LongBlade - your thoughts on Federation Commander

[Martok]

Any comments so far?  Did you get to play this past weekend? 

[Barthheart]

+1 yeah what's up? ???

[LongBlade]

I played Fed Commander online last weekend.

My thoughts, after playing one game (which isn't much) go something like this.

As far as I could tell you have to pony up a year's subscription in advance. It's not outrageous, but IIRC it's ~$72.

What do you get? You get a framework to play Fed Commander and Star Fleet Battles.

You must know how to play/have access to the boardgame/minis rules to play.

As a "game" it's sorta half-baked. A couple of times I moved illegally because the game didn't stop me. My buddy called me out on it and I realized that old addage "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" applies here. You log your speed and the game highlights the impulse you move on. If you move out of impulse it doesn't stop you.

There is an ability to allocate energy and track damage. However, we couldn't figure it out. The game's UI is not intuitive, but it's not as complex as, say, the frustration I have with Command: Naval Air Ops. That could be because I already am familiar with Fed Commander's rules.

In short: I like what I saw. It's not complete in the sense that it provides a skeleton with which to play. It's not really complete in and of itself. We still have a lot more to learn about the game, but in the first round I found it easier to allocate power and track weapons expenditures manually using the boardgame's cards rather than online. I'm reasonably sure it can be done online - but that will take some time to figure out.

Do not expect much in the way of graphics. The game feels like you're playing something developed in 1985 - which is probably close to correct.

That said, if you're looking to scratch an itch with a wargaming buddy across the country it does provide enough of a skeleton to do it with. I wish there were more to it. The game has been updated as recently as last summer and ran fine on my Win 8 quad core machine.

Do you have more questions?

[Martok]

Thanks LB.  You've covered everything I can think of at the moment! 

[Barthheart]

Thanks LB. Fer $72 I was hoping for a bit more than just a different type of VASSAL..... :P

[LongBlade]

Thanks LB. Fer $72 I was hoping for a bit more than just a different type of VASSAL..... :P

I'm of two minds.

First, if you want to play online SFB/FC this gives you the tools.

Second, it's pretty expensive.

And I yo-yo between the two. It's expensive. But someone created it.

Now that I've signed up, I'm committed. I don't hate it. For that amount of money there should be more there there. But at least we have something, and in truth, I've blown $72 on crappy meals. So it's not really that big of a deal.

[sunnysn]

Yet another drooling spammer........

[LongBlade]

Awwwww. I was hoping for more conversation on the topic.

[Martok]

I've still got to get in more time playing the game in the first place (with an actual person across the table from me).  That afternoon in Eau Claire was fun, but I want MOAR!