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mj12games.com/forum → Posts by cnuzzi
Lol it was so simple I couldn't see it. I was putting all kinds of FC/SFB complications on it. 
So, how exactly does a ship escape from a web in Starmada? Let's say a Klingon ship with an Engine Rating of 5 enters a strength 3 web on turn 1. It stops. The next movement phase (turn 2) it now has an engine rating of 2. The web is still at strength 3. What can the Klingon do? Is that optional engine doubling rule the only way out?
In FC, a ship (or seeking weapon) is trapped "until they have (during eight consecutive impulses) expended Movement Points equal to the strength of the web (at the time they escape)."
Since there are no impulses in Starmada, would the Klingon be able to leave on turn 3 after expending one point of its reduced ER? That would leave it with one point of movement that movement phase (I'm assuming the ship would not get its full ER back until the movement phase of turn 4). If the web was very strong, a ship might need multiple turns to escape, and if the Tholians add energy or the ship takes damage, it might never get out. That seems like the most SFU-like way to handle it, imho.
I can't find any mention of web deterioration in the rules. In FC, web deteriorated by 1 pt for each hex of length per turn if not reinforced, so a 3-hex strand of strength 4 web would go down to strength 1 after 1 turn. Does web not deteriorate in Starmada? (I would advise against non-deteriorating web - it might be too powerful).
In Alien armada Unity it states:
When fighting inside a nebula, all starship attacks are modified by a -1 penalty to the to-hit roll.
Starships only? Or are fighters and seekers included?
If a battle is taking place inside a nebula, all cloaked starships are automatically detected
SFU cloaked ships are "detected" by default. In a nebula, would the cloak be voided?
Double its engines? Only Orions can do this in the SFU. Is that something other ships can do in Starmada in general?
Alien Armada Unity pg 14 states:
A ship that begins a game turn inside a web strand has its thrust rating reduced by the strength of that strand (to a
minimum of zero).
Is that a leftover from Starmada AE/NE? Unity SFU ships have no thrust rating, correct?
Perhaps a better way to handle it in Unity would be that a non-Tholian ship entering a web hex comes to a stop and moves no further that movement phase, then on the next turn's movement phase must expend a number of movement points equal to the web's strength in order to move out of the hex (in other words, the web hex incurs an engine requirement equal to its strength to move the one hex forward necessary to clear it).
The Plasma-races (Gorn, Romulan, ISC) never developed drones
On ADB's own website, you can download the rules and SSDs for the SFB Sub-Light Game, which takes place during the fabled Earth-Romulan War mentioned in "Balance of Terror." The Romulan sub-light Warbird, Warhawk DD, and Snipe FF all have missiles, which are sub-light drones, so...
Also, rockets/missiles would, I think, be part of the early spaceflight development of any race.
the SFU* Plasma-races were never anywhere near the Hydrans
True, but the Feds have drones, and sometimes I like to play "what-if"-type scenarios, like a Fed-Kzinti or Fed-Klingon alliance against the Romulans, etc.
Then again, the Vuldar never existed, and suddenly they were there the entire time.
And the Federation would never have gunboats. And the Tholians' pursuers (Seltorians) would never show up. And only the Klingons would ever have a battleship. And Oceania has always been at war with East Asia. One's faith in the Fearless Leaders is best served by a short memory.
I might be a slightly disgruntled (and ripped off) former ADB fan.
I'm loving Starmada SFU! It lets me play bigger scenarios with more ships than I ever dared with FC/SFB, and I find the game mechanics superior. I love the way phasers work, for example - ph-1 and ph-2 are supposed to be the same same emitter, but ph-2 has an inferior targeting system. In FC/SFB, even when ph-2s hit at close range, they do much less damage than ph-1. In Starmada SFU, ph-2s have less range, but damage is the same as ph-1. That makes more sense to me based on the in-universe explanation of the difference between the two. In FC/SFB, I sometimes didn't even bother to use my ph-3s, as they were pitifully weak, but in Starmada SFU I use them at close range to great effect (Gatlings are going to be BRUTAL in Starmada!)
I noticed that as well. Plasma-D were not chosen for inclusion in Starmada, so I assume that this was done to give them some sort of artillery-based AA ability against enemy drones and fighters (and there WILL be fighters when the Hydrans come to Unity 
). In practice, it works just as well, plus drones don't degrade over time/distance traveled. Also, since drones are simply warp-speed nuclear missiles, it makes sense that plasma-using races would have developed them long before they even thought of plasma torps.
The Tholians use phasers.
Everyone uses phasers. I meant for heavy weapons.
I see. Since the Battle Stations in Klingon/Romulan Armada were individually named for each race, I thought these were supposed to be too,
So is the Tholian Base Station also photon-armed? Or disruptor-armed?
Is there a way I'll know when a corrected version is posted to w23?
After perusing the ship display index on pg 24, I believe that some of the doubling of the base station ship displays has to do with the fact that the Gorn and Romulan versions are identical, as are the Klingon and Kzinti versions. These then are merely mistitled, or one could be eliminated.
I was delighted to find Alien Armada Unity on w23 today and purchased it immediately. I'm very happy to have more ships, new weapons, and terrain rules for the SFU, and eagerly look forward to the other AE/NE SFU conversions. I have, however, noted the following errata:
(NOTE: Page numbers given are those printed on each page, not the pdf reader page numbers)
pg 15 - Orion Engine Doubling - Text is missing. All it says is "XX".
pgs 26 and 42 - Photon-Armed Base Station is disruptor-armed AND appears twice.
pg 28 - Klingon Planetary Defense Monitor - Left-side starship display missing picture.
pgs 29 and 35 - Disruptor-Armed Base Station appears twice (not counting pgs 26 and 42).
pgs 32 and 38 - Plasma-Armed Base Station appears twice.
Missing: Tholian Base Station (should be on pg 42)
I'll let you know if I find anything else.
1 - Can drones be targeted at other drones in Starmada SFU, as in Fed Com? I can't find any explicit statement either way in the rules. I'm not assuming the answer is "yes" because some things differ between the two - you can't fire ADD at Suicide Shuttles in Starmada, for example.
2 - Assuming the answer to the above is "yes", let's say a Klingon D7 fires a drone at a Fed CA. The CA then launches a drone targeted at the Klingon drone. The next Fighter Phase, the D7's drone activates first and enters the hex containing both the CA and the Fed drone. What happens?
I THINK that what happens is that the D7's drone makes its attack on the CA, and the CA's drone is removed from the board. Is that correct?
What is the link to the latest version of the Unity drydock? I've looked in Files but can't find it.
I'd like to second that request for a repost of the Vassal mod. I'd like to get into Grand Fleets, but I would need the Vassal mod to do it. Can someone either repost it or submit it to the Vassal site?
And a drone or suicide shuttle is killed by a single phaser hit of any type, or a single offensive/defensive tractor beam "hit", correct? Suicide shuttles still get the saving throw with tractor hits?
Sorry for all the questions - I just want to make sure I get it right. 
What is the lifetime of a drone in Starmada SFU? It was three turns in FC, so is it three activations? Or is it infinite until it hits or is destroyed? I've scoured the rulebook, but I can't find this explicitly stated anywhere.
The ship picture for the Gorn Allosaurus-class Battlecruiser is incorrect. It shows the T-Rex Dreadnought, with three "bubbles." It should be the same illustration as used for the Allosaurus Rex Command Cruiser (which has 2 bubbles).
Do plasma torpedoes also get the "tiny" -1 to-hit modifier like drones? I can see it going either way, because those ones in "Balance of Terror" looked pretty large, and their energy signature must be huge.
Is it possible to store more than 5 ships on the program?
You could probably make new tabs and copy a blank page over to them. That should work. Alternately, just make multiple copies of the file.
It might be better to do the latter, as the more tabs in a sheet, the more memory it uses.
The plasma-D was not brought over to Starmada. They were replaced with PH-3s.
Given that the KRC already has two S and two F torps, I'm fine with replacing them with ph-3s. That would have been a lot of seekers to keep track of!
I've been an SFU player since SFB Designer Edition days, and in recent years I've been playing Fed Com. One thing about the SFU - and I say this with love - the Klingons are a paper tiger. (No Kzinti jokes, please!)
Largely thanks to the Klingons' reliance on inferior ph-2s, even a Fed old CL has little to fear from a D7. The overwhelming power of Fed overloaded photons is part of the equation as well.
And so, I'm very happy to say that my Fed CA was just soundly trounced by a Klink D7. I mean totally. I had to disengage and run the hell away - limp, actually - with what was left of my tail between my nacelles. And...I loved it! Suddenly, facing a Klingon ship is scary again! I think it's due to the way Starmada handles ph-2s. In FC/SFB, they use a different damage chart from ph-1s. Their in-universe description, however, specifies that they are actually the same phaser emitter with a much less accurate targeting system. Starmada models this situation, imho, in a better way: by making them the same except for what is considered close, medium, and long range. Ph-1s, for example, are not subject to a -1 long-range modifier until at range 9, whereas for a ph-2 it's range 6, but they both roll 1d6 for damage. Additionally, disruptors seem to get a much-needed boost relative to photons over FC, and Starmada drones are more dangerous as well.
Thank you for making the Klingons scary again!
There's absolutely nothing wrong with tracking it on an individual weapon basis if you and your opponent are willing to do so.
One could draw a line between photons 4 and 5 and consider 1-4 and 5-6 as separate banks. 1-4 are supposed to be mounted on the saucer and 5-6 are supposed to be neck-mounted (like the 1701-A) anyway,
So, if I want to fire 4 photons, and I have 4 PP available, can I overload 2 of them and fire them all at once, or is overloading also meant to be all-or-nothing?
Since when? When I played SFB many years ago you unloaded everything in one turn, called an alpha strike.
That's one way to do it. Using half your photons every turn is another.
In the Romulan Armada ship descriptions, the KRC Command Cruiser is said to mount a pair of type-D plasma launchers. The ship display for the KRC does not show them, however, and there are no rules for plasma-D in the book. Was it decided to not include plasma-D in Starmada, or is the ship card in error?
mj12games.com/forum → Posts by cnuzzi
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