Federation Commander

This came up the other day and was a fairly significant question. How long fdo drone actually last?

4G6 - A drone is removed at the end of the third turn after launch. At the end of each turn make a mark {...} If a given drone already has three marks {...} remove it from the game.

In a fairly recent thread someone else said

Meant to mention it --

Drones last till the end of the third turn after launch ---

Effectively giving them 72 hexes to move --

That was what my opponent thought (and I hadn't questioned until re-reading it), that they would get 2-3 turns and 72 hexes maximum move, and on the third turn be removed. However, reading the rule it appears that you only remove a drone at the end of a turn that it already has 3 marks, i.e. when you would have otherwise put the 4th mark down. This would give a life of between 3 and 4 turns (and 96 possible hexes of move).

If I launch on impulse 1 of turn 1 when will they get removed due to 4G6.

end turn 1 = mark
end turn 2 = mark
end turn 3 = mark (and remove?)
end turn 4 = already 3 marks = remove.

We've played option 3 since the early rounds of playtesting...

end turn 3 = mark (and remove?) [/quote}

Makes for a real short duration if drones are launched on 1:8...

Scoutdad wrote:We've played option 3 since the early rounds of playtesting...

end turn 3 = mark (and remove?)

Makes for a real short duration if drones are launched on 1:8...

Which of course is pretty common, 1:8 and follow up on 2:1.

The bit about 'already' 3 marks seems fairly unambigously giving 3-4 turns though as opposed to to 2-3, and my opponent also said that they clearly last a turn longer than he thought given that wording.

It doesn't come up that often though, although when it does it can be crucial. I'd not overly bothered which way the answer is, but would like a clarification.

I've always played it that way too. The drones can therefore fly for nearly four turns in my games.

I believe that the correct interpretation is Scoutdad's. They last (up to) 3 turns, not four. Turn of launch, T+1, T+2, then removed at end of T+2. The rule about marking them is AFAIK just a suggestion on how to track how long it's been in flight, not a "rule" per se.

Actually I managed to find this from MWest, once I found a useful search filter (couldn't think of one that didnt bring back tons of threads earlier)

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.

Anyways -- if a drone(s) stays on the map that long -- someone is being out flown in the battle anyways --

The key phrase is "end of the third turn after launch."

You launch on turn X. Turn X+1 is the first turn after launch. Turn X+2 is the second turn after launch. Turn X+3 is the third turn after launch. Remove the drones at the end of Turn X+3 (or just before Turn X+4).

So, a drone will last for three "plus" turns. It lasts for three turns (72 hexes) plus whatever it got on the turn of launch.

I've always counted a "turn" as going from the impulse the drone was launched on:

Turn X, Impulse 3 Seeking Weapons Phase: Drone #1 launched.
Turn X+1, Impulse 3 SWP: Drone #1 is 1 turn old
Turn X+2, Impulse 3 SWP: Drone #1 is 2 turns old
Turn X+3, Impulse 3 SWP: Drone #1 is 3 turns old, remove from board.

That way all drones have the same lifespan. I have to keep track of the launching ship and drone counter number anyway (for control channels, and to remove drones fired by a ship that subsequently drops tracking or gets destroyed) so it's no big sweat to add the turn/impulse of launch.

Not doing things strictly according to rule has some tactical implications for drones held in tractors. Personally, I think it's just easier to do it at the end of the turn. So what if some drones last longer than others? I only have to check for expended drones once per turn and not eight times.

It was done "end of turn" to keep things simple. The most "consistent" way to do it is as Dave P suggests, but then you have to keep track of impulse of launch. "End of turn" means you don't care. In the end, it was decided that most drones aren't going to last that long anyway, and so it just wouldn't make enough of a difference to add the rules and record keeping to make things perfectly consistent.

mjwest wrote:It was done "end of turn" to keep things simple. The most "consistent" way to do it is as Dave P suggests, but then you have to keep track of impulse of launch. "End of turn" means you don't care. In the end, it was decided that most drones aren't going to last that long anyway, and so it just wouldn't make enough of a difference to add the rules and record keeping to make things perfectly consistent.

Have to agree with that, I'm a big fan of simplyfing things. It has only come up a few times with our games, as said it is fairly unusual to have drones around that long, at least on the fixed tourney style map that we've been using for the last few months. I expect it will happen more on a bigger map, but I still prefer nice simple minimal bookkeeping style of rules, not to mention the lack of pondering your moves based on when each individual drone expires at different points in the turn.

Well... I guess that's one we've been playing wrong. That's what we get for trying to over-simplify and prevent more than 3 turns of flight.

Very interesting. I guess I have been playing wrong too in the same way that Scoutdad mentioned.

This has never affected a scenario for me since in FC and SFB if my drones don't hit within 8 FC impulses (32 SFB impulses) they probably will never hit. Which is consistent with the analysis given above.

It sure seems as if either an example in a rulebook or an explanation in a past thread explained drone duration the way Scoutdad said it. That's how we've played it since we got FedComm.

Whatever turn the drone is launched is its first turn of flight (even it is impulse #8). The drone has two more full turns left on the map. That makes its duration on the map three turns. Granted, it's not generally going to be three "full" turns, but it guarantees that a drone will not be on the map for more than three turns.

I'm virtually positive I've seen this explanation before and in print.