|
||||||||
May 2016
|
||||||||
Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS: CAPTAIN'S LOG #51
We are within a day or two of finishing Captain's Log #51 and expect to ship hard copies to stores on 23 May and to mail orders on 30 May. The Supplemental File will be available to ship on 30 May, as will the large print edition.
This is another super issue thanks to the efforts of "Marketing Jean" who wants more ZING on every page. We start with two great fiction stories. In Night Hounds an Orion crime team must conduct a secret mission under the very noses of the Romulans. In Voyages of Discovery the X-technology survey cruiser Sakharov takes a tour of the Omega Sector. Three brief "snapshots" round out that section.
Communications includes the regular features, such as After-Action, Command the Future, Why, Input Guide (for fiction writers), and of course A Galaxy of Song.
Federation Commander players get a new empire, the Borak, with rules and four ships, plus three scenarios, 10 battle groups, and more.
Star Fleet Battles players get the files on the space manta, five scenarios, Platinum Victory, 22 battle forces fighting over mobile bases, 16 new ships including two Omega command cruisers, Proposals Board, Hydran brothers of the Anarchist, the Uthiki Primer, and a campaign for the Omega version of Operation Unity.
Star Fleet Warlord gets an update. Star Fleet Marines gets some new terrain. Prime Directive gets the first of a series of files correcting mistakes in previous books (this time, a new Q'naabian profile). Starmada gets four new ships, while A Call to Arms gets five. The Peladine arrive in Star Fleet Battle Force. Learn just how Galactic Conquest works when you read the dynamics of research and development.
Federation & Empire players get the Carnivons for the General War, five new playtest rules, a ship information table for the new SFB ships in the issue, a full spread of tactical notes, two pages of Q&A, and revised slow-retreat rules that resolve certain glitches with the way things were handled previously.
WEBSITE:
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: Each month we shine a spotlight on one of our battle groups. This month it is Battle Group Columbus. They are home ported at The Soldiery in Columbus, Ohio. Lee Hanna, their CO reports they frequently run games and welcome visitors and new members. Check them out here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/battlegroup_Columbus.shtml
and you can also find them on the Star Fleet Battles fan page on Facebook. Do you have a battle group? Be sure to report your activities here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/report.shtml
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 The 2015 Platinum Hat Tournament is well underway. The second round has only one game left to play. Our thanks to Fleet Captain Peter Bakija for keeping this tournament moving along.
Rated Ace Tournament 46 is moving along. Round one lacks only one game and one person has played through to round three. Andy Vancil is the judge for this tournament.
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES On May 21, 2016 The Slusarek Invitational will be held at David Cheng's home. It will start about 10 am and last until people go home. All SFB players, of all skill levels, are welcome to this free event. It is intended to be a fun, casual day of Star Fleet gaming and camaraderie for members of the SFU community.
Chuck Strong announces free SFU Gaming at StratCon 2016 for those that need some face to face SFU gaming in their diet. This convention runs from June 18-25, 2016 in Richmond, Virginia. A ***FREE*** 1300SF secure conference room and reduced room rates at the Comfort Suites mean that there will be NO ATTENDANCE FEES to attend StratCon this year! There will be a $50 SNACK-O fund that entitles those who choose to participate full access to the SNACK-O bar for the entire week.
When making your reservation please ask for the StratCon rate coordinated by Dave Whiteside.
Comfort Suites at Virginia Center Commons
10601 Telegraph Road Glen Allen, VA 23059 (804) 262-2000 If you are planning to attend, please notify Ryan Opel on ADB's BBS or send a message to ADB on its page on Facebook and we'll get it to Ryan. This is a wonderful opportunity to attend a national SFU event at low cost.
This event is open to ALL SFU related games and other non-SFU games with prior coordination and approval of the StratCon committee; just ask here.
Amarillo Design Bureau will be attending AMA-Con in Amarillo, Texas during July 23-24, 2016. Not only will we have a booth, but we will be running demos of Star Fleet Battle Force and Federation Commander. We are actively seeking people who want to help demo games there. Steve Cole will also be there and hosting "Meet with a Game Publisher" where you and he can discuss games, including those you might have in mind to produce yourself. ADB will also be giving away a challenged starship to anyone cosplaying in the Star Trek/Star Fleet Universe who stops by our booth and gets a photo taken with us. We are very excited about this! Help us spread the word! For more information on AMA-Con see: https://www.facebook.com/AmaCon2012/ or http://ama-con.amarillolibrary.org/
GenCon will be held August 4-7, 2016, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ranger Randy Blair has four games on the schedule. Signups for these start May 15.
Eastern Plight - Thu @ 1:00 PM - 5 hrs
During the Andromedan War, while your neighbors endure a shaky peace accord, an Orion pirate Cartel threatens to expose embarrassing war crimes committed by your Empire during the General War. As your cruiser roars to the Orion base to "persuade" him to keep quiet, you discover cruisers from your neighbors arriving as well. Western Plight - Fri @ 1:00 PM - 5 hrs During the Andromedan War, while your neighbors endure a shaky peace accord, an Orion pirate Cartel threatens to expose embarrassing war crimes committed by your Empire during the General War. As your cruiser roars to the Orion base to "persuade" him to keep quiet, you discover cruisers from your neighbors arriving as well. Survivor! - Sat @ 10:00 AM - 4 hrs A hostile entity made of pure dilithium has ravaged a caravan & your starship has been sent to intercept. Trouble is, other enemy starships are in pursuit of the monster's riches! Ally or attack? Survivor! - Sat @ 3:00 PM - 4 hrs A hostile entity made of pure dilithium has ravaged a caravan & your starship has been sent to intercept. Trouble is, other enemy starships are in pursuit of the monster's riches! Ally or attack? 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 Game Paradise. 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/gamers_haven.php
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
With the introduction of the Federation fast destroyer (DDF) in Strategic Operations, the Federation has a new ship that will help make an extraordinarily effective garrison hunter.
The Federation DDF, when teamed with a fast cruiser (with a Prime Team) (CF/PT) and a frigate scout (FFS) combine to make an Enhanced Small-Scale Combat (ESSC) force that is quite formidable. The attack and defense values are at the top of the chart, and should result in very few garrisons able to do any return damage. Then, once the dust clears from the first engagement, the DDF and CF/PT can leave the FFS behind and pursue whatever remains. Since the pursuit force is entirely composed of fast ships, pursuit is automatic except against other fast ships. So, once the Coalition grows tired of leaving single-ship garrisons to die at the hands of "normal" raiders, consider this approach to a province-raiding group of two or three small ships. The end result should be to force the Coalition to leave large forces everywhere, and be then subject to the old maxim "he who defends everything, defends nothing." A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM, BOLT THEM At first glance, plasma bolts seem like a very weak option for plasma-armed ships. The maximum range is shorter (10"), damage is halved, and on top of that you must roll to hit. Statistically, your torpedoes will do around one-quarter or less of the damage they might if launched (and they hit).
There are two advantages to plasma bolts, however. Bolts cannot be intercepted by defensive fire, and may bypass shields (by rolling a "six"). If your target still has enough unfired phasers to stop your plasma volley, or is protected by other ships using their weaponry in defense of the target, then bolting your plasma torpedoes may be a better option. Developer's Note: This note was edited to reflect revised rules.
|
||||||||
|
New Releases Communique #125 has been posted to the Commander's Circle Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies. Recently Released To be released in 2016
F&E Minor Empires, SKU 3214, price $TBA
A new Starmada book for both editions. F&E Fighter Operations update 2016, SKU 3203
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.
PDF and EBOOK SALES: RECENTLY RELEASED ON Warehouse 23 Bridge, Federation Large Auxiliary Carrier Galeron
in Orbit over Arcturia, August 18, Y180
"Does the space station confirm the Rochefort's readings?"
"Affirmative, Admiral," replied the sensor officer. "Seven contacts, bearing 272 degrees mark nine, distance 700,000 kilometers, closing at warp seven. Cancel that, Sir, they are reducing to tactical velocities, warp four and dropping."
Guard Admiral Teraana Aphena's heart quickened. Could it be happening again? And will we be prepared this time?
"Tactical display on main viewer," she commanded firmly in the main Arcturian tongue. During the years of Klingon occupation, the Arcturian government-in-exile had built up the National Guard fleet using auxiliary ships built on freighter hulls, recruiting whatever Arcturians had been off planet at the time. The Galeron was the flagship, an auxiliary carrier with six F-101C heavy fighters and a dozen F-18Bs. Since the ship was crewed entirely by Arcturians, it wasn't necessary for her to give orders in the Federation Standard Language most of her species found difficult to master. On the tactical display, she saw the ship icons for the rest of her squadron: the large auxiliary cruiser Keob, the small auxiliary cruisers Morkaln, Then'kkah, and Tecpec, and the large auxiliary scout Joseph Rochefort. All of these ships except the Rochefort were named for important cities on Arcturia. The Rochefort was a Star Fleet ship on loan to the Arcturian Guard, and the only ship not crewed by her species.
Also under her command were a dozen FB-111 bombers and a dozen F-16 fighters based on the homeworld. The bombers were an impressive asset, but the fighters were manned by green pilots who'd only just begun their flight training. At least the F-16s were the powerful Gatling versions; being a member planet had its perks. A new battle station orbited Arcturia, but the station was only partially operational and wouldn't be complete for at least another month. The special sensors were working, but the station had only half of the powerful phaser-4 weapons on-line. One of the slow monitors was due to arrive in a few days, along with a shipment of defense satellites and mines, but that did Admiral Aphena no good today.
Two powerful Star Fleet squadrons centered on the dread-nought Star League and the carrier Yamamoto were supposed to be screening the system from Klingon attacks or another invasion, but something had obviously gone wrong. Arcturia had been retaken from the Klingons so recently that the system defenses were not yet up to par. The Klingons themselves had to know this. Could this be an attempt to retake the planet, or was it just a raid to keep things off balance?
"Admiral, we now have tactical identification of enemy forces. We are reading three standard cruiser hulls, one war cruiser, and three frigates or war destroyers. . .Sir, we are now reading smaller units detaching from one of the cruisersŠnow picking up six gunboats in addition to the ships."
"Any fighters?"
"Not yet, Sir."
Sebastian Palozzi asks: I am having a hard time getting my head around one of the movement rules. As per (C2.231), why is it possible for a ship to drop to Speed Zero simply by not allocating any energy to movement? Going to Speed Zero in mid turn requires Braking Energy as per (C3.52) or the complications of emergency deceleration so why is it completely pain free at the beginning of a turn?
ANSWER: That is not really a "rules" question, but a "why" question. The technobabble answer is that you can stop over a turn break by not applying power, because ships moving by warp speed are not actually moving, but warping space. They do not have momentum in the traditional sense. And just to clarify, no braking energy is required to go to Speed Zero using mid-turn speed changes. Nor does braking energy allow you to make an unplotted deceleration or decelerate in excess of the limits in (C12.32). In fact, it has nothing to do with stopping your ship, mid-turn or otherwise. It only comes into play if you want to change direction after being stopped for less than eight impulses, and in that case, applies whether you are at the beginning of the turn or in the middle of it. Braking energy probably represents the stress of rapidly realigning your warp field, rather than overcoming momentum in the traditional sense of "braking." Majead Farsi asks: Can ships disengage by acceleration moving in reverse? ANSWER: No, rule (C7.123) prohibits that. Eric Phillips asks: I want to make an unplotted speed change. Rule (C12.0) always talks about reserve warp. Can I not assign energy to movement but not spend it on movement until I do an unplotted speed change? Otherwise it seems like there is very little reserve to make a change. ANSWER: No, the best you can do is expend your batteries and refill them with reserve warp power (H7.4). This means that if you have four batteries, you can have at most four points of warp power to do unplotted accelerations. In general, you have to allocate all your ship's power during Energy Allocation; any points of power you do not assign are assumed to have not been generated (B3.4). Jon Taylor asks: I plot Speed 16 for the whole turn during Energy Allocation. Then I use one point of reserve warp power to change speed to 17 for the whole turn on Impulse #3. Can I later speed change up from 17 using reserve warp on a one-for-one basis? I presume the answer is yes if I pay to go the faster speed for the rest of the turn. It would be possible for me to have a couple more speed changes after Impulse #3 if I wanted to use reserve power. Again my assumption is that they would all be one-for-one if when the change is made the cost is paid to go that new speed until the end of the turn. Is that correct? ANSWER: When you do a non-plotted acceleration under (C12.24), you are modifying your speed plot. That new speed plot is what you use as the basis for calculations of the cost of any future non-plotted accelerations. They might cost 1:1 or 2:1, or somewhere in between, depending on what you do. For example, for Impulse #12 [the earliest impulse you could do another non-plotted acceleration, per (C12.242)], on Impulse #11 you announce a speed change (for Impulse #12) to Speed 24, which you have plotted for the rest of the turn. That gains you four moves, and would cost you four movement points of reserve warp. Or, suppose you do your acceleration for Impulses #12-#19 only, after which you drop back to Speed 17. This gains you one move, and so will cost two movement points of reserve warp power. Either way, the calculation of the cost of your speed change for Impulse #12 is the same as if you had originally plotted Speed 16 for Impulses #1-#3 and Speed 17 for Impulses #4-#32. Note specifically that you cannot change speed on Impulse #3, but Impulse #3 is when you announce a speed change to take effect on Impulse #4, which is the earliest impulse that you can actually change speed. Paul Franz asks: If you have a plotted speed change and then you use reserve warp power to change the plot to remove the speed change, do you have to announce the non-change of speed? For example, my starting speed plot is Impulse #1-#19 at Speed 26, Impulses #20-#32 at Speed 19. On Impulse #19, I use reserve warp power to change the plot to be Impulse #1-#32: Speed 26. ANSWER: Per (H7.37), you are not required to announce that you used reserve power for any particular function, as opposed to having allocated the power. That use must be recorded in your Energy Allocation form, and made available to the other player at the end of the game, but during the game, it is secret. So, while you are required to announce speed changes, you are not required to announce that you used reserve power to alter your speed plot. If you use reserve power in such a way that it delays or cancels a speed change, that would delay or cancel your announcement of that change. In your example, there would be no announcement on Impulse #18 because you are not changing speed. F&E Q&A
CONVERSIONS Q: Under rule (523.424) an X-starbase can convert standard warships to X-ships regardless of the conversion cost. Under (450.17) minor shipyards can produce X-ships as long as the base hull type produced is allowed in that type of shipyard. Would a major conversion yard be capable of converting standard warships to X-ships as any base hull type can be converted in that yard? Or would a major conversion yard be capable of converting an X-ship to an X-variant of the base X-hull? This might be a stretch, but the rule does not say in regards to conversion and I would like to know if this possible.
A: There is no enabling rule that permits a major or minor conversion facility to perform X-conversions. Also the last part of (523.115) limits such conversions to the SBXs: "Such conversions can only be performed by an SBX." As such, major or minor conversion facilities under (450.1) may NOT perform X-conversions. For what it's worth, there was considerable debate when the "conversion facility" rule was written about the idea of an "X-conversion facility" and it was not approved. Q: Can a captured war cruiser (any empire) be converted into a new heavy cruiser (same empire)? Also are variants except for survey cruiser variants available? Rule Reference: (305.231) [excerpted] A captured ship refitted and put into use is considered a ship of the new owning player for all purposes (except that a ship of one empire cannot be converted into a variant of the capturing empire's equivalent ship, but only into a variant of the original owner). Explanation: A DW is not a variant of a FF; nor is an NCA a variant of a CW. A true variant installs/replaces weapons and other systems compatible within a given base hull but does not change the base hull. The capturing empire simply does not have the luxury of researching and developing a base hull conversion for one-off conversions of captured ships. A: No, you are converting the ship to a new base hull type and you do not have the design infrastruture to do it. Changing a CW to a CWS simply requires changing the equipment installed in the hull, and you already make the new kind of equipment. Changing a CW to an NCA requires a new hull structure that you have no way to build. (OK, in theory you could hand-build just about anything, but it would cost far more than building a new NCA of your own design from scratch.) (End of F&E Q&A)
ASK AUNT JEAN
Dear Aunt Jean, What do we do if two Prime Directive books contradict each other? For example, the original Prime Directive described the Q'Naabians in a way that GURPS Prime Directive directly contradicts. PD20M doesn't even list them! How do I know what to do with them? A: Please let us know when you find something like that. We'll need to do some research to find out which one went astray. Then, we'll let you know about which way to jump. That exact situation came up and you will find the information for the Q'Naabians in Captain's Log #51. The stats include information for GURPS, PD20M, and Traveller Prime Directive.
Send questions to Jean at design@StarFleetGames.com and SVC will decide which one Jean will answer next.
(End of Ask Aunt Jean ) 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. We have new images of our game Star Fleet Marines posted on our BBS topic page. 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 VOUZ In Federation Commander, all firing during the same impulse is considered to be simultaneous, but is resolved as separate volleys. Rule (3A4) defines a volley as "...all of the direct-fire weapons of a single ship fired during a single impulse at a single target..." Rule (3D2) allows the attacker to decide the order in which volleys are resolved. Does the order in which they are resolved matter? It certainly does matter!
In most instances, the largest volley should be resolved first, as it has the greatest chance of knocking down a shield, which will prevent any further volleys on that shield from being reduced by shield reinforcement. Additionally, if any internal damage is scored, you may get lucky and take out a battery or two which will help reduce the ability to reinforce against future volleys and volleys scored on other shields. But is there ever a time when you'd resolve volleys in a different order? It depends on the tactical situation. Assume you have multiple volleys scored on a single shield (one of 9 points, one of 8 points, and one of 28 points against a single 25 point shield). If the target has power available and 2 working batteries and the volleys are resolved from largest to smallest... Volley A, 28 points: Target reinforces two points and takes one burn-through point loses the 25 shield boxes. Volley B, 9 points: Target takes 9 internal damage points. Volley C, 8 points: Target takes 8 internal damage points. This method will remove two points of power and produce 17 internal damage points. If the volleys are resolved from smallest to largest, the target will be able to reinforce against all of the volleys. This method removes six points of discretionary power from the target and will cause 14 internal damage points. While this may seem to be a worse choice, if the object of the mission is to capture a ship, or to prevent it from leaving the area, it may actually be a better choice. If the loss of discretionary power prevents the target from being able to HET to bring an undamaged shield to bear at a later impulse or prevents it from winning a tractor auction, etc. Before automatically resolving the largest volley first, think about the options.
When your satellite ships take a lot of power into their panels, it is fairly standard to transport them back aboard for a period of cooling off.
Another option is to transport them into a convenient planetary atmosphere for a while. This has a couple of advantages. 1. The power absorber panels dissipate energy at double the normal rate. 2. Your satellite ship can repair its power absorber panels at the maximum rate (of degradation or damage). (End of SFB Tactic of the Month) Demotivationals Throughout the month our graphics director places on the website various cards called Demotivationals. These are like postcards with an image and a phrase that is often used for humor. Here are the newest demotivationals since our last newsletter:
To see our previous Demotivationals click here.
Facebook Highlight of the Month Thomas LaMaster reports: Stuck on the ship with Duty Day Blues? Teach a friend Star Fleet Battles! He controlled a D7 while I flew a Fed CA. It started out as a close match, but I out maneuvered him in the end and shot him full of holes. He had a fun time and wants to play again, and says he'll pay more attention to the movement of his ship and he won't waste drones taking out shuttles.
Mini of the Month Jeremy Gray painted this Starline 2400 Romulan King Condor.
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
show our games and to teach potential players some basics. 
