Who /SFB/ here?
I just got pic related today, and having a little flick through the rulebook. Looks like this shit can get cray-cray, looking forward to having a game
>>45910103
Not many SFB players left, anon, but it is still the king of detailed spaceship combat. Better universe than TV/movie Trek, too.
There are so many expansions, but if you are just starting out, the basic set will give you many hours of gameplay. If you still like it, pick up the advanced box set. It expands the basic set and adds dozens more ships and scenarios.
If SFB is too complex, or you want to find more players, you may also be interested in Federation Commander. It is SFB lite. The big change is energy allocation (FedCom is pay as you go, while SFB is pay in advance).
You going to play with counters or minis?
>>45910269
Counters at first, maybe minis eventually.
Im a BT player, so the level of detail and bookkeeping hasn't put me off.
I've gotta say, I'm impressed with how the rules are laid out. More systems should inter-reference this well
>>45910500
Yeah, for all its complexity, the SFB rules are easy to digest, well-referenced and pretty tight (they should be after all these years and editions). It helps that the designer is a professional engineer.
The core rules are pretty short. It's all the special weapons, systems and exceptions that make it complex and those you can layer in over time.
I played BT, too. I bet many players enjoy both games.
I actually prefer counters. The reason I bring up minis is because there are several different scales and lines. The current minis are boxed together by FedComm sets, so they don't always have the same contents as SFB.
If you are looking for head-to-head play, there is still a thriving tournament scene online. Most people I play with these days are in to more casual scenarios.
Who remembers this game?
Remembered it the other day when trying to recall what the first computer I'd ever used was. An old laptop with a black and white LCD screen. It didn't work so great for games so I was allowed to play on the new home computer when we got it.
Shit was amazing.
>>45912023
EGA trek rocked
Best floppy disk I owned. I'm gonna see if it's hanging around somewhere...
>>45910655
I haven't played in years but SFB was my favorite non-rpg game for decades. I bought but never got to play Fed Commander, too. My read through the rules made me believe it would be a fun game.. faster but still detailed enough to feel like SFB.
>>45910103
That game is solidified awesome. It is also one of the most thorough and complicated game systems ever. Shit reads like law books. Not for those lacking either mental capacity or strategic acumen. Takes forever to play, so you can't be lacking in patience either. Best not spoken of here as the internet generation is lacking in all three of the above stated. Look for a dedicated board or group and get in with them. Best bet. They will teach you right.
I'd love to find a PDF copy. All I've got are my dad's old print copies, and they're not really in a "use these on the table" state. Any chance some kind anon has a link?
>>45912495
>Best not spoken of here as the internet generation is lacking in all three of the above stated.
It seems that you are new here. I would encourage you to take the time to LURK MOAR and absorb the culture before you post.
The quality of the board depends on the thoughtfulness of the posters; I'm sure that if you stick around you'll see that /tg/ has a pretty high quality to shit ratio. Please don't become a rabid shitposting troll-feeder like me, you are better than that, anon.
Almost every time I see SFB mentioned in a thread, it's somebody jocularly mentioning how complex the rules are, and then a bunch of SFB players come forward and the discussion proceeds as normal. /tg/ is more tolerant of SFB than it is of Apocalypse World or any edition of D&D.
>>45910500
>>45910655
I'm yet another anon who enjoys BT and SFB. Also GQ3 and Seekrieg, but sadly no Harpoon. I seem to recall an anon recently mentioning BT as a gateway drug to hull box counting naval wargames, and I think that there is something to that.
>>45914408
Seconded
>>45914408
>Any chance some kind anon has a link?
I have something but I don't know if its want you want
https://mega.nz/#F!yg8gXRDJ!NMUmuB-cH9fINnkRv0242A
>>45915417
Thank you anon, this is excellent!
>>45915449
Well that's good, there are so many of these titles I'm not really sure what goes where, so I just dumped it all in the one folder. FASA's ST rpg is in there too.
>>45914408
There was a brief attempt at a roll20 campaign and the anon who ran that had errrrything SFB, including the FASA rpg splats for fluff. It has since been taken off mediafire, but it is there. Somewhere.
>>45916913
>It has since been taken off mediafire, but it is there. Somewhere.
Something like this? It was what I meant to post here >>45915417 but man did I fuck up and posted Traveller instead.
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/aq1d3df1e42wg/Star_Trek
>>45917049
Something like this but with actual SFB splats, yes.
Did anyone here play Starfleet Command? I know that it's basically the SFB vidya gaem, but what other differences are there?
>>45910103
SFB is fantastic.
Like others say start with the Basic Set and then work up as and when you want.
I broke my teeth on the cadets manual and that was a great way to begin.
SFB is actually very easy, if you can count, roll a d6 or two and consult tables, then you can play. Sure the EW rules are a bit complicated and you need a bit of time, but I don't think its that complicated. Not at all like all the stupid meme's would have you believe.
What you need is time though... A couple of hours for a basic game. We did a 1,500 fleet battle in a weekend - Kzin vs Feds. Surprisingly few casualties. As a Kzin player I would have lost had we more time because I'm too defensive. My drones couldn't break his defences but had he let loose I could have got him. My fault.
So, last suggestion, use the Basic rules (listed in the text) but include the Slideslip which is a "more advanced" manoeuvre. It's not and it's invaluable.
>>45919053
Yes, I played 1 but not the rest. It was fun, but I wish you could have paused the game for turns. You could only turn the speed of the game down to "almost pause" but it's not quite the same... I liked the reskinning to movie style ships though!
Slightly related, has anyone ever seen a link for the GURPS 3e version of Prime Directive? I used to own the real thing and it was good. Now I have the GURPS 4e version but in places it's not as good and stupid me gave the old version away.
>>45919160
If you liked 1, then you'll probably like 2. Adds the ISC and the Kzinti from SFB. It had a stand-alone expansion which let you play as Orion Pirates.
3 is very divisive, as far as I can tell. On one hand, it does oversimplify the formula and make it simpler than SFC 1 and 2. On the other hand, the simplification helps make the game easier to learn, while also letting you play as the TNG races/ships, but only the big ones (Federation/Klingon/Romulan/Borg). I like it, but if you liked the complexity of SFC 1, don't expect much from it.
>>45919327
Cool, I'll give that a look out for then, I know you can get it quite cheap these days and it'll be nice to get a bit of SFC back in.
>>45910103
I've got that as well as some of the older releases and the FC Klingon Border set. I have to say, the FC SSDs sure are fancy.
If anyone has PDFs of any modules, they would certainly be welcome...
>>45919147
>What you need is time though... A couple of hours for a basic game. We did a 1,500 fleet battle in a weekend - Kzin vs Feds. Surprisingly few casualties. As a Kzin player I would have lost had we more time because I'm too defensive. My drones couldn't break his defences but had he let loose I could have got him. My fault.
>Played over an entire weekend
>Couldn't properly finish a battle
I think this game might not be for me.
>>45919395
Look into Klingon Academy as well if you haven't played it and you want your captain's fix. Works best with a voice command program so you can qapla while you qapla.
>>45920531
>I think this game might not be for me.
That's really a good example of where the A Call To Arms version should be used. Trying to run a fleet sized game with just base SFB is like trying to play a game of 40k at 10000+ points. It can be done, but really everyone would be better off playing Epic.
Also of note: SFB really should not be played online. It's painfully slow when not in person. Painfully, depressingly slow. Seriously even Battletech works better than it, even without Megamek making everything better.
>>45921238
>Painfully, depressingly slow
False, unless you're just trying to figure the rules out or play with a ref. It does require some preparation (like an impulse counter either player can stop), but it's far from battletech-with-vassal slow.
>>45921531
>False
Literally amongst the worst gaming experience of my life was trying to play SFB online.
It absolutely needs automation when not face-to-face to avoid being a massive waste of time.
>>45912023
>>45912139
Does anyone know of a version of this that had the actual constitution class in it?
The version I had must have been licensed or something. Wish I could find it.
>>45922086
Ignore this, it was just an earlier version. Must have been before their license was pulled.
