FC Evolution

[Kang]

....the boxed set with the cool Fed CA above a planet shooting the Romulan War Eagle cover (still one of the best box covers imho)....

Y'know, I actually bought a Designer's Edition set [that's the one you're talking about here] on eBay mainly for a) the box and b) the counters with the larger ship silhouettes. These were the best counters in the SFU in my opinion, until the advent of the 'picture' style ones there are now in both SFB and FedComm.

And I bought copies of Expansions #1, 2 and 3 and the Carriers module [Supplement #1]. This was all after I'd already got most of the Captain's Edition stuff at the time - well I guess I also did it for the nostalgia. But yes, the reduced-impulse charts were there and IIRC the rule was that you could use any of the charts that the players agreed but if any player wanted to use the 32-impulse chart then you had to do so.

[Sneaky Scot]

I like:

Gunboats
Scouts (the limited functions provided so far are good)
Fighters (but in limited amounts)
Tugs
X-ships (but not partial X-refits)
Planetary Assaults & commando ships

I don't like:

Andros (but if the rules can be simplified, I may become interested)
General EW
Complicated drone options (a limited amount of heavy [type-IV] is OK)
Bombers/Heavy Bombers
Crew quality & legendary officers (degraded crews from Briefing #1 are OK)
Mine Warfare

Thus endeth my 2p worth (about 4 cents for our US readers).

[malleman]

I am in agreement with DNordeen. I would not be too interested in seeing additions to the game that could slow the play down.

Scouts (as done in Comm #28 ) could add more excitement to large scale engagements without too much complication.

LTTs and Tugs (cargo pods only) would not slow the game down, just add to more variety of ships available and scenario options.

I like the idea of crew quality & legendary officers. Again it adds variety without slowing the game down.

I would eventually like to see the Andromedans added, but this does not mean that I would be intersted in seeing X-ships.

I am not interested in seeing fighters or gunships (PFs) because this would slow the game down. I think that this is better left in BOM. Although, I have yet to get CL#37 to see how it is treated, so I may change my mind.

Overall, I would be interested in leaving anything that would slow the game down in BOM. I can handle drones for certain races and fighters for the Hydran because it adds to the difference in play among the empires. The reason I purchased Federeation Commander in the first place is because of quickness of play.

bobrunnicles, got my boxed set (CA shooting WE) at Sears (yes Sears )when I was a kid and still have it. It is a little beat up now and missing counters though. My favorite picture was the Kzinti Attack Shuttle Carrier on the back cover. I had never seen a ship like it before. It is still one of my favorite ships today because of its design.

[bobrunnicles]

bobrunnicles, got my boxed set (CA shooting WE) at Sears (yes Sears )when I was a kid and still have it. It is a little beat up now and missing counters though. My favorite picture was the Kzinti Attack Shuttle Carrier on the back cover. I had never seen a ship like it before. It is still one of my favorite ships today because of its design.

Been so long since I've seen mine, I need to try and remember where I stored it so I can check this out

[Wolverin61]

Gave mine to one of my friends after I got the Captain's Edition so we could play SFB at his house without having to bring my stuff.

[Wolverin61]

I voted for Everything SFB has.

The 'if you want everything play SFB' doesn't really work for me since my friends will only play FC now, and usually Fleet scale.

Specifically I'd like to see:

Federation carriers and fighters (Fleet scale carrier groups would rock imho)
Scouts and EW
X-ships
Gunboats

Other races are ok (although I never really play with them, usually we play Fed, Klingon, Romulan (rarely), Kzinti (rarely), Orion (rarely) and that's it.)

The simplification thing is ok with me. I always thought SFB had too many different kinds of drones, for example. So simpler fighter rules, EW rules, etc. I can live with.

I'd like to see something like the Battle Damage:Code Red cards for FC. Damage allocation is something that has always taken a long time, whether it's in SFB or FC, so I liked using the BD cards in SFB.

[Dan Ibekwe]

bobrunnicles, got my boxed set (CA shooting WE) at Sears (yes Sears )when I was a kid and still have it. It is a little beat up now and missing counters though. My favorite picture was the Kzinti Attack Shuttle Carrier on the back cover. I had never seen a ship like it before. It is still one of my favorite ships today because of its design.

Been so long since I've seen mine, I need to try and remember where I stored it so I can check this out

Back around 1986 I bought five of those boxes. I still have the ships, and one of the assembly and painting leaflets. I may even have one or two of the actual boxes...basically, I was overcompensating for all of my SF stuff having been 'tidied up' by an overzealous family member while I was doing a stint in the middle east.

Back then, I didn't even *play* SFB, I just collected the models...

[Carthaginian]

I cast a vote for 'any combination of Alpha Quadrant' SFB items.

I'd like to see simple Andros in FC; they looked interesting in SFB but I never got the chance to play them. Also, I'd like some full fighter rules; Hydrans are pretty dead without them. Finally, PFs would be a welcome addition.

That's about it.
Never even looked at an Omega module; if they were made for FC and I could try with someone else's set before I bought... I might give them a whirl myself if the felt good.

[Magnum357]

I voted "any combination above of choices above". The main reason why I like Fed Commander is that its much easier (and faster) for me to play then SFB so this system MUST keep it simple and direct in my opinion.

-Andros- The main reason why I wouldn't mind seeing Andros in FC is that I could never understand how they worked in SFB. To me, the SFB rules were a bit complicated and combersome and made it not worth playing them in SFB. A simplified version (even if there cababilites are limited) would be nice if added to FC.

-X-Ships- Not sure on this. I like X-ships, but only if they got simplified rules if added to FC.

-Scouts - This is a rule that I think MUST be added not only to Boarders of Madness, but as a general FC rule system. Scouts are the "eyes" of the fleet, and are probably the most important Auxilary unit in the whole system. The introduction of EW rules posted in one of the communiques only took up a page so there rules are much more simplified compared to SFB. Also, Scouts would be most helpful for players playing campaign games, or using the Federation and Empire Strategitc game system.

-Fighters- This is a bit iffy in my book. I like Fighters, but I don't like messing with all the Drone counters for them. I actually came up with my own Fighter system and it works well as it cuts down the counter load considerably. Almost all races use Direct Fire Weapon fighters (even Drones are Direct Fire in the system) and Fighters are grouped together as 2 Fighters per counter. This cuts the counter load down a ton! But in the end, I fear that Fighters will probably be restricted to BOM and only used by the Hydrans.

-Gunboats- I like Gunboats too, and I think they got a better chance of being included in Fed Commander then Fighters. I prefer SFB Interceptors myself, they are pretty scary againt pre-General War ships. Pinecone, the Feds do have a "conjectural" Interceptor and PF in SFB, so I don't think it would be a problem to have a Federation Gunboat in FC. P.S. If Gunboats are added to FC, may I suggest calling Interceptors "Gunboats" and PF's "Heavy Gunboats"?

-Omega Races- I have heard of these races, but don't know much about them. Can't really give an opinoin on this one.

-Early Years- I would like to see these ships added to FC eventually. There rules are not really that complicated, actually they have more simplified rules compared to the standard FC ships. Early years ships really helped add a bit of history to SFB, and its neat too see some of the early races vessels (like Andorian, Rigelian, or Vulcan) during this time period. I think most people look at Early years as a joke to play because the ships don't stand a chance against Standard FC ships, but thats the problem, people want to use them against Standard FC warships. If you use them just during there respected time period, they still can be fun.

[Barry Kirk]

I voted for everything in SFB... But I'd like to add a caveat to that.

I don't really care for the EW rules. Specifically, I would prefer if FC does not allow powered EW except for some limited verision used by scouts.

I'm really hoping for Andies to be included in War & Peace.

Since the Master rulebooks look to be fairly cheap.

How about including a Master rulebook or equivalent in the border products and then the only rules in the Attack products would be for Scenerios and ships?

[pmiller13]

I voted for everything including Andros but not complicated fighters, scouts or x-ships.

Personally I definitely would like to see ISC and Andros. I would also like to see a simple set of fighters and scouts in the game. I do not want to see X-ships as they are just to powerful.

As an old time SFB player that is just now rediscovering the hobby I like what I have seen so far in FC (even if I am having a problem finding players in Tampa Florida) but do not want to FC turn into SFB. I very rarely used to fight battles with carriers or x-ships. We used scouts in most battles that were more than 2 or 3 ships on a side. Once in a great while we would do a Carrier engagement or us PF's (gunboats here). So having some rules for Carriers would be nice (do not even think I need to see the gunboats) but I do not want the Carriers to become to complex as to destroy the balance of the game.

[ericphillips]

I am voting for ships from all eras, from the early days to X-ships, though all with simplified rules. However, no fighters. Two reasons:

1. Too much board clutter. I like having fewer small things to keep track of.
2. Marketing. Bringing new players in, fighters seems more BSG than ST. There is a new, hot, movie out for ST, time to get some new players on board.

I do think scouts are okay, with simple ECM rules (I havent read the ones from Communique).

[USS Enterprise]

Which race doesn't have gunboats? Tholians? Seltotorians? (this one would hurt) Federation?

What about if none of the races' fighters had drones?
Fed with two photons and a 360 ph-1.
Klingons two distruptors and a 360 phaser-1.
Kzinti with 2 distruptors and two ph-3's (LS,RS).
Lyran the same as the klingon fighter.
Tholians one photon, one distruptor, and a 360 ph-1.
Romulans with two pl-F and two ph-3 (LS,RS)
Gorn with two pl-F and one 360 ph-1.
Ect.

Okay, so plasma might be difficult. Mabey if they could only use the bolt funtion.....

I agree with the necessity of using the bolt only, maybe add the Carronade for the Gorn. I'd also be interesting for some Fed fighters to use 1 Photon and 1 PL F instead of 2 Photons.

Anyways, since I don't know much about Fighters, I'm not really sure whether or not I want them as I've never played SFB. For one thing, if Fighters are to be used, I'll join the outcry of NO SEEKING WEAPONS!

[USS Enterprise]

I'll clearly state that everything I know about SFB is from Starfleet Command and I'd perfer not to get things too complex. A few extra pages of rules I'd say is ok but anything more, better to just not add to the complexity.

[Bolo_MK_XL]

Except for Hvy Fighters (very limited, double sized), direct fire fighters (exception the hydrans) only carry one direct fire weapon (distr, photo, F-torp) with one charge ---