Federation Commander

So it's been pretty quiet, is most of the playtesting done at this point?

I wouldn't say it's done... but all that's left are final tweaks.

I've been busy with other projects for the last week and a half, so I've not played recently.

Planet Mongoose now has posted a new update.
This one is a comparision of the Federation Frigate and Battle Frigate... including [gasp!] photos of the miniatures.

I can't wait for this game [and these miniatures], but mostly the miniatures... to be released!

FFB looks good. Did you paint those bad boys Tony, or was it someone else?

As much as I'd like to take the credit, the FF and FFB were painted by a Mongoose specified painter.

Planet Mongoose now has posted a new update.
This one is a comparision of the Federation CA and BC... including more photos of the miniatures.

It will be nice to see all the months of playtesting bear fruit and actually see everyones hard work getting it ready pay off in a great game.

Next time you bump into a playtester please describe what the sun looks like to us........

(stumbles back into his Mongoose Playtesters Burrow for the next round of playtesting).

sun: That's the 21 year sitting across the table from me playing Romulans while; I'm playing Federation, right?

Lots of blood, sweat, tears, yelling, screaming, footstomping, and lamp throwing went into the rulebook. Matthew wanted to keep close to ACTA rules and I wanted to make sure that all SFU games worked like the SFU works (or produce the same result).

In a sense, it's a simpler-faster game by leaving out of FC as big a percentage as FC left out of SFB.

ACTA has one impulse (FC has 8, SFB had 32). You move once, you fire once. That's that. It's simpler, faster, but wonkier, as you may end up flying right past a great shot (Although there are clever ways to make sure you don't, but it's harder to avoid letting the enemy fly right through the kill box while your gunner as "Is it time to shoot yet?").

No energy allocation (your chief engineer left the engine room on automatic controls and went out for a beer) but if you do something like overload weapons, you slow down to half speed.

IN the end, you get what you spend time on. ACTA is faster to play at a cost in "accuracy" but then the real world war II was a lot more accurate than the game War in Europe was. (Or the famous "Steve Cole's simple WW2 game. Roll a die: 1-2 Germans win. )

Special Actions: are these chosen just before you take your movement? The blog seems to imply so. If so, you can react (in effect, doing your Energy Allocation) in response to the other ship's movement.

terryoc wrote:Special Actions: are these chosen just before you take your movement? The blog seems to imply so. If so, you can react (in effect, doing your Energy Allocation) in response to the other ship's movement.

Terry, here's the sequence:
Intiative Phase: Roll 2d6. High roll wins.
Movement Phase;
Loser of initiative nomiates a ship to move. If that ship intends to use a Special Action, it does so before movement.
Winner of Initiative nominates a ships to move. If this ship wishes to utilize a special Action, it does so before movement.

Later, Rinse, Repeat until no more ships remain.

Note: Some Special Actions do not take effect until later in the turn, but they still must be selcted beforethe nominated ship moves.

Do smaller ships get a bonus to the initiative roll to simulate their better maneuverability?

Scoutdad wrote:

terryoc wrote:Special Actions: are these chosen just before you take your movement? The blog seems to imply so. If so, you can react (in effect, doing your Energy Allocation) in response to the other ship's movement.

Terry, here's the sequence:
Intiative Phase: Roll 2d6. High roll wins.
Movement Phase;
Loser of initiative nomiates a ship to move. If that ship intends to use a Special Action, it does so before movement.
Winner of Initiative nominates a ships to move. If this ship wishes to utilize a special Action, it does so before movement.

Later, Rinse, Repeat until no more ships remain.

Note: Some Special Actions do not take effect until later in the turn, but they still must be selcted beforethe nominated ship moves.

Initiative is a fleet function.
It's rolled once, at the beginning of the turn.

Some fleets ge a bonus, some get a penalty, and some get no modifier.
This is to simulate the different responses each empire has to an incursion by an enemy empire.
Klingons, Romulans, and Kzinti fleets get a bonus.
Federation fleets get no bonus.
Gorn and Tholians fleets get a penalty.
Civilian units gets a bigger penalty.

Smaller ships have a lower turn score, or have the "Agile" trait, or both.

And you've got ships with the Command trait which give a bonus to Initiative (not additive, just the highest).

Speaking of bonuses: Tony, Did Admirals/Legendary Captains make the transfer to SF from previous incarnations of ACTA ?

I forgot about the "Command" trait.

And no, Legendary Captains are not in ACTA: SF. At least not this version.
I guess it's possible that they may be added in the expansion.