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July 2021
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Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS: SFB MODULE R4T RELEASED!
The first new hard-copy module in years is now released in print form, including rules, SSDs, and counters. SFB Module R4T includes dozens of new ships for the Tholians, including two complete sets of new police ships in every variant you can imagine.
The complete module, including die-cut counters, is available from your local game store or direct from ADB: https://www.starfleetstore.com/new-ship-modules-c-1_15/module-r4t-p-1296.html Rulebook
STRATCON 2021 A HUGE SUCCESS!
Nine of the top F&E players around the country converged on Amarillo in late June for seven days of playing F&E and to work on updating four older F&E modules (Planetary Operations, Combined Operations, Strategic Operations, and Advanced Operations). The four rulebooks went through four drafts each during the week, as Steve Cole spent the day making fixes, then printed new books for the attendees to review and delivered them that night. These books will appear over the rest of this year as final editing, proofreading, and post-production work are completed; the first of these will be Planetary Operations 2021 and should appear in the PDF stores during early August. The StratConists also worked on the draft rulebook for Tactical Operations moving it a long way toward a fall release date.
FEDERATION & EMPIRE WARBOOK ANNEXES
Players of F&E now have a new one-stop resource for free online documents, including ship information tables, orders of battle, an updated Table of Contents, an updated Index, updated Annexes, a file of those "repeated rules" like (531) POLICE that appear in multiple products, and a new Supplement with updatable lists, tables, and charts from many products. You can find this at: http://www.starfleetgames.com/F&EWarbookAnnexes.shtml
Do note that we are updating something on that page frequently.
ADB Releases New Ships for July 2021
On July 6, 2021, ADB released 21 new items to its shop on Shapeways, which has over 2,700 items available in total. This month, we released new ships for the Romulans, Kzintis, WYNs, and Paravians. Please note that all miniatures are available in both 3788 and 3125 scales, except when noted.
The Romulans gain their SparrowHawk-B Carrier, FireHawk-B Carrier, and FireHawk-M Heavy Escort Cruiser. They are also available in the "+" or "Cranked Arrow" style.
The Kzintis add their War Destroyer Scout and X-Ship Heavy War Destroyer.
The WYNs gain another ship, this time the X-Ship Great White Shark X-Cruiser.
Finally, the Paravians gain their Raid Mothership in 3788 and 3125 scales. The 7000 Scale version has a built-in stand. This ship is found in Star Fleet Battles Module C6.
Check all these out 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 Hampton Roads, headquartered in Hampton, Virginia. CO William Phillips reports they play Star Fleet Battles and Federation & Empire. They also enjoy attending gaming conventions. Read more here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/battlegroup_HamptonRoads.shtml
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! As announced in Captain's Log #54, Jean Sexton Beddow's husband, Al Beddow has been appointed to take over the day-to-day of running the SFU Ranger demo team. He come with a bit of experience both teaching various types of games as well having been in quite a few demo teams (and ran/helped run a few). He is most familiar with GURPS Prime Directive but early on played ACTASF and spent Gencon 2012 demoing it in the Mongoose Publishing booth there. So, we are asking each of you to email Al at the address below with the following: - Name Al will add you to the Ranger group on the forum once he has this info, which will let you access our area there. He is looking forward to working with all of you to spread the news of the Star Fleet Universe! Current stats: We have heard from 22 of our Rangers and have three new ones! We are excited to see the Rangers becoming active as playing in person and cons once again start up. Jean Sexton Beddow Al Beddow Ranger Email: adbrangerhq@gmail.com FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/517647465103651/ ADB Forums: http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/phpbb2/index.php ADB BBS: http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/
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 Sapphire Star VIII has concluded with Justin Royter emerging victorious in the final round in the Romulan Tournament FireHawk over Brian Evans in the Hydran Tournament Lord Marshal.
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES Alex Chobot is holding a Star Fleet Battles tournament at the Las Vegas Open tabletop gaming convention. This will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, from January 28-30, 2022. The con's website is here: https://www.lasvegasopen.net/home-1 Register and signup early -- Alex has plans for great prizes! Due to the COVID-19 virus, many conventions have been cancelled. We encourage you to check out Star Fleet Battles Online where there is a free demo version. It is a good way to hang out with others who play Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander. Check it out here: https://www.sfbonline.com/index.jsp Star Fleet Battles games are played regularly in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday afternoons at the Soldiery. Lee Hanna is the contact person.
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: This monthly magazine repeated much of the same information that Hailing Frequencies does. December 2019 was the last month it was published. Old issues can be downloaded from the Commander's Circle.
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New Releases EXTRAS FOR THE MONTH: You can look at Hailing Frequencies Extras here.
Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies.
Recently Released SFB: Module R4T – Tholian Will, SKU 5637, $25.95 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
Ask Admiral Vanaxilth PATROL SCENARIO RULES PART TWO
Alan Trevor asks: The (S8.0) rules for "patrol battles" require size-class-2 ships to be accompanied by at least three other "consorts," with a few specific exceptions such as light dreadnoughts on raids. Most space control ships have three required escorts to act as the consorts so a complete space control ship group is, by itself, an (S8.0)-legal force. But there is at least one space control ship that only has two escorts, the Neo-Tholian space control ship. Would a complete Neo-Tholian space control ship group, by itself, be (S8.0)-legal (as sort of a "specific overrides general" example) or would the Tholians need to add one more ship in order to use the Neo-Tholian space control ship group in a patrol battle?
ANSWER: Kommodore Ketrick replies: There is a specific requirement to have at least three supporting ships for a size-class-2 hull, and there is no rule that says a carrier group based on a size-class-2 hull with its formal (by rule) assigned escorts forms an exception to this requirement if playing a patrol battle. So I would rule that the Tholians in that case need to bring a third ship. Note that there is nothing in the rules that stops that third ship from being something of extra use, say a scout, or something of no real use, say a police cutter, there is only a requirement that there be three other ships (consorts) with the size-class-2 hull. Jon Berry asks: Under (S8.0) and the Federation & Empire equivalent just what would be the largest possible fleet in a single "scenario?" This is what I came up with: One ship with a command rating of 10 (a dreadnought or heavy battlecruiser); plus One battle group (two war/light cruisers, one war/light cruiser leader, two (war) destroyers, one (war) destroyer leader; counts as five ships, not six); plus One "battle control ship" [heavy battlecruiser with six fast patrol ships and 12 fighters - (S8.23) makes them free]; plus Two escorts for the battle control ship; plus Three more ships of any combat variant (one paid for using an Admiral's point from Federation & Empire); plus One scout; For a total of 14 ships, plus two ship-equivalents in fast patrol ships and fighters. Did I get that right? Kommodore Ketrick replies: Correct. The only thing you are missing is that you could have (provided you had a carrier or fast patrol ship tender) another squadron/flotilla of attrition units. (You cannot use casual fast patrol ships because they count against the command rating.) Optionally, you could replace the "three more ships of any combat variant" with another "carrier group" and use an Interdiction Carrier (two squadrons, but the two squadrons count as one squadron for command purposes) which would give you 14 ships plus four ship equivalents of fighters (three squadrons) and gunboats (one flotilla), but you might not want to give up the cruiser firepower for the fighters.
William Wilson adds: If you happened to be the Inter-Stellar Concordium, you could also use a gunline battle group instead of a regular battle group, which would allow you to bring six ships using only four command slots, but they would have to be three destroyers and three frigates. Charles Chapel adds: A commando ship could be added if it had a Marine Major General (a rule from F&E). Gregory Flusche asks: On (S8.28) Battle Groups: Can carrier escorts be part of the battle group? ANSWER: No. Carrier escorts are the last type of ship prohibited by (S8.2121). Gregory Flusche asks: Would the following Hydran ships be legal as battle groups: 1. Mongol, Tartar, Lancer, Knight, Buffalo Hunter, Rhino Hunter. 2. Three Lancers, three Knights. ANSWER: Both battle groups would be legal and would be six ships counting as five ships. The "battle group rule" is there to encourage or get some value out of using smaller ships. (End of Admiral Vanaxilth) F&E Q&A
SCENARIOS Q: When totaling the number of ships for victory conditions under (603.3) do ships in the Depot (424.0) and those ships on survey duty (542.0) count in the total?
A: There is no qualifier in (603.3) on the locations of the ships. Certainly, both depot and survey duty would count for active ships. Q: I have questions regarding (653.0) D. Early Warning (+10). It says: "Move the entire Old Colonies squadron to the capital before the game begins." Is the Old Colonies squadron activated by this? Does this include all four PGSs?
A: Yes, it activates the squadron. All four PGSs are activated but they are in the off-map area not the "squadron" per se and are activated there, not at the capital.
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 MonthVOLLEY VOUS: PART DEUX You close in for the kill, you smash the facing shield, then your enemy grabs your last drone in a tractor beam and turns a fresh shield to you before you can fire again.
Rather than fire everything at your enemy's ship, keep one drone in reserve. Once he has fired all of his weapons, grabbed a drone, and turned a fresh shield to you he will think he is safe. Now, launch your remaining drone at the drone being held in the tractor beam. Rule (3A3) Friendly Fire allows you to target your own seeking weapons. According to rule (4F5c), when a drone targeted on another drone impacts that drone after the second drone has impacted its target and been tractored, both drones score damage on the second drone's target. The damage from both drones (24 points) will be scored on a down shield, facing away from the launching ship. A savvy player will drop the tractor and allow drone B to impact before drone A can reach its target, but this will still score 12 points of damage on the targeted ship.
There are situations in which power curves are extremely tight and every point of power spent is (more than usual) desperately needed elsewhere. In such cases, the energy efficiency of your weapons is critical. For most empires, that means a heavy phaser fight, but the Gorns have a better option.
Even with no electronic warfare at all, at ranges all the way out to five, a first-turn plasma carronade averages 3.6667 points of damage and as a "first turn" arming plasma-F torpedo, only costs one point of power. At Range 5, a phaser-1 averages 3.5 points damage for the same point of power. So in an electronic warfare neutral situation, the plasma carronade is already beating the phaser-1. However, in these power-tight situations, electronic warfare may be one of the first corners cut. If your enemy is running, and still able to put full power into ECM (six points of power) and Erratic Maneuvers (four points of ECM for six points of power), you end up with a plus three shift to all die rolls. In a plus three electronic warfare shift situation, plasma carronades drop in damage output all the way down to . . . only 2.6667 points of average damage! Again, this all the way out to Range 5. A very slight drop! At the same range, a phaser-1 is averaging only 1.3333 points of damage . . . half as efficient as the plasma carronade. In this kind of electronic warfare situation, you need to close to Range 2 to get a phaser-1 shot with better power efficiency than the plasma carronade has at Range 5! (End of SFB Tactic of the Month)
Hydran players have long avoided building the CR with its 5/2 Attack and Defense rating. These units can take a hit but are expensive to repair. Take advantage of this: For the repair depot is the solution to this issue. Building one-to-two extra of these with the intent of soaking damage and rolling them to the off-map depot to set up a conga-line of repair can be almost as effective as taking replaceable fighter damage. (Note: a similar point can be made for the Romulan SNB also.)
Let's turn our attention to the under-whelming Hydran HN frigate (likely the first ships players drop from the build schedule). This struggling ship can be turned into a more palatable Saracen FFL for one EP, meaning you can do three of them at each starbase, hardening your weaker SC4 segment of the fleet. Although less effective, crippled HNs should fill in the gaps when you do not have a CR in the DLR holding box, maximize the free repair! As they come off the repair line and maybe your OM-SB is idle or has not used all of its capacity, or just maybe your Engineer Unit has just built you a minor conversion facility (for free) in the off-map area, upgrade that HN to SA. Combining free repairs and cheap upgrades can go a long way to making a weak Early War fleet stronger. (End of F&E Strategy of the Month)
A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month The ACTASF turn is divided into four phases: Initiative, Movement, Attack, and End of Turn. Let's look at them in order:
Initiative Phase: Winning the initiative for a turn gives one an advantage. The winner gets to move second and can react to his opponent's movement. The winner gets to fire first, and can target the ship of his choice before it gets a chance to fire at him. You can aid this process by selecting a ship with the Command trait as this gives a bonus to your initiative roll. This often makes that ship a prime target. If your opponent only has one ship with this trait and you can destroy it, he has lost the modifier. If you only have a single Command ship you must protect it well. Movement Phase: If the first player has more ships, he might elect to move one that is out of position or pick a small, non-important ship and choose not to move it. This puts the onus of first movement on the other player. If both players have an (approximately) equal number of units, the decisions are different. After a player has moved a ship, you know where it will be for the rest of the turn. This often leads a player to move his larger and Command trait ships later in the turn as fewer ships can then react to their movement. In SFB, many ships have weapons that can fire down the hexrow directly ahead of the ship. In ACTASF these ships have weapons that are split into PH and SH arcs. The ACTA rules state that if a target is on the boundary line between two arcs, both arcs can fire at that target. If moving to target a unit that has already moved, it can be beneficial to declare that you are "center lining" the targeted vessel. If you are the first player to move and you have fewer units, there are a couple of strategies you may consider: Save your most critical ship until the end of the turn. The more units your opponent moves before you move the key one, the fewer that will be able to target you directly. Pretend one of your units is a sacrificial penal ship. Throw it into direct confrontation with your opponent's juiciest ship. He may panic and immediately move that ship out of the danger zone. This will allow you to follow on with other ships that can target it now that it has completed its move. Attack Phase: As the winner of the initiative phase, you get the first opportunity to fire. There are many variables to consider. Do you attempt to cripple or destroy a prime target before it can shoot you? Do you finish off a cripple that's been hanging around the periphery of the battle zone hoping to score a lucky shot? If you can take out (or cripple) one of your opponent's ships before it gets to unload on you, that's a no-lose proposition. Crippled ships suffer several penalties, so crippling a mid-sized unit may outweigh destroying a small vessel. Taking out the only ship with a specific trait can work. If the scenario being played requires the use of labs to win, then kill or cripple the unit with the most labs. If you've got a lot of drones, take out the ship with Anti-Drone capabilities or with the most tractor beams. Once you've decided that, then you have to decide which ship to fire first. Do you fire the ship with the most weapons that bear on the desired target? Do you fire your best ship first, even if it's not the ideal shot? Often times, an opponent will not fire at a ship that has already expended its weapons if they can target one that has yet to fire. This can allow a crucial ship to survive to repair a bit of damage or regenerate its shields enough to stay in the fracas. Once you've picked a target, you have to decide how much weaponry to fire at it. Is it more important to kill/cripple several ships? In that case you may want to spread the fire from your forces among those several ships. Or do you need to make the target ship go bye-bye in a big way? If you can score enough damage on it to reduce it to zero points and still have damage remaining, there's the possibility of causing it to explode. Since ships explode with a four-inch radius, always look at what's near the target. A crippled or damaged ship within the blast radius just might be taken out by an explosion and a damaged ship might be crippled. This "two-fer" is worth taking a second look at. One last point: Just because your first shot didn't take out the target is no reason to despair. Owing to the you go/I go nature of ACTASF, if the tactical situation warrants it, you can follow on with the next ship at the same target, and so on.
Mini of the Month Nick Samaras painted this Federation Light Tactical Transport (3788 Scale Smooth Fine Detail Plastic).
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