Federation Commander

I am planning to buy Fed Com Klingon border. I found an old tactics manual for SFB. I was curious, do the same basic tactics in SFB still work in Fed Com?

The fundamentals do, to a point.

However, I found that a lot of tactics for SFB rely on working the game-system (meta-gaming) as much as they do actual things a starship crew would do.

Well-known SFB things like Mizia grouping of weapons fire, "star-castling", etc., don't really work as well [or at all] in FedCom because FedCom was tuned to make the "exploits" not work.

There is still some things to be learned there and if you got it cheap then good. If you haven't bought it yet, I'd steer you to the tactics articles for FedCom in the Briefing products and Captains Log.

And several of teh special ammo types / firing modes are not available in Fed Comm. Things such as Federation Proximity Photons... Klingon Ubitron Interface Modules... OAKDISC... Enveloping Plasma Torps... Kzinti Fighter-shuttles - Extended range ESGs... etc.

Some of the tactics described in the Tactics Manual rely on this systems... but it's still a good purchase.

You will also find several very good tactics threads in this very forum. They vary from simple one-liners to full articles on tactical doctrine. And, of course, they have been pulled apart by the veterans on the forum too, so you know they have been thoroughly discussed.

And, if I haven't already said so, welcome to the forum!

If I have already said so, blame it on my memory.....

As 'dood says, the overall tactics for the ships in Klingon Border still work across game systems. The only exception is the lack of scatterpacks and wild weasels. However, the "meta-gaming" tactics he mentions are indeed completely gone. Or at least completely different. So, while the general strategies are the same, how you actually accomplish that will be different.

So, Feds still want to get close to hammer opponents with photons. Klingons still want to "dance" at a distance to take advantage of their better to-hit numbers. Kzintis still try to use drones to soak up phasers while hitting with their disruptors. That stuff doesn't change. What changes between SFB and FC is how you try to accomplish that.

This is not, however, the case with the plasma empires. The system changes made in FC are enough that you will need to completely change your approach between SFB and FC.