My "votes".

Skiffs would be most-welcome and couriers would also add some more diversity to the tiny ships pool (for points-value pickup games, I much prefer taking a tiny ship than adjust the differential between fleets with unearned victory points). The SYS box makes them practical to do, now.

Auxiliaries:
Looking at the CL51/Comm125 ship chart, it looks like the heavy (4 pod) freighter has never been done as a laminated card (the jumbo was done in Booster 32). The heavy was done as a Fleet Scale-only card as the Ore Carrier in Communique 56, but that's it. With the new mini on the horizon, it might be worth it to have a real card.

The light monitor was in Briefing #2 and hasn't been done as a real card. Might be interesting.

Feds:
DE (if it's not going to be in Fighters Attack),
HDW (much-desired, as there is already a mini),
HDW2 (options are good), OCA (also has a mini),
plasma frigate (the "missing" plasma varant),
Fralli CA (different and fun).

The well for Gorns seems pretty much tapped-out and I can't think of anything useful/interesting for them that hasn't already been done as a laminated card.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Sunday, August 14, 2016 - 02:47 pm: Edit

The third Fed ePack has a set of six plasma variants, to include a plasma frigate and a plasma HDW.

Also, the Hydran Templar is in the "all-fusion" Hydran ePack; the "Middle Years" Templar from Briefing #2 is in B2 Ship Pack E.

For its part, the light monitor is in B2 Ship Pack A.

In the case of the Gorns, I might suggest the Heavy Medium Cruiser from SFB Module R12 for consideration, since it would give the Gorns an alternate plasma configuration in the heavy battlecruiser category. (The HCM is to the CM - or rather, to the CS - what the BCH is to the BC.) Plus, they have a number of survey ships in SFB; one of those might be useful here.

So far as the Borak go, might it be an option to use the Carnivon/Paravian precedent, and to put three of their four Ship Cards in with three of the Peladine Ship Cards from CL50 to create a combined playtest pack?

In the case of the ISC, it might be as well to keep the DNE in reserve, until (or unless) there was cause to do a set of "Middle Years" ISC ships at some later stage. (Say, if there were ever to be a "Briefing #2B"; which could also add the likes of the Middle Years Vudar, Carnivons, or Paravians to that era.) In the long run, it would be neat to see some of the "war" classes (CW, DW, HCW) show up in FC - by which I mean those ships built or converted in "home" ISC space during the Andromedan invasion (or which one could assume to exist earlier in one of the alternate "Paravian timelines"), as opposed to the "system" hulls converted out in the semi-isolated cantonments elsewhere in the Alpha Octant.

There are still a number of Andromedan Mothership variants in SFB which could be useful in FC, not least the Infestor and Missionary (each of which would help when running campaigns). The Base Station might also be of use for them, to sit between the pre-existing Satellite Base and Battle Station options.

By Mike West (Mjwest) on Monday, August 15, 2016 - 11:23 pm: Edit

What are the four Gorn ships? It might be possible to expand them out an extra two ...

As for the Borak, I would rather them go the Frax route, with their own ePack, than the Carnivon/Paravian route. That way they can have a nice core fleet in one shot.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - 02:17 pm: Edit

Skiffs were in Comm 78, by the way.

Courier/Watcher has 16 boxes (skiff has 24) and may be too small to do as fleet scale. It's done but has never been made public.

Heavy freighter class-4 should be done. Not really sure why we have a fleet scale but not a squadron scale. I might comment that Will seems to be discussing "real" cards while Gary and I are discussing "epack cards" which is confusing. Real cards would have to go into a product and you can discuss them in the topic for that product.

Light monitor in Briefing #2 means it exists as an E card but not as general war. Not sure there is any difference. Anybody? As a "real" (laminated) card then you need to bring it up in some product.

Gorns could easily use scout, escort, and commando variants. Filling in two ships is not a problem. Then again, could tere by a long-hull ersatz-cruiser based on the police frigate?

Fed plasma frigate was indeed in FEP3 so it is just mis-coded in my list and is not really available. Fed Plasma-HDW is coded HDW3 and wasn't on the list I mentioned.

Hydran templar has been re-coded correctly as "already in an epack".

I'd rather do the Borak as all-Borak and the Peladine as all-Peladine.

I am uncomfortable about the ISC "war" classes as people will use them as general warships not the speciality emergency bash ups they were. I'd rather just leave them out of FC.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - 02:48 pm: Edit

"What are the four Gorn ships?"

BDE
BDL
HDD-Commando
DD-Old unrefitted


"It might be possible to expand them out an extra two."

Kinda hard to find any empire we can't add two ships for.
BDS
BD-Commando
CLS
CL-Commando
DDS
DDE
DD-Commando
HDE

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - 03:04 pm: Edit

Klingons Available:

B10 boom
C9
D15 FXRX Variant
D16 FXRX variant
D17 FXRX variant
D5J
D5S
D6D
D6J
D7D
D7W
E4D
E5
E7
E7D
F15 FXRX
F5E
F5J
F5L
F5S
F6
F6E

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - 03:17 pm: Edit

I think I thought I was discussing cards that had been done as B&W CapLog or Communique and would be nice to have in color as pdf but, yes, I think I lost the thread halfway through.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - 08:41 pm: Edit

Going by the (R1.83) SSD in SFB Module R11, there seems to be no "plus refit" listed for the light monitor.

(They can mount most, but not all, of the same pallet options as the regular-sized monitor; though I'm not sure if those options need apply in FC.)

There are rules for Main Era weapon mounts on light monitors in (7B) from Briefing #2, and in (5L6b) from the current (Rev 6a) edition of the FC Reference Rulebook.

-----

The Klingon D7D, D7W, E7, F5L, and F6 are in the third Klingon ePack.

-----

I don't wish to go onto too much of a tangent ISC-wise. Yet while the jury-rigged concept would apply to the "system" ships, the "war" hulls were more traditional conversions of "peacetime" hulls.

The "system" hulls had additional hull segments hastily welded on to them out in the cantonments; these segments increased the ships' move costs, but did not include any additional warp engine boxes to make up for this. In FC terms, the NFF, NDD, and NCA/NCS would likely not be able to maintain a Baseline Speed of 24.

However, in the case of the "wartime" hulls, both the CW and DW were designed as more "traditional" conversions; each added a third warp engine of the type used by the "peacetime" hull they are based on. For its part, the HCW has two frigate and two destroyer engines. These hulls were constructed or converted in the Concordium's primary fleet yards. The blueprints for the CW and DW had been drawn up as early as Y170. According to the R-section for the ISC HCW in SFB Module R12, a prototype CW was built in Y187; both the CW and DW were put into full-sale production in Y189. The HCW entered service in Y190, but the R12 data notes that it could have been built in the mid-to-late Y170s.

So while I'd agree that the "system" conversions are not all that viable in an FC context, the "war" classes might be more appropriate to offer as "line" warships. Or, perhaps, as the basis for new "mission variants", to replace hulls lost in the turmoil of the Andromedan onslaught.

By Terry O'Carroll (Terryoc) on Wednesday, August 24, 2016 - 09:59 pm: Edit

Bought the Lost Empires pack last night. Will play with these ships as soon as I get a chance. Thanks to ADB for doing that ePack.

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Thursday, August 25, 2016 - 11:28 am: Edit

Bought the Lost Empires pack last night too. Also threw two others in my cart that I'd been thinking about.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, August 25, 2016 - 01:16 pm: Edit

We went through two years of playtest reports and found nothing to change in the rules and a couple of trivial things to fix on the cards, and the other two cards were straightforward and were checked by multiple staffers, so this one is a preview. That's not surprising considering that the ships and rules were extensively tested in their SFB form and were good to go in SFB C6.

As is the case with all previews and even finished products, if anyone sees anything problematic, we'll fix it on the next printing or the next upload. It could be two or three or five years before we move on to a final product with counters and 16 cards and boosters and minis, so this will at least let you experience the joys of birds and dogs until then.

By Jeffery Smith (Jsmith) on Friday, August 26, 2016 - 01:45 am: Edit

thank you for uploading this. I purchased it last night and I look for to what will follow in the future.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, July 23, 2020 - 11:44 am: Edit

I was working on LYRAN EPACK #2 and in assigning the stock number Jean discovered that THOLIAN EPACK #2 had never been uploaded.

She is uploading that now. 13 new ships and one you had before for only $5. What a deal. They're all small police ships, but still, it's like getting two packs in one.

BTW, I should finish LYRAN EPACK #2 (3 new ships, 2 from Captain's Log, five random ships, all for $5) today and LDR EPACK #2 (10 ships for $5 including two new ones) sometime in the next two weeks.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, July 23, 2020 - 06:46 pm: Edit

Jean has uploaded the Tholian thing but it may not appear in the store for a day or two.

I finished the Lyran Pack #2 which involved (today) fixing the last four ship card glitches, writing the new scenario, and doing the counters.

The philosophy of these things is evolving. For a long time we did six ships for $5. We are upping that to 10 for $5 and promising to include two new ones, plus whatever ships were in Captain's Log, and then fill the pack with whatever comes to hand. We are trying to please three different groups: Those who want existing ships in PDF, those who want only new ships in PDF, and those who want only new ships and want them only in laminated cards.

The uniquely weird Tholian pack 2 has 13 new ships for $5 because, well, reasons. These are variants of two basic hulls so they were as easy to do as three or four new ships and ten existing ones.

The Lyran pack has 10 ships for $5 and is the new standard. Two new ships promised, in this case you get three for... reasons.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Friday, October 23, 2020 - 09:22 pm: Edit

This need not necessarily be looked at any time soon, but could there be an opportunity to someday consider one (or more) additional Andromedan ePack(s)?

On the one hand, there are a number of additional hull types and "mission variants" from SFB that could be brought over to FC, were there enough interest in doing so.

On the other hand, once X-Ships Attack is up and running, perhaps a follow-on ePack with a number of the Andro X-ships from Module C3A might then be an option?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, August 04, 2021 - 07:39 pm: Edit

As with the Andromedan post above, this is more of a "could it be considered someday" kind of request: but with the Juggernaut Empire fleet on Shapeways now supported in both Star Fleet Battles (via various issues of Captain's Log) and in A Call to Arms: Star Fleet (courtesy of Reinforcements One), could it be an option to one day consider a Juggernaut ePack for Federation Commander?

If so, perhaps an FC conversion of the (SL288.0) Fire in the Deep scenario from Captain's Log #41 might be worth adding to the mix.

By Eric Silverman (Ericsilverman) on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 - 08:46 am: Edit

I have a request, which I hope ADB will consider: battleships!

I would very much like to buy an ePack of all the in-print BBs to supplement my physical copies of Battleships Attack and Line of Battle. Other cool stuff like the Tholian BB, Rom K10R, Klingon B11 and WB10, Andro DEV, and so on, would be great as bonus ships in a prospective battleship ePack.

I'd also love to see an ePack of BBVs, now that fighter rules are out there and Fighters Attack is coming (eventually). I don't remember reading about any intentions to publish double-sized cards with Fighters Attack, so I'm guessing ePacks would be the proper home for BBVs.

Battleships are fun and cool, and the big giant cards are eye-catching at the table, so it'd be great to be able to get more of them.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 - 10:52 pm: Edit

Eric: That is a good idea, but here is the issue.

1. There are too many ideas and I am too far behind. By the time I can work on this, I won't remember. If you would remind me every six weeks or so...

2. PDF packs aren't big sellers but take a chunk of my time, and Jean doesn't schedule them very often.

By Eric Silverman (Ericsilverman) on Thursday, April 28, 2022 - 06:58 am: Edit

SVC, thanks for your response -- I'm grateful you see merit in the idea

I completely understand the issues, and I'm happy to post a reminder every six weeks or so.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, April 28, 2022 - 01:54 pm: Edit

Just don't get upset if I forget I told you that and chew you out for bothering me. Just say "I am reminding you as you asked me to" or words to that effect and we can avoid senior moments on my part.

By Eric Silverman (Ericsilverman) on Thursday, April 28, 2022 - 08:11 pm: Edit

No problem, will do

By Eric Silverman (Ericsilverman) on Sunday, July 24, 2022 - 07:26 am: Edit

SVC: Here is the reminder you asked for regarding my suggestion from 27 April to produce FC ePacks for BBs and BBVs As you requested, if you're short of time to think of this right now I'll post further reminders every six weeks or so.

In case it helps, I've been working on my Adobe Illustrator skills by creating FC ship cards for every battleship variant I can find in my SFU collection. They are Squadron Scale only, because I never play Fleet Scale, but if guidelines for Fleet Scale cards are available I'd be happy to produce those as well. In any case I can provide the source files if that would be useful.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, July 24, 2022 - 08:14 am: Edit

Eric, I will look into that when I can. As you guessed, I'm going to be busy right now but it sounds like a fun thing to do.

As for you doing your own cards, do them for your own use but never distribute them. Copyrights, you know. We own the ship, so nobody but us can publish the card.

Just a note, you really cannot help me do cards. It takes more time to check what you did than to do it myself and if I don't have time to do mine I don't have time to check yours. Worse, unless by the dumbest of luck you did cards my software can edit, I cannot use them as I would have no way to fix any mistake anyone found without going back to you, which wouldn't necessarily be automatic as you might get a new job, or a new girlfriend, or something, and be busy.

By Eric Silverman (Ericsilverman) on Sunday, July 24, 2022 - 10:34 am: Edit

OK, no problem I'll queue up another reminder for six weeks from now!

Don't worry, I haven't shared my cards (and won't). In the past three months, working a couple hours a day, I've done about 650 cards. I've been having some health difficulties so I've found it very therapeutic.

What's the policy regarding variants that have no chance of appearing in FC? As an example, I've made cards for every SFG-armed Klingon ship, with the intention to use the Borders of Madness SFG rules for FC provided in CL40. Similarly, I've made Borders of Madness variants of BBVs and other carriers that bring over additional fighter types (and heavy fighters) into FC rules. Can I share stuff like that, or no?

For what it's worth, Illustrator can directly export to AI, EPS, PDF, SVG, or SVGZ formats, which I've been able to use in other software pretty easily. I really like using Illustrator for making cards; now that I've got templates for all the empires I can make a card from scratch in ~15 minutes, and correcting small errors takes at most a couple of minutes. I don't love the 'software-as-a-service' subscription model Adobe uses, but at least the software itself is cool.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, July 24, 2022 - 11:16 pm: Edit

The policy is the same for every ship, since every ship has a chance to appear in FC. We're always looking for stuff to do in the newsletter. And you never know. I won't be here forever and Steve Cole 2.0 might want to hire you.