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May 2018
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Star Fleet Universe News BIG NEWS: Kizinti Master Starship Book, Kzinti SSD Pack #1, New Ships on Shapeways
PART ONE
The preliminary PDF for the Kzinti Master Starship Book has been released. The seventh volume in the long-anticipated Master Starship Book series is now available. It includes every Kzinti ship in Star Fleet Battles, including X-ships, Y-ships, and general units that are specific to the Kzinti Hegemony.
Every ship is illustrated. All updates, corrections, and errata have been added. The ships are in order (regardless of the product they came from) with the enhanced format listing detailed information in a consistent manner.
This book contains the descriptions of the ships, but no SSDs.
PART TWO
Star Fleet Battles: Kzinti SSD Pack #1 Available
PART THREE
SHAPEWAYS at 750
Our store on Shapeways continued to expand with 54 new ships released on 1 May. Ships released for both 3788 and 3125 scales include: Federation DNG dreadnought (grid and smooth), Klingon E4 frigate; Romulan KC9R dreadnought (with and without bird), MegaHawk, SuperHawk, RoyalHawk (all three in plus and standard configurations); Gorn destroyer and battle destroyer (refitted and standard), Kzinti war destroyer, Lyran police ship (refitted and standard); Hydran battleship, destroyer leader, and both war destroyers; Omega Iridani cruiser and yawl (frigate). Omni scale ships included in this release are: Moray Eel in three sizes and Juggernaut Batleship. Ships released for 3788 scale: Kzinti dreadnought You can check out the store (753 ships!) here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/amarillo-design-bureau-inc
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 Clifton Park located in Clifton Park, New York. CO Mrk Lurz reports that this group is active, playing Star Fleet Battles, Federation Commander, Federation & Empire, and A Call to Arms: Star Fleet. Recently they have been playtesting ACTASF for volumes 2 and 3. Check them out here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/battlegroup_CliftonPark.shtml
Thanks for your work in playtesting!
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 Our seventh Internet SFB International Championship Tournament is underway. This is a single-elimination tournament using a standard tree. All but one of the third-round games have been finished.
Fleet Captain Bill Schoeller (winner of the 2016 tournament) is the judge for this tournament. As we did in Platinum Hat 2016, Tournament Marshal Steven P. Petrick will also "ride herd" on the tournament to ensure that games are played on schedule and the event does not drag. There will, inevitably, be some delays near the end when re-entries have to "catch up" to the initial entries. A firm hand on the helm will ensure that these are as minor as possible. People who do not get their next game completed in a set number of days will be disqualified and the player they beat (or a wildcard selected by the judges) replaces them. Deadlines may be adjusted by the Judge or Marshal to allow for a player's serious real life unexpected problem or issue. Rated Ace Tournament 47 is over. Lee P. Graves flew an Archeo-Tholian cruiser to victory. Congratulations, Lee! Bill Schoeller was the judge. Masters 2018 is having a tree created You will be randomly assigned a ship in the first round.. Use the ship selection box on the tourney signup sheet to indicate which ship you do not want to fly in Round 1. (This is for Round 1 only, in subsequent rounds you may end up stuck in that ship.) Round 1 Assignments will be made accordingly. If you advance, you will next play the ship you just defeated. Good times! Andy Koch is the judge in this "just for fun" tournament.
Rated Ace Tournament 48 will be starting signups soon. Rom Brimeyer has volunteered to be the judge.
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES
StratCon 2018 will be in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, July 7-15. They are locking down the venue after the previous one changed hands and wouldn't honor the deal. There will be at least two Federation & Empire games, with room for one more and some minor room for other gaming. Respond here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/messages/37/37078.html?1520623855 for more information. Check out their page on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/151297821607520/ 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/ 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
F&E Strategy of the Month Chris Fant gives a good reason for building the Klingon MD5 mauler in his tactical note titled The Best Bang For The Buck (Captain's Log #30). Note that his Tactical Note is still valid even with the new Small Scale Combat (310.0) and the subtle changes in the rules for maulers. However, that is not the only reason you should consider building the war cruiser maulers.
The Klingon MD5, Romulan SPF, and Lyran STJ, collectively referred to, sometimes despairingly, as baby maulers, have a number of other reasons to be built. One, they are cheaper to build and repair than their bigger brothers. It costs 10 economic points to build those 10-point maulers, while it costs seven economic points to build the baby maulers. However, the baby maulers are much more efficient to repair. They cost 1.5 economic points to repair and can be repaired at a BATS or BS (Y171+) while their big brothers cost three economic points and require a sector base, starbase or FRD/PRD for repairs. Two, you now have the option to voluntarily cripple said baby mauler instead of being forced to roll for shock and hoping for the best when your opponent lets the damage drop or directs the damage on something other than your mauler. War cruisers in general tend to get overlooked in pursuit battles when the enemy is looking for retreating things to direct-damage. This should help your baby maulers escape notice if you have some that are crippled when retreating. Note that your opponent may still use directed damage on your baby maulers in a pursuit battle if you do not have other high-value targets of opportunity. Three, they are built in a war cruiser slot instead of a heavy cruiser slot. This allows you to save your heavy cruiser hulls for things like carriers, command cruisers, and (in the late war) X-cruisers. A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month CRITICAL-AND-RUN RAIDS At first glance, the Hit and Run Raid! special action does not seem to be all that great. You have to be within 4" of your target, and you have to drop the facing shield. In addition using this special action means you must take a power drain penalty. But let's take a closer look. Through judicious use of movement, you can often arrange to use this special action with no return action possible. If all of the enemy's ships have moved, you can move your remaining ship (or ships) to within 2" of a target ship with down shields (or shields you expect to knock down during the attack phase) in such a manner as to enable you to drop a facing shield leaving no enemy ships in arc to fire through the gap. Since your opponent has already moved his units, he cannot move anything to a position that will let it take advantage of the gap in your defenses. Two out of six rolls on the die will generate a successful attempt. This gives you a 33% chance of inflicting a critical hit on your helpless target, and it can be done once for every transporter on board in addition to regular weapons fire. That is five times for a Klingon D7 or Federation BC, and if you are flying a Klingon C8 you have eight transporters! Or if you have a crippled ship that is limited to firing only one weapon system, and it can get within 4" of a valid target, go ahead and try for a critical-and-run raid. Developer's Note: This note was edited to reflect revised rules.
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New Releases Communique #149 has been posted to the Commander's Circle Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies. Recently Released To be released in 2018
A new Starmada book for both editions.
Federation Commander Reference Starship Book
Traveller Prime Directive Core Rulebook
New starships for the 2500 (1/3125) range including Klingon B10
New starships for the 2400 (1/3788) range including heavy war destroyers and the jumbo freighter.
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
THE WEEKS AFTER DAY ONE, AUGUST Y171
It was going to be a long war, and the aftermath of what happened on "Day One," as it became known somewhat later, would echo across several years. Everyone had to get their minds around what wartime operations looked like, and everyone was wrong about what they thought those would look like. Office of Admiral Barnes, Star Fleet HQ, 3 August Y171 "Look," Joan said, "don't patronize me. I'm not an idiot." "I know," the admiral said, "your test scores were so high that I agreed to see you. As you said, everybody can do something. What can you do for Star Fleet? We have machines to clean toilets." Admiral Barnes, retired, was the last stop in the process of gently telling potential recruits that Star Fleet simply did not need them. Joan was over 40, overweight, and had degrees in education and library science. Over 2,000 people had been accepted by Star Fleet today, most of them in their 20s with technical degrees. But nearly 8,000 had been turned away, and about a hundred of those, who simply refused to give up, had been in the office of Admiral Barnes (Retired), or were waiting to see him. His job was not just to convince people to go home, but to see if, just maybe, the screening process had missed someone actually useful. Joan stopped herself from reciting her degrees, her academic awards, and her experience. This was a test; she could tell that much, and she had maybe three seconds to get it right. "I'm the one who figured out that Robert Fulton and Bobby Fulton were the same man." The admiral looked puzzled.
"I'm a librarian. I do research. I correlate data. I catalog. I work with old books, from before the collapse. To keep things straight, one man must have one name, and all of his work is listed under that one name, with references to all of his variant names, nicknames, pen names, and so forth. I am the one that figured out that the Robert Fulton who invented the first practical steamboat and the Bobby Fulton who wrote a series of children's stories were the same man. Every library on the planet now uses that data point in cataloging their research. And I've got a hundred more things like that I have done in 30 years." "Let me make a call," Admiral Barnes said. "I know someone who might offer you a job." (Continue reading here)
Ask Admiral Vanaxilth Looking over his files, the Admiral has noticed a large number of single questions on various subjects and has decided to clean out these "short subjects".
= Fire Control Garth Getgen asks: Random odd thought: Within the Star Fleet Battles and/or Federation Commander rules, may one intentionally miss when firing a phaser or photon/disruptor, as in "fire a shot across the bow?" Even if not, would such a warning shot be allowed in a fiction story? ANSWER: Per (E1.17), you always have the option to fire weapons into empty space, or "across the bow," as it were. Gregory Flusche asks: What are the restrictions for ships on passive fire control, besides double range, target must be within five hexes, and no ECCM? ANSWER: See (D19.2) and (D6.62). You cannot use many systems that require active fire control. Note that the maximum range of five hexes applies to direct-fire weapons; seeking weapons cannot be launched at targets closer than five hexes, and must be self-guiding. Omega Sector Jeffrey Coutu asks: I have a question on the Old Eyebeam Table found on the OL SSD (OR22.7) in Module Omega #4. The last two columns of the table both have ranges "16-30" so there is obviously an error. There is no other published SSD using the same table that I am aware of. The next larger eyebeam table is on the EL (OR22.8), which has a maximum range of 40. The next smaller eyebeam table is on the AD (OR22.6), which has a maximum range of 30. I am guessing that the last column on the Old Eyebeam Table should have a range of "31-40," is this correct? ANSWER: Kommodore Ketrick replies: This seems to be a previously unreported error. I have looked at the SSDs, and the to best of my own ability to judge your quess is most likely the correct answer, i.e., the last column should be Range 31-40. Follow-up question: I have question on the Claw Damage Charts for both the YN (OR22.4) and YNV (OR22.10) SSDs since the damage for a roll of six is higher (value five) than it is for a roll of five (value four). I presume the values were reversed and a roll of five should do five damage and a roll of six should do four damage. If this is the case then there is no real issue since as far as I am aware there can never be any modifiers to a dragonship claw attack die roll (although it probably should be changed to avoid questions) but I want to be sure that my assumption is correct and that there is not supposed some other damage values for the claw attacks for the YN and YNV. ANSWER: Kommodore Ketrick replies: Again this seems to be an unreported error. You are correct that in this case the error has no real effect as there are no modifications to normal claw attacks per (OG19.13), i.e., any given result still has a 16.6667% chance of occurring. We do need to correct this on the SSDs when they are updated. Crew Casualties Andrew Cookson asks: Per (G9.21), Every 10th internal damage point scored on a ship kills one crew unit. Are the internal damage totals cumulative during the scenario or only by volley? ANSWER: Crew casualties are based on the cumulative total. Follow-up question: Is the crew unit killed on the 10th internal scored as the 10th internal or in addition to an internal damage point to the ship? ANSWER: Crew casualties are in addition to the damage to the ship's systems. Kommodore Ketrick adds: Please note that there are other causes of crew casualties. The 50th internal will kill a boarding party (G9.32) (as will every 10th internal from that point in addition to a crew unit), and deck crews are killed when the shuttle box they are working in is destroyed (J4.811). Every two boarding parties or two deck crews killed (or one of each) is another dead crew unit. Boarding parties can also be killed when participating in boarding party combat (D7.0), to include hit-and-run raids (D7.8), but also might be killed when a system they are guarding is destroyed (D7.832). As crew can be converted to militia (D15.83), they may also be lost in boarding party combat or when systems they are guarding are destroyed. It is quite possible for a ship to take its first 10 internals, lose one crew unit as a result of that, but also lose five crew units representing 10 boarding parties because the 10 systems hit were each guarded by one boarding party. (This would be really bad luck as each guard has only a 50% chance of being killed when the guarded system is destroyed.) Or it could lose 11 crew units in the first 10 internals because one was the obligatory crew unit, and the other 10 were militia squads guarding the 10 systems, or to suffer even more loss in the first 10 internals because a hit was scored on the shuttle bay and both deck crews (and the unit guarding that box) were killed. This does not even count crew units lost when a shuttle full of Marines is blown up, or troops being killed in ground combat. (End of Admiral Vanaxilth) F&E Q&A
PURSUIT BATTLE FORCES Q: I am in a pursuit situation. Can crippled carriers that have fighters on them that are in the pursued force, but are in excess of command limits (307.31), use those fighters to absorb damage in the pursuit battle?
My force that is caught in pursuit consists of C8, D6M, D6D, and eight crippled D5s and then over and above that, I have 4xD5, 4xF5, 4xE4, D6V, 2xE4A (all of these are crippled ships that do not contribute offensive ComPot because they are in excess of command limits). The pursuing force scores 13 damage points. Of these, 12 damage points are used in directed damage attacks on a D5 and an E4A (not on the main battle force), leaving one point of damage left over. One point of damage is enough to force the destruction of a crippled E4 if it were on the main battle line, so am I forced to resolve the one point of damage (either by destroying an E4 or some other ship, or by crippling one of the uncrippled ships on the line)? If so, can the crippled D6V give up a fighter factor (that is also not in the main battle force) to resolve that one point? A: Let's refer to the rulebook. (307.31) CREATION: The retreating player must form his Battle Force as follows: First include all crippled ships, then add up to three uncrippled ships. From this force, designate a flagship. If the Battle Force exceeds the Command Rating, the force is used as is although excess ships (selected by the owner) do not count in the combat potential but can be damaged. If the Battle Force does not exceed the Command Rating of the flagship, additional uncrippled ships may be added up to the maximum rating. Note that (307.31) specifically authorizes excess crippled ships to be damaged by pursuit damage but not attrition units assigned to those excess crippled ships. So yes, every pursued crippled ship is "in the battle force" even though it is not contributing combat potential. So it would be part of that retreating battle force for all the normal damage rules. It would force you to resolve that last damage point on a crippled E4 since the damage rules require you to score the point if it would do something (in this case, kill a cripple). While crippled carriers or crippled PFTs may be counted as excess crippled units not contributing their compot to a pursued force and may be damaged during the pursuit round, any of their assigned attrition units may not be used to resolve any pursuit round damage unless they are used as an authorized independent squadron or flotilla contributing combat potential to the pursuit battle force. However, once all pursuit damage is resolved, any attrition units that now find themselves homeless could use the normal rules to find another home (if one is to be found) or be destroyed if none is available.
There is no "main battle force" or "pursued battle force," (these terms are not used in the rule anywhere); there is just the "battle force," some of which is perhaps not counting its combat potential, but all of which are potential damage/targets. The only other entity besides the "battle force" are the "reserves" which are all of the ships not in the battle force, and in the case of a pursued force can only consist of uncrippled ships. Reserve ships can never be used to resolve damage. . (End of F&E Q&A)
ASK AUNT JEAN
Dear Aunt Jean, You've been adding the the ISC species. What new can you tell us about the Rovillians? A: The Rovillians seem to be the fun-loving species in the ISC. While for many years it was thought they were totally aquatic, it was discovered during the ISC Pacification that the Rovillians have stubby little legs that they could use to walk on (think of a turtle walking on its back legs). ISC ships have accommodations for Rovillians, including swimming pools, modular rooms so Rovillians can enjoy an aquatic situation, and duty chairs that swivel so Rovillians can easily reverse them to lie down. Heavy duty moisturizers help a Rovillian's skin when he is on duty. Off duty, the Rovillians think of movement as a type of art form. They enjoy sports as well, including racing a type of unicycle and hang gliding.
Send questions to Jean at marketing@StarFleetGames.com and she will answer as soon as she can.
(End of Ask Aunt Jean ) 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 MonthDIRECTED COLLATERAL DAMAGE 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.
Sometimes, though, a scenario is about more than simply reducing the opponent's combat capabilities. An escort, rescue, or scientific mission can require systems just as critical to success as engines and guns, and a careful study of the Damage Allocation Chart to see what the enemy ship has next to its engine- or gun-rooms can be rewarding. So if you need to knock out your opponent's transporter systems and expect to cause four or five points of internal damage, do not target power. You would have a one-in-six chance of hitting the key system compared to a one-in-three chance if you used undirected fire or if you used Directed Targeting against weapons. However, if you are going to be scoring six-to-eight points of internal damage, using Directed Targeting against power is best: the odds are then two-in-three. If you will score more than eight points of internal damage, then the best chance switches back to using Directed Targeting against weapons. Don't forget to look at the alternate hits. To kill tractor beams, you usually want to be aiming for weapons systems. However, if your target has no labs (he is an Orion Pirate Raider holding one of your freighters, for example or they have all been disabled), then any volley likely to score six points of internal damage should use Directed Targeting against power systems. There is no padding for tractor hits on the alternate damage row. For other systems: Shuttles are best killed if Directed Targeting is used against weapons at any level of damage (and once gone, this increases the vulnerability of transporters to repeated weapons-directed salvos). To reduce scientific capability, labs are best killed with undirected fire if the volley scores four points of internal damage or less. (Directed Targeting against weapons is as good for one-to-three points of internal damage, but worse for four points of internal damage.) Directed Targeting against power systems should be used for larger volleys of internal damage. To destroy a probe launcher, undirected fire is the most effective means of stripping away the rear hull padding, and then Directed Targeting against weapons boosts the chance of hitting the launcher.
Any Directed Targeting lessens your chances of taking out control boxes, so undirected fire should be used.
A long-held tactic is to select the top end of a turn mode break, selecting a speed one lower for the middle part of the turn, and then the maximum again at the end of the turn. By carefully selecting the impulses of transition, you can gain one more hex of movement than the chosen break while maintaining the lower turn mode. For example, in a Turn Mode C ship, which has a Turn Mode of four at Speeds 15-20, you can get 21 hexes of movement by plotting Speed 20 until Impulse #8, Speed 19 until Impulse #17, and Speed 20 thereafter.
Interestingly, you can do the same, in reverse. It may be tactically useful to move four hexes, but you want to maintain acceleration options for the next turn. Plot Speed 5 until Impulse #6 (zero movement), Speed 6 until Impulse #14 (move one hex), Speed 5 thereafter (move three hexes). This moves four hexes, but you can still accelerate to Speed 15 next turn under (C12.33). There are very limited speeds where you can perform this trick, but at low speeds it provides flexibility both now and later. (End of SFB Tactic of the Month) Facebook Highlight of the Month A work in progress look at the Moray Eel of Space! You can purchase here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/amarillo-design-bureau-inc?section=Monster&s=0
Mini of the Month Barton Pyle painted this Gorn Megalosaurus+ Light Cruiser (3788 Scale, Frosted Ultra Detail Material).
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show our games and to teach potential players some basics. 
