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June 2019
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Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS:
Captain's Log #53
Next week will see the release of a new issue of our magazine Captain's Log. It includes exciting fiction, incisive history, news (battle groups, conventions, Rangers), miniatures, a new product schedule, and awards.
Fed Commander players will be excited by four new X-ships, updated X-technology playtest rules, five new scenarios, and 10 new battlegroups.
Exciting material is included for SFB, F&E, Starmada, ACTASF, Star Fleet Marines, and Star Fleet Battle Force.
MORE BIG NEWS
On June 6, 2019, ADB released a total of 50 new items to its shop on Shapeways, bringing it to over 1500 items. New to its store are some styles of ships designed to work within the price increase that Shapeways imposed. You will find our first "kit" which will need some assembly. Never fear, we are still adding the ship as a one-piece miniature in case you prefer it that way. We are also releasing some of the smaller ships as multiples on a sprue. We hope you find them more affordable. The Federation gets two new versions of the Light Tactical Transport, one with a carrier pod and the other with a battle pod. The Battle Tug and their Tug with a carrier pod also show up. Their Light Dreadnought is now available, too. All of these are in both the regular (gridded) and "Fed Classic" (smooth body) versions. The Federation also gets its 285 Scale F-4 Ground-Based Fighter, Ground Assault Shuttle, and Heavy Assault Shuttle. The Romulans gain their SparrowHawk Gunboat Tender and their SparrowHawk Gunboat Tender+ (these are also known respectively as the SparrowHawk-E and SparrowHawk-E+). The "+" indicates it is a late-war Cranked Arrow design in the style of the Starline 2500 Romulan ships. The Gorns gain their 285 Scale G-8 "Lizard" Local Defense Fighter. The Tholians gain their Neo-Tholian Space Control Ship. The Orions get their empire-specific base station. The Andromedans are the test bed for sprued smaller ships since the motherships carry multiple ships with them. They get sprues of two and three Cobra Destroyers, two and three Viper Frigates, and a sprue with a Cobra and a Viper. The WYNs get their empire-specific base station. They also get their heavy cruiser as a one-piece ship and as a kit. In the Omega Octant the Ymatrians get their Rapier Destroyer Leader. You can check out the store here:
WEBSITE:
Our website, www.StarFleetGames.com, continues to grow and improve. You are welcome to send us your requests, comments, and suggestions. Samantha Todd, 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 Alpha Strike, headquartered in Rockridge, Florida. CO Lee Brandt reports they play Star Fleet Battles. Read more here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/battlegroup_alphastrike.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! 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 Masters 2018 has all of the 16 Round 1 games played; five of the Round 2 games are completed. It is in the process of reorganizing. Andy Koch is the judge in this "just for fun" tournament.
Rated Ace Tournament 48 is being played with only the final game left to play. Ron Brimeyer has withdrawn as the judge and Steven Petrick has stepped in to usher the tournament to its conclusion. ANNOUNCING THE SAPPHIRE STAR TOURNAMENT SERIES
We will begin a new tournament series on 1 July 2019 - the Sapphire Star Series. The Platinum Hat and RAT tournaments have ended; it's time for something entirely different. We plan to run at least four Sapphire Star Tournaments through SFBOL in each 12-month period but will consider adding more tournaments if there is enough demand. Tournament Marshal Steven P. Petrick will judge the Sapphire tournaments. He will be in charge of rulings, adjudications, wild card assignments, and the tree. He must be CCed on all tournament emails. Each tournament will have exactly 16 players; anyone who signs up too late will be put into the next tournament (or might be offered a wild card seat in the first round of the ongoing tournament). There will be four single-elimination rounds resulting in the winner, who will be a Rated Ace. There will be a non-refundable $10 entry fee, which must be paid through our web store within one day of registration. Registration is done on SFBOL. All $160 will be distributed as prizes. There are $10 prizes for 5th-8th place, so if you win one game you get your money back; keep playing to win more. You can take cash or use triple the value of the prize in merchandise or PDF credit. (If used for credit, this must all be used in one order within 30 days of the award. You do not have to use matching cash in redeeming the prize, but will have to pay cash or use prize cash for the shipping costs. Tripled prize credit cannot be used for Shapeways, Starmada, ACTASF, Starline 2500, or SFBOL due to those contracts.) Prize notifications will be distributed within five business days of the conclusion of the final game. The winner is encouraged to write an article on his tactics for Captain's Log (for which he will be paid $50) but is not required to do so. There will be strict deadlines: three weeks for round one and two weeks for the later rounds. When matched with an opponent you have 72 hours to agree to a time to play. If the game cannot be completed, you must agree to a schedule to resume the game at the time the session ends, and must finish within the deadline. Any game not completed on time (or if both players request it) will be adjudicated and, if the game is inconclusive, the judge reserves the right to declare both players lost and fill the spot with a wild card. If someone drops out, disappears, or just won't schedule his game and there is time to put a wild card player into his place, we will do this if we can find one. If not, it will count as a forfeit and the other player will win and advance. There will be no forfeits in the final game, even if we have to find a wild card player (or have two players fight for the wild card spot) and start the two-week clock over again. Wild cards for the second and third rounds (and possibly the first round) will come from those who did not advance from those rounds. We plan to keep the rules intact for the first Sapphire Star Tournament but we will consider tweaks and changes based on lessons learned for the second and subsequent tournaments. Next year, the top finishers in the first few Sapphire Star Tournaments will be offered seats in the annual Sapphire Crown Fleet Captain's Tournament. The only way into the Sapphire Crown tournament is through a Sapphire Star tournament.
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES Ranger Tim Foat will be running a Star Fleet Battles demo on July 13th at 1 pm at Crazy Fred's, 8042 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa, CA 91942.
Ranger Randy Blair will be running Star Fleet Battles games at Gencon, held August 1-4, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has six scenarios, two on both Thursday and Friday and one on both Saturday and Sunday. The one on Saturday is also a Star Fleet Marines scenario (the entire event runs eight hours!). Can you retrieve valuable information from the Orion Pirates?
Ranger Sean Johnson will be running a Federation Commander game at Gencon on August 1. Can you pass the Klingon Captain Exam? 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
The Federation Commander site and Forum continue to grow as more gamers continue to find them. All of our games currently have topics in the Forum. If you have any comments, questions, or requests for our Graphics Director, this is the place to let her know. Come see what the commotion is about and join the Federation Commander Forum now.
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New Releases Communique #162 has been posted to the Commander's Circle Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies. Recently Released To be released in 2019
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 Who did the original investigation? She checked the file. The lead detective was Rethic Kovalig, a Klingon who had been a detective for 20 years. She looked at his picture and vaguely thought she might have met him somewhere. Well, he's in town, so let's talk with him.
(Continue reading here)
Ask Admiral Vanaxilth Tractor Beams
Majead Farsi asks: A Federation ship is in hex 1608 heading E and a Lyran ship is in hex 1609 heading B. The Lyran sideslips onto the Federation ship in 1608. At this point the #6 shields are facing each other. The Lyran then tractors the Federation ship. On Impulse #32, both ships are to move, with the Federation ship, being slower, moving first. The Federation ship turns to 1508 heading F, and the Lyran then turns to 1608 heading C. What are the relative shield facings at that point? I applied (D3.43A) which told me that the two ships have their #4 shields facing each other. Am I correct or is there some crazy rule I have missed out on?
ANSWER: The tractor beam is an overriding condition, so (D3.43) does not apply. The relevant rule is (G7.326). The orientation of the two ships relative to the map grid will not change if either ship turns. The Lyran ship was in direction D from the Federation ship, and will remain so after the ships turn. The two ships will have their #5 shields facing each other at the end of the turn. F&E Q&A
COMMAND: WHO OBEYS WHOM? Q: Reserve Fleets (507.2) can be one Battle Force, meaning a flagship, whatever it controls, and a free scout. Battle Groups and carrier Battle Groups may provide a further increase. Can I declare a Klingon D7U (which has special sensors) as the free scout?
A: Certainly. You can use any ship with special sensors as the free scout. It gets better. The D7U's escorts can be included in the Battle Group count since the actual carrier group is not formed until Step 5C of the Sequence of Play. Q: I am unsure about what I can do with the four PGS ships in the Hydran Old Colonies Squadron (off map). The Order of Battle lists them with the OCS (which has its own conditions for the ships to enter the map), but then refers to rule (317.4) which gives them their one release schedule (three of them, one per turn) and rule (709.1B) which just talks about the free Pegasus ships I can start building when the Old Colonies shipyard becomes active. I know that "a specific rule overrules a general rule" but (317.4) and the OCS release rules both seem specific. A: Yes, "a specific rule overrules a general rule" and since the OCS rule covers that entire fleet but (317.4) covers a specific type of ship, (317.4) is the specific rule and it wins. The three PGS ships and the new Pegasus construction enter the map on their own terms, not on the rules of the Old Colonies Squadron. Q: The Klingon D7N and D5N are assigned to the Home Fleet on the current OOB (703.0). The Home Fleet is not released until Turn #4. Does this prevent the Klingons from using their diplomats for the first three turns? Maybe the Klingons don't know what diplomacy is until then? A: This was clarified in F&E 2010. Rule (600.35) "Diplomatic teams (including Klingon diplomatic cruisers) and small transports carrying diplomatic teams are always released and can go about their business (540.0)". Rule (540.0) allows empires at Peace to use diplomatic teams. Q: If I include a CV tug in a pursuit force (which is limited to six ships maximum), does the CV tug count as two ships in this force as (307.22) seems to imply? I'm thinking that it does not, since an unescorted CV tug only counts as two ships for command purposes (515.261), carrier tugs don't have to be escorted (515.26), and there was never a missing escort to count against the pursuit force. A: Rule (515.261) is more specific than (515.26) and as such any tug with CV pods requires either an escort or an open slot when it comes to filling out the Battle Force. Q: Concerning Flagship Escort Groups and X-ships. I have a Kzinti DNH I want to escort. The FEG rule says I can have two escorts, one of which must be size class 4 (318.42). The ad-hoc rules say no BCH/DN escorts, and the SITS lists the X-cruisers as base hull type BC (cruiser hull). I realize that the X-ship loses two compot for the privilege, and loses its mauler special attack capability. May I use an X-cruiser (BCX/CCX) as the large escort, and use a DW as the small one?
A: References for the escorts allowed in a FEG are (515.33-.34), (318.421-.429) and are very specific in what can and cannot be used. A Kzinti BC by the SIT and the R section of SFB is a heavy cruiser and an allowed escort. The BCX and CCX are variants of this base hull and as such are allowed with the other limits imposed by the above rules. (End of F&E Q&A)
ASK AUNT JEAN
Dear Aunt Jean, Is there any word about Shapeways miniatures for Prime Directive? A: Currently, that isn't on the radar. We needed to let the new pricing take effect to see how it would affect our models. We are going to have to look at this in the future after things shake down a bit more.
Send questions to Jean at marketing@StarFleetGames.com and she will answer as soon as she can. 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 MonthMAKE YOUR FIRST SHOT COUNT Some weapons (such as Andromedan tractor-repulsor beams or phaser-4s) can do as much damage as an overloaded weapon without being considered overloaded weapons for the purposes of Directed Targeting. While using Directed Targeting with these weapons all the time is not a good idea, because damage can be lost by (3D4b), it can often be worth it when firing at an undamaged enemy unit.
A typical warship can have approximately 35% of its boxes disabled before any damage is lost by (3D4b). (To work out how many boxes this is, multiply the ship's Movement Cost by 35 to get a ballpark figure.) Most Andromedan ships can use this on equal point-value opponents without losing any damage. For example, a Squadron Scale Andromedan Mamba firing an alpha strike at an undamaged Klingon D7 at Range 3 can reasonably score 50 points of damage, which yields 25 points of internal damage after knocking down the shield. Targeting weapons should never result in any lost damage in this case, but should knock out several weapons boxes while the Mamba should not suffer significant internal damage from the D7's fire. After that, the Mamba should use normal targeting. With the reduced fire coming from the D7, the Mamba will be able to empty its power absorber panels faster than the D7 can fill them. That is the critical advantage of "wearing him down faster than he wears you down." In a squadron battle (a mothership and its satellites against a Galactic Powers squadron) it may be worthwhile splitting the initial Andromedan fire to knock out enemy weapons before concentrating on destroying the enemy ships one at a time. The commanders of besieged bases can do the same thing, firing the phaser-4s at range in order to knock out enemy weapons before the attackers can reach optimal firing range.
Under (J3.11), you can program a course for a wild weasel, and as a matter of habit, you should do this. If there is any chance that the wild weasel will not be destroyed, having a programmed course can be very useful. You never know when those plasma torpedoes might turn out to be pseudoes, or when your opponent might drop tracking on some drones. If you did not program a course, your weasel will be sailing off in a straight line, to eventually collide with a tournament barrier or be lost in the depths of space. If the seeking weapons do impact as expected, you did not lose anything by programming a course.
If you anticipate that you will be stopped or moving slowly for very long, a good plot for your wild weasel would be a circle of radius 1. If it survives, it will stay within tractor range for easy recovery later. On a fixed map, a circular path is usually a good bet. Keeping it away from enemy units is another consideration when plotting a course. Make a habit of programming a course for every wild weasel you launch. Most of the time, it will not matter, but sometimes ‹ perhaps when you least expect it ‹ it can make a difference. (End of SFB Tactic of the Month) F&E Strategy of the Month With the expansions allowing the building of survey cruisers and additional off-map exploration, the Kzintis face a difficult choice. On their first two turns it is common practice to build a tug and convert a strike carrier on Turn #1 and another on Turn #2, thus maximizing tug production. Since a survey cruiser takes up the cruiser slot (if substituted) or is a major conversion (if converted), it is simply not possible to build all three on the first turn, given the Kzintis only get one battlecruiser build and one major conversion on Turn #1.
However, if accelerated production (431.37) is used on Turn #1 the Kzintis can build all three! They can accelerate the battlecruiser slot from Turn #2 to Turn #1, and since by (431.37) you only have to obey the current turn's build restrictions they can substitute a tug for the accelerated battlecruiser. They can then substitute a survey cruiser for their one battlecruiser build and use their one major conversion to convert a battlecruiser to a strike carrier. The sacrifice for this is that if the Kzintis wish to build a second survey cruiser on Turn #2 (which is desirable to maximize their survey rolls), they must convert it since they will not have a battlecruiser build slot that turn. But on Turn #3 they can make up for that by building a strike carrier, substituting a tug for the battlecruiser build, and converting a second battlecruiser to a strike carrier.
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. (End of A Call to Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month)
Mini of the Month Kent Ing painted this Andromedan Intruder (3125 Scale, Smooth Fine Detail Plastic).
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show our games and to teach potential players some basics. 
