I played Star Fleet Battles back in the 80's-early 90's, and you were right to be afraid! I used to joke that you needed a PhD in the game to play it right. Fortunately we just played for fun, not competitively.
Man Marco, I would LOVE to see a short playthrough of this game in action. I feel like the game could actually move pretty smoothly in practice, but in just looking at the rules it seems really complicated. Anyway, thank you so much for these videos - I've been on the fence with this game forever and your review allowed me to see a glimpse of what makes this game special.
I have played a lot of Star Fleet Battles and this is so much better. SFB could takes hours to resolve moderate sized battles because of the 32 impulses. And it could be very boring if you plotted 2 movement points and you could only move two hexes out of 32 callouts. And only drones moved at 32, So there were always impulses that would be called out that no one on either side could do anything while you waited for the next impulse. Overall, the concepts are simple. Allocate energy, move, power shields power weapons based on how you expect your opponent to move. So there is some guesswork, but all very easy to work out. Kinda like you have to anticipate moves in X-wing, you need to think ahead, but nothing too hard. Also, the one that they fixed in this game that I hated in the SFB was that you HAD to allocate one energy to life support systems or your crew would die. So even though your ship could generate 30 power, 1 always went to life support so you always felt short changed from the start. You can also get the quick play demo rules from Amarillo Design Bureau to give this game a try, just print out a few things and you can play with basic ships. Then you can find official downloads to expand the trial as well as fan created ships as well. The only thing I don't like is that the license is limited to the original series only. I really like the newer ships and you'll have to search for fan made sheets to fill that out, and I haven't found any fan support for TNG or later ships. I'll keep looking. Thank you Marco for a great review, this is a fantastic game that really improves on the original game and I also recommend it.
Glad to see you liked the game Marco. I have played Full blown SFB for years. A SFB Veteran friend of mine and I played FC at the squadron level a couple months back. We both agreed that it was a great intro to the system, and you could stop there and be completely happy. However, if you know the full system you will have some trouble throttling back as I know we were both wanting to do things you can do in the full system that were not covered here. Once you master FC find a couple folks and try the full blown version. Its a bit of a brain burner with all the rules, but it is well worth it. :) Now you need to dive into ASL starter kit! ;) Its to ASL what FC is to SFB. :)
Nice video. I have owned the introductory rules for a few years now but never had the time to play. My son is now old enough to enjoy and we ran some scenarios this weekend and really enjoyed it. I prefer it over SFB at this stage in my life.
I'm thrilled to see you post this review, as this underappreciated gem doesn't really get a lot of love, despite the fact that its bigger brethren Star Fleet Battles seems to be known quite well in the gaming community. I attempted Star Fleet Battles back in the mid-80s, but it was simply too much work and not enough fun for me, so I abandoned it despite respecting the system highly. Federation Commander is a Goldilocks version for me -- not too hard and not too soft, but just right.
After picking up Star Trek Fleet Captains last year, it also made me want to pick up a good tactical level ST game. I owned SFB years ago, but it ended up being reading material more than actual gaming. Thankfully, when I checked ADB's site, I noticed they now have this streamlined version, FC. Also picked up both the Klingon & Romulan Border boxes last year, so should have some good variety once I finally get around to it. Looking forward to both Fed Commander and Fleet Captains the next time I'm in the mood. :D I would also like to see your planned vids on some of the extra FC content besides the base sets.
I played Star Fleet Battles back in the 80's-early 90's, and you were right to be afraid! I used to joke that you needed a PhD in the game to play it right. Fortunately we just played for fun, not competitively.
Man Marco, I would LOVE to see a short playthrough of this game in action. I feel like the game could actually move pretty smoothly in practice, but in just looking at the rules it seems really complicated. Anyway, thank you so much for these videos - I've been on the fence with this game forever and your review allowed me to see a glimpse of what makes this game special.
Just bought romulan border because of this review. Am very excited to play. Thank you for posting videos like this.
Awesome job, Marco. One of your best reviews.
I have played a lot of Star Fleet Battles and this is so much better. SFB could takes hours to resolve moderate sized battles because of the 32 impulses. And it could be very boring if you plotted 2 movement points and you could only move two hexes out of 32 callouts. And only drones moved at 32, So there were always impulses that would be called out that no one on either side could do anything while you waited for the next impulse.
Overall, the concepts are simple. Allocate energy, move, power shields power weapons based on how you expect your opponent to move. So there is some guesswork, but all very easy to work out. Kinda like you have to anticipate moves in X-wing, you need to think ahead, but nothing too hard.
Also, the one that they fixed in this game that I hated in the SFB was that you HAD to allocate one energy to life support systems or your crew would die. So even though your ship could generate 30 power, 1 always went to life support so you always felt short changed from the start.
You can also get the quick play demo rules from Amarillo Design Bureau to give this game a try, just print out a few things and you can play with basic ships. Then you can find official downloads to expand the trial as well as fan created ships as well. The only thing I don't like is that the license is limited to the original series only. I really like the newer ships and you'll have to search for fan made sheets to fill that out, and I haven't found any fan support for TNG or later ships. I'll keep looking.
Thank you Marco for a great review, this is a fantastic game that really improves on the original game and I also recommend it.
Glad to see you liked the game Marco. I have played Full blown SFB for years. A SFB Veteran friend of mine and I played FC at the squadron level a couple months back. We both agreed that it was a great intro to the system, and you could stop there and be completely happy. However, if you know the full system you will have some trouble throttling back as I know we were both wanting to do things you can do in the full system that were not covered here. Once you master FC find a couple folks and try the full blown version. Its a bit of a brain burner with all the rules, but it is well worth it. :)
Now you need to dive into ASL starter kit! ;) Its to ASL what FC is to SFB. :)
This is my wife's favorite game. She loves playing with the Romulan K7R, which is an incredibly hard nut to crack when I play Federation ships.
Nice video. I have owned the introductory rules for a few years now but never had the time to play. My son is now old enough to enjoy and we ran some scenarios this weekend and really enjoyed it. I prefer it over SFB at this stage in my life.
Super overview, very helpful, will order the game now!
I'm thrilled to see you post this review, as this underappreciated gem doesn't really get a lot of love, despite the fact that its bigger brethren Star Fleet Battles seems to be known quite well in the gaming community. I attempted Star Fleet Battles back in the mid-80s, but it was simply too much work and not enough fun for me, so I abandoned it despite respecting the system highly. Federation Commander is a Goldilocks version for me -- not too hard and not too soft, but just right.
this game is more than a gem, it is a cave full of endless treasures!
marcowargamer
"cave full of endless treasures" = also a great way to describe your video reviews. :)
I just gave in and bought klingon and romulan boarder, and klingon and romulan attack! Can't for them to arrive.
Wow! Quite a positive review. Thanks Marco.
After picking up Star Trek Fleet Captains last year, it also made me want to pick up a good tactical level ST game. I owned SFB years ago, but it ended up being reading material more than actual gaming. Thankfully, when I checked ADB's site, I noticed they now have this streamlined version, FC. Also picked up both the Klingon & Romulan Border boxes last year, so should have some good variety once I finally get around to it.
Looking forward to both Fed Commander and Fleet Captains the next time I'm in the mood. :D I would also like to see your planned vids on some of the extra FC content besides the base sets.
should I get this, or advanced missions for my sfb?
RIP Mr. Nimoy
awesome video :)
too much babble at the beginning