A question: 
If the escort that is blocking fire to an escorted ship has Stealth and is at long range from hostile ships, can it still block hostile fire and use its Stealth? That is, can it block fire at the ship it is escorting but not be fired on because it has stealth if the hostiles are at long range?

We banned strikers also.  A friend (GamingGlen) likes to put a flight of seekers on his ships and only launch them when the target is close and cannot move clear the next turn.  It is an interesting strategy...

I probably don't understand how the number of hull boxes is determined.  Is the size of a ship selected, then this size determines the number of hull boxes?  Can this number be changed?
I guess that armor is an added feature? 
I look forward to the new edition and am sure I will understand how everything works when I see the new rules.   I was using some presumptions that probably are inaccurate. :oops:

The big challange for me is to  Patiently Wait  for the new Edition to appear, and not try to figure out all of the details beforehand.

(But my Adult ADD makes me want to ask about shields now, they work...  )

The weapon that gets two shots doing one damage would be somewhat more useful than a weapon that shoots once doing two damage. 
:idea: The weapon shooting twice would be better for AA fire against fighters, strikers, seekers, or when firing at flotillas.

Another revision based on games played this week:

USS California (cost=700)

Hull: 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1         
Engines: 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1         
Shields: 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1         
Weapons: 1:X 2:X 3:X 4:Y 5:Z 6:Z

X: "Particle Cannon"  6/12/18, 1/3+/1/1
Starship-exclusive; Piercing +2
[ABCD][ABCD][ABCD][ABCD][CDEF][CDEF][CDEF][CDEF]

Y: "Laser Cannon"  6/12/18, 1/3+/1/1
[ABCD][HIJK][CDEF]

Z: "Ion Cannon"  6/12/18, 1/3+/1/1
Starship-exclusive; Piercing +2; Continuing Damage
[CD][CD][CD][CD][CD][CD]

Special: Hyperdrive; Armor Plating; Fire Control; Marines (7); Teleporters (5); Transport (100); Cargo (33)

I will discover how this design works tomorrow... 8-)

There are three or so books set in the Starfire universe by David(?) Webber.  They are excellent and it is fun to know the mechanics of how the weapons being fired in the books work.

Merry Christmas to you in Iowa and everyone else.

The new year is a week away.  May it be a greater year for everyone.  There is so much to look forward to:

The Primary season and Election of 2012; lots of fun and games as we go throu the uniquely USA facinating process of choosing a Chief executive for the next 4 years.  My friends in Canada have told me that they enjoy it more that we do. :shock:

Also there are many folk who think the world will end in just under a year(!)  These doomsayers believe that the Mayan Calander predicts this.  I guess that if the Long-gone, human-sacraficing Mayans' calander says it will be, then is must be  <RLOL>

But even more exciting is that the new version of Starmada is coming out. 
I plan to make Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ships using the new system when i am back in Jacksonville.  I am going to get other players involved in regular play.  I know I can make this work.  The ease-of-play of the version will appeal to new players.

I am looking forward to a good 2012.  I realize that I can choose to make better, and not let circumstances prevent me from enjoying it .

madpax wrote about there being no ignore shields, ignore armore: 
"I'm not glad at all. It would remove some Starfire weapons like Energy Beam (Ignore armor), Laser (ignore Shield) and Primary beam (ignore both)."

I used to play Starfire long ago.  Energy beam damage can be delt with using overload dampeners that absorb some of the damage.  To deal with laser beam hits, especially from fighters, ther was Laser-reflect armor that halved laser damage.  I think that these would overly complicate this new Edition of Starmada.  If you like these, the SAE version of the game is still ligit and these Starfire-type weapons can be used there.

The Weapon Abilities "Extra Hull Ability" and "Catastrofic Damage" would still be valad, but extra hull damage would now be the same as Double Damage...

I am excited about this new edition and really look forward to it.  My friends and I play with each player on a side having 2500 or even 3000 points.  It is fun, but sometimes the game boggs down a little from all of the dice rolling.  My ships have weapons that are 1/3+/1/1,2,3,4,or5 with Piercing or Starship exclusive on some of them.  This reduces the amount of dice I need to roll and makes my ships easier to play. 
The new system looks great.  I look forward to playing it.  I am sure that most will like it once you see how it works. 

My friends down here in S. Fla are playing Starmada on Monday Dec 26th at Noon at Gaming Glenn's excellent store near Fort Lauderdale.
PS:  I just got out of the pool    and am enjoying a S. Florida vacation...
Cheers

I am glad that the Starmada 2012 edition will Not have weapon traits that ignore shields or armor; Excellent!!!!!

I agree that Piercing +3 was a bit excessive.  Considering the high cost of Level 5 shields and the relatively low cost of Piercing +3, it made shields much less useful.  My friends and I have banned Piercing +3 and Ignores Shields.  Deleting these two along with Repeating and Strikers & Seekers has made for better games of SAE for us. 

For those who like the SAE version, and want to use it for ships in one-on-one or other small battles, keep on using it!  For those who like a smoother system for larger battles, use this New one (Starmada Task Force Edition).

:idea: I wonder if the ship designer program could allow for the design of ships of both editions in the same program.  The ship design program could have, in addition to the ship designing section, a part that translated the ship design into Starmada SAE ships and another part that shows the design in the newer Starmada STFE version.  That way the same ships can be used for a small battle, and as part of a larger task force.  Would this be practictal?

I still have my copy of the Starmada Compendium game.  It seems that the Starmada 2012 game (Starmada Task Force) will be using the terminology for the various weapon arcs that Starmada Compendium uses.   My friends and I used that version of the game for a long time before finally moving to These arcs are not too difficult to get used to.  If you print them out and place these into a plastic sheet protector, it makes an easy player aid. :ugeek:

This is true.  How about Starmada; Task Force Edition.