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	Archive through May 19, 2005	30		09/24 08:00pm

Euan,

You could give SFBOL a try. Generally the best time to start a non scheduled game is around 6-9PM Eastern time. You could try it as a Demo account (your limited to playing as a Fed or Klink TC) or buying a 3 month account for $10. Then you can play as many games as you can wrangle in that time period.

SFBOL is finally starting to get away from being Tourney only. But Tourney games are still a majority of the games. But there are multiple campaigns ongoing. Many of them looking for Battle Captains.

By Euan Holton (Tibis) on Saturday, May 21, 2005 - 04:45 am: Edit

Hi Kenneth

Alas, 6pm - 9pm Eastern time translates to 11pm - 2am UK. But it'll be worth a try in any case, especially at weekends.

PBEM would also be worth a look again as well. I really enjoyed the experience with Unity - although, perhaps, the idea of running the entire campaign might have been a trifle ambitious!

By Martin Read (Amethyst_Cat) on Saturday, May 21, 2005 - 08:48 am: Edit

Well, y'know, some of the SFBOL user base is British.
(I live in Northampton.)

By Kenneth Jones (Kludge) on Saturday, May 21, 2005 - 02:08 pm: Edit

Yes there are a number of European players. Or states ppl who keep odd hours. (Like Me)

By Wes Neal (Janked) on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - 08:00 pm: Edit

Couldn't find a better place to ask this question, there is no just General topic that I can find. Anyway, long ago(92-94) we used an old DOS program to track Impulses. It was easy just to hit the spacebar on the computer and it would move to the next impulse and let you know what needed to be moved. Does anything like that exist these days?

Thanks

By William T Wilson (Sheap) on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - 08:18 pm: Edit

Yes and no:
1) If all you need is an impulse chart, anyone with even a small amount of programming experience could surely duplicate that program. Of course, under ADB's license terms, you would not be able to distribute it (even to give it away for free).
2) SFB Online (www.sfbonline.com) includes this functionality. At a little over $3 per month, it's probably the best buy in all of SFB, as you get not only the impulse chart but the ability to play pretty much as much SFB as you can stand against people over the Internet. If all you want is to borrow the impulse chart, you can probably get away with just using the free demo version. (But after you try it, you'll probably want to subscribe).

By Ken Coleman (Eeyore) on Sunday, December 28, 2008 - 10:16 pm: Edit

Hi all,

I've been slightly active on the boards and on SFBOL for the past month or so, and played in SFBOL RAT29 tournament. Basically I'm returning to the game after about 20 years and I'm looking for a bit of advice on what would be a good way to "train" for regular tournament play. I have a few random questions:

1. I played the Klink in RAT29 (2-1 record) and in one pick-up game (lost). Is this a good ship choice for a relative newbie?
2. If it's not a good choice, what would be?
3. Should I be playing a lot of different ships to try and find a good "fit" for me?
4. Are there any particular tourney ships or types of ships that I should generally avoid until I'm more experienced?

That's all I've got. Thanks in advance for any advice/comments!
- Ken.

By Ken Burnside (Ken_Burnside) on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 12:08 am: Edit

Ken:

Easiest ship (and most forgiving to fly)

Kzinti TCC
WYN Black Shark
WYN AUX
Gorn
Fed
Seltorian (though it's, um. Weak.)

Avoid playing the Tholians or Andros until you've tried most everything else.

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 01:44 am: Edit

Ken, those are interesting choices. I'd agree about the Kzinti TCC and would add that the Wyn Shark is terribly average. The Aux Box is a ship with a somewhat narrow tactical path and unforgiving if you stray from that path.

The Gorn is only forgiving in that it takes damage well due to the hul layout, but can be a bit of a beast to fly against something more maneuverable. The Fed is a high stakes gambler, IMO, although it can be flown very conservatively against opponants of equal maneuverability.

Except for the Web, the Tholian TCC is pretty nice to fly and forgiving with a big center hull, but I think the Hydran deserve recognition as a tough unit too, although save your CDR for your Hellbores, and guard them too. But if you can avoid losing your hellbores too quick it is otherwise a very forgiving ship due to its large center hull and exceptional APR. It has a medium long range punch a great short range crunch. The two Stingers are pretty nice too, but I've won with it having not launched either fighter. I suppose the fighters do add to its complexity.

Anyway, I agree that to get back in the swing of things your first two choices are very good ones. The other four have issues. The Orion might be as good as the Wyn AUX (double warp isn't hard to learn and sure qualifies as forgiving... in the short term.)

By Ken Burnside (Ken_Burnside) on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 05:43 pm: Edit

Both the WYN AUX and the Gorn are very forgiving to fly, and have fairly obvious "Do this and you can't go too far wrong" tactical sets.

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 06:07 pm: Edit

If you slow down in the AUX, you won't be forgiven.

By Ken Burnside (Ken_Burnside) on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 06:25 pm: Edit

AUXes have a speed lower than 12?

Other than when something else is in a tractor beam, being nudged into a stack of drones, and fed 4-6 more when the control channels clear?

By Roger Rardain (Sky_Captain) on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 07:25 pm: Edit

I have Emergency Decelerated a few times in the AUX.
Each time, my opponent was 1 hex away when I stopped.
Each time, my opponent died.

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 07:38 pm: Edit

OK, I stand corrected. Your opponants death is pretty forgiving.

By Roger Rardain (Sky_Captain) on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 09:43 pm: Edit

The first time I did it, I was a newbie in the AUX.
I remember I had 6 drone racks, the obligatory gatling - can't remember the last option, maybe a hellbore.
In desperation - cause I was gonna sail by my opponent's Gorn, I ED'd, realizing one of us was toast (I wasn't sure which of us would win). I was probably not going to move again.

I stopped flying the 6-drone AUX, cause it is a one-trick-pony, IMNSHO. (but an effective one when it works.
Cloaking devices aren't much fun, though.

By Bill Stec (Billstec2) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 08:09 am: Edit

I ran that Wyn Aux BC when it first came out and had the old 1/2 energy move cost(I think that's what it was - they upped it shortly after that). Put 4 Pls-F in it, and with 4 drone racks plus suicide shuttles and a 17-pt tractor, it was fun to fly.

By Kenneth Jones (Kludge) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 09:39 am: Edit

My favorite (now WAY Illegal) Aux was S,F,F.

This was Pre Doomsday and had trouble with the Andro. But oh my Goodness what it could do...

By Ken Coleman (Eeyore) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 09:56 am: Edit

Thanks to all for the advice. To summarize:

1. I chose my first ship poorly.
2. Kzinti and WYN Black Shark seem to be pretty universally considered newbie-friendly ships.
3. Fed, WYN AUX, Selt, and Hydran are probably also reasonable choices, although there's some difference of opinion on them.
4. Gorn is definitely the first plasma ship to fly when I start experimenting with them.

Just curious, but to my inexperienced eye, Klingon and Kzinti seem pretty similar - 4 disrs, drones, etc. What really tips the scale in favor of the Zin for newbie-friendliness?

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 11:52 am: Edit

The Zin is *BIG* - the biggest hull in the tourney (104 internals I think?). That means if you take a beating on the first pass during a mistake you can still come back from behind. It also has scads of phaser-3's, so it often has 3 ph-1 even after six phaser hits. Also, the FA+R/+L firing arcs allow it to fight out of the side shields, so it's easier to use the #3 and #5 when you are knife fighting. Double drone control and more fast/bubba drones don't hurt either. Disrupters are faster/easier to repair.

The Klingon is a *great* cruiser. However, the FA arcs mean your front shields are more important. Also critical is the scant 4 forward hull, meaning you will take battery hits early.

The Klingon is actually advantaged against the Zin. With the ADD and counter-drones to fight off Zin drones, and with UIM and more ph-1, the Klink has the edge on firepower. The only reliable way for the Zin to win this fight is to get close and stay close.

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 12:23 pm: Edit

Yeah, the D7 would be a lot more effective ship with FH arcs for the disruptors.

By Jon Berry (Laz_Longsmith) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 05:25 pm: Edit

Loren; Isn't that the D5?

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 06:19 pm: Edit

No. Very, very not the D5.

By Andrew Harding (Warlock) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 06:52 pm: Edit

No, for the D5 you also need to give it a higher operating speed, thicker shields, a second ADD, Aegis and cut the BPV.

By Andy Vancil (Andy) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 11:20 pm: Edit

The Kzinti is friendly because it is so forgiving. If you screw up and take 25 internals, in many ships you are done, but in the Kzinti, that just means you have to start paying attention. It has 20 weapons hits (more than any other tourney ship), and its primary weapon (drones) requires no power, so you can recover from weapon or power hits. You can also fight out of any shield, so losing a critical shield is not an issue.

When it comes to EA, the Kzinti has several good plots - OL the disruptors, chase and anchor, etc. Basically, if your opponent guesses wrong on which one you did, you can gain a lot. If he guesses right, you are probably still OK.

The Klingon, OTOH, is not as forgiving. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT super-fragile, but it does make a big difference how the DAC dice fall. It is also, as noted, much more dependent on its forward shields. When it comes to EA, your opponent is more likely to be able to guess what you will do, and success will depend a lot more on how well you execute during the turn.

I would disagree that the Klink is a bad ship for a newbie. But the Kzin is better.

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 11:50 pm: Edit

The D7 with better distrutor arcs would be better than the D5 because it has significant redundant systems. The D5 lacks several key redundancies.

By John Naylor (Johnn) on Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 04:19 pm: Edit

Hi all
I haven't played sfb for many years, (our group gave up in the confusion of the change from the designers edition to the commanders edition, no one could decide which rules we should be playing!)
However I came across a copy of R6 on ebay, (I had continued to collect for a while after I stopped playing so had the Captains edition rulebooks, basic and advanced missions plus the ssd's, together with C1 to C4 and R1 to R5, J and K) aand then found this site.
I hope to get my regular wargaming opponent back into an occasional game so a couple of questions.

Is there anyone on the site from the UK who can suggest the best (i.e cheapest) way of getting hold of new (as opposed to used rather than latest releases) products, taking into account such things as postage, possible charges by customs an excise, exchange rates etc?

Is there an easy way to find out exactly which ships etc are in which module? I've had a look at the contents tables in the resources section, but there seems to be some mistakes, for example there is no reference to Fed or Hydran ships in module R8 in their R contents.

Any help will be appreciated.
thks

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 09:59 pm: Edit

John, this link takes you to a list of stores carrying SFU products: http://www.starfleetgames.com/storelist.shtml I know that Questing Knight has an active SFB group.

You might try Starlist to see if there's anyone nearby: http://www.starfleetgames.com/starlist_new.shtml

By Michael Kenyon (Mikek) on Monday, August 26, 2013 - 11:53 am: Edit

John,

The easiest way to get ships per module (that I can think of at least) is to grab a copy of G3. This has every annex from every product as of it's publish (which is pretty darn recent) merged and corrected. The master ship chart in there lists publication information.

By John Naylor (Johnn) on Monday, August 26, 2013 - 01:34 pm: Edit

thks both for info