Maybe real newb question, but I'll ask anyway..

[szieser]

Reading the rulebook, I come across some terms in the Credits page that I'm not familiar with and I'm assuming come from SFB.
Starcastling
Retrograde
Brick
Superstack

Were these rule glitches/munchkiny abuse things? How does FC fix these?

[Steve Cole]

Starcastle is a term that means "sit still, put all the power into the shields, use tactical maneuvers". It doesn't work in FC because reinforcement is limited to the number of batteries.

Retrograde: fly backwards, keep weapons pointed at an enemy that can never catch you, his seeking weapons have to "swim upstream" to get to you and are easy to pick off. Doesn't work in FC because reverse movement costs double.

Brick: Huge block of extra power on a given shield. Doesn't work in FC because in FC reinforcement is limited to the number of batteries.

Superstack: Stack 11 ships in one hex so that they can combine their firepower on attack and defense. Doesn't work in FC because in FC there is a limit how many ships can fire out of a stack in each direction.

[Scoutdad]

Reading the rulebook, I come across some terms in the Credits page that I'm not familiar with and I'm assuming come from SFB.
Starcastling
Retrograde
Brick
Superstack

Were these rule glitches/munchkiny abuse things? How does FC fix these?

To put it very simply:
Starcastling is sitting in one place, heavily reinforcing your shields, and using tactical manuevering to change you firing arcs / shield facing.
FC fixes this by limiting the amount of reinforcing to the number of batteries you have remaining that have not been disabled.

Retrograde is movement in reverse while facing the enemy. This can really benefit you if you are the Federation and have photons that do the same damage at any range (simply keep the range open) or if you are a seekign weapon race - as the enemy must travel into you weapons to close the gap.
FC fixed this by doubling the movement cost to go in reverse.

Brick: Dumping all you reinforcement into one shield and keep that towards the enemy. If they have to get through 20 or more points of reinforcement before they get to the shield itself... well...
FC fixed this by limiting the reinforcement and by instituting the "burn-through" rule. At least something will be damaged in most volleys.

Superstack: In SFB, the standard tactic is to put all units in one hex to facilitate concentration of fire. A fleet of 11 ships, all in the sae hex can pour and amazing amount of fire-power into a single shield on a single unit.
Withg the FC stacking limit of a maximum of three units firing out of a single hex face per impulse, superstacks are not the problem they once were. Sure, you can put all 11 ships in a single hex, but if they want to concentrate fire on a single target, then it will take 4 impulses for all of them to fire and that gives the target time to turn a new shield, open the range, etc.

edit: Hmmm. Steve out-typed me.

[mjwest]

Looks like Steve and Tony covered it.

The one thing I will add about Starcastling (aka "Sit-n-Spin") is that in SFB, you could perform up to five tactical maneuvers in a turn (four had to be used within certain periods, and the fifth was a "wildcard" of sorts). Plus, in an emergency, you could HET. This means that even though you were not moving, you had significant flexibility on what shield was facing your enemy. In Federation Commander, you have only a single tactical maneuver available (plus an HET), so you have much less flexibility to change your shield facing.

[szieser]

Looks like we're got that one covered! Thanks for the responses!