Hi.
I've been interested in the Federation Commander system since before the first release (Klingon Border) was shipped - and I've followed the various releases for the system as it has evolved.
However, one thing I noted was that a few gamers found the price point of the introductory boxes (both KB and Romulan Border - either of which work as introductions to the game) to be somewhat restrictive - though I was happy enough with what you get for your money.
Now, up to now, ADB have had a couple of other ways to get into the game - with the First Missons demo pdf, and the Academy (and later Graduation) sets - all of which cover much of the same ground as the main boxes and initial supplements.
But even so, an issue I had heard was that the number of ships included was not overly high...
However, I was thinking that if you wanted to start up with the system, and didn't mind doing some of the work yourself regarding the ship cards, there might be a new option.
ADB recently released a reference rulebook for FC as a whole - including all of the weapon and other systems which have been introduced to this point.
Also, another recent release, Briefing 2, acts as a full-on introduction to the Middle Years setting - broadly speaking, from 2520 to 2560... an era which, in this setting, includes a somewhat well-known 'five-year misison'!
B2 gives you 72 ships to get started with, from 10 separate factions (11 if you count the relevant Lyran ships as being from the LDR) as well as some specific rules intended to represent the 'pre-refit' era technology (seeking weapons are not quite as effective as in later eras, for example) which make flying the Middle Years ships a distinct challenge than you'd get when commanding the later-era ships in the 'main' Fed Commander books.
So, you could get both books, do a bit of the card preparation yourself, and you'd be all set to go with some Middle Years-era action!
Plus, there will later be a specific booster for the Franz Joseph ships (the ones as seen in the Technical Manual, as opposed to the upgraded versions already in the game) called Booster 91 - and it would be more at home among the Middle Years ships of B2 than in the General War setting.
Does this sound like it might be a reasonable way to get into the setting, or would you rather just go straight to the main modules?
(And if you are into FC already, how interesting does the MY module sound?)
I've been interested in the Federation Commander system since before the first release (Klingon Border) was shipped - and I've followed the various releases for the system as it has evolved.
However, one thing I noted was that a few gamers found the price point of the introductory boxes (both KB and Romulan Border - either of which work as introductions to the game) to be somewhat restrictive - though I was happy enough with what you get for your money.
Now, up to now, ADB have had a couple of other ways to get into the game - with the First Missons demo pdf, and the Academy (and later Graduation) sets - all of which cover much of the same ground as the main boxes and initial supplements.
But even so, an issue I had heard was that the number of ships included was not overly high...
However, I was thinking that if you wanted to start up with the system, and didn't mind doing some of the work yourself regarding the ship cards, there might be a new option.
ADB recently released a reference rulebook for FC as a whole - including all of the weapon and other systems which have been introduced to this point.
Also, another recent release, Briefing 2, acts as a full-on introduction to the Middle Years setting - broadly speaking, from 2520 to 2560... an era which, in this setting, includes a somewhat well-known 'five-year misison'!
B2 gives you 72 ships to get started with, from 10 separate factions (11 if you count the relevant Lyran ships as being from the LDR) as well as some specific rules intended to represent the 'pre-refit' era technology (seeking weapons are not quite as effective as in later eras, for example) which make flying the Middle Years ships a distinct challenge than you'd get when commanding the later-era ships in the 'main' Fed Commander books.
So, you could get both books, do a bit of the card preparation yourself, and you'd be all set to go with some Middle Years-era action!
Plus, there will later be a specific booster for the Franz Joseph ships (the ones as seen in the Technical Manual, as opposed to the upgraded versions already in the game) called Booster 91 - and it would be more at home among the Middle Years ships of B2 than in the General War setting.
Does this sound like it might be a reasonable way to get into the setting, or would you rather just go straight to the main modules?
(And if you are into FC already, how interesting does the MY module sound?)
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