Federation Commander

I am not a SFBer (yet) but I do own a cop of the basic set SSD book. While looking through, I realized that the D6s in SFB got their forward Ph-2s upgraded to ph-1s with the K refit. As far as I know, aren't the laminated FC cards supposed to have all of the upgrades their ship can have? I know the D7 got it's K refit, and the F-CA got the + refit, so why does the FC D6 not have the K refit?

Oh, and while I'm at it, can D6s be upgraded to D7s? I assume the answer is no, merely because the klingons would likely have done that extensively if the could have. Thanks.

The D6 phasers were left as all Ph-2s in order to provide a more clear distinction between it and the D7. It was an intentional design decision. Also, not that when it was added to the game, it was the only ship between the D7 and the F5. Leaving it with only Ph-2s made it closer to the middle between the two ships, instead of only a half-step or so worse than the D7.

No, a D6 cannot ever be upgraded to a D7. A D6 is a D6 forever. (Well, unless it is sold to the Romulans. Then it becomes a KR.)

I understand. really, the only klink main ships between the D7 and F5 are the:
F5C
F5W
D5
D6

yeah, come to think of it, at the full upgrade the D6 is only five points lower than the D7 in SFB, so I think it was a good choice.

The E7 (a heavy cruiser built by adding bits to an E5 escort) fits in between the D7 and F5 too. There's more in SFB that you haven't seen (HF5, etc.).

Actually, there is a D6-D7 conversion process, but it requires white-out and a permanant marker.

But seriously, if that's all you have for SFB, you should see the huge library of ships out there... books upon books upon books. Lots of ideas for FC ship cards until the end of time!

I still remember back in my high school days when I got my first R module and found the DNG! (Surprisingly enough, for so many years, I never got around to seeing the BCJ because it's kinda out of sync in the book, which became my main lady). I used to make these folder-style kits that had the EA form, the SSD, all the charts and tables, and other supplemental forms from some of the other products all nicely decorated to look like a UFP folder (this was back in the commander's edition). Made a good one for my X2 Cruiser too.

Wish I knew what happened to those.

In F&E you can do a lot with a D6. It can become the following by conversion:

D6G Troop Ship
D6J Penal Cruiser
D6E Survey Cruiser
D6D Drone Cruiser
D6L Command Ship
D6S Heavy Scout
D6V Medium Carrier
D6Y Experimental Carrier
D6M Mauler
D6U Interdiction Carrier
AD6 Heavy Escort
D6P PF Tender
TGA Combat Tug
TGB Tug

As you can see the plain old vanilla D6 has a lot of potential.

So basically you can only upgrade a D6 to another D6 - kind of.

'Flaninan pobble beads are only exchangeable for other Flaninan pobble beads' (Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Think of it this way.

To an untrained eye, a Boeing 767 and 777 look pretty much identical [click the links for pictures]. There are differences, but it takes someone versed in airplane minutia to notice them (even the size difference is hard to discern without something to compare the scale against). However, on the inside, they are completely different machines. Profound differences in structural architecture, systems, computerization, etc. The 777 is significantly more efficient at what it does, can do a lot more of it, and is easier to maintain able to do it.

The same holds true for naval ships. To a casual eye, a modern Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is in pretty much the same general configuration as an old 1970's era Spruance-class ship. (Again, there are differences that an expert or even aficionado will point out instantly, but not my Mom or other general peoples). The reality is that the two ships aren't even in the same ballpark. The systems in a Burke were several generations newer, even when there were still Spruances still in service. All that improved tech lets a Burke (again) do a lot more, more often, and do it with less help.

It's been said the D-6 was an X-ship in its day. There's likely some truth to that. It and the Fed YCA truly changed the playing field and forced changes in shipbuilding around the Octant.

Later, when their successors were introduced (in the form of the classic CA and D-7), that benchmark was moved yet again. Externally, they pretty much looked just like their predecessors, but under the hood they couldn't have been more different.

However, just like Boeing can't convert a 767 to a 777, or you can't convert a 1989 ford Mustang to a 2010 one, "upgrades" are not always possible. The technical differences in things that aren't tracked in the games are just too great.