Federation Commander

Well as I posted in another thread recently I have decided to delve into this game after "dabbling" 20 years ago. I am pretty much going it on my own. I would like to get my sons into it but it is one game that there is little interest in my area. People overall dont like games with this level of detail. What I would like to do is find some efficient way to absorb the basics of the game. Is the Cadets Training manual basically the simplest condensed form? It would be great to find a veteran player but I really doubt there are any hiding about in my neck of the woods and if there were I wouldn't know how to find them.

Anyways what I would really like to find is some kind of resource that explains the games basics in sort of a tutorial form. I found the Cadets Manual to be filled with alot of excess verbiage and kinda hard to follow.

Just hoping there might be an easier way to learn the game on my own.

When I started with SFB back in about 1982, I played the solitaire monster scenarios several times. That helped me learn the game mechanics without having the bother of another player to teach or get beaten by.

Mike,

That's not a bad suggestion. Some of the basic set monster scenarios are "milk runs" that are a good way to slowly mosy through the rules and figure out how everything works. It will not cover everything, but working through those, and then doing some reading in the Tactics Manual before taking on a live opponent would be an excellent start. Good advice.

Jeremy

You know, you might want to approach it by starting with another game entirely. Try a card game Like Nuclear War/ Nuclear Escalation. Get people interested in a fun and social game other than just video games.

Once players are interested in sitting around and playing face-to-face, you can try something like Star Fleet Battle Force and then Federation Commander. Don't worry - I used to be opposed to it when I first got back into Star Fleet Universe games last year after a 20 year hiatus. But once I tried FedCom and played it, I really see it's potential in getting new players interested. It's a GREAT game in and of itself.

To use an unfortunate vernacular, you need a gateway product to get the attention of new players.