Federation Commander

4M1 states, "No ISC fleet can have more PPDs than ships." A straight reading of this line would indicate that it does not apply to Orion use of the PPD, which can apparently be mounted in any mount capable of holding a Plasma-S. Is this correct? Can the Orions actually mount more PPDs than they have ships (e.g., a DN with 3 x PPD together with a BCH with 2 x PPD and no other ships)?

No, they cannot. ISC weapons would be "out of area" for most Orions.

Steve Cole wrote:No, they cannot. ISC weapons would be "out of area" for most Orions.

I wasn't aware that any "out of area" rules exist in Federation Commander (but I recall them from SFB).

The rules as written do not explicitly limit the Orion use of PPDs. That said, they will have no more access to the PPD than the "donor" empire, and as such cannot exceed the (4M1) restrictions.

(As stated by Steve, the restrictions should be tighter, but there's nothing in the rules, so the (4M1) limits will have to do.)

mjwest wrote:The rules as written do not explicitly limit the Orion use of PPDs. That said, they will have no more access to the PPD than the "donor" empire, and as such cannot exceed the (4M1) restrictions.

(As stated by Steve, the restrictions should be tighter, but there's nothing in the rules, so the (4M1) limits will have to do.)

So, essentially, the line should probably just read: "No fleet can have more PPDs than ships."

HappyDaze wrote:So, essentially, the line should probably just read: "No fleet can have more PPDs than ships."

I would say that there should probably be a note in the (5L1) rules providing the limit for Orions as separate from the ISC. That said, yes, please read it that way until or unless the Orion rules are updated.

How does this rule apply to ISC starbases/battle stations? Do the PPDs on the base count against the number the defending fleet can support? Does the base count as just one ship?

For the purposes of (4M1) bases don't count. They are outside the limit.

Thank you.