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djdood Commodore
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 3413 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:54 pm Post subject: Phasers, Disabling, and Enemy-Facing |
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I think I have a good handle on the rules for this, but ran into a different view of things with the group I recently played with.
When a volley of damage is resolved, and the chart calls for a phaser hit, the owner of the ship being hit can take that phaser hit on any phaser box they choose to, correct?
I re-read the rules and couldn't find any reference to specific phasers needing to be destroyed. You take a phaser hit, you mark off a phaser box on your ship (and a clever player will take the hit on an out-of-arc or previously fired phaser).
The group I played with are mostly all old SFB-hands and were pretty insistent that the phasers to be disabled had to be those facing (in-arc of) the firing ship. My understanding is that this is indeed true in SFB, but is one of those "gritty rules" that was dumped to streamline FedCom.
Mike - please confirm my thinking? Thanks! _________________
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TJolley Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 284
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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That's an SFB-ism..but it cuts both ways, as you are not limited to only being able to lose the number of phasers in arc during a volley.
There is no rule in Fed Com that requires you (or limits you) to only marking phasers that are in the arc the damage came from as damaged. |
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djdood Commodore
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 3413 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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That's what I thought, but I wanted to get some second-opinions before I challenge people with 20 years more playing experience than me. _________________
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willhc Lieutenant JG
Joined: 10 Mar 2008 Posts: 46 Location: Redmond, WA
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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Funny, I did the same thing after our last game as you did. I re-read the rules about phaser facing and couldn't find a thing. Way too much bleed through effect from SFB for our own good. _________________ D7 off the asteroid, through the Ion storm, nothing but net. |
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HowieTallGuy Ensign
Joined: 08 Jun 2008 Posts: 19 Location: New River, AZ
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, sorry DJDood, Will C and I have SFB stuck in our heads! |
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junior Captain
Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 803
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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It's gonna happen. It's inevitable given the relationship between the two.
Just be familiar with the rules, and don't be afraid to dig your feet in when you think you're in the right. And feel free to give the rulebook to your opponent and tell them to find it for you in the rulebook.
FedCom is a different game. There's a lot in common with SFB, but you should never feel the need to secondguess your understanding of the rules based on what someone who has only recently come over from SFB has to say about the rules. That doesn't mean that you might be wrong and he or she might be right. But pull out the rulebook right then and there and look it up if you have doubts about something. |
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djdood Commodore
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 3413 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, I was right in the same boat as Howie and WillC.
I have 20+ years of *reading* SFB stuff behind me, so it seemed logical. This is my first time out of the shipyard actually *playing* any of the games, so I was more than willing to defer to experience. The back of my brain was itching on it, but it wasn't worth bringing up at the time.
I figured I'd suggest it as a "house rule" if people were more comfortable having it
Thanks for helping me settle it once and for all guys! _________________
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Sir Drake Lieutenant JG
Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 84 Location: Sacramento
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Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:43 am Post subject: |
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I Have seen old SFB players take the phasor hit the SFB way even after I as the opponent told then they didn't have to. They couldn't make them selfs not do it. Same with the having to take hit on P1s instead of P3s. funny how ingrained the SFB play can be. Seams to be the worst for the guys that haven't played many other games. |
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mjwest Commodore
Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 4075 Location: Dallas, Texas
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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BTW, forgot to post the confirmation here.
No, there is no directional phaser hits in Federation Commander. You are playing it correctly (or at least trying to). _________________
Federation Commander Answer Guy |
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djdood Commodore
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 3413 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Mike. _________________
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texastwister Ensign
Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:26 pm Post subject: Old habits... |
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... are hard to break...
We had a new player (old SFB player) play with a couple of us this week and he felt compelled to use die rolls to choose which phaser he'd mark out. We assured him it wasn't necessary, but that's how he preferred to do it... |
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Kang Fleet Captain
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 1976 Location: Devon, UK
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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djdood wrote: | ...I have 20+ years of *reading* SFB stuff behind me, so it seemed logical. This is my first time out of the shipyard actually *playing* any of the games.... |
That's really interesting. I wonder how many others on this forum are 'in the same boat'? I too have had SFB for years but only played a handful of games becasue of the hassle of setting up. Now FC comes along and we can't get enough of it - playing, not just reading. However the SF Universe reads like Tolkien in that it's a coherent and internally-consistent universe with solid, consistent storylines and a whole mythology and backstory behind it. There are in addition solid in-game 'physics' principles that cannot be broken within the Universe itself. I have spent ages just reading the history in the Star Fleet universe. I'ts darn good reading and excellent science fiction to boot.
junior wrote: | .....pull out the rulebook right then and there and look it up if you have doubts about something. |
We have found that our first few games have seen a lot of that. Plus we keep a notebook and pen handy to jot down any perceived ambiguities or rules questions, so we can hit Mike and everyone else with them on the forum. Hence my recent rash of rules queries.... _________________
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Davec_24 Commander
Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 596 Location: England
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:19 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, I also find that Federation Commander is much easier to "pick up and play" than SFB - coupled with it being quicker to play, I find time for a game of Federation Commander much more easily and have taken to that in place of SFB now. I've probably played almost as much Federation COmmander in terms of games played rather than time spent in the last few months than in years of SFB, mainly because of the time required for a game.
I've taught a few friends how to play Federation Commander, and it seems that they've got he hang of it easier than trying to teach people SFB. I think that may be partly due to the "lighter" feel of Federation Commander, that it's easier to dip into and faster paced. One of those guys had played a couple games of SFB years ago, and I think that having a bit of SFB experience does help you to learn Federation Commander, but maybe too much SFB experience has the opposite effect.
I have noticed "hangovers" from SFB myself; I had to read the damage rules a couple of times and make myself get the hang of the non-directional phaser hits. Also shield-boundaries are done at player choice now (unlike SFB if I remember right), which is also quicker and simpler. I suppose that's not too "un-realistic", in that you might well not have your ship pointing on an exact 60-degree heading and so in a "real life" (rather than a board game) situation, the enemy wouldn't necessarily be on the shield boundary anyway. |
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pneumonic81 Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 23 May 2008 Posts: 275 Location: Austin TX
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:47 pm Post subject: |
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I had a guy at one of our games a few weeks ago that refused to just pick any phaser he wanted. He was an old SFBer also and instead of doing the directional damage, he rolled a dice and picked the phaser that way. It was bizaar but it somehow made him feel better I guess then just taking a phaser 3. _________________ http://www.rickknox3d.com |
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bobrunnicles Lieutenant SG
Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 148 Location: Delray Beach, FL
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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You know I've also been playing the directional phaser hit way, too - so it'll come as no surprise that I also used to be an SFB-head . Guess we'll correct that from this point on! |
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