Federation Commander

Ok, so please let me know if I'm being too "nitpicky", but I've still got lots of questions about how to play scenarios properly.

I was trying The Coming of the Meteor and ran into the following:

1. So it appears that the meteor is a medium size meteor as I can tow it around (see asteroid rules), but it says that if the meteor comes into my hex that it will kill any ship there, which seems odd. Can I enter the meteor hex? Can I shoot through it?

2. If I am in the middle of towing the meteor and it moves on subpulse #4 of impulse #1. Do I get dragged along? Example: Asteroid is in 0808. I am in 0807 facing direction A towing it. It move to 0909. I assume I move to 0908 facing A.

3. I know that it says that the meteor always moves 1 hex in direction C. I assume this is the meteor's natural movement but I can cause unnatural movement. So, I assume the klingon can drag it 1 hex in direction C and then it would move on its own for a total of 2 hexes. In corollary, the Feds can drag it in direction F, but then it moves itself in direction C for a net move of 0.

4. The meteor takes 400 points to break up, which seems inconsistent with 6b5d. If its actually a large asteroid, by 6b4d, then I shouldn't be able to tow it correct?

I assume this scenario was written before the asteroid rules were part of the rule base. It was good fun for a starter scenario and gave us something to do more than just a duel. We enjoyed it but were left with a lot of questions about whether we were doing it right.

Also, as a general question, do the asteroid rules in 6b5d and 6b4d refer to fleet or squadron scale?

Thanks everyone for your patience as I learn the game. It's a lot of fun and maybe I should just have fun and not let my OCD kick in!

The rules are all written in Squadron Scale as the default. The differences for Fleet Scale are provided as exceptions.

I believe this scenario does predate the Federation Commander terrain rules related to asteroids and, therefore, its special rules may override the Asteroid terrain rules in the Reference Rulebook (and Romulan Attack).

I do not have time this evening to refresh myself on this scenario, but if nobody beats me to it (hopefully, someone will), I'll try to take a shot at answering the other questions regarding it tomorrow evening.

Panda21 wrote:1. So it appears that the meteor is a medium size meteor as I can tow it around (see asteroid rules), but it says that if the meteor comes into my hex that it will kill any ship there, which seems odd. Can I enter the meteor hex? Can I shoot through it?

2. If I am in the middle of towing the meteor and it moves on subpulse #4 of impulse #1. Do I get dragged along? Example: Asteroid is in 0808. I am in 0807 facing direction A towing it. It move to 0909. I assume I move to 0908 facing A.

3. I know that it says that the meteor always moves 1 hex in direction C. I assume this is the meteor's natural movement but I can cause unnatural movement. So, I assume the klingon can drag it 1 hex in direction C and then it would move on its own for a total of 2 hexes. In corollary, the Feds can drag it in direction F, but then it moves itself in direction C for a net move of 0.

4. The meteor takes 400 points to break up, which seems inconsistent with 6b5d. If its actually a large asteroid, by 6b4d, then I shouldn't be able to tow it correct?

I assume this scenario was written before the asteroid rules were part of the rule base. It was good fun for a starter scenario and gave us something to do more than just a duel. We enjoyed it but were left with a lot of questions about whether we were doing it right.

Also, as a general question, do the asteroid rules in 6b5d and 6b4d refer to fleet or squadron scale?

Thanks everyone for your patience as I learn the game. It's a lot of fun and maybe I should just have fun and not let my OCD kick in!

Upon further review and research:

1. Apply the scenario rules as written, not Section 6B of the rules (nothing in the scenario invokes the standard Asteroid rules). As a result, based on a literal reading of the scenario rules, you can enter or shoot through the "asteroid" hex. However, beware of being in a position where the "asteroid" will move into your hex before you move away.

2. Yes.

3. Yes.

4. As noted above, Section 6B of the rules does not apply to this scenario.


Note that the unique rules in this scenario are a legacy of the SFB scenario it is based upon. They are not the result of the Federation Commander version of the scenario appearing in Communique before Section 6B of the rules was published.

Also, note that my answers are unofficial. However, Mike West usually speaks up if an unofficial answer appears to be amiss.