This product is now scheduled for release on 14 September. It is keyed to use Squadron Boxes #1-#6 and Border Boxes #1 and #2.

By Phil Shanton (Mxslade) on Friday, August 14, 2009 - 03:49 pm: Edit

Since this is the Q&A section, I'll put it here.

Will there be an SFB Version after the FC version is out or will there be a B.O.M. module instead?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, August 14, 2009 - 03:51 pm: Edit

I wouldn't call it an "FC Version" at all. It just matches the existing squadron boxes.

Variants can be published in one form or another in future products. Let's get the basics done first.

By Daniel Kast (Mj12games) on Friday, August 14, 2009 - 04:40 pm: Edit

The Starmada ship designs are based off the FC data cards, so in that sense it is an "FC version"... but we've tried to avoid thinking of this as either an FC or SFB emulation -- it's more "What would SFU ships look like in Starmada terms?"

By Sean O'Carroll (Terryoc) on Friday, August 14, 2009 - 08:15 pm: Edit

What's the expected price for Klingon Armada?

Will the full Starmada rules be in Klingon Armada?

Will the ships be compatible with ships designed using the Starmada design rules (for those who want to use Starmada ship designs from other sources against SFU ships, or brew their own from Trek sources that ADB, Inc. is not licensed to use)?

By Sean O'Carroll (Terryoc) on Friday, August 14, 2009 - 08:28 pm: Edit

Another question:

Will Klingon Armada be supported in Captain's Log? If someone has a scenario or tactics article for Klingon Armada, who should they submit it to?

By Daniel Kast (Mj12games) on Friday, August 14, 2009 - 08:29 pm: Edit

Can't comment on the price; that's Steve's call.

The essential Starmada rules will be in KA, which means the game is playable "out of the box".

The ships provided in KA will be fully compatible with and balanced against player-designed ships and those from other Starmada products.

By Joe Boorsten (Getterbeam) on Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 12:05 am: Edit

How would KA compare to Fleet-scale FC? In terms of game length, ship durability, typical number of ships in a battle force, that sort of thing.

By Daniel Kast (Mj12games) on Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 12:13 am: Edit

Ships in Starmada/KA will go "boom" more quickly than in fleet-scale FC. So games will likely take less time, but then again, you can have more ships on the board, which will bring game length back up...

By Sean O'Carroll (Terryoc) on Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 02:07 am: Edit

Ships in FC tend to be hard to kill anyway. Sounds like Klingon Armada is probably closer to SFB in that respect.

By Daniel Kast (Mj12games) on Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 09:15 am: Edit

A good feel for the game can be gained from the free basic rules, which can be downloaded here:

http://www.mj12games.com/starmada/SAEdemo.pdf

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 12:08 pm: Edit

I am not sure of the price yet, but less than the $16.95 of the Starmada Admiral Core book.

Klingon Armada will have only the “quickstart” rules which are also available free in the links above.

We do plan to have pages set aside for Star Fleet Armada in Captain's Log. Send scenarios and tactics to Daniel, who will send me the ones that work (since I wouldn't know).

By Sean O'Carroll (Terryoc) on Saturday, August 15, 2009 - 06:52 pm: Edit

Daniel, thanks for the link.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, August 21, 2009 - 01:52 pm: Edit

Cover

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, August 21, 2009 - 01:52 pm: Edit

Turns out the two books will be the same size so both will be $16.95.

By Sean O'Carroll (Terryoc) on Friday, August 21, 2009 - 08:07 pm: Edit

Awesome! The bottom looks a little like Captain's Log, but the typeface of the title distinguishes it nicely. I look forward to buying a copy.

By Joe Boorsten (Getterbeam) on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 02:07 am: Edit

Why not "STAR FLEETS BATTLE" ? ;)

By Daniel Kast (Mj12games) on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 11:52 am: Edit

@Getterbeam: LOL. :D

By Daniel Kast (Mj12games) on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 12:40 pm: Edit

A preview of the Federation CA ship data sheet can be seen over on the mj12games.com forums:

http://mj12games.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2069&start=15#p17441

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 04:08 pm: Edit

Comments on FedCom board post.

By Sean O'Carroll (Terryoc) on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 07:57 pm: Edit

Cool to see a preview but there's a few bits I don't understand. What's the "[GHI]" and "[JKL]" arcs under phasers?

I don't understand all the special rules like "range based ROF" and so on, but if it is what it sounds like then the CA should be deadly up close just like it is in FC/SFB... that's very exciting that you are able to capture so much of the flavour. I was concerned that the conversion to Starmada would lose flavour, but I'm glad to see my concern was unfounded.

By Daniel Kast (Mj12games) on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 09:16 pm: Edit

You can get the basic idea from the free download of the essential Starmada rules: www.mj12games.com/starmada/SAEdemo.pdf

Since the intent of the game is to allow players to design ships from whatever universe springs to mind and have them work within the same rules system, much of the game data has been "genericized". For example, each 60-degree firing arc is assigned a single letter (A-F); thus, any potential group of arcs can be easily designated. Thus, the FC/SFB "FA" firing arc is designated "AB" in Starmada. (Same thing with the "advanced" arcs, G through L; e.g. FC/SFB's "FH" is Starmada's "GHI".)

A similar thing occurs with the weapon traits; all weapons in Starmada have a standard to-hit/penetration/damage progression. Just about every conceivable variation on this is then codified and named; e.g. "Range-Based ROF" indicates a weapon that rolls more dice to-hit at short range than at long range.

I'm fairly confident we've captured the flavor of the different races -- there have been a number of long-time FC/SFB players involved in the playtesting and the results are pretty positive.

The point, as I have been fond of saying, has not been to recreate FC/SFB using Starmada -- the point has been to define what the Star Fleet Universe would look like in Starmada terms. A fine, but very important, distinction.

By Sean O'Carroll (Terryoc) on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 03:19 am: Edit

Any chance of seeing a preview D7 as well? Pretty please with sugar on top?

I am really, really excited by this new game.

By Daniel Kast (Mj12games) on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 10:39 am: Edit

Because you said "pretty please".

http://www.mj12games.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2069&p=17450#p17450

By Daniel Kast (Mj12games) on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 10:52 am: Edit

Couple points worth mentioning:

1) Although we wanted to keep the relative point costs within the same ballpark, it was going to be impossible to have them match up exactly. Thus, for example, the D7 comes out .07% more expensive than the Fed CA, even though the CA is slightly more expensive in FC/SFB.

2) You'll notice the extra shield point tucked away in the aft facet on the D7. This is due to the rounding conducted to convert FC/SFB values to Starmada. We didn't want the D7 to lose that extra point, so we stuck in the back where it probably won't have much effect on the game, but it can be taken as damage without reducing the forward shield(s).