Federation Commander

I just got Module R5, C1, K and J (fighters are so fun ) for Christmas off the parents, and was wondering does anyone use Fast Patrol Ships in their games?

I looked at them and thought they were pretty sweet and are like little Police Ships (i've always loved Police Ships for being soo small), but does anyone actually use PT ships?

I haven't played a "big" game for a while, but way back when I was part of a gaming group some of us did use PFs and they are pretty sweet (just don't count on them coming home after the battle).

What I have yet to try is the FiCon PFs...

Back in the day -- Late 80s --

Took on a B-10 and D-7C with Lord Marshall supported by PFs and its fighters --

D-7 ran off and got beat up by the LM, while the PFs (Howlers when they were still legal, w/tons of gatlings) ravaged the B-10, amazing what several dozen gatlings will do to a BB ---

When we play SFB... PFs are always a possibility. We pick a year - pick a point value - pick an Empire, and show up with our forces. No one knows ahead of time what the other force will consist of... so it may contain PFs 9if the year of the scenario allows for PFS.

We are starting to see PFs in serious numbers in our campiagn. If you can get them into range, they can seriously boost the firepower of a fleet. I tend to prefer the direct fire-heavy models (Lyran Bobcat, Tholian, Klingon G1B, Vudar) or the plasma boats (the Gorn PF is awesome) over the drone armed version simply because they are on an ammo clock, but drone-heavy models like the G1 and the Kzinti can be downright scary with fast drones. Won't even go there on the Hydran PFs. Yikes.

They tend to be egg shells armed with a sledge hammer, so they lose effectiveness attacking squadrons of ships on their own, but if properly supported, they can be very powerful.

In fleet actions, due to their speed, PFs tend to keep scouts bottled up inside the enemy squadron instead of lagging behind and supporting --

They are a nice defense against fighters also -- recall what the Worlds Navies
initially called Destroyers (Torpedo Boat Destroyers), since PT boats of old were the oceans fighters before we conquered the air ---

Has anyone here had a go at using the Omega and LMC fast patrol ships?

(In the LMC, only the Baduvai are currently noted as operating PFs, at least prior to Operation Unity. In Omega, PFs use a different "volatile warp" system, and are more varied in their flotilla size; from as low as 4 to as high as 8!)

I really enjoy using fighters and PFs, hence my handle, (which is the "clean" version of a name I got after putting a Hydran Iron Duke CVA and its full fighter and escort complement on the map.

After taking down a fully refitted FED CA with five Tholian Arachnid-Ps and a Leader variant, I was officially banned from using PFs among my old play group.

(Of course the ID incident also led to a fighter ban.)