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September 2021
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Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS: THE BIG NEWS! FIVE NEW RELEASES! The big news this month is that we have a LOT of BIG NEWS. New products and updated products and more to come!
What if the Romulans had developed warp power when everyone else did, instead of decades later? What ships would be flying and how would the galaxy change? This product explores these alternate realities, five possible timeline changes that proceed from singular events and produce a very different universe. Available in print (with counters) and as an eBook, Module R4J is the second new "true SFB module" this year after a gap of a decade since the previous one. Included are 55 new SSDs and four new scenarios, along with detailed alternative history. Rulebook Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB5638-2 DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353877/ Wargame Vault: https://www.wargamevault.com/product/353877/ Print: https://www.starfleetstore.com/rulebooks-c-1_3_4/module-r4j-rulebook-shadow-of-the-eagle-stellar-shadows-p-1301.html B&W SSD book Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB5638-3 DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353879/ Wargame Vault: https://www.wargamevault.com/product/353879/ Print: https://www.starfleetstore.com/ssd-books-c-1_3_33/module-r4j-ssds-shadow-of-the-eagle-stellar-shadows-p-1302.html Color SSD book (available as an e-book only) Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB5638-3C DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353880/ Wargame Vault: https://www.wargamevault.com/product/353880/ The complete module, including die-cut counters, is available from your local game store or direct from ADB: https://www.starfleetstore.com/new-ship-modules-c-1_15/module-r4j-shadow-of-the-eagle-stellar-shadows-p-1300.html
F&E COMBINED OPERATIONS: THE UPDATES KEEP COMING The second of the four F&E products updated to 2021 standards is COMBINED OPERATIONS, which covers ground combat, prime teams, stasis field generators, electronic warfare, light tactical transports, monitors, special units, and special attack forces. Also included are the original seven scenarios, all updated to 2021 standards. You can download the Combined Operations Rulebook from these sources: Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB3207-2 DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/370211/ Wargame Vault: https://www.wargamevault.com/product/370211/ It is available as a complete expansion (including the rulebook, four copies of Countersheet M, one copy each of countersheets H, K, L, and T+U, and four fleet charts) from either your local game store or direct from ADB: https://www.starfleetstore.com/expansions-c-22_88/fe-combined-operations-2021-p-264.html Next month will see the release of TACTICAL OPERATIONS, the first new F&E product in several years.
MORE KLINGONS HUNTING FEDERATION COMMANDERS! Federation Commander: Klingon Ship Card Pack #5 Available Federation Commander players, you wanted to have more ships for the Klingon Empire; now you have them! Ten Federation Commander ship cards for the Klingon Empire, including: • C9 Dreadnought • D7Z Battlecruiser • D5G Commando Cruiser • HF5 Heavy War Destroyer • E3 Corvette • D6K Heavy Cruiser • D70 Mission Cruiser • D60 Mission Cruiser • D50 Mission Cruiser • E40 Mission Frigate The pack also includes the ship histories and the graphics for the counters. Each ship is presented in high resolution in both fleet scale and squadron scale. This mission cruisers are an entirely new concept for SFU, and the first of these was in last months newletter for SFB. The pack is only available as an e-pack and is available from the following sources: Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB4835 DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/368074/ Wargame Vault: https://www.wargamevault.com/product/368074/
SFB MODULE R2 UPDATED FOR 2021 Newly updated in 2021, this is the rulebook for SFB Module R2 covering the Federation, Andromedans, Orions, and Kzintis. With the updates, this rulebook has more than doubled its page count from the original. The rulebook contains the descriptions of such ships as the Federation space control ship and the Battlecruiser New Jersey, Andromedan Anaconda and Asp, Kzinti dreadnought and war destroyer, and Orion Double Raider and famous OK6 cruiser. There are nine scenarios in this rulebook. Get your new PDF rulebooks here: Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB5607-2 DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/368738/ Wargame Vault: https://www.wargamevault.com/product/368738/ If you want it in print, you can order it from ADB's shopping cart: https://www.starfleetstore.com/rulebooks-c-1_3_4/module-r2-rulebook-2021-p-157.html
STARMADA UNITY CONTINUES IN PRINT We have released Battleships Armada Unity, the fifth book in the new edition. This edition unifies the previous Nova and Admiralty editions, so there will no longer be Starmada fans who cannot game together. The new rules preserve the best of both previous systems and add dynamic seeking weapons rules that do what seeking weapons are supposed to do: force the enemy to move out of key areas or shoot his way through a swam of them. In the future, the sixth book in the series, RUMORS OF WARS, as well as additional books, will appear in the Unity format only. Because we want to bring all Starmada players together, we're making Unity a free PDF upgrade for anyone who bought the Nova or Admiralty editions of this book. Nothing was wrong with either edition, other than the fact that it was harder to find opponents who played by the same rulebook. That problem is now solved. If you bought a PDF of either the Admiralty edition or Nova edition through Warehouse 23, DriveThru RPG, or Wargame Vault, then your PDF library now contains the original older Nova or Admiralty edition you bought AND the new Unity edition we're giving you. Get your copy of Battleships Armada Unity from the following sources: Warehouse 23: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB6135 DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/333219/ Wargame Vault: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/333219/ Anyone who bought a hardcopy of Battleships Armada Nova or Battleships Armada Admiralty can get a free PDF copy by contacting us at marketing@starfleetgames.com. If you want to replace your hardcopy Nova/Admiralty book with a hardcopy Unity book, we'll sell you one for our cost ($8, less than half price) plus shipping. Hardcopies of Nova/Admiralty books will no longer be available but you will be able to buy hard copies of the new Unity books from ADB, Inc. Get your print version of Battleships Armada Unity from either your local game store or direct from ADB: https://www.starfleetstore.com/starmada-c-89/battleships-armada-unity-p-1303.html ADB Releases New Ships for September 2021
On September 1, 2021, ADB released 17 new items to its shop on Shapeways, which has over 2,750 items available in total. This month we focused on the Carnivons and Jindarians. We also introduced three new tanks. Please note that all miniatures are available in both 3788 and 3125 scales, except when noted.
Historically, the Carnivons were wiped out by the Kzintis and Lyrans before they got to the era of the "Modern Age." If they hadn't been, they would have continued to evolve their ships. These ships are described in Star Fleet Battles Module C6. The Carnivons gain their Light Cruiser, Police Corvette, and Police Flagship. There is a sprue of two Police Corvettes with a single Police Flagship in command. In Omni Scale, they get a gunboat/PF flotilla with four "regular" gunboats, a leader, and a scout. The Carnivons also get their Builder Collection in 7000 Scale. This collection of six ships contains three of the most common Carnivon hulls (two light cruisers, two destroyers, and two frigates). The Jindarians gain their Destroyer and War Destroyer. And then there are tanks! These are all in 285 Scale. The Gorns have their Ssikg Tanks, the Kzintis have their Tigerpaw Tanks, and the Andromedans have their Legionnaire Tanks. Check all these out here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/amarillo-design-bureau-inc
WEBSITE:
Our website, www.StarFleetGames.com, continues to grow and improve. You are welcome to send us your requests, comments, and suggestions. Simone Dale, our graphics director, continues to update the website, do covers for the new products, shut down pirate websites, help out around the company, and learn more about the game business.
TWITTER: VIDEOS: Star Fleet Marines Part 1 DOING VIDEOS OF THE SFU
A customer asked about posting "tutorial videos" for our games. We like it when people do that (and even give commendation medals) but you need to have us check the videos to make sure you aren't violating something somehow (or that you didn't make a rules error). Doing such videos to make money is not cool. Please drop us an email before you post the videos.
STARBLOG: STAR FLEET'S LEGIONS EXPAND: This month we feature Battle Group Hampton Roads, headquartered in Hampton, Virginia. CO William Phillips reports they play Star Fleet Battles and Federation & Empire. They also enjoy attending gaming conventions. Read more here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/battlegroup_HamptonRoads.shtml
Do you have a battle group? Be sure to report your activities here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/report.shtml
Do you want to see if there's a battle group near you? Check out the map here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/battlegroup/gather.shtml#US
Facebook Fan Pages
So join us on Facebook and get a fix of your favorite game there, too! As announced in Captain's Log #54, Jean Sexton Beddow's husband, Al Beddow has been appointed to take over the day-to-day of running the SFU Ranger demo team. He come with a bit of experience both teaching various types of games as well having been in quite a few demo teams (and ran/helped run a few). He is most familiar with GURPS Prime Directive but early on played ACTASF and spent Gencon 2012 demoing it in the Mongoose Publishing booth there. So, we are asking each of you to email Al at the address below with the following: - Name Al will add you to the Ranger group on the forum once he has this info, which will let you access our area there. He is looking forward to working with all of you to spread the news of the Star Fleet Universe! Current stats: We have heard from 22 of our Rangers and have three new ones! We are excited to see the Rangers becoming active as playing in person and cons once again start up. Jean Sexton Beddow Al Beddow Ranger Email: adbrangerhq@gmail.com FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/517647465103651/ ADB Forums: http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/phpbb2/index.php ADB BBS: http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/
JAGDPANTHER
Custom Decals for Starline ships Tenneshington Decals continues to provide custom decals for all currently produced Federation Starline 2500 miniatures. For more information or to download the order sheet, check them out at www.tenneshington.com. Or if you prefer, email Will McCammon at: will@tenneshington.com or Tony L. Thomas at: scoutdad@tenneshington.com.
Jupiter IV Decals is a source of decals for the 2400 line and will do custom decals as well as all official SFB names. In the near future Jupiter IV will move into the 2500 line and will work to get every listed name on the Starfleet registry completed in both scales.
Their website is: JupiterIvdecals.com
ONLINE TOURNAMENTS Sapphire Star 9 is currently scheduled to start on 1 Oct 21 to avoid conflicting with the Master’s event.
DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES Alex Chobot is holding a Star Fleet Battles tournament at the Las Vegas Open tabletop gaming convention. This will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, from January 28-30, 2022. The con's website is here: https://www.lasvegasopen.net/home-1 Register and signup early -- Alex has plans for great prizes! Due to the COVID-19 virus, many conventions have been cancelled. We encourage you to check out Star Fleet Battles Online where there is a free demo version. It is a good way to hang out with others who play Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander. Check it out here: https://www.sfbonline.com/index.jsp Star Fleet Battles games are played regularly in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday afternoons at the Soldiery. Lee Hanna is the contact person.
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New Releases EXTRAS FOR THE MONTH: You can look at Hailing Frequencies Extras here.
Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies.
Recently Released Starmadas Battleships Armada Unity SKU 6135, $16.95 SHAPEWAYS:
We’re now offering some of our miniatures and some new designs on Shapeways. You can check out the store here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/amarillo-design-bureau-inc?sort=newest
PDF and EBOOK SALES:
RECENTLY RELEASED ON Warehouse 23
Ask Admiral Vanaxilth Cloak
Clayton Krueger asks: When a ship deactivates its cloaking device and begins fade-in, it immediately gains a +5 penalty (G13.302) during Stage 6B2 of impulse activity. If the ship continues to uncloak, then during the Stage 6B2 segment of the following impulse the range penalty decreases to +4, but does that mean that the uncloaking ship is still +5 during the preceding movement (6A) segment? If so, is the Impulse #1 movement segment an exception when the player does not pay for the cloak during energy allocation?
ANSWER: Per (G13.116), if the cloaked ship does not allocate energy for cloaking, it begins decloaking on Impulse #1. There is no exception to the (G13.15) procedure for this case. The deactivation is announced during stage 6B2 of impulse activity of Impulse #1, and the ship begins fading in at that point. Prior to this stage, the cloaking device is fully operational. Daniel Thompson asks: I follow rule (G13.36). Pretty much pick either the fire adjustment chart or the basic electronic warfare shift. That seems to conflict very slightly with rule (G13.303) but not to a relevant degree. Rule (G13.361) says to use the chart in (G13.37), but add the penalty hexes to the die roll and then subtract five from the die roll. Ignore any electronic warfare effects. Now it is a little fuzzy to me what it is saying here. Which penalty hexes is it referring to? I would "guess" it is referring to the +5 from the normal cloak. That seems curious however since it immediately says to subtract five. How then would you ever get to seven or more on the chart if electronic warfare does not apply? My guess to answer that question would be rule (G13.62) which replaces the +5 with a +10. Under those conditions it would be possible to reach a seven or more on the (G13.37) table. ANSWER: You add the penalty hexes, and then subtract five. Unless you are using (G13.62), Experience in Tracking, it would not be possible to have an adjusted roll of seven or more on the (G13.37) table. Otherwise, note that if the range adjustment is +5, (G13.361) works out to a straight die roll, which is what you get when the target is fully cloaked (along with double range if you do not have lock-on). The adjustment will then go to -1, -2, -3, and -4, at which point the (G13.37) table will be moot because the highest you could roll is a "two." Alex Lyons asks a follow-up question: In order to get a 7+ natural electronic warfare sources such as atmosphere would still be in effect.
ANSWER: Daniel Thompson correctly answered electronic warfare specifically does not do anything to (G13.37) up or down, natural or otherwise, in any of the rules I have just read. It is quite specific that (G13.37) replaces electronic warfare. Rule (G13.372) refers to any ECM shift, which would include ECM from atmosphere. During fade-in/fade-out, the cloaking unit can give you the (G13.72) effect, as adjusted by (G13.361), or the electronic warfare die roll shift (but not both), at his option. And Daniel is also correct that other atmospheric effects on weapons [see (P2.54)] would still be applied. Alex Lyons asks: Rule (G13.612) states that twice per turn you can have the cloaked player reveal firing arc and true range from you. If uncloaked ship A is in hex 3527, and cloaked ship B is in hex 3519 would the cloaked player be forced to reveal two firing arcs since it is in two firing arcs? ANSWER: The problem is, (G13.612) refers to firing arcs, not shield arcs, so if the cloaked ship is along a hex row from the opposing ship, it will be in two different firing arcs, and while it might make sense to use (D3.41)-(D3.43) somehow to resolve this, there is no support for that in the rules. The owner of the cloaked ship is required to give you a range and a firing arc (as in LF, L, LR, RR, R or RF). He is not obligated to tell you where in the firing arc he is, or whether he is in any other arcs. So, no, just one arc. David Zimdars asks: When using the cloaked fire adjustment chart (G13.37) for weapons which strike multiple shields, what is the proper procedure? Do you apply the percentage and round for the total damage and then round, or do you apply the percentage and round for each shield struck? ANSWER: It depends on how damage for the weapon is defined. Hellbores and enveloping plasma torpedoes have a defined warhead strength; this is the damage the weapon does, and the number that gets adjusted by (G13.37). How the damage is distributed over different shields is calculated after the total damage is determined. For example, a hellbore hits for 13 damage, and a "four" is rolled on the table, resulting in a reduction to seven Damage Points. These seven Damage Points are then distributed per (E10.4). A 30-point enveloping plasma torpedo that gets reduced by 50% effectively becomes a 15-point enveloping plasma torpedo, and those 15 Damage Points are distributed per (FP5.31). For a plasmatic pulsar device, see rule (E11.472). For some weapons (energy howitzers, enveloping hypercannons, and tachyon beams, to name a few), damage is defined per shield. In this case, you would adjust each element per the (G13.37) table. For example, an energy howitzer armed with six points of energy hits at Range 1. The Chlorophon player rolls a "six" on (G13.37). Two of the elements strike up shields, and will each do (10 * 1/4 =) three points damage. One element hits a down shield, and scores (3 * 1/4 =) one point of internal damage through that shield. Follow-up question: Okay, so the very last sentence of (E11.472) says that "Any reduction is taken first from the splash elements." which implies that you total all damage, apply reduction, and then take away from splash damage. Is this correct? Which player chooses the distribution of splash, if it is not even? ANSWER: Yes, rule (E11.472) means you take the total plasmatic pulsar device damage, apply the adjustment from (G13.37), and reduce the splash elements first. For example, if the plasmatic pulsar device hit at Range 10 for 1+4+1, but the cloak adjustment reduces it to 1/4, it will do 0+2+0. A plasmatic pulsar device that hit at Range 21-25 for 1+1+1, but was reduced to 1/2 by the cloak, would do 1+1+0, which is resolved by (E11.352). The single point of splash will hit the stronger of the two adjacent shields. If the adjacent shields are equal, then the owner of the target ship picks. Philip Moore asks: I launched two plasma-S torpedoes at a Romulan FireHawk on Impulse #32 and I am now trying to figure out what happens if he cloaks right away. The way I see it, my torpedoes move on Impulse #1 and (by hypothesis) he starts cloaking later in Impulse #1. Assuming he is going Speed Zero, the torpedoes will hit at a range modifier of +3 (as it has not been a full four impulses since the announcement of cloak). I understand what happens with direct-fire, but I am not sure what happens with the plasma torpedoes. Rule (G13.36) refers to "all firing units" and I am not sure if that applies to plasma torpedoes that enter the hex. ANSWER: You either apply the electronic warfare shift, per (D6.361), or you use (G13.37), adjusted per (G13.361), and (G13.37) refers back to (G13.35). "All firing units" in (G13.36) refers to both units that fired direct-fire weapons, and to units that launched (or fired) seeking weapons at the cloaking ship.
(End of Admiral Vanaxilth) F&E Q&A
COMMAND AND CONTROL Q: The Lyrans have two admirals in a single forward-deployed fleet. During the Retrograde Phase the Lyran player attempts to use a frigate to transfer one of those admirals to a battlecruiser in a rear-deployed reserve fleet. The Kzinti player has objected to this maneuver on the basis of the admiral transfer restrictions under (316.14) which says that the admiral has to be on a command ship. The Lyran player argues that since (316.22) Admiral Effectiveness is not in use, those restrictions do not apply. What do we do? And just what does the note about "not needed" really mean?
A: First, it's not a problem to put the admiral on a frigate (or an APT for that matter) to move him from one fleet to another during a single phase. He's back on a ship with a Command Rating of eight before anything happens that would matter. No harm, no foul, no problem. The "not needed" note means that you don't have to bother with fussy rules about what ship the admiral is on if you aren't using (316.22), and here's why. When using admiral effectiveness, you will eventually get a dud -1 admiral, and a devious player might want to put him on a small, insignificant ship and send him to some out-of-the-way corner of the empire to inventory asteroids. Rule (316.14) requires him to be on a Command Rating 8 ship, so if you do send Admiral Dunderhead on sabbatical, he takes an important ship with him. Without admiral effectiveness (316.22), an admiral is just a ticket to add a ship to the battle force beyond the command limit, and you can assign him to a Free Trader if you want (although that will get him killed and limit the size of his fleet, so nobody would actually assign him to anything other than a real command ship). Q: Ok, so we're now allowed to move admirals between fleets using a non-qualified command ship (as long as that ship has a first-class chef in the dining room). That brings up questions. Am I limited to doing this only in cases where the admiral can reach his new flagship in a single movement?
A: Yes. His new flagship must be within the movement capability of the ship you are using to transport him. Q: Do I have to have a route that is absolutely safe from enemy intervention by Reaction Movement? A: Not really, but you probably don't want to take that risk except in the case of Admiral Dunderhead and his die-roll penalty. Even then, the enemy may decide that assassinating him is a bad war plan. (For historical reference, consider the case of Brigadier General Gideon Pillow. This Confederate leader was such an idiot that Union troops reputedly had standing orders to let him go if he were ever captured.) Q: What happens if the enemy intercepts the admiral's barge and he's in combat on a non-qualifying ship? A: Then he has no effect on the battle, but can suffer the consequences of his ship being destroyed. Assuming he survives, you must get him to a qualified command ship as soon as possible within the rules and transfer him to that ship. 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 MonthADD STANDS FOR ALLIED DRONE DEFENSE The Klingons and their allies the Lyrans can combine their secondary weapons (drones and the ESGs) to defend against the swarms of drones they encounter when fighting the Kzintis. I will assume that the Lyrans and Klingons are flying in the same hex or close formation. The first line of defense is the Klingons' own drones, which can be used to shoot down enemy drones at long range. If the target of the drones is a Lyran ship, the drones can be allowed to impact and be eliminated by a defensive ESG burst without affecting friendly ships. If the target is a Klingon ship, then it can maneuver in a way to draw the drones over a Lyran ship which will kill them with an offensive ESG burst. Alternatively, let the drones impact and, if any are held in tractors after defensive fire, they can be eliminated by an ESG offensive burst during the offensive fire phase. This will result in some damage to the Klingon, but shield reinforcement will mitigate this and it probably will not be a shield facing the enemy.
Mæsron tachyon missiles are rarely used as Alpha Octant drones are in an anchor attack (where the captain of the drone armed ship tractors his target and launches drones from Range 1 as his opponent cannot get away or use a wild weasel). This is due to the four-impulse delay that tachyon missiles have before they can detonate after launch (OFD1.331).
Rather than avoiding a Range-1 anchor and missile launch, the Mæsron captain should consider using the four-impulse delay to his advantage. If a tachyon missile enters the hex of its target before that delay is over, it adopts an evasion plot until the delay clears, at which point it begins seeking its target again (OFD1.321). As a result, a Mæsron captain can tractor an opponent, launch tachyon missiles from Range 1, and have them fly over his target. Through judicious use of turns and the missiles' High Energy Turns, the missiles can strike non-facing, possibly down shields on the target. Granted, most Mæsron ships cannot launch more than one or two tachyon missiles at a time, and the four-impulse delay gives a targeted ship ample time to deal with the tachyon missile, but under the appropriate circumstances, a Mæsron captain can boomerang his missiles to victory. (End of SFB Tactic of the Month)
One of the less illustrious duties of the Deep Space Fleet is garrisoning captured provinces. Far back from the front lines, this is usually handled by one or two E4 corvettes. Closer to the action, the job is often left to a frigate task force composed of an F5L and two F5s. The downside to the F5L and two F5s task force is that its combat potential of 16 exceeds the limits for Small-Scale Combat (310.11).
One way to address this is to use a task force composed of an F5L, F5, and an F5S. For 11 economic points, one more than a 3F5Q, you have a force with a combat potential of 13-16 and one electronic warfare point. This task force's combat potential comes in under the Small-Scale Combat limit and provides an electronic warfare shift. This is a good combination against raids. Against a fast raider, the one electronic warfare point offsets the raider's fast ship modifier (310.14) and provides a positive shift against non-fast raiders. (End of F&E Strategy of the Month)
A Call To Arms: Star Fleet Tactic of the Month All previous games in the Star Fleet Universe have had rules for terrain but none have emphasized it to the extent that ACTASF does. Both Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander have terrain as part of some scenarios, but most scenarios do not have any terrain at all. In fact, many players of SFB and FC have never even played a scenario that involves any terrain other than open space (that is to say, no terrain).
ACTASF is quite different in that respect. Some of the general scenarios and tactical challenges specify a particular setup for the terrain features. Almost every other scenario specifies a random selection of terrain. (Players who just don't like terrain can ignore the requirement for random terrain, but some terrain is an important element of some scenarios. A scenario based on a ship hiding in terrain won't work without that terrain.) In ACTASF, the occurrence of terrain is determined by rolling a d6 for every one square foot square section of the map. Any section for which a "6" is rolled has terrain located in it. With the typical map starting at 4 x 4 feet, this gives you 16 opportunities to have at least one piece of terrain. That's almost a 95% chance that you'll have at least one piece of terrain on the map. This means that in ACTASF, open space battles are the exception, not the rule. So... what does this mean for you? Generally speaking, the various types of terrain have many characteristics in common. They all block line of sight, so while you can fire into or out of terrain, you typically cannot fire through it. This allows you to use the area immediately behind a piece of terrain to great advantage. You can use it to protect a critical ship or to allow a damaged ship a chance to repair shields and critical hits. Movement through terrain is not without risks either. This means you can often use terrain to guard your fleet's flanks from an attack. Of course, all of that is true for Star Fleet Battles, Federation Commander, or Starmada. It just doesn't happen often enough for players to get familiar with terrain rules. To master ACTA, you must learn how to use terrain because it is going to happen almost every time you play the game. Cloaked Romulans are especially fond of terrain. The Disengage Cloaking Device! special action allows the Romulan to make a 6-inch move in any direction as part of the de-cloaking process. This can often be used to "leap" across a piece of intervening terrain, either to get a bead on a juicy target or just to get out of the line of sight. Bear this in mind whenever facing Romulan ships and the cloaking device. Kzintis (with their drones, and Klingon and Federation ships which use drones to a lesser extent) tend to hate terrain as it reduces the opportunities for waves of drones. They also love terrain in that they can use drone swarms to block the gaps between terrain features, forcing the enemy into less desireable areas.
Gorns and Romulans, with their heavy plasma torpedoes, must learn how to use terrain to trap an enemy who would just as soon avoid being hit, and to get closer to the target before launching. Tholians also love terrain (but you will need the web rules from ACTASF-2.0 to find out just how much they love it).
Mini of the Month Nick Samaras painted this Federation Light Tactical Transport (3788 Scale Smooth Fine Detail Plastic).
Download Transmissions HAILING FREQUENCIES: This is our newsletter and will let you know all the news for all our games. You can subscribe here. Have you missed an earlier newsletter? Click here to get caught up! COMMUNIQUE: This monthly magazine repeated much of the same information that Hailing Frequencies does. December 2019 was the last month it was published. Old issues can be downloaded from the Commander's Circle.
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