Going Olde School: Federation Commander

Started by LongBlade, August 23, 2012, 11:16:00 PM

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LongBlade

DV8 and I played some Federation Commander today and had a great time. Looks like my next worthless time (and money) sink. Great time - like Star Fleet Battles but less overhead.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Martok

Would you believe that despite my deep love of Trek, I've never played either?  :-[ 


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"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

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LongBlade

Quote from: Martok on August 24, 2012, 01:15:14 PM
Would you believe that despite my deep love of Trek, I've never played either?  :-[

I've played some Star Fleet Battles, but this looks like a more streamlined version. We played the basic game and I couldn't tell the difference. This is starting to look like yet another game I'm going to have to get into. Pushing a bunch of Star Trek pewter around a table might just be as close to heaven as I'm going to get.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

mirth

Man I would love to get into Fed Commander. Played some SFB back in the day. I loved that game, but most of my friends hated it so it was hard finding opponents.

LB, did you guys use minis in your game or was it the counters that come with the game?
"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

TheCommandTent

You guys got any pictures of the game or a link to the games site.  I found one but I am not sure if its the game you are refering to.
"No wants, no needs, we weren't meant for that, none of us.  Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

TheCommandTent

Thanks for the links, looks like fun.  However, for me it looks to be one of those games I would play if someone else spent the time and money to collect and put on the game but would probably never collect them myself ... until I played it and found out I really liked it.  ;D
"No wants, no needs, we weren't meant for that, none of us.  Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

mirth

My problem would be that if I got into I'd need to own every module, expansion, ship pack, etc. Even if I only played it once a year.
"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

TheCommandTent

Quote from: mirth on August 24, 2012, 04:15:37 PM
My problem would be that if I got into I'd need to own every module, expansion, ship pack, etc. Even if I only played it once a year.

I can understand that.
"No wants, no needs, we weren't meant for that, none of us.  Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

LongBlade

Quote from: mirth on August 24, 2012, 03:01:45 PM
Man I would love to get into Fed Commander. Played some SFB back in the day. I loved that game, but most of my friends hated it so it was hard finding opponents.

LB, did you guys use minis in your game or was it the counters that come with the game?

First thing: Federation is an easier game than Star Fleet Battles. It might still have too much overhead for their tastes, but it could be worse! ;)

We didn't do pics. This was a shakedown cruise to figure out the base mechanics.

I do have two minis that I bought on a lark several years ago: a Federation heavy cruiser and a Romulan R-type Battlecruiser. They're not painted yet, but it should be short work to do them. Hardest part is figuring out a color scheme for the Romulans - apparently there's a lot of latitude in terms of color schemes.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

LongBlade

Quote from: mirth on August 24, 2012, 04:15:37 PM
My problem would be that if I got into I'd need to own every module, expansion, ship pack, etc. Even if I only played it once a year.

I'm not sure Federation Commander has nearly as many as SFB. But the minis...those I can see buying a bunch of...
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

GJK

Are there scenarios with objectives for Federation Commander or do you just "fight to the death" with the ships?  I watched my son play some Bridge Commander last night (he's new to Star Trek) and he really seemed to enjoy it.  We enjoy playing ASL and Up Front together and I'm thinking that he may like Federation Commander.  Doubt we'd ever go the full SFB's route.
Clip your freaking corners!
----------------------
Blood Bowl on VASSAL - Ask me about it! http://garykrockover.com/BB/
----------------------
"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

-Dean Vernon Wormer

LongBlade

Quote from: GJK on August 25, 2012, 01:39:57 PM
Are there scenarios with objectives for Federation Commander or do you just "fight to the death" with the ships?  I watched my son play some Bridge Commander last night (he's new to Star Trek) and he really seemed to enjoy it.  We enjoy playing ASL and Up Front together and I'm thinking that he may like Federation Commander.  Doubt we'd ever go the full SFB's route.

I have only leafed through the free starter rules online so I can't answer that question with certainty.

There are apparently two scales to the game - controlling fleets or controlling ships. I would assume that even if there weren't scenarios you could make them up. I do know that Star Fleet Battles has scenarios, and I suspect that pedigree has been passed along. But you'll have to wait until we get our hands on the full game to know with certainty.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

DV8

#14
It looks like the two starter sets come with some scenarios.  It might be somewhat like ASL where the expansion sets (the "Attack" modules in FC) come with different scenarios.

http://www.federationcommander.com/product_list.shtml

What LB is not telling you is this all started with a $7 acquisition of SFB from the clearance table at our FLGS that he talked me into.  I'll make sure to direct my wife to him when she complains about yet another "stupid" game expenditure.   ;)
"Most of my cliches aren't original." - Chuck Knox