Federation Commander

[Magnum357]

I just noticed in one of the old Communiques (I think #15) had a couple of ISC ships and PPD's. Have PPD rules been published yet, because I wouldn't mind trying out the PPD in Fed Commander but the communique that had the ISC ships had no rules to use the PPD.

Also, I decided to look up the rules to the PPD in SFB and I must admit, I'm having trouble imagining how they would work in FC. They are a bit combersome in SFB (in my opinoin) and I fear they maybe when translated into Fed Commander aswell. If these rules have been issued somewhere, are they easier to use then in SFB?

[Scoutdad]

The preliminary rules for PPDs were included in Booster Zero - the play test product.
They consisted of a single side of an 8/1/2 x 5 1/2-inch page. And yes indeed, they are much more user-friendly than the SFB rules and still function quite well.
_________________
Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF

[Magnum357]

I see. Good to read about that of the PPD. So what product will the ISC be introduced in?

[Steve Cole]

War and Peace.

Here is the data from booster zero. You will need to find the communique that updated the ISC rules. I don't remember which one it is but that is why we did an index.

ISC Star Cruiser (CA): The ISC called their heavy cruiser a "star cruiser" because it was intended to undertake even longer and more dangerous missions than the heavy cruisers of other races. The ship is armed with phasers, the Plasmatic Pulsar (4M), plasma-S torpedoes (4J), and rear-firing batteries of type-F Plasma torpedoes. These rear-firing weapons were intended primarily as a defensive system, and each "bank" can only launch one torpedo per turn at a "ship". Each "bank" could fire whatever torpedoes it has armed at shuttles, gunboats, and drones above this limit. This is why each bank has a single (larger) box on the Weapons Used track. If you launch a torpedo from that bank at a ship target, you mark off the bank as unusable (for such "offensive" launches) for the rest of the turn. Used defensively, the plasma-Fs could be launched as seeking weapons targeted on shuttles, gunboats, or drones, or they could be fired "defensively" in the Defensive Fire Phase, all without marking a box on the "used" track. In Defensive Fire, you need not use a counter; each torpedo launched intercepts and destroys one drone or suicide shuttle which has previously "impacted" the ship.

(7N) INTERSTELLAR CONCORDIUM
The ISC exists as a major power on the opposite side of the Romulans and Gorns from the Federation. The ISC is a combination of several ethnic "species" which originated on different planets (mostly in the same star cluster). The ISC was one of the last empires to arise, and did not contact the other races until 2560. They consider the rest of the galaxy to be dangerous lunatics bent on mutual destruction, and resolved to "pacify" the galaxy by building a huge fleet, forcing their way between
the warring empires, and keeping them apart. This attempt (at the end of the General War) was partly successful only because the other empires used the ISC Ceasefire to rebuild their forces. The invasion of the extra-galactic Andromedans was what really ended war in the Alpha Octant; that same invasion all but destroyed the ISC fleet.

(4M) PLASMATIC PULSARS
This is one of the two primary heavy weapons of the Interstellar Concordium (the other being the type-S plasma torpedo). Note on the weapons table that there is a "myopic zone", a close-range zone (0-3 hexes) into which the weapon cannot fire.

(4M1) DESIGNATION
Each "PPD" box on the ship card is one Plasmatic Pulsar Device. PPDs are disabled by "drone" damage points. Each can fire once every second turn. Each PPD is armed and fired separately; the arming cost is for each weapon.

(4M2) PLASMATIC PULSAR ARMING PROCEDURE
(4M2a) Each PPD requires four points of power on each of two consecutive turns. On both turns, this energy must be allocated during Energy Allocation. The weapon can be fired during the appropriate step of any impulse of the second arming turn. PPDs can use (4C2c) paying of course four points per turn.
(4M2b) If not fired at the end of the turn, the ISC commander must pay two points of energy at the start of the next turn for each PPD he is holding in an armed state, otherwise the arming energy is lost.
(4M2c) The ship cannot begin arming a PPD on the turn that it was fired.
(4M2d) PPDs can be overloaded. Pay an extra four points of energy at the instant of firing and the weapon fires six pulses instead of four.

(4M3) FIRING PLASMATIC PULSARS
The PPD is a heavy direct-fire weapon fired during the Offensive Direct-Fire Phase of the Sequence of Play. The commander of the ship uses this procedure:
(4M3a) Step 1: He announces which PPD (it must not be disabled) that he is firing and the target (which must be armed and within range and firing arc) and whether the PPD is Overloaded.
(4M3b) Step 2: The ISC commander pays for overload energy if desired.
(4M3c) Step 3: The range is calculated. Overloads cannot fire beyond range 8.
(4M3d) Step 4: A PPD fires four "pulses" (six if overloaded). Two dice are rolled for the first pulse. If the total is within the range of "to hit" numbers on the chart below, the pulse has hit (and all later pulses of the same shot also hit). If the first pulse misses, roll for the second pulse, etc. (If any pulse hits, all later pulses hit; if any pulse misses, roll again for the next pulse.) For each pulse, there are three damage numbers. The middle number is applied to the facing shield and the others to the shields on either side. (A range 5 hit on shield #4 would score one point on each of shields #3 and #5, plus 4 on #4.) All pulses are resolved in the single impulse of firing. If the shot is fired directly at a boundary (3C6), use the alternate line and apply the damage on the two shields.
(4M3e) Special Targets: If the target has only two shields, such as a "gunboat", apply the first number and the second to the facing shield and then apply the last point to the other shield. If the target has no shields, such as a shuttle or drone, apply the total damage to the target as one volley.
(4M3f) Volleys; Shield Reinforcement: PPDs are fired at the same time as other direct-fire weapons and the damage of any such weapons hitting a given shield is combined (thus, a PPD creates three "volleys" hitting different shields; the main impact might be combined with other weapons from the same firing ship). Reinforcement (3C5) can be used against each such volley.

(4M3g) PPD Combat Table
Range 0-3 4-10 11-15 16-20 21-25
"To Hit" Numbers — 2-9 2-8 2-7 2-6
Pulse Damage 0 1+4+1 1+3+1 1+2+1 1+1+1
Alternate Damage 0 3+3 2+2 2+2 1+1

Example: An ISC cruiser fires a normal-load PPD at a Romulan ship at range 7, facing shield #2. It rolls two dice for the first pulse and gets an "11" which is a miss (since 2-9 would be hits). It immediately rolls for the second pulse and gets a "6" which is a hit. Thus, three pulses hit, so 12 points strike the #2 shield, and three points each strike the #1 and #3 shields.
_________________
The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

[mjwest]

I have moved this thread to Rules Questions, and stickied the topic so that it won't get lost like it would in the General section.

Besides, it more properly belonged in Rules Questions, anyway.
_________________

Federation Commander Answer Guy

[DrFaustus]

Just a quick qestion to make sure I read it right.

If a PPD firing at range 6 and hits with three of the pulses.

It would deal 12 to the facing shield and 3 to each of the adjacnet sheilds.

And each group counts as a seperate volloy (So three volleys in this case right?)

[junior]

Yes. The damage against each individual shield is treated as a volley. So two volleys at three points each, and one volley at 12 points. Any additional damage (phasers and plasma bolts from the firing ISC ship) will be combined with the 12 point volley.

[Dan Ibekwe]

That would seem to make the PPD more lethal than under SFB, since there isn't the opporunity to turn another shield , or play EW/EM games during the attack.

Am I missing something? Although shield re-inforcement could be applied against each pulse, I suppose...

[mjwest]

[Dan Ibekwe]

[junior]

[Nerroth]

In some cases in SFB where the individual volleys of PPD hits has an effect on the relative impact of the weapon (such as, say, the effect that the Magellanic Volley Reduction Factor has on PPD volleys) it seems that the plasmatic pulsar device as written would indeed have a greater effectiveness in Fed Commander - I guess the question might be whether it is enough to cause an imbalance within the game system.

Is there not a way in which the rules cold be modified so that each wave of the PPD impacts as a separate volley?
_________________
FC Omega Discussion (v3)
FC LMC Discussion

[Bolo_MK_XL]

Flew an ISC cruiser right after Booster 0 came out --
We played so that each hit was a volley, reinforcement did a lot to dissipate
the damage, but left him in a position with no energy to accelerate or use defensive fire once I launched Plasma at him ---

Vs games where the entire damage was one volley, all it managed to do was string the game out an extra turn or two (these were all duals vs Fed CA) --

[mjwest]

[Nerroth]

Well, two things:

*As Bolo pointed out, separate volleys can oblige an opponent to try and reinforce each volley - which can be a useful means of obliging the opponent to either take the hits from each volley, or reinforce against each and risk losing power needed to stop things like plasmas...

*When firing through a down shield, separate volleys would have individual rolls on the DAC, which is what would be the case in SFB (especially if the weapon is intended to strip weapons off an enemy warship - all the better to 'pacify' them).


In my view, separate volleys would retain more of the 'flavour' of the PPD, while not being overly clunky to operate.


Of course, your mileage may vary...
_________________
FC Omega Discussion (v3)
FC LMC Discussion