Topic: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!  (Read 6988 times)

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Offline J. Carney

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SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« on: September 26, 2005, 07:07:57 pm »
ADB is now working on a new, simplified version of SFB. It's designed to be played in about 30 minutes rather than 4 or 5 hours, and will work with the existing SSD's from what they are saying. Right now it's just going to have a few of the SFB races, but if they do go through with the project they'll include all the Basic Set races and probably most of the Advanced Set ships.

http://www.starfleetgames.com/fc/
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Offline kmelew

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2005, 07:14:27 pm »
Looks great!!  Hope they come out with it!!  Now I have to find all my old SSD books...
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Offline J. Carney

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2005, 07:19:09 pm »
Here's a link to some more of the SSD's, from the ADB discussion boards!

http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/

Look under current New Product Development, Current Schedule, Federation Commander SSD's.

They seem to have the Kzin already worked out, andthe Tholian PC as well.

I can't wait for the Roms!
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for. - Earl Warron

The advantages of living in the Heart of Dixie- low cost of living, peace and quiet and a conservative majority. For some reason I think that the first two items have a lot to do with the presence of the last one.

"Flag of Alabama I salute thee. To thee I pledge my allegiance, my service, and my life."
   

Offline Chris Johnson

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SFB goes simple? FC is, quote, "...far more than just 'SFB Lite.'"
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2005, 07:32:08 pm »
...I saw this earlier, and wanted to point out that it's not simply just "SFB Lite" as some prefer to call it.  Now, having not tried SFB, I wonder if I should try this first or SFB, if I ever get into board games again... It sounds interesting in any case.

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Offline Commander La'ra

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2005, 08:25:54 pm »
Yeah, it does sound kinda neat.  My gaming crew's biggest problem with SFB is that it always seemed needlessly complex and took so long to set up and play that the effort never seemed worth it.  If this plays like it sounds like they're wanting it too, it could be very fun.
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Offline J. Carney

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #5 on: September 26, 2005, 08:37:16 pm »
I was thrilled with the playability of the lasat thing ADB came out with- the StarFleet Battle Force card game. The guys I played SFB with eventually made that our primary game, as itwas fun, simple, and you could play it quickly... great for the married guys out on 'kitchen pass.' ;D I even had a few guys in the desert that played with me (1 from my D&D crew over there, and one form another unit). I was very disappointed when the expansion with the Lyrans, WYN and Hydrans never showed up.

It looks like this is ging to split the difference between the card game and traditional SFB. It'll be simple, but not too simple; fast, but still plenty in-depth, and you'll have a large selection of ships.

I'm definately thinking about picking it up already.
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for. - Earl Warron

The advantages of living in the Heart of Dixie- low cost of living, peace and quiet and a conservative majority. For some reason I think that the first two items have a lot to do with the presence of the last one.

"Flag of Alabama I salute thee. To thee I pledge my allegiance, my service, and my life."
   

Offline Lepton

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2005, 09:31:46 pm »
I don't know about this new game.  Perhaps it's that I've never even gotten to play the game (SFB) that it would aim to supplant or simplify.  The once or twice I played SFB via Cadet Rules it didn't seem that bad.

Be that as it may, one point of concern I have or something that just seems odd.  If you look at the Fleet and the Squadron Scale SSDs, you will see that the fleet level ones merely have less boxes overall.  Less Warp, Less Weapons, Less Shields, etc.  If the intent is to use the same damage allocation system for fleet and squad level battles and their way of shortening fleet engagements is to make Fleet Scale SSDs more fragile essentially and with less weapons, that's seems a bit bogus to me.  A Fed CA should be a Fed CA no matter what level of engagement you are engaged in.  It seems as if they just arbritrarily halved the stats and thought people wouldn't think it strange that the CA had 4 photon at one scale and 2 at another, or that the movement costs, power, etc are about halved.  Seems goofy to me, if that is indeed what they have done.

I'd rather they had put the effort into making SFB more accessible and a bit flashier such that players are brought into SFB at one lower complexity level and then graduate them up to another.  Something like Cadet Rules.

Their whole "run and gun" description turns starships into fighters.  This is supposed to be a naval sim.


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Offline Mr_Tricorder

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2005, 09:37:52 pm »
I was hoping they would make something like this.  During the summer, I discovered the game Pirates of the Spanish Main and thought about how great it would be if they made a streamlined SFB-like game that was closer to the difficulty/complexity level of Pirates.
I will definitely be looking for this game when it comes out.  I've been wanting to play SFB (that's more current than the Designer's Edition that I have), but there are just too many materials to buy, it would be a huge time commitment, and I don't have any friends that are interested enough to take on the daunting task of learning how to play it.  Federation Commander seems like the perfect solution to all of these problems.

Offline S'Raek

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2005, 12:32:46 am »
I don't have anyone to play SFB with anyway, so I doubt I could get people together to play this either.  But it looks interesting.  Though I do remember the best times playing those all day SFB battles as a kid! 

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Offline GDA-S'Cipio

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2005, 09:43:25 am »
I was hoping they would make something like this.  During the summer, I discovered the game Pirates of the Spanish Main and thought about how great it would be if they made a streamlined SFB-like game that was closer to the difficulty/complexity level of Pirates.

I love Pirates of the Spanish Main.  Simple enough for my eight year-old son to try to play, detailed enough for me to enjoy it, and looks good enough on the tabeltop that it may get him hooked into more complex miniature games as he gets older.

Now if I can get him hooked onto this game in a year or so, fantastic!

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Offline J. Carney

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #10 on: September 27, 2005, 10:08:57 am »
I love Pirates of the Spanish Main.  Simple enough for my eight year-old son to try to play, detailed enough for me to enjoy it, and looks good enough on the tabeltop that it may get him hooked into more complex miniature games as he gets older.

Now if I can get him hooked onto this game in a year or so, fantastic!

-S'Cipio

A bit OT here, but what are your opinions of Pirates of the Spanish Main. I mean a really detailed opinion. I'm thinking about adopting a new game (both my SFB and MechWarrior groups have passed into history) that will be both easy to teach and fairly cheap to play.
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for. - Earl Warron

The advantages of living in the Heart of Dixie- low cost of living, peace and quiet and a conservative majority. For some reason I think that the first two items have a lot to do with the presence of the last one.

"Flag of Alabama I salute thee. To thee I pledge my allegiance, my service, and my life."
   

Offline GDA-S'Cipio

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #11 on: September 27, 2005, 11:38:00 am »
A bit OT here, but what are your opinions of Pirates of the Spanish Main. I mean a really detailed opinion. I'm thinking about adopting a new game (both my SFB and MechWarrior groups have passed into history) that will be both easy to teach and fairly cheap to play.

I like it a lot.

It comes in packs, like a pack of collectable cards.  The stock is very thick and hard, and you punch out the pieces to quickly form a convincing tall ship.  The ships look pretty good.  Each pack comes with two ships, an island, a rulebook, crew members, treasure markers, and a (very small) die, so you can play at once.  However, don't even kid yourself into thinking this will be a balanced game.   It serves as a great introduction, but you'll need more packs to form small fleets on both sides to get a balanced game.

The object is to get the treasure off of a "wild" island and back to your home island.  Each ship has a movement allowance, a cargo allowance, and a certain number of guns.   You can concentrate on trying to gather more treasure than your opponent, sinking him so he can't gather anymore treasure, or -- inevitably -- both.

All distances in the game are measured using the cards that the ships are punched out of.  The have a long side and a short side and all distances are measured in increments of L (for long side) and S (for short side.)  For example, some guns can only shoot to short range, and others can shoot to long range.  Each gun also has a number required to hit the enemy.  The range and "to hit" number are shown by the color and number of the little die printed on the ship.

A ship's movement allowance is given as a combination of distances.  For example, if a ship has a movement allowance of L+S, then it can move one long distance and one short distance each turn.  Ships are allowed to change their heading before every movement, so a ship with an allowance of S+S is much more maneuverable than a ship with an allowance of L.

A ship has one gun and one damage point for each sail.  Each time you take a hit, you remove a sail.  Each time you take a turn at your home island to repair, you get to replace a sail.  When you lose a sail you also lose that gun.  When you run out of sails, you are a derelict.   If you take another hit, then you are headed to the bottom.

This is one thing to worry about with the game.  If you think about what you are doing then you will have no problems whatsoever.  However, if you are careless you can snap the sails as you take them off and put them on.  So be careful!

Each ship comes with a little history which gives it a special ability.  I'm not sure how historic these histories are, but they add to the atmosphere.  One ship, for example, was "historically" crewed by a mad captain and crew who had lost everything to pirates.  They get +1 to hit pirates.  Another pirate ship was famed for being maneuverable and is immune to long range fire.

Crew members can also give you special abilities.  A musketeer gives you an extra gun.  A shipwright lets you repair at sea.  An explorer lets you land and gather treasure on the same turn.  But my favorite is the guy who lets you move and shoot on the same turn.   ;)  However, taking on these crew members uses up your cargo space.

Ramming and boarding are also possible, so be as bloodthirsty as you like.

Give it a try.  Two bucks will get you a pack, and you'll be able to play the intro game to get yoru feet wet.

-S'Cipio
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on the objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."  - James Madison (chief author of the Constitution)

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Offline J. Carney

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #12 on: September 27, 2005, 11:41:03 am »

Give it a try.  Two bucks will get you a pack, and you'll be able to play the intro game to get yoru feet wet.

-S'Cipio

Thanks, I'll pick up a couple of packs on my way to work tonight!
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for. - Earl Warron

The advantages of living in the Heart of Dixie- low cost of living, peace and quiet and a conservative majority. For some reason I think that the first two items have a lot to do with the presence of the last one.

"Flag of Alabama I salute thee. To thee I pledge my allegiance, my service, and my life."
   

Offline T-Rex_NT

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #13 on: September 27, 2005, 02:00:32 pm »
hey guys, If you miss SFB and have no one to play with, just goto www.sfbonline.com They have done a great job at bringing SFB to the internet. It is also ADB approved. They also have campaigns and fun play. You get to use the original SSD's and it's alot cheaper than buying all the boks and trying to find local people to play with.

Have fun guys,

T-rex of NT

Offline J. Carney

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #14 on: September 27, 2005, 02:02:34 pm »
SFB online is another good tool. I got it late last summer, but only played a couple of games before school/work forced me to give it up.

And you DO have to have all the books- SFB online don't include any of the rules, so you have to have the C Modules to know how to work everything.
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for. - Earl Warron

The advantages of living in the Heart of Dixie- low cost of living, peace and quiet and a conservative majority. For some reason I think that the first two items have a lot to do with the presence of the last one.

"Flag of Alabama I salute thee. To thee I pledge my allegiance, my service, and my life."
   

Offline T-Rex_NT

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #15 on: September 27, 2005, 02:51:29 pm »
OK, I guess ASSUMPTION is really the mother of all messups!! When I said you didnt have to buy all the books, I guess i assumed that anyone who wanted to play SFB already knew how to. I do apologise for the mistake. If you have never played SFB you will need a complete rule set to play here, or have someone online teach you.

Sincerely,

T-Rex of NT

Offline J. Carney

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #16 on: September 27, 2005, 08:17:11 pm »
T-Rex,

I hope that dind't come off as sounding harsh. I just meant that SFB is REALLY big, and a lot of the stuff won't be in the Basic Set or Advanced Missions. :-[

PS... love the sig... though I'm more of an Old-Series fan myself.
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for. - Earl Warron

The advantages of living in the Heart of Dixie- low cost of living, peace and quiet and a conservative majority. For some reason I think that the first two items have a lot to do with the presence of the last one.

"Flag of Alabama I salute thee. To thee I pledge my allegiance, my service, and my life."
   

Offline T-Rex_NT

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #17 on: September 28, 2005, 12:42:55 pm »
No harm done, I have been playing SFB since the early 80's

The SIG was made by Dallas. mostly as a joke on my part, but i liked it and it fit so I kept it all these years. Back when this was made I flew alot of KCR's and KRCS'S hence the ship. that was way back in SFC 1.

Sincerely,

T-Rex of the Nexus Travelers

Offline Dracho

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #18 on: September 28, 2005, 01:20:56 pm »
Diplomacy is a great barracks game.. though some of you might not be speaking to each other afterwards :)
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Offline Lepton

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Re: SFB GOES SIMPLE!!!
« Reply #19 on: September 28, 2005, 08:02:46 pm »
They are also looking to build in support for Federation Commander on SFBOnline.  The main problem I have with SFBOnline is that I can't be sure that anyone is ever on the thing to see if it's worth shelling out the money for it as well as buying all books and modules to get up to speed with SFB only to find there are no local players and insufficient people online to have warranted spending all the bucks.  When I used the demo thing a few times, there was a max of maybe 12 people online.  That is pathetic considering they are competing with MMORPGs that have populations in the thousands. 

If I were ADB, I would make the service free to build up a real online community and merely raise the per-unit cost of what they sell now to support the service.  If they expect their products to take off, they need to establish social networks of players that extend beyond the driving distance one is willing to drive to play a game that may take days to complete.

I had this problem with Federation and Empire.  Shelled out the 50 bucks or whatever it was to find no local players and no online community that I could find as well as the rules being difficult and extensive and that was only the base F&E game.  What's the point?


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