Federation Commander

Rule 4G6 seems to contradict itself.

It says that a drone runs out of fuel at the end of "the third turn after launch". However, the rule then says to make a mark next to the damage record of each drone on the map, and once a drone has three marks, remove the drone, which means that it would be removed at the end of the second turn after launch.

Which is correct?

The drone runs out of fuel and is removed from the map at the end of the third full turn" on the map.

Depending on which impulse the drone was launched, this could be just over 3 turns (impulse , or almost 4 turns (Impulse 1)

OMG!!!! I've been losing out on 1 full turn of drones!!! I misread the rule and have been removing the drones when I make my third mark. The rule says if the drone already has three marks, remove it! That means you remove it instead of placing a fourth mark on it! GRRR!!

I cannot believe I misread the rule for my primary weapon that badly. When I think of all the fun I could have had with one more turn of drones

DNordeen wrote:...
I cannot believe I misread the rule for my primary weapon that badly. When I think of all the fun I could have had with one more turn of drones

Could be worse, while playing SFB someone once tried to convince me you had to pay 1 point per drone for arming the warhead!
I just looked at him funny and said, show me the rule!
He promptly whipped out his rulebook and proceed to show me the BPV cost to upgrade the speed of your drone load-out. It took about 10 minutes to explain to him that the drones cost victory points to upgrade, not energy points to arm during energy allocation.

Just to make sure that TDG got his answer, DNordeen explain it perfectly (though somewhat humorously). The point is that you remove the drone if you already have three marks (i.e. you are about to make your fourth mark), not when you make the third mark.

So, if a drone is launched on any impulse of turn 1, it could last through turn 2, turn 3, and would be removed at the beginning of turn 4?

Or, would it last through turn 4 and be removed at the beginning of turn 5? This would be "three full turns."

I think I too have been missing out on drone longevity. I'm not too keen on rules that can be misinterpreted.

The problem with the wording in the book it says "Give each drone a mark". Then the next sentence it says "If a drone already has 3 marks, remove it". I suppose it is the word 'already' that I and a lot of other people have misinterpreted.

So, lets get this right.

Turn 1 of the game, Impulse 8, I launch a drone. It doesnt move at all in turn 1 because I launched it at the end, but it gets a mark next to it.

Turn 2 it zooms around the board. End of turn 2, give it a mark. It now has 2 marks

Turn 3 it calls in at burger king and gets some fries. End of turn 3, give it a mark. It now has 3 marks

Turn 4 it is still hungry and stops in at KFC. End of turn 4 - about to give it a mark, but it has 3 already and so is removed.

Not that any of this has mattered to me before because all drones have hit within 1-2 turns

Paul has it right. (Well, I don't think drones eat, but you get the idea. )

And note that it is removed at the end of Turn 4, not the beginning of Turn 5.

mjwest wrote:Paul has it right. (Well, I don't think drones eat, but you get the idea. )

Sure they do - I've seen 'em eat LOTS of ph-3 fire.

Yes, they like the ph-3 fire. That's good for me, since it's one less ph-3 (or ph-1) fired at my ship and less energy for reinforcement, accel, decel, etc.

I don't know why I put that "beginning of Turn 5" thing in there. Yep, it should have been "end of Turn 4."

I knew the rule, but it could be clearer in the book because I had the same question the first few times I read it, and it doesn't sound like I'm the only one.

That point has come up a few times since I've been checking into the forum here. The explanation includes the idea that the rules for Federation Commander were supposed to be more textually flowing and easier to read because the game was aimed at an audience different from Star Fleet Battles.

I would like to see a "rules summary" document that cuts to the chase and lists the rules and their implementations succinctly.

Actually, I think this rule reads very clearly. For my part, I just did not pay attention to what the rule said because I was just skimming over it until now.

Mike wrote:I would like to see a "rules summary" document that cuts to the chase and lists the rules and their implementations succinctly.

I'd like to see a SFB treatment of the Fed Comm rules too..heck, that's something I'd be willing to pay money for.

Or at least a re-write of the current rule book with all aspects of a particular rule together. IE all rules concerning drones under the section of the rules relating to drones.

Example: Rule requiring drone to move forward 1 hex on it's first movement opportunity is nowhere to be found under the drone rules..it only exists under the Turn Modes section of the rules.