Recently, I wandered into my Favorite Local Game Shop both to browse and to search for a specific book, when I noticed some Federation Commander games, supplements, and miniatures on display. I had first learned of this game whilst perusing the Star Fleet Universe Web site, the official site of Star Fleet Battles, the original Star Trek-inspired starship war game published by Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.. There is now an official Federation Commander Web site, and from the look of things, this is the new direction of ADB.
Federation Commander certainly has much to recommend it. It is a simplified version of Star Fleet Battles that does away with (for now at least) much that was ponderous or distinctly unTreklike. The game reportedly plays four times faster than its predecessor, and in addition to squadron level combat, it also presents fleet level combat rules that serve as the official way of resolving fleet battles for both Federation Commander and Star Fleet Battles.
In addition, the components are nicer. The starship SSDs are simpler, color-coded for easier reading, and laminated for reusability. The counters are full color. The map, although I haven’t seen it, is probably nicer, too.
The downside of this is the increased expense. To get the complete game, you need two starter sets (Klingon Border and Romulan Border), three (for now) expansion sets (Klingon Attack, Romulan Attack, and Tholian Attack), and twelve booster packs that include duplicate ship cards plus ship cards not found in any of the starter or expansion sets (one per booster pack). It breaks down like this:
- 2 Starter Sets at $59.95 each: $119.90
- 3 Expansion Sets at $29.95 each: $89.85
- 12 Booster Packs at $9.95 each: $119.40
- Total: $329.25
That does not include miniatures. Would I like to own the complete Federation Commander line? Certainly. I would probably be more inclined to consider making the investment had I not already spent money on Star Fleet Battles. If only I could trade my SFB merchandise for FC merchandise…
In the end (until I become wealthy enough that price is no object), I must ask myself: Do I really want to spend all that money on redundant (albeit superior) products, or would I rather spend it on all those great starship miniatures ADB makes and just adapt Full Thrust (published by Ground Zero Games) to the Star Trek universe?
I’m leaning toward the latter.
If only Ground Zero Games would publish a fully updated and integrated Full Thrust compendium and find a distributor in North America. The four Full Thrust books are no longer in print, but at least they are available as free downloads at their site (you’ll want Full Thrust, More Thrust, Fleet Book 1, and Fleet Book 2).
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