Congrats!

By Kosta Michalopoulos (Kosmic) on Friday, October 06, 2017 - 12:35 pm: Edit

Congratulations Bill!

By David Cheng (Davec) on Wednesday, July 04, 2018 - 12:19 am: Edit

It's time to crank up the machinery once again...

Council is now recruiting GMs.
Link to submit your event(s):
http://www.swa-gaming.org/CouncilEventForm

Event submission deadline for GMs is Sunday, July 22, 2018.

Council 41 is now about three months away.

Time to start compiling the Committed/Probable/Maybe list. Please post here and we'll add you.

Council is...
Friday, October 5 - Sunday, October 7, 2018

Full convention info:
http://swa-gaming.org/Council

Full info about SFB at Council of Five Nations:
http://www.swa-gaming.org/Star-Trek-Star-Fleet-Games-at-Council

By Sebastian Palozzi (Sebastian) on Wednesday, July 04, 2018 - 06:40 pm: Edit

Put me down as a 'maybe' at this point. Still a bit early for me to confirm for October but I am looking forward to it.

By Bill Schoeller (Bigbadbill) on Thursday, July 05, 2018 - 11:47 am: Edit

Ed S. Robert E and I are committed. We reserved two hotel rooms on Thursday to Saturday night and are looking for a fourth roommate at the Hampton Inn. Cost would be about $225 for the three days.

By David Zimdars (Zimdarsdavid) on Tuesday, July 10, 2018 - 08:57 pm: Edit

I'm committed.

By David Cheng (Davec) on Tuesday, September 04, 2018 - 10:50 pm: Edit

Big news!
Pre-registration for Council of Five Nations went live today, September 4, 2018.

Also, not-coincidentally, we made a big update to the SFB at Council page.
You can see that here:

http://www.swa-gaming.org/Star-Trek-Star-Fleet-Games-at-Council

Quick summary of what you'll see:

Info links for Council pre-reg
Annual SFB Banquet on Thursday
Tactics seminar with Dr Dave Zimdars
Non-sanctioned tournament ships
Take-One-Leave-One Library updates
RSVP status:
Committed = 13
Probable = 4
Maybe = 3+.

If we can add you to the Committed/Probable/Maybe list, please post here and let us know.

We hope to see many of you in just about a month (October 5-7).

-DC

By Carl Herzog (Carlzog) on Tuesday, September 11, 2018 - 11:19 am: Edit

I'm looking for people interested in playing some multi-ship scenario games at Council. I'd like to dig into and show off some of the less frequently seen features of the game.

For example, I'm particularly interested in SH20.0 "Romulan Smugglers", which includes some planetary ground combat and a BATS assault.

By David Cheng (Davec) on Monday, September 24, 2018 - 11:07 pm: Edit

Hello SFB Fans,

We're less than two weeks until our annual SFB tournament at Council of Five Nations.
We've got several updates to share today.

Pre-Reg closes in five days
There are only a few days left to save a few dollars by pre-registering for Council of Five Nations XLI.
Deadline: Saturday, September 29th, 11:59 PM
Please note that if you miss pre-reg, you can always register at the door.


Hotel Room Share Available
Bill Schoeller, Ed Slusarak & Rob Estrada have two rooms booked at the Hampton Inn. They have spare bed, if you are looking for lodging. This is one of the most convenient locations to stay - it is literally only about 100 yards up the street from Proctors, the site of Council. If you're interested, please post here and we'll connect you.


G-Rack Fed is back in
Elder Statesman "Big Ed" Slusarek has successfully lobbied us to once-again allow this ship into the tournament field. No special SSD - just draw an extra box on your standard Fed TCC SSD and label it "Drone".


Beverages
Tos Crawford is back, and will once again be bringing a selection of home brews for your drinking pleasure.


Last call for the Thursday night SFB banquet
If you're coming to town early, Thursday night, we will be having our typical SFB banquet at 8:00 PM.
We have six committed. Please post here and let us know if you'd like to join us.


Full convention info:
http://swa-gaming.org/Council

Full info about SFB at Council of Five Nations:
http://www.swa-gaming.org/Star-Trek-Star-Fleet-Games-at-Council


We hope to see many of you at Council in eleven days!

By David Cheng (Davec) on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 - 10:58 pm: Edit

Update:
The spare bed at the Hampton Inn has been claimed.

By David Cheng (Davec) on Wednesday, October 03, 2018 - 07:20 pm: Edit

Council Status Report & Weather

It's almost time...

Some of our out-of-towners will be arriving tomorrow. Some will hit the casino before our SFB banquet at 8pm. We've got a group of eight dining together.

SFB action is the first official event of the convention, starting at 10 AM on Friday.

WEATHER FORECAST
Good convention weather...
Thursday evening - be prepared for thunderstorms. Warm & muggy.
Friday - Mostly sunny, cool, low 60s
Saturday - Partly cloudy, cool, mid 60s
Sunday - Partly cloudy AM. Warm front blows in bringing showers in the afternoon. Mid 70s.

Looking forward to seeing a bunch of the Star Fleet community this weekend!

-DC

By David Cheng (Davec) on Friday, October 05, 2018 - 10:34 am: Edit

Council matches have started!

Zimdars Orion vs Slusarek Fed
Shimanski Rom FireHawk vs Schoeller Klingon
Estrada Kzinti vs Herzog WYN Shark

Not too late for you to call off work, jump in the car and join us.
Just sayin’...

By Marc Michalik (Kavik_Kang) on Friday, October 05, 2018 - 11:14 am: Edit

David Zimdars v "Big Ed" Slusarek...

SFB tournaments have become like masters tournaments in golf. Grey haired legends whose names that our tiny little group of fans (kind of like golf, haha) have all known since childhood, or teenhood at least.

It almost feels like this should be televised, doesn't it? Haha...

By Kosta Michalopoulos (Kosmic) on Friday, October 05, 2018 - 02:34 pm: Edit

Good luck guys. Sorry I couldn't join you this year.

By David Cheng (Davec) on Sunday, October 07, 2018 - 12:25 pm: Edit

Council 2018 Finals Tree

1. Seth Shimansky - Hydran
Defeats
8. Andrew Sackett - Orion

6. Bill Schoeller - Klingon
Defeats
3. Peter Bakija - Gorn

4. Dr Dave Zimdars - Orion
Defeats
5. Ken Burnside - WYN Aux

7. Rob Estrada - Kzinti
Defeats
2. Ed Slusarek - Fed


Semi Finals

Shimanski Defeats Schoeller
Zimdars Defeats Estrada

Finals to be played online in the near future. Watch this space for the date and time...

By Norman Dizon (Normandizon) on Sunday, October 07, 2018 - 12:37 pm: Edit

KEN BURNSIDE is Playing!! The Whole Lesser Magellanic Cloud fires their Lasers in Tribute!

And why is Dave Zimdars listed as a DR? Is he really the Chief Medical Officer aboard his ship?

By David Cheng (Davec) on Monday, October 08, 2018 - 06:30 pm: Edit

News flash!
Looks like these guys are itching to fight!

The finals game will happen on SFBOL ~tonight~,
Monday, October 8th
8:00 PM EDT

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, October 09, 2018 - 07:40 am: Edit

Any updates on the game? I saw through the end of T1; ORI had taken a dozen in through #4, losing 3 phasers and a photon; HYD had taken two dozen internals through the #3, losing 3 phasers and a HB.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Tuesday, October 09, 2018 - 04:59 pm: Edit

I would love to list the winner in Hailing Frequencies on Thursday. Would you please keep us informed?

By David Cheng (Davec) on Thursday, October 11, 2018 - 07:09 pm: Edit

The Council Cup finals match will continue on SFBOL this Friday, October 12th, 8:00 PM EDT.

By David Cheng (Davec) on Sunday, October 14, 2018 - 11:14 am: Edit

Dr Zimdars is the winner of the 2018 Council Cup tournament.

Lets hope he posts a write-up.

By David Cheng (Davec) on Tuesday, May 28, 2019 - 10:42 pm: Edit

Hello Star Fleet Battles fans,

Three news items related to SFB at Council of Five Nations XLII.
1. Save the date
2. Judge(s) Wanted
3. Format change - need your feedback.


SAVE THE DATE
September 20-22, 2019
Yes, this is a bit earlier than usual. Council has to float, based on scheduling of other events at Union College and Proctors Theater.


JUDGE(S) WANTED
John & Dave, the guys who have been judging this thing for many years, are both getting old. If one or two folks want to step up and judge the tournament, that would be great!
Some things to understand:

The main responsibilities are coordinating matchups and teaching walk-in newbies.
You get to play. We are not sanctioned, so there is no prohibition against the judge(s) competing. In fact, we insist that you do indeed play and have fun.
You do not need to be a rules expert. There are plenty of those in the room.
If we get more than one volunteer, two people can split this job. You both get into the con for free, and you both get a world-famous, GMs-only Council T-Shirt.
There are probably one or two more we will think of later.

Please reply to this message if you're interested.


FORMAT CHANGE - WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK

Two factors to consider.

For many years, we have never actually played the Finals match onsite at Council. It has been played after the con via SFBOnline. This bothers us a little bit, but not enough to stop the practice.
Interest in getting into the finals and playing for the win, seems to be ebbing a bit. It seems our players are coming more for fun and socializing, with less emphasis on competitive play.


Given these factors, we are proposing a new finals format:

Finals will be top FOUR players as of 6pm on Saturday, not top eight.
Semi-finals (top 4) will be Saturday at 7:00 PM.
Finals (top 2) will be Sunday at 9:00 AM.
No more finals via SFBOnline. If you are not able to stay and play Sunday at 9am, then you are not eligible to advance to the finals.


We would like your feedback on this possible format change. However, please note that not all opinions will count equally.

Folks who have been regularly playing SFB at Council for years have the most say
Folks who have occasionally attended Council count next
Folks who have been active in SFB Tournament discussion on the ADB BBS, and the Star Fleet Battles Open Community forum, but have not attended Council, count next
Folks who don't fall into any of the three categories above can chime in, but those opinions will have the least amount of weight.


Please reply to this message with your feedback.


Hope to see many of you at Council this year,
Dave Cheng
Grumpy Old Man

By David Cheng (Davec) on Sunday, July 21, 2019 - 10:06 pm: Edit

I have just updated the SFB at Council web page for this year's tournament.

You can see that here:
http://www.swa-gaming.org/Star-Trek-Star-Fleet-Games-at-Council

Time to start our annual Roll Call tradition.

We've already got brothers Jarod (SFBOL: sleepy_cat) and Tyson Ikeda committing to flying all the way in from California. And with our earlier date this year, we hear there's a good chance that several Battlegroup Toronto folks will attend as well.

Please either post here, or contact me directly with your Committed/Probable/Maybe status.

I will update the web page regularly.

-DC

By Sebastian Palozzi (Sebastian) on Monday, July 22, 2019 - 06:27 am: Edit

Sebastian Palozzi Probable

By Kosta Michalopoulos (Kosmic) on Monday, July 22, 2019 - 07:07 pm: Edit

You can put me down as probable as well.