Latest update for v10 rules is now online:
homepage.mac.com/cheethorne/sfb/Set-Up Changes:
* Updated 1.4 - Reduced the size of the terrain expanse to eight hexes and clarified restrictions on placing resources and terrains.
* Updated Appendix A - Players must now purchase three tugs and three survey ships outside of the ratio limits, but no more than two of those ships can be heavy cruisers. Changed starting map features based on testing.
Notes:
Did a test with John to set up the map assuming six players. We fiddled around with the terrain numbers and the map set-up procedure because of that. Nothing too radical was changed.
The fleet set up was changed in an important way with regards to the "free" ships. They are no longer free, instead they are required. You
must purchase three tugs and three survey ships, but cheap freighters are available if you don't want to spend a lot of money on it. Another important thing to remember is that only two of the required six ships can be heavy cruisers.
Ship Construction Changes:
* Updated 2.4 - Heavy cruisers now only need one base hull ship for each non-command special function ship, clarified when ships, attrition units, and tug pods are built, and changed attrition unit cost for gunboats.
* Added 2.4.4.4 - Conversions are now listed under the section for Base Dry Docks.
* Updated Appendix D - Added substitution list for the Kzinti.
Notes:
Heavy cruisers no longer need the 2-to-1 ratio for their special ships (except for command cruisers), which is good because there are not a lot of heavy cruisers floating around. The attrition unit cost for gunboats was reduced from 6 to 4, making them more cost effective to build. I also added some uses for fleet repair docks in building attrition units, ships, and tug pods. Please note that I've already realized that giving an FRD a frigate ship slot is stupid and this will be changed.
Espionage and Raiding Changes:
* Updated 3.6 - Each raid point now has its own raid pool and all raids now take a minimum of one turn to resolve.
* Updated 3.7 - Removed Incite Rebellion mission and added additional espionage missions.
Notes:
Quite a lot changed in the raid section. There is a raid pool at each raid point and there are no longer raids that reach on the same turn they are launched. Espionage was improved a little bit by adding some more missions and removing the Incite Rebellion mission, which was horribly broken.
Combat Section Changes:
* Updated 6.3 - Removed Blitzkrieg and Evasion missions. With the addition of the rules for disengagement casualties, evasion is no longer necessary.
* Updated 6.7 - Lowered the command rating cost of Heavy War Cruisers to be equal to War Cruisers and increased the cost of FRDs and Warp Gates.
Notes:
Removed unneeded missions. Everyone needs to get used to the idea that if an opponent wants to run away in a generally open space battle they can do it and you can't stop them. Live with it. The disengagement penalty rules ensures that closely matched fleets will likely fight a battle, while much smaller fleets can be pinned and ignored. Everyone simply has to plan for this.
I also reduced the cost of heavy war cruisers so they match the benefit produced by heavy frigates and heavy war destroyers. Also, FRDs and warp gates cost too few command points given what they can do (which is arguably not much, but that's why the increase was only a little).
Miscellaneous Changes:
* Added 3.3.3 - Fighters and gunboats for police ships and national guard ships are now drawn from a pool of attrition units stored in each province.
* Added 3.3.7 - Moved details of the Foward Defense Unit out of the special project appendix to here. The unit can no longer use large ground bases.
* Updated 4.2 - Clarified when ships are hidden by docking or landing and when this decision is made.
* Updated Appendix E - Changed cost of several special projects and added Kzinti entries to the ship construction projects.
Notes:
The most important of these changes is the attrition ship pool used by the police ships and national guard ships when you develop fighters and better technology. Giving these units for free is just too much. Please note that ground bases do not pull their attrition units form this pool because their attrition units can be used on Sorties and other fun stuff at any time, whereas the police and national guard only show up some of the time.
Upcoming Changes:
* I'll be improving the exploration charts to make finding resources more likely.
* I'll finally add details on Peace, War, and Exhaustion production.
* I'll finish the substitution lists for likely races (like the Federation and the Romulans).
* More special projects will arrive and existing costs will change a little.