Who, if anyone, wants a FC: Early Years module?

[Nerroth]

Excellent!


(Once the new settings get done, would the factions presented then be viable candidates for requests in Communique/Captain's Log?)

[Dal Downing]

Just a ideal maybe not the Best one but a ideal. I read in one of these 2 topics the concern on 1" Counters. Would it be possiable to get a PDF made up of what the 1' Counter Sheet might look like for each of these "Settings" and just have it aviable for download off of the Commander's Circle Page if people just have to have them?

[KJ]

Very good news!

Perhaps colored, laminated cards could be produced in the future for the ships to be found in the better-selling Briefings?

[Steve Cole]

Answers....

It's theoretically possible that you could see so much demand we'd do ship cards, but I'm dubious you would ever see it. Obviously, if there was a demand, we'd cash the checks, but it's hard to write checks without a proven demand.

Remember that a "set" of cards is 16 cards and sells for $20-$24. A briefing would have 3 or 3 and a half "sets" in it, so you're talking seriously money AND you're looking at multiple sets.

Yeah, we could probably provide color PDFs of counters.

[jeffery smith]

this would be fantastic. i can't wait for this.

[pinecone]

This is great news! I can't wait to get those.

[Mazza]

I'm really pleased that this is going to happen!

[Steve Cole]

Let me be brutally frank. No promises there will be an early years module, let alone two of them. Maybe, maybe not. Ask me after I see the sales figures for Middle Years.

Early Years takes a LOT more work and has LESS sales potential than Middle Years.

[DKeith2011]

Laminated ship cards and die cut counters are expensive and must be bought in huge quantities. I'm not convinced that there is enough market for early or middle years to spend the money. I don't need to print 1,000 copies of something and sell 73 copies.

If you tell me you'd be happy with paper SSDs (not in color, not laminated) and using the counters you have now, Leanna would schedule both products for the spring in a heartbeat.

I put my ship cards in sheet protectors, I don't like writing directly on the card as discoloration will build up over time.

And while it's not necessary, the color cards are very attractive. And as we all know, sexy sells. Seriously, I think the slick graphics of the ship cards are very eye catching and are easier to sell to today's gamer.

Would it be possible to print in color on the same stock as is used now but without the lamination?

[Dal Downing]

Leanna has approved the idea of doing briefings books for Early Years, Middle Years, Magellanics, Omega, and possibly Borders of Madness (and presumably more than one book of some of those due to the number of ships). She will consider ways that color might become available, such as having short runs of color copies made, buying a color printer, or selling color PDfs.

Took me a moment to find it as well. SVC addressed the color issue earlier and the PDF comment is really a dead horse. Also remeber color adds cost to the product so either cost will go up or ship count woud go down.

Here is to hoping that SVC can get some Bailout money for a new Color Printer.

[DKeith2011]

Leanna has approved the idea of doing briefings books for Early Years, Middle Years, Magellanics, Omega, and possibly Borders of Madness (and presumably more than one book of some of those due to the number of ships). She will consider ways that color might become available, such as having short runs of color copies made, buying a color printer, or selling color PDfs.

I would have no problem buying color PDFs, I'm already on a first name basis with just about every employee at my local print shop

[Dal Downing]

Ok deep breath I new I should have cut that out but figure I wouild leave it and make a comment about beating a dead horse. So before the Games Overworked Designer see this thread and spikes his Blood Pressure again. I will point out Downloadable PDFs are a no go that converstion happened in another thread.

[Paul B]

Hmmn, with Federation Admirality in the works, and moving into (one of?) the final round(s) of playtesting I wonder if such a supplement wouldn't potentially boost the sales of Early and Middle years products. One part of most 4X games is the idea of technological progression and advancing your fleet through various eras, though maybe the "settings" are too far apart to be within the scope of that product. I know there are a few different styles of campaigns forthcoming and one of them at least is more of a sector command sort of campaign where the player's on one border, doing his thing (both peacetime and wartime missions).

But anyway, having a mechanism for bringing different tech levels of ships into the game would certainly create a need for different tech levels or "settings". Though since this whole, Early and Middle years thing came about only this month and Admiralty has been in the works for sometime, I imagine it's not quite accounted for. (though there's probably some sort of tech progression within the GW setting, if that's the proper term for it).

[mjwest]

Thinking on Early Years rules for FC, I think any changes need to be kept light. Therefore, anything that is "fiddly" is just dropped as being hard to remember. So, in a condensed form, these are the rules I can think of:
- Early Years ships may not choose a baseline speed of 24.
- Sublight ships move base speed zero and may accelerate only on non-consecutive impulses.
- Early Years ships may not use directed targetting.
- No weapons may be overloaded.
- Drones do half damage and use a base speed of 8.
- Missles use a base speed of 0 and accelerate on impulses 2,4,6,8.
- Transporters are 3 hex range.
- Mask works as cloak, but doesn't halve the damage; it only add 4 to the range. [This is still significant. It forces Gorns to get to range one to hit with the bolts, and makes Ph-2s fairly ineffective.]

Obviously, these will get fluffed out with rules numbers and such. And any new weapons (e.g. Quantum Torpedoes, Disruptor Cannons) will need rules. However, am I missing anything?

A few points ...

I didn't change any of the other combat rules because while the shields are less effective, so are the weapons. So, I don't think the burn through level needs to be adjusted. Likewise, same for the shield rotation.

Without including the new weapons, the rules would be about a full column. Adding the new weapons, the rules will probably be one and a half to two pages total.

(This is for the article I would like to see in Captain's Log to allow Y1 and Y2, along with the 1Z article from CL37, to be used in Federation Commander.)

[junior]

And for a genuine sub-light ship to goof around with...

Take the Romulan War Eagle. Remove the..

- Warp Engines
- Phasers
- Transporter
- Tractor Beam


I don't remember the cloaking cost off the top of my head (and since the ONLY weapon that you have on the ship is the Plasma-R torpedo, you're going to want that cloak), but a quarter-point per impulse in squadron scale is probably about right.

Oh yeah - the shuttles are sub-light too (you didn't think that the shuttles would get warp engines when the ship itself didn't, did you?).

This is actually the version that would appear during the 'MY' period, when the Romulans were the only race that couldn't develop tactical warp.