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Quote:

By Bill Powell (Bleedingbill) on Saturday, October 12, 2024 - 05:26 pm: Edit

Hello there. I have a question concerning the Federation FEMA ships in Tactical Operations. Rule 551.613 states in peacetime, the two FEMA ships help in colonial development by eliminating the cost for each turn they are present in the hex where a colony is being built.
Rule 551.614 states that in wartime the two FEMA ships help in the recovery of devastated planets . Each turn that a FEMA ship is in a hex of a recovering planet it counts as two turns for recovery.
My question is that when the Federation goes to war do the FEMA ships lose the 511.713 rule that gives them the ability to build colonies for free?
Thank you.

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By John M. Williams (Jay) on Wednesday, November 13, 2024 - 02:17 am: Edit

Are the six Marquis ships released on turn 7 regardless of what the Coalition does? Or does the Coalition need to attack the Marquis area or the Feds to release them?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, November 14, 2024 - 02:44 pm: Edit

Would anyone who can contact Chuck Strong tell him that I need the counterheet information sent to me ASAP.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Thursday, November 14, 2024 - 04:46 pm: Edit

>> Are the six Marquis ships released on turn 7 regardless of what the Coalition does?

Yes, per (601.12) and (602.12).

Or, at least, that's the way I have played it.

--Mike

By Lawrence Bergen (Lar) on Thursday, November 14, 2024 - 08:22 pm: Edit

I sent him the message Steve

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, November 14, 2024 - 10:10 pm: Edit

Lar, if you know the website in question, you could tell me what it is.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Sunday, December 01, 2024 - 06:26 pm: Edit

I've been reading the military raid rules in an attempt to understand cloaked raiders. I'm having trouble believing what I'm coming to. Wondering if I'm missing something.

Scenario: A single Romulan SUP raids a hex with Fed DN, 10FF, SC.

The key rule is this one. I've bolded what I believe to be the key sentence:

(314.246)
If the raiding ship has a cloak, any defending units
must roll a die to see if they located the cloaked ship. Each ship
rolls separately, but when the first ship locates the cloaked raider,
no other ship rolls, and only the ship that successfully detected
the raider engages it. Bases do not roll, and the hunting player
can excuse any of his ships from rolling. Note that only some
Orion ships have cloaks and that some Romulan ships (e.g., police
ships) do not.

My reading of that is that the Feds are screwed. For example, if the DN succeeds on the roll, no other Feds get to help, and it fights SSC vs. the SUP, with the DN rolling at -3 and the SUP rolling at +3.

If nothing intercepts, or even if something does intercept but fails to damage the SUP, we then come to this rule:

(314.28)
ALTERNATIVE ATTACK:
If the raiding ship survives
the reaction battle (if there is one) uncrippled and without being
forced to retreat, it may (instead of disrupting the province) en-
gage in Small-Scale Combat (310.0) with any single unit of its
choice in the raid target hex, which might include an FRD, war-
ship, SAF, convoy, base, tug serving as a supply point, tug set-
ting up a mobile base, PDU, auxiliary, or whatever; however, see
(314.253-4).

So for example, the SUP could decide to do single combat with the Fed SC, with a good chance of killing it.

Am I missing something?

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Sunday, December 01, 2024 - 06:43 pm: Edit

Nope, you got it.

Cloaks are a pain to defend against.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Sunday, December 01, 2024 - 07:31 pm: Edit

OK, and taking it to the next step, even an SB in the hex would not help any uncrippled ships, per the word "crippled" I've bolded below?

If the raider decided to attack an FRD, LTF, convoy, or
crippled ship, it would first have to fight any co-located base in
the hex (as well as any co-located PDUs on a planet at which the
base is located) as these vulnerable units would certainly be kept
near the co-located base.

Not only that, if a CVS group were present, that would make things only marginally better. If the CVS succeeds its roll, its escorts would not get to fight. The CVS would fight with a -2 on the SSC table (-1 for 13 compot vs 14 defpot, and another -1 for size), while the SUP was rolling at evens.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Sunday, December 01, 2024 - 07:33 pm: Edit

Those sneaky Romulans!

--Mike

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Sunday, December 01, 2024 - 09:51 pm: Edit

deleted by author

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 12:18 pm: Edit

Fron Q&A and Williams question

(306.0) CLOAKED SHIPS (Advanced) Uncrippled ships with cloaking devices (Romulans and the 25% of Orion Pirate ships so equipped) which are in supply have the following options for combat.

One could argue that the captured ship is no longer Romulan, and per the "all purposes" clause of (305.231), it no longer has cloaking as it is no longer Romulan for purposes of (306.0).


Thats how I interpret it - as you have said, only Romulans Ships (and 25% of Orion) can have a Cloak - a ship captured from the Romulans and repaired/converted, it is no longer Romulan (or in theory Orion) Ship.

One good question would be if a ship is captured by the Romulans and repaired - does the Conversion to Romulan Tech add a Cloak?

(There is no doubt two answers -

Game Answer 'Yes, to keep it simple' but in SFB I bet the answer is 'No, you can't add a cloak to any ship and expect it to work'!!)

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 01:47 pm: Edit

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Quote:

One good question would be if a ship is captured by the Romulans and repaired - does the Conversion to Romulan Tech add a Cloak?

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By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 05:34 pm: Edit

Gary Quick points out this rule:

(305.4) TREATMENT OF CAPTURED SHIPS
A captured ship will retain its original capabilities except in
the following cases:

[long list of cases here. Cloaking devices are not on the list.]

Absent a contrary answer from ADB, I think that settles the matter. A captured ship with a cloaking device can still cloak.

By Ryan Opel (Feast) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 06:20 pm: Edit

F&E 2K10 pg 43.

(305.45) Last sentence. "A cloaked ship loses its cloak; a ship captured by the Romulans gain a cloak."

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 08:56 pm: Edit

(305.45) CONVERSIONS: It can be converted to anything the
original owner could convert it to, except a mauler, tug, or carrier.
The cost of conversion is double what the original owner would
pay. The ship could be stored indefinitely and used later for Options 2, 3, or 4, or it could be given or sold to an allied empire. A
cloaked ship loses its cloak; a ship captured by Romulans gains
a cloak.

Right, I missed that sentence. Does "conversions" there include the original conversion to the tech of your race? The rest of the rule is talking about other conversions, I think. But I'm still thinking the answer to my italicized question is "yes".

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 09:51 pm: Edit

(301.82) Crippled ships cannot use a cloak in combat (306.0).


You have to convert it to your tech to use it, in a uncrippled state, so (305.45) applies.

(305.2) gives 6 options for use.

1. Use it in current combat rounds for a +1 die roll.
2. At end of turn send it back to your SB for scrapping.
3.CONVERT it for your use (see 305.45 for conversions)
4. Send to neutral for intern to maybe exchange for a friendly ship.
5. Use the ship as a crippled ship in battle.
6. Give to an ally who has most of the same options.

By Lawrence Bergen (Lar) on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 - 08:43 pm: Edit

What Ryan said... unless its a captured X-ship which has further limitations.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 - 11:22 am: Edit

From Q & A

"Since the ships supplied from the tug are in supply, they get replacement fighters per (501.5), correct? ((509.55) explictly applies only to ships that are out of supply, and they can't be both in and out of supply at the same time.)"

No on Replacement Fighters - athough if not yet empty - the Hydran FCP can replace lost fighters, should the player wish to replace any.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 - 02:26 pm: Edit

I wonder, is it required to agree to use (513.53) from CO in order to allow the Hydran Expeditionary Supply Tug (HEST) to replenish the 27 carried fighters?

Or perhaps stated another way, if using just FE2010 does the HEST replenish the 27 fighters or does it just provide supply (without fighters)?

I think that between what's mentioned in (509.5) in FE2010 and the online SIT linked from the warbook there's enough information to use the fighter replenishment function without buying CO.

I guess I'd lean towards fighter replenishment is allowed with just FE2010.

--Mike

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 - 03:17 pm: Edit

Mike

If your just using F&E2010 - the FCP rule is included in a very basic level - Hydrans can use it once and once the 27 fighters are used - it's empty and can't ever be refilled.

The full CO rules expand on what it can do.

By John M. Williams (Jay) on Sunday, December 22, 2024 - 07:39 pm: Edit

A situation arose in my current game, and we wanted to verify what should happen. The Count's Fleet is on starbase 0902, where a battle is about to ensue. Lyran fleets hold 1001 and 0903. The battle station in 0701 is still standing, as is the planet in 1202. Hexes 0801, 0802, 0901, 1002, 1003 and 1103 are vacant. When the Count's fleet is forced off the starbase, what are the retreat options? The battle station is the closest supply point, but it will be a partial grid as soon as the starbase is destroyed. However, at the moment of retreat the starbase still serves as a link between the battle station and the main grid and so there isn't yet a partial supply grid (0801, 0902, 1002, 1103, 1202 is a valid supply path). Does the Count's fleet have the ability to retreat towards the planet or must it retreat towards the battle station?

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Monday, December 23, 2024 - 03:40 am: Edit

John

I was about to say 'they would retreat towards 701'.... but I re-read the rule.

(302.72) HOW RETREATS ARE CONDUCTED: The player(s)
who has decided to retreat moves all of his ships in the Battle
Hex (including those not part of the last Battle Force used, if one
was formed at all) one hex in any direction within the limits of the
rules on Retreat Priority below. Retreats are conducted immediately
after each Battle Hex is resolved; the Defender retreats
first.


Therfore the retreat process is done AFTER 902 is resolved - and so but the sounds of things, 701 would be a partial grid then and so the Kzinti would retreat to a Full Supply Hex.

Note - If withdrawal before combat was done (302.73 and 302.1), that might force the Kzinti to retreat towards 701, as Withdrawing forces would have gone to 802 then.


I never noticed the final sentance in 302.72...or might be be mis-remembering it!!

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Wednesday, January 08, 2025 - 03:09 pm: Edit

Question from a Facebook F&E Member....

.... and other players may know the answer!!!

Also posted Q&A...

What does "Diplomatic Protection", in rule 540.29 mean?

I am guessing 540.14 has created some terminology which is not confirmed expicitly?

I believe the interpretation of 540.14 (and so 540.145) is that Diplomatic Ships are what is used for the general movemnt of Dip Teams prior to the entry of a nation into the game.

A Diplomatic Team carried on a 'War-ship' does NOT make thay ship into a Diplomatic Ship (as 540.144 would add several complextities to the game).

The relevant rule point is that can 540.145 be used to Retrograde an Out of Supply Hydran ship (with a Dip Team) to a Kzinti base - to aid in the Expedition.

If normal Warships with a Dip Team can use 540.144, if the Hydran Ship with the Dip Team, uses 540.145, would that invaldiate a Hydran Expedition attemept (with that ship)?

Q1 - What is Diplomatic Ship Protection (and so what Invaldiates an attempt, over and above a Cease Fire)?

Q2 - Can a normal Warship with a Dip Team use 540.145?

Q3 - Does a normal Warship with a Dip Team always count as a Diplomatic Ship (so 540.144 applies)?

I think a Hydran Warship with a Dip Team - which moves and acts normally, is not a Diplomatic Ship - so can't use 540.145 bascially.

If it can use 540.145 - if it does, it would invaldiate 540.29 and so wouldn't activate the Federation!

Thoughts?

Thanks

By Lawrence Bergen (Lar) on Wednesday, January 08, 2025 - 05:25 pm: Edit

Diplomatic Ships are unique to the Klingons, Ships carrying Diplomats are not. Rule 540.14 and 540.3 say this.
That said your questions are valid.

I would suggest the use of the specific term diplomatic ships in 540.144 and 540.145 are in error and more accurately should have been worded to say:

(540.144) Ships carrying diplomatic teams cannot be pinned by allied or neutral ships but would be pinned by enemy ships. Presumably, a ship with a diplomatic team on board would only enter a hex with enemy ships to negotiate a ceasefire withdrawal (540.26). A ship with a diplomatic team on board does not count for pinning, cannot capture neutral (or enemy) hexes, does not count as the garrison of a province, cannot block supply, and does not block retreat.

(540.145) Ships carrying diplomatic teams do not require supplies and are presumed to be drawing supplies through diplomatic channels. This does not include replacement fighters or refilling the supply points on a cargo ship but is limited to allowing the ship to move without the restrictions of being out of supply.

As for the Expedition, that question seem clear enough that the Hydrans would need a DIP on a ship in the fleets that begins the expedition and that DIP must arrive with the ships of the expedition (even its not the same ship it started with but one that also traveled the whole distance).

You do bring up some good points...By the rules Diplomatic missions are indeed separate of the fact that a ship is carrying the Dip Team. This wording you are calling out allows things to appear a little sticky.

I tend to think of it like this. You have a ship, on it you place a DIP, the ship gets some benefits and restrictions while the team is aboard. Separately the ship also has mission options that may protect the ship or may put the ship at risk.