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May 2013
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Star Fleet Universe News THE BIG NEWS this month is that Jean Sexton has moved to Amarillo and has taken up her full-time duties in the new office that was custom built for her by those big windows in the front of the building. (Jean can only function while surrounded by potted plants and other growing things.) Two new summer releases have been announced: Captain's Log #47 and the Federation Commander Tactics Manual.
  WEBSITE: Our website, www.StarFleetGames.com, continues to grow and improve. You are welcome to send us your requests, comments, and suggestions. Joel Shutts, 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. One of our newest pages is for Starline 2500 where we display photos and 3d renders of the new starships. FACEBOOK: Jean continues to improve our page on Facebook, adding many new photos and other features. VIDEOS: StarFleetGames has taken its act to YouTube and we now have a YouTube channel. Our goal is to create a video for the new product releases during each month. We have "In the Box" videos to show you what you will see when you unpack your new game. We have also done "Spotlights" on a single product or product line. So pull up a chair and join us at the movies! Our newest uploads are: Star Fleet Marines Part 1 STARBLOG: Our StarBlog has moved to a new URL
and all links on StarFleetGames.com websites have been changed to match. The new
site is JAGDPANTHER
Custom Decals for Starline ships Tenneshington Decals now provides custom decals for all currently produced Starline 2500 miniatures, as well as special sets encompassing the contents of the Federation Fleet Box, the Federation Squadron Box 1, and Squadron Box 7 - Federation Reinforcements. Decals for each of these ships are available individual sheets and we now have a sheet of "windows" which can be used to detail any ship with additional window blocks, sensors, hatches, and even phaser scars.
ONLINE TOURNAMENTS Rated Ace Tournament 41 has started. Thirty-two players signed up and 11 of the 16 first round games have been played. Andrew Koch will be the judge. Rated Ace Tournament 40 is moving with Geof Clark as the judge. Round 4(the semi-finals) is set to begin! This one is rocketing along! Good luck to thefour semi-finalists. DEMOS AND CONS WITH SFU GAMES Please send information to Jean via the email in her BBS profile, PM on the Mongoose or Federation Commander forums, or Message on Facebook. If you want convention support, please contact Mike Sparks at support@StarFleetGames.com. Your convention must meet a few simple requirements (one of which is being held in the United States due to shipping costs) which are here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/sfb/tournament/tourn_main.shtml 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
We are very pleased to see the medals, honor bars, and ribbons awarded to players being incorporated into their signatures. It is exciting to see lots of interesting conversations about a wide variety of subjects. Get in on the activity! While for new players the Federation Commander Forum is a little easier to manage, the original (Discus-based) BBS is where most product development takes place. If you have a proposal you'd like to see worked on, don't forget to make sure it is mentioned here. It also has active F&E and SFB forums where players run campaigns, Rated Ace tournaments and other SFB tournaments are organized (most FC tournaments are organized on the Forum), SVC's "My Day" appears, along with current news and strategies dealing with Prime Directive, and each issue of Captain's Log is created. While less colorful (no avatars or sigs), it is a vital part of ADB, Inc.'s communications. F&E Strategy of the Month With Advanced Operations has come the return of the Lord Commander. The Old Colonies Squadron's Lord Commander can be cheaply converted to a Lord Marshall for one Economic Point. This gives the ship one more combat potential for only that one Economic Point. This can be done at any time, once the Hydrans are at war, but it is best to do the conversion early, before the Old Colonies Squadron goes into action.
The Hydran Dragoon is an excellent heavy cruiser. For two Economic Points, it can become an excellent Lord Bishop command cruiser. For those two Economic Points you get a much-needed Command-Rating-9 hull as well as one more combat factor. If you plan to do this, try and get it done in the first turn or two. After that, you will be down to two starbases and conversion capacity will be at a premium. (End F&E Strategy of the Month) Call To Arms Tactic of the Month DREADNOUGHT INITIATIVE TACTICS A Call To Arms: Star Fleet's I-go-you-go initiative system rewards shooting first and disabling an opposing ship before it can fire. Dreadnoughts are great for this, because they pack a lot of firepower onto one hull and can do "in one go" what smaller ships would need two or three "goes" to do. That gives the opponent less time to react. Most dreadnoughts also have the Command +1 trait, so you will win initiative (and fire first) more often!
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. To see our previous Demotivationals click here. Mini of the Month Starline 2500 Lyran Light Cruiser
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New Releases Communique #89 has been posted to the Commander's Circle. Click here to see our previous issues of Hailing Frequencies. Recently Released
Federation Commander: Reinforcements Attack, Stock # 4110, $29.95 Federation Commander Booster Pack 34 Escorts, Stock #4234, $9.95 Federation Commander Booster Pack 35 Cops & Raiders, Stock #4235, $9.95 Federation Commander Booster Pack 36 Heavies, Stock #4236, $9.95 Captain's Log #46, Stock #5746, $24.95 Starmada: Battleship Armada, Stock #6105, $16.95 Starmada: Battleship Armada Nova Edition, Stock #6105N, $16.95 Alien Armada Nova Edition, Stock #6103N, $16.95 Distant Armada Nova Edition, Stock #6104N, $16.95 Star Fleet Marines: Last Stand, Stock #2102, $34.95 To be released during 2013 PDF SALES: ADB, Inc. continues its relationship with Steve Jackson Games and their e23 Warehouse. We chose e23 because they have a philosophy that agrees with ours -- our customers are honest and honorable and wouldn't aid people who want to steal our products. Furthermore, we know from experience how devastating a computer crash can be and want our customers to know that they don't have to worry about the loss of their e-products bought through e23. What do we have there? We have created a new page that allows easy access to our PDFs for sale on e23. From here you can see what we currently have posted and have links to those products. RECENTLY RELEASED ON e23 RECENTLY RELEASED ON DRIVE THRU RPG Star Fleet Fiction Roger Smith watched quietly from his seat beside the ship's Vulcan science officer, his journalist's Personal Access Display Device in hand. As one of the first reporters allowed access to a ship in wartime as part of Star Fleet's experimental embedded journalist program, he knew that his seat here on the bridge was precarious. It had taken him most of the long trip here to convince Guderian's young captain, Commander Jake O'Donnell, to allow him to sit here, not in the backwaters of auxiliary control where he would have been subject to the whims of Guderian's executive officer. The XO was an Andorian who had made it clear in their first meeting that he had little respect for the embed program, less respect for Smith's profession, and no respect at all for Smith.
The XO's opinion was undeserved of course. He stroked his stylish, square-cut goatee slowly. While he knew some of the stories he wrote might seem to have an anti-military slant, he felt that overall his record of reporting on the industrial-military colossus was clearly unbiased. It's not my fault that the public ignored the series of reports I did that highlighted the Fleet's humanitarian response to the Wacuri disaster, or the report on the Medivian crisis, but the public loved it when I wrote the exposé on the Martian Mafia that thinks it runs Star Fleet, and that retired commodore turned lobbyist. His fingers traced behind the goatee and he winced unconsciously when they trailed across the bumps of the chin implant. That thug that had sought to enlighten him on what he could and could not say about the "alleged" link between the commodore and the Martian Mafia had failed miserably in forcing him to throw away his story. He had his integrity. Thankfully, that undercover police agent stumbled upon our little session, or I might have needed more than a new chin. He dropped his hand, suddenly aware that the O'Donnell's gaze was upon him. He flashed a disingenuous smile, knowing that the dark tan he had acquired from doing stories on a dozen frontier worlds and the goatee gave him a rakish look that sometimes did more harm than good when he needed to gain someone's confidence. The captain briefly looked confused then turned away quickly to the main viewscreen. Smith felt his smile fade away, and looked down at the blank screen of his PADD. He had a deadline to meet, and so far he did not have a real story. But at least out here on a ship, I'm in a better position to get one. Unlike those talking heads back at Network Control who don't have an opinion unless someone in management tells them what it is. Of course, part of the story was the embed program itself. He knew that programs like this had been tried over the centuries with varying degrees of success, but he doubted if the Star Fleet he knew would have allowed a journalist within half a parsec of a ship's bridge if it wasn't for one cold hard fact. They were losing the Klingon War and public support for its continuance was becoming more vital every day. (Continue reading here) Ask Admiral Vanaxilth Drones Francois Lemay asks: Can drones just launched be involuntarily transferred if the drone-launching ship is placed in stasis on the impulse of drone launch?
ANSWER: I sent this one to Kommodore Ketrick who replied: Yes, per (F3.41). The fact that a ship guiding drones is placed into stasis is as much an involuntary release as if the ship were blown to Hades or any of a number of other involuntary release conditions occurs during a given impulse. Francois Lemay asks: Let's say a Kzinti battlecruiser already has six drones on the map and launches four more. Can four of the drones on the map be involuntarily transferred to other ships or do four of the drones lose their tracking? ANSWER: The Kzinti battlecruiser can only control six drones, so if it is already controlling six drones it cannot launch any drones, period. In order to launch four more drones, it would have to first release or transfer control of four of the six drones already on the map, during the 6B6 Seeking Weapon Control Step, which is prior to launch. This would be a voluntary release or transfer. Francois Lemay asks: A Klingon C8 at Speed 31 has a Kzinti battlecruiser (Speed 20) in a tractor at Range 1; both are heading in the same direction. The battlecruiser also has a Speed 20 ECM drone following it. The C8's pseudo-speed is now 19 and battlecruiser's pseudo-speed is eight. It is Impulse #4 and Speed 8 and Speed 19 both move. The C8 moves forward. Does the battlecruiser's ECM drone move as well? ANSWER: Yes, if the battlecruiser leaves its hex, the ECM drone will immediately speed up to 20 and seek the hex of the battlecruiser.
Follow-up question: On Impulse #5, the battlecruiser will move as required, will the ECM drone move again? If so, the Speed 20 ECM drone is basically moving at Speed 27. ANSWER: Speed 20 moves on both Impulse #4 and Impulse #5, so the ECM drone will move both those impulses if it needs to in order to keep station with the battlecruiser. Now, if both ships keep moving the same direction, the ship will eventually leave the drone behind. However, it should be noted that the ability of an ECM drone to change speed, instantaneously, as many times as it needs to, can lead to it moving more hexes in a turn than its rated speed under certain circumstances. Follow-up question: The battlecruiser has launched four Speed-20 drones at the C8 while tractored on Impulse #6. On Impulse #7, Speed 19 and Speed 20 move. The C8 can do a sideslip or even turn. How are the four launched drones handled? According to (G7.9433), the drones are carried along when the C8 moves whether it is a sideslip or turn. Do the drones then move or must they wait until Speed 20 is called for and not Speed 8 or 19? ANSWER: The drones are carried along in the tractor tunnel when the C8 moves. They will move again, advancing along the tractor tunnel, when their movement is called for. They do not miss their move just because the tunnel moved (Ask Admiral Vanaxilth continues here)
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. (F&E Q&A Continues Here) ASK AUNT JEAN Q: Dear Aunt Jean, now that you're in Amarillo, you're going to release Traveller: Prime Directive any day now, right? Send questions to Jean at design@StarFleetGames.com and SVC will decide which one Jean will answer next. 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 next 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 Any examination of the efficacy of shield crackers without considering Marines is only looking at half of the story. Seltorian ships are built with significant numbers of transporters and entire colonies of Marines.
Use them. The whole "historical point" of the shield crackers was to be able to board and capture ships intact. (The Tholians were businessmen and wanted to get back stolen resources, not destroy them.) Seltorians have more Marines than anyone-else and plenty of transporters. Either perform hit-and-run raids (if you can't capture the ship), or perform boarding actions (if you think you can capture the ship). To capture an enemy ship during a duel, remember that you only need to have some of your Marines survive the first turn. The idea is to build up enough numbers so that by the third turn you outnumber the enemy ship's Marines and you will eventually capture the ship. Shield crackers help you do this. (FC Tactic of the Month Continues here)
SFB Tactic of the Month WHEN TO PULL THE BIG RED BRAKE LEVER You cannot plot an Emergency Deceleration, but you can plan for it. Even if you did not plan on using it, you might have some flexibility in terms of the specific impulse you announce it. The timing of when you announce Emergency Deceleration is important, as there is a two-impulse delay before it takes effect, and a sixteen-impulse post-deceleration period to account for. Here is a rundown on the implications of announcing Emergency Deceleration on various impulses. NEW MINIATURES! Starline 2500 Orion War Destroyer |
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