Ryan- you can not move crew units around without cost. That is pretty clear from the mothball rules (summary: mothballing a ship preserves poor and green crew units (100%) and 50% of normal or outstanding crew units (the other 50% are lost)). Conversions or refits that create crew would require crew of the same or better quality (ex: WB->WE->KE would require 5CU for each step which makes the WBo->WEo or WEo->KEo a problem to produce). B9 and C9 cover/imply this.

I'd have to let the designer to say if one could swap crew units around in general. There is not an enabling rule.

I'm unsure on RB. Going to punt that to the GMs too.

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Saturday, March 18, 2017 - 02:12 am: Edit

I could then mothball a ship, get half of its normal crew for use in other builds, then when I reactivate the ship crew it with OCU if I have them available.

By John D Berg (Kerg) on Saturday, March 18, 2017 - 11:37 am: Edit

When you order RB also order what ships to mothball

By John D Berg (Kerg) on Saturday, March 18, 2017 - 11:39 am: Edit

The crew swapping is pretty much a GM thing. In your example, I would probably allow the mothballed normal crew to go elsewhere so a new outstanding crew can go on the now empty mothballed one.

By Kurt Byanski (Kurtski) on Sunday, April 09, 2017 - 08:40 pm: Edit

If there are two ships in the same hex, both of the same basic hull type and the same crew compliment, can you transfer supplies from one to the other to lower the supply count?

Example: Ship A is at supply count "4" (no strategic speed) and Ship B is at supply count "1". Can ship B transfer its supplies to ship A and swap the supply count, so that ship B then has a count of "4" and ship A has a count of "1"?...Ship B would then be the one to expire at the end of the turn.

By Howard Bampton (Bampton) on Sunday, April 09, 2017 - 09:37 pm: Edit

Nope, you can not (I looked at this problem).

By Kurt Byanski (Kurtski) on Sunday, April 09, 2017 - 10:52 pm: Edit

Plan B. Single cruiser with 24 warp and 2/3 move goes a zero movement frigate with a 1/3 move cost can make speed 2 on the strategic map. Could you tow with two cruisers to get speed 3 on the strategic map. SFB rules seem to imply this is possible.

By Charles "Lucky" Coleman (Mwmiyd) on Saturday, April 15, 2017 - 12:36 pm: Edit

Kurt,
GC rule: D1.30; the towed unit must have its warp engines off.
SFB rule: G7.321 cost of movement is the combination of movement cost of "all" ships involved. (this is for towing a non moving object/ship)
GC rule: D1.10; after adding up all the movement costs of all the ships involved, refer to the formula and chart in GC rule D1.10 and that would be your towing speed for the entire turn (regardless of when you started towing).

Reaching speed 3 in GC towing a ship is very rare. It would have to be a very fast ship towing a very light ship.

*************

If GC allowed for towing moving ships then the speed would be even slower. The maximum pseudo speed allowed is 16 (using impulse)[SFB rule: G7.36 B]. So the fastest you could ever go would be 2 in GC. Add in a non-moving ship (3 ships in a tractor engagement) and your fastest speed would be 1 in GC. But this is mute because GC only allows towing of a non-moving ship(s).

By Howard Bampton (Bampton) on Saturday, April 15, 2017 - 01:45 pm: Edit

Romulan Heavy PFs (aka Snipes) can easily be towed singly or in pairs by a BB at strategic speed 3. A BB can tow up to MC 0.5 of stuff in a similar manner.

The only case of towing at strategic speed 4 I've found is an X ship (MC=1, 40 warp) towing a FedEx (MC=0.1). Some obscure cargo packs with a low enough MC may also be able to be towed (as cargo).

By Kurt Byanski (Kurtski) on Saturday, April 15, 2017 - 04:18 pm: Edit

SFB: (G7.21) TOWING: Tractor beams can be used to tow various objects, including ships. Towing restricts the movement of both the towing ship(s) and the towed unit(s). Towing enemy units can serve a variety of tactical purposes. See (R1.10B) for towing a Fleet Repair Dock.

This would seem to imply that two ships may be used to pull a single ship, particularly one that has no warp movement.

By Kurt Byanski (Kurtski) on Saturday, April 15, 2017 - 04:23 pm: Edit

To extent the example using Tholian ships:

Ship A (no warp) = Tholian PC hull with 1/3 movement cost.

Ship B (full warp) = Tholian C class with 2/3 movement cost and 24 warp. This ship also has HPM and can make strategic speed 4.

Ship C (Same as Ship B.

If Ship B tows Ship A, the maximum generated speed would be 24 (GC strategic speed 2).

If Ships B and C tow Ship A, the maximum generated speed would be 28 (GC strategic speed 3).

So, the most important questions is can two cruisers tow one frigate?

By Kurt Byanski (Kurtski) on Monday, May 22, 2017 - 09:32 am: Edit

Is counterspy limited to your own surveyed space?

By Kurt Byanski (Kurtski) on Friday, May 26, 2017 - 11:50 am: Edit

Q ships are listed in their won section of the R1 units in G3. Are they a freighter conversion or are they a stand alone unit?

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Friday, May 26, 2017 - 12:07 pm: Edit

I would say conversion.

By Howard Bampton (Bampton) on Friday, May 26, 2017 - 12:10 pm: Edit

Z2.30 "Q-ships are not considered a variant for this rule." would imply they are considered mission variants rather than a base hull in the general case. (How did we live with only a hardcopy rulebook? This was found by doing a search.)

As to counterspying- generally speaking, yes your own space. There are corner cases that may allow limited coverage outside your space. To give a specific counter-example: Romulan counter spying levels would not shield allied stuff in the ally's space (exped forces in Romulan space would presumably get some help as would Romulan exped forces). Your GM would need to weigh in on any specific corner case.

The FRAX are welcome to test this by sending spies (not Prime Teams) to the War Vulture designated Imperial Two presently in space recognized by the Romulans as belonging to the ISC.

By Charles "Lucky" Coleman (Mwmiyd) on Saturday, May 27, 2017 - 01:41 am: Edit

What part of space would that be? They do not have much left.

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Sunday, August 06, 2017 - 01:27 am: Edit

Can a LP and a LA working as a LP work on the same project?

By John D Berg (Kerg) on Sunday, August 06, 2017 - 04:02 pm: Edit

No, benefits don't stack.

By Kurt Byanski (Kurtski) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 10:47 am: Edit

I want to make sure I am reading the GC rules correctly concerning PFs, Fighters and Leaders.

Unless there is a special racial rule, the maximum number of PFs in a SQ is ~24. 3xPFT(6xPF) + 6xPFs on non PFT mech links.

The number of carriers/fighters in a SQ is limited only by the command rating of the SQ.

A battleship and a dreadnaught could both be in a SQ, but 2xBB or 2xDN could not.

Could an archeo-tholian DN and a neo-tholian DN both be a SQ? They are independent hulls.

By Kurt Byanski (Kurtski) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 04:24 pm: Edit

If the listed escorts for a carrier are 1xSC3,1xSC4 can we substitute 2xSC3?

By John D Berg (Kerg) on Sunday, January 21, 2018 - 01:18 pm: Edit

Command ships are true to name, so no 2 of any variant DN can be in a SQ.

By John D Berg (Kerg) on Sunday, January 21, 2018 - 01:18 pm: Edit

You may not substitute escorts unless allowed by your HQ (GM).

By John D Berg (Kerg) on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - 12:27 pm: Edit

https://sfb-galactic-conquest.org/AnswersAndErrata/

By Bill Phillips (Praetor) on Friday, October 22, 2021 - 12:09 am: Edit

General Questions regarding SAM:

1) Is a SAM considered a single weight pod for towing by a tug?

2) Are they allowed to be built at a starbase as pods?

By John D Berg (Kerg) on Friday, October 22, 2021 - 08:23 am: Edit

In GC you can build a SAM right in your own space where you want them, as long as you provide the freighter support.

It has a tow cost of .5.