|
||||||||
MAY 2012
|
||||||||
Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS: this month is the release of Star Fleet Marines, PD20 Modern Romulans, Module T 2012 Edition and Starmada Nova Edition. We're also pleased to see our partners at Mongoose shipping Federation Fleet Boxes and Klingon Fleet Boxes in quick response to orders (and all pre-orders have now been sent). 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
DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society is a big outfit, and has been around for a long time. They're always running events and conventions all over the US and elsewhere. Check their website (http://www.hmgs.org/) for information on this group and their upcoming events to find one near you. They allow non-historical miniatures gaming to have space at their events (although you should probably contact them before you just show up and start lining up starships on their tables). This may give you another opportunity to get together with SFU friends from around your region (as long as you are using Starline 2400 or Starline 2500 miniatures; they don't seem to understand cardboard counters). You can show them SFB, FC, Starmada, or A Call to Arms, and take a look at all of the other kinds of miniatures games out there. If you accidentally win one of their prizes (say, a box of Napoleonic miniatures) you can probably trade them to someone at your home game store or on a gaming forum for something more to your liking. 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 Rated Ace Tournament 37 is ready for the final round between Paul Scott and Marcus Giegerich. Stay tuned to our page on Facebook or to the BBS to find out when it will be flown. The judge is Kerry Mullan.Rated Ace Tournament 38 has has all but one of the second-round games finished and over half of the third-round games are completed. Even one fourth-round game has a winner! Judge Peter Bakija certainly is keeping this one moving along. Good luck everyone! Andromedan Playtest Tournament has seen nine of the 16 scheduled games played. So far, there still have been two Andromedan wins and we continue watch this tournament with interest. Flying Deuces has seen a reminder go out. Paul Franz is managing this tournament. Winter 2012 FCOL Tourney has Round Three matchups posted. There are eleven players competing and this round should be completed soon. Jim Dauphinais is the judge. NetKill Patrol for the First Quarter 2012 is over. The final match will be between Brendan Lally and David Zimdars. SFBOL World League has its matches posted. These teams of three players play to see which team is the best. You can see the matchups at: http://www.lightlink.com/pdb6/WLRoundRobin.html DEMOS AND CONS 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 GnomeCon was held on April 20-22, 2012 in Savannah, Georgia. Everyone reported there was much fun to be had and the con will be scheduled for a repeat appearance. For more information see: http://gnomecon.org/ A Call to Arms: Star Fleet First Official Tournament was played on April 28, 2012 in London, England at Mongoose's headquarters. The winner was David Philips (Romulan) with 82 points followed by Paul Eyles (Romulan) 74 points. Nashcon 2012 will be held May 25-27, 2012 in Franklin, Tennessee. Tony L. Thomas will be hosting an ACTASF tournament there. For more information, see http://hmgs-midsouth.org/nashcon/ Archcon/Diecon 12 is going to be held June 22-24, 2012 in Collinsville, Illinois. They will be offering three sessions of A Call to Arms: Star Fleet. For more information, see http://www.diecon.com/D12/ Skirmish 2012 is going to be held on July 28, 2012 in Plano, Texas. Clay Dougherty will host Fly in to the Neutral Zone!, an ACTASF event. For more information, see http://www.dfwirregulars.com/ Council of Five Nations will meet on October 5-7, 2012 in Schenectady, New York. This is one of the largest gatherings of face-to-face SFB gamers in the world. For more information, watch http://www.swa-gaming.org/SFBatCouncil Wolfcon 007 is going to be held November 23-5, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. A Star Fleet Battles tournament is usually held on Sunday afternoon. For more information, see http://www.wolfcon.org/ 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 communications. The clever use of the Directed Targeting rule in Federation Commander can offer a very significant advantage - a relatively small number of internal damage points that will hit power and weapons systems can hurt your opponent tremendously. With the introduction of gunboats for the Loriyill in Omega 5, the Loriyill finally have a decent unit to aim their flame shield projectors at to use them offensively from their escort ships instead of defensively trying to shield their carriers from direct-fire weapons. Flame shield projectors allow any unit to gain the benefits of a flame shield for a duration of four-to-sixteen impulses (however long the flame shield projector was charged for, every four impulses requires a point of power), as long as they are size class 5 or greater. When a target has the benefit of flame shields a quarter of the damage scored on it by direct-fire weapons is scored on the firing unit. [If a ship that is protected by a flame shield is hit by an eight-point photon torpedo at Range 6, the firing ship takes two points of damage on its facing shield (OR1.1322)]. F&E Strategy of the Month Demotivationals Throughout the month our graphics director places on the website various cards called Demotivationals. These are like postcards with an image and a phrase that is often used for humor. To see our previous Demotivationals click here. Mini of the Month Starline 2500 Angry Bird Condor
|
||||||||
|
New Releases Communique #77 has been posted to the Commander's Circle. Recently Released To be released during May-June 2012 To be released during June 2012 To be released during July 2012 To be released during August 2012 To be released during September 2012 To be released during 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 Star Fleet Fiction "Thank you for seeing me, Admiral," the lawyer said as he entered the office.
"As if I had a choice," Admiral Koval muttered. "What now?" Koval hated this lawyer, not least because he was a civilian. Koval's Southeast Fleet had begun its invasion of the Federation with only three military lawyers on the fleet staff, two business lawyers to handle contracts with Klingon corporations that sold supplies to his fleet, and the JAG to supervise the military justice system. Now he had over a hundred. This one, now his chief lawyer, was a civilian defense attorney from Klardon. Most of the new lawyers were civilians, mostly criminal defense attorneys from Dunkaria and Zoolax, which had thriving legal systems. Koval wondered, not for the first time, if the entire planet of Klinshai had a hundred criminal defense attorneys. "The usual suspects," the lawyer said, opening his briefcase. Koval winced as the locks snapped open, knowing all too well that this was an intimidation technique taught to Klingon lawyers by their Federation counterparts before the War began. "We have the usual indictment against you for 'waging a war of aggression' but I think I can get that one quashed," the lawyer said, putting the first file aside with a smile. "Having you declared a diplomat was one of my better moves. Of course, if we lose the war, you'll end up facing those charges." "They can hang me after the ESS gets done," Koval snorted. "What else? How many ship captains will I lose?" "Three," the lawyer responded. Koval winced again. The Federation delighted in filing no end of criminal and civil charges against his captains. Each had to be resolved in a courtroom on Organia, and while most of his officers were found not guilty (it was a war after all!) taking them away from their ships for a month or two at a time was disrupting his command structure. At least a quarter of his warships were under command of their XOs and at least five were under command of their watch officers as the XO was facing trial for actions while in temporary command. "First, the captain and weapons officer of the Antagonist have been indicted for firing on a Federation diplomatic ship." "Rubbish!" Koval snapped. "The diplomat was simply a passenger on a frigate, one we had trapped in an ambush. The diplomat was interned and will be repatriated. The crew of the ship is on one of the prison planets." "Sauce for the kellish is sauce for the kellix, Admiral," the lawyer smiled. When the Admiral clearly didn't understand, he explained. "They will raise the issue of you being a diplomat, but we will deflect this by noting you have used that status only in the case of law suits, not in combat. Our defense to the charge is that the diplomatic status was abused to allow a warship to escape from a combat zone." (Continue reading here) Ask Admiral Growler BASES Xander Fulton asks: Do shuttles have to go through the full landing procedure ships do for planets, i.e., the whole "ends a turn within one hex", "spends next turn at Speed 1, entering planet hex on last impulse", "next turn maneuvering through atmosphere to land", etc.)?
I could not find anything indicating this was not the case, but I guess it seemed that shuttles might have had a faster way to get down and up than entire starships did. ANSWER: Whether ship, PF, skiff, or shuttle, the landing procedure is the landing procedure. There is a faster way. (While this will start off probably sounding like a sick joke, I am being serious and this is legal.) Have your ship move any speed from 1 to 31. This is dependent on how far away you are from the planet in question, and where in the turn you want to enter the planet's atmosphere. For example, if you are fifteen hexes from the planet, allocating for Speed 31 will have you arrive in the planet's hex on Impulse #16. Before you enter the atmosphere, you will need at the appropriate time to announce Emergency Deceleration. This leaves you in the atmosphere hex, but not crashed into the planet's surface. You must then use reserve warp power equal to one hex of the ship's movement to enter atmospheric flight (alternatively, one point of reserve impulse power will do). Applicable rules: (C8.22), (C8.414), (P2.212), (P2.4112), (P2.4113), (P2.423), (P2.80), (P2.81), (P2.812), and (P2.83). So you can avoid the whole moving adjacent to the atmosphere and stopping in order to enter the hex at Speed 1 on the following turn. Loren Knight asks a follow-up question: After Emergency Decelerating into the atmosphere and using the reserve impulse power, could you launch shuttles for the remaining impulses of the turn, then move out of the atmosphere on Impulse #32? ANSWER: There is nothing stopping the ship from launching shuttles, but they would not be able to move, just launch into the hex. Leaving the atmosphere during the turn would be dependent on what impulse you entered as you are still bound by the sixteen impulse delay between an Emergency Deceleration and when the ship could begin moving again. Thus if you entered the atmosphere in the second half of the turn, your delay period will extend into the following turn. There is also the question of the ship's facing relative to the planet, and whether or not any reserve power remained, as you cannot "plot" movement for after an Emergency Deceleration; the use of Emergency Deceleration cancels your entire plotted movement from that point. Xander Fulton asks a follow-up question: How would this work with shuttles? The specific scenario in question was (SH50.0), where I had to rescue three crew units off of a planet with a Klingon D6 in the area to "discourage" the activity. Shuttles lack the ability to do "reserve warp" tricks, though, don't they? Without a movement plot, a lot of the elegance (and speed!) of the suggested solution would not work for them. ANSWER: Shuttles and fighters (and heavy fighters and bombers) can use a form of Emergency Deceleration, but no shuttle (fighter, heavy fighter, or bomber) has reserve power, and so if they Emergency Decelerate in an atmosphere, they crash. Applicable rules: (C8.0), (J1.223), (J4.13), (J4.11), (J10.0), and (J14.21). (End of Ask Growler. ) F&E Q&A COMMAND: WHO OBEYS WHOM? Q: Reserve Fleets (507.2) can be one Battle Force, meaning a flagship, whatever it controls, and a free scout. Battle Groups and carrier Battle Groups may provide a further increase. Can I declare a Klingon D7U (which has special sensors) as the free scout? A: Certainly. You can use any ship with special sensors as the free scout. It gets better. The D7U's escorts can be included in the Battle Group count since the actual carrier group is not formed until Step 5C of the Sequence of Play. Q: I am unsure about what I can do with the four PGS ships in the Hydran Old Colonies Squadron (off map). The Order of Battle lists them with the OCS (which has its own conditions for the ships to enter the map), but then refers to rule (317.4) which gives them their one release schedule (three of them, one per turn) and rule (709.1B) which just talks about the free Pegasus ships I can start building when the Old Colonies shipyard becomes active. I know that "a specific rule overrules a general rule" but (317.4) and the OCS release rules both seem specific. A: Yes, "a specific rule overrules a general rule" and since the OCS rule covers that entire fleet but (317.4) covers a specific type of ship, (317.4) is the specific rule and it wins. The three PGS ships and the new Pegasus construction enter the map on their own terms, not on the rules of the Old Colonies Squadron. Q: The Klingon D7N and D5N are assigned to the Home Fleet on the current OOB (703.0). The Home Fleet is not released until Turn #4. Does this prevent the Klingons from using their diplomats for the first three turns? Maybe the Klingons don't know what diplomacy is until then? A: This was clarified in F&E 2010. Rule (600.35) "Diplomatic teams (including Klingon diplomatic cruisers) and small transports carrying diplomatic teams are always released and can go about their business (540.0)". Rule (540.0) allows empires at Peace to use diplomatic teams. (F&E Q&A continues here) ASK AUNT JEAN Q: Will Prime Directive ever have deckplans for anything other than the gunboat? 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 Scaled Gorn Heavy Destroyer
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
