Federation Commander

[Jean]

Just out on e23: Captain's Log #1
http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB3004

The classic issue (1983) that began one of the longest and most successful product series in wargame history.

Contents include the fiction story Objective Juggernaut, a story in which four starships (Federation, Klingon, Tholian, and Orion Pirate) must cooperate to destroy a massive extra-galactic robot starship. Also included are:

* 24 Star Fleet Battles scenarios
* Several pieces of full-page art
* The original Tholian pinwheel SSD
* And the first attempt to write rules for same-hex combat.

Please don't forget to rate the e23 products!
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[ericphillips]

Are more on their way. I am looking for CLs from the FC era.

[Jean]

We have plans to put up the out-of-print ones (#1-#17) for sure. I'm not sure of the schedule for the more recent ones.
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[Steve Cole]

The plan is to upload #1-#16 one per week, or maybe every two weeks. I don't know for sure.

CL#17 is sort of a problem, in that we don't have a scan and the computer copies are very difficult to get to. We will solve that problem but haven't solved it yet.

Issues #18 and up, maybe, slowly over time. No decision has been made, but I would not assume that #36 is 35 weeks away.
_________________
The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

[Jean]

Captain's Log #2 is now up on e23!

http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB3008

Please don't forget to rate it!

This classic 1983 issue includes the fiction story Refiner's Fire, which was the first fiction set on the Federation-Romulan-Gorn border. In the story, two Romulan starships (with a Klingon D7) attempt to ambush and destroy a Gorn battlecruiser, which runs for the Federation border and asks for help.

Also included are:

* The first attempts to use multiple-impulse charts
* SSDs for three new command cruisers (Gorn, Hydran, and Romulan)
* 25 scenarios for Star Fleet Battles
* The original mini-campaign of the Hydran Expedition
* Detailed drawings of the Federation F-14 and A-10 fighters
* Biographies of the Star Fleet staff

Enjoy!
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[Jean]

Captain's Log #3 is now up on e23.

http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB3012

This classic 1984 issue includes the fiction story The First Round. In this story, famed Orion Pirate captain Deth O'Kay is kidnapped by the Masters and forced to fight starship duels in an arena. Also included are:

* Four modified SSDs for the ships of the Masters
* 29 scenarios
* The first draft of the D15 ground combat rules
* And a full-page portrait of a Gorn captain.

A typesetter error in the original production left out two sections of text which were published later, and these are included here.
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[mjwest]

I am pretty sure there are only two ships modified by the Masters: Doomslayer and Hammerfield. (Well, technically, only the Doomslayer was modified by the Masters. The Hammerfield was modified prior to falling into the Masters' hands.) The other two ships were just normal new ships.
_________________

Federation Commander Answer Guy

[Jean]

Mike, you are right. I'll let SVC know. Thanks!
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[Jean]

Captain's Log #4 is now available on e23.

http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB3012

This classic issue from 1986 includes:

* The fiction story Where Wisdom Fails. (It fails when your ship meets an enemy vessel with a new and unknown weapon, in this case, the Hydran hellbore.)
* The Consolidated Addenda for SFB.
* Two classic "captured and converted" ships (OK6 Conquest and TK5 Exile) made their first appearances.
* Eighteen term papers (can you believe that many fit on one page? Modern term papers are so detailed that they come three or four to a page.)
* A revised rules cross-reference.
* Scenarios SL84 through SL87.
* And Campaign U3, "The Hunt for Berol Turquoise."

Enjoy, and please don't forget to rate it!
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[Jean]

Woooohooo! Captain's Log #5 is now available on e23! Check it out here: http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB3026

At the time, this 1987 issue included more SFB fiction than had ever been printed in one place before (and only rarely since), the first four stories of the Day of the Eagle series (about the Romulan invasion of the Federation). (It would be decades before more stories from that series appeared.) Also included were Scenarios SL88 to SL92, the first publication of the Star Fleet Universe timeline (which is now several times as long), more pages of addenda, and the first combined Master Ship Chart.
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[Jean]

Captain's Log #6 (in all of its 48 page glory) is out on e23! Take a walk back to 1988 when the B-10 was shiny and new and Ardak Kumerian was sending in scenarios from Klinshai. Steven Petrick from Florida found the history of the battle with both the Insatiable and Invincible who were taking on the Andros (and produced his Ensign's Term Paper).

http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB3027

This 1988 issue came at the moment that TFG was sold to New World Computing. It includes:

The B10 Briefing
A package of ship histories
Technical drawings
Seven scenarios with a B10
The fiction story A MEETING OF GIANTS
SSDs for the B10V and B10S
And more.

Other features include:

The first SFB Tournament Book
Q&A
Meet the New TFG
Convention News
Why
An Example
The Academy
Ask Uncle Ardak
Three scenarios without a B10
And the F&E Section (Tactical Notes, Q&A).

Don't forget to rate it!
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[Jean]

We're starting the week out right! Captain's Log #7 is now out on e23. Pick it up here: http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB3028

This 1989 issue includes the fiction story WHAT PRICE VICTORY? about a battle between the Yorktown and the Klingon cruiser Pitiless.

Also included are:

Five new scenarios
Four new ships (Federation BCH, Hydran Apache, Klingon MD5 mauler, Lyran Single-Tooth Jaguar mauler)
Input Guide
Why
The first and only trivia contest
An Example
The first Battleforce 500 article
The Academy
Ask Uncle Ardak
Tactics
And the original version of the SFU Index.

The F&E Section includes:

Q&A
The Molasses Attack
And a new F&E scenario.

48 pages.
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[Jean]

Happy dance! Captain's Log #8 is now on e23. It includes the debut of Kommodore Ketrick. Check it out here: http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB5701

This 1990 issue introduced the new Doomsday Edition of SFB. The issue grew to 80 pages. Included were two fiction stories:

"Escape From the Holdfast" described a Klingon effort to slip into Tholian space and steal an entire ship (along with the secret of web technology).
"The Battle of Olsen's Reach" told the tale of the moment when the Federation tried to surrender and a mistake by a young ensign caused the General War to drag on for another decade.

Included are:

nine new SFB scenarios
the Federation FFB and DW
Q&A
an introduction to Doomsday
an example of tractor auctions
Why
Just Say No
Battleforce 2000
Board of Proposals
Ask Kommodore Ketrick (It was Steven Petrick's debut)
Tactics Board
Victory at Origins
Ask Uncle Ardak

The much larger F&E section included

An Example
Q&A
Tactical Notes
space control ship rules
DF&E commentaries
a new scenario
and two strategic options.

Enjoy! And please don't forget to rate it.
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[Jean]

Captain's Log #9 is now on e23.

http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB5702

This 80-page 1991 edition moved the product further toward the current format. This issue is the only one that ever had a "theme" causing a hundred people to ask, every time we do another issue, what the new issues theme is. The fiction story GHOSTLIGHT (about a Federation fighter squadron) came along with an SFB scenario and a "behind the scenes" write-up, in game terms, of what was going on. The idea was to show writers how to make game counters, rules, and hexes into exciting stories. This issue also included the first-ever "class history" article (about Federation carriers).

Also included for SFB were:

eight more scenarios
four new carriers
an example of Federation escort storage
a lot of articles about the Doomsday rulebook with designer's notes on the changes made and why
proposals board
900-point carrier group battle forces
and Ask Kommodore Ketrick rules questions.

The SFB tactics section included:
the Tactics Board
the largest selection of term papers published to date
Victory at Origins 1988
Ask Uncle Ardak
and Flights vs. Fighters.

The Federation & Empire section included:
new ships
Q&A
an example of carriers in combat
Kzinti Carrier Tactics
Tactical Notes (the largest section to date)
commentaries on the DF&E edition
preview rules for future products
the Four Powers War scenario
and designer's notes for the new DF&E fighter rules.

The original printed issue included a generic space map which is not included in the PDF copy (which is priced accordingly).

I hope you enjoy it and please don't forget to rate it!
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

[Jean]

And Captain's Log #10 is now up on e23! http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=ADB5705

This 1992 issue is 80 pages long.

HISTORY includes "Hold Until Relieved" and a humorous look at the Klingons.

UNIVERSE includes an introduction to Prime Directive First Edition.

DATABASE includes:

New ships (Hydran war destroyers)
Communications
After action reports on recent products
Schedule of future products
Why
Proposals Board
Battle Force 400
Ask Kommodore Ketrick
And 101 ways to JUST SAY NO when the Klingon high command tells you to attack the Federation.

DOOMSDAY includes 10 questions and a complete list of rules changes with explanations why they were made.

SCENARIOS includes six new ones (SL126 to SL131)

TACTICS includes:

The tactics board (the professor asks questions of cadets with names suspiciously like the guys on the BBS)
Term Papers
Victory at Origins 91
Victory at Gencon 91
And articles on ESGs and probes.

FEDERATION & EMPIRE includes:

Q&A
Tactical Notes
An example of building PDUs
Rules for survey cruisers
Scenario 686 Reptilicon Revenged
The Militant Federation option
Kzinti defenses
Commentaries
And the report on Carrier War.
_________________
Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.