CL37: F&E Q&A, Part 1

The following items are the last from Nick Blank’s distinguished tenure as FEAR (F&E Answer Rapporteur).

GENERAL QUESTIONS
Q: Rule (706.2) says that if CVAs are allowed, the one per year does not count against the overall carrier limit. Does this mean my Gorn CVD does not count against the Gorn limit?
A: No, it does not, because the CVD is a medium carrier.
Q: Is the Gorn MDS a heavy carrier (CVA)?
A: No, it’s a medium carrier, and it has its own limit in (440.6). The Gorns do not have a normal CVA build slot. Note that both the CVD and MDS are escorted as heavy carriers.
Q: Can you give me an example (505.2) survey points ?
A: It’s very simple. You accumulate survey points each turn, adding each turn’s points to the “running total” until that running total equals or exceeds the “cost” of finding the next province. Then you deduct that cost from the running total, and add one province to your off-map province total. Say you have 18 accumulated points and the next province will cost you 20 survey points. You roll a “4” which means you now have 22 survey points. You deduct 20 (gaining a province) and have 2 survey points left over, to which you will add the future survey results.
Q: Does (525.318), the rule about the Hydran Pegasus shipyard, mean they get one per turn even if not at war?
A: Yes, it means exactly that.
Q: I have added both PDUs and PGBs to my capital, but an enemy SAF showed up and started blowing them away. Rule (520.6) says all of the PDUs and PGBs are one big target. Who decides if the losses are the more valuable PDUs or the less expensive PGBs?
A: When the base is destroyed by directed damage (or by a SAF, which is pretty much the same thing) the attacker decides. When given up as voluntary damage, the defender decides.
Q: My PDU is destroyed, making its fighters homeless. Can they go to a PGB that I pay to upgrade on the next turn? SFB allows fighters to land more or less anywhere on a planet and “park” at a “casual base”.
A: No, that SFB rule does not translate into F&E as it is a temporary expediency. PGBs have no fighter facilities until they are upgraded. Homeless fighters are lost as per the rules.
Q: Does the ruling about a combined X-ship non-X-ship fleet retreating together in Captain’s Log #35 mean that a fleet consisting of 99 Klingon ships (which have only one hex where they can “retreat into supply”) and one Lyran frigate (which is out of supply no matter where it goes) can retreat anywhere it wants, ignoring supply rules?
A: It means no such thing, and there is no possible chain of logic that could reach such a conclusion. There is no rule (nor has there ever been such a rule) to support such logic, nor has any ruling changed any existing rule in a way to allow such logic to hold. Somebody on the BBS just wants to argue.
Q: Rule (523.511) says to include the fighter factors on an X-ship being used as a mauler to calculate the mauler effect (515.312) up to a maximum of ten. Could independent squadrons of Stinger-X fighters count as a mauler?
A: No; since rule (523.31) says it takes an uncrippled X-ship to gain this effect, you must have a ship.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 04:19 pm: Edit

CL37: F&E Q&A, Part 2

The following items are the first from our new FEAR (F&E Answer Rapporteur), Mike Curtis.
Most of the questions on the BBS are answered by the rulebook if you just know where to look, which is why we did an extensive index in Combined Operations that we need to add to the website sometime really soon. We publish the more interesting (and less obvious) ones in Captain’s Log.
Answers which require creating a new rule or making a change to a published rule are “rulings” and are “provisional” rules. They can be appealed, first to the FEAR and then to F&E Department Head, Jeff Laikind, who might sustain, modify, extend, or reverse them. They are then sent to game designer Stephen V. Cole, who might also sustain, modify, extend, or reverse them (after consulting with the staff) before they are “officially” published in Captain’s Log (see pages 81-82).

PLUS AND MINUS POINTS
Q: In a capital assault, the attackers strike a minor planet. The defenders do not send forces to defend this planet. As a result, the 37 damage points are nine more than is required to destroy both PDUs, all 12 fighter factors, and devastate the planet. Are these extra points recorded as plus points? What do they represent, since there is nothing to “retreat” from the planet (but there are other ships in “the hex” which were not in the battle).
A: Rule (308.25) covers this rather clearly. If everything there was destroyed, then nothing carries over. Note that in general, plus and minus points at the various planets of a capital battle (308.24) do get merged (maximum of seven plus points per system) for pursuit purposes, but not “excess” points.

DEPOT LEVEL REPAIR
Q: Can ships, captured and converted by (305.23), be placed into Depot Level Repair (424.0)?
A: No. The rules for Depot Level Repair (424.37) say specifically that captured ships cannot go into the Depot. There are not enough parts in the Depot (think giant space junkyard) to facilitate the repair of such a ship placed there.
Q: Why does the Romulan Depot Level Repair have a KR track if the converted Klingon ships are essential converted foreign ships, which are banned from the Depot by (654.2)?
A: The Kestral ships the Romulans bought from the Klingons came with a couple of things your run-of-the-mill captured ship does not: engineers that helped build the ship, a supply of spare parts, and the codes to unlock everything on the ship. These are necessary to convert them to Romulan technology and keep them running in the long term. This also provided a source of common parts in the Depot to repair these ships. It should also be noted that the Romulans had numerous Kestral class ships in service that could very easily provide the parts necessary to supply the Depot.

SALE OF SHIPS TO THE WYN CLUSTER
Q: In reference to Klingons selling a ship to the WYNs on Turn #1, the official online Errata says:
(449.2) This rule forms an exception to (601.161). While the ship is technically leaving Klingon space, it is also technically no longer Klingon. Specific rules always overrule general rules, so the specific (449.2) [you can sell it!] overrules the more general (601.161) [you can’t leave!]. Had we known that (449.2) was going to happen before we printed (601.161) it would have included a reference to (449.2). We’ll add one in the Warbook.
I understand what this is saying; it is allowing the Klingons to sell a ship to the WYNs on Turn #1 even though they are not allowed to send a ship outside of the empire during that turn. This is a good ruling that makes sense. However, the ramifications of this rule concern me. By the errata, it is now a WYN vessel now instead of a Klingon vessel. So it immediately becomes a WYN ship before it moves. It was not clear before this ruling what a WYN vessel could do, as it never had an opportunity to be on the map even in this transitory manner, but there are no rules for handling a WYN vessel on the map. Who moves it? Can anyone react to it? Can it attack something? Can you pin it? Can it pin anything? What can it do? What can’t it do?
A: Calm down! You’re extrapolating a lot of rules from one misunderstanding. The ship becomes a WYN vessel at the instant it crosses the hex side into the WYN Cluster. (Nothing says it is a WYN vessel before then.) Once it is in the WYN Cluster, it follows the WYN rules, which (until F&E: Civil Wars is published) means it is simply removed from the map. Indeed, you don’t actually even have to move it to the Cluster, you just remove it from the map. (There is no need to move it on the map for a Turn #1 sale, as there is no way for anyone to stop the movement. In later turns, such movement is of course required.)

COMMAND POINTS
Q: The rules for command points spent in a capital assault aren’t entirely clear with respect to the approach battle. If a player spends two command points to buy one extra ship in every system, how many extra ships are allowed in approach?
A: On the contrary, rule (309.94) is quite clear that if you are selecting two command points for one system in the capital you can use only one in the approach battle. It also states if you use four in the capital you have two in the approach battle. Using these examples we should have the following:
• 1 command point in one system equals 0 command points in approach.
• 2 command points in one system equals 1 command point in approach.
• 2 command points for one command point in every system equals 1 command point in approach.
• 4 command points for two command points in every system equals 2 command points in approach.

CAPTURING THE CAPITAL
On Coalition Turn #6, the Coalition captures the Hydran capital. On Alliance Turn #6, the Hydrans counterattack the Hydran capital hex. The Coalition places all “defensive” ships at the capital planet (system) and places all mobile forces at the capital planet (system). The Coalition does not defend the remaining planets in the capital hex. The Hydrans attack, but fail to drive the Coalition from the capital hex.
Q: On Coalition Turn #7, are the non-capital planets in the Hydran capital still considered “captured” during the Coalition’s economic phase (and thus generate income)?
A: Yes, they are. Rule (508.23) is very clear that you have until the end of the phase to show garrison units. At the end of the Combat Phase, the Coalition needs a minimum of six units capable of garrisoning a planet left in the hex to show continuous garrison for that Player Turn. And anyway, the game works on the principle that each hex is owned by one and only one player.

CAPTURED SHIPS
Q: Does a captured ship converted by (305.23) get free Strategic Movement?
A: Yes! Rule (204.31) says they have been repaired and are now part of your technology and can use your Strategic Movement Network and can strat-move for free on the turn of repair.
Q: If the Federation captures a Klingon D6 and converts it by (305.23) it is a 7-8, but if they capture a Romulan KR (arguably the same ship) and convert it, it is an 8-8. Is this right?
A: Yes, it is. That’s how the rules work. One might argue that it should or could or might be otherwise, but it’s not important enough to impose a special rule for this case.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 04:20 pm: Edit

CL37: F&E RULINGS, Part #1

The following items correct mistakes, close loopholes, and answer questions that aren’t covered in the published rules. They have the “force of rule” and change the published rulebooks.—Nick Blank and Stephen V. Cole

JUST WHEN DID THE HYDRANS GET X?
The Hydran X-ship introduction date in Annex (709.0) is wrong. The annex lists Spring Y183 (Turn #30) but Star Fleet Battles Module G2 and Star Fleet Battles Module X1 both list the RNX and LNX as in service in Y182. Change the Hydran X-ship date to Spring Y182 (Turn #28).

SAVING THE MOBILE BASE
Q: If one has a mobile base (MB) and a BATS in the same hex, the MB can be the “excluded base” (302.2123A)-Captain’s Log #30, which can not be attacked until the BATS is destroyed. Suppose that instead of a deployed MB, there is a BATS and a tug setting up a MB. May the tug/MB combo be chosen as the “excluded base”? My copy of (510.23) was written before “excluded bases” were invented, so does not address the issue.
Ruling: Rule (510.231) states that a mobile base while being deployed “The Base, even though not functional, is treated the same as a functional base for the purpose of approach battles.” In addition (302.211) states “….tugs serving as supply points or deploying mobile bases, and convoys, are treated as bases for the purpose of (302.2).” Based on these two rules, an uncompleted MB (with tug) can be excluded in the same way as a deployed MB may be. Being able to do this is, specifically, why the rules were written this way.

SALVAGE OUT OF SUPPLY
Q: Rule (439.13) says “Ships which are lost when out of supply...” do not generate salvage income. Does this mean:
1) Ships that are out of supply “at the instant of combat”, or
2) Ships that were out of supply for purposes of combat, as per (410.2)?
That is to say, if a ship was in supply at the start of the Player Turn, does it still count as being in supply for salvage purposes even if at the moment of combat it can’t trace supply back to a supply source (it moved too far away or it got surrounded)?
Ruling: Ships which were in supply at the beginning of the turn, but cannot trace a supply path at the instant of combat, are treated as “in supply” for the purpose of combat. However, such units have no supply path for the “dedicated staff officers” to recover the “destroyed” hulls for salvage, so, no salvage money.

THE COSTS OF THINGS
(446.13) COLONIES: Change cost from 2+2+2 to 1+1+1. Also, a survey ship in the colony hex (doing nothing else) eliminates the cost (not the time) from any one of those three turns. (Always takes three turns, but might cost only 2 points.)
(451.31) HOSPITAL SHIP COST: Reduce the cost of this mission to 0.5 EPs.

EXCLUDING THE FLAG
Q: I am the phasing player. As the Kzinti, I send an escort-less CVE and 3xFFs to go kill a province-raiding E4. My opponent sends a reserve fleet to save the E4, which is going to mean my tiny force is in a nasty low-odds battle and I’m going to lose ships I thought I was sending on an easy mission. I don’t want to lose that CVE! Rule (302.36) says that when coming up with the minimum force, you can excuse unchosen flag candidates, but not if it is part of a group. Can I excuse the escort-less CVE?
Ruling: Rule (515.54) states that “Carriers and escorts produced independently of groups need not be placed into or formed into groups.” (There are some exceptions that do not apply in this case.) As there is no requirement for carriers to be in groups, the CVE may be excluded. If it is used in combat, it counts as a group, with the missing escort slot still counted against command limits as per (515.13). Now, there is a quirk here. If you are playing “Vanilla F&E” which cannot imagine a carrier outside of a group, the CVE is defined as a carrier group that lost its escorts, and therefore by (501.11) is a group (even though it is alone). Note that rules (308.134) and (308.14) also define it as a group, even though it is not. Therefore, if not using Fighter Operations rule (515.0) Flexible Carrier Groups, the CVE is “in a group with missing escorts” and cannot be excluded.

THE RETURN OF THE LORD MARSHAL
Q: The Master SIT lists the Hydran Lord Marshal as being available in Y159, but scenario (607.2) says Y160.
Ruling: This comes from the old days before there was a SIT and just got missed when the scenario was updated. It should be available in Y159, so change (607.2).

BATTLESHIP FIGHTERS
Q: Standard battleships include a few fighters, which they have to pay for under (436.21). Do they pay the conversion cost to be “light” carriers? Are they hybrids? Does the cost to “convert” a battleship into a carrier affect the salvage cost? Does it affect the cost a “fighterless battleship” such as the “B10 Minus”?
Ruling: While battleships have a few “hybrid” fighters that don’t count against the “three squadron limit”, they do not pay a “conversion cost” and so the flat 36-point cost for them is used to calculate salvage. A fighterless battleship costs the same 36 points as a battleship without fighters, but does not pay for fighters.

DUMBEST RULE EVER
Rule (315.27), the dumbest ever written, is cancelled.

RELUCTANT GORNS
Q: What happens if, for some strange reason, the Gorns do not enter the General War on Turn #12? Their pre-war construction schedule provides no data.
Ruling: The Gorns remain at a peacetime economy and repeat the PWC for Turn #10 on Turn #12, #14, #16, and further Spring turns. On Fall turns, they would repeat the PWC of Turn #9 (not Turn #11). Use the same fleet assignments.

HALF A PIN FACTOR IS BETTER THAN NONE
Q: A Reserve Fleet has ten ships, including two carriers with three fighter factors each, for a total of eleven ship equivalents. To get to a battle hex, it has to pass through a battle hex with sixteen enemy ship equivalents and ten friendly ship equivalents with three extra fighter factors. May the Reserve Fleet pass through this hex? (There is no route that does not pass through enemy ships.) It would have to leave five ships and three fighter factors to avoid being pinned. I am confused by rule (203.742), which says that a “fleet cannot leave more than half its ships (counting fighter and PF ship equivalents; round fractions down)” behind. What am I rounding down? The number of ships I leave behind, or the number I take with me?
Ruling: Rule (203.742) does indeed state that no more than one half of the Reserve Fleet may be left behind, fractions rounded down. A review by the staff, however, could not agree on the answer to the question “half of what?”
However, Steve Cole has come to realize that sophisticated F&E players are capable of dealing with simple fractions. Therefore, the “round down” phrase is removed from the rule. You have to leave 5.5 to get through the hex (if you have carriers/tenders that work out), and in this case, you can leave 5.5 (since it is half of 11, the fighters are half of a pin point, and that rounding thing that confused everybody went away), so you’re good to go.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 04:20 pm: Edit

CL37: F&E RULINGS, Part #2

The following items correct mistakes, close loopholes, and answer questions that aren’t covered in the rules. They have the “force of rule” and change the published rulebooks.—Mike Curtis and Stephen V. Cole

A GIFT FROM THE KLINGONS ... SORT OF
Q: A Klingon ship is captured by the Federation, which convert it (305.23), but the ship is then captured by the Romulans, who want to declare it a gift from the Klingons and convert it into a KR-something (652.4). Can they?
Ruling: The rules do not specifically cover this, meaning we’ll have to add a line or two in the Warbook, but there is more than enough information to figure it out.
The Romulans have any of the options of (305.2), which would include converting it to Romulan technology under (305.23). There is no functional difference between converting a Klingon ship captured and converted by the Federation and converting a captured Federation ship. However, this runs into another issue, regarding Depot Level Repair. By rule (424.37), a “captured and converted” (305.23) ship cannot go into the depot, but by rule (424.11-Romulan #5) a Klingon ship sold to the Romulans and converted into a Kestrel-series ship can go into the depot.
So, for the ship in question to become depot-eligible (and use a KR counter instead of a “Ship #” counter) you would have to pay for (305.23) to convert it back into Klingon technology and then pay (652.4) to convert in into a Kestrel-series ship. Now, technically, the Romulans aren’t (and can’t) convert it into a Klingon ship, but the (305.23) cost will cover removing the Federation technology (and the “politically correct” signs) and leave the basic “bare” hull for (652.4) conversion into KR-technology and a depot-capable ship.
Q: Under (442.83), the Romulans can’t do any KR-series conversions (and normal repairs cost double) if they don’t have any spare parts. So, would the KR-series ships in the Depot stop moving down the track until they received more spare parts? Or would they be scrapped at that point since the technicians wouldn’t even know if they would ever be getting spare parts for them? Could scrapped KR hulls provide spare KR parts for the Depot?
Ruling: There should be enough parts from the “Space Junk Yard” (that the Depot represents) to provide the necessary parts for ongoing repairs to continue, but no further KR-series ships could enter the Depot from that point.

THE LUCKIEST FEDERATION PLAYER
Q: A lucky Federation player has captured a Klingon D6 and a Romulan KR (What a guy!), which are (basically) the same ship. He converts them to Federation technology by (305.23), which leaves the original factors intact. He now wants to use (305.45) to convert them into special mission variants. Could he convert the D6 into a KRS scout, or only into a D6S? Could he convert the KR into a D6S, or only into a KRS?
Ruling: The conversion from Klingon to Romulan technology is extensive enough that, in this case, the two ships are no longer “quite” the same ship. Compare the SSDs of any Klingon ship to the Kestrel equivalent, and you will see many changes: plasma-vs-disruptors, shuttles-vs-drones, types of phasers, security-vs-hull, and on and on. So, a “Klingon” ship can only be converted into a “Klingon variant” and a “KR ship” can only be converted into a “KR variant”. One might assume that the Federation could pay extra and make such a conversion, but rest assured that the cost would be so high that no one would pay it.

FLEET RELEASE AREAS
Q: Most empires have border areas assigned to border fleets, and a home fleet (and in one or two cases other fleets) assigned to a specific hex. This leaves a lot of territory that is not part of any defined fleet area. So there are planets and bases that never have a specific release date since release is defined in terms of a fleet and its deployment zone. What happens?
Ruling: The rule for Piracy Patrol (600.33) gives a hint as to what to do in this situation, but we do need to add a line or two to the Warbook covering it. Any areas not assigned to a specific fleet are covered under the activation of the Home Fleet. For a limited war situation for the Federation, see (602.4).

PARTIAL SUPPLY GRIDS AND PARTIAL DEFICITS
Q: Can Partial Grids use Deficit Spending (430.6)? After all, they may have their own Treasury (413.4), although they’d certainly be limited by (430.62). How about Advanced Deficit Spending (447.0)?
Ruling: Deficit Spending of any type is only allowed in the Main Supply Grid. This represents the central government location where they can obtain credit. Can you see a bank loaning money to a cutoff area and expecting that area to pay them back in a combat situation?

DIPLOMATIC TEAMS
Q: Does the requirement that the diplomatic team to not be separated from the Klingon diplomatic ships prevent an assassination by an Espionage & Sabotage (E&S) mission?
Ruling: The requirement that the diplomatic team cannot be separated from the diplomatic ship is only for the Klingon player. If another player separates the diplomatic team from the diplomatic ship by an assassination by an E&S mission the Klingon player will have to build a new team to continue to use this ship as a diplomatic ship. The D7N will operate as a normal diplomatic ship while it has only one diplomatic team.

CAPTURED SHIPS
Q: A ship from Empire A is captured by Empire B, which (305.23) converts it to Empire B technology. It is then recaptured by Empire A. What happens? Can Empire A use (305.23) to convert it back to Empire A technology? Can Empire A use it to trick Empire B (305.21)?
Ruling: It is treated as an Empire B ship and can be converted to Empire A technology (305.23), scrapped for EPs (305.22), or used in a deception (305.21). He can also use the options in (305.24), (305.25), or 305.26).

SPECIAL LIMITED COMMANDO RAIDS
Q: Raids (314.0) can be conducted during times of Limited War (314.14) and during the periods before the Klingons and Romulans invaded the Federation (314.3). The question is whether rule (314.28), which prohibits any kind of attack other than province disruption to be made during these periods, prevents the use of a “G” commando factor (320.4) to attack a base or PDU in the area of an un-released Federation fleet.
A: Rule (314.28) does indeed prevent “G” attacks in unreleased-fleet areas and during the Coalition pre-war raiding periods, which is why (320.4) specifically notes it.

RESERVE MOVEMENT
Q: One ship of a reserve fleet was left behind to resolve pinning while moving to a qualified objective hex. Does this ship count as “reserves sent to the hex” for purposes of withdrawal before combat?
Ruling: The target hex for the reserve fleet is elsewhere. The ship(s) left behind are no longer reserve units since it (they) did not reach the designated reserve hex. The Reserve Movement rules state that if a reserve fleet cannot reach its objective, it cannot be used as a reserve force. The pinning ship(s) left behind in a non-objective hex are no longer a reserve, and as such, they are eligible for withdrawal before combat.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 04:22 pm: Edit

CL38: Q&A
by Mike Curtis, F&E Answer Rapporteur

TRANSLATION PLEASE!
Q: What do all those abbreviations mean?
A: A few used in this article include: AO (Advanced Operations), BIR (Battle Intensity Rating), CEDS (Carrier Escort Damage System), EP (Economic Point), ESSC (Enhanced Small-Scale Combat), HDW (modular Heavy War Destroyer), NZ (Neutral Zone), PO (Planetary Operations), SIDS (Starbase Incremental Damage Step), SIT (Ship Information Table), SMN (Strategic Movement Node).

GENERAL QUESTIONS
Q: A quick question on (509.35) and SOP Step 2B7. Does this include newly-built pods? Can I designate an existing tug to carry a battle pod that I built the same turn? My reasoning is that I assign mission of “battle tug” and the pod is shipped out by those “dedicated staff officers” as soon as it is built.
A: Yes, but that’s not the way you do it. Rule (509.35) refers to newly-built tugs, not newly-built pods, which are covered under (431.22). Newly-built pods are built in Step 2B3 and are assigned in Step 2B7. So, yes, your “dedicated staff officers” will make sure they get to where they are assigned in time for them to be used by your tug.
Q: How do independent fighters that have moved into the hex by Reaction Movement work in capital assaults?
A: They are grouped as independent squadrons and used per (205.7) and can be placed in either the mobile or static forces. If placed in the static forces, they must return to that system each round.
Q: The F&E rulebook has been reprinted several times (1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, 2000), and only the latest is “valid”. Are the counters from earlier editions of the game different?
A: Check the SIT for each empire to see what the counter value should be. If it is different, toss it out. I have very large bag full of old counters (I had several sets, only a few of each sheet changed value) that don’t have the current value. I can’t force myself to throw counters away.
Q: Do the Neutral Zone hexes between the Hydrans and LDR effectively count as Hydran/Lyran? That is, in a free campaign would a Hydran ship entering such a hex be an act of war against the Lyrans?
A: You are overthinking it. Hexes adjacent to a neutral power are treated by rule (503.64). If the LDR is part of the Lyran Empire for your campaign, then the NZ hexes are treated as adjacent to an enemy and require wartime status to enter.
Q: Regarding rule (302.732), are crippled ships counted as half ships (as in the pinning rules)?
A: Rule (302.732) does not state “ship equivalents”, so it is the actual number of units/ships counted.
Q: Can I overbuild a Federation POL for 5 EPs without using a FF-slot?
A: No, rule (531.22) specifically says the maximum of one produced POL counts against frigate production. Counting against the production means it takes one slot in the normal production schedule. You can overbuild an FF for 6 EPs to replace the FF you gave up to produce the POL.
Q: Can the Gorn Special Marine Attack (308.87) be defended against by a defending G unit? I know by the rule that the “G” can not affect the die roll (and any BIR can be selected), but can the “G” factor be taken as a casualty instead of a SIDS or PDU destroyed? Rule (521.0) is silent on the matter.
A: It is just like a standard “G” attack, but with a different result table. An intrinsic or fleet “G” could be taken as a loss. Note that if the Gorns use this rule they cannot use regular “G” attacks and they will not be using them in major assaults.
Q: Rule (308.132A3), part of the morass that is CEDS, allowed replaced escorts taken from future production to be sent to the fleet only if the carrier is at the end of a valid Strategic Movement Pathway from the place the escort was built. If the lonely carrier in question (pining away for escorts) is in a hex adjacent to an enemy fleet, what happens?
A: The arrival of future production for CEDS replacement has to follow current Strategic Movement requirements. If you have a fleet adjacent to your enemy, a path to your hex, and you have more ships in your hex than he does in his hex, you can use Strategic Movement to bring the future production ships into the hex. If you don’t then you can’t.

THOSE FEISTY LYRANS
Q: When are the Lyrans allowed to attack the Federation?
A: As per rule (602.14), the Lyrans are not allowed to operate in Federation space (i.e., invade the Federation) during Turns #7-#9, except for an expeditionary fleet. While nothing else is explicitly stated, it’s clear that the intention is that the Lyrans cannot attack the Federation prior to Turn #7.
Q: When are the Lyrans allowed to attack the Tholians?
A: Rule (603.0) allows the Lyrans to operate in the territory of any empire that is in the war. They can never “start a war” with the Tholians on their own. The Klingons can attack the Tholians on Turn #7 or later (602.11) but the Lyrans are only allowed to operate in “Klingon, Kzinti, Lyran, and Hydran” territory (plus an expeditionary fleet in Federation space) during Turns #7 through #9, so the earliest that the Lyrans can participate in attacks on the Tholians is Turn #10, and then only if the Klingons have already started a war with the Tholians.
Q: On Turn #1 of the General War, may the Lyrans use Retrograde Movement to Klingon bases and, in doing so, accept internment?
A: Nice try. Rules (503.61) and (601.161) both specifically mention the prohibition against Lyrans entering Klingon territory on Turn #1. No exception is given for this phony internment.

PARTIAL GRIDS
Q: Partial grids (unlike a capital-centered main grid) normally store their EPs in a non-localized fashion (lost only when the last node falls). Tugs can transfer EPs to and from a partial grid. However unlike delivery to a main grid, the rules don’t state where a tug needs to go to deliver/collect EPs to/from a partial grid. Can it do so just by being in supply range? Or being in a province? Or does it need to co-locate with any node (base or planet) in the grid?
A: The tug would have to be in the same hex as a base or planet that is part of that grid.
Q: Is it true that for a partial grid to use a satellite stockpile (located at one of its nodes) it would need to use a tug to ‘collect’ the EPs from the stockpile then “deliver” the EPs to the decentralized grid as a whole?
A: The partial grid would use a satellite stockpile per (410.34) which allows them to use the resources of the partial grid to pay for expenses. A satellite stockpile within a partial grid is part of the resources of that grid. You do not need a tug.

RETREAT, FIGHTING RETREAT, AND OTHER DIVERSIONS
Q: Does a force at a friendly base or planet have a requirement to accept an approach battle if an enemy uses fighting retreat to enter the hex?
A: No, they do not have the accept the approach battle (no one ever does) and the fighting retreat forces will then just keep retreating. In effect, the forces at the planet decided not to block the retreat.
Q: Rule (323.51) states: “If neither player retreats [either as retreat action (323.32) or normally under (302.7)], continue using the ESSC system for additional rounds if necessary. If one player retreats and the other player elects to pursue, then follow the procedures for pursuit (307.0) normally but use these ESSC procedures for resolving any pursuit combat.”
Now it makes perfect sense that in the Pursuit Round, a casualty could not be resolved by using retreat again because one side is already fleeing and other side gave up the option to give chase. But, this is nowhere stated or explained in the new rule. So is it the case that a casualty can not be resolved as a retreat if it is a pursuit round?
A: I asked Chuck Strong (who wrote the rule) and he replied: Since there is no option to retreat during a pursuit round, the player suffering a casualty cannot take the “retreat” option and must resolve the casualty on a valid unit.
Q: I have a fleet of ships that is retreating. There is no hex that will be in supply from the main supply grid after the retreat. There is also no neutral hexes adjacent to the fleet, nor do any of the six hexes contain more ships than the retreating fleet. There is one hex that can be supplied by a partial supply grid after the retreat, but when the fleet started the turn it was in supply from the main supply grid, so partial supply grid costs were not paid. The question: Is my fleet of ships required to retreat toward the partial supply grid, or may they retreat into any of the six adjacent hexes?
A: (302.733) Step 3: Sub-Step-C only allows you to ignore a partial supply grid if there is a retreat hex in the main grid. In your example, there is no retreat hex that is connected to the main grid, so Sub-Step-B remains in effect and you have to retreat towards supply, i.e., toward the partial grid.

WAS HE IN SUPPLY, AND WHEN DID HE KNOW HE WAS?
Q: A planet, owned by Empire A at the beginning of the game, is attacked and seized during an enemy Combat Phase by Empire B. Later, during the same Combat Phase, the planet is liberated by a friendly Empire A fleet that (accidentally) retreats onto the planet and drives away the enemy forces. Assuming the planet ceases to be a supply point for the Empire A when the Combat Phase during which Empire B seized the planet is complete, when does the planet again become a supply point for Empire A?
A: Empire A loses a planet to Empire B on Empire B’s turn. During combat and retreat, Empire A arranges for a retreat onto the now-conquered planet and liberates it from Empire B. It is, from that point, no longer a supply point for Empire B. According to rule (413.2), once a planet is (re)captured it becomes part of the old (new) owner’s supply grid at the beginning of the next Player Turn after it is recaptured. So, at the beginning of Empire A’s next turn, the planet will be considered part of the Empire A supply grid.
Q: When can you pay for supply for ships in a partial grid? (Any time? At any point you check your supply? Only during Economics 1A? Never, because it’s not specified?)
How long does the purchased supply last? (Until the next check? Until the start of the next player turn? Until the start of your next turn? Until the same point in the next Player Turn? In my next Player Turn?
A: The supply for being in a partial supply grid is paid during the owning empire’s step 1A of the sequence of play. This is good for the entire turn (both players). If the partial supply grid is created during the turn, then for combat you have two opportunities to be in supply for combat: one is in 1A, the other is in 5-3A. If you are now isolated in combat, then certain things like salvage goes to the newly formed partial grid.
Rule (413.41) implies that Economic Points can be produced in a Partial Grid (note that this existed before the salvage rules); (430.12) says that “only those planets linked to a supply grid and provinces that have one or more of their hexes linked to a supply grid produce Economic Points”; (413.1) indicates that a supply grid must include one or both of the capital or Off-Map Area; (413.4) says that a partial grid contains neither the Capital nor the Off-Map Area.
Q: So, Partial Grids are both permitted and absolutely prohibited from producing EP. Which is correct?
A: Both, a partial supply grid is not a main supply grid and main a supply grid is not a partial supply grid. Each has their own definition and each is treated separately.
Q: On a related note, is the intent of (413.43) to prohibit expeditionary fleets (411.7) from drawing supplies from their main supply grid, through the allied supply grid(s), then through their partial supply grid?
A: That is one of the effects.
Q: Also relating to partial supply grids: It’s been ruled that, while units stacked with a base/planet in a partial supply grid are in supply, they still have to pay for their replacement fighters. Does this also apply to the base/PDU on the planet (i.e., do they have to pay for their fighters)?
A: The cost for supply is stated for units. A PDU is a unit.
Q: Is a ship that is in supply at the start of its Operational Movement automatically considered to be in supply for Retrograde Movement? Rule (410.24) confuses the situation.
A: Rule (206.31) is clear that a ship must be in supply at the time it wants to retrograde to use Retrograde Movement. The supply check during Operational Movement is no longer relevant. Rule (410.24) refers to the Retrograde Phase and allows a unit that was out of supply during the Combat Phase but in supply during the Retrograde Phase to retrograde.

ROMULAN OFF-MAP SURVEY
Q: How does the Romulan fleet convert an HDW to the (525.23Q)-AO survey mission without an off-map starbase? Can it do so with on off-map HDW without one? Or does it use the 5318 starbase as the off-map starbase?
A: By the reading of (525.23Q), the Romulans have no way to convert an HDW to do this mission, as this conversion must be done off-map, and they have no off-map bases and rule (506.3) prohibits them from building off-map bases. Given the situation, the Romulans can use the starbase at 5318 for any activities which require an off-map base, such as (542.27).
Q: Can the Romulans build off-map colony bases as well as off-map colonies?
A: There is no prohibition on the Romulans building off-map colonies in rule (446.15). However, as a practical matter, it’s going to take a long time for the Romulans to build five provinces off-map (enough for one colony). Given the amount of on-map territory they have, it is doubtful they’d ever need or want to.
Q: Since there are no Off-Map Area Romulan bases, can the Romulans actually reach and return from their Off-Map Area via Strategic Movement?
A: The Romulan survey ships enter the Off-Map Area (and return from it) by Operational Movement. They have no bases in the Off-Map Area, nor may they build any; see rule (506.3). They could set up a tug off-map to act as a supply point (and SMN) or deploy a mobile base, which is not prohibited by (506.3), or build a colony there. Otherwise, it takes them two turns to transit from the capital to the Off-Map Area and vice versa.
Q: By the time of the Winds of Fire scenario, shouldn’t Neutral Zone hexes 5919, 6018, 6019, 6118, and 6119 adjacent to the off-map area have all been annexed as Romulan territory per (448.21)-PO?
A: Historically, the Romulans did not do so. You may do so during the scenario, of course.

UNRELEASED FLEETS, UNLEASH MY PROVINCES!
Q: Even while an empire is at full war, it might have unreleased fleets (the Federation 6th Fleet on the Romulan border, for example, until the Romulans attack). Any unreleased zone has restrictions on what can be done inside it. What happens to this territory when war comes? Provinces and the planets and bases included seem to become released only when the fleet which includes them is released. Are these locations considered released when the empire enters full war with any of its neighbors even though there is no attendant fleet release for them?
A: Rule (600.3) specifically prohibits doing anything in an unreleased fleet area (until it is released, at which point it is no longer un-released). This includes the planets, provinces, and bases. Those planets and provinces produce EPs (which go into the national treasury) but you cannot upgrade the bases or planetary defenses in those areas (unless scenario rules allow this).
Q: If they are not released in that case, how do they become released?
A: You are over-thinking this, or perhaps fishing for a loophole. The planets, bases, and provinces of an unreleased fleet area are released when the fleet is released.
Q: Rule (600.3) states that “the provinces occupied by an unreleased fleet are restricted by these rules as well as the fleet itself.” This implies, for example, that since hex 2304 is within the Federation 4th Fleet Deployment Zone, that the entire province containing 2304 would be under the restrictions if the 4th Fleet were unreleased. Does the opposite apply? For example, since province 2304 would be restricted if the 4th Fleet were restricted is it released if the 4th Fleet is released? I know the units of the 4th can only deploy in one hex — 2304.
A: You’re over-thinking the issue. If the deployment area of a fleet includes part of a province, then only those hexes inside the deployment zone are covered by the status of that deployment zone. You could, for example, build a base in a hex that happened to be in a hex that is in a “released” fleet deployment zone even if other hexes of that same province are in the deployment zone of a different “unreleased” fleet.

DIPLOMATIC SHIPS
Q: Rule (540.34) prevents a player from removing a diplomatic team from a D7N, DWN, or D5N. If the ship is unconverted to its base hull what happens to the diplomatic team(s)?
A: Rule (540.34) is clear. You cannot separate the diplomatic team from the ship, so you cannot unconvert a diplomatic ship to its base hull in the first place.
Q: If I convert a D7N to another variant does it keep the diplomatic teams or are the diplomatic teams lost?
A: Rule (540.34) does not allow separation of the diplomatic team from the ship. So, a diplomatic ship cannot be converted into another variant.
Q: If a D7N goes into Depot Level Repair are the diplomats tied up in the Depot until the ship comes out?
A: Yes, they cannot be separated from the ship. You might want to manage your assets better than that.

FROM THE DESK OF STEVE COLE
I convinced game designer Steve Cole to give us his insight on some burning questions players have asked.
Q: Should ISC ships have a “PPD Factor” since a BB with four PPDs and a CL with one PPD both have the single black dot marking a ship with PPDs? This would be like the EW factors for scouts, all of which have the identical diamond.
A: Not needed. The point of the marking is that the ship has (as opposed to does not have) a PPD. The number of PPDs is already reflected in the combat factor. Consider carrier escorts, which all have the black square (but all have appropriate combat factors). Either a ship has the square and is an escort, or it does not, and it is not. Same for the PPD thing.
Q: Should Neo-Tholian ships have a “Web Caster Factor” since a BB with four WCs and an NCL with one WC both have the single W marking a ship with WCs? This would be like the EW factors for scouts, all of which have the identical diamond.
A: Not needed, and this would be a major error. A ship with a W can add two to its combat factor. The proposed change would allow a battleship (with a combat factor of 20 — identical to the B10 — and the ability to add two points for its “W”) to jump its combat factor from 22 points to 28. This is obviously wrong. When we set the combat factors of the Neo-Tholians we converted two combat factors into a W, and did this just once per ship.
Q: Could you add a rule allowing us to mothball ships during a campaign?
A: I don’t see much point. The game system does not account for the costs of maintaining your ships, so there would be no benefit to you in doing so (unless you want to count ships and calculate a maintenance cost every turn). Moreover, as a practical matter, no rational government would mothball ships unless it expected a decade or two of peace, something only politicians (not the military commanders) could decide. The cost of mothballing and then activating the ship would be equal to keeping the ship out of service for ten years, and who plays the game for twenty turns? This seems to be a rule we just do not need.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 04:22 pm: Edit

CL38: Rules & Rulings

(302.732) This step counts the actual number of units. Cripples count at the full value.
(308.85) Uncrippled sector bases can self-repair one SIDS per turn, during which turn they can perform no other repairs. (When the rule was written, sector bases had not been added to the game, so no rule addressed this question.)
(323.42) If an SFG ship does not have the two required consorts, it cannot use its SFG and the “capability” is ignored.
(413.41) The partial grid pays the cost of supplying ships during the Economic Phase. It cannot do this at any other point of the Sequence of Play.
(413.44) If a partial grid is divided into two partial grids by some event, divide the EPs in the partial grid in proportion to the number of bases and planets in each half.
(443.32) This rule also covers the CVH and NHV which had not been added to the game at the time this rule was written.
(511.35) The EPs evacuated from the capital to “a base or planet” are treated as a transfer to a partial grid.
(518.22) A sector base can use one SWAC.
(525.23Q) Survey HDW-Qs can conduct on-map surveys and as such could be converted at on-map bases.
(540.34) This rule prohibits removing a diplomatic team from a Klingon diplomatic cruiser, which means you cannot convert the cruiser into another variant or a base hull as that would result in the prohibited action of removing the diplomatic team from the diplomatic cruiser. (This ruling does not change the rule but does stop people who know better from asking questions and fishing for loopholes.)
(602.14) The Lyrans cannot attack the Federation unless the Klingons are at war with the Federation. The rule already limits Lyran participation in a Federation-Klingon conflict during Turns #7-#9 to one expeditionary fleet. After that time, the Lyrans may send whatever forces they can supply into the Federation.
(603.1) The Lyrans cannot enter Tholian territory prior to Turn #10 and then only if the Klingons are at war with the Tholians.
(705.1) The Kzintis actually build DWs and DWEs one year earlier, so use the Y175 data for Y174.
(705.2) The two allowed early DW prototypes can be built in Y172 and Y173 (not Y173 and Y174). The Kzintis historically completed these ships as DWEs but could build them as DWs if they prefer.
(709.04) The Romulan FHP mauler is a major six-EP conversion, not a minor conversion.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 - 02:12 pm: Edit

CL39: Q&A Part 1
==============
by Mike Curtis, F&E Answer Rapporteur

TRANSLATION PLEASE!
Q: What do all those abbreviations mean?
A: A few used in this article include: AO (Advanced Operations), BIR (Battle Intensity Rating), CEDS (Carrier Escort Damage System), EP (Economic Point), ESSC (Enhanced Small-Scale Combat), HDW (modular Heavy War Destroyer), NZ (Neutral Zone), PO (Planetary Operations), SIDS (Starbase Incremental Damage Step), SIT (Ship Information Table), SMN (Strategic Movement Node).

PRODUCTION: LIMITS, CONVERSIONS, SUBSTITUTIONS
Q: Rule (431.37) lets me take a ship from the next production cycle and it counts against the current turn’s limits. Does this let me move the limits on carrier production from next turn to this turn? Maulers? Scouts?
A: It allows you to move the hull, but not the various limits. So you could borrow a CW from next turn, but could only build it as a CWV under the current turn’s carrier limits, or as a CWS under the current turn’s scout limits, or a CW-mauler under the current turn’s mauler limits.
Q: Are “chained substitutions” allowed? For example, the Hydrans allow the following substitutions:
• Can substitute LN for HR. (DD for CW)
• Can substitute UH for LN. (CV for DD)
Does this mean that I can substitute a UH for an HR in the production schedule?
A: Yes, this is called a substitution for a substitution or in slang “subbing for a sub”. You can do this with other empires, i.e., substituting 2xFF for a CL and then substituting one of them into a EFF and the other into a SF.
Q: Rule (431.8) specifically states “You cannot substitute a ship, then convert it during construction into the originally scheduled type.” This is presumably to prevent odd “discounts” such as the Lyrans substituting a CA for a DN and then converting the CA into a DN (which saves two EPs). However, I noted that the spirit of this rule is broken by the Hydrans, who can substitute an LN for an HR, and then either convert that to a UH or substitute a UH for it, the two paths to the same ship having slightly different costs. Should that be legal?
A: This cost differential is from Hydrans just being plain weird. The LN base hull (4 EPs) is discounted like a war destroyer to keep its cost in line with the KN when you add the fighters. This is just part of what the LN is. Rule (431.8) does not apply since you started with an HR and subbed a LN then did a LN>UH conversion. So, yes you can do a HR substitution into a LN then convert that LN into a UH for 22 EP.
Q: Is converting a Romulan modular DN to carry SPB modules illegal during the same year that you produce any other CVA, or does that violate the rule on producing more than one heavy carrier per year?
A: It all depends.
Placing existing modules on an existing DN would not count against the heavy carrier limit.
Placing existing modules on a modular DN built that year would count against the heavy carrier limit.
Placing new modules on a modular DN built in that year or any previous year would count against the heavy carrier limit.
Q: Can a variant (e.g., a MEC) be converted into a different variant (e.g., an MDC) at the cost of the conversion of a regular production ship (i.e. CM) or is the ship required to be converted twice, once back to the original configuration, then a second time to the new configuration subject to availability, conversion limits and racial limits? I refer to rule (433.0).
A: According to rule (433.24) “Any variant (except a mauler) can be converted into any other variant that the base hull can be converted into. Pay a 1-point surcharge to ‘unconvert’ the original variant and then the normal conversion cost for the desired variant. If the original conversion was three points, the extra surcharge point (total cost 4) does not make this a major conversion using the one allowed major conversion. The 1EP cost is paid per ship, so a Romulan FE group would cost three points to convert into three WEs.” There you have it.
Q: In the Kzinti OOB under carrier build limits it is stated, in part, that “BCV and BCS limited to one per year (total) and count against carrier limit; BCS also counts against PFT limits.”
In CL #26 it was ruled that converting one carrier into another does not count against carrier build limits if there is no change in the number of fighter factors.
Does the one-per-year combined BCV and BCS limit include CV to BCV conversions? One argument is that CV to BCV doesn’t count against the BCV limit since it doesn’t count against the carrier limit. Another argument is that the BC is a separate ship type with its own rules.
A: A specific limit, in this case in (705.0), always overrules a general limit. The BCV and BCS are specific ship types that can only be produced (by any means) under their own one-per-year limit. They also count against the carrier limit which also points out the more limited production limits.
So, the conversion of a CV to a BCV would not count against the carrier limits, but would count against the BC limits. So you could convert a CV to a BCV and then build another CV, if you want, but not two BCVs.
Q: Is the one-per-year BCV/BCS group substitution added in Advanced Operations instead of, or in addition to, the one-BCH-per-year substitution for either a DN or CC in an empire’s F&E2K ship build limits?
A: It is an either/or situation. You can substitute one BCH hull per year for a DN or CC. This includes the BCV and BCS.
Q: In the Hydran rules for Y170, there is a PAL which is “activated” but I can’t find where any cost of this is, or what it means.
A: This is in the rulebook, but perhaps difficult to find. Rule (442.51) states the activations are conversions of Templar early DNs. The cost is 5 EP and the fighters are free.
Q: I’m converting a B10 into a B10V. During the same turn I’m installing two SFG modules to get a B10VAA. Is there an EP discount as a two-step conversion?
A: Actually, you aren’t going to do this. Rule (312.321) allows the B10 to receive two SFG kits in one single minor conversion, but a conversion to a carrier is a separate conversion that would take place on another turn. You cannot do them at the same time, and even if you could, there is no discount. Also, be aware that the B10VAA cannot use carrier escorts when using the SFG. This is a ruling by a previous FEAR in 2007 at Origins when the current FEAR tried to use one.

OF WARS AND LIMITED WARS
Q: The Federation is at limited war. As such, some Federation ships can freely move through the Kzinti-Federation Neutral Zone, but the Klingon ships can’t enter the Neutral Zone without a declaration of war.
Can Klingon units block Strategic Movement through neutral zone hexes that they’re not allowed to even enter due to their “peace” status with the Federation?
A: Blocking Strategic Movement into a hex shows some influence of your ships on the adjacent hex per (204.0). Such influence is not allowed per (503.6). So, no, the Klingon units cannot block Strategic Movement through the Kzinti-Federation neutral zones before war is fully declared.
Q: Can the Tholian Border Squadron raid the Tholians on Turn #1 prior to their strategic redeployment to the Kzinti border on Turn #2?
A: No. There may be a lot of combat by that squadron but this is not reflected in F&E, just as no end of peacetime skirmishes in the neutral zones are not. Moreover, “raids” are a very specific thing which is not allowed by the existing rules keeping the Klingons out of Tholian territory before Turn #7.
Q: Once the Tholian Border Squadron transfers to the active front, and the East Fleet takes over that area; the Klingons cannot move into the NZ hexes next to the Tholians and claim them, right? (That is, until Turn #7 or later, when the East Fleet activates.)
A: The Tholian NZ hexes cannot be occupied until the Klingons are at war with the Federation.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 - 02:13 pm: Edit

CL39: Q&A Part 2
================
PARTIAL GRIDS
Q: I think I may have been misinterpreting the stockpile rules. I’ve been assuming that a partial grid containing a satellite stockpile could use those EPs to pay for grid activities.
A: Your assumption is correct. The partial grid would use a satellite stockpile per (410.34) which allows them to use the resources of the partial grid to pay for expenses. A satellite stockpile within a partial grid is part of the resources of that grid.
Q: If a province is connected to two separate partial grids (of the same empire) may it deliver its EPs to one grid on one turn and the other grid on the next turn? Could it deliver 1 EP to one grid and the other EP to the other on the same turn?
A: Certainly.

THE CRUCIBLE OF COMBAT
Q: Under rule (308.2), during a pursuit situation (307.0), do both sides allocate remaining damage in such a way as to minimize the number of plus or minus points or is there no limit?
A: While there is no specific limit, there is a practical one. You must resolve your damage until the remainder is less than the smallest remaining defense factor divided by 2. If you had a crippled F5 in your battle force as your smallest defense factor you need to have no more than one minus point left at the end of the battle. If you have an un-crippled F5 in your battle force as your smallest defense factor you need to have no more than two minus points left at the end of the battle. The only way to have a lot of minus points is if the force has nothing but large ships remaining.
Q: The phasing player moves a fleet into a hex with my starbase. He offers an approach battle, which I decline (since I want the starbase’s firepower in my battle strength). The phasing player (the attacker) then retreats. Under the rules, can I then retreat? (I think the base is likely to get surrounded and overwhelmed and want to at least save the ships.)
A: You should refer to the Sequence of Play, specifically to Phase 5, Step 7, which covers retreat. The defender still has the option to retreat in both Steps 5-7A1 and 5-7A3, or he can pursue per rule (302.23).
Q: Regarding Armed Priority Transports and Prime Transports, rules (539.123) and (539.223) state that up to three APTs and/or PRTs can be added to a battle force. Do they have to be added if they are in the hex?
A: No, nothing requires them to be added.
Q: Fighters from Hex A use Reaction Movement into Hex B as independent fighter squadrons. A battle in Hex A is fought first, destroying their base. What happens to the fighters?
A: As per rule (205.76) they fight the first round of the battle in Hex B as independent squadrons, and then they are homeless and must find a home or they are lost. They can be taken in by any base or ship (or other unit) in Hex B which has space to hold them.
Q: In a capital assault, Step 3 (511.53) and Step 6 (511.56) refer to ships being divided between static and mobile forces. What about independent fighter squadrons?
A: These were added to the game long after rule (511.5) was written. They are treated as individual six-point ships.
Q: We’re a little confused on raid procedures. When a raider enters a raid target hex with lots of enemy ships, the enemy’s battle force is limited to one that can participate in ESSC, right?
A: Right. Rule (314.21) provides for one ship or equivalent to react to a raid.
Q: I am conducting a commando raid on a planet. My opponent wants to “react” a troopship into the planet hex and then have the troop ship drop its G-factor (Marine unit) on the planet to defend against the raid. Can he do that?
A: Tell him: “Nice try.” There is no rule allowing any of this. The G-factor would have to be deployed on the planet on a previous turn. See (320.42) which only allows the existing fixed defenses to be used. The references he is pointing to (521.xx) are for ground attacks, not raids.

ENHANCED SMALL-SCALE COMBAT
Q: The Enhanced Small Scale Combat rules (323.32) allow me to take a retreat result to resolve casualties, but suppose my battle force is a mix of units which can and cannot retreat (for example, a PDU and a frigate). Can I resolve one casualty point by retreating the frigate? The rule says “all units ... retreating one hex” but the PDU cannot retreat, so does the rule mean all units able to retreat must retreat, or that no retreat is possible if one unit cannot retreat?
A: If you take the casualty on the FF then you would not be resolving the hex and would have to repeat the ESSC round. Resolving the damage on the PDU will allow the FF to retreat, even if it was crippled since the ESSC does not have pursuit.
Q: Suppose you have a slow unit and a ship, if you resolve a casualty as a retreat, I assume you would then retreat the ship and have a separate slow unit retreat for the slow unit, and the winner would divide his forces as he wished for pursuit?
A: No, the ESSC resolves all combat including slow combat. The slow unit would then be retreated to the nearest retrograde point within three hexes per (302.742C).

FLEET DEPLOYMENT ZONES
Q: Does the Klingon East Fleet’s deployment area still overlap that of the TBS? If so then does an overlapping deployment area cause any problems?
A: Rule (601.2) provides for the transfer of command from the Tholian Border Squadron to the Eastern Fleet when the Tholian Border Squadron is released to move elsewhere in the Klingon Empire. There is no overlap. The starbases at 1716 and 2316 are available to the East Fleet for repairs and conversions (rotate the ships to be converted as part of the six ships an unreleased fleet can move in a turn).
Prior to the movement of the TBS, the East Fleet has not absorbed the TBS area, so again, there is no overlap.

REPAIRS AND SALVAGE
Q: When using CEDS to use a Repair Ship to repair a group (308.131C), the rule states that the carrier does not need to be at a Strategic Movement Node. However, the rule does not make any mention of adjacent enemy ships to the carrier, like the CEDS replacement rule (308.132A3) does.
My question is, do the repair ships used for CEDS ignore units adjacent to the carrier for determining if the repair ships can reach their target or not?
A: Rules (308.131), (422.0), as long as you are in supply per (410.23), do not mention being adjacent to enemy units as being a limit to this repair function. So, since it is not specifically disallowed, it is allowed. Do note, however, that F&E-2010 might eliminate the ability to pull escorts out of future production.
Q: Rule (424.33) requires a die roll to send a ship into the repair depot. Does the failure to roll a “1” when a ship is destroyed in circumstances that would allow it to produce EPs under (439.0) Salvage mean that the ship in question is lost without producing salvage at all, or does it produce EPs under (439.0)?
A: The procedure is to check for possible entry into the repair depot including checking for salvage availability (424.33). This assumes you want to send the ship on a two-year trip through the space junkyard. In that case, those that failed getting into the depot will then check if they are eligible for salvage and (if so) are added to the economy at the end of the combat round per (439.0).

OF TUGS AND PODS
Q: In Special Operations (517.13) it states that Lyran K-pods and Klingon pods may be mutually “borrowed”. But how does this borrowing occur? Pods can only be dispatched to ships in their supply grid and normally Lyran/Klingon ships cannot access the other’s grid. Does this mean that only homeless ships and expeditionary fleets can “borrow” these pods?
A: According to (517.22) the tug draws the pod from a “pool” of pods in the supply grid of the empire the pod belongs to. So, a Lyran tug would have to be at a supply point within the Klingon supply grid to draw a Klingon pod and a Klingon tug would have to be at a supply point within the Lyran supply grid to draw a Lyran K pod.
Now, some advanced rules in future products may create a counter for a supply pod, in which case one could pick up such a pod in the hex where the counter was left.
Q: Carrier War lists the Klingons as starting with four carrier pods but does not say if they are VP2 or VP3. Which are they?
A: According to the Klingon SIT, the VP3 has a YIS of Y172 and the VP2 has a YIS of Y168. The GW at-start pods are VP2.
Q: I took twenty fighters out of the Hydran fighter conveyor pallet (FCP) for combat, but they weren’t destroyed. Do they go back in the FCP at the end of combat? Or are they considered regular fighters, and I would need to pay for twenty replacement fighters in the FCP?
A: The Hydran FCP is a very large FCR. It stores spare Hydran fighters until they are needed, but cannot operate them. Once they are assembled they can’t go back to the FCP. You need hanger space on regular Hydran ships for the new fighters to go before you unpack and assemble them, so you cannot “take them out for combat” but you can “take them out and move them to regular ships as replacements”. Rule (513.54) allows you to “reload” the FCP for 0.2 EP per factor.

GENERAL QUESTIONS
Q: Can an empire voluntarily destroy its own existing base? There are (admittedly bizarre) cases under which this would be a good thing to do.
A: There are no rules in the game allowing this to happen. Whether such rules might be added in F&E-2010 would be something for the staff to discuss.
Q: Rule (539.72) third paragraph states that two theater transports working together can move a mobile base. Can two theater transports working together move a FRD?
A: Sorry, but no. The rule very specifically lists what a theater transport can carry. A FRD is not listed, so, it may not.
Q: On Turn #2 of the General War, the Lyrans want to set up a mobile base at 1509, which is out of Lyran supply range. They can, nonetheless, use Strategic Movement (costing the Klingons a move, as well) to get to 1509, set up the base normally, and leave during Turn #3, without costing anyone homeless/expeditionary EPs. Or did I miss something?
A: Rule (510.0) provides all the information for mobile bases. It states in (510.11) that a mobile base does not provide supplies and such a base is out of supply if not connected to a supply grid. Anyone can set up a mobile base out of supply, but it has no effect until connected to a supply grid. So, in this example, the Lyrans can set up the mobile base there, but it will do nothing for them until it is connected to the Lyran supply grid.
Q: Since the Hydran PGR starts in the off-map area, can it be moved to the survey ship record form immediately or does it have to wait an extra turn?
A: You still need to wait one turn to get to the survey area. The off-map area is just more civilized area that is not on the map. The survey area is the far reaches of your space and it still takes time and commitment to be there. Also note that any survey ship built in an off-map shipyard would also have to wait one turn to be sent to survey duty.
Q: Can I use an engineer regiment (541.0) to add a PDU on a planet with existing PDUs during the production phase then move the engineer regiment to a different location during the Operational Movement Phase of the turn?
Also, as I read the rules, a PDU (443.421) costs 5 points + 3 points for fighters under the self-generation system. The presence of the engineer regiment reduces the cost by five points meaning I only have to pay for the fighters.
A: Rule (541.31) states that engineer regiments can perform any construction function that a tug can do but the cost is reduced by 5 EPs. So the PDU cost is the one for the tug to deliver a PDU and would be (7-5) = 2 + 3 for a total of five EPs and the engineer regiment would have to remain in the hex for the whole turn, just like a tug.
Q: Can you deliver EPs to an ally by using only your own Strategic Movement Network that is co-located in your ally’s capital hex (thus avoiding counting against your ally’s Strategic Movement capacity)?
A: As long as your own strategic movement network has a node in your ally’s capital, you can use just your own Strategic Movement capacity.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 - 02:14 pm: Edit

CL39 RULES & RULINGS
by Mike Curtis, F&E Answer Rapporteur

(321.0) In the case of an allied fleet, any of the allies (but only one of them) can provide a Marine Major General and his shipload of Marines, regardless of which ally provided the flagship.
(439.16) This rule includes this statement: “Ships destroyed after single-combat [(310.0) or (504.4)] count as salvage for the winning ship if it would otherwise qualify (in supply, not adopted or expedition, etc.).” This is a fairly old rule. Since ESSC (323.0) replaced (310.0), the reference in this rule to (310.0) should be interpreted as applying to (323.0).
(450.13) You may build more than one minor shipyard in a hex where such construction is allowed.
(508.23) A ship, a base, or a PDU can “maintain ownership” of a planet. Non-ship units such as FRDs cannot.
(525.318) The Hydran guilds will provide one PGR as a part of this free production; historical data indicates that they did so. (This ship would be in the “off map” and would have to spend a turn getting to the “survey area” before it generates survey points.) Any further PGRs would be minor conversions.
(527.21) This rule does not make every Fed carrier into a single-ship carrier, only the PFT analogues (e.g., NVH, NHV). They absolutely, positively, do NOT apply to “all of the F-111 carriers” as one player tried to insist.
(533.22) The lease payments listed in the SIT must be paid every turn for any Orion ships used as mercenaries.
(601.2) The East Fleet deployment zone does not include the Tholian Border Squadron deployment zone until the Tholian Border Squadron is released and its deployment zone is turned over to the East Fleet.
(703.0) The engineer unit listed in the setup is the unit that can be activated on the first turn “at war”. Since the Klingons (who are not “actually at war”) can do (on Turn #1) anything that an empire that is “actually at war” can do, they can use it on Turn #1.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 05:54 pm: Edit

CL40 Rules and Rulings

(307.4) There have been some questions as to what (307.4) really means, specifically, the second sentence, which reads: “The pursuing player may designate one or more crippled ships and declare them to be a single target for directed damage, and use the special ability of a mauler in resolving this attack.” This does not allow the pursuing player to attack cripples at 1:1 like a mauler. It does allow the pursuing player to attack any number of cripples at once with a standard 2:1 directed-damage attack and the pursuing player can add a mauler (assuming he brought one along as part of the pursuit force) to make this attack 1:1 up to the strength of the mauler.
(450.14) The tug or LTT must be from the same empire as the shipyard being built.
(511.3) The new shipyard is assumed and required by (511.32) to be in the new capital hex.
(531.12) Placement of police ships under this rule does not open or extend supply paths. The placement of one police ship does not allow the next police ship to be placed (in the same step) in a hex which was not in supply before the first police ship was placed.
(540.111) Diplomats are released on the first turn of the game.
(713.0) The ISC PF1 turn should be Y182F.
(601.141) In the event that the Hydrans activate the Federation, the Seventh Fleet release rules (602.2) are modified as follows: A Klingon ship in Klingon territory which is within two hexes of the Seventh Fleet will not activate the Seventh Fleet. The Seventh Fleet will be released on the Federation player turn after a state of war exists with both the Klingons and Romulans (regardless of who invaded whom).

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 05:55 pm: Edit

CL40 Q&A
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

TRANSLATION PLEASE!
Q: What do all of those abbreviations mean?
A: A few used in this article include: AO (Advanced Operations), BIR (Battle Intensity Rating), CEDS (Carrier Escort Damage System), ComPot (Combat Potential), DirDam (Directed Damage), EP (Economic Point), ESSC (Enhanced Small-Scale Combat), F&E2K (the 2000 edition of the F&E rulebook), FEAR (F&E Answer Rapporteur), FRD (Fleet Repair Dock), GOD (Game’s Overworked Designer), HDW (modular Heavy War Destroyer), MB (mobile base), NZ (Neutral Zone), PDU (Planetary Defense Unit), PRD (Planetary Repair Dock), PO (Planetary Operations), SIDS (Starbase Incremental Damage Step), SIT (Ship Information Table), SMN (Strategic Movement Node).

DIPLOMATS AND THEIR PRIME TEAMS
Q: Can I leave a diplomatic team at an allied capital and send the ship that originally carried it somewhere else?
A: Yes, unless you are talking about a Klingon D7N or D5N, in which case the ship and team cannot be separated.
Q: A diplomatic team includes a Prime Team. If the Prime Team is used for some mission and becomes a casualty, what happens?
A: The diplomatic team cannot function until the Prime Team is replaced. New diplomatic teams cannot be created until the “crippled” diplomatic team is back up to operational condition.
Q: Do you know of any rule that allows diplomats to be deployed prior to Turn #1 (during setup) in the General War (601.0) Scenario so that I can get them to useful places more quickly?
A: The diplomats are listed as part of the Home Fleet and set up there. There is no rule allowing them to be set up somewhere else, and there won’t be one. We do, however, need a rule that allows them to be dispatched on board their APTs and PTRs during normal movement on your first turn. The existing rule (540.14) seems to allow this, but a ruling in this issue has officially “released” the diplomats.

ECONOMICS
Q: Is Diplomatic Trade (540.23) and the income from Allied Cooperation (540.22) affected by economic exhaustion?
A: Those two items are bonus revenue from other empires and under (447.12) are not reduced by exhaustion. Add these to the treasury separately from regular income. The following forms of income are affected by exhaustion and are used in borrowing-limit calculations: Original Major Planets, Captured/Devastated Major Planets, Captured Major Planet Diplomat Bonus, Original Minor Planets, Captured/Devastated Minor Planets, Captured Minor Planet Diplomat Bonus, On-Map Provinces, Captured/Disrupted Provinces, Off-Map Provinces, Colony Income, On-Map Survey Income, Captured Neutral Zone Hexes, Annexed Neutral Zone Hexes.
Q: In Captain’s Log #38, you issued a ruling as follows:
(413.44) If a partial grid is divided into two partial grids by some event, divide the EPs in the partial grid in proportion to the number of bases and planets in each half.
Does this division of the money happen immediately? When it happens, do I count a node that was destroyed (which in one case is why the partial grid was suddenly divided) as getting a “share” and is that putative share lost?
A: This ruling confused even me, and I had to go back to GOD. He first of all apologized that the word “half” should be “portion” as the two portions might not be equal.
In answer to your first question, the existing money needs to be divided. In theory, it should be divided at the time that the link is cut, but if you have no reason to spend the money right away, you can wait until the next time you need to spend the money, or the next time you collect revenue. Obviously, each of the two now smaller partial grids has its own revenue sources and counts and keeps its own money as a separate account.
In answer to your second question, no money is lost. The money that was in the destroyed node was safely evacuated by dedicated staff officers and fearless civilian cargo skippers. Huzzah!

DOCTRINE AND HOW YOU USE YOUR SHIPS
Q: F&E2K lists plain SparrowHawks as standard escorts in some carrier groups. Do I pay the 1 EP to convert them into escorts? Are they marked or treated some special way?
A: It depends. In the “vanilla game” they are simply escorts while with the carrier at no cost. If you are using Fighter Operations and Flexible Carrier Groups (515.0), then they are ad hoc escorts and will have to do until the SparrowHawk-M becomes available in Y175. When F&E2010 is published in a few minutes, the whole issue will be moot.
Q: The Lyran CV is noted as a heavy carrier in the SIT; if the Hydrans capture a Lyran CV does it count as heavy carrier or is this true only for the Lyran player?
A: I had to go to GOD on this one. It’s a doctrine thing. The Lyrans only had two of those and they wanted to protect them really well, so they assigned them the escorts of a heavy carrier. Somebody else who captures a Lyran CV would not be under that restriction. If the Lyrans sold a Lyran CV to the Klingons, the Klingons would be under that restriction because the sales contract would require this (and we cannot allow that kind of cheesy bending of the rules). To be consistent, this would apply to the special empire restrictions of any such ship, i.e., an ally who buys (or re-captures) a Lyran CV must obey the restrictions, but an enemy who captures a Lyran CV puts it under their own restrictions. If the Lyrans captured and used a Kzinti CVS, they would treat it as a heavy carrier for purposes of its escort group.
Q: Is there a list of which escorts (heavy, medium, light) can be used by which carriers (heavy, medium, light, escort, aux, etc.)?
A: Yes and no, depending on what you are asking. Rule (512.2) provides how many of each category of escort are required and allowed for each kind of carrier. However, specific hull types (e.g., an FFE vs a DWE) within a category are not restricted.

PRODUCTION AND CONVERSION
Q: Can the Romulans build a BEV in place of the WH carrier group, instead of counting it against the SPB build limit?
A: That one had to go to GOD for an answer, but the answer is “yes, you can”.
Q: I know that a CVA or SCS can only be built in a capital shipyard, but can I convert a CVA to an SCS at any non-capital facility which has enough conversion points?
A: Sorry, but (433.454) says you can only produce a CVA in a capital with a working shipyard, and (502.72) says that SCSs come under the CVA production rules and limits.
There are a few footnotes here. One is that there are rare exceptions, such as the Hydran conversion of a Paladin to an Iron Chancellor; see (525.316). Another is that a new shipyard under construction in a new capital hex can perform one major conversion as long as that hex has a starbase (511.33). Another is that the Romulan ROC (525.67) is a DN-sized PFT, not a CVA or SCS, and could be converted from a Condor outside of the capital, and the Roms have that Remus exception.
Q: Is it possible to (through some dint of insanity) convert a CA-tug, like the Hydran or Gorn tugs, back into normal CAs?
A: You may always convert a variant of a base hull back into the base hull for 1 EP (433.24).
Q: The SIT says that the Hydran Kiowa war dreadnought counts against Paladin production. What does this mean?
A: It means that you can produce a Kiowa instead of a Paladin when the production schedule allows. The Kiowa might be a little cheaper. The rule is there so that the Hydrans don’t start producing twice as many dreadnoughts. Similar rules apply to the “war dreadnoughts” of other empires.
Q: In the Q&A Archive, I found this note:
Q: Does (525.318), the rule about the Hydran Pegasus shipyard, mean they get one per turn even if not at war?
A: Yes, it means exactly that.
Isn’t that supposed to be one per year?
A: Correct, one per year. That’s just a typo.
Q: Is it possible to strip the fighter modules from a FRD+ and transfer them onto a base in the same hex?
A: No. The FRD commander isn’t going to give up his main protection! (This is one reason why the FRDs get these fairly cheap, because they cannot be removed and put somewhere else.)
Q: I’d like to convert a Kzinti CVH to BCV(H). Being as the carrier is operating heavy fighters, and the standard BCV operates standard fighters, is there a way to go from CVH to BCVH?
A: There is a minor problem here, there being no BCV(H) in the game (i.e., on the SIT). If you’d like to propose one, and get it approved by the Powers That Be, then you could do it for the same cost as converting a CVS into a BCV.

WARS, LIMITED WAR, AND FLEET RELEASE
Q: Your previous clarification of (602.49) allows the Federation to take an FRD and MB from the Home Fleet to send these units to the limited war forces in foreign territory. Can I use a Home Fleet tug as well?
A: As long as the fleet assigned to the limited war has a tug, no, you cannot. If there is no tug, you can borrow one from the Home Fleet.
Q: Where does the Hydran special supply tug (509.5) start?
A: The Hydran special supply tug starts with the Expeditionary Fleet at Hex 0716. Any references to it starting anywhere else are wrong.
Q: Presuming a non-historical scenario where the Hydran Front is attacked (by the Coalition) first, and the Kzintis are left at peace, what would the Kzinti Pre-War Construction rates look like?
A: The Kzintis would use the existing production schedule, but being at a peacetime economy, they won’t be able to afford all of it, and any unused production slots are lost.
Q: The Federation is at Limited War, supporting the Kzintis. As such, some Federation ships can freely move through the Kzinti-Fed Neutral Zone, but the Klingon ships cannot enter the Neutral Zone without a declaration of war (which they do not want to do). Can Klingon units in Klingon or Kzinti territory block the use of Kzinti-Fed Neutral Zone hexes for purposes of Federation supply or Strategic Movement?
A: No, they cannot exert any influence into the Kzinti-Fed Neutral Zone. It does, however, take some convoluted geography and ship placement to find a way that such a path works, as the path must be next to a Klingon ship but the presumably adjacent Kzinti space hex that the path enters next is not blocked, but it can happen. Note that (602.49) does not allow the Federation to capture the NZ hexes, but it does allow them to build bases and have ships in the Federation/Kzinti NZ hexes.
Q: The Hydrans have activated the Federation on the Alliance part of Turn #5. This brings the Federation to full war status. What happens to the Fifth Fleet (on the Gorn border) and the Seventh Fleet (on the Tholian border). Under a normal situation (a Klingon invasion on Turn #7), the normal rules would apply.
A: The normal rules still apply. The Fitth Fleet (well, part of it) is released by the Klingons entering the Federation, not by the Federation being entered by the Hydrans. The Seventh Fleet is released by its own rules (too long to re-state here). If the Klingons refuse to attack the Federation (other than Federation ships which enter Klingon territory), the detachment of the Fifth Fleet will stay on the Gorn border, and the Seventh Fleet will probably remain unreleased as well, at least until the Romulans invade.
Q: Are auxiliaries considered to be “ships” or “not ships” or “some kind of special ship”. The specific point of my question is that I want to pull as many good ships as possible out of the Kzinti Marquis fleet. The rules require me to leave six ships (including the CC) there. Later products added auxiliaries and if those floating scrapheaps are “ships” then I can pull more “real” ships out of that fleet.
A: The definition of auxiliaries needs a major review in F&E 2010 but you may reasonably assume that review will not let you pull more ships out of the Marquis Fleet than “vanilla” F&E did.

FORMING A BATTLE FORCE
Q: Can a Marine Major General be included in a battle that has a mobile base being set up?
A: Yes. A mobile base being set up is a base (510.231) and as such is eligible (321.42) to have a Marine Major General present on either side (because base battles involve Marines storming in). Granted, the only way to destroy the MB is to kill the unit setting it up, but the MMG benefits are still used.
Q: Can PDU fighters be used in an approach battle over a capital planet or a regular planet?
A: Yes to both. Rule (302.222) lets the fighters from the PDUs be used in the approach battle counting against the command limits.
Q: Could a PDU be a “flagship”?
A: A PDU has a command rating of 0 according to the current SIT. So, no, it cannot be a flagship. Well, ok, technically speaking, it could be a flagship that couldn’t command anything. In a retreat situation where the three units in a hex are a PDU and two ships, the PDU (with a rating of “0”) is certainly the worst of the three “flagship candidates”.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 05:56 pm: Edit

CL40 SUPPLEMENTAL FILE Q&A

RETREAT AND RETROGRADE
Q: In a given hex, the Coalition has two LTTs towing FRDs and a Tug-B setting up a mobile base, along with some warships and a lot of slow units. The Alliance sends a fleet into the hex to destroy as much as they can. (They really want to kill the mobile base and those FRDs.) There is a Coalition battlestation (a Strategic Movement Node) three hexes away, so any slow units that survive can get away. (The FRDs can escape if they are still being towed by the LTTs.) The Alliance is required (302.22) to offer an approach battle, and the Coalition accepts. The Coalition wants to send the Tug-B to the approach battle (abandoning the mobile base).
The problem (for me) is that after the approach battle, the Coalition wants to simply retreat, since with the mobile base abandoned, he has no base to tie him down. How can he fight an approach battle if there is no base?
A: He can do this, because the approach battle is a round of combat and he has the option to retreat after any round of combat.
Q: The defending player is about to retreat. There is only one hex available at the end of Step 3 in the Retreat Priority list. There is an opposing frigate in this hex, which we will call the “prospective retreat hex”. The defender wants the retreat hex to be the next hex resolved, and doesn’t care about the impact on BIR. The defender would therefore like to do a fighting retreat to the retreat hex. The attacker argues that that this is not allowed because there is only one hex available, so fighting retreat would have no effect. Therefore, the defender has to do a regular retreat, thus giving the attacker freedom to decide in what order to resolve the remaining battle hexes.
The defending player argues that (302.771) allows a fighting retreat into any hex remaining at the end of Step 3. The attacking player argues that since there is only one hex left, there is no step 4, and this is a normal retreat, not a fighting retreat. Who is right?
A: The attacker. If there is no Step 4, the fighting retreat rules never “kick in”.
Q: Is there anything to stop a player from retrograding to a base which, prior to retrogrades, isn’t part of the main supply grid?
A: Rule (206.21) provides that any base can be considered when retrograding. So his opponent would have to block the retrograde path (206.22) to all other retrograde points to either force the retrograding ships to go to the base that is out of the grid, or the ships will be forced to stay where they are, out of supply.
Q: Is there any rule or errata that stops an attacker from killing as many PDUs as possible in the first round over a planet and then retreating (or offering another approach battle, assuming it will be declined)?
A: Yes, the attacker can do this, but any pursuit will give the defender a free shot on any cripples that the attacker has.
Q: An enemy fleet is adjacent to a friendly planet. The planet has PDUs with fighters. There are no friendly ships on or next to the planet. Can a friendly fleet retrograde there?
A: With no other factors to open the retrograde path, the PDU’s fighters cannot, per (206.22), open the path. So, unfortunately, the answer is “no”.
Q: Is the flagship selection step in withdrawal before combat (302.133) for the defender skipped for the first round following withdrawal before combat, or is another choice done on the first battle round after the withdrawals?
A: The Sequence of Play, step 5-1D, states the flagship chosen in the withdrawal must be the flagship in the first combat round.
Q: When using CEDS to use a repair ship to repair a carrier group (308.131C), the rule states that the carrier does not need to be at a Strategic Movement Node. However, the rule does not make any mention of adjacent enemy ships to the carrier, like the CEDS replacement (308.132 A3) does. My question is, do the repair ships used for CEDS ignore units adjacent to the carrier for determining if the repair ships can reach their target or not?
A: The use of one repair ship to do a CEDS repair follows the repair ship rules in (308.131C) using the repair ship restrictions. By the way, get ready for that rule and the whole CEDS thing to disappear in early 2010.
Q: During combat, a carrier is destroyed and its escort is crippled. Is the escort still “part of a carrier group” and thus able to use CEDS retrograde? Or did the group fall apart and the crippled escort cannot use this?
A: The escort was part of a carrier group and can use CEDS retrograde in the succeeding retrograde step. However, CEDS retrograde will no longer be a part of the game with the 2010 rulebook and this question will be moot.

SHIPYARDS AND CAPITALS
Q: I lost my capital and started building a new one at a favorite vacation spot outside of enemy reach. This spot is already home to some minor shipyards which I built earlier. Minor shipyards cannot be built in a capital hex (759.0). My opponent says that because of this, I must remove them from the new capital. Do I at least get some salvage or a discount on building a new shipyard?
A: While new minor shipyards cannot be built in an existing capital (450.13), there is no rule requiring existing minor shipyards to be removed from a newly selected capital hex. (Indeed, the hex where you built those new shipyards is probably the most logical place for a new capital.) You cannot, however, add more minor shipyards there after the hex is designated as your new capital.
Q: Is there a restriction on the number of minor shipyards or conversion facilities in the off-map area?
A: Only in the sense of what you can pay for (purchase cost and the cost of whatever they build and convert). The off-map area is very big and can support any practical number of these facilities.
Q: Can PRDs be constructed at planets in the off-map area?
A: Yes, and colonies can be built there as well. The limit would be the number of planets and colonies.

HOW WE FIGHT
Q: Can the G units (ground troops) from ground assault ships devastate a planet if all of the PDUs have been destroyed?
A: No, because G units cannot accomplish devastation; only orbital bombardment can devastate a planet. G units can attack and possibly eliminate other G units and PDUs, and (if attacking a larger base) might score a SIDS step, weakening the base.
Q: I have some carriers in my front-line battle force which lost their fighters in the previous round. I have other carriers in the hex which are not in the battle force. I know that the rules allow me to transfer fighters from the “reserve” carriers to the “front-line” carriers, but in this case (long explanation omitted) I don’t want to. Am I required to?
A: The transfer is authorized by (501.6) which says “can”, not “must”, so no, you don’t have to. I am still trying to figure out why doing this would make sense, but I’m sure it does.
Q: Rule (320.46) states that a monitor deployed at a planet blocks commando attacks against any PDU or other things on the planet. Would it also protect a base in orbit around the planet?
A: No, it would not.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 05:33 pm: Edit

CL41 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

TRANSLATION PLEASE!
Q: What do all of those abbreviations mean?
A: A few used in this article include: AO (Advanced Operations), BIR (Battle Intensity Rating), CEDS (Carrier Escort Damage System, now obsolete), ComPot (Combat Potential), DirDam (Directed Damage), EP (Economic Point), ESSC (Enhanced Small-Scale Combat, SSC in F&E2KX), F&E2K (the 2000 edition of the F&E rulebook), F&E2KX (the 2010 edition of the F&E rulebook), FEAR (F&E Answer Rapporteur), FO (Fighter Operations), FRD (Fleet Repair Dock), GEDS (Group Escort Damage System), G.O.D. (Game’s Overworked Designer), HDW (modular heavy war destroyer), MB (mobile base), NZ (Neutral Zone), PDU (Planetary Defense Unit), PO (Planetary Operations), PRD (Planetary Repair Dock), SIDS (Starbase Incremental Damage Step), SIT (Ship Information Table), SMN (Strategic Movement Node) SO (Strategic Operations).

GETTING A MOVE ON
Q: A fleet is in Hex Z, out of supply and in combat. I have a reserve fleet which can open a supply path. There are two ways to do this. One is to move the reserve fleet to Hex A, and the other is to move it to Hex C. For tactical reasons, I’d rather send the reserve to Hex C. The problem is that there is no way to reach Hex C without going through Hex B, which has an enemy ship, and that would require the moving reserve fleet to leave a ship behind to resolve pinning. Is this ok?
A: Sorry, but no. Rule (203.74) requires the reserve fleet to choose a path that does not enter an enemy-occupied hex if this is possible, and the path to Hex A is open, while the path to Hex B is not. I am not sure what these tactical reasons are, but it would seem that the enemy has cleverly limited your options to one that is least useful to you.
Q: A Kzinti frigate enters hex 0603 (which, for some reason, is a vital hex in the current situation), and a Lyran frigate uses extended reaction to enter 0603, which pins the Kzinti frigate in that hex. A Kzinti cruiser from the Duke’s Fleet then moves into hex 0602, intending to move into 0603. A Lyran frigate then uses extended reaction to enter 0603, and the Lyran player says that since he now has two frigates in 0603 the first one can use Reaction Movement to enter 0602, blocking the Kzinti cruiser from reaching the vital 0603. Can he do this “ripple reaction”?
A: No, he cannot. Reaction Movement is a special kind of movement used by the non-phasing player. As such, it is subject to pinning and (203.51) says that once a unit is pinned, its movement is over, so it cannot make a later reaction to another ship.
Q: There is a Kzinti fleet in 1401, and Klingon forces in 1202 and 1402 (which has a scout). The Kzinti fleet moves to 1302, and the Klingons decline to react, so the Kzintis enter 1202, to beat up on the small Klingon force there. The Klingon now wants to use the fleet in 1402 and extended reaction to reach 1202 and help out in that battle. Can he do so, since moving from 1302 to 1202 is moving “away” from the Klingon fleet in 1402 and you cannot react to a fleet moving away?
A: The good news is that this question was resolved in F&E2KX (and there is no bad news). If a Coalition force and an Alliance force are in adjacent hexes and the Coalition force moves away from the Alliance force, the Alliance force cannot react even if the Coalition force ends its movement after only moving one hex. If the Coalition force “marched in place” (203.64) before leaving its hex, the Alliance force could react into the hex that the Coalition force is still in, even though it has not “moved”.
Q: I am trying to cut off Kzinti-Federation diplomatic income from rule (540.22) (SO). The rule says that this can be done only if the two capitals have a valid Strategic Movement link, but I have pushed my Coalition fleet to the map edge, meaning that the only valid Strategic Movement path is via the tenuous connection between the two off-map areas. Is the link cut or not?
A: Because diplomatic income uses non-ship units (convoys) and these are not affected by (207.291), the link is valid and the only way to break it is to cut off the Federation capital from the Federation off-map area.

AS THE WAR TURNS
Q: Just to make sure, when is war declared? I’ve got a Klingon diplomatic ship within range of Sherman's Planet on Coalition Turn #6. The Shermanites allied with the the Federation last turn, and I want to see if I have a chance to roll to convince them to return to neutrality before my armada crosses the Neutral Zone on Coalition Turn #7. I sent the diplomats there during the Movement Phase of Coalition Turn #6, but I don’t get to roll until the Economic Phase of Coalition Turn #7, so is the Economic Phase before or after I declare war?
A: War is declared at the instant that there is an action that causes that declaration. As long as you perform the action to change their minds before you commit an action (say, entering Federation territory) that causes war to be declared, the diplomats would have a chance to neutralize Sherman’s Planet before your hordes of DSF ships cross the Federation border.
Q: It is the Alliance half of Turn #3 and I am moving the Hydrans. I moved a fleet in Hydran space from 0915 to 1015. Can the Klingons react ships from the West fleet, currently at the BATS in 1214, into the Neutral Zone? The scenario rules say that the West Fleet is released, but that it cannot attack the Hydrans unless the Hydrans attack first. Thus, we are in a gray area.
A: It’s actually not gray at all. Once an enemy enters a neutral zone hex adjacent to your territory and does not accept internment (503.61), a state of war exists and the Klingon ships on battle station 1214 can, indeed, react into the Neutral Zone.
Q: We are about to start a scenario, which lists two mobile bases in my Order of Battle. Can I deploy them in my territory or must they remain undeployed?
A: All mobile bases listed in a scenario Order of Battle are undeployed (and stored at any convenient starbase) unless the scenario rules say they are set up. See (510.122).
Q: When can the Klingons “capture” the neutral zone hexes adjacent to the Tholians?
A: It depends on which hexes, and when, and with which ships. The Klingons cannot grab these hexes on Turn #1 due to rule (601.1611). They can grab 2618, 2619, and 2718 on Turn #2 or any later turn, but only by using ships which are “released” or which are “new construction”. The East Fleet is still “inactive” until the Klingons are at war with the Federation, and its ships are not available. Once the Klingons and Federation are at war, hexes adjacent to both the Tholians and Federation become available to be captured by the Klingons. See (503.64).
Q. Is there any rule that allows diplomats to be deployed prior to Turn #1 (i.e., during setup) in the General War (601.0) Scenario?
A: No, there is not. The diplomatic teams in the game are assumed to be specially created to deal with a wartime situation. Certainly, you have non-game diplomats in an allied capital, but not the special kind of diplomats that the game rules reflect. The diplomats are assumed to be in the capital. They are released once the empire is at war, and could use a small transport even before the Home Fleet is released. Now, there is one small loophole (600.35) about sending diplomats to neutral zone planets.
Q: The Hydran Expedition has succeeded in activating the Federation on the Alliance portion of Turn #5. What does this do about releasing the Federation Fifth and Seventh Fleets?
A: Nothing. The release rules for those fleets are not changed. The Fifth Fleet Detachment is released only if the Klingons enter Federation territory, and the Seventh Fleet is released only on the second turn after an invasion (there are other conditions, as well). If the Federation decides to invade the Klingon Empire, and the Klingons do not invade the Federation, the Federation will fight this insane war of aggression against a peaceful Klingon Empire without those two fleets.
Q: In my current game we are about to enter Turn #7 without a Klingon attack on the Federation. This puts the Federation into a Limited War situation and says it can send the Fourth Fleet into Kzinti space. The rules state that the Federation Home and Third Fleets are able to move freely inside of Federation space. Does this also allow ships in those fleets to be converted?
A: The second-to-last sentence of (654.2Y) in the F&E2KX rulebook [Fighter Operations (602.49B)] covers this. This is the section that is about what is not allowed when at Limited War. It says “Anything not otherwise covered.” This means no, the ships in the Home and Third Fleets cannot be converted as they are not expressly permitted to be converted by that rule. For those who were not aware, the original rule (602.49) defining endless details of Limited War was published in Fighter Operations and, with very minor edits, became rule (654.0) in F&E2KX.
Q: Are auxiliaries (carriers, scouts, troop ships, drone ships) “ships” or “non-ships”? In cases such as the Kzinti Marquis Fleet or the Federation Fifth Fleet, are auxiliaries released or not?
A: This was answered in F&E2KX. In the case of the Kzinti Marquis fleet, those items (auxiliaries, non-ships, slow units, police ships, and small transports) cannot be counted as units left behind, and are released because of the “desperate” situation. In the case of the Federation Fifth Fleet, specific ships are released, and those units (auxiliaries, non-ships, slow units, police ships, and small transports) are not on the list of released ships and thus are not released.

THE CRUCIBLE OF COMBAT
Q: Can a crippled ship be placed in the formation bonus position during a pursuit battle? I want to protect it!
A: Yes, a retreat battle force is formed as per (307.3) and (307.41) allows one ship to be in the formation bonus position.
Q: During combat of a non-phasing player turn, a carrier group consisting of SAV, AD5, and F5E is damaged. Due to the tactical situation, the Klingon player decides to kill the SAV and cripple the AD5. Are the crippled AD5 and/or the uncrippled F5E allowed to perform CEDS retrograde?
The argument that they “might not” assumes that once the SAV is dead the group falls apart. The argument that “maybe they can” rests on the thinking that the group participated in combat and was damaged. Rule (308.131) is confusing because it only mentions “carrier groups”. The rule was written before (515.0) allowed players to build their own groups, and assumes fixed carrier-group counters, which could not really exist in Basic F&E (which also lacks auxiliary carriers).
A: The good news is that the consistent intepretation has been that (308.131) should be deemed to have included flexible (515.0) groups, and as such, the AD5 and F5E were part of a group at the time of damage and can be retrograded out of the area; at least, it could have been on 21 Feb 2010. The bad news is the F&E2KX rulebook eliminates CEDS retrograde entirely, so as of 22 Feb 2010, the entire question is moot as there is no longer any such thing as CEDS retrograde.
Q: The F&E rules offer a trade-off between a base’s EW and attack factor due to “blinding”, but SFB rule (G24.135) says that bases are immune to sensor blinding. Are the F&E rules wrong?
A: Not wrong, but they reflect different things. SFB has energy allocation rules; F&E does not. It’s the power consumed by the systems, more than “blinding”, that causes the difference. See (441.53) which allows you to use full power for both.
Q: I am confused by the wording of the direct-damage rules. Just exactly how many points does it take to destroy an enemy PDU?
A: PDUs (also known as defense battalions) take ten points of damage to destroy by normal damage and five points if using a mauler per (508.122). In either case, the six fighter factors remain and could be used to absorb further damage or (if there is no other base for them) they are treated as involuntary minus points. If you give up your own PDU to resolve damage, it resolves only three points of damage, but you could (and should) have first given up the fighters, since if you do not give them up before the PDU, and they have no other base, they would be lost without resolving any damage.
Q: I am confused by the wording of the direct-damage rules. Just exactly how many points does it take to devastate an enemy planet?
A: A planet is devastated by ten points of damage (508.21). If it is your planet, then you can resolve ten points of damage by voluntarily devastating it. If it is your opponent’s and you want to devastate it with directed damage (302.52), then it will cost twice the normal damage, which is twenty points, unless you use a mauler, which could cut the cost by seven or ten points, depending on the size of the mauler.

A QUESTION OF MONEY
Q: A Hydran fleet has cut off the Lyran supply route into the captured (and now former) Hydran capital. The Klingons, however, have a valid supply path, as well as both PDUs and a BATS at the former Hydran capital. Are the Lyrans in supply by (410.4) since they’re with a friendly base?
A: There would have to be a homeless supply line (410.5) established or an expeditionary fleet (411.7) established to leave the hex and operate. The forces, per (410.25) would be in supply as long as they are in the same hex as the friendly base.
Q: By the definition of (413.1), a Supply Grid is a network of bases and/or planets that contains a friendly capital hex or off-map area. Also by definition, a Partial Supply Grid (413.4) is any other grid that does not contain the capital or off-map area.
Here is where it gets confusing. The Federation’s supply path has been cut off from the capital in 2908 to the off-map area. By definition, the off-map area is not a Partial Supply Grid, but in fact is a (regular) Supply Grid. There are rules (413.44) concerning EPs in a regular grid and a partial grid, but (technically) never address the question of two separate regular grids. I am not trying to claim that EPs generated in the off-map area are magically available to the Capital Grid, but, technically, (413.44) doesn’t cover two “regular” grids (one Off-Map Grid and one Capital Grid) so there is (technically) no rule about how to move those EPs back and forth once the connection is rebuilt. So, can I use the (413.44) rules to move any EPs stockpiled at the Off-Map Grid to the Capital Grid when the two are reconnected? Also, can the Off-Map Grid use deficit spending since it is not a partial grid?
A: You have found a valid gray spot in the F&E2K rules which we have fixed in the F&E2KX rules, and everyone is grateful that you noticed this just in time for F&E2KX. By definition (413.1) there can be a maximum of two Main Supply Grids: a Capital Grid and an Off-Map Grid. Each can do anything that a Main Supply Grid can do (since they both are Main Supply Grids) except of course that the “main shipyard” is only in one of them. EPs in either grid can be used, by and in that grid, for valid uses such as ship repairs (420.0), PDU self-generation (433.42), base repair (420.6), conversions at non-capital starbases (433.0), etc. If two main grids are separated and then joined, the EPs again flow freely between them, so you can certainly use (413.44).
As to your second question, only the Capital Grid can use Advanced Deficit Spending (447.0) in PO.
Q: Can I build a Klingon B9 fast battleship by direct buy, or only by paying for a series of die rolls?
A: It depends on what rules are used in your game or scenario. If using (436.0), you pay for a series of die rolls, and if using (525.1) in AO, you can buy it outright.
Q: Capitals can make one major (4+ EP) conversion at a starbase, except that the Federation and Klingons can make two such major conversions. Are they both made at the same starbase, or does each take a separate starbase?
A: Each takes a separate starbase, so the Federation capital (with three starbases) can make a total of three conversions (433.11) of which two (433.12) can be major conversions. Rule (450.1) in PO allows any empire to build additional conversion facilities, and of course, more starbases could be built.

CONVERSIONS, UPGRADES, AND MISSIONS
Q: I want to convert my Kzinti CVH to a BCV(H). Can I do this for the same cost as a CV-to-BCV conversion?
A: Well, one problem is that there is no BCV(H) in the game, but presuming that one is added, and presuming that the two carriers have the same size fighter group, one would assume that your plan is workable.
Q: Can a Klingon CVT or CVT+ carry an additional pod?
A: The Klingon CVT or CVT+ is a tug with hard-welded carrier pods. As such, it’s not really a tug at all, but even if it were, it already has two pods and cannot carry any more pods.
Q: When does the completion of the upgrade of a base to the next larger base occur? Rule (443.41B) in CO talks about an interrupted upgrade but doesn’t define a non-interrupted upgrade.
A: A base upgrade is finished in the next player turn on Step 1A; this is a change in F&E2KX. Note that improved base will have the improved repair capacity on that turn since repairs occur on Step 2A2, and the base will be able to do later base operations allowed at the new base level after Step 1A.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 05:34 pm: Edit

CL41 RULES & RULINGS
Q: What happens if both sides do a fighting retreat (302.77) from the same battle hex into the same hex?
A: While rare, this could theoretically happen. In this case both sides would use a BIR of 0 and then retreat again.
Q: If one force is entirely destroyed in ESSC, who gets the salvage?
A: First, ESSC (323.0) became the standard SSC rule (310.0) in F&E2KX. It is now the only rule for small-scale combat, since the other two didn’t work. That said, the answer is “The same thing that would have happened if one force was totally destroyed in normal combat.” The winner gets the salvage, but not if he retreated.
Q: At what rate do SBX (523.411), BTX (523.412), and STX in SO (452.15) resolve voluntary and directed SIDS damage at?
A: The SBX (523.411) has 54/27 and at 4.5 each would be 12/6 SIDS steps. The STX (452.15) at 36/18 would have 8/4 SIDS steps at 4.5 each. The BTX (523.412) at 18/9 would have 4/2 SIDS steps at 4.5 each. Damage to each step would be at the standard 18-point rate using directed damage, nine with a mauler, and 4.5 voluntary.
Q: Can an ad-hoc escort have a negative compot? Say I use a Hydran commando frigate (1-4G) as an ad-hoc escort. By the specific letter of the rule, it would have a Combat Potential of minus two, which makes no sense.
A: Combat Potential cannot be reduced to less than zero. See also (515.332) which says to reduce it by half.
(508.214) A devastated planet can be devastated again (by the enemy), which would restart the time period required for recovery. A player cannot voluntarily re-devastate his own planet multiple times to absorb damage points.
(701.0) The Klingons, Kzintis, and Lyrans can produce a “pair of pods” each turn. As long as both are types normally operated in pairs (and of types that can legally be mixed on a single tug), they could be two different types. For example, the Lyrans could build a KBP and a KTP on the same turn, as they are a “pair” just not a “matched pair”.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, December 10, 2010 - 03:40 pm: Edit

CL42 F&E Rules & Rulings
(207.292) A ship carrying EPs can make only one “translation” into, out of, or between off-map areas per turn, so a Federation tug could not enter the Kzinti off-map area, deliver EPs, and then return to the Federation off-map area on the same turn.
(310.14) The FXP (Federation Express Courier), not designed to be a “combat” ship, does not produce the -1 modifier for having a fast ship or x-ship in the SSC Battle Force.
(318.11) The Kzinti fast drone bonus applies to Small Scale Combat (310) if it qualifies under (318.11).
(503.4) This rule does not allow theater transporters with diplomats to carry the parts of a mobile base into the territory a future ally (e.g., Kzintis using this to put a mobile base inside Federation territory on Turn #4). If a disassembled mobile base is interned in neutral territory (of a future ally) the mobile base cannot be “set up” any faster than if it had arrived after the neutral became an ally.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, December 10, 2010 - 03:41 pm: Edit

CL42 F&E Q&A part 1


COMBAT: THE CRUCIBLE OF VICTORY
Q: I sent a ship to attack an Orion Pirate raider that was interfering in one of my hexes. The enemy sent a reserve fleet to the “Battle Hex”, destroying my ship before it could fight the Orion. Can he do this? What happens to the Orion?
A: Well, by (504.35), battles with Orions are part of the Sequence of Play, so he can do it, as long as he is at war with you and able to send ships to the Battle Hex. Once the battle is resolved, the remaining ship could either retreat out of the hex or fight the Orion.
Q: We do not understand how to handle crippled ships in a capital assault. What happens to a ship crippled during the battle?
A: Step #3 in a capital assault (511.53) is done only once, to divide up the non-crippled ships. Any crippled ships at the start go into the static forces, as do any ships crippled during the battle.
Q: Exactly when is a planet considered captured? Is it immediately upon satisfying the conditions of (508.22) or only after the entire Combat Phase is over? I’d say “immediately” because the rules do not have any provisos (e.g., “wait until the end of combat.”) Here is why this is important: The Coalition attacks Kzinti SB 0902, planet 1001, and all border BATS. During the Combat Phase the Coalition “captures” planet 1001 first and then destroys all border BATS except for 0701, and then elects to resolve 0902 (which also has a defending Kzinti fleet) before 0701. After a brutal battle, the Kzintis retreat from 0902. If 1001 stops being a Kzinti supply point immediately upon capture, then the Kzinti must retreat to 0801. If 1001 stops being a Kzinti supply point only at the end of the Combat Phase, then the Kzinti fleet at 0902 must retreat to 1001 (assuming the Kzintis are not outnumbered at 1001).
A: The planet ceases being in the control of the previous owner at the instant when there are no units belonging to that player in the hex and the capturing player has sufficient units to capture (or liberate) the planet in the hex. This is why it is important to select of the order in which you do resolution battles during the battle resolution in Phase 5.
Q: When an SAF destroys a PDU (520.42), are the PDU’s fighters counted in the destruction, or are they now homeless fighters? So if there is nowhere for them to land, they are now minus points?
A: Yes, the fighters become homeless and must either find another home or become minus points per (501.42).
Q: If an entire battle force is destroyed, do plus points (308.25) carry over to the next round?
A: Yes, they carry over to the next round, but only for that system. See also (302.63).
Q: Is there a limit on the EW generated by PDUs (317.2)? Can sixteen PDUs generate sixteen EW points?
A: The maximum EW generated by any number of PDUs is four points of EW.
Q: In a battle over a defended planet, I targeted and destroyed six PDUs and I got lucky with the SAF role. The defender now had 30 minus points. This means that on the next round I am unlikely to actually destroy anything, but will only “soak off” the minus points in regular combat. Can I still make an SAF attack to destroy more PDUs? If I do, will the SAF actually kill PDUs or just “soak off” minus points?
A: You can make an SAF attack and the SAF attack goes directly against PDUs (not minus points); see (520.42). The SAF is outside the normal combat systems.
Q: I am confused about engineer units functioning as SAFs. Rule (541.34D) includes the passage “if it survives the attack...”. Is it not categorically impossible for a SAF to survive making its special attack?
A: The “if it survives the attack” refers to damage applied during that combat round. So, if your opponent does not use Directed Damage on the engineer unit, it survives the attack. This is unlike the SAF which is eliminated as part of its attack.
Q: Is there a limit on how many ships can land on a planet in a given combat round? Is there a limit on how many ships can land over an entire Combat Phase?
A: There is only a limit on the number of ships that can land on a planet (521.39). They would have to survive the combat round before landing.
Q: If multiple ships land in a single round, does the (521.393) bonus accumulate?
A: No, this bonus is for the “G”s (Marine battalions) that come from that specific ship only.
Q: In our game, Hex 1401 is held by the Coalition. Klingon and Lyran ships are present (several of them crippled), but no non-ship units are present. The Kzintis attack the hex. At the end of the first round of combat (an approach battle was declined), the Coalition decided to perform a Partial Retreat (302.723). The flagship for the Coalition on the first round was Lyran. The Coalition retreated only a few crippled Klingon ships. The closest hex to Klingon supply is 1402 (planet 1504 is the closest Klingon supply point). The closest hex to Lyran supply is 1302 (planet 1202 is the closest Lyran supply point). Hex 1502 is Kzinti controlled. Where can the Klingon ships go? Rule (302.76) says that the retreat priorities of the empire that provided the flagship must be used. However (302.761) allows allied forces to retreat separately but in this case it’s only the Klingons doing a retreat, not the Lyrans. Rule (302.761) also states that if the separate retreat option is used, then all units of a given empire must retreat together. So would all Klingon ships have to retreat from the hex IF they selected 1402 (only selectable if 302.761 is invoked) instead of 1302 (required if 302.761 is not invoked)?
A: This rule is modified by the more specific rule of (302.761) and the Klingons in this case would retreat to 1402.
Q: What, if any, legal targets for ground attacks exist, other than SBs, PDUs, and their respective smaller cousins?
A: Rule (521.1) is very specific that “ground combat actions” are used to attack PDUs and bases, and capture enemy ships.
Q: If a base’s fighters/PFs react out to another battle, and another unit’s fighters/PFs react into the hex, can the reacting attrition units land in the now empty hangars of the original base and contribute to the battle at full strength?
A: Not unless the original fighters/PFs were destroyed earlier in the Combat Phase, but they can be supported by their original home (unless it was destroyed earlier). A fighter squadron must return to its home base after each combat round to refuel and rearm (205.76), and each home base only supports one unit. If that base is destroyed then they are considered homeless after the first round and must find a home (302.53) or be resolved as “minus points” per (308.2). So if the home of the “reacting in” units was destroyed before the “reacted out” units were destroyed, the “reacting in” units could not use the base’s fighter/PF facilities as their new home.
Q: In a capital assault on a “single system hex” like one of the Gorn capitals, is the fleet present in the system obligated to form a Battle Force to defend the minor planet, or can it decline by (511.571) as long as it is not conflicting with (511.553) and wait for the enemy at the capital planet, allowing the enemy to devastate the minor planet and destroying its PDUs without having to risk the fleet?
A: Yes, you can do this, but you may not win re-election. Per (511.571) you do not have to include any ships as long as there are fixed defenses and un-devastated planets in that system. This will allow you to preserve your force for the main battle at another planet in that system if you wish.
Q: Rule (304.41) states: “If one player has only units that cannot retreat (for example: a base, PDU, FRD, and/or convoy; even those with fighters/PFs) or must use slow retreat (e.g., convoys, towed FRDs), the other player selects both of the numbers (1-4) for the BIR. Variable intensity can still be used.”
Does this mean that in Slow Unit Retreat (302.742) if there are only retreating slow units, that the pursing player gets to pick both BIRs? I would argue that this is not the case. Rule (302.742) makes no mention of Battle Intensity nor do the rules in (307.0) Pursuit. At the very least I would expect to see a special cases listed in (307.42) covering this.
A: Rule (304.41) says what it says, i.e., that the pursuing player gets to pick both BIR numbers (meaning that he’s going to hurt you, a lot, if he wants to). The lack of a mention in other rules simply means nothing contradicts (304.41). One might argue that in a perfect world there might have been something to help you find (304.41), but that rule is still the rule.
Q: If, when a player is assaulting the Tholian Dyson Sphere (302.632), and the Tholians score more damage in a single round then is required to kill all the ships in the Battle Force, what happens to the excess damage? Is it carried over as plus points to the next round? Does it disappear, since there is nothing left in the Battle Force to carry it over?
A: This falls under the annihilation rule (302.632) and carries over to the next round as plus points for the Tholians.
Q: Can drone bombardment support a pursuit battle?
A: There is no support echelon in a pursuit battle, on either side (307.2) and (307.3), so there can be no drone bombardment, and many other things cannot be used.

SMALL SCALE COMBAT: THE TEAPOT OF VICTORY
Q: Under rule (310.14) [which was rule (323.14) when I first asked this], if you have an X-ship, you get a +1, and if you face an X-ship, you get a -1. There is a note saying to ignore the -1s if both sides have an X-ship, implying that both sides still get the +1 bonus. Can this be right?
A: It is right. X-ships are deadly, even to each other.
Q: Under rule (310.14), there is a -1 penalty for a differential of two-to-four points, and -2 for five or more points. These are on separate lines, so I think they could both apply. (My opponent says only one can apply.) So if I have two CWs (seven each) facing a frigate (five points) and two points of fighters, I think that I have a -1 and a -2 (i.e., a -3), but my opponent says the comparison is fourteen versus seven, and only a -2. Who is right?
A: Only one of those two modifiers can apply, and you use the one that is worse. In this case you would compare the frigate and the war cruiser one time and get a -1 modifier.
Q: Under rule (310.51), I can resolve a “casualty” (310.32) by retreating. Can the other side pursue and force another round of Small Scale Combat?
A: Yes you can pursue, and if SSC still applies, you do another round of SSC.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, December 10, 2010 - 03:42 pm: Edit

CL42 Q&A part 2


PRODUCTION: BUILDING THE BEST
Q: Rules in the production section indicate that the costs to build the OOB items are indicated on the OOB, but I'm not finding that. Where are they?
A: The cost data was moved to the SITs long ago, but there were a couple of leftover references from earlier editions that did not get changed until F&E-2010.
Q: What is the maximum production for a given turn?
A: See the production schedule in each Order of Battle. There are things like Overbuilds (431.30) and accelerated production (431.37) that expand this to a limited extent.
Q: I seem to recall a rule, question, or ruling that mothballed ships get a discount when being converted (similar to conversion during repair), but I cannot find the rule. Does it exist?
A: There is no such rule. You can convert mothballed ships before they are activated, but you have to pay the full cost.
Q: On the SIT, some items have a cost of “Schedule: 5” while others have “For ABC: 5” and others have “(431.6): 5”. What does this all mean?
A: The simplest, “Schedule: 5”, means that the ship is in the production schedule and when produced costs 5 EPs. An entry in the form “For ABC: 5” refers to an allowable substitution. In some cases (e.g., scouts, carriers, drone ships, maulers) the number of such substitutions is limited by special rules for that kind of ship. The entry “(431.6): 5” means to check the stated rule number, in this case (431.6), for the conditions under which you are allowed to build that unit, and if those conditions are met, you pay 5 EPs.
Q: How long does it take to build a ship?
A: New construction is done in Step 2B3 of the SOP. There is no lead time for the construction as this is a simplification of the construction of new ships. Yes, it takes longer than the instant that you pay for a ship and it appears on the map, but there are certain aspects of a large game such as this that need simplification. Otherwise, you’d have to keep track of what you ordered and the game doesn’t need more record keeping.
Q: Is there any limit (539.7) on the substitution or conversion of theater transports such as FFTs or DWTs?
A: The rule has no limits, but of course, you would be limited by available funds, ships, and conversion facilities.
Q: Can one empire build a PRD (425.1) at an ally’s planet?
A: Yes, you can, assuming no other rules get in the way and you have the money. The only restriction is that there can only be one PRD at that planet. It should be noted that any repairs done by this PRD has no connection to the allied Strategic Movement Grid and would not be eligible for free Strategic Movement.
Q: Can free fighter factors (431.74) be used in Secondary Supply Grids? (The off-map grid specifically. The empire does still hold its shipyard.)
A: No, the free fighters are available only in the capital shipyard supply grid (the Main Supply Grid).

BASES: CHAINS OF SUPPLY
Q: Rule (506.3) specifically prohibits the Romulans from building any kind of base in their off-map area, but a ruling in CL#38 said they could and a response to a rejected tactical note in the CL#40 Supplemental File said they could not. Can this be clarified, please?
A: This is an issue as old as the game. It was clarified in F&E2010 that the Romulans can build a mobile base or a colony there to provide Strategic Movement or a place to accumulate EPs. F&E2010 also provided the Klingons with an “assumed base” in their leased area in the Lyran outback.
Q: In a confusing situation, an Hydran fleet in Lyran space was out of supply and drained the supply tug so that they would be treated as in supply. Later in the turn, the fleet re-established supply, and then lost the supply link. Did the supply tug get refilled or not?
A: It depends on when supply was re-established. Rule (509.53) is only part of the solution; the Sequence of Play establishes certain points at which supply is evaluated. If the supply tug was back in supply at one of those points, it was refilled. If not, it wasn’t.
Q: A diplomatically aligned neutral planet (540.24) generates EPs but is not connected to adjacent grids and is in its own partial grid until such time you are at war with the other neighboring power. They accumulate EPs which may be used to locally construct defenses and/or accumulate. May one use Orion smuggling to transfer EPs to the planet to augment its indigenous EPs for construction projects?
A: Sure, if you have them per (410.34). You would have to obey all rules concerning the use of EPs for your empire at that time based on your economic condition. If you are at Peace, you could cancel PWC or use other diplomatic income to do this. Or, if you were at War but this was an inactive fleet you could use money from the general treasury at the local Orion’s rate of exchange. The local planet would not allow you to remove such income via the Orions as they know it would just make their situation more untenable.

COMMAND: WHO OBEYS WHOM?
Q: Reserve Fleets (507.2) can be one Battle Force, meaning a flagship, whatever it controls, and a free scout. Battle Groups and carrier Battle Groups may provide a further increase. Can I declare a Klingon D7U (which has special sensors) as the free scout?
A: Certainly. You can use any ship with special sensors as the free scout. It gets better. The D7U’s escorts can be included in the Battle Group count since the actual carrier group is not formed until Step 5C of the Sequence of Play.
Q: I am unsure about what I can do with the four PGS ships in the Hydran Old Colonies Squadron (off map). The Order of Battle lists them with the OCS (which has its own conditions for the ships to enter the map), but then refers to rule (317.4) which gives them their one release schedule (three of them, one per turn) and rule (709.1B) which just talks about the free Pegasus ships I can start building when the Old Colonies shipyard becomes active. I know that “a specific rule overrules a general rule” but (317.4) and the OCS release rules both seem specific.
A: Yes, “a specific rule overrules a general rule” and since the OCS rule covers that entire fleet but (317.4) covers a specific type of ship, (317.4) is the specific rule and it wins. The three PGS ships and the new Pegasus construction enter the map on their own terms, not on the rules of the Old Colonies Squadron.
Q: The Klingon D7N and D5N are assigned to the Home Fleet on the current OOB (703.0). The Home Fleet is not released until Turn #4. Does this prevent the Klingons from using their diplomats for the first three turns? Maybe the Klingons don’t know what diplomacy is until then?
A: This was clarified in F&E 2010. Rule (600.35) “Diplomatic teams (including Klingon diplomatic cruisers) and small transports carrying diplomatic teams are always released and can go about their business (540.0)”. Rule (540.0) allows empires at Peace to use diplomatic teams.
Q: If I include a CV tug in a pursuit force (which is limited to six ships maximum), does the CV tug count as two ships in this force as (307.22) seems to imply? I'm thinking that it does not, since an unescorted CV tug only counts as two ships for command purposes (515.261), carrier tugs don’t have to be escorted (515.26), and there was never a missing escort to count against the pursuit force.
A: Rule (515.261) is more specific than (515.26) and as such any tug with CV pods requires either an escort or an open slot when it comes to filling out the Battle Force.
Q: Concerning Flagship Escort Groups and X-ships. I have a Kzinti DNH I want to escort. The FEG rule says I can have two escorts, one of which must be size class 4 (318.42). The ad-hoc rules say no BCH/DN escorts, and the SITS lists the X-cruisers as base hull type BC (cruiser hull). I realize that the X-ship loses two compot for the privilege, and loses its mauler special attack capability. May I use an X-cruiser (BCX/CCX) as the large escort, and use a DW as the small one?
A: References for the escorts allowed in a FEG are (515.33-.34), (318.421-.429) and are very specific in what can and cannot be used. A Kzinti BC by the SIT and the R section of SFB is a heavy cruiser and an allowed escort. The BCX and CCX are variants of this base hull and as such are allowed with the other limits imposed by the above rules.

MORE QUESTIONS
Q: When using Depot Level Repair (424.35) is it one ship total per turn or up to one ship per depot track per turn?
A: One crippled ship per turn is allowed to be placed in each of the holding boxes for the Depot Level Repair. Each such ship must be appropriate to the specific Depot Holding Box.
Q: Is it possible to remove your enemy’s ownership of a neutral zone hex (503.62), and not claim it yourself, even if enemy ships are adjacent to the hex?
A: If your opponent cannot establish ownership by this rule, then the hex is not counted. If you have ships adjacent to the hex, then they cannot claim it. Once war is declared, the neutral zone hexes are no longer “neutral”; they are just unclaimed income waiting for one side or the other to establish the requirements for claiming the income.
Q: Tugs and LTTs can move monitor pallets between Supply Grids (519.43). Can a Klingon D5G or DWG (D5WG) move a monitor pallet between Supply Grids in a manner similar to theater transports being able to move tug pods from one Supply Grid to another?
A: Yes, the D5G or the DWG (D5WG) can do this.
Q: Rule (519.23) states that a monitor can be captured and then subsequently repaired and converted to the capturing empire’s technology. If the monitor is captured with a combat pallet, e.g. SCS pallet, is the pallet also repaired and converted?
A: Rule (519.4) discusses pallets and likens them to tug pods. For direction on this, see rule (305.44), which says a captured tug’s pods are so damaged as to be unusable. So, a captured monitor’s pallet would be unusable.
Q: When the Hydrans attack on Turn #3, rule (601.162) states that the Hydrans are at a wartime economy. It also states that they receive their scheduled PWC, but cannot build other ships. That is pretty clear to me, but on the Hydran Order of Battle there is no PWC. My opponent and I disagree if the ships listed for Turn #1 and Turn #2 are PWC or not.
A: The ships listed for Turn #1 and Turn #2 are the PWC.
Q: Can a tug carry an allied FRD?
A: Certainly, see rule (509.1F).
Q: A starbase counter has PP on it. Does that mean it has three, or six, or twelve PFs? Or just what.
A: Each P is one flotilla of six PFs which has 12 combat factors, so a starbase has 24 combat factors of PFs. Each PDU (battalion) has one-half P, or six combat factors.

By Mike Curtis (Fear) on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 04:33 pm: Edit

ISC Pod Explination:

Part of this is that there is no such thing as an ISC "Heavy Pod". All ISC pods are single weight. Even the new "SCS" pod set that I was obliged to design for this product is a pair of single weight pods.

When the ISC tug was originally published in Module C2 the rules for ISC pods very specifically noted that they had to be used in "sets", you could not "mix and match" them. This was revised in Module R4. The provisions in Module R4 are:

1.) Pods designed for the LTT can be carried by the Tug, but will be inactive for all purposes.

2.) Pods designed for the Tug can be carried by the LTT, but with the exception of the Cargo Pod will be inactive for all purposes.

3.) Combat pods used by the tug can be mixed and matched at will, but if matched with non-combat pods the combat pods are inactive. Example, if you put a Battle pod and a Repair pod on a tug, the Battle pod is inactive.

4.) A tug with a Battle Pod and a CV pod is legal.
A tug with a Battle pod and a CVA pod is legal.
A tug with a Battle pod and an SCS pod is legal.
A tug with a Battle pod and a PFT pod is legal.
A tug with a Battle pod and a Scout pod is legal.
A tug with a Battle pod and a Torpedo pod is legal.
A tug with a CV Pod and a Battle pod is legal.
A tug with a CV pod and a CVA pod is legal.
A tug with a CV pod and an SCS pod is legal.
A tug with a CV pod and a PFT pod is legal.
A tug with a CV pod and a Scout pod is legal.
A tug with a CV pod and a Torpedo pod is legal.
A tug with a SCS Pod and a Battle pod is legal.
A tug with a SCS pod and a CV pod is legal.
A tug with a SCS pod and an CVA pod is legal.
A tug with a SCS pod and a PFT pod is legal.
A tug with a SCS pod and a Scout pod is legal.
A tug with a SCS pod and a Torpedo pod is legal.
A tug with a CVA pod and a Battle pod is legal.
A tug with a CVA pod and a CV pod is legal.
A tug with a CVA pod and an SCS pod is legal.
A tug with a CVA pod and a PFT pod is legal.
A tug with a CVA pod and a Scout pod is legal.
A tug with a CVA pod and a Torpedo pod is legal.
A tug with a PFT pod and a CV pod is legal.
A tug with a PFT pod and an SCS pod is legal.
A tug with a PFT pod and a CVA pod is legal.
A tug with a PFT pod and a Scout pod is legal.
A tug with a PFT pod and a Torpedo pod is legal.
A tug with a Scout pod and a Battle pod is legal.
A tug with a Scout pod and a CV pod is legal.
A tug with a Scout pod and an SCS pod is legal.
A tug with a Scout pod and a CVA pod is legal.
A tug with a Scout pod and a PFT pod is legal.
A tug with a Scout pod and a Torpedo pod is legal.
A tug with a Torpedo pod and a Battle pod is legal.
A tug with a Torpedo pod and a CV pod is legal.
A tug with a Torpedo pod and an SCS pod is legal.
A tug with a Torpedo pod and a CVA pod is legal.
A tug with a Torpedo pod and a PFT pod is legal.
A tug with a Torpedo pod and a Scout pod is legal.

5.) Legal in all the above means both pods are fully operational.

6.) Technically a tug can carry any two pods, but if it is carrying a non-Combat pod and a Combat pod, the Combat pod is inactive for all purposes in so far as Federation & Empire is concerned.
So if you mix a non combat pod (Cargo, Troop, Repair, Heavy Fighter Resupply, or PF Transport) the Combat pod would be inactive and the non-combat pod would be only half what a set of such pods would be.

7.) Any pod designed for an LTT carried by a tug in addition to a Combat pod means both pods would be inactive.

8.) Any two non-combat pods (Cargo, Troop, Repair, Heavy Fighter Resupply, or PF Transport) can be mixed and both would be operational, but each within the reduced limits of being only one of a pair, i.e., a troop pod and a cargo pod would only have the troops of half of a troop pod "set".

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 02:53 pm: Edit

CL43 RULES & RULINGS
by Mike Curtis, FEAR
(302.742) Slow units with standard speed escorts are treated as slow groups and therefore are included in slow unit retreats. As always, escorts can be dropped (but not added) prior to retreat battle.
(516.32) The Klingon DWG (D5W-G, the commando version of the D5W new heavy cruiser) is limited to the same missions and restrictions as the D5G under (516.32). This is due to the notes under the SIT and evaluation of the SSD from SFB. It carries only one pod, so it does the LTT mission, not the more expansive tug mission list. The DWG does count against both limits for LTTs (516.1) and the commando ship limits (521.23).
(517.36) Lyran tugs using the K-pods are under the same restrictions for the KVP (VAP) and KVH (VHP).
(518.2) The limit on the number of SWACs that can be used is the carrying units, not the Battle Force. If a Federation CVA with two SWACs is defending an SB which has two SWACs of its own, all four can be used. In a ridiculous example, five defense brigades, two CVA groups, two starbases, and a BCV group could have a potential 14 SWACS deployed at once. You might not find jobs for all 14, but you could have that many available.
(519.37) Monitors cannot pin other units under (203.5). If they have a pallet, the attrition units do count in the pin count.
(523.4) A tug is required to upgrade anything larger than a base station to X-technology.
(531.44) This rule states clearly that police fighters can only be transferred to other police carriers. They cannot be used as independent reaction squadrons into an adjacent hex.
(540.253) Newly “found” planets in the Romulan on-map survey area are not integrated into the economy until the turn after the Romulans go to war. The EPs generated by a planet may be spent on infrastructure for that planet, but if unspent, are just absorbed into the pre-war civilian economy.
(601.162) The Hydrans set up their forces after the Coalition Turn #3 and just before the Alliance Turn #3. This reflects the strategic surprise of their attack and the Expedition.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 02:54 pm: Edit

CL43 Q&A part 1
by Mike Curtis, FEAR

TRANSLATION PLEASE!
Q: What do all of those abbreviations mean?
A: Those in this article include: BIR (Battle Intensity Rating), ComPot (Combat Potential), EP (Economic Point), FEAR (F&E Answer Rapporteur), FRD (Fleet Repair Dock), HRS (high-risk survey), MB (mobile base), PDU (Planetary Defense Unit), PRD (Planetary Repair Dock), SAF (Special Attack Force), SIT (Ship Information Table), SSC (Small Scale Combat).

THE RAID’S THE THING IN WHICH TO TRAP THE KING
Q: If the initial combat (314.244) is successful for the raider (or no damage is done by either side), via alternative attack, can the raider attack the ship that reacted into the hex, or can it only attack ships which started the raid phase in the hex?
A: The check for “any single unit of its choice in the raid target hex” (314.28) is done after the reaction of the ship into the raid target hex. So, yes, you can attack the reacting ship if you wish.
Q: Can a Prime Team (534.2) raid a crippled ship (which is outside of three hexes, so it can’t be captured) to destroy it?
A: There is no “destroy crippled ship” mission listed, so, no.
Q: Can a Prime Team do an Espionage & Sabotage mission to cripple a police ship? As there is no crippled side, the ship would be killed instead of being crippled.
A: It won’t be killed, but this would effectively eliminate the police ship as per (532.22) since they will be removed from the map as they return to their base of operations to be repaired and returned to police duties which are not game related.
Q: A legal unit performing a blockade run (320.511) must have a friendly or neutral hex as its target when performing this type of raid. Does the presence of friendly ships in enemy territory meet the requirement of making the hex a valid target?
A: In the raid phase, a hex occupied solely by your side is considered a friendly hex.

COMBAT: THE CRUCIBLE OF VICTORY
Q: Concerning Flagship Escort Groups (FEG) in rule (318.42) and X-ships. I have a Kzinti DNH I want to escort. The FEG rule says I can have two escorts, one of which must be size class 4. The ad hoc rules say no BCH/DN can be an escort, and the SIT lists the X-cruisers as base hull type BC (heavy cruiser hull). I realize that the X-ship loses two ComPot for the privilege and loses its mauler special attack capability, if used as an escort. May I use an X-cruiser (BCX/CCX) as the large escort, and use a DW as the small one?
A: References for the escorts allowed in a FEG are (515.33-.34) and (318.421-.429). These are very specific in what can and cannot be used. A Kzinti BC by the SIT and the R section of SFB is listed as a heavy cruiser. The BCX and CCX are variants of this base hull and as such are allowed to be used as escorts within the other limits imposed by the above rules.
Q: Rule (507.2) says in part: “...Command Points, admirals, and drone ships cannot be used in establishing the size of a Reserve.” Doesn’t that just mean that drone ships cannot extend the size of the Reserve Battle Force by being in the support line (up to 3 platforms) and thus avoid the command limit of the reserve fleet’s flagship? Does it not mean that any number of drone ships could be part of the Reserve Battle Force if counted against the flagship’s Command Rating?
A: Exactly! The drone bombardment ships (309.0) can be part of the battle line up to the Command Rating of the flagship of the reserve, but there is no support echelon in a reserve fleet so you do not get to add three drone ships above the Command Rating and say “Oh, those? They’re just supporting so they don’t count.” It should be noted that if the drone bombardment ship has scout capabilities then it could be put in the free scout location as part of the reserve.
Q: When is a Fighting Retreat (302.75) resolved? Is the retreat resolved immediately after the player’s retreat or at any other time, phasing player’s choice, or during the Combat Phase (Phase 5 of the SOP)?
A: Fighting Retreat Battle Hexes are not required to be fought immediately once the parent Battle Hex is resolved. Fighting Retreat Battle Hexes are simply added to the list of Battle Hexes that must be resolved during the phasing player’s turn in the order chosen by the phasing player. In the case of Fighting Retreat, simply note that the Battle Hex is to be resolved using the Fighting Retreat battle rules, and any other conditions that apply.
Q: After the successful freezing of a target with an SFG (312.222), are the die roll modifiers in (310.12) recalculated before resolving SSC?
A: Just like in a normal battle, force levels and modifiers are recalculated after SFG interactions are complete. This includes any SSC calculations.
Q: If a planet has less than the full 10 points of devastation damage applied to it, does that damage remain so that it is easier to devastate on later turns or is that damage lost when the attacker decides to retreat?
A: Partial planetary damage is cleared at the end of the Combat Phase (not round) of the current player turn (508.21). If there is not enough damage to devastate the planet then the planet is not devastated. There is no enabling rule that says partial planetary damage is carried over turn breaks.
Q: Are carrier groups formed once per Battle Hex, or are they fixed until the Retrograde Phase?
A: See (515.144) which limits formation of carrier groups to once per Battle Hex, but if they retreat into another Battle Hex they have to stay in the original formation.
Q: Is this a legal Carrier Battle Group (CVBG): CVA, DVL NAE, NAC, DWA, DWA?
A: Rule (502.921) specifically states that a CVBG consists of two carriers each with the normal number of escorts. So, yes, this is a legal group.
Q: During the procedure for a capital assault, the defender of the capital hex must split his/her ships into static, mobile, and crippled ships pools. So what happens if a carrier group is damaged (one ship crippled) during combat in the capital hex?
A: Any crippled ship that is part of a group has to stay with that group (511.532) until the next Battle Hex or the end of the current Battle Hex in the pursuit sub-phase. As such, any group it is assigned to also becomes “crippled” per (511.532) and the group must be placed with the crippled ships for that system.
Q: What happens if a carrier group from another Battle Hex retreats into the capital hex with a crippled escort?
A: Any groups that ended up with crippled escorts would have to be placed in the crippled area of a system per (511.532).

PRODUCTION
Q: The Kzinti annex (705.2) says: “No more than one drone ship can be produced by substitution each year (432.44).” Does this mean that they can produce any number through conversion?
A: In F&E2010 (705.3), (703.4), and (702.4) you will see that the Klingons and the Federation are specifically limited on conversion/substitutions of drone ships. The Kzintis are only limited to one substitution (note, with Advanced Operations and other advanced modules this changes to just two per turn by any means) with no limits on conversions, so they can convert as many as their desire and economy can support. Note, however, that most drone bombardment ships also have scout functions and are also under the scout production limits.
Q: Rule (709.3) allows one Hydran DWF per turn as a substitution for an FF prior to Fall Y176, with a maximum of four prototype DW hulls during the seven turns from Spring Y173 to Spring Y176 (inclusive), and allows no additional conversions. Rule (450.1) allows the Hydrans to begin production of two DW shipyards when DW-class ships become available. Rule (450.16) restricts minor shipyards to ships that are already on the production schedule. Can the Hydrans begin building a DW minor shipyard starting in Spring Y173 when DWs first become available as a substitution on their schedule? This would allow DW production at these minor shipyards as early as Fall Y174 as the ship is effectively on the schedule as a substitution. Or are they required to wait to Fall Y176 to build a DW minor shipyard when the DW becomes a standard part of their production schedule? Would this change if the Hydrans still hold their shipyard in Spring Y173, which allows the Hydrans to begin their Y176 production schedule early? In addition, would the four prototype DW hull limit include production of DWs from minor shipyards?
A: Rule (450.16) states that a minor shipyard cannot begin building a class until the class is on the production schedule. Until the DW is on the production schedule a minor shipyard for that class cannot be built. This means you cannot use the allowed substitution to count as being on the schedule. If the Hydrans still hold their shipyard in Spring Y173 and get their Spring Y176 production schedule moved up, then they can start the DW minor shipyard on Spring Y173, but not before.
Q: What are the actual limits for CPF production? Are the counters provided the intended limit for each empire?
A: The rule (524.111) lists a limit, saying each empire is provided four counters except the Lyrans which have seven, the Tholians who have two and the Orions who have none. There is a production limit of one per turn in (524.112). It also states that players may mutually agree to change these limits, but are warned that the effect on game balance may be unpredictable.
Q: Does the one allowed CPX count against the CPF production limit?
A: Yes, it does. The CPF limit includes the one CPX.
Q: Rule (524.14) says that the CPX is to be the second casual flotilla build. Does a regular CPF have to be built first?
A: Yes, that is what the rule requires. You have to walk before you can run.
Q: Rule (524.14) says that the CPX can be carried by X-ships and raid pool ships. Does that mean a CPF cannot be?
A: Yes, that is what the rule says. While the CPX is not X-technology, it is the only casual flotilla that can work with X-ships.
Q: Can a planet upgrade an operational base to a base station in the same way it can upgrade a mobile base?
A: Yes. An operational base is just a moveable mobile base (453.13) so it can be upgraded the same way.
Q: Can a planet upgrade a mobile base or operational base to an X-technology battle station?
A: Assuming that the planet has the resources, including the XTPs, then sure, go ahead.
Q: Is it legal to place an un-crippled variant hull into depot for the purpose of returning it to the base hull configuration at no cost? (Other than losing two years out of service, of course!)
A: No, (424.35) specifically states that only crippled ships can be placed in the depot tracks.
Q: If I assign three theater transports to a task (that takes three) and one is destroyed, the task is only 2/3 finished. Can I then assign two or three theater transports to complete the task?
A: Nothing says you cannot do this, and many players assign two LTTs (1+1/3 what is needed) to a tug task. You can, if you want, assign surplus capacity so that you can afford to lose one (or just to keep the boys busy).

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 02:55 pm: Edit

CL43 Q&A part 2
by Mike Curtis FEAR


DIPLOMACY
Q: Once Orion secedes from the Federation, can diplomats be sent to Orion as an armed neutral?
A: Yes, just like the LDR, the Orion Enclave is considered a “permanent neutral” with special rules in (503.5). The diplomat may be delivered per (540.14).
Q: Can a diplomat be sent to the WYN Cluster?
A: No, see rule (540.23) which prohibits this.
Q: Can a player use espionage and sabotage missions (534.232) to assassinate enemy diplomats in neutral space?
A: Yes, this is what Prime Teams do.
Q: We’ve been doing the rolls for negotiating with neutral planets during the Economic Phase. Is this correct? I don’t see it defined anywhere.
A: Look harder! As per rule (540.251) the rolls are done in the Economic Phase of the SOP in Step 1C3 before income is determined.

A TUG ON YOUR HEARTSTRINGS
Q: Does the Hydran MTG upgrade a MB to a BATS in the same way as the regular production tug or does it take two of them to perform the base upgrade? In simpler terms, is the MTG an LTT or a tug?
A: It is a tug. It’s nearly as big as a cruiser-based tug.
Q: I found a reference in an expansion to tug missions AA and AB, but no reference to them in the 2010 rulebook.
A: They were redesignated J3 and J4, respectively. When we update the expansions, that will get fixed.
Q: Did the ability of theater transports (TTs) change in F&E 2010 in so far as how they carry PDUs? Rule (539.72) of Strategic Operations states that a single theater transport can carry and deploy one PDU.
A: Changes were made! In F&E 2010 many previous rules were consolidated, updated, and even changed. Under (509.1-K1) groups of three theater transports can deliver a PDU (509.22). A re-study of the engineering showed that no single theater transport could manage the delivery and installation of a PDU.
Q: If a colony is being established in a captured province, does the tug performing the mission count (430.22) as the province garrison?
A: If the tug is performing any mission other than A, B, G, L, M, N, P, Q, R, or S, it cannot be counted as either a planetary or a provincial garrison.
Q: Is there no limit on Klingon CVT production other than the number of TGA hulls and the EPs you can spend?
A: None, although TGAs are limited to one per year and have many other uses. F&E is a game of choices and using all of your TGAs for this role means none available to do anything else.
Q: Does the VHP overload Kzinti, Klingon, and Lyran LTTs under (517.41) because it uses the same rule (517.36)? Or is this not a weight issue? Rule (530.225) seems to indicate single weight but this implication of (517.36) (last sentence) and (517.41) (last sentence) seem to conflict with that concept.
A: Looking at the SSDs for the VHP vs. the VAP shows that it is mostly cargo boxes and of the number that is similar to the VP pod instead of the VAP pod. The reference in (517.36) is for the ability of an LTT to carry the single VHP, not the weight restrictions of the VAP on a LTT in (517.41).
Q: What if the Lyran tug borrows a Klingon VAP (or VHP) pod under rule (517.13), would rule (517.36) apply? Also, what if a Klingon tug borrows the Lyran KVP or KVH pods, does (517.36) still apply?
A: Yes, in both situations.
Q: It seems that the Lyran VHP cannot be mixed with other pods. Is this true?
A: The VHP is, based on (517.36), a pod that cannot be mixed with other pods.
Q: Can the Lyran VHP pod (530.23) be mounted with a borrowed Klingon VHP pod becoming Mission R+R and this would not overload the tug?
A: Yes, the ability for the Klingons and Lyrans to share pods allows for this. Clever of them, wasn’t it?
Q: Does rule (517.36), specifically the part “The VHP pods in Advanced Operations use the same rule,” apply to all VHP pods or just to the Klingon, Kzinti, and Lyran pods?
A: It applies only to Klingon, Kzinti, and Lyran pods.
Q: This rule gives the Lyrans a max limit of one VHP. The online OOB charts (711.3) gives a max limit of two Lyran VHPs. The online SITs (last updated two years ago) show a limit of one. Which is correct?
A: This rule is correct, only one VHP for the Lyrans.

SURVEY
Q: Do colonies obtained using HRS (high risk survey) count against the limits imposed by rule (446.15)? I have surveyed five off-map provinces in addition to the starting off-map provinces. On a previous turn I rolled a “2” using HRS and got my first “free” colony. By rule (446.15) I am now able to start normal colony development for one colony. However, if the “free” colony I obtained by HRS counts against the limit in (446.15), then I will have to wait until I have surveyed my 10th additional off-map province before developing another off-map colony.
Rule (446.15) provides that an empire could develop one colony in its off-map area for every five new provinces surveyed there (not including pre-game “at start” provinces).
Rule (542.27) provides that, upon rolling a “2,” you create an off-map colony without going through the colony set-up rules. If more than one colony already exists per off-map province, there is no effect. This colony is created in zero time and at zero cost.
A: The limits imposed by (446.15) are for colonial development by standard methods delineated in (446.1). High risk survey (542.27) allows for the possibility of creating more colonies. The limits in (446.1) are for both types of colonies. The limits for (542.27) are for the number of provinces. So, for example, if you have four provinces surveyed, you cannot develop any colonies but could find one via (542.27). Another example: You have 10 provinces discovered and a number of colonies greater than two you cannot develop more (446.15), but could find up to eight more by (542.27).
Q: If a “6” (Monster found) is rolled in high risk survey, does the survey ship miss the next opportunity to make any form of survey roll?
A: The rule (542.27) states that the ship encountering the monster loses one turn of surveying. Its survey result for this turn was the monster (which is not worth anything). The ship spends a retrograde phase getting back to a repair facility in a previously surveyed area and is repaired on the next turn and then moves operationally to the survey area and then is eligible for survey on the next turn after that. So, if you roll a six on High Risk Survey you lose any survey opportunity for that turn and the next.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 02:55 pm: Edit

CL43 Q&A part 3
by Mike Curtis, FEAR

IT’S ALL A SETUP!
Q: Rule (601.12) requires that the Kzintis keep a CC and five other ships in the two border provinces to “guard against the Federation.” Could the Kzintis replace the CC with a DN for the purposes of (601.12)? Obviously the DN couldn’t leave those Marquis provinces until such time as the original CC would be normally released, but it would protect the DN from the Klingons.
A: The CC is the personal ship of the Marquis and as such needs to stay as he is staying in his territory. He would not leave unless the Klingons invade. You cannot swap his ship. That is why the rule specifically says the CC, not a ship of at least nine Command Rating Points.
Q: In reading the Gorn Confederation Setup (706.0), the off-map section says to see (506.5) for activation. There is no rule (506.5) in the new 2010 rules. Where can I find this rule?
A: Please see the F&E 2010 errata page for Revision 0 rulebook at on the website, which has this rule.
Q: Rule (600.31) provides that up to six ships of an unreleased fleet may move operationally within that fleet’s zone each turn. Are ships of unreleased fleets allowed to move strategically within their deployment zone? If so, is that counted within the limit of six?
A: See (600.315) in the 2010 version of the rules. This provides for the Strategic Movement you are looking for. It is within the six-ship limit specified in (600.31) and is within the total Strategic Movement allowed by (204.0) for that empire.
Q: Why does it state in several places in the rules and scenarios that you can place one item in the main effort sector. What does this mean?
A: If one is playing an existing sectorized scenario (Winds of Fire, Maelstrom, Gale Force, etc.) then certain capabilities and rules are only assigned and/or used in the main effort.
Q: The Marquis has CLs assigned as carrier escorts. Is this a mistake? Should they be CLEs?
A: No, they’re CLs used as ad hoc escorts. Carriers were a fairly new thing, it took a while to work out what a carrier group was and the Kzintis had not built enough escorts yet.

WHO OWNS WHAT? AND WHEN DID THEY OWN IT?
Q: A question on economics and province ownership. What is at issue is when exactly is a province considered captured? I will use an example during the game. Province 0701 on Turn #2 had a Kzinti BATS in 0701 and nothing else. A Lyran force came in and destroyed the BATS in combat. The Coalition player then retrograded out leaving none of his units in the province and likewise no Alliance units. During Alliance Turn #2 does province 0701 (which can be connected to the Kzinti grid) provide two EP to the Kzintis or only one EP under rule (430.24) Abandoned?
A: Guidance to this issue can be found in Fighter Operations in rule (438.2). “A province is considered to have remained captured if no ships of the original owner are in that province at the end of either player turn.” Note the use of ships and not units in this requirement. This also defines a point in time (well, in the Sequence of Play) when the province is considered “captured” for both long-term effects such as those listed in (438.0) but also short term like those in (430.0).
Q: According to rule (503.622), a neutral zone hex is “captured” if it is occupied or if the capturing player was the last to move a unit through it and no enemy ships are in or adjacent to it. However, back in 2005, your predecessor (Nick Blank) said that: “Moving through a NZ hex (you were the last to move through) means you ‘own’ the neutral zone hex. During [your Economic Phase], if there are no adjacent enemy ships, then you get the income. If there are adjacent enemy ships, then you don’t collect the money, but you still own the hex (at least until an enemy ship actually moves through it to capture it for their side).” What is the intent of the rule? Are NZ hexes captured as it is written or does it indeed work the way Nick ruled in 2005?
A: What is not clear? You move through neutral zone hex A, and there are no adjacent enemy ships, so you claim the hex. When it comes around to your Economic Phase you check the hex to see if any enemy ships have moved adjacent since you have claimed the hex or the previous Economic Phase. If there are not any, you get 0.2 EPs for that hex.
Q: If my Marines (G factors) suppress the rebellion (537.131), does the planet return to status as a supply source immediately?
A: The planet returns to status as a supply source upon the next supply check in the Sequence of Play.
Q: In the case of liberation of a rebellious planet by the original empire and/or its allies (537.13) does supply return immediately or is it delayed as any other liberation?
A: Supply is returned like any other liberation as the rebels are not worried about the infrastructure to run a planet-wide economy, but only worried about if they are going to make life miserable for the conquerors.

AND A FEW MORE QUESTIONS
Q: Can the Klingons perform WYN trade via blockade running on Turn #1 of the General War? They definitely accumulate trade rights then (449.11). However, (601.161) forbids Klingon ships from leaving their territory on Turn #1 of the GW scenario. I find no enabling rule that provides an exception to (601.161); so my guess is that the answer to my question is “no.” However, it makes little sense to me to negotiate trade rights and then be unable to actually trade. So, maybe there’s an oversight somewhere and it’s meant to be allowed for the Klingons to blockade run EPs to the WYN on Turn #1? Hence, it’s possible that the answer might be “yes.”
A: The Klingon Empire can use a blockade run to go and return from the WYN Cluster in the Raid Phase (3A). This allows the Klingon Empire to send a transport ship clandestinely to the WYNs to exchange Economic Points with the WYN Cluster.
Q: Are E&S missions allowed against future belligerents (in neutral? or enemy? territory)? What about the Federation while they’re neutral or using limited war to help the Kzintis?
A: No, that would be declaring war on the future belligerent and the definition of a future belligerent requires you to leave them alone up to a certain point. E&S missions are beyond that point.
Q: What is the SFB equivalent of a PDU (defense battalion)? DefSats? GBDS? A mine package? A combination of those? Or something else entirely?
A: A two-page article in Captain’s Log #22 provides this information. In simple terms, it consists of three ground-based phaser-4s, a ground warning station, and three defense satellites. Over the years, this is increased to include a military garrison, fighter base, power stations, and other things. This varies widely, and the exact combination is unimportant in F&E terms. Your efficient staff makes sure you have the right combination for each planet as you have bigger concerns to worry about.
Q: Can I react to the movement of a ship my enemy is selling to the WYN Cluster?
A: No. Once the ship is “sold” (which is on declaration, not on arrival) it’s a neutral ship (it already belongs to the WYN and nobody wants to intercept it because that would upset the powerful (and feared) WYNCOVIA banking cartel.
Q: When an interned ship becomes captured because a future belligerent entered the war (or in the case causing the question the Orion Enclave rejoined the Federation) is the ship just considered an un-crippled captured ship?
A: If the Orion Enclave rejoins the Federation, the interned Coalition ship is captured immediately (503.512), is undamaged, and is available to be used in any of the six options in (305.2) by the Federation.
Q: Let’s say I capture a crippled ship. I want to repair it and then convert it to use in my fleet. Can I do that in one turn or does it take two turns?
A: Either, at your option, but if you don’t do both on the same turn you will have to keep a written note about what’s going on.
Q: Does the use of an Engineer regiment (541.34) repairing SIDS on a base reduce the cost by five points per Engineer regiment under (541.31)?
A: Yes, (541.31) and (541.34) allow an Engineer regiment to repair up to two SIDS like a tug for eight EPs minus the five for the Engineer regiment for a net cost of three EPs.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, August 09, 2012 - 07:05 pm: Edit

CL44 F&E Rules & Rulings
by Mike Curtis, FEAR

THOLIAN PINWHEELS
(322.22) Tholian pinwheels cannot be counted as part of a Battle Group since they are immobile; see text in (315.0).
(322.32) The owner of a pinwheel may cripple an entire pinwheel using the 50% defense factor bonus but only if all ships of the pinwheel are uncrippled. The owner may destroy an entire pinwheel using the 50% defense factor bonus but if one or two ship elements are crippled the other remaining ships must be crippled first without using the 50% defense bonus.
Directed damage to cripple a pinwheel containing one or two previously crippled element ships still gains the 50% defense factor bonus only for the uncrippled elements.
Examples of voluntary damage: Owner cripples one PC of a 3xPC pinwheel (four Damage Points), or two ships (eight Damage Points), or all three (12 Damage Points, plus 50% bonus, resolves 18 Damage Points).
Owner destroys undamaged pinwheel (resolves 27 Damage Points, six per ship plus 50% bonus = nine per ship).
Owner destroys pinwheel with one damaged PC: first, cripple the two undamaged PCs without the bonus (8 points) then destroy three crippled PCs with bonus (2 combat factors x 3 ships x 1.5 bonus = 9). Total: 17 Damage Points.
Owner destroys pinwheel with two damaged PCs: first, cripple the undamaged PC without the bonus (4 points) then destroy three crippled PCs with bonus (9). Total: 13 Damage Points.
Owner destroys a pinwheel with three damaged PCs to resolve nine Damage Points.
Examples of directed damage:
Pinwheel with no previously crippled PCs requires (four combat factors x three ships x double for directed damage x 1.5 pinwheel bonus =) 36 directed Damage Points to cripple and 18 more points (two combat factors on three crippled ships, doubled for directed damage, 50% pinwheel bonus) to destroy for 54 total directed Damage Points.
Pinwheel with one PC previously crippled requires (four combat factors x two ships x double for directed damage x 1.5 pinwheel bonus =) 24 directed Damage Points to cripple and 18 more points (two combat factors on three crippled ships, doubled for directed damage, 50% pinwheel bonus) to destroy for 42 total directed Damage Points.
Pinwheel with two PCs previously crippled requires (four combat factors x double for directed damage x 1.5 pinwheel bonus =) 12 directed Damage Points to cripple and 18 more points (two combat factors on three crippled ships, doubled for directed damage, 50% pinwheel bonus) to destroy for 30 total directed Damage Points.
Pinwheel with 3xPCs previously crippled requires 18 directed Damage Points to destroy.
(322.56) Destroyed ships of a pinwheel can be salvaged (439.0). Roll for Depot Level Repair under the provisions of those rules.

THOLIAN NEUTRAL ZONES
The rule in the last line of the scenario note in (601.11) says that “The Klingons cannot occupy Neutral Zone hexes adjacent to the Tholians until they are at war with the Federation.” As this is a specific rule, it overrules the general rule (503.64) but only in a historical scenario such as (601.0) The Wind.
This rule effectively prohibits the bold Klingon strategy of delaying the invasion of the Federation until Turn #10 and attacking the Tholians on Turn #7 (with the Federation reaction limited to sending the Seventh Fleet into the Klingon-Tholian neutral zone hexes under the Limited War rules), at least during a historical scenario.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, August 09, 2012 - 07:05 pm: Edit

CL44 Q&A Part 1
F&E Q&A
by Mike Curtis, FEAR

TRANSLATION PLEASE!
Q: What do all of those abbreviations mean?
A: AO (Advanced Operations), CO (Combined Operations), ComPot (Combat Potential), EP (Economic Point), FEAR (F&E Answer Rapporteur), FRD (Fleet Repair Dock), MB (mobile base), PDU (Planetary Defense Unit), SFG (Stasis Field Generator), SIDS (Starbase Incremental Damage System), SIT (Ship Information Table), SSC (Small-Scale Combat).

THE CRUCIBLE OF COMBAT
Q: When can the Coalition attack the Tholians?
A: There is some potential conflict here, but (603.16) is general where (602.11) is specific. So, only the Klingons can attack the Tholians on Turn #7 or later, and only if at war with the Federation. The other Coalition members must wait for Turn #10.
Q: Rule (312.45) says an SFG unit in “single combat” is hampered by this rule. I assume that if an SFG unit is in Small-Scale Combat, but has two consorts, then these penalties don’t apply and the SFG can freeze targets normally. The question is, how do you resolve damage in SSC then? Does each frozen ship take only “one casualty” to destroy?
A: Remember SSC has two die rolls: One by the attacker’s offensive ComPot on the defender’s defensive ComPot; and one by the defender’s offensive ComPot on the attacker’s defensive ComPot. If the SFG ship freezes a unit, the frozen unit cannot use its offensive ComPot. There is no provision for “directed” or double casualties; the frozen unit simply has zero offensive ComPot to offer which affects this die roll under (310.2).
The specific rule you asked about (312.45) applied to the old OLD Single Combat rules, before the addition of Advance Small-Scale Combat rules (318.7) in AO. This rule (312.45) will need to be reworded when CO is updated.
Q: When taking voluntary SIDS (308.84), each one resolves 4.5 Damage Points, but you lose the half point to rounding, so does scoring two SIDS on different battle rounds lose a point? I mean, if I score two SIDS in the same round I resolve nine points but if I score the same two SIDS in separate rounds I resolve only eight! That does not seem fair.
A: Fair or not, that’s what the rule says. The rule has no provision to “carry over” the last half point. This was a deliberate design decision, both to reduce record keeping and to reflect the fact that the same damage over a longer period is inherently less effective.
Q: Can a retreating force capture a pursuing ship during a pursuit battle (307.4)?
A: No, see (305.12).

COMMAND AND CONTROL
Q: The Lyrans have two admirals in a single forward-deployed fleet. During the Retrograde Phase the Lyran player attempts to use a frigate to transfer one of those admirals to a battlecruiser in a rear-deployed reserve fleet. The Kzinti player has objected to this maneuver on the basis of the admiral transfer restrictions under (316.14) which says that the admiral has to be on a command ship. The Lyran player argues that since (316.22) Admiral Effectiveness is not in use, those restrictions do not apply. What do we do? And just what does the note about “not needed” really mean?
A: First, it’s not a problem to put the admiral on a frigate (or an APT for that matter) to move him from one fleet to another during a single phase. He’s back on a ship with a Command Rating of eight before anything happens that would matter. No harm, no foul, no problem.
The “not needed” note means that you don’t have to bother with fussy rules about what ship the admiral is on if you aren’t using (316.22), and here’s why. When using admiral effectiveness, you will eventually get a dud -1 admiral, and a devious player might want to put him on a small, insignificant ship and send him to some out-of-the-way corner of the empire to inventory asteroids. Rule (316.14) requires him to be on a Command Rating 8 ship, so if you do send Admiral Dunderhead on sabbatical, he takes an important ship with him. Without admiral effectiveness (316.22), an admiral is just a ticket to add a ship to the battle force beyond the command limit, and you can assign him to a Free Trader if you want (although that will get him killed and limit the size of his fleet, so nobody would actually assign him to anything other than a real command ship).
Q: Ok, so we’re now allowed to move admirals between fleets using a non-qualified command ship (as long as that ship has a first-class chef in the dining room). That brings up questions. Am I limited to doing this only in cases where the admiral can reach his new flagship in a single movement?
A: Yes. His new flagship must be within the movement capability of the ship you are using to transport him.
Q: Do I have to have a route that is absolutely safe from enemy intervention by Reaction Movement?
A: Not really, but you probably don’t want to take that risk except in the case of Admiral Dunderhead and his die-roll penalty. Even then, the enemy may decide that assassinating him is a bad war plan. (For historical reference, consider the case of Brigadier General Gideon Pillow. This Confederate leader was such an idiot that Union troops reputedly had standing orders to let him go if he were ever captured.)
Q: What happens if the enemy intercepts the admiral’s barge and he’s in combat on a non-qualifying ship?
A: Then he has no effect on the battle, but can suffer the consequences of his ship being destroyed. Assuming he survives, you must get him to a qualified command ship as soon as possible within the rules and transfer him to that ship.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, August 09, 2012 - 07:06 pm: Edit

CL44 Q&A part 2
MOVEMENT AND MANEUVER
Q: Police ship rules originally came out with CO, and then a year later the expanded police rule came out in PO. My question is regarding (531.212). The rule in CO reads: “Police ships cannot enter a hex containing more than one enemy ship.”
The PO rule reads: “Police ships cannot use Operational Movement to enter a hex containing more than 1 enemy ship.”
Does the PO rule supersede, change, or clarify the CO rule or was it just sloppily written and not intended as a change?
A: The PO rule clarifies the CO rule and reflects questions asked by players. Police ships cannot use Operational Movement, Reaction Movement, or Reserve Movement to enter a hex containing more than one enemy ship. A police ship can enter space containing enemy units during the retreat process.
Q: I am looking at the rules for diplomats, specifically trade between allies. Rule (540.22) specifies that a valid Strategic Movement path between the capitals is required. How then do the Romulans trade with the Klingons and Lyrans, since the shortest path between a Klingon base and a Romulan base is 8 hexes?
A: The Federation is a future belligerent (503.4) and as such, the trade delegation is allowed to communicate until it is no longer a future belligerent. This allows for the diplomatic action using a Federation Strategic Movement Node (SMN).
Q: Rule (205.141) states that crippled units may not use Reaction Movement. Fair enough. However, can a crippled carrier send its fighters in reaction using (205.142)? Example: A crippled Lyran CVD is sitting on a supply point and has six fighter factors on the crippled side. The crippled CVD obviously may not react; however, may its six fighters react under the normal conditions for reacting groups of fighter factors?
A: Correct. Rule (205.71) allows groups of six fighter factors (from one source) to react (as one group, to one target).
Q: May a player with ships already in the WYN Cluster use blockade running to move an unlimited number of cargo, EP-carrying ships out of the WYN Cluster?
A: There are several issues here.
First, Raid Pools are limited by (314.10), (320.14), (320.51), and (320.511), so, no, you can’t use an unlimited number of ships. As a non-Federation/Klingon empire you could have a maximum of three ships doing blockade runs until the Raid Pool is expanded in the Spring of Y176 (Turn #16) which increases this number by two. Federation/Klingon Raid Pools are one ship larger. (314.10)
Second, blockade running to the WYN Cluster is a round trip, from the Raid Pool to the WYN Cluster and back, all in the same turn. By definition, ships in the WYN Cluster cannot be in your Raid Pool (unless you are the WYN player).

OPERATIONAL BASES
Q: My opponent wants to destroy my OPB and I want to withdraw it from the battle before combat (302.1) using a tug. My opponent used a prime team mission to cripple the tug, blocking this, but there is a second tug (not the one that originally carried the OPB) in the hex. Can it evacuate the OPB by (302.1) despite the fact that it is not the “assigned” tug?
A: There is nothing in (453.2) or in (509.0) that says a OPB has to have a tug assigned to it. So, if you have two unassigned tugs in the hex and one is crippled as mentioned in this question or any other way before (302.1) you can use the other one to assist the OPB in withdrawing. If a tug already assigned a mission is used to rescue the OPB, it gives up that mission including abandoning any pods it was carrying.
Q: I used a tug to take an operational base (OPB) to a hex and set it up. Now, the situation is dire. Does the OPB do a “slow unit retreat” or can the tug withdraw the OPB before combat under rule (302.1)?
A: An OPB doesn’t require “setting up” or “packing up” like an MB does. It can retreat on its own as a “slow unit”, but can only use (302.1) Withdrawal Before Combat if carried by a tug.
Q: Can an operational base, using slow retreat towed by a tug, use the formation bonus? It is a base, which is disallowed (308.74), and it is “treated like a set-up mobile base in combat” by rule (453.32), so no. However, it is a slow unit which can be in the formation slot, as can towed FRDs.
A: The fact that it is a base is specific while the fact that it is a slow unit is general. The specific overrules the general, so, no, it cannot use the Formation Bonus box in combat.
Q: If an operational base retreats with a tug does it use slow movement or (since the tug is towing it) does it use normal retreat rules (453.24)? If the operational base is in slow unit pursuit combat, is it considered set-up?
A: The term “withdraw” in this rule refers to withdraw before combat (302.11) not retreat (302.7) and the subsequent pursuit (307.0) even though a unit that withdrew during (302.11) can still be part of (302.7) and (307.0). An operational base that retreats with a tug would be considered a slow unit, but, per (453.22) it would be considered “set-up” for the subsequent combat.
Q: Rule (453.12) in SO says that OPBs can have a repair module in one of the positions. I can’t find a cost for a repair module.
A: Repair modules are not in the game, yet.

THE COST OF WAR
Q: I am confused between rule (501.5) which says I get free replacement fighters every turn (for carriers in supply) and rule (431.74) about free fighter factors. Does (431.74) limit the number of free replacements? Do I pay for the rest?
A: Fear not! All lost fighters on carriers in supply are replaced for free every turn in Step 2B4 of the Sequence of Play, as provided by rule (501.5). The free fighter factors mentioned in (431.74) are for construction of new carriers. The confusion is caused by the limitations of Federation Standard, which has only one word for “free” while Orion has 27 words for “free.”
Q: The initial exchange of Klingon D5s for Romulan SPs (539.8) and conversion for free to KDRs and RKLs is clear. The rule mentions “subsequent exchanges” agreed to by both empires. Do these also get free conversions?
A: Sorry, but only one exchange comes with free conversions. (This is reflecting a historical incident and some F&E players ignore it as you don’t really gain anything other than a chance to use a weird counter. But then, weird counters are half of the fun in F&E.) Further exchanges require you to pay the cost provided on the SIT to convert the ships.
Q: In that initial exchange of D5s for SPs, are all conversion costs paid?
A: Other than a variant that cannot be unconverted (e.g., a mauler) any SP variant becomes an RKL and any D5 variant becomes a KDR, and the “free” conversion covers changing a variant into the base hull. Now, in theory, if you had an agreed-on SIT entry for a variant and could provide your own counter, you could convert a variant of one into the same variant of the other (e.g., a D5E into a KDE, or a D5S into a KDS). This would not be possible in the case of technology unavailable to the new owner, so a D5D would become a standard KDR as the Romulans do not have drone variants.

THE KESTREL SUPPLY SYSTEM
Q: There is confusion about rule (442.8), the one about the Romulans getting more KR spare parts. The wording of the rule is said by some to imply that the Romulans can only obtain one turn of parts per turn, while others insist that there is no reason that the Romulans cannot obtain multiple “turns” of supply during each game turn.
A: Multiple deliveries can be made each turn, but each delivery requires a separate ship (KRT, SPH, 3FE, Klingon/Lyran tug) and each ship can make only one trip by Strategic Movement per turn. (The “singular nature” of the rule implies one trip, not one ship making one trip.) Obviously, Strategic Movement delivery is limited by available ships, Strategic Movement capacity, and a valid pathway.
You can also deliver spare parts by Operational Movement, but this would be much slower and might take multiple turns for each ship used. You cannot “daisy chain” one load of spare parts on multiple ships, each making one six-hex part of the journey, because all movement is (in reality) simultaneous.
You can also use blockade running, which has its own rules and limits.
KR parts can certainly be stockpiled beyond the original six turns of parts listed under (442.82). Once the parts are delivered to the Romulan capital, they can be moved to any other Romulan supply point by any of the means noted above. This might be done to supply KR-type ships in separate grids, but in that case, each grid would use one “turn” of supplies each game turn.

CONSTRUCTION AND PRODUCTION
Q: Does the rule (450.13) prohibiting the construction of minor shipyards in the capital include all hexes of a multi-hex capital, or only the hex with the shipyard?
A: Rule (511.0) defines “capital hex” to include all hexes of a multi-hex capital, so you cannot build minor shipyards in any of those hexes.
Q: Can a half fighter factor be exchanged for two PFs under (442.21)?
A: If the players have a methodology to keep track of fractional fighter factors, then, sure.
Q: Can an empire exchange leftover free fighter factors for PFs during the fall turn production phase?
A: No, it must happen in the Spring turn (422.21).
Q: Does Conversion During Repair (425.2) reduce the cost of converting a CA or CC to a CX by one XTP? The CX is showing that the base hull is a CA(3) on the SITs.
A: A Federation CX has a base hull of CA(3), and so does the CA or CC. As such either could be used with Conversion During Repair (CDR) at a major conversion facility with a SBX to make a CX with a CA for (6-1=5) or with a CC (5-1=4) with XTP to make a CX.
Q: Are area control ships considered CVAs for build limit purposes?
A: No. Area control ships count against heavy fighter carrier and scout limits only.
Q: Many of the NCAs have “minor” in their conversion column (from CWs) on the SIT. Does that mean that these conversions can be done at a starbase in one turn?
A: Yes! That’s the beauty of the NCA concept. Even better, some of the conversions to variants qualify for a two-step conversion and still are a three-point minor conversion capable at a starbase outside a major conversion facility location per (437.21).