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October 2019
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Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS:
BOOSTER #37
In early November we will release the first new Federation Commander product in five years, Booster Pack #37. This (along with the subsequent packs) will be the ships that would have gone into Flagships Attack, but we decided to instead release that product as separate boosters in order to get it out faster.
This will include the leader versions of the Federation NCL and DW, the Kzinti CM and DW, and the Tholian CW. This will also include three Hydran ships, which are currently intended to be the Warrior destroyer leader, the Apache war cruiser leader, and the Lion Hunter war destroyer leader.
Booster Pack #38 will include DW and CW leaders for the Klingons, Lyrans, Vudar, and WYNs.
Booster Pack #39 will include leaders for the Romulans, Gorns, and ISC.
MORE BIG NEWS ADB Releases Ships in October 2019!
On October 4, 2019, ADB released a total of 75 new items to its shop on Shapeways. There were four Tholian web play aids released earlier in mid-September to celebrate the release of A Call to Arms: Star Fleet, Book 2. That brings our shop to nearly 1,800 items. There are some styles of ships designed to work within the price increase that Shapeways imposed. Notably we added empire-specific shuttles and battle stations. We also added a new, larger scale that we named the 2500 Scale (Prestige Scale) which is 1/2500. These larger ships are perfect for one-on-one tabletop duels. They can always be used as a display model when not being used for battles. The Federation gets a brand new ship, the Corvette, in both the "regular" (gridded) and "Fed Classic" (smooth body) versions. The ship is already in A Call to Arms: Star Fleet (ACTASF). It will get a Federation Commander ship card in the Communique for November. It will appear in Module R13 for Star Fleet Battles. The Federation also gets its Augmented Base Station, Battle Station, and Augmented Battle Station. The Klingons gain their Augmented Base Station, Battle Station, and Augmented Battle Station. They get their empire-specific administrative shuttlecraft, too. Finally they get their SparrowHawk and SparrowHawk+ Light Cruiser (RKL). The "+" indicates it is a late-war "Cranked Arrow" design in the style of the Starline 2500 Romulan ships which these are based on. The RKL is in the new ACTASF book. The Romulans get their ChickenHawk Gunboat/PF Tender along with their empire-specific administrative shuttlecraft. The Tholians gain some play aids to help mark their Tholian Web. They have 1" Web Panels (20 of them), 2" Web Panels (12 of them), and 2" Web Panels with the bases built in (8 in a set). They also get a set of Tholian Web Anchors. The Seltorians get their Fast Cruiser, Fast Light Cruiser, and Survey Cruiser. They also get their empire-specific administrative shuttlecraft. The Gorns gain their Epanterias-K Strike Cruiser and Tyrannosaurus-H Heavy Dreadnought in both the regular and refitted versions. (Both of these ships are in the new ACTASF book where the Tyrannosaurus-H is known as the Spinosaurus.) The Gorns are also the first to see the new 2500 Scale (Prestige Scale) with the Allosaurus Buck Battlecruiser in both the regular and refitted versions. The Kzintis get their Command Cruiser, Fast Battlecruiser, Heavy Dreadnought, New Command Cruiser, and Police Cutter. There is also a sprue with both the Police Cutter and Police Corvette on it. While the Command Cruiser is ACTASF1.2, the others are in the new ACTASF book. They also get their empire-specific shuttlecraft. The Orions get their Dreadnought and Gunboat/PF Tender. The Dreadnought is in the new ACTASF book. The Hydrans get their Mongol-H and Tartar-H heavy medium cruisers. The Lyrans and their wayward county of the Lyran Democratic Republic get their Local Defense Frigate. The Inter-Stellar Concordium gets its Scout, based on a destroyer hull. The Vudar gain a War Destroyer Scout along with their empire-specific shuttlecraft. The WYNs gain their Green Shark Strike Carrier and Tigershark Heavy Battlecruiser. Either ship is available as a one-piece ship or a kit that needs some assembly. In the simulator you can fight the Qari BM1 Destroyer and T64 Heavy Cruiser. Since the turret for their weapons is a separate piece, you can aim the turret where you want! 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  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 The Sapphire Star #1 tournament is winding up with its limit of 16 players with hard-and-fast deadlines for play. It started on July 1 with Peter Bakija winning the tournament. Steven Petrick is the judge for this series of tournaments.
Sapphire Star #2 Tournament Signups Still Available
The first Sapphire Star tournament is wending its way to completion. Because it was the first tournament, and summer vacations intruded into playing schedules, I allowed some leeway in the two-week to completion requirement. This was why three weeks were allowed in the first round and subsequently the vacation plans of individuals further intruded.
To restate the rules:
There will be strict deadlines: two weeks for each round. 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 do note that Thanksgiving occurs during the tournament, and for that purpose will allow a third week for that round. This is again the "Vacation" issue. Players may already have family get together plans and not be able to play that week. They are not, of course, required to take that week off (if they have no plans) and could complete the tournament in that week if both agree to play.
Signups are still open. Please remember to sign up on SFBOL and the shopping cart.
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES 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/
A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month Dust clouds are similar to asteroid fields in size and only slightly less common. Ships can enter or exit dust clouds at will and can even move about inside them. Unlike asteroid fields however, ships take no damage from moving inside a dust cloud. That¹s not to say they aren¹t without effect. All ships suffer a -1 modifier to their Crew Quality as result of the random glitches common inside of these dust clouds. In addition, Romulans also lose the benefits of being cloaked while inside a dust field. As with an asteroid field, ships within the dust cloud that are attacked receive the 5+ Stealth trait (or +2 to Stealth if they already have that trait) as the dust particles interfere with target locks. If a ship located inside a dust cloud attacks a ship outside the dust cloud, that ship also gains the Stealth 5+ trait as the target lock interference works both ways.
(End of A Call to Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month)
Mini of the Month Daniel Bostwick painted this Andromedan Conquistador (3788 Scale, Smooth Fine Detail Plastic).
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New Releases Communique #166 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
FC Booster Pack #37
FC Booster Pack #38
FC Federation Epack #5
A Call to Arms: Starfleet Book 2
GURPS Klingons Revision
Star fleet Universe Index
To be released in 2020
Captain's Log #55
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 Briefing Room, USS Mallory (Continue reading here)
Ask Admiral Vanaxilth Mines
Francois Lemay asks: A ship moving Speed 20 is forced to enter the same hex as three active T-bombs. Since the laying ship can only carry two T-bombs, I know at least one is fake, and at least one is real. Are fake T-bombs included in the discovery roll?
ANSWER: No. One of the real T-bombs (or the only real one if there is only one) will explode. Essentially, the fake T-bombs are treated the same as any mine that was not set for the ship¹s size class or had an unsatisfied target count delay. When the ship enters the hex of the T-bombs, the player controlling the mines determines a random order among the ones that are eligible to detonate, and then you would start with the first one and roll for detonation, continuing through the order until one detonates. (In this case, the first one is guaranteed to detonate due to your speed.) So, if he announces two T-bombs are eligible to detonate, you know that there are two real T-bombs and one fake. If he announces only one is eligible to detonate, that might mean there is one real and two fakes, or it might mean that there are two real T-bombs, but one of them is not set for your size class, or it has an unsatisfied target count delay. Gregory Flusch asks: Can T-bombs be transferred between ships during a game? That is, can I use a transporter to move them from one ship to another ship? Then, later that turn or the next, deploy them? ANSWER: Yes, see (G25.3). Kommodore Ketrick adds: I would add, for clarification, that you cannot use this to "exceed the limits" before the start of a scenario, nor can you use it to "exceed the limits" during a scenario. Before you can transfer a useable T-bomb from ship (or base) "A" to ship (or base) "B," "B" must have a space for the T-bomb. F&E Q&A
PRODUCTION Q: The Hydran schedule for Turns #4 and #6 lists Production (511.321) as: One RN, LN, or HN respectively. Does this mean that the Hydrans can produce one RN, and one LN or HN or just one of the three listed on the given turn?
A: It is one ship (total) of any of those three classes (RN, LN, HN) for that specific turn. Q: If a B10 under construction is "used" (436.24), it cannot be worked on, but costs no money to keep at its current total. However, the rule also mentions "returns to the capital by retrograde," implying that this is only true if it left the capital hex. So, can a B10 be worked on the turn after it was used in combat in any capacity via (436.33)? If not, does this only apply if it is actually used, or must the Coalition player declare if it is staying in its slipway at the beginning of a capital assault? A: This is more sloppy rules writing to be corrected in the 2020 edition. Rule (436.24) does not require the ship to leave the capital hex but does cover what would happen if it did in addition to covering what happens if it doesn¹t. Note the term "even if." If you use the ship in combat (in the capital hex or anywhere else), you cannot work on it, do not have to pay to store it, and it does not deteriorate. By the way, rules (436.26) and (436.27) are clearly notes about battleships, not options for selection and need to be moved somewhere else. Q: If a player is building a Special Attack Force (SAF), the cost can be reduced (521.62) by removing one FTL (five points) or one (or two) FTS (two points each) which are in the shipyard hex, absorbing them into the SAF. However, on the SITs use of troop ships in the building of an SAF is listed as a conversion of the FTL or FTS. Is using the troopship a conversion or a build discount? It matters because the former case consumes available conversion capacity. A: See (520.0), (521.62), (520.22), and (520.5). An FTL or two FTSs used to reduce the cost of assembling a SAF is considered a "build" with a discount and is not considered as a "conversion." The assembly of any SAF does not consume any conversion capacity. We¹ll clarify the wording on the SIT in the next update. Q: Rule (450.18) explicitly states a minor shipyard can substitute a variant of the hull for a basic hull, and gives the example that a Fed DD cannot be substituted for a Fed NCL even though they have similar parts. What flexibility does a minor shipyard have? A: A minor shipyard that produces a given hull "A" may produce a lesser-hulled ship "B" if ship "B" can be converted into ship "A." This is a non-exhaustive list of examples: Lyran/LDR CW MSYs may produce DD-hulled ships; Lyran/LDR DW MSYs may produce FF-hulled ships;
LDR MP MSYs may produce POL-hulled ships; Gorn BD MSYs may produce DD-hulled ships; Hydran DW MSYs may produce HN/CR/CU-hulled ships; Klingon F5W MSYs may produce F5/F5L-hulled ships; Tholian DD and CW MSYs may produce PC-hulled ships; Romulan K5L MSYs may produce K5-hulled ships. A minor shipyard set to build D5s could not produce E5s, E4s, G6s, F5Ws, or even L5s. (End of F&E Q&A) ASK AUNT JEAN Dear Aunt Jean, what changed in the new GURPS Prime Directive book?
A:
Chapter 1: The empire information was moved to be with the species. There the information for the ISC was expanded.
Chapter 2: There is more GURPS information on creating a character and it is presented more along the lines of what GURPS players expect in the way of formatting and tables. Point values changed for Cygnans, Andorians, Ethnic Klingon warriors, Hilidarians, Kzintis, Gorns, Orions (the background information changed to be for the species, not what they did as for a job), Andromedan (no point change, but descriptions of the robots were enhanced), Ranel, Phelen, Veltressai (no point change, but background was greatly enhanced with two total paragraphs becoming seven), Q'Naabians (background corrected and enhanced with one paragraph becoming four), Pronhoulites (and background expanded from a paragraph to six), Rovillians (and background expanded from two paragraphs to seven), Korlivilar (and background expanded from one paragraph to three), Seltorian Queens (and background expanded from two paragraphs to four), Seltorian Sages, Seltorian Experts, Jindarians, Vudar, Paravians, and Carnivons. Height and weight table was added. Templates were corrected (Star Fleet Academy, Federation Marine Academy, Federation Marine Boot Camp, and Merchant Marine Academy) or added (Star Fleet Basic Training, Galactic Intelligence Agency Academy, Federation Marshals Service Academy, and "Shake and Bake School") The only one that was untouched was the Merchant Marine Basic Training.
Chapter 3: Advantages and Disadvantages reflect GURPS move away from classifying them by type. The chapter grew from 31 pages to 65.
Chapter 4: Skills. This section grew from 14 pages to 38. All skills mentioned in the templates are included. It also includes GURPS information about skills.
Chapter 5: How to Play. This section includes most of the rules you need to actually play the game. It expanded from 25 pages to 64. The section on Interspecies Medicine was moved to this chapter from Technology.
Chapter 6: End Game Awards. More GURPS information was added about developing the character. Medals were included with the text about them. Defender of Life was added.
Chapter 7: Technology. The list "Technology Availability by Empire" was greatly expanded from about half a column to over a column. The non-standard Technical Skill Specializations disappeared with the description of the technology now explaining what skill is needed to operate it. Shipboard equipment expanded from three pages to over seven. Weapons tables now look like GURPS tables and include weapons that adventurers might encounter that are more primitive.
Chapter 8: The Star Fleet Universe. Let's Play Federation Commander is added. Standard Planetary Classes now include Class T. Circle Trigon is now accurately placed on the Romulan-Gorn-ISC Neutral Zone. Using SFB for Space Combat is expanded to include Federation Commander. A short section titled Commercial Passenger Service was added.
Chapter 9: Space Combat actually has the GURPS statistics for and rules on fighting. Descriptions and stats for the standard large freighter, Free Trader, security skiff, Federation heavy cruiser, Klingon D7 battlecruiser, Romulan War Eagle, Kzinti command cruiser, Gorn Allosaurus Battlecruiser, Tholian patrol corvette, Orion Pirate light cruiser, and the standard administrative shuttlecraft are included. To help people visualize where things are on the ship, Federation Commander ship cards are used. A section on "Customized Civilian Ships" was added.
Chapter 10: The sample characters now have the skills they should and the point value has been adjusted accordingly.
The index now has an additional section that is titled SELECTED TABLES, MAPS, AND CHARTS that should be useful for players and GMs. Since the book is longer, the index is also longer.
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 MonthCRASHING THE ESGs Standard Federation doctrine calls for the ship to close to a range of zero or one with fully overloaded photons and then fire an alpha strike. While this works against the Klingons, it needs to be modified when fighting Lyrans.
While you are charging your photon torpedoes, the Lyran is probably filling his ESG capacitors. When you close to Range Zero or 1, the Lyran will fire a full-strength ESG burst, plus phasers and overloaded disruptors. The ESGs, just by themselves, can knock down your forward shield and cause internal damage. You need to blunt the effect of the ESGs. On the turn before you engage, launch shuttles and pull them along using your tractor beams, keeping them in the same hex with your ship. Launch a drone at the end of the turn, timed so that it will impact during the same impulse as your attack. When the ESG bursts are fired, your ship, the shuttles, and drone will divide the damage between them, so the shuttles and drone act as a kind of "shield reinforcement." The tractor beams cost energy, but each shuttle will absorb six times more damage than the same amount of energy used as shield reinforcement. The empty shuttle bay boxes will also pad any full shuttle bay boxes. After exchanging direct fire, launch another drone (you can take "frame" hits to protect your drone rack) or a suicide shuttle (it¹s unlikely that your on-board shuttles were destroyed). The Lyran may well be facing directly towards you and not be able to avoid impact. If he¹s fired a full alpha strike himself, he won¹t be able to stop any seeking weapons.
The threat that you might do this could cause the Lyran to hold back some energy in one ESG; if he does, don¹t bother arming a suicide shuttle and use the energy to accelerate away so you can reload your weapons and repair critical damage.
Ships operating solo that expect to drop fire control or are fighting around a planet should take into account that continuity of tracking rules say that any unit with a lock-on counts for continuous tracking. Launch a shuttle or beam a pilot into a used friendly or enemy scatter-pack, voided weasel, or other unit capable of keeping an eye on the enemy¹s launched seeking weapons. This will keep information about their launching racks or tubes alive when your primary ship has no lock-on. Use the information to track from where large drones or pseudo plasma torpedoes have launched.
(End of SFB Tactic of the Month) F&E Strategy of the Month The rules for a drone raid stipulate that at least one of the ships must have scout functions. For Klingons, this role is usually handled by a D6D. The rest of the raiding party consists of a combination of D5D or D6D ships or, more rarely, a tug with two drone pods.
The D6D does fulfill the scout role; however, its two electronic warfare points may be better used in a regular battle force. A better option would be to use a D5H with a single drone pod accompanied by two D5D ships. While the drone bombardment factor is 17% less than with the D6D (10 instead of 12), the total combat potential of the three ships is now 22-23, one better than with the D6D. This makes raids on defended targets more survivable. While D5Hs are valuable, typically there are more of them than there are D6Ds and the latter¹s two electronic warfare points can be better used making higher electronic warfare battle forces.
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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show our games and to teach potential players some basics. 
