a long shot on a down shield is better than a short shot on a strong shield, and fires. (End of SFB Tactic of the Month)
The Kzintis and Hydrans should go out of their way to have several police flagships in their capital once they are eventually attacked. Costing two economic points (531.31), these tiny ships give you a one electronic warfare point scout (and a Marine battalion if you need them to deter Marine invasion by the Coalition). You may freely place them in defense of any system where their one electronic warfare point will shift the balance for you, or their one Marine factor will help your defenses.
Of course you can only build one per year, so start early. Get odd numbers, of course, to maximize the number of them available in your "mobile" force. (End of F&E Strategy of the Month)
A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month These are the most devastating form of terrain in ACTASF. All models (including other terrain) will be pulled towards a black hole during the Compulsory Movement Phase of every turn. The distance by which a model is moved, is dependent on its original distance from the black hole. The closer a unit is, the more it is sucked in. This is considered to be Compulsory Movement and the units heading does not change. Once a model makes contact with a black hole, it is instantly destroyed.
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