Federation Commander

So, I just got my copy of Federation and Empire 2010 in, and i'm feeling slightly overwhelmed. Any advice on how to get started and introduce this to my gaming group without alienating them all?

mattruh wrote:So, I just got my copy of Federation and Empire 2010 in, and i'm feeling slightly overwhelmed. Any advice on how to get started and introduce this to my gaming group without alienating them all?

Hand cuff them to the table, hit them with spotlights, and tell them, "You vill not be allowed to leaf until ve haff played zis game!"

Actually, the game itself is not all that complicated. It may seem so from readng the books, but its truly much easier to learn than SFB (although with all the different strategies one can take, it may be harder to master than SFB - but there's no need to tell them that).

With F&E 2010, the best way is just to start on turn one of a game and work through it. For the first few turns at least, do not think of it as Alliance versus Coalition. Both of you work through the Economy, the Repair Phase, and the Production Phase together. As you talk about how each phase works and what shold / shouldn't be done - you'll gain a feel for the game.

Then when you get to your first couple turns of movement and combat, do the same thing. Discuss what could move where and what could react to it and why those forces should / shouldn't react.
This will help to give both sides a thorough understandig of the various types of movement and how they interact with each other. Same thing with the combat phase.

After a couple of turns of this back and forth discussion - you should have a firm enough grasp on the game to continue playing separate sides; or you may want to reset to Turn 1 and start over as separate sides.
Either way, you'll have a basic understanding of the game mechanics and we're always here for specific questions.

One other thing you might try:
One of hte expansions 9can't for the life of me remember which) has a scenario called the Four Powers War.

The 4PW takes place before the General War and is limited to the Klingons, the Kzinti, the Lyrans, and the Hydrans. Since it takes place earlier in the history - many of the specialized late-war units that require the more complicated rules.
This scenario isn't really balanced and usually gets ended before its complete, but I've used it to teach the game to several newcomers who've easily moved from there into the full game with little or no trouble.

Scoutdad: Maybe you and I need to create a free PDF download training package including your advice and that scenario?

Steve: email sent

We need a PDF to tell us how to handcuff our opponets to the table?

Tony just a thought I have been using the Second Klingon Federation War scenerio as a intro tool. It keeps new comers focused on Klingons and Feds which they relate to better.

Steve Cole wrote:Scoutdad: Maybe you and I need to create a free PDF download training package including your advice and that scenario?

Yes, please. I've been looking for something like this!

I have spoken with Steve and am going to put something together.
Maybe not in the next two days, but I will provide something.

Actually, could this be an opportunity to try and adjust the 4PW scenario in order to bring in more of a balance? (Perhaps by adjusting the Klingon fleet activations down to a slightly more even keel.)

Or would that have to wait until a 2010-compatible re-work of Fighter Operations was on the cards?

Actually, I do have a question. Maybe I missed this in my rules read over, but when you have multiple nations for a side, do you complete each nation entirely before moving to the next, or do you do the same phase for all nations at the same time before moving to the next phase. For example, if I am playing The Wind, would I do everything for the Lyrans and then do the same for the Klingons, or would I do the steps for both nations each phase? Does that change if there each person controls their own nation?

the are combined into one single "side".
In the wind for example, the Lyrans and the Klingons are considered hte Coalition, so both act in the Coalition phase - whether you are are playing both or whether Mattruh is the Lyran player and Mattroh is hte Klingon player.
The will both complete their economic forms and to production / repair during the Coalition Econ Phase.
the tricky part starts during movement.

Even though you could move all the Lyran units and then the Klingon units, there is no requirement to do so. And in fact, it would usually be beneficial to move them jointly. you should move the units in the order they need to be moved to satisfy your strategic goals - which often involvs bouncing back and forth from empire ot empire as the situation warrents.
Same thng with Reaction Movement.
Same with Combat
Same with Retrograde Movement.

this is true whether you have one Coalition player or three players. The three players just have to work together.

If you are going to make an open- ended starter scenario, the one I want to see is a Fed/Klingon one-on-one war. Not the two-turn silliness presented in a CL a long time ago, but rather a full, open war involving just the two empires. No, that is not "historical". However, it would be interesting and make use of the two most popular empires in the SFU.

A Federation-Romulan conflict would also be interesting. Assume that, for example, the attacks in the Y150s which led to the destruction of the Alfred the Great (and the attack on the E*******e) triggered another war with the Romulan Empire. For fairness, assume that the Roms got warp early (otherwise, it's a walkover for the Feds).

Well, if you want to make it a series of articles in CL, go cover all adjacent empires, including allies. (For example, include a full-on Klingon/Lyran war.) However, to start, I just want the completely mon-historical Fed/Klingon matchup.

Actually that Fed-Klingo War from a Captain's Log is more in line with what Tony was purposing with the 4PW. Small conflict with minimal EW or Fighters to teach the Basics of the Game.

MJW what you want is already written up as the Tournament Scenario in the T-Modual I belive.