Star Fleet Universe

[Lore]

How does the Star Fleet Universe handles Early Years Vulcan ships?

Quite logically.

I'm really liking the design of the Vulcan ships at the moment.

Also, there are revised 3D images of the WIP Klingon render; which is now being re-purposed.

Image #4 is what you're looking for when you think Klingon.

[Nerroth]

The Peladine, one of the also-ran empires in the Alpha Octant, have a playtest pack for SFB up on e23.

Plus, the latest SFU-themed Starmada file, Distant Armada, has rule and ship files up, too.

[Lore]

Plus, the latest SFU-themed Starmada file, Distant Armada, has rule and ship files up, too.

Has the Hellbore cannon been presented before? It doesn't sound familiar.

[Nerroth]

It's been a staple of the Hydran diet in SFB and FC; it's just new in the Starmada context.

[Lore]

It's been a staple of the Hydran diet in SFB and FC; it's just new in the Starmada context.

Ah. That's probably why it struck me as initially odd.

Traditionally, I've paid more attention to Stararmada developments. Though, it's been your threads on the rest of the games making up the SFU, that prompted me into returning to SFB, FC, and PD.

[Nerroth]

So, is that a good thing (for your gaming life) or a bad thing (for your discretionary expenditure), then?

Hopefully more A than B, I guess!



Also, some playtest updates for SFM:A, as posted by SVC over on the BBS:

THURSDAY 21 JULY: Steve Petrick and I test the Rickerbee scenario using the new bloodier combat table. Worked great, although it led us to a series of questions that the rulebook does not answer about how to handle civilians. We don't have answers for those yet. Things like: should civilians run away when you shoot at them? Should the Fed Marines really be able to force their own civilians to stand there and get killed to delay the Klingons winning the scenario (because the Klingons cannot enter a town hex with a "federation unit" in it)?


FRIDAY 22 JULY: Steve Petrick and I did a mock-up scenario (entire Klingon battalion against one company of Federation-Andorian national guard troops). The Feds were "dug in" on the hill mass south of the town, and the Klingons came in from the west in a massive double-envelopment. This was not a "real scenario" but an effort to test the infantry combat system to the maximum.

NORTH (FED RIGHT): I sent my 3rd platoon out to the north to occupy the town and keep him from getting around me, but only one of the three squads got there in time (and got run over), the other two retreating back to the hill to be reinforce by the reserve (10th) squad. This Klingon company took zero casualties during the whole battle, and this Fed platoon almost got out of the trap, but two squads were trapped trying to get over the hill (I should have stayed on the ridge) and the last squad was shot down (by a Klingon combat engineer unit) as it ran away.

CENTER: The Klingon company in this sector was reinforced with the extra artillery, the artillery borrowed from the fast-moving north company, the extra engineers, and the extra platoon. It fought the hardest battle (30% casualties), right up the main hill into the most heavily defended positions. It eventually destroyed the headquarters bunker, having overrun and destroyed the entire 2nd platoon including the weapons squad and company HQ.

SOUTH (FED LEFT): This sector was a patch of woods about 4x4 hexes. I had two squads dug in, with the third on a reserve position guarding the flank and the commando squad over there because it could move through the woods twice as fast. The Klingon company here took heavy casualties (40%) but eventually squeezed the platoon like a grape. The platoon was trapped trying to retreat through the woods as Klingons moved around the woods and along the ridge. The commando squad almost got out but was cut down on the escape route by an entire Klingon platoon firing a mass volley.

The result: Federation company (13 squads) totally destroyed.
Klingons started with 44 squads and lost 11.

Test was successful, infantry system works correctly, still have to fix the civilians, but now we get to try using vehicles.

I'm looking forward to seeing this one hit the shelves.

[Lore]

So, is that a good thing (for your gaming life) or a bad thing (for your discretionary expenditure), then?

Hopefully more A than B, I guess!

Oh, definitely a good thing. It's such a joy to be reminded of why I used to love these games so much.

And the near-instant access to past books via e23 makes my attempts to catch up so much easier.

Also, some playtest updates for SFM:A, as posted by SVC over on the BBS:

I'm looking forward to seeing this one hit the shelves.

Will there be any new ships coming in this book?

[Nerroth]

I don't think so; SFM:A is intended to focus on squad-level combat on a terrain hex map, though it can be used in tandem with one of the tactical ship combat games, I guess.

(It seems that, so far, the various unit types are common across different empires; a Klingon Marine squad has the same stats as a Federation Marine squad, or has been abstracted out to the same. The key difference is in the orders of battle for each force; how many of this or that unit type such-and-such a battalion uses as standard, and so forth.)

This is what the countersheet should look like, by the way.

[Lore]

Okay, so I've a query based on my likelihood of getting back into SFB and/or FC.

Assuming we're taking only the PDFs available for these games through e23 into account... which books would you recommend I purchase in order to "get back into the games" as such?

[Nerroth]

Before I answer, someone on the Mongoose boards has posted pics of an early prototype mini. (The current version, which has been re-purposed into the D6, doesn't have that grille in front of the deckhouse.)

I wouldn't mind that material used to represent cloaked versions of the ships, actually...


Okay, now back to the question.


Right now, SFB's entry into the e23 scene is still in its relative infancy; unlike FC and Starmada, there's probably not enough available yet in pdf form in order to get up and running again. There is the Electronic Master Rulebook, yes; but arguably it's more useful alongside the ink-and-paper material out there than anything.

FC, on the other hand, has a more concrete presence online. The Reference Rulebook incorporates the Main Era rules available at the moment; there are a fair few colour Ship Card packs on the site (though you can find black-and-white versions of many of the cards in the free-to-access Commander's Circle); plus you can go into the Middle Years online, as the various rules and ships from Briefing #2 are also up. (The Middle Years ships come 12 to a pack, so cost twice as much as the six-ship-per-pack Main Era files.)

Also, if you feel like trying out something a little different, there is the Omega Playtest Rulebook... written in part by yours truly (though owing far more to the outstanding graphical work put in by Richard Smith).



EDIT: Andorians!

[Nerroth]

A third piece of ship art from Xander; this time of the YCA USS Warspite.

Also, the supplemental file for CL43 is now up on e23.

[Lore]

I'm really loving the amount of intricate detail evidenced on these SFB product covers.

[Nerroth]

I should note that Xander's three ships aren't product covers as such; they are representations of ships that were in that module.

Hopefully they will find a good home someday, though!

[Nerroth]

Ten years ago, the ISC brought me in to the Star Fleet Universe; their presence in Starfleet Command 2: Empires at War inspired me to learn more, and my first copy of Captain's Log had a preview of the Concordium for Federation and Empire.

Today, things have come full circle.



The rulebook is only 54 pages' long; most of the thickness is due to the six countersheets included (five identical sheets with the actual ships, and a sixth with various support counters), with room spare for all sorts of play aids and so forth.

But it's what this product sets in stone for future modules that is perhaps the biggest change it makes. Now that the ISC are fully in, not only can they take their place as the casques bleues of the Alpha Octant; they can help lay the ground work for the civil wars of the post-General War era, and for the Andromedan War to follow. Still, it's kind of odd how such a long wait can be over, and yet one can still be so quick to look forward.


Hopefully, there will be plenty of players gearing up to make the most of what the Inter-Stellar Concordium's arrival on the strategic scene has to offer!

[Lore]

Will the rules section be available as a PDF from e23?

[Nerroth]

It hasn't been confirmed yet whether or not it will be made available on e23.

[Nerroth]

Another 3D mini preview; this time of the new mould for the Federation Battlecruiser Kirov.

[Lore]

I've always liked the 'Battlecruiser' design

Impressive stuff!

[Nerroth]

And here's a 2-part video preview of how Star Fleet Marines: Assault works!

[Lore]

And here's a 2-part video preview of how Star Fleet Marines: Assault works!

I'll have to look at these from home, as I can't access YouTube from my present location.

[Nerroth]

In the meantime, you couldhave a look at the first pass 3D design for the Klingon F5.

[Daishi411]

are you guys ever going to re-introduce the federation tug ship, with the cannisters you can attach? i always meant to get some but never did, now they're gone and i'm sad  :'(

[Lore]

In the meantime, you couldhave a look at the first pass 3D design for the Klingon F5.

Can't say I've ever been much of a fan of the F5, but these 3D renderings are starting to make me reconsider that earlier stance.

[Nerroth]

are you guys ever going to re-introduce the federation tug ship, with the cannisters you can attach? i always meant to get some but never did, now they're gone and i'm sad  :'(

I don't work for ADB, so I couldn't tell you, sorry. (You could ask over on one of their boards, maybe.)

Can't say I've ever been much of a fan of the F5, but these 3D renderings are starting to make me reconsider that earlier stance.

Apparently there will at least be one change (to the disruptors, and possibly to add in the anti-drone racks); it will be interestign to see how they actually look once they are put on the table.

Oh, by the way, the YouTube vids for Marines were slightly fixed (to put in "Star Fleet" instead of "Starfleet"; an important distinction they need to make). The new links are here and here.

[Nerroth]

A coupel more WIP 3D mini threads; for the Fed Frigate and Battle Frgate.

Also, the 2011 update to the SFB Omega Master Rulebook is now on e23. (Something which pleases this Omega fan, naturally!)

Speaking of Omega, Ken Kazinski created a series of numbered hex maps for the Omega Octant, in order to help with the new Omega Gazetteer project; these maps are based on the five maps published on the back covers of the five seperate Omega modules, which hadn't been numbered. You can see the wildly shifting borders of this turbulent corner of the galaxy here.


EDIT: Fed old CL! Or FRA CL, in my mind.

[Lore]

A coupel more WIP 3D mini threads; for the Fed Frigate and Battle Frgate.

The Battle Frigate has always been an impressive design, and these rendering do it absolute justice.

Also, the 2011 update to the SFB Omega Master Rulebook is now on e23. (Something which pleases this Omega fan, naturally!)

I've just started reading the "Omega Playtest" rulebook, so the "Master Rulebook" will likely figure into my e23 purchases at some point.

Speaking of Omega, Ken Kazinski created a series of numbered hex maps for the Omega Octant, in order to help with the new Omega Gazetteer project; these maps are based on the five maps published on the back covers of the five seperate Omega modules, which hadn't been numbered. You can see the wildly shifting borders of this turbulent corner of the galaxy here.

Very nice!

...

Not sure whether it's slipped my mind, but what's the "JF" hex marker for at the *south* end of the Vari Combine?

EDIT: Fed old CL! Or FRA CL, in my mind.

The Mongoose models are steadily improving.

[Lore]

The D20M version of PD Federation is now online, too; with a different style of cover art to that on the GURPS version.

I forgot to ask this back in April, but...

In terms of the Federation RPG books -- and I mean the d20 and GURPS versions -- I've long assumed the source material in both books is essentially the same.

Is it just the rules-sets used in each book which are different?

[Nerroth]

JF = Jindarian Freehold. (Usually, the Jindos are fully nomadic; for some reason, the Freehold is the only known permanent territory they play for keeps with. They're quite insistent in that regard, too.)

As far as I'm aware, the two versions of the Federation sourcebook should have the same background data. (The GURPS version might be a little tidier, since it would have a few bits of later errata fed into the file.)

[Lore]

JF = Jindarian Freehold. (Usually, the Jindos are fully nomadic; for some reason, the Freehold is the only known permanent territory they play for keeps with. They're quite insistent in that regard, too.)

Ah, the Jindarians.

I appreciate the memory-refresh Nerroth.

As far as I'm aware, the two versions of the Federation sourcebook should have the same background data. (The GURPS version might be a little tidier, since it would have a few bits of later errata fed into the file.)

I thought as much.

I'm partial to the GURPS version, even though I like the d20 Modern rules-set.

Maybe I'll just get both. ;D

[Nerroth]

A few more tidbits:

*There's another look at how SFM:A plays out in the development topic,

*A look at how the Fed CL compares size-wise to the new WIP CA model (and a couple of revisions further down the page),

*The first 3D take on the 2500 War Eagle,

*And a shot of how the WIP 2500 CA compares to its 2400 counterpart. (Not sure how close to the current draft that mini is, though; or if the final version will be metal or resin.)