Romulans are expert tacticians, smarter, faster and more powerful than any human. They are extremely skilled at hit-and-run tactics, using their cloaks to the fullest of their ability. The Romulans believe that the Federation helped Orion pirates raid the Empire for decades and is not intending to show the humans any leeway… In short, all of the ingredients necessary to create explosive situations are present, as commanders will be ordered to patrol the border, escort convoys, rescue scientists or colonists and even do away with some of the extragalactic monster which roam this part of known space.
Federation Commander: Romulan Border is a stand-alone board game/war game, which is part of the Federation Commander series. All of the games and supplements in this series can be combined, however, so that, for example, it becomes possible to pit Klingons against Romulans if Federation Commander: Klingon Border is also used.
This game is set in the Star Fleet Universe, which sprang into existence in 1979. The original game designer was inspired by the first Star Trek television show, which he saw while playing a naval combat game between engineering school and supper. A contract with Paramount was signed, allowing the company to use Star Trek background and some of the names. The marketing licenses were pretty complicated. For example, names like the ‘Federation’, ‘Klingons’ and ‘Vulcans’ are used, but during all of these years, there never has been any mention (in official sources) of Kirk, Spock, or the Enterprise.
The contract with Paramount wasn’t updated when the first Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes were aired. At this time, the Star Fleet Universe had expanded. Both fiction and rulebooks had added new stories, races and ships to the official canon and the designers didn’t want to abandon all of their hard work and overhaul their entire universe just to be able to incorporate the new series. Thus, the Star Fleet Universe continued on its own, steering another course, but still remaining very closely linked to Star Trek.
The Star Fleet Universe spawned an extremely successful board game/war game (Star Fleet Battles), a role-playing game which is being published for many different game systems (Prime Directive), a card game (Star Fleet Battle Force), stories and its own line of miniatures and accessories. However, Star Fleet Battles was a very involved game, its basic rulebook taking up no less than 224 pages. With an extended rulebook of 900+ pages, SFB has been called ‘the second most complicated board game known’. Understanding that the prospect of having to memorise rules sets the size of a decent trilogy, Amarillo Game Design released Federation Commander, a simpler space combat game based on Star Fleet Battles. With 60-page rulebooks inside, this is game is far easier and quicker to learn, while there still is a plethora of possibilities and tactics available to the players. Even though Federation Commander is definitely a lot easier on the brain cells than the otherwise excellent Star Fleet Battles, the designers are quick to point out that FC is not a rules-light version of SFB. If anything, one could say both games are cousins, not father and son. Of course, there are many similarities and, luckily, both rules sets use the same miniatures.
There are more differences between FC and SFB, though. A major one can be found in the design compartment. Star Fleet Battles still looks a lot like it did almost three decades ago. Of course, production values have increased, but to young gamers, it may seem a little dated. Federation Commander is - by lack of another word – prettier. The rulebook contained within the box still only has black and white colouring, but the basic package also includes full-colour counters (a major improvement over original SFB) which can be used instead of miniatures, easy-to-use full-colour reference sheets and full-colour ship cards. It also has a multi-part map on hard cardstock.
It is possible to play in two different scales, called Fleet Scale and Squadron Scale. All of the ship cards are printed on two sides, each representing a different scale. The map, too, has two sides: one with large hexes and another one with smaller hexes. What’s more, both scales use the same rules! The major difference is that Fleet Scale ships are about half as big, have less boxes and use half as much energy to move. This was a stroke of genius, as players desiring faster games are free to use the Fleet Scale, while players wanting more realism and protracted battles can opt for the Squadron Scale. In fact, both scales can be combined so that there are twice as many ships available. If ‘fictional-historical’ accuracy is desired, or if this game is played alongside Prime Directive, we would advise against this, as it is difficult to suspend disbelief this way. If Federation Commander is played as a stand-alone board game, consistency is less important.
Of course, large fleet battles are better dealt with using the Fleet Scale (hence its name), unless players have ample time and possibly multiple days to finish a major battle between a large number of ships.
Another very intelligent decision was the inclusion of full-color reference sheets. While it may take a few battles to get to know the rules well, once the basics are known, all of the necessary information can be found on a single double-sided sheet of light cardboard. In fact, the reference sheets in Romulan Border are designed even better than the very similar sheets used in Klingon Border. Just by glancing at these summaries, it is easy to see that a lot of thought has been given to the lay-out and even to the colours used. After just one battle, we only needed to reference our rulebook once or twice – a feat which many games using easier mechanics fail to accomplish.
The ship cards, too, are excellently designed. All of the necessary information, as well as the contours of the vessel, can be found on the appropriate side, including Turn Mode, Move Cost and differently-coloured boxes, each one representing a specific system. The Power Track to the right of each sheet has improved, now showing clearly what the maximum expendable power is. Paperclips can be used to indicate how much energy has been allocated, while the box not only includes dice and paperclips, but also a marker. With the correct kind of marker, it is possible to check boxes without having to worry about the sheets. After all, the writing can simply be erased, although we would advise players to laminate their ship cards anyway.
As for the rules: these may seem complicated and they surely cover a lot of different situations, but in fact they are fairly easy to learn, mostly thanks to the superb reference sheets.
Playing a single Turn can take up quite a lot of time, especially if ships are capable to engage each other in combat. A single Turn consists of Energy Allocation, eight Impulses divided into four Sub-Pulses each and an End of Turn phase.
During the Energy Allocation phase, power is calculated by adding the number of undamaged warp engine, impulse engine and reactor boxes together. There may also be some energy left from previous Turns in the batteries. The first thing to do is set the Baseline Speed (0, 8, 16, or 24). This equals the number of hexes a ship will move during a single Turn. Baseline Speed is divided evenly between Sub-Pulses, which enhances possible tactics. For example, a ship moving at a Baseline Speed of 16 will move during the second and fourth Sub-Pulse of each Impulse, while a ship moving at a Baseline Speed of 32 will move during each Sub-Pulse. In the beginning of each Impulse, it is possible to accelerate or decelerate if enough extra energy is paid. Generally, larger ships have a higher Move Cost and need to move in a straight line for a longer time before they are able to turn (for example, the Federation Battlecruiser has a Turn Mode of D and a Move Cost of 1, meaning it must expend 24 energy points in order to obtain a Baseline Speed of 24, while the Gorn T-Rex Dreadnought has a Turn Mode of E and a Move Cost of ¾, meaning it has to allocate 18 energy points to movement if it wants to have the same Baseline Speed of 24 – all of the possible options are shown on the ship cards). At the start of a given Impulse, it is possible to pay Energy Points equal to one Movement Point in order to gain one more Sub-Pulse during that Impulse only. For example, a Ship with a Move Cost of 1.5 and moving at a Baseline Speed of 8 (1 Sub-Pulse per Impulse) needs to expend 1.5 Energy Points in order to gain one extra Sub-Pulse of movement. Thus, it would not only be able to move during the fourth and last Sub-Pulse of that Impulse (as normal when moving at a Baseline Speed of 8), but also during the second Sub-Pulse for that one Impulse only. Ships can never accelerate more than one step during any given Sub-Pulse. In addition, a specific Sub-Pulse movement can be cancelled by decelerating, but this time the player only needs to announce he or she will be expending energy to do so during that specific Sub-Pulse. All of this is not as difficult as it sounds, and players will start toying around with their energy allocation very soon. There are also rules for turning (each Turn Mode is cross-referenced with the Baseline Speed to determine the forward movement needed before a ship is able to turn), reverse movement (costs double the energy), sideslips, base rotation and special maneuvers (such as high energy turns, emergency deceleration, evasive maneuvering, docking and landing and disengagement).
Also during the Energy Allocation phase, photon torpedoes can be pre-loaded, damaged shields can be regenerated (at a cost of 2 per box) and energy can be assigned to keep up tractor beams used in the previous Turn.
In combat, range is determined by counting the number of hexes between the firing unit and the attacker and adding one (i.e., also counting the target square). This is similar to most war games and board games. Weapons have set arcs in which they can fire (Left Forward, Left, Left Rear, Right Forward, Right, Right Rear and 360°). The appropriate firing arc is always indicated next to the weapon box on the ship diagram. Arcs are sometimes combined to indicate weapon banks and the like. For example, two pink boxes numbered 5 through 6 with PH-1 and LF+L indicated next to them would indicate two Phaser-1 weapons capable of firing in the Left Forward and Left firing arcs.
To fire a weapon, first the necessary Energy Tokens need to be expended. This varies according to weapon type. Then, 1d6 is rolled and cross-referenced with the range on the table for that specific weapon. This yields the number of Damage Points. For example, when firing a Phaser 1, a roll of 3 at a range of 5 will generate 4 Damage Points. The same result (a roll of 3 at a range of 5) when firing a Phaser 3 will generate no damage whatsoever.
First, shield boxes left in the appropriate arc are crossed. Some shields may be down to enable ships to use their transporters, though. Also, at the end of a Turn, up to 5 points of shields in one location may be transported to another location. If a volley does at least 10 points of damage but does not penetrate a shield, one point of damage is scored as internal damage. Shields can only be regenerated by allocating energy to them at the start of a Turn. A small number of ships have Armor, which protects ships after shields are down. Any remaining damage is transferred to other locations. To determine which boxes need to be checked, one rolls 1d6 and consults the appropriate table. The ‘table’ consists of a single row and one simply needs to read from left to right to determine which systems are damaged. For example, Table #1 lists the following, systems, from left to right: Right Warp (blue), Impulse (blue), Left Warp (blue), Forward Hull (orange), Lab (yellow), Transporters (yellow), Battery (blue), Right Hull (orange), Reactor (blue) and Any Warp (blue). If 4 points of damage get through the shields, one box is checked in each of the following locations: Right Warp, Impulse, left Warp and Forward Hull. If five points of damage are scored, each of the previous locations are damaged, as is the Lab. All tables have an alternate line, indicating what system should be used if the system mentioned in the first line isn’t available. This is a very, very elegant way of distributing damage. It may take a few Impulses to get used to, but once known, using these tables will become second nature to the players. Any damage whoch cannot be scored by the Damage Allocation Charts is scored on Frame Damage. The frame is also damaged if all other boxes on a Ship Cards have been disabled. Also, every alternate line on the Damage Allocation Tables has one Frame Damage result, and on top of that a player can choose to check one frame box instead of the box representing another system if this is the last box of a given type.
Photon Torpedoes need to be armed before they can be used. During the Energy Allocation phase in the beginning of a Turn, a player needs to pay 2 Energy Tokens in order to arm 1 photon torpedo. This process is repeated in the next Turn, after which the torpedo can be armed during the Direct-Fire Weapons phase. Armed photon torpedoes can be held by paying 1 Energy Token per Turn. It is also possible to overload torpedoes, increasing their punch dramatically by expending more energy. Overloaded torpedoes take two Energy Tokens to be held each Turn.
Disruptors, too, can be overloaded, but this doesn’t take any time. Neither Romulans nor Federation ships use disruptors, but the rules are in the book just to be complete.
Drones, suicide shuttlecraft, suicide freighters and plasma torpedoes are ‘seeking weapons’. They move on their own, on their own Sub-Pulses, and need to connect with the target in order to detonate. Having a nice selection of Anti-Drones always comes in handy. Plasma-armed ships can detonate torpedoes in their tubes, turning them from seeking weapons into dangerous direct-fire weapons. Hellbore cannons and fusion beams are mentioned, but since these weapons are only used by Hydrans, they will be described in upcoming supplements.
There is more. Rules are provided for labatories, control systems, tractor beams, transporters, marine boarding parties, repairs, shuttlecraft, cloaking devices, planets and more.
Despite being far less weighty than Starship Battles, Federation Commander is a very involved game, offering plenty of room for master tacticians to flex their brain muscles and show off their skills. Even though there certainly is a random element involved, intelligent energy allocation, good tactical movement and a correct use of the available weapons will usually carry the day. There are also several scenarios provided, not all of them centred on simply destroying your opponents.
Federation Commander: Romulan Border is a wonderful, highly addictive game. Game immersion is greatly enhanced by using painted minis, but it certainly isn’t necessary to purchase miniatures in order to enjoy the game. The counters within the box work just fine as well. All in all, this game should appeal to Trekkies, space combat and SF fans and wargamers and boardgamers alike. Very, very highly recommended stuff. *****
More info: www.federationcommander.com
Dirk Vandereyken
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