Federation Commander

Glad to hear that you're enjoying the game so much. It's all just beginning.

The Feds get a larger "selection" of ships because it's the second set of ships released for them, and what was left after the ships appearing in Klingon Border and Klingon Attack.

Plus, the Romulans have the three different series of ships, so getting all ship types into one product is rather difficult. There will be more coming.

Many more Romulan ships are in Romulan attack (and its boosters). There are a few command cruisers that fly like battlecruisers and are rather scary to see on the other side of the table.

But if you just can't wait...you can always request something in the request thread and have it possibly put into communique. SVC is really great about getting the players things that we request.

One other thing that might be useful, if you get Romulan Attack (or even if you don't) could be a copy of Romulan Armada.

RMA is designed to work with the same Fed, Romulan and Gorn ships and counters you get in both RB and RA, letting you play larger fleet battles using the Starmada game system (of which you get the rules you need to play in the book).


Now, rushing into a second game engine just as you're learning the ropes for the first one might seem a tad premature, but it might be worth considering somewhere down the line.

Tried my first ship to ship battle with my wife last night, using the New Heavy Cruiser versus the KR Heavy Cruiser.

We were using simplified movement rules (no sideslips and minimal acceleration/decceleration) and to make things less confusing, I did not use the cloaking device, which put me at a pretty major handicap. We did a couple of passes in Fleet scale, and when my plasma torpedo got disabled by a good phaser volley, I withdrew.

However, (though I lost this first match), I'm liking the Romulan style of maneuver and wait for that perfect plasma attack to do damage. I agree with the person who described it like waiting for a single perfect sword strike instead of the Klingon "saber dance."

(Fleet Scale is good for teaching and speeding up the pace...BUT...I really would prefer to try Squadron Scale next time for a one-on-one battle!)

I was again pleasantly surprised at the way the game plays...we only did 3 turns, but the fast pace of movement and attacking each turn really keeps the action going. Damage and weapons are also quite easy to keep track of!

Again, kudos to Mr. Cole and the ADB team for such a well-designed game package...questions came up for me only a handful of times while we played, and each time I was able to find the answer quickly either on the rulebook or the reference sheet. And the turn point counters were very helpful for teaching movement...once I broke those out explaining things was much easier.

Now I need to see if I can talk my wife into a re-match...and this time I'm DEFINITELY using the cloak, darn it!

NeoTanuki wrote:...We did a couple of passes in Fleet scale, and when my plasma torpedo got disabled by a good phaser volley, I withdrew.

Did you remember to use rule (3E1d)?
Any time a damage point would (as called for by the DAC) disable the last box of a given type, the player owning the ship has the option to score that damage point on a Frame Damage Box instead.

Since you only have one Plasma Torp in fleet scale, you could have chosen to take a Frame Damage point instead and saved the Torpedo. In fact, you could have done this twice... by marking a Frame Damage box disabled each time the DAC called for a Torp hit.

Did you remember to use rule (3E1d)?
Any time a damage point would (as called for by the DAC) disable the last box of a given type, the player owning the ship has the option to score that damage point on a Frame Damage Box instead.

You know, either Communique or CL should perhaps have a section titled, "Little Known Rules for Newbies" or perhaps, "Tips for Cadets" that features tips such as the one Scoutdad gave.

Things like that aren't really tactics or even tips, but they are little things "hidden" in the rules that can make a big difference in games.

I was almost certain that either MJwest or Patrick Doyle had written a "Rules That Kill" (or similarly titled) article - but a quick perusal of my recent CL's doesn't show anything.

If such an article hasn't been written (and it's too late for CL41), then I need to pitch the idea to SVC at Origins. It would make a good addition to the next CL.

Do you mean too late for CL41?

Mike wrote:Do you mean too late for CL41?

THAT'S what I said... CL41!

Scoutdad wrote:

NeoTanuki wrote:...We did a couple of passes in Fleet scale, and when my plasma torpedo got disabled by a good phaser volley, I withdrew.

Did you remember to use rule (3E1d)?
Any time a damage point would (as called for by the DAC) disable the last box of a given type, the player owning the ship has the option to score that damage point on a Frame Damage Box instead.

Since you only have one Plasma Torp in fleet scale, you could have chosen to take a Frame Damage point instead and saved the Torpedo. In fact, you could have done this twice... by marking a Frame Damage box disabled each time the DAC called for a Torp hit.

Ah, see, I did NOT know that! D'oh!

Still, that's a good thing to learn for next time.

BTW, ehile my wife is generally lukewarm about wargames, she loves art projects and has been enthusiastically helping me out by printing out images of ships, shrinking them to mini scale, cutting them out and posting them on flight stands to serve as colorful substitutes for counters until I obtain minis.

The owner of a local game store in Pasadena is an enthusiastic fan of the game, so I'm going to try to drop by his store in the next week or so to see if I can get some games going with other players.

Beware the slippery slope of ADB Starline 2400 miniatures... that way madness lies.

Turn back while you still can...

Don't let yourself become another pewter-dust-covered zombie like me, scoutdad, OGOptimus, SWODaddy, and the others. Save yourself...

djdood wrote:...Don't let yourself become another pewter-dust-covered zombie like me, scoutdad, OGOptimus, SWODaddy, and the others. Save yourself...

Braaains.... Braaaains.... err, I mean... miiinnnnniiiiiiiisssss...

Oh man.........

More minis....must have more minis....

In all seriousness, they're like crack to me. I just can't get enough. I get going on a few projects and then get all kinds of new ideas that I need more minis for. You'll see.

I know the feeeling.
I got started painting yesterday... and inspiration struck me.

I spent 4 hours disassembling/stripping previously completed stuff to create my latest "masterpiece".

I hope to get home early enough tonight to finish it... photos forthcoming.

Hey folks,

After my first two games against my wife, I realized I need to practice a bit more to make sure I remember all the rules and the game moves along smoothly without me having to check the rulebook every few minutes.

So I decided to try another of the solo training drone scenarios. I tried the suggestion in the rulebook and set the drones as homing in on my ship at speed 24. I also wanted to get a better feel for the timing of cloaking, so I decided to use the Romulan Skyhawk destroyer at Squadron scale.

I really, really liked the Skyhawk in this scenario. The high power and extra batteries, superb maneuverability, extremely low cloak cost and abundance of phaser 1s and 3s combined very well. I was able to complete the scenario and destroy all eight drones with no damage! (I know, it is a very newb sort of triumph, but I was really suprised to pull it off.)

This training game was VERY helpful in teaching me the benefits of acceleration, sideslipping and turning. Despite some awful phaser rolls, I was able to keep just out of the drone's reach throughout the game because the abundance of power allowed me to keep accelerating and slipping just out of impact range. Plus, the extra Phaser-3s gave me enough extra shots that I was able to whittle down the drones despite my consistently mediocre rolls.

I did use the cloak once when I had three drones dangerously close. Fortunately, I was still able to outmaneuver them, so the cloak never actually came into play, since I was able to outrun them until I could re-arm. But it seemed to me like cloaking is better to use when one is threatened from medium range or so, but can still run... it doesn't seem like it would be a good idea to turn it on from a distance and just cruise around with it activated. It seems more like you use it to shake off or reduce weapons already after you when you're in a pinch, break off, re-arm and come back in for the attack. Am I on the right track?

While I'm sure fighting a live opponent again will be much different, (and more likely for me to get pounded) I did enjoy the practice and feel like I have a better handle on the game for next time. I'm seriously hoping I can try the Skyhawk out again successfully...I liked the way it "drove" very much.

The SkyHawk is a great ride. Actually, all the later "Hawk" series of ships for the Romulans are pretty great, but then again, they ought to be since they were the Romulans third crack at having a fleet.