Federation Commander

Spacecowboy87 · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:50 pm Post subject: Alpha Strike system

Our group has been experimenting with the Alpha Strike damage allocation system (found in Captain's Log 41 supplement, developed by Mike Bennett)
Mein Gott, Bozhe Moi, and Holy Mother !!! What a brilliant system !!! I can't believe it's not THE mainstream way of damage allocation. We follow the advice of the companion article and allocate up ten internal hits normally, but after that it's Alpha Strike all the way. Got 50 hits? Want them allocated in 20 seconds? Check out Alpha Strike.
(This is an unpaid endorsement-- unless of course someone wants to. Have your people call my people) Wink

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ericphillips · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:52 pm Post subject:

I really like it too, but cannot get anyone around me to use it.

I also made an excel file that I used his percentages and created a complete random allocation with the same distribution. Works sweet.
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"I could have been an adventurer like you, but I took an arrow to the knee."

duxvolantis · Lieutenant SG Joined: 16 Nov 2010 Posts: 185

Spacecowboy87 · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:15 pm Post subject:

To be fair, I should point out that we normally play weeknights at a shop, so we're always up against the clock. It's not perfect, but it's "perfect enough" for our situation.
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Damn, these dice are cold!

gar1138 · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:36 pm Post subject:

I've always been intrigued by it, but never actually used it in a game.

One question I have about it: In the section explaining about Weapon Hits, it says to:

ericphillips · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:40 pm Post subject:

I think that may be a hold over. Certainly in FC you can always mark the wost phaser on hit after hit, and it also does not force you to hit phasers in arc of the volley. I think the author just likes the 3rd phaser is best phaser is something he misses from SFB.
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"I could have been an adventurer like you, but I took an arrow to the knee."

mjwest · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:40 pm Post subject:

I think it is saying to do that for the Alpha Strike system. I doubt it is making any implications as to how basic FC works.

(And I deleted the extra posts.)
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Federation Commander Answer Guy

Mike · Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:57 am Post subject:

Glad you guys are interested in the Alpha Strike system.

As for the weapons hits going in the order, "any phaser, any phaser, best phaser, any torpedo, any drone," that is something that I never noticed in the published version. I went back and checked my file that I submitted and it did not have that "best phaser" oddity.

I don't know how it could have gotten changed, but it was for some reason. I would submit that it should be changed to "any phaser" in the true spirit of FedCom.
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Mike

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Sandpaper gets the job done, but makes for a lot of friction.

Finman · Ensign Joined: 09 Jun 2012 Posts: 14

Other than the CL, where can I get a copy of this system? I'd like to give it a try.

Mike · Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 1:46 am Post subject:

I think that is the only place. It is available in printed form for $5 from the ADB store or in electronic form from Warehouse23.

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/ADB5741-S

http://store.starfleetstore.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=5741-S&Category_Code=CLS
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Mike

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Sandpaper gets the job done, but makes for a lot of friction.

Finman · Ensign Joined: 09 Jun 2012 Posts: 14

Mike,

Thanks for the link. Already looking at some minis, so I will check it out when I order. (Come on Starline 2500 Lyrans!)

Fin-man

Finman · Ensign Joined: 09 Jun 2012 Posts: 14

Following up - we picked this up and gave it a trial run. (No Lyrans in 2500, but that's another story...) Crying or Very sad

I thought this was brilliant! I loved the ease of putting 20, 30, or even 40 points of damage in just a minute without dice rolls. I second the idea of using this a the baseline for FC damage going forward. (I just wish the "order" for systems and weapons was on the page with the damage - it would have made things easier.)

My friend was less impressed, due to the 'luck' factor being removed, and wants to research it more. (Of course, he does tend to roll lucky for the '6' chart, or getting the '2' chart for a single point of burn-through damage.)

We'll keep playing with it, using it for all hits (including burn-through) to keep the game going. Well done, Mike!

Finman

Mike · Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2014 3:07 pm Post subject:

Sorry to resurrect an old topic, but I was thinking about the Alpha Strike damage allocation system this morning and something occurred to me that answers a question that was asked awhile back.

The question involved the way weapons were damaged, specifically:

storeylf · Fleet Captain Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 1897

The earlier question was not about weapon type, it was about 'best' phaser.

I can see why you had to break down type (torp/phaser/drone), but that doesn't explain the 'best phaser' bit. In FC you never have to take 'best' phaser, just 'generic' phaser.

Mike · Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 2:18 am Post subject:

Okay. Maybe my brain was working way back then and not today. I dunno.

I checked my original chart and it shows the order weapon hits are to be taken as:

Phaser - Phaser - Phaser - Torpedo - Drone - repeat the sequence.

No reference to "best" or "worst" phaser. Not sure where that came from.
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Mike

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Sandpaper gets the job done, but makes for a lot of friction.