Federation Commander

I hope this isn't a "taboo" topic, but I used to have a game called Federation Space which I believe was a precursor to Federation & Empire and was hoping to find some online resources. (Webpages or other information.)

Does anyone actually still play this game, or has it gotten lost with time?

It's not a taboo subject. The game was done by TFG without the help of ADB. It was full off problems, silliness, and dumb mistakes. They didn't understand the Franz Joseph maps and so overlaid two maps of very very different scales. I think I have a copy at home that I haven't opened in decades. I doubt if there is much support for it.

BTW, it was not a precursor to F&E. It was a badly bungled attempt by TFG do to "the strategic game" without paying ADB. They lost a ton of money, threw away most of the print run, and learned their lesson.

Steve Cole wrote:The game was done by TFG without the help of ADB. It was full off problems, silliness, and dumb mistakes. They didn't understand the Franz Joseph maps and so overlaid two maps of very very different scales.

Hmmm. I hadn't realized it was so messed up but I do recall a lot of the sillilness (like names spelled backwards). I remember it as being kind of fun game, though, and a lot faster to play than Federation and Empire.

Steve Cole wrote:I think I have a copy at home that I haven't opened in decades. I doubt if there is much support for it.

Let me know if you want to part with your copy.

And, no there seems to be pretty much zero support anywhere. There is a small entry on BoardgameGeek but that's about it, and they don't have any real information. I've found my map and rulebook but have yet to find the ship counters, which makes playing problematic.

For obvious business reasons, I need to keep one copy of everything, so I cannot sell it to you. Seems to me somebody bought one and found a countersheet missing and Leanna scanned the counters from my copy and Emailed them to him.

Steve Cole wrote:It's not a taboo subject. The game was done by TFG without the help of ADB. It was full off problems, silliness, and dumb mistakes. They didn't understand the Franz Joseph maps and so overlaid two maps of very very different scales. I think I have a copy at home that I haven't opened in decades. I doubt if there is much support for it.

BTW, it was not a precursor to F&E. It was a badly bungled attempt by TFG do to "the strategic game" without paying ADB. They lost a ton of money, threw away most of the print run, and learned their lesson.

I had always wanted to know the meaning behind F&E Rule 101.8 about F&E not being a revised Federation Space and were more like brothers than "father and son." That puts everthing into perspective.

I have a copy of Federation Space I haven't opened in years, and my pre-deluxe 1986 copy of F&E I need to upgrade to 2000 (I do have the Deluxe Coversion Kit #3200).

As a side note I also own the Star Fleet Missions Card Game. It is the only Star Fleet Universe game my wife will play with me, and my son loves it.

droberts441 wrote: As a side note I also own the Star Fleet Missions Card Game. It is the only Star Fleet Universe game my wife will play with me, and my son loves it.

then you should really consider picking up a copy of Star Fleet Battle Force (SFBF). It's a card game as well, but it's oh so much better than Star Fleet Missions.

What is Star Fleet Missions like?

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1594

suprising how much they tried to take from F&E

Scoutdad wrote:then you should really consider picking up a copy of Star Fleet Battle Force (SFBF). It's a card game as well, but it's oh so much better than Star Fleet Missions.

It is on my list to buy...I have even lost a few bids on ebay . Just recently got back into SFB when I bought Federation Commander, and they mention SFBF in the rulebook.

pinecone wrote:What is Star Fleet Missions like?

It isn't really like SFB except it has the theme (races, ships, some scenario names, etc.).

It is similar to the card game War, but a "Mission Card" picks what you should put down. Many didn't like it becasue it seemed as random as War, but I find if you study the cards (like Gin Rummy or Pinochle), you can make it more of a skill game.

My son (9) likes it a lot as a simple game, and as I said about my wife before, it might be a game you can play with your SO if they hate SFB and wargames in general.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3820

Cool, I'll have to consider getting that on ebay! Thanks.

And there were some Captain's Logs that had variants to Star Fleet Missions. I just got a few old CLs for $0.40 apiece from American Science & Surplus (no abbreviations, please) and found some short pieces for variants.

We have Starfleet Battle Force at home and while my wife and kids will not play Fedcom with me, they enjoy playing a few hands of the card game.

I reccomend it to anyone who has freinds to game with also because sometimes we have freinds over for dinner or whatever and then we play a round of SFBF for fun and they have no idea its the little brother to a much larger series of games.

Steve Cole wrote:It's not a taboo subject. The game was done by TFG without the help of ADB. It was full off problems, silliness, and dumb mistakes. They didn't understand the Franz Joseph maps and so overlaid two maps of very very different scales. I think I have a copy at home that I haven't opened in decades. I doubt if there is much support for it.

BTW, it was not a precursor to F&E. It was a badly bungled attempt by TFG do to "the strategic game" without paying ADB. They lost a ton of money, threw away most of the print run, and learned their lesson.

Interesting - that clears up a lot of the questions I had about the relationship between FS and F&E, thanks

Steve Cole wrote:For obvious business reasons, I need to keep one copy of everything, so I cannot sell it to you. Seems to me somebody bought one and found a countersheet missing and Leanna scanned the counters from my copy and Emailed them to him.

G'Day

I acquired a copy of Federation Space (quite a while ago) and my son was poking through it and noticed we seem to be missing the Fleet Organizations for the Hydrans and Tholians. I wouldn't want to seem too forward on my first post to the forum, but I don't suppose I could get a copy of them?

Cheers

Derek