Federation Commander

Hi, just wondering if anyone happens to know if/where there is an index of ships available in Federation Commander? I was looking through the Starline 2400 and saw the Federation CVO:

http://www.starfleetstore.com/federatio ... -p-68.html

I'm not even sure what exactly that is - a purpose built carrier? I dunno... for some reason I like it, though, which made me wonder if it's even available in FedCom.

So if anyone has info/link, it would be appreciated!

CVO (Carrier Old design) is the redacted 2 nacelle CVA/SCS mini. It was replaced with a more traditional 3 Nacelle DN variant.

As far as a Master Index for Ship Cards it is in the Commanders Circle on the Federation Commander web page.

Thank you very much! Old design eh? Huh. I still like it... lol. Just looks fun.

Got it! And thanks again - exactly what I needed!

Just for the record, the Master Ship Charts for Federation Commander.

Just for grins, here's a painting of the CVo, from the ancient SFB Supplement 1.


The old "flatbed" carrier had a lot of fans. Enough that ADB brought the mini back as the CVo and a (revised) SSD for SFB in the Stellar Shadows module (which was filled with things players wanted, but the universe will not officially include).

Because it is not officially part of the SFU anymore, it will probably never appear in FedCom (definitely not before its 3-nacelle CVA replacement does). However, many folks do their own conversions for their own amusement and there have been articles in Captain's Log with guidance on how (written by Mike West, IIRC). I did several of my own for things like the Fed "lollipop" DD and Tugs, years before the real cards were published.

One of these days I'll have to pick up Stellar and that CL and have a go at it. I'm not sure what it is about that thing, lol.

The articles describing using SFB SSDs in Federation Commander (and using FC ship cards in SFB) are called Project Z. You should be able to find which Captain's Log they are in by using the CL index. (And, yes, I wrote those.)

Non-Hydran fighters have not yet been formally added to the game, and I imagine the CA and CW based carriers have to be done first. In fact, I am not sure how eager Steve will be to add DN based carriers to the game at all, as even with Flights and Swarms, that is a lot of stuff on the board you have to manage. So, it will likely be quite a while before we see the normal CVA, much less the CVO, in Federation Commander.

Thanks for writing them. I'm new here, so I don't know who everyone is yet!

I forgot that the fighter rules are just in the testing phase, lol. Transitioning from SFB to FC at the moment so some things are still sort of jumbled in my mind.

Itharus wrote:I'm not sure what it is about that thing, lol.

That's easy. She's gorgeous. Richard Kerr was (and is) an incredible talent.

Truth. She is beautiful.

That chart brings to question though - the color of federation ships!!! It vexes me so! Many are white, many are assorted shades of grey. Drives me nuts. I kind of lean towards it being an odd shade of light grey myself, but there's something about it that I just can't figure out. At this point I'm so paranoid that I wouldn't get the shade of grey right that I'd probably just paint the damned thing white, lol.

You will get as many answers as you find mini painters.

I believe Tony Thomas and some others use basic titanium white, which certainly looks clean and nice.

I hewed a bit more to the "as seen on tv" look and use a very-slightly green light gray.

I'm used to Citadel Paints from Games Workshop, as their table top games form the bulk of my model painting experience. I just looked around online and saw some pretty good results with just a couple of colors, inks, and dry brushing that I'd probably give a shot. They come out a light grey, too.

What I'm not clear on at all at this point though are the finishing sprays that would work best. I've barely used those, and I think I generally just used matte, but it was a long time ago.

It's just such a unique shade they used. I love how the lighting changes the appearance so much. I wonder if they saw it somewhere else or created it just for the show?

But I digress...

Will is correct.
I do use pure, titanium white for my Feds... at least the Starline 2400 series.
They look clean, crisp, and 'fresh out of space dock' sharp... not battle worn and well loved.


So far, I've not really 'finished' the 2500s. They are only base coated (and a couple are detailed), but I've been experimenting with them and I think they will be a little dirtier.
I have a Fed frigate that was base coated with white primer... air-brushed with Reaper Misty Grey, then highlighted with Citadel Skull White. After that, it was once again washed with Misty Grey/Magic Wash.

I think that's the way all the rest of the 2500s will be done.

Sounds nice! Any chance we can see one of those 2500s when you're happy with it?

Itharus wrote: It's just such a unique shade they used. I love how the lighting changes the appearance so much. I wonder if they saw it somewhere else or created it just for the show?

The original filming model was painted with automotive lacquer paints, a standard GM color at the time.

The shade was debated for many years until Richard Datin (the guy who was in charge of getting the model built) found some overspray on the back of an old blueprint that had been stored for 40 years. This was further refined when the model was disassembled at the Smithsonian earlier this year for restoration.

Pictures of some of Tony's painted Starline 2500 minis are in the Starline 2500 topic. Those were the early prototypes, but are good indications of the master's skill with a paint brush.

[Speaking of which, all this minis talk should probably migrate there, before the admins have to ask us to]