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June 2020
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Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS:
Star Fleet Universe Coloring Book #3: More Starships Is Available Let us know what you think of it.
More Big News PLAY VALUE EXTRA: ROMULAN KF5GR COMMANDO FRIGATE
In the process of updating the Romulan Ship Information Tables for the game Federation & Empire, we made a fascinating discovery: we had never published a Romulan conversion of the Klingon F5G commando frigate, not in any of our games. So, we did one for both SFB and Fed Commander.
Play Value Extra: Romulan KF5GR Commando Frigate You can also look at other Hailing Frequencies Extras here.
SHAPEWAYS ADB Releases Ships for June, 2020
On June 3, 2020, ADB released a total of 79 new items to its shop on Shapeways with 2,181 items available in total. Notably, we added more advanced technology ships (sometimes called X-technology or "X-ships") to the shop. There are some collections of ships designed to work within the price increase that Shapeways imposed. We also added more ships in the 7000 Scale that is designed to allow you to play with multiple ships on a "regular" map with 5/8-inch hexes. This month saw the introduction of Fleet Repair Docks (FRDs) to various empires' arsenal. Please note that all ships are available in both 3788 and 3125 scales unless specifically noted, and then they are only available in the scale noted.
The Federation starts with the Priority Transport with either no pods or the one pod it can carry. These are available in both the Federation (gridded saucer) and Fed Classic (smooth saucer) styles. In the 7000 Scale the Fleet Tug Collection is available (the Federation Fleet Tug and Light Tactical Transport, each with no pods and with one pod as well as a Fleet Tug with two pods, a standalone single pod, and a standalone double pod).
The Klingons gain their F5T Transport with either no pods or one pod. In the more aztecked style are the F5TK Transport with either one pod or no pods. In the 7000 Scale, the Klingons gain a Fleet Tug Collection (the Klingon T7 Fleet Tug and D5H Light Tactical Transport, each with no pods and with one pod as well as a Fleet Tug with two pods, and two standalone single pods).
The Kzinti gain their Needle Tender, so they now have their gunboat/PF Tender. They also get two X-ships: X-Ship Frigate and X-Ship Scout Drone Frigate.
The Orions get their Heavy Fleet Transport with various pod options available (Federation, Klingon, or Lyran, each as a separate miniature). They also get their Heavy Battle Raider, their Salvage Strike Cruiser, and their OK6 Cruiser built in part from a captured Klingon D6. In the 7000 Scale they get their Pirate Command Collection (Dreadnought, Heavy Cruiser, Heavy War Destroyer, Salvage Cruiser, Battlecruiser, and Salvage Strike Cruiser), Pirate Mercenary Collection (Light Raider Frigate, war destroyer, Raider Cruiser, Battle Raider, Heavy Battle Raider, and a heavy cruiser), and Pirate Raider Collection (a Cruiser Raider, Light Raider, Battle Raider, Medium Raider, Double Light Raider, and a Slaver).
In the 7000 Scale, the Tholians get their Fleet Tug Collection (heavy cruiser tugs, a war cruiser light tactical transport, a cargo corvette, and a web tender).
The Hydrans gain their Escort Hunter, Heavy Mauler Cruiser, and Medium Mauler Cruiser. They also get their Fleet Repair Dock.
The Lyrans and their wayward county of the Lyran Democratic Republic gain several variations of the King Jaguar New Heavy Cruiser. There is the New Fast Cruiser, New Gunboat Cruiser, and New Division Control Ship. Note that LDR ships are only in the 3125 Scale. The Lyrans also get the same ships in a "refitted" version with aztecking in the 3788 Scale.
If you use more generic ships, be sure to check out the "General" section. We have released a Fleet Repair Dock in 3788, 3125, and 7000 scales. In the 7000 Scale, there is a Fleet Convoy Collection [three standard Small Freighters (Class-I or one-pod), a Large Freighter (Class-II or two-pod), a Jumbo Freighter (Class-III or three-pod), and a Heavy Freighter (Class-IV or four-pod)].
Continuing to build the new Tournament Ships category, the 7000 Scale gets its two more Tournament Collections with the ships that are used in Star Fleet Battles tournaments. The second collection contains the Lyran White Tiger Tournament Command Cruiser, the LDR Red Jaguar Tournament War Cruiser, the Orion Tournament Battle Raider, the WYN Tournament Great Black Shark Cruiser, and the Hydran Tournament Lord Marshal Command Cruiser. The third collection contains the Gorn Tournament Command Cruiser, Kzinti Tournament Command Cruiser, ISC Tournament Cruiser, WYN Auxiliary Battlecruiser, Archeo-Tholian (Tholian) Tournament Cruiser, Neo-Tholian Tournament Cruiser, and Andromedan Krait.
The Omega Octant sees the Drex gain their Battlecarrier and Omni Scale X7 Light Fighters. The Maesrons get their Battleship. The Ymatrians gain some sprued squadrons: the Destroyer Squadron which contains two Cutlass destroyers and a Rapier Destroyer Leader and the Frigate Squadron which contains two Dagger Frigates and a Poniard Frigate Leader.
Check all these out here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/amarillo-design-bureau-inc Don't forget to follow us: https://www.shapeways.com/designer/adbinc
3125 Scale Orion OK6 Cruiser 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 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! 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:
The Sapphire Star 4 Tournament is finished with Peter Bakija winning flying the Gorn cruiser. Second place goes to Jack Taylor. Well done to all the participants on keeping the tournament moving! Steven Petrick was the judge for this tournament. Stay tuned for signups for the next tournament!
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES 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 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: 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.
FEDERATION COMMANDER QUESTION OF THE MONTH Q: Sometimes the Reference Ship Chart (on the website), the PDF version of a card, and the laminated version of a card have different point values. Which is right?
A: If the Reference Ship Chart has a note saying "corrected" or "confirmed" or something similar, that is the correct point value. If not, then the printed and laminated card has the correct value (in which case let us know to correct the PDF copy). If the printed and PDF copies agree but the Reference Ship Chart does not (and isn't marked) then the RSC is probably a typo. Let us know to fix it.
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.
Mini of the Month Kent Ing painted this Federation Battle Frigate (3125 Scale, Smooth Fine Detail Plastic).
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New Releases EXTRAS FOR THE MONTH: SFB Romulan KF5GR Commando Frigate You can look at Hailing Frequencies Extras here. Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies.
Recently Released GURPS Federation Revised,SKU 8402, $24.95 To be released in 2020
FC Federation Epack #5
GURPS Klingons Revision
Star Fleet Universe Index Captain's Log #54
SFB Module R13
The rest of the Starmada Unity Edition
A new F&E module to be named later
ACTASF Book 3
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 Star Fleet Universe Coloring Book #3: More Starships Star Fleet Universe Coloring Book #3: More Starships (DriveThru RPG or Wargame Vault) Klingon Marine Captain Ketrick knew that something was wrong the moment he stepped out the door of the transport and onto the ramp leading down to the dock of the battle station. The security officer who had been his escort stopped at the top of the ramp and motioned to the platform below. (Continue reading here)
Ask Admiral Vanaxilth CLOAKING DEVICES
Andrew Granger asks: In a game I played last night, a Romulan KR tournament ship cloaked. The Klingon tournament ship rolled to retain lock on and succeeded. The Klingon proceeded to launch two Speed-32 drones. Between launch and impact none of the conditions changed to necessitate a re-roll for lock on, so we went to the damage adjustment table. The Klingon player rolled two "2"s. Now did he just score 24 points of damage, or were there additional modifiers to the roll we forgot?
ANSWER: The Klingon retained lock-on, and per the (G13.37) Fire Adjustment Chart, the drones scored full damage. Stewart W. Frazier asks: Ships detect a minefield when they detect six active (pre-scenario laid) mines within 10 hexes, fast patrol ships within five hexes, etc. Are cloaked ships treated as fast patrol ship, ships or what? Kommodore Ketrick replies: A cloaked ship will detect a minefield. What is happening is that the ship's passive sensors are picking up the active scans by the mines themselves as they look for targets that meet their programming (that is why mines with disabled detonators are not counted). These scans are normally so weak (as the mine is not looking very far in most cases) that an individual mine will not be detected unless the ship is moving fairly slowly (Speed 6 or less) and right on top of the mine (within its casualty radius). But massed into a field they exceed the level of "background noise" so you know the field is there (within 10 hexes), but not where any given mine is. (Indeed when you detect the field you just might possibly be sitting smack dab on top of an outlier mine.) Note that this allows detection of a "minefield" which is far larger than just six active mines and does not mean that six T-bombs laid during a scenario, or just before a scenario begins, would qualify as a minefield for this purpose. Minefields are defined by (M6.0) and have far greater density than a few randomly (or even carefully) laid mines. David Zimdars asks: If the cloaking device is destroyed on a cloaked ship, does the ship fade in or immediately lose all benefits? William Wilson replies: Rule (G13.161) covers the case where the cloak is destroyed while activating: fade-in begins immediately. Terry O'Carroll asks: Can a masking or veiling device be installed on a base that has AWRs? Some Y- and W-era Romulan bases have AWRs. Rule (YG13.1) notes that masks and veils cannot be installed on ships with "warp engine power." Bases obviously do not have engines, but does the warp power from the AWRs disqualify the base from using a mask/veil? ANSWER: AWRs provide warp power but not warp engine power; see (H2.3). In fact, the Romulan WDK, YDK, WBS, YBS, and others, used masking and/or veiling devices. Gregory S. Flusche asks: I have found conflicting rules (or at least I think so) on a cloaked ship caught in web. I have always believed the cloaked ship is exposed and can then be locked onto. Can a ship with a lock on to a cloaked ship tractor that ship? Is there some kind of die roll to be made in that case? ANSWER: You are correct, the ship is exposed by the web (provided free-standing web has formed, or other web has a strength of at least one). Rule (G13.45) is pretty clear about that. Assuming the tractoring ship has active fire control and an undamaged sensor track, and there is no ECM shift (from other sources, as the cloaked ship cannot generate ECM), it would not have to roll to make a tractor attempt. Josh Driscol asks: A Romulan ship is decloaking and launches a wild weasel to protect itself during the fade-in period. Can the Romulan ship bring up fire control during the fade-in normally, or would this void the wild weasel? ANSWER: Activating fire control immediately voids the weasel (J3.403), unless it is in its explosion period (J3.2112). The fact that you are uncloaking does not change that. Seth Shimansky asks: An Inter-Stellar Concordium ship fires its plasmatic pulsar device at Range 8 on a Romulan, doing 1-4-1 damage. Next impulse, it is still at Range 8 and the Romulan starts to cloak. That adds one to the effective range. The Inter-Stellar Concordium reveals the plasmatic pulsar device is overloaded. Does the plasmatic pulsar device stop firing because it is Range 9 or does it keep firing because the true range is 8? ANSWER: Kommodore Ketrick replies: The weapon continues firing because the overload range is based on true range. When firing overloads you use "Effective Range" to determine if you hit or not, the damage is then calculated at the "True Range." It would not be any different if the plasmatic pulsar device ship had opened fire at Range 8 after the Romulan began cloaking, i.e., the true range is eight, but the cloak has made the effective range nine, the plasmatic pulsar device can still be fired in overload mode. (Note, in this example the plasmatic pulsar device is initially being fired after the Romulan gained the plus one range bonus.) You might question why the plasmatic pulsar device ship is doing this, but the circumstances can be that he arrived at Range 8 after the Romulan began to cloak, and he cannot hold the overload (overloaded plasmatic pulsar devices cannot be held), so he may as well get in as many pulses as he can. F&E Q&A
AM I OVER REACTING? Q: Auxiliaries can use Reaction Movement (205.0), but for only one hex (extended or normal). Any attrition units carried could react separately (501.81). So, obviously, an auxiliary in 0705 (co-located with scout or base that can "see" enemy movement in 0703 could use extended reaction and move to 0704, at least telling the enemy if they keep coming it's going to be a fight. Then, if the auxiliary is a carrier, could its fighters (or its gunboats if the auxiliary were a PFT) then react separately using short-range reaction into hex 0703?
A: Yes! This is intended in the auxiliary rules. It does not even matter if the enemy fleet stopped in that hex two hexes from the base/scout as regular ships could have moved one hex by normal reaction and the second by extended reaction even if the enemy force did not move closer. Q: Could a real carrier (or a PFT for that matter) move two hexes by reaction (and extended reaction) and then send its fighters a third hex for their independent reaction? A: While the reaction of a ship and its fighters can be independent, overall reaction is limited to two hexes from the original starting point, so the CV could move two hexes and fight beside its fighters, or move two hexes and stay in the support echelon and send its fighters to the battle group, or move one hex and then send its fighters on an independent reaction. (End of F&E Q&A) ASK AUNT JEAN Dear Aunt Jean, what have you been doing working at home for the last month?
I'm working on Traveller Prime Directive and relearning the Traveller system so as to help the species' descriptions be accurate and reflect all the data.
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 MonthENERGY ALLOCATION THE FEDCOM WAY As Federation Commander players, we tend to think of Energy Allocation as an anachronism hailing back to the days of Star Fleet Battles and its tax-form accounting system.
But, as good captains, we definitely still need to plan our energy usage! It is really important to have a rough idea of what you want to do with your power for the turn, so as to avoid running out of it before your opponent does (with all the obvious disadvantages of that position) and to get the best possible use out of your ship and its systems for the turn. Energy allocation in this way is especially important if you are thinking of cloaking. Only then will you know the true cost with respect to your other systems that need power. So, as you receive your shiny new energy points at the start of the turn, you must carefully tally your available juice and work out what you want to do with it. You will not necessarily use the power exactly as you have planned but still the thinking needs to be there. Once you have determined what you want to be able to do, allocate your power mentally then declare your baseline speed with your other plans still in mind. It may help to physically sort your pile of energy tokens into accelerations, batteries, phasers, and spare power (out of sight of your opponent). You must always include your batteries in your thinking, so you know how much flexibility you have towards the end of the turn. In fact, I usually make a small stack of tokens off to one side, so that I can easily see when my power usage will involve tapping into the batteries. It does not matter if my opponent can see them, as it is something he could always work out for himself.
For example, the thought process for a Romulan FireHawk (45 points of power with full batteries) fighting a Hydran ship might look something like this: He is probably going to launch his Stingers this turn, so I will need at least Speed 16, plus let's say another six points of power for discretionary speed changes, making my top speed this turn 22, the lowest 10. Next, I set aside eight points to charge up two plasma-S torpedoes in their third turn of arming [I will actually arm them as two plasma-G torpedoes and add the last point of power upon launch]. That uses 30 points of power so far, which leaves me 15 points of power for phasers, tractors/negative tractor, and/or reinforcement, all as required. I do not think I will want to cloak when there are Stingers around, or they will be waiting as I come back up again. Batteries: Five, so let's try to leave five power tokens unused this turn if possible. This is a useful little exercise, which takes all of 20 to 30 seconds and is definitely time well spent. Granted most good players will already do something like this unconsciously, but it helps if you make the conscious effort to do so. However you do it, you must still do it!
Advanced shuttles appear in Y180 and although the improvements may seem obvious, they bear further analysis. With additional damage points, advanced shuttles take more firepower to kill (eight verus six) and cripple (six versus four). This allows them to retain full functionality longer than the previous generation of shuttlecraft (the top speed and phaser-3 of a manned administrative shuttle, for example). Their maximum speed of eight affords them more available launch speeds that move on the next impulse (20 versus 12). This allows wild weasels to quickly vacate their hex of launch more often to avoid causing collateral damage to the launching unit (or kindly send the collateral damage elsewhere) as well as giving suicide shuttles more options to impact their target on the impulse after launch. This is particularly useful during a knife fight or overrun. One less obvious advantage is a slight improvement on Tim Ray's term paper "10 and 21" from Captain's Log #19 (page 70). Specifically, one more impulse is now available (three versus two) such that advanced shuttles move the impulse after launch, even if crippled by enemy fire after launch [whereupon the shuttle is reduced to half of its maximum speed per (J1.331)]. These impulses are represented on the following chart by bolded entries: The added available speed and higher damage points required to destroy an advanced shuttle combine to increase the utility of this tactic. While situational, the opportunity for application comes up often in single ship duels and squadron-sized battles, but much less so in large fleet actions. F&E Strategy of the Month The Hegemony's economy is the smallest when compared with its major neighbors; its fleet strength is also smaller. In the event of conflict, the odds are that it will be the Kzinti economy that will weaken.
Selling ships to the WYN (449.2) does lower an empire's overall ship count, but it also bolsters the economy. While some of the admiralty decries the construction of the destroyer hull, selling them to the WYN does give them some usefulness. Selling two to the WYN (on the first two turns of conflict) provides enough to build the others with a benefit of 30 more economic points for the future treasury. However, the ability to sell ships to the WYN is restricted to four ships in a 10-year period, but this is still 40 economic points by Y171 (less 18 economic points spent to finish the other three destroyers). One drawback may be in using Blockade Running (320.5) to complete the Y170 and Y171 ship sales, but it can be used to finish the final two destroyer sales in F178 (Turn #21) and S179 (Turn #22). This does leave two more ship sales available which could be a medium cruiser (five economic points profit), war destroyer (four economic points profit), or the improved frigate (three economic points profit). Of course, one could keep a destroyer hull or two for the PFT upgrade, but that means selling another hull (like a CL or CLE, as it has a similar cost). There is one other ship for consideration, the FKX. It gives the same profit as the FFK (three economic points) but the WYN pay 10 XTP (449.23) which could be considered a "free" upgrade to a CMX (with a one-turn delay). The main drawback for the FKX sale is in the delay from Y180/181 to Y183/184 (the original prototype may be available earlier) for that sale, plus the next sale time begins in Y188. Trading with the WYN (449.1) has a small advantage for the Kzintis although the price is using tugs more than smaller craft. Still, sending both FFTs does allow the full use of WYN-trade (six economic points in, nine economic points on account) and they can withdraw eight economic points on Turn #2, leaving one economic point on account (using a tug does a bit more in that all nine economic points can be returned). Follow this with a tug on Turn #2 (with six economic points, 10 economic points on account) returning with all 10 economic points on Turn #3. (This could be done by blockade running with a different tug.) This could be done in reverse (TG then two FFT) but could leave the two FFTs stranded in the Cluster. Unfortunately, the operational route to the Cluster will soon be cut and blockade running will become the main source of WYN trade. This will almost certainly require a tug to pull off (profitably). Delivering 10 economic points (less than two turns of built up trade, generating 15 economic points on account) and returning with whatever was leftover (in the account, up to 10 economic points) out [a different set of economic points once the account is set up (320.512)-Captain's Log #34]. An LTT would be restricted to six economic points (seven economic points if there are leftover rights) in and seven economic points out. Operationally, there is only one corridor from Kzintai to the Cluster, through Zimdars (1202). As long as it is held, operational movement to the Cluster should be considered. Once captured, blockade running is the only option (considering it would take more time for delivery and its return, with two or more possible raids/attacks on said ship) but there is a chance of interception (320.54). One small advantage is that the trade rights do accumulate and if/when the lane is opened, the Kzintis could use more than one cargo craft to deliver economic points and return whatever was in the account(or if the route stays open, returning the next turn if/when possible). Blockade running with multiple ships also has the drawback of using valuable raid slots for this mission although the economic points run uses (320.513) for an "extra" pool slot allowing the economic points ship as well as using a normal slot for the sales ship. While it is possible to use multiple blockade runs, they would be at the expense of regular raid slots (a bit easier after Y176 when the raid pool expands).
One last consideration would be a third diplomat, although this will cost the free prime team. If sent to Romulus, it will provide eight economic points (Turns #2-#9) before relocating to the Gorn Confderation and before being sent to the ISC [Y180 (540.146)]. The diplomat could be sent to Zursk (1506), mainly to counterbalance a Klingon diplomat sent in, although overall the invasion may make this ineffective.
A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month The Klingon oblique attack is one of the most useful tactics for the Klingon player in Star Fleet Battles. This article examines whether or not it is a viable tactic in A Call to Arms: Star Fleet.
Briefly, the oblique tactic relies upon the firing arcs for phasers on Klingon ships. On most Klingon ships, all or nearly all of the phasers can fire down the hexrow bordering the front shield and flank shield boundary, 45° off the nose (60° in SFB/FC). The disruptors can fire down this row as well. A typical Klingon D7 cruiser in a head-on attack can fire four disruptors, three frontal phasers, and one or two wing phasers. The same ship using an oblique attack can generally add two waist phaser-2s to the attack and use both wing phasers. It can also expose its less important flank shields to attack and preserve its all-important front shield. The rules for A Call to Arms: Star Fleet state that if a target ship lies on the border between two firing arcs, then the attacking player may attack with weapons in both firing arcs. This allows the Klingon player to use weapons that fire in the forward arc as well as either the port or starboard arc against the target. However, not all Klingon ships are appropriate candidates to use this tactic. Let us look at the expected damage to the target at various ranges and examine this question. The Range 2 and 4 columns assume overloaded disruptors. Drones are not included in these numbers; the enemy's defensive measures are assumed to have destroyed them.
(End of A Call to Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month)
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show our games and to teach potential players some basics. 
