Federation Commander

[deathninja]

So...a while back I managed to find Academy for an arm and a leg, then found it was spartan to the point of being near unplayable for a rank beginner (map/scenarios in rulebook didn't relate to pieces for a start).

Finally sat down and had another go tonight just pushing random pieces around, and the rules clicked at least, but I'm not sure if it's worth trying to look into the system further; Everything is OOS/OOP in the UK so it's obscenelly expensive to get hold of even the border kits, and even then I can;t tell if there's enough for scenarios in there or it's entirely DYO like the starter.

I've been burned in the past with trying to get into systems that turn out to be dead this side of the pond, and the online community only really interested in players that will play F2F in US-only cons. I want to like this, but I'm not sure if it's worth trying given the circumstances.

[Sneaky Scot]

Deathninja,

As an alternative, you can order direct from ADB and they will ship it by your preferred (which for me as a Scotsman is, of course, the cheapest way) method. I've always found them to be more than helpful and they charge the actual shipping cost, not an inflated version of it. Leanna usually figures out the actual cost once an order is placed, and then confirms with you that you still want to go ahead.
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Nothing is quite as persuasive as a disruptor pistol on slow burn and a rotisserie......

[CarlZog]

I'm not in the UK, but I would say, yes. Definitely worth getting into.

This is a game system with nearly 40-year-old roots, and it's not going anywhere. The rules are stable and very solid. There is a wealth of interesting ships and scenarios available, and the company is still introducing new material on a regular basis. New players are always discovering it, many become long-time enthusiasts.

Check out Questing Knight Games in Wellington. I know they've had a very active community of Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander players over the last year or two, and were running a regular beginner's SFB league for a while. They could probably connect you to players in your region.

C

[deathninja]

Thanks guys, been looking to replace my F&E rulebook for a while (trying to make it loose leaf had, erm, interesting results).

So I guess the next step is KB or RB, other than the OOB is there a huge difference between the two? And what exactly are the boosters? I can't tell how essential they are.

I was looking at SFB originally (apparently that has campaign modes?) but the laminated cards pushed me towards FC, I could'nt be doing with printing off endless copies every time I fancied a game.

- Will

Reading back I realise my first post probably came off as a bit abrasive, sorry about that, I have a few issues and that happens occasionally.

[djdood]

KB and RB share the same (complete) rules portion of the rulebook. The only difference between the two is which major empires the ships in the box focuses on.

- The Klingon Border box set focuses on the Klingons (of course) *, along with the technologically-similar Kzintis, and a smattering of Orion Pirates and Tholians.
- The Romulan Border box set focuses on the plasma torpedo oriented empires, the Romulans being foremost *, with the Gorns being a strong second. The box is rounded out with additional units for the Orions.

* Both boxes include a full spread of Federation ships and of general ships all empires use (bases, freighters, etc.). Neither box duplicates the ships in the other, but both are comprehensive enough to be fully playable without the other. Combined, they provide a wide variety of ships for all empires, along with useful duplicates of components (the map panels are all swappable and the laminated charts are the same and it's nice for each player to have one). The non-duplicating components of either box can be purchased as a "...Space" product pack, if you only want one box and set of map panels.

"...Attacks" expansion/module folio packs add additional ships and rules to the game, focused on a particular type, empire, etc. The early Attacks expansions added additional material related to the Border boxes. Later Attack modules have added new empires (Tholians Attack, Distant Kingdoms, etc.) or ship types (Battleships Attack and Transports Attacked).

Booster packs add still more ship cards and usually a batch of 3 Boosters is associated to a major product (a Border box or Attack expansion). The ship card content of Boosters vary; there is typically some duplication of ships in the major product (so you can field more than one of a specific type) and some degree of adding new unique ships (variants and special purpose ships, usually). They add flexibility; you can control the "mix" of ships cards in your library by buying (cheaper) Boosters, rather than (more expensive) Border box and Attack expansions.
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[Nerroth]

One option to consider might be the print (or PDF) version of the FC Reference Rulebook. It's a relatively inexpensive way to get your hands on the full ruleset needed to fly each of the formally-published Alpha Octant empires which currently have laminated Ship Cards, and might help provide a glimpse of what is to come (rules-wise, at least) with some of the new factions added in later modules (such as the Andromedans in FC: War and Peace). The FCRRB PDF is available on Warehouse 23, DriveThruRPG, and Wargame Vault, in case any of those options work for you.

(There is a list of other FC-related eBooks here.)

Also, a good online resource is the FC Commander's Circle, which includes a fair range of play aids, a set of sample "low toner" Ship Cards, and master ship charts listing which ship is published in which product.
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[Sgt_G]

[Bolo_MK_XL]

Then if you are near one of the Bases that house US Servicemen/Women.
Make friends, sure there are some gamers, get them to order for you or accept delivery.
Sending to posts, keeps it in USPS, but may take a little longer.

[deathninja]

Apologies for the delay in replying; working in student support means end of semester exam period is busy as hell.

Thanks for the input; after playing solo a bit more while mulling it over I've decided to take the plunge with KB (as it's more likely to hit the table) and I'm grabbing SFB too as I'm loving the chrome (I come from ASL, so FC/SFB are very analogous to ASLSK/ASL) and I prefer the preplotting aspect, also I can see it linking into F&E very nicely.

Seeing as it makes better sense to put a decent sized order in to minimise postage, I'm looking at KB + SFB Captain's Ed. With that in mind is there anything else "must have"? This includes F&E.

Cheers

- Will

PS @Bolo: I used to live down south so could take advantage of that (mainly for airsoft) but it's slim pickings in the East Mids. Shame really. Way back when a group of us used to link up with the USN/USAF guys in the area on leave, show them the nightlife, and get royally drunk in the process.

[djdood]

I'd suggest adding the Klingon Attack expansion and the Boosters for both it (#s 4-6) and Klingon Border box set (#s 1-3) to your initial batch.

That will give you the duplicate ship cards you'll need to field more than one F5, D7, etc., along with some unique ships like the command cruisers that can be quite handy.
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[Magnum357]

Welcome. Its always good too see more players added to FC. I grew up with SFB in the 1990's, but its such a complicated system that I had trouble playing it. Then someone (who knows who) created Starfleet Command and i thought it was a god send (could finally play a game of SFB on the computer). Then I discovered Federation Commander and was shocked! I never knew you could play the game without a computer before and never looked back.

In my opinion, SFB is more organized (rules are layed out more orderly) but FC is more practical to use.

[storeylf]

If you are into ASL then SFB probably isn't an issue, if you can get others to play it anyway.

Apart from the simpler system though the less obvious difference is that FedCom is better suited to larger actions. In the time you do a 1 vs 1 in SFB you can do a squadron vs squadron in FC, and by the time you have done a squadron vs squadron in SFB you can play fleet vs fleet in FC.

Whilst I am not into SFB nowadays due to a desire for simpler games, I probably wouldn't be into it anyway - even as a teenager (when I was into it) I always wanted to play the larger battles and SFB was just too unwieldy for that. It was a perfect game for being a single ship captain and all the fiddly little things you might do at that scale. FedCom has the better level of detail (or lack) for the larger actions IMO.

Just saying the above, as I personally think there is a difference other than one being a lighter version of the other.

PS. Leicester is not all that far away from me, bit too far for a quick pop over, but maybe not for on occasional visit.

PPS. On the scenario DIY front, we tried a few scenarios, but found most were badly balanced (e.g. directly ported from SFB which is just too different). That was going back a few years, less sure what the current state is for good scenarios. We went with DIY campaigns, which were great. Battles might not be balanced, but you felt you were fighting for something meaningful.