"Captain's Log #49" Topic

My Captain's Log #49 delivery arrived today:

That's two copies of CL49 (one in LPE for day-to-day use, and another in regular size for safe keeping), the CL49 supplemental file, the SFB Federation Master Starship Book, the print editions of the FC Omega and LMC playtest packs, and a trio of indvidual FC Ship Cards (Fast Naval Transport, ISC Fast Cruiser, and Andromedan Recon Cobra).

As noted on the front cover, CL49 includes a history article looking at the Andromedan War, which was inspired by an older article covering the General War written quite a ways back. It also includes a new article exploring the Intergalactic Trunk Line, which (we think) the Andros may have used in order to get to the Milky Way (and possiby to other galaxies).

I should note that the Andro history article (but not the shorter ITL piece) was written by myself, as were the rule portions of the playtest Omega and LMC files for Federation Commander. So my apologies to anyone who may find those documents wanting.

That Federation Master Starship Book is a great read, made me start looking more into StarFleet Battles as a whole, especially the conjectural PF's

The title Article was a great read overall too!

Overall good stuff!

That Federation Master Starship Book is a great read, made me start looking more into Star Fleet Battles as a whole, especially the conjectural PF's

As it happens, the "dark future" timeline listed in SFB Module C3A (the one encountered by the Darwin, a time-travelling Federation galactic survey cruiser) has the Feds of that alternate reality adopt PFs in alt-Y198. This was more an act of desperation, however, given how badly things were going against the Invaders by then. (The Darwin scenario was first published in Module X1, but C3A went over the data recovered from that encounter in more detail.)

The key difference between the "dark future" and the standard timeline was the fate of the Darwin itself. In the main historical course of events, the ship managed to uncover the key to the Andromedan logistical network in Y195, and pass on its findings to Star Fleet. But in the alt-Y207 the ship was temporarily displaced to, the ship was written off with its findings going unreported, and the truth behind the Andro base network was not discovered until Y200. Those extra five years gave the "dark future" Andros a decisive head-start which their opponents in the Alpha Octant were not able to overcome.

The title Article was a great read overall too!

Do you mean in CL49, or in the FMSSB?

If the former, thank you. (If not, never mind…)

Well, let me congratulate you no matter what; I admire ANY author getting published.

Doug

Thank you kindly.

Oh, I should note that there is a free pdf of the CL49 Supplemental File, which covers some of the effort that went on behind the scenes in the making of this issue. It's listed on Warehouse 23, DriveThruRPG, and Wargame Vault.