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good starter race
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computerarif
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Joined: 19 May 2011
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PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2011 3:19 am    Post subject: good starter race Reply with quote

I have played a few games of FC and was woundering what's a good starter race to play and what race should I introduce my friends too( that's not feds). Got a huge lot from ebay so I got most major races
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duxvolantis
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Joined: 16 Nov 2010
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PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2011 3:55 am    Post subject: Re: good starter race Reply with quote

computerarif wrote:
I have played a few games of FC and was woundering what's a good starter race to play and what race should I introduce my friends too( that's not feds). Got a huge lot from ebay so I got most major races

The easiest race to be effective with out of the gate is the Lyrans. Go fast. Shoot disruptors. Ram ships. Rinse. Repeat.

Ships to fly to learn the game with?
Klingons D7: teaches you to use every system to the max
Romulan K7R or FHK: teaches patience and maneuver.
Kzinti BC: teaches you to use drones effectively and to know when to get in close.
Fed CC: teaches you how to use control of the center of the map.
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marcus_aurelius
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Joined: 07 Jun 2008
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PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I usually pick Klingons as the primary starter empire for the following reasons:

1. They use single-turn arming weapons (distruptor, phaser, drone); some new players struggle with the mechanics and tactics of multi-turn arming weapons. Disruptors, phasers and drones have the simplest rules IMHO.

2. They have very good firing arcs on their phasers; so if the new person messes up their maneuvers they will still have a good set of phasers to fire in any direction.

3. They have great turn modes; so if the new person messes up their maneuvers the better turn mode helps them recover more quickly.

4. They can dabble in seeking weapons (~2 drone racks on a cruiser) without it having a major effect on their tactics. The new person can focus their thoughts on their phaser and disruptor tactics and launch drones as a nice extra.

5. The Klingons are known to almost everyone so new people can make an easy cognitive/visual connection with the ship they are flying.

6. They do have the DISADVANTAGE of being less robust to damage, but this is more than outweighed by the advantages given above.

For a starter duel I have had good luck with giving the new person Klingon while I take Kzinti. This allows the new person to have a fighting chance of winning without having to master the sabre dance which is essential against most other races, such as the Federation. New players can make the mistake of moving to close or point blank range which can be suicide when fighting Feds, Hydrans or plasma empires. Kzinti also do better at point blank range than Klingons but not nearly to the same extent as the other empires mentioned.

Other than Klingons the easiest starter races, in my opinion, are any of the "distruptor empires" such as Kzinti, Lyran or WYN fish ships (with P-1s in the option mounts).
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Steve Cole
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PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2011 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

50 yard dash?
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mjwest
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PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you have them, I recommend the WYN "fish" ships. They have most of the advantages Marcus lists for the Klingons, but they are robust in combat. They are very forgiving ship designs.
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Dal Downing
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Joined: 06 May 2008
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PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2011 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Computerarif, welcome aboard. Always nice to have new people. And as has been pointed out one of the easiest empire to start with is proably the WYN with thier fish ships, with Phaser in the options mounts. Once they have the hang of those swap the option mounts for drones for a different feel of the same ships.

Now a little back ground information. WYN fish ships are the ones named for fish like the Barracudas or the Orccas (stupid Droid auto correct will edit this later tonight)

The other little thing so you understand SVCs joke is when Jean took over proofreading with ADB. She brought a small measure of PCism with her. We no longer use the "R" word. All political entities are referred to as Empires. Even if said Empire is only one species.
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Nerroth
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PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2011 6:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

An Orca is not a fish, though...
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terryoc
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PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2011 10:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It eats fish and you are what you eat, so it's a fish. By the same logic, I am a pizza.
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Capt Jack
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PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2011 5:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Orions of course! Rolling Eyes

They have excellent turning modes, also lots of optional weapon mounts.

This means, you can have a phaser boat, drone boat, disrupter boat or ADD boat or a combination of the four!

Above average dam com and batterys

Engine doubling can make games quite amusing!

Also you can gradually introduce new weapons.

Hope that helps!
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Dal Downing
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PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2011 7:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry I haves to disagree with Capt Jack here. The Orion's are a horrible Empire to teach new people the game with.
Yes they have the Turn Mode, Optional Weapons, Damage Control, and Battery he points out, but, you also have the funky rules with engine doubling and option mount restrictions to deal with. Add to that they lack padding so once you breach a shield they go pop real fast and become very unforgiving to play.
Based on that I really recommend letting the pirates sit out a few games while people get comfortable with the rules.

@Terry - If it looks like a pizza, smells like pizza, taste like a... um I am going to stop there.
@Gary - Looks like a fish, moves like a fish, steers like a cow...
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Burning Chrome
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PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2011 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steve Cole wrote:
50 yard dash?


SVC guilty of "old-man humor?"

Wait, I laughed at that so...what does that say about me?

I'm not sure there is a particular "starter race". Most folks I know pick what they like (or think they like) and learn from there.

FC/SFB definately fall into the "learn-by-dying" category of games and eventually "that which does not kill me makes me stronger".

I'll never forget the look on my veteran Feddie friend's face nearly 20-years ago when the lowly Klingon newb (me) out-thought, out-manuevered, and out-fought him till he, his crew and his ship transitioned into an expanding cloud of light, gas and debris.

Glorious!
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marcus_aurelius
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PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2011 3:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mjwest wrote:
If you have them, I recommend the WYN "fish" ships. They have most of the advantages Marcus lists for the Klingons, but they are robust in combat. They are very forgiving ship designs.


I have to ammend my recommendation after thinking about mjwest's comment. WYN "fish" ships are able to take damage better than Klingons. So to me it would be a toss up between Klingons and WYN fish ships. The WYN 'fish' heavy cruiser is a really nice ship.
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storeylf
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Joined: 24 Jul 2008
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PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2011 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It all depends on how you go about teaching new players. Do you try and teach them every thing whilst playing a standard duel, or basically fly a 'target' for them to blast apart and ignore a couple of rules to start with (e.g. maybe leave out HET and EM until they get used to basic movement). Or are there going to be several new players against each other and you just refereeing. Do you have some sort of 'campaign' for learners where you take new players through a thought out set of games, getting harder and introducing more stuff as you progress.

Assuming that you are going to give a new player a big advantage to start with - give him a heavy cruiser and you a frigate, then robustness is less of an issue to start with. Indeed lack of robustness will help teach someone that it is not always to good to just exchange big volleys.

Remember, a new player will get used to rules that he is not using if you are using them. Rather than expecting somone to get used to using drones straight away then use them yourself, he'll see the rules in action.

I actually think Orions are not a bad race to learn with. You don't have to worry about option choices for the first game - just give him an all phaser ship, or an all disrupter ship. Ignore engine doubling for game 1. The stealth is something you apply, so he doesn't have to remember it. You can then add in other weapon sytems without him having to get used to totally different ships at the same time. From a rule perspective once you are used to the basics then the rest of the game is just different weapons.

========================

Adventures of the Orion boat 'Lollipop'. Its ongoing mission to explore new empires and learn new rules.

Game 1:
Orion CA - all phasers VS a few freighters.

Learn to move, shoot and do damage, watch freighters go pop before they the get away. You might even learn shield rotation if they dent your shields with their fire!


Game 2:
Orion CA - all phasers VS a few freighters and a Klingon E4.

Learn to fight something that is actually shooting back, watch disrupters and drones in action. Try and take out the freighters before they get away.


Game 3:
Orion CA - with the 2 drones and 4 disrupters VS Fed frigate and freighters.

Use the disrupters and drones you faced last time, introduce engine doubling for those overloads. Watch photons in action, don't get too close! see ADDs in action against your drones.


Game 4:
Orion CA - allow him choose drones, phasers, disrupters, photons as options. He also controls a freighter he just captured. VS Kzinti CL. He has to get his freighter and ship off the map.

He gets to fight something more serious, but still has a big edge. Can choose weapons of his choice from what he has so far seen. Learns controlling 2 ships, and how to fight with a vulnerable ship to defend. Has to deal with mass drones. He should know how freighters fare - he ought to have killed enough by now.


Game 5 (if the new player thinks it still useful to play more such games):
The Lollipop with any options from weapon already used. Vs Lyran Panther and Commerce platform. The Lollipop has to transport 6 cargo across to himself (6 transport ops) within X turns to win.

Meet the ESG and base rotation. Whilst you may have used H&R, you now have to spend a couple of turns dropping shields and keeping face against a rotating base. Be careful of blowing up the base (it goes pop easily). Don't lose those transporters or cargo boxes of your own.


Game 6:
The Lollipop (with ESG in center mounts and any option in wings) and the orion LR 'Candy Thief' (any options). VS a hydran lancer with 4 stingers and 5 Def Sats around a large planet. You must take out the Def Sats ready for a future raid. The Def Sats can be shot at straight away - you already know about them.

Explore hydran space: stingers, fusions, hellbores and gatlings. As well as Def Sats. Use the terrain to avoid some Def sat fire as you pick them off. Learn to use the ESG - it might help vs Hellbores.


Game 7:
The lollipop (Gatling and hellbore in center, fusions in wings) and the LR 'Candy thief' (any options) are ambushed around a planet by a King eagle and a War eagle. Straight up fight.

Meet cloaks and plasma. You are actually slightly outpointed. As the romulan target try and use the cloak even if it may not be the most optimal choice, so the newer player can see how much they affect shooting at them, especially against short range weapons like gatlings and fusions.


Game 8:
The lollipop, (Pl-S upfront and Fs in wings) in an asteroid field. Must transport over 5 cargo from the remains of a freighter in the middle within 6 turns before it disintegrates. A large dragon lives here.

Face a monster and plasma again, and more terrain. Use asteroids to help against the his plasma, but don't go too fast into them. Learn carronades on the Fs.


Last edited by storeylf on Mon May 30, 2011 11:23 pm; edited 8 times in total
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Kang
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PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2011 10:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice one, Lee. I will use this idea next time I train a new player.

Have you thought of submitting it?
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Jean
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PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2011 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just for the record, I simply enforce what SVC says he wants to happen. Smile He says, "I wish we didn't use the inaccurate 'race' in our writing. It really should be 'species' or 'empire' as that is more accurate." Then I make it happen, all of the time. Very Happy

He has recovered nicely from his case of Creeping Capitalization Syndrome and you can tell that he's learned the lesson about "race." We actually do have three races of Gorns, by the way.

Returning you now to your regularly scheduled discussion...
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