Editing Star Fleet Battles (section)

==Alpha Octant Factions ==

==='''United Federation of Planets'''===

The Federation CA is the original ship the game was built around and just about every new players go to. We all know it and we all love it. Nothing more needs to be said about it's history because if you don't know what the Federation is how the hell did you end up here?

The photon torpedo is an incredibly flexible weapon being able to be fire close range for massive damage, medium range for sold hit chance and solid damage or as a proximity charge at long range for decent hit chance and low damage. But still some damage; a proxy fired photon can reach out and do damage at 30 range with a 50% chance to hit (that's amaze balls trust me). All on the fly, which allows you to adjust your plan to your opponents actions. 
Photons also have a fixed damage if they hit which is nice for calculating your attacks. All around the photon torpedo can meet any other races heavy weapon equally. 

Pro tip: never ever EVER narrow salvo your photons. I know that having every photon hit is tempting but remember if you roll bad every photon in the salvo will miss. Then your opponent laughs as he over-runs your unlucky ass. (Ok OK Ok...you can narrow salvo photons at an Andro at mid-range. That way you either do damage or nothing to avoid feeding him more power to kill you with (but I wouldn't recommend it. Even if you hit your then allowing the Andro the ability to then close to range 4 and savage you with it's TR's.))

The Feds have access to one of the most OP (wargear) shuttles in the game called the SWACS, yes it's an AWACS but in spaaaaaaaaaace. (I wonder if anyone here is old enough to get that joke?). A SWACS is a powerful tool but is usually restricted to only CVA groups and costs as much as a frigate but it's worth every point. A SWACS can operate drones on behalf of the fighter group (allowing them to go erratic for defense and not lose the drone strike), can offer EW points to it's carrier group or against an enemy ship (at no power cost) and best of all it can "go wild" an act as a wild weasel (again for no power cost) once per turn drawing all enemy seeking weapons on the map towards it (just make sure you have some way to deal with the dozens of drones now targeting your precious).  All in all a very powerful tool for handling a CVA groups massive drone waves and dealing with incoming waves just as easily. Just make sure to protect it and keep it safe as it's going to be a primary target the second it hits the map. One trick is to stay near a FFE and after going Wild get the FFE to scoop up the SWAC and book it too out run the incoming drones, just remember that a seeking weapon attracted by a wild SWAC cannot lose it's lock by any other method. You'll need to either kill the drones or outrun them.

In game the Feds offer some seriously solid ships armed with the supremely flexible Photon Torpedo as their heavy weapon. Backed up by a excellent phaser-1 suite, decent shields and generous hull levels as padding to protect those vital systems. In Late War games they can even boast plasma torpedoes or drones as secondary weapons bringing a lot of options to the player.

Downsides are slow turning radius, poor power curve, restricted forward arcs on the heavy weapons and a slightly heavier BPV cost but even with that the Feds are a solid choice for any BPV battle.

=== '''The Klingon Empire''' ===

Again nothing needs to be said; it's the Klingons. You know them. Proud and aggressive warriors ect ect. Keep in mind in the SFB timeline the Klingons were never neutered and remain an aggressive empire building race who use slaves to crew their ships.

The Klingons were designed to be the opposite of the Federation ships. Featuring high manoeuvrability, fast firing weapons and speed. They're armed with the quick firing Disrupter that is great at mid range fighting, having a decent hit chance and decent damage for low power cost. Backed up by only OK phaser-2's and OK drones until Late War when they can change in the phaser-2's for the excellent phaser-1's. Good forward arc shielding and great firing arcs allow a good Klingon captain to bring more of his firepower to bear per pass then his opponent thus wearing down his opponents ship before moving in for the kill.

Used properly the Klingons can dominate the movement phase of the fight. Taking shots at their best range and denying their opponents the opportunity to return effective fire. The Klinks are one of the hardest races to play well simply because they lack the 1 turn punch of most other races so any mistakes will probably cost you the game. As a Klink you have to dominate the fire exchange, you cannot let your opponent trade equal fire with you so you must always keep control of the range and ensure you come out ahead in the exchange. Your Disrupters are great for firing at 9 to 14 range, cost almost no power to use and can fire every turn. Sure when overloaded they hit like a wet noodle compared to other races overload but the whole point of the Disrupter is to NOT allow your opponent to fire off those costly overloads. Played right you can deny him any real chance to hit you with more then nuisance phaser fire as he'd probably rather hold onto the heavy weapons and try to catch you all the while your Disrupters are chewing away at his shields. Then after several turns of unequal exchange his shields should be severely weakened and you can turn in and go for the kill.

Downsides are low alpha strike output and mediocre weapons, mediocre phaser suite and hull levels. If you end up trading equal blows with your opponent you will come out on the losing end. Plus you always have to be aware of a slave revolt if too many of your Security stations get taken out which can quickly end your battle. 

I know I've made the Klinks sound terrible but they're actually really fun ships to fly but they are tricky cuz if you charge in guns blazing your gonna lose and lose badly. Plus they have the single largest ship in the game; the monstrous B-10 a up-sized battleship. (Think Yamoto vs Iowa)

=== '''Romulan Star Empire''' ===

It's the Romulans. You know em you love em. In SFB the Klingon-Romulan alliance holds and keeps the Federation at bay during the General War.

Romulan ships are pretty weird. The early ships are terrible. No joke. The WB and WE can barely charge their weapons and move at the same time with the cloak being the only thing saving them. So any early year match will be interesting to say the least. They do boast the most powerful Plasma R's to help but it's still very challenging to win. However once you get access to the KR (Klingon-Romulan Hybrid) ships you go from weak to equal footing and when you get to the Hawk series you get access to, hands down, the best ships in the game.

Romulan ships are armed with the best weapon in the game; the Plasma Torpedo. As it's a seeking weapon it does 90% of the work for you and while easy to counter any mistake on the receiving players end means pain. And lots of it. A solid phaser-1 suite, decent all around shields and decent turning radius allow for the (in)famous Plasma Ballet where a Romulan tosses plasma at his opponent then retreats into cloak to rearm. Never allowing the opponent a clear shot. It's super frustrating to play against so use that to your advantage and push your opponent into making mistakes. 

The cloak can be an incredibly powerful tool if used correctly or a huge disadvantage if used improperly. Learning when to cloak is essential if you want to succeed as a Romulan player. It's not a get out of jail free card and has some major downsides that you need to take into account when playing or it will be your undoing. Remember the cloak doesn't make you invulnerable, it breaks sensor lock-on's and makes most weapons pretty useless as once fully cloak you use the (current range x 2) +5 formula to calculate firing range so 99% of shot are going to miss. But your handing the initiative to your enemy as your cloaked speed will be pretty slow and you know your opponent will trundle over and sit on top of you until you decloak then light you up one impulse before you can fire. In some ways your ship is designed for this as you can fire your torps even after the launcher has been destroyed. Honestly most KR and Hawk series ships don't even need to cloak to win.  One small tip make sure to post a guard on your cloak, while it can't be destroyed by incoming damage it can be attacked via Hit and Run's.

The downsides are high BPV cost for the Hawk series and KR ships compared to equivalent size opponents. (And if you play the plasma ballet game people WILL hate you.) Just don't play the warbird series unless you want a serious challenge.

On a personal note I always felt that the Rommies were done dirty by the Dev's.  Yes we know the Feds are the good guys and the Klinks are the heroic bad guys but only the Rommies for some reason got shit on. There are several hero Klingons but nary a Romulan with a name let alone a legacy. Hell by the end of the General War most Empires are back to square one cuz status quo but not the Romulans. They get butt fucked royally. Not only do they lose most of the Empire to the Feds but in the final climatic battle over Remus they not only barely win but the Fed CVA MacArthur gets crippled and somehow ends up smashing into Remus itself. Killing millions and irradiating much of the planet. Sucks to be them I guess.

=== '''Kzinti Hegemony''' ===

These guys are straight out of Larry Niven's Real Space novels. Basically warrior furries that look like anthropomorphic tigers who eat their captives. Somehow allied to the Federation despite this unsavoury dining habit.

More than two meters tall and tipping the scales at nearly two hundred kilograms, the Kzintis resemble nothing so much as a tiger in humanoid form. Don’t let their massive muscles fool you; these cats are fast, supple, and smart. They are also fearless, and even the Klingons think twice before going to war with the empire they refer to as “the Tigermen”. Once enemies of the Federation the Kzintis eventually ally with the Federation against the Klingons.

Kzinti are the masters of Drone warfare. Their ships can throw out more Drones in a single turn then any other race and thanks to Drones costing no power to launch they have plenty of power for speed and EW. Their ships tend to be lightly armed with low shielding and hull levels with Disrupters as a secondary weapon. A good phaser-3 suite for defending against incoming drones round out the kit and a decent turn rate makes for a solid choice of ship.

Drones really need their whole own section but lets do a quick breakdown. Drones are an incredibly flexible weapon. They come in 3 parts (drive,hull,warhead) so a Drone user can customize their Drones to their needs.  Facing off against a Hydran, whose PH-G's make a mockery of your Drone waves? Put phaser capacitors in the warheads and punish that Hydran for waiting until range zero to fire. Make him spend power to kill exhausted Drones. Facing off against a Gorn or ISC? Don't waste points on fast speed save BPV and buy the medium speed and put the points elsewhere. Planning on a Anchor attack? Buy a set of slow speed Drones and fill the scatterpack with fasts.  Is that ESG getting you down? Buy a few slug drones (all armour) and crash that ESG.  Do you have an opponent who math-hammers every wave? Invest in a few fast drones with armour and mix them in with the medium speed waves and watch him rage as his phaser barrage fails to kill them all. Low on power? Buy a ECM Drone or two and have them follow you and force your opponent to spend power for a clear shot. Keep in mind a smart opponent will use his Labs to identify your Drones but even knowing what they are isn't always the answer.

Drones are your main weapon so tailor them to your tactics and more importantly to your opponent.

With the Kzinti you need to master drones. Just like a Klingon captain needs to master maneuver or a Romulan needs to master the cloak, you need to master drones.  Your ship can easily overwhelm opponents with wave after wave of drones all while chipping away with your Disrupter suite.  The problem comes when you start to run out of drones and your opponent is still not crippled. Then your best bet is to run as you can't go toe to toe with BPV equivalent opponents and emerge victorious.

Downsides are high cost for top of the line drones, which you will need in late year battles, making your ship pretty expensive. Low shielding and low numbers of hull padding means damage really hurts and if your out of drones your in real trouble as your Disrupters lack the numbers to be effective.

=== '''The Lyran Star Empire''' ===

Think Kzinti but Lion. Like Romulans are related to Vulcans Lyrans are related to Kzinti (or vise versa) but never bring that topic up in the presence of either.  Federation diplomats are ordered to never stand between a Kzinti and Lyran as violence is a certainty as the races hate each other and have been at war for centuries.  Lyrans are a member of the Klingon-Romulan alliance.

Lyran ships use the Expanding Sphere Generator as a main weapon with Disrupters and Phaser-1's to complement it. Lyran ships are powerful individual combatants with great forward arc shielding and firepower but due to the ESG and it's somewhat indiscriminate nature they are much weaker in fleet type situations so they tend to suffer on the larger scale.

The ESG is a powerful tool for offence or defence and useful in pretty much any situation a Lyran captain will find himself in.  Good shielding, strong Phaser-1 suite and a great power curve make for some pretty capable ships overall.

However the ESG is also your biggest weakness. As it's 100% indiscriminate in it's damage. If your ESG field comes into contact with something it will hit it (no roll needed). Friend or foe. Which is awesome sauce for hunting down cloaked ships or dealing with pesky Kzinti drone waves or those dangerous Hydran fighters but it will also hit your teammates, your own shuttles, mines, T-bombs or even near-by asteroids. Making using it in certain situations quite dicey and you know your opponent will make those situations happen. It also has a unique interaction with the Hellbore launcher (the Hellbore auto-hits because the ESG field is so damn big). This can be awesome when you want to use your ESG as an extra shield against a Hellbore armed ship and not so awesome when a Hellbore crushes the ESG field an impulse before you planned to smash into something.

An offshoot of the Lyran Empire is the Lyran Democratic Republic, a part of the empire that broke off for a few years and somehow aligned themselves with the Hydrans who where kind enough to give them Gatling Phaser technology. Now that ESG overun is doubly scary. Sadly the LDR only lasted a limited time before getting munched by the Andro's in Y195.

Over all Lyran ships are good, solid duelists but suffer in fleets. Also the ESG interactions complicate your plans making for FUN times. BPV costs are in line with comparable sized ships.

==='''Hydran Kingdoms'''===

The Hydrans are a strange little people who resemble mini-Cthulhu's who breathe methane with 3 tentacles for arms with a trinary social structure. Mirroring their physical structure they have 3 sexes (don't ask) and 3 life stages. As to an empire they are squashed between the Klingons, Lyrans and the Kzinti and border the Federation and have fought wars with all 4 to stay independent but are part of the Federation Alliance for the general war. Their ships are split between the  knife fighting Fusion Beam, fighter carriers and the sniper style Hellbore Cannon ships.  Meaning if you want to master Hydran's you've got to master two opposing fighting styles. But played properly each style of ship, while super specialized, are powerful in their niche. 

All Hydran units from Battleships to the lowly admin shuttle is armed with the dangerous Gatling Phaser (PH-G) which fires multiple times in a single impulse (if you want) so drones are much less dangerous and it turns a shuttle in to a ship mangler and when paired with fusion beams of a Stinger class fighter it turns a shuttle into a ship killer.

Hydran ships are built around very specific tactics but in that niche they do tend to dominate. No ship can put out the raw damage a fusion ship can and the Hellbore is one of the supreme snipers in SFB. While a Hydran heavy carrier can strike fear into the heart of the doughiest warrior. 

The fusion ships are armed with the Fusion Beam weapon. A weapon that does massive damage at short range (it will out damage any other weapon when overloaded) but is useless past range 5. Fusion ships are very simple to play, they win, hands down, if they get to range 1 or zero with their fusion beams intact. The ships have heavy forward protection to assist with this and are very speedy after they fusions are charged. These ships will also carry Stinger class fighters who are also armed with the very same fusion beams as the ships so a Stinger squadron coming at you is quite scary. So the typical fusion tactic is to protect your forward shield while closing with the enemy. Your fighters can either serve as a back up killing blow to be shat out just before you strike or out in front as a "shoot at me and the ship kills you or shoot at the ship and we kill you" deal.  Fusion ships are simple to play with a very specific play-style that the ships are literally built around.  Fun times if you like straight forward punch you in the face style.

The other style of ship is Hellbore Cannon armed.

The Hellbore is an odd weapon; it's a great sniper weapon that damages all the targets sheilds while having a deadly secondary effect, it does extra damage to a weak or down shield facing so once you have a down shield those hellbores will really start to hurt as all the maneuvering in the world won't mean dick as the hellbore will still pour in the internals.  However the hellbore lacks killing power so you can easily chase off your opponent but getting in a killing blow can be challenging. A typical fighting tactic is a turn 1 oblique pass with phasers to damage the #1 shield then keep range open and sandpaper away until your opponent flees due to you stripping away his weapons, engines and sensors. Hellbore ships tend to be vulnerable to damage as the cost of a hellbore per BPV point is fairly high so you'll have less heavy weapon then your opponent and the loss of a single hellbore launcher can be fatal.

Hellbores also have a unique interaction with ESG fields (they auto-hit at any range and the range is calculate to the edge of the ESG field not the ship) so if your opponent is a Lyran and puts up his ESG at anything other then zero width...punish him for it as any extra damage you inflict on the ESG field goes straight to his #1 shield. One of the few times an overloaded Hellbore can be useful. On the down side an Lyran can use that ESG as an extra shield vs you so plan accordingly, otherwise you'll end up trading Disrupter salvo's with ESG damage only and come out on the losing end as he can re-energize that ESG easily but you cannot refill those holes he put in you.

Over all the Hydran ships are powerful in their niche but suffer due to their specialization against non-historical opponents.

=== '''The Gorn Confederacy''' ===

The Gorn Confederacy is made up of two identical species that somehow evolved on separate planets from a precursor race. The Gorns believe that some great power moved their ancestors to different planets for mysterious reasons. All Gorns honor their less evolved ancestors which they named Pravarians (who are sub-sentient). Gorn space borders on the Federation who they are friendly with having never fought a war with them (despite a rather...rocky first contact), ditto for their other neighbor the ISC (who are pacifists) but the last neighbor is the Romulans with who the Gorns have had many conflicts with since first contact.

Physically Gorns are 8ft tall 500lb walls of walking muscle that resembles a upright dinosaur.  While they may be ponderous in movement they are actually quite intelligent and inventive with a rich culture belying their outwardly dull appearance. Their ships have a reputation of being slow and having a poor turning radius but this is somewhat undeserved. Gorn ships can be quite fast once they are done charging their plasma's and all ships are equally bad at turning at high speeds so this "handicap" isn't all that much if an issue if handled properly.

Gorn's use the Plasma Torpedo as their primary weapon with a strong suite of PH-1's on generous firing arcs to back them up. With good around shields and decent hull levels for padding, not quite up to Federation standards but generous by any other comparison. A solid power curve rounds it out making Gorn ships quite a dangerous opponent.  The plasma's seeking ability can do much of the maneuver/chasing for you but you need to known its limits and remember big plasma launches can be easily countered and despite those big juicy numbers at close range most plasma torps weaken quickly with range so firing at a rapidly moving away target is pointless.

Key point: always remember that your plasma's take 3 turn to armed so never fire them lightly as you will be giving up the initiative to your opponent once they're on the map. Use your Psuedo-plasma's sparingly bu DO use them, baiting out that Wild Weasel is a major priority as there is nothing like a WW launch to mess up your day.

Gorn players need to understand the tactic named, fittingly, the [https://ghdar.tripod.com/phasers1.htm Gorn Anchor]. Where a seeking weapon user closes to 3 hexes and locks his opponent in a tractor beam. This stops the enemy from running away allowing those plasma torps to hit hard.  Of course this is much easier said then done with many different avenues to get your ship into tractor range in one piece. Also know the wild weasel rules clearly as you will face players who use them.

In the end never forget Captain S'Thresssh's famous words; 

''"I fire one hundrrred points uf plasssma...you die".''

=== '''The Tholian Assemby''' ===

Tholians are not a native species to the Milkyway. They are intergalactic refugees from a unnamed galaxy where they once had a massive empire that was overthrown in a revolt so large that the Tholians had to flee their own galaxy to ensure their survival as a species. In fact in Y178 some former Tholian vassal race calling themselves the Seltorians contacted the Klingons looking for assistance in tracking them down. And of course the Klingons were more then happy to point these newcomers in the right direction.

Their "home planet" of Tholia is actually a small Dyson sphere that once served as a provincial capital. In a remarkable feat of engineering, they managed to bring it with them when they fled from the other galaxy. 

After an unknown amount of time in intergalactic space they eventually found refuge in a hospitable solar system near the edge of our galaxy. Sadly for them it was space that the Kligons had claimed long ago. It was years later that the Klingons would discover their new tenants and react predictably. The Tholian group that made it to our galaxy were a small unit of civilians so they lack the ability to build any real warships (relying on the small Patrol Class corvettes) and so never venture away from the Holdfast where they are safe behind their massive Web network. Tholians are renown for being arrogant to the point of ridiculousness to the other races of the galaxy which they see as lesser primitive species. Even after the Federation gave them photon torpedo technology for nothing they still asked the Feds to thank them for the opportunity to serve. Gee I wonder why their subjects rebelled.

Tholians are unlike any other galactic species as they are silicon based and resemble a man sized red crystal spider (and you thought the Hydrans were strange).They live in comfortably in temperatures that would melt steel beams and at radiation levels that would cook a lobster in seconds.  Which makes the Klingon territory issues rather pointless as neither race inhabits the same type of planet or has the same physical needs but Klingons will be Klingons.

Tholian ships are broken into two types; the old Patrol Corvette style ships which are under gunned and out matched anytime they're forced to fight on equal terms. Lacking shields, internals, and armed with only Phasers and a Web Generator they are only able to hold their own behind preexisting Web networks.  They eventually are given Photon Torpedoes by the Federation to help combat the Klingons and salvaged Disrupters technology from Klingon wrecks but no matter how many PC hulls the Tholians weld together (the Tholian CA is 3 PCs literally welded together) they are no match for any equal BPV ship.

The second type of Tholian ship are the Neo-Tholians. Who arrived at the height of the final attack by the Klingons in the Holdfast to save the day. They are a remnant of the old Tholian Empire space fleet and so were deigned for combat and they reflect this but in lore, since they are unique and irreplaceable assets, are never seen outside the safety of the Holdfast's Web network.  Neo-Tholian ships are warships that are more then capable of winning battles with their Web Caster/Fist, photons and powerful phaser suite. Good power curves, middle of the road manoeuvrability and good shielding makes for a solid combat ships.  

The primary weapon of the Tholians is the Web. Which is a tractor beam based technology (kinda, the galactic powers don't really understand it and the Andro's TR beams and DD's laugh at it) that act like a spiders web. If your ships (non-Tholian, Tholian ships ignore Webs) movement power is less then the strength of the Web in your hex you ain't going no where. In fact if your going too fast and hit a extremely strong Web your ship will suffer the effects of a HET breakdown. Now Webs do need to be powered as their strength decreases every turn. Webs also block direct fire weapons and degrade plasma torpedoes quite effectively, all in all the Web is a great defensive tool. 

A good rule of thumb to remember about firing through webs is; "in to or out of but not across". 

The Neo-Tholians have a device called a Web Caster that allows them to lay web anywhere within a certain radius of their ship. No more shitting out webs behind you as you go whoohoo!. This is a very powerful tool to control the board and restrict the movement of your opponent.  A typical stratagem is to lay a web straight down the middle of the map and force your opponent to choose a side to go down. You fly down the opposing side and use your phasers to snipe the enemy while remaining pretty much immune to return fire (remember only Tholian phasers can fire thru webs without penalty). Just be aware your opponent may dive into the web to take a shot at you (remember in to or out) but then he's stuck sitting there until he can power his way through the Web hex. The Web Caster can also fire a strand of Web directly at the opponents ship doing high damage but is usually more useful to cast web to control the map.

Tholian ships are only really effective when fighting behind pre-set Web networks and suffer from low power curves, low firepower, low shields and decent manoeuvrability. When fighting behind Webs your at least dangerous but your opponent will usually dive into your Web, chase you off and then allow the Web to decay. Repeat ad nauseum until your out of Webs to hide behind and your forced to fight a warship in open space.  Not good times.
The Neo-Tholian ships are powerhouses. Great map control through the Web Caster, good power curves and good weapon arcs with solid shields and decent manoeuvrability. The heavy phaser-1 suite and photon torpedoes make for a great and flexible knife fighter. Just remember only your phasers can fire through Webs without penalty. Those photons need to be planned for. The Neo-Tholian ship are supposedly restricted by being irreplaceable but in game who cares about lore issues (unless it's part of the scenario) so that's not really a negative. 

Overall the Tholians offer a very unique play-style but be warned they do suffer a lot more then other races at the hands of the Andromedians. As the Andro DD allows them to literally hop over a Web without a pause or happily slamming right into a Web hex to drain it's power into their PA's then use said power to chase you down and kill you.  Oh those wacky Andro's!

=== '''Orion Pirate Cartel''' ===

The Orion Pirates are the Star Fleet Universe's premier criminal organization, heavily involved in piracy and smuggling throughout most known areas of the galaxy. Due to their historical origins they are collectively given the label "Orion," but members of almost any known starfaring race can be found in Orion crews. Orions themselves are basically humans with green skin and loose morals.

In the early years of the Federation members each fielded their own fleets and ship designs. When joint action among these disparate fleets proved unworkable, Earth began pushing for a unified Federation Starfleet and a common ship design. In exchange for supporting the proposal, the Orions received the right to keep using their own ships in a separate Planetary Guard fleet that would be responsible for patrolling their own space. In Y113, shortly after the Orions decommissioned their last deep space fleet, there was a mutiny in the Planetary Guard; 16 ships disappeared from anchorage along with over 9,000 veteran fleet personnel. These mutineers became the core of the Orion Pirates.

Being a loose association of criminals, the Orion Pirates do not have one centralized government. Raiding and smuggling operations are controlled by independent cartels. Each cartel has its own territory and fleet of ships, as well as its own shipyard and other hidden bases where their ships are built, outfitted, and maintained. A cartel is usually run by a crime lord or powerful family, who exclusively authorizes and controls all pirate activity within its territory. As of Y175 there were eleven major cartels that collectively covered the entire map except for Tholian space. The Tholians being more then capable of keeping out everyone including those few pirates brave enough to try a blockade run.

In game Orion ships are primary commerce raiders (CR's and LR's) first and warships second. While the Cartel Lords do have "Enforcer" (CA's and BC's) ships that are primarily warships first, to keep the other pirates in line, even these enforcer ships are smaller in size then your typical galactic warship which means anytime your going into a fight you'll be outclassed but not out gunned because... well the Orions have a trick or two up their sleeves to even the odds. 
 
Any Orion ship may choose to double the output of any or all of it's engines. This allows any Orion ship the ability to overwhelm their opponents by mimicking the power curve of much bigger ships. But there is a catch and it's a doozy. Each time the engine is overloaded it suffers damage and after enough times the engine becomes useless. It's called the "Cocaine Rule"


Math-Hammer time:

Say a Orion ship has 2 warp engines each outputting 10 power per engine under normal circumstances for 20 total warp power. If you double the output of both you'd end up with 40 power for the 1st turn. Next turn your engines take a damage point each so you now have 2 warp engines with 18 output. Doubling again (turn #2) you get 36 power and next turn (turn #3) you take another damage point so they engines now have 16 output with 32 power and so on. By the start of turn #5 even with doubling your engines your only sitting at about 24 total power. Next turn (turn #6) with doubling your back to your original 20 power.  


This is why it's called the Cocaine rule; one you start you can't stop and eventually it kills you. However without engine doubling the Orion ships can't compete with actual warships so your caught in a vise. The rule of thumb is to only overload one engine at a time and only if you need it for that turn. Also plan to exit the fight be the end of turn 5 while you still have the power to disengage before the opposing warship's superior durability allows it to overcome you.  Remember your a lover not a fighter.

The other trick up your sleeve as a pirate is weapon choice. Ever wish you could have Photon Torpedoes and Disrupters? Well now you can. Orion ships feature weapon mounts where you the player get to choose what weapons go where. Want drones and a ESG? You can do that! (I don't know why you'd want that but hey to each their own!) You want some Plasma-F's and Hellbores? Go right ahead. Technically in Lore pirate ships are limited to the weapons in their operating area but in practice you can take what ever weapons you like. They don't even have to be paired. Want 2 Photons upfront, a Disrupter on the left and a Phaser-G on the right? You can do that. Want a cloak? Be my guest!. BPV costs must still be paid but you have the choice to tailor your weapon suite to your tastes. The only limit is no Andromedian tech, sorry no Displacement Device or Power Absorbers for you.

Orion ships tend to be smaller per BPV point then other races and so they suffer from lower shield strength and lower internal volume in comparison. Which mean any internal damage start to add up real fast and each warp engine hit is extremely detrimental. The idea around the Cocaine rule is to allow you to win the fight fast by over whelming your opponent and keeping damage out by using that extra power to reinforce your shields and maintain superior speed and EW levels. 

One last advantage is the inherent +1 ECM stealth field Orion ships get anytime they're not doubling engines. It's not much but it's there so don't forget to use it.

Over all Orion ships are extremely powerful combatants but suffer from being under the clock. You can out fight just about any opponent but you have to do it quickly as each turn that passes your getting weaker. If your opponent isn't on the ropes by turn 5 definitely consider getting out of there.  Your not a warship you can't trade blows and expect to win. You have to hit hard and overwhelm your opponent and take no damage in return or your career will be over before it starts.

=== '''The Interstellar Concordium''' ===

The Interstellar Concordium or ISC, are very similar to the Federation in that they are a conglomeration of races unified under an overarching interstellar government. The worlds located in what is now the home sector of the Concordium, Veltrassa, Pronhoula, Rovilla and Korlivala, gave rise to a range of sentient races which eventually discovered each other and set a course of peace and common cause by founding the Interstellar Concordium on a Declaration of Ideals of 'peace, order and good government', with Veltrassa established as the capital world and location of the main fleet shipyards.

The ISC spread throughout the neighboring sectors of space, incorporating several additional alien races, colonizing worlds and protecting several worlds populated by pre-warp races, to allow their natural development to interstellar travel – and the eventual prospect of Concordium membership. The ISC expected that any race capable of warp drive would be similarly inclined to peaceful – and profitable – means of conduct, yet this illusion would not soon last once the Concordium began to venture towards the borders of the Gorn Confederation and the Romulan Star Empire.

The ISC first came into contact with the Gorn and Romulans and were disturbed to find the two races at war with each other (the ISC found it hard to believe any sane race of advanced spacefarers would resort to warfare) and were even more shocked upon learning that all of the other major powers of the region, from the far distant Hydran Kingdoms to the Klingons and Federation, were involved all in a war which was devastating known space. In the eyes of the people of the Concordium the rest of the galaxy was filled with violent psychopaths who simply could not be trusted to act in a civilized manner so plans were drawn up to enforce a peace to save the savage races of the galaxy from themselves. However before the ISC could launch their so named War of Pacification the Organians returned and ended the General War. After much internal consultations the ISC decided that both the Coalition and the Alliance were merely biding their time and rebuilding in order jump at each other's throats again in another ten years. (a not entirely unfounded accusation, we're looking at you Klinks!) So when the Organian Peace was in place the ISC decide to  now was the time to move and separate the savage races from each other for their own protection. The  launched their War of Pacification on the 14th of February of Y186.

During the years of the General War the ISC fleet was designed and built specifically to outgun any matching "savage" warship and by the end of the General War the ISC fleet were a match for any three of those of the belligerents of the General War combined and unlike those races the ISC had not had their considerable economy, the only one in known space which could rival the size of the Federation's, exhausted by nearly 2 decades of war. With the development of the new weapon and Echelon tactics the ISC was ready to bring peace to galaxy whether the other races wanted it or not.

In game terms ISC ships are true powerhouses. They were designed specifically to over-match their "savage race" equivalent class ships. A ISC CA is thus more then a match for any other races CA and you should always consider a ISC ship one class higher. Thus a ISC CL is a match for a CA and so on. The exception to this is the ISC frigates who are designed to operate within the Echelon and are designed weaker but still a match for the other races frigates. Now this doesn't come for free as BPV costs are still inline so as an ISC captain you must always expect to end up fighting larger ships in duels but thankfully you have the tools you need to come out ahead in just about any fight with the savages.

During the General War the ISC carefully studied the fighting and developed both weapons and tactics to counter thier expected foes. To this end they developed the powerful Plasmatic Pulsar Device (PPD) which fires several "pulses" of plasma at it's target over 4 impulses which splash across 3 shield facings. Backed up by class S and F Plasma torpedoes and a strong, forward focused Phaser-1 suite and strong forward shields the ISC ships can take on all comers.  

The second part of the ISC tactic is the Echelon where ISC ships move in a chevron formation facing the enemy. The smaller ships guard the flanks and the heavies pound away at the enemy with multi PPD's. The ISC ships are specifically designed to work in this formation with weapon arcs designed to spit large volumes of fire at  PF's or fighters trying to flank the formation. The ISC ships also feature Plasma D multi-racks on the rear arc, who do have special restricted firing rules, that will quickly devastate any small craft attacking from the rear. In game terms the Plasma D's can only fire once at ships larger then PF's but can rapid fire at PF's and shuttle. Any PF squadron thinking that they can rush in from behind and overwhelm a ISC ship is in for a bad time.

The ISC ships are very strong in fleets when in Echelon as that's how they were designed. While the CL,CA and BC's are powerful duelists. The ISC DN is a monster of a ship that really only works well inside a fleet but in that role it's a beast with it's 6(!) PPD's that can and will rip smaller ships apart in a single firing. In duels ISC ships they will always be out "classed" because of BPV costs but don't let that bother you as a ISC CL is really a CA in disguise. The PDD will rip down the entire front shield arc of it's target then your Plasma-S's and Phaser-1's can finish the job and any flankers will meet with a wave of Plasma-F's and D's if they attempt to close.

Overall the ISC ships are very strong but that ability is reflected in their BPV costs.

=== '''The WYN Star Cluster''' ===

A small side faction the WYN Cluster is a group of refugee's comprised of many races and some Orion pirates who settled into a small stellar proto-cluster near the Klingon/Lyrans/Kzinti border. They used mostly converted freighters as warships and one super up gunned Lyran DD they convert into a, no joke, "Pocket Battleship" to defend the cluster from outside forces. The stellar nebulae helps to hide the home world from the outside but it makes for desperate fights as your home-world is only a few minutes away by warp and any loss spells the doom of your people. 

The WYN Star Cluster stands as a huge (50 parsecs diameter) beacon marking the point where the Klingon, Lyran, and Kzinti borders meet. The rich planets are surrounded by a thin shell of intensely radioactive dust. A Kzinti captain who plunged into the radiation shell to deny the Klingons his badly damaged ship found instead a bountiful planetary system rather then certain death, as the shell was only a few light years thick, but it blocked all outside sensors. Over time more and more refugee's came to the system and after offering assistance and trade some Orion Prirates started to call it home as well. Eventually all the worlds were settled and the WYN Cluster announced itself to the galaxy so of course the Klingon's immediately attacked but thanks to the effect of the radiation shell their ships were disabled and after a ferocious defense by some pirate ships who were near-by and what ever forces the WYN's could scrape up the tattered Klingon survivors retreated.

The WYN position is perfect for defense for two reasons. First any ship coming through the radiation belts would be disoriented for a considerable period. Until the effects of the radiation wore off, invading ships would suffer continuous computer and electronic malfunctions that drastically reduced their effectiveness in combat. The small WYN fleet, which would have been blasted to dust in high space, could easily handle intruders disoriented by the radiation. In game ships attacking the WYN cluster start the battle with major penalties that decrease every turn. This allows the WYN players slow and under gunned ships to get some hurt in before the real warships can fight back but it only lasts a few turn so make the most of it.

The second reason for WYN defensive success was that none of the bordering empires could afford to see the others gain control. The WYN Cluster was richer by far in rare minerals and metals than any other region of space. Time and again, Kzinti ships prevented the Klingo-Lyran alliance from overwhelming the cluster, and more than once Klingon or Lyran ships helped keep the Kzintis at bay.

I would consider the WYN's to be a sub-faction of the Orions but without the engine doubling. They have weapon mounts for flexibility and the larger Armed Freighter is rather dangerous with it's cargo being replaced by a huge power reactor and Phasers.  Still a freighter though and it can't really take punishment and keep on fighting. The captured Lyran ships are some of your best warships but due to all the overhauls their BPV's are quite expensive but if your facing a real warship they'd be your go to with the Pocket BB being a ridiculous ship that has a battleships firepower and the maneuverability of a destroyer. The in lore explanation is that all WYN are designed to be used for a limited time as they only fight to defend the cluster and never have to leave their home space so things like crew space and science station are a luxury they cannot afford.

Over all the WYN's are an interesting race with some fun ships but they are very limited in their selection and play-style as freighters, no matter how many guns you strap onto them, are still freighters and the converted ships are overpriced for their size and only Lyran's. You can grab a Orion Pirate ally if needed as well.

The WYN slogan is "If you save the Cluster then today IS a good day to die."  

So play like it. The armed freighters are 100% disposable and every battle might be the end so fight hard and never give up. 

Historically the WYN Cluster did survive the General War but it's fate after the Andromedan Invasion is unknown. Given the radiation belt I'd guess the Andro's would stay out as their PA's would overload before they made it through to the cluster. But that's not official cannon just my opinion.

=== '''The Andromedan Invaders''' ===

'''''Overview''''' 

oh boy where to start

The Andromedans are just one big unknown. No one knows where they came from, what they want or even what they look like. No Andromedan has even been seen dead or alive and their ships seem to have a built in auto-destruct device that triggers before capture. Hell even their boarding parties are just combat robots. They do not communicate, accept surrender or offer terms, they just destroy. Some military intelligence officers have even theorized that each ship is operated by a single individual. With the Andro's you just never know.

No evidence regarding the physical appearance of the Andromedan race has been catalogued by an Alpha Octant government. Andromedan boarding parties are comprised entirely of robotic combat systems. While Module C3 includes data on Andromedan ground stations, established for a number of uses on conquered planets, no concrete link between these activities and the Andromedans' true nature have been determined - though from the evidence uncovered at Andromedan agricultural depots, it has been postulated that if the Andromedans are organic, they must be capable of ingesting anything which could even remotely be considered organic.

Information on the holdings of the Andromedans in their home galaxy is unknown, although it has been hinted in Federation Commander that the Andromedans hold sway over M31 (or at least the portion where a Tholian exodus fleet arrived, after fleeing M81 in the wake of the Seltorian Revolt). Over the course of the Invasion, their holdings included the LMC, as well as significant portions of the Alpha and Omega octants during the War, yet their success in other regions of the galaxy are currently unknown.

'''''Technology'''''

Andromedan starships are divided into three main categories - Motherships (BC's or DN's analogues, thankfully the Andromedans never completed their Battleship sized Demolisher class of ships). Cruiser sized solo ships (CA and CL's) and Satellite Ships (escort analogues). Each kind possesses Tactical Warp engines - allowing them to fight at FTL speeds - yet Satellite Ships are transported by Motherships for strategic deployment and usually operate in tandem with the parent vessel and in fact are often deployed in the middle of combat by use of the Motherships Displacement Device as a surprise assault or in fast attack mode.

Andromedan warships operate on quite different principles to those of races in the Alpha Octant or Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Instead of shields, their vessels are protected by efficient power absorption panels, which are able to absorb incoming fire and use it to power their own systems.

In terms of weaponry, Andromedan vessels were armed with Phaser-2 analogs as well as Tractor-Repulsor Beams. A terribly powerful beam weapon capable of tearing a target warship apart. In addition, they used the formidable Mauler cannon on one of their Satellite Ships to attack enemy installations.

Perhaps the most prominent example of superior Andromedan technology, the Displacement Device allows an Andromedan Mothership to literally teleport itself several thousand kilometres instantaneously - or do the same to a target starship. (you think your safe by saber dancing? Get over here!) However this technology is also a strategic weakness as no more than two Displacement Device-equipped Motherships can safely operate in the same sector of space as sub-space just cannot handle the abuse of physics the DD causes.

In all, a combination of an Andromedan Mothership and accompanying Satellite Ships are a threat to even larger squadrons of Magellanic or Galactic vessels, with fleets of Andromedan ships a danger to heavily fortified systems. 

In game the Andro's were designed to give players a new and alternative play style and to shake up the game meta which had become to be dominated by the plasma races. The Andro ships play nothing like anything else in the game and can be a tonne of fun to play if you can master all the added rules and strategies.

'''''History'''''

''The Launch from Andromeda''

There is no direct information regarding the initial deployment of Andromedan forces. Year after year, successive waves of Andromedan warships were launched from Andromeda, heading for the Lesser Magellanic Cloud - the springboard for an invasion of the Milky Way. Included were the components necessary to construct the first Desecrator - the starbase which would provide the hub of Andromedan operations in the Cloud.

''War in the Cloud''

The LMC had been home to several star-faring races unfortunately, these races could not stand against the onslaught of the Andromedans, and were crushed, one by one, as the invaders used the Cloud to gather resources and launch raids into the Milky Way. The Eneen and Baduvai fell first, and the Uthiki Harmony (a semi-autonomous state within the Baduvai Imperium, composed of a race of squid-like invertebrates) was destroyed, and the Uthiki themselves virtually exterminated as a race. The Maghadim held out behind their radiation shell, along with a number of Baduvai and Eneen colonies, until the Andromedans swarmed into the Core of the SMC in Y183. The Chomak Community, the last Magellanic faction left standing, was conquered in Y185. While elements from these races struggled for survival out in the Fringe of the Cloud, these scattered groups were only saved when the Unity races arrived in Y202.

''Preparations for Conquest''

Once established in the Cloud, the Andromedans prepared a chain of Satellite Bases linking the LMC to the Milky Way, which served to establish a Rapid Transport Network into (and within) the galaxy proper - which allowed their vessels to travel at superior strategic speeds. (Their vessels could use the Network to travel between nodes at Warp 15, far in advance of what their enemies could achieve, but were slower than Alpha Octant warships of the same period without the RTN.)

The first official contact with the Andromedans for the Federation and Klingon Empire came in Y166, when an Intruder was engaged by Galactic vessels. Over the next decades, further sightings and ship classes were encountered, yet the fires of the General War swept these accounts from the minds of the Alpha races.

In the Omega Octant, the Andromedans were first uncovered by the Chlorophons, who spent the years of the Superpower Wars and most of the Second Great War investigating the mysterious race. However, most of the Omega races were too pe-occupied fighting each other - and the ancient Loriyill Collective was too concerned with their search for their ancient nemeses, the life-draining Souldra.

In Y186, the ISC Pacification Campaign began, and the Alpha Octant races were primarily concerned with the buffer zone created by the Interstellar Concordium, while the Omega races fought the Second Great War to a conclusion. Neither octant's inhabitants were prepared for what was to come.

''The Onslaught''

In Y188, the Andromedans launched their first currently-documented full-scale operations against the Milky Way Galaxy.

In the Alpha Octant, the ISC bore the brunt of the initial attacks - as it was the largest power, and was spread across the octant in its peacekeeping role - taking severe losses to the invaders. The most serious moment came when the renowned Echelon of Judgement - a powerful squadron of ISC X-ships - was rushed all the way from the Klingon-Federation border back to defend the capital world of Veltrassa from an Andromedan deep strike. Over the coming years, the War spread to other races in the Octant - the Federation was assaulted by the Invaders in Y192 - and former enemies were forced to co-operate for mutual survival. Most of the Alpha powers were forced into defending their core provinces, but had learned of the effectiveness of X-ships in the fight against the Andromedans. However, the Lyran Democratic Republic was unable to hold out from the Invaders, and was crushed in Y195 - a bitter lesson for the Alpha powers in what to expect should their own efforts prove insufficient.

In the Omega Octant, which was less advanced technologically than the Alpha races, the Andromedan invasion commenced with the occupation of the abandoned Ryn Nebula and the destruction of the Iridani New Kingdom in Y191, and went into full swing in Y192. As if this was not unfortunate enough for the Omega races, the Andomedan assault corresponded with a Souldra expansion into the octant, which smashed the Bolosco and Singers as star-faring races, and left scores of vessels and colony worlds drained of life. Each invading force inflicted great losses on the Omega races, with the prospect of eventual defeat looming. (It should be noted that despite the concurrence of the invaders' actions, the two races were just as likely to fight each other as anyone else, and were not co-belligerents.) While the Loriyill managed to defeat the Souldra, the only bright spot in the war against the Andromedans was found in the successful liberation of the Iridani Cluster from Andromedan control, which was followed by an Iridani Crusade into the Milky Way to aid the Omega allies. However, without external assistance these efforts would not have been enough to hold back the tide.

At present, nothing is known regarding the Andromedans' fortunes in other regions of the galaxy.

''Operation Unity and Operation Concerted Strike''

Things looked bleak for the Alpha races until the discovery of the RTN in Y195 by the famed Federation Galactic Survey cruiser Essex, which was soon realized to be the Achilles' heel of the invasion force. Over the next few years the Alpha races severely disrupted the Network, facilitating a rolling back of Andromedan successes. The Magellanics had long known of the RTN, and the Iridani had made a similar discovery in the liberation of their Cluster, but neither were able to fully capitalize on their findings - unlike the allied Alpha powers, who took to the destruction of the RTN with great effectiveness.

Finally, in Y201, the allied races of the Alpha Octant launched Operation Unity, a three-pronged strike against the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, where in Y202 the Unity powers and the remaining Magellanic fleet assets destroyed the two remaining Desecrator starbases, breaking the back of the invasion.

(Recent data presented in Module C5 indicates that there were three Desecrators in total present in the Cloud. The first was built in Y145 and destroyed by the Magellanics in Y154. The second was built in Y152, but remained undetected for several years. It was crippled by a Magellanic assault in Y163 and destroyed in Y202 while attempting to build a Devastator battleship. The third Desecrator was completed in Y158 and was also destroyed in Y202. In addition, the Andromedans had been attempting to build a new Desecrator in Iridani space, but these efforts were reversed when the Iridani re-took their home worlds.)

Afterwards, the Andromedans remained a nuisance for the Galactic and Magellanic races, but the specter of full-scale war was finally removed.

'''''In Game'''''

I have to stress once again the importance of properly understanding the unique rules of the Andromedans. Without the handicaps of the proper rules the Andro's are stupidly OP and playing them so is tantamount to cheating and very unfair to your opponent. Don't be ''that guy''.

Remember it's common courtesy to hand your EA sheet to your opponent after the game, it's a good way to keep everyone honest and helps you learn from your defeats. Again don't be ''that guy'', be honest and upfront and you'll be invited back to play. 

''Types of Andromedan ships''

Andro's come in 3 flavors. 

You have your Motherships which are equivalent to a BCH or DN and tend to carry at least one smaller Satellite ship in a interior hanger but the chonky boi's can carry up to 6. These guys are named with aggressive verbs like; Intruder, Invader, Aggressor, Imposer, Dominator,  ect ect.

Next you have the "solo" ships which are CA or BC equivalents who may or may not have a Displacement Device but never have a hanger and tend to work alone or in pairs at most. Names after snakes like Cobra, Krait, Asp, Mamba ect ect.

Lastly you have the Satellite ships which fill the escort role. The neat thing about Sat ships is that their Mothership can use the Displacement Device for launching and recovery. They are fully functional ships in their own right and a group of 3 Sat ships will chew a CA pretty handily. 

''Systems''

Andromedan ships are unique in the fact that they have a closed power generation loop. In an Andro ship all power must be used, it cannot just be discarded like a galactic ship. This is super important to know and understand as it's the core of Andro gameplay.

Andromedans primary defense are their Power Absorbers (PA's) which fill the role of shields but unlike galactic ships PA's don't just negate damage they turn it into power for the Andro ship to use. Any damage done to a PA panel can be moved into the ships batteries at the end of the turn. NOw there are many "tricks" to moving power around before the end of the turn but each one comes with risk of course. Also Andro batteries are vastly superior to galactic ones as they can hold 5 points of power each compared to the single point of a galactic ship so most Andro ships will have anywhere from 25 to 100 points of battery power storage. (Good luck trying to tractor them or win a EW war).

Contrary to popular belief Andro ships do suffer from power shortages. In fact most of the time an Andro ship struggles just like any other ship. A good opponent will only fire at a Andro if they know they are going to some damage past the PA's so for most of the game your forced to rely only on what power your ship has (which is typically lower then galactic races). Small tip; start the game with your batteries full, I know it sounds counter intuitive but trust me for the first few turns you'll be glad to have that power to use.

Ok lets talk about the most complex part of playing an Andro; the Power Absorber panels. They are the primary defense of Andromedan ship and are both better and worse then galactic shields. PA's banks are split into two on a Andro ship. The forward bank which covers shield arc 1,2,6 and the rear bank which covers 3,4,5. So Andro's have more more shields per facing then galactic ships but lower total shielding levels. PA's also cost a lot more power to use then shields but this isn't usually an issue as you can keep them at lower levels to save power and boost them up if needed. The real strength to PA's is how fast you can regenerate them, which is much faster then a galactic ship can repair it shields. However unlike galactic shields the PA's can be destroyed by internal damage or Hit and Run attacks. Plus of course you can move the power stored in the bank into your batteries at the end of the turn and use it to overwhelm your opponent. 

Which brings us into the real issue with Andro's in the fact that your power system is closed. You cannot just dump the power you have. They typical death of an Andro is a where you get a PA panel or battery blown up but unlike galactic ships that power just doesn't vanish it has to go somewhere because of the closed power system. If the Andro player doesn't have room to store the power it turns into internal damage which then in turn has a good chance to blow out more PA's or batteries and then even more damage goes internal which in turns blows out more PA's and so on until the Andro goes supernova. This is called a "Cascade Failure" in game terms and is the standard way an Andro ship will die. Sometimes all it takes is that one battery hit at the wrong time and BOOM!

There are many different tactics to handling PA panels as you can raise and lower them at will to shuffle power around and help you re-generate them. Also as PA panels absorb damage their capacity to store power get lowered, this is called degrading and allows galactic ships in sufficient numbers to sand away at you until your PA panels are useless. In game turns 10% of the incoming damage registers as degradation. (This does NOT subtract from the total damage absorbed btw). 

example:

A typical tactic is to oblique approach with panels at standard levels, yes you can switch to re-enforced levels before fire hits see the sequence of play, lash out with your TR's at what range you think best, crunching a shield with luck and then announce intent to Displace. If the opponent fires (if he doesn't you save power and keep the PA's at standard) take the return fire on your now re-enforced front bank then Displace away and zoom off. When at a safe range drop the front panels entirely (which are not exposed to enemy fire...hopefully) and the power now flows into the rear panels with excess moving into the batteries. The turn ends and you move power from the back panels to the batteries and your back PA's vent what your allowed (if needed) and bring the front panels back up to standard. Now your front panels are clear, except for the degradation (which your working to fix of course). You now zip around at high speed and run your ship off the batteries to make space while recharging your TR beams, next turn your repeat.  During this same time period your opponent has been able to repair exactly 3 shield  strength.  Scary huh?


I do want to point out that PA's have to obey a lot of the same rules as shields which means you do have to wait 8 impulses between changing panel levels so do take that into account when planning your power dumps and don't get caught with down panels or you'll be sorry. Watch out for weapons likes Hellbores and enveloping plasma torps which can definitely screw up your power management schemes.

One last note for PA's is that they "leak". Disrupter damage can sneak past the PA panels cuz Disrupters have a disruptive effect right? (it's a fudge for game balance as Disrupters just don't have the 1 turn punch to get through PA's) In game for every 10 points of damage done 1 point will "leak" past the PA's and do internal damage. Now this actually really sucks because chance are that that damage will knock out something important so it's in the best interests of the Andro player to cut down on the number of Disrupters firing at them as quickly as possible or your ship will be leaked to death in short order.

Next up in the line of weird Andromedan tech is the Displacement Device (or DD for short).  It's basically a teleporter which moves a ship or object directly from one location to another instantaneously.  The Lore catch is it abuses physics so hard you can only ever have two on the map at anyone one point in time, if a third DD is activated a miniature black hole opens up and swallows all three ships instantly. The laws of physics will only take so much abuse I guess but of course the real reason is game balance and the DD is a very powerful tool so have a Andro fleet with 6 or 7 DD's would be a nightmare to fight against. The DD can be used on yourself, an ally, a seeking weapon or an opponent and all 3 choices have conditions applied.

Most commonly a DD is used after a battle pass to GTFO out a Dodge without letting the opposing ship get a clean shot off. The catch is that you have to announce "intent to displace" as part of your weapons firing sequence so your opponent will know that your going to jump away before he makes his choice to fire or not. You can also announce your going to displace but plan to cancel said displacement (technically you do need to note this but most casual games don't care) however you do suffer some penalties that can complicate your next few impulses, the biggest being you can't displace again for a minimum of 8 impulses. So you close to your range of choice, announce intent to fire and displace then your fire off your TR's and PH-2's and (hopefully) jump out 8 hexes. Normally you will either fire at 9 hexes to avoid any overloads or fire at 3 hexes where your TR's have an excellent damage bracket but the galactic races only have a OK chance to hit depending on the weapon, then displace away to avoid a Phaser barrage at range 1 or 0. Some new Andro players will think to close to range 4 announce then displace OVER the target into it's #6 shield arc so they can savage a weaker and hopefully not re-enforced shield. This can work but most players only fall for it once and will have a HET ready to counter this. The final use for a DD is as a "free" HET as after you displace you get to select your heading so you can instantly do a 180 and turn the tide on a ship chasing you whose hoping to get some fire into those smaller, probably full, back PA's. Suddenly he's now closing  Andro's center-line and wishing he was anywhere else. 

When you instead choose to displace a enemy ship they will also suffer some penalties for 8 impulses. The biggest one being they can only fire at the displacing ship due to "fire control being disrupted". So this to a typical tactic of displacing the largest ship towards your Mothership, whose PA's can handle the incoming fire, allowing the Sat ships to open up with no fear of return fire.

Now the DD isn't all roses as it does have a major thorn in the fact it has a 1 in 6 chance to just not work. After anouncing intent to displace and exchanging fire you then roll a D6 and if you land on 6 you aint going nowhere bub. Good Andro players will have





work in progress

'''''Fleet Action'''''

Ok so with all I've said so far your probably thinking that Andromedan Fleets are probably massively dangerous right? The Lore builds them up to be an almost unstoppable force that required the whole Alpha octant to put aside their differences and work together to over come. They came within a hair's breadth of conquering the galaxy and their ships on an individual level are extremely powerful so a Andro Fleet must be something to be fear. Right?

Well...no actually.  While in the Lore the Andro Fleets ran roughshod over the galaxy in the game Andro Fleet are extremely weak believe it or not. How you ask? That Intruder and Cobra thrashed our little 4 ship, 500 BPV fleet! Well your almost on target there. Little is the key word.  In any battle under 700 BPV (give or take) Andro's are still very strong but once you move up into the 800+ range you start seeing DN's supported by either CA's or BC's and suddenly you have enough 1 turn firepower to brew up any Andro ship, motherships included.

The Andro's advantage, which they do pay heavily for, is their ability to rapidly regenerate their defences. But what use is that when there is enough firepower on the table to blow you up in 1 turn. It actually turns out that Andro Fleets are fairly weak to any galactic power fleet of appropriate size. Andro's have to pay the PA tax (just like the Rommies have the cloak tax) so you will always be out numbered in a equal BPV fight which means after that 700-800 BPV range your ships will die no matter what you do once a turn due to the sheer number of shots coming your way and if your enemy has more ships then you...well I'm sure you can guess the rest. Now this has always been a sore spot with the Andro players, given how the Lore treats the Andro's but the Dev's have come out and plainly said they have no real way to balance the Andro's for both small scale battle, which the game was designed around, and the large scale fleets some players like to use so we just have to accept that Andro Fleets are going to be just speed-bumps to the galactic powers.  It sucks but you can't have everything.

If this really gets your dander up you can play the conjectural "Demolisher and Devourer" classes of Andro battleships which are stupidly OP because they were never meant to be played in game and were created for a scenario in Operation Unity.  They are present in game but only as half completed hulks that the galactic powers have to try to destroy and the Andro's have to try to save. But really they're not balanced in the least so use at your own risk.