GSF FAQ

Other Games Galactic Strike Force
1

Here is the first draft of the GSF FAQ. Christopher has reviewed the FAQ, which means that everything in it is confirmed by him. If there is a difference between the rulebook and the FAQ, the FAQ is correct.

I explained each concept where it is most likely to occur. For example, Energy Removal is mentioned during the Damage Event, even though it can apply during any phase.

I kept it as a google doc, so I can edit it without causing the forum to show an update each time. As more clarifications are needed, I will add to the document. If you have any questions that should be there, please ask. If you think something could be worded better, please mention it. If you think something could use an example, please say so, etc.

EDIT: I wanted to say thank you to Christopher and Paul for answering all of my questions!

2

Set Up: #6: Put tokens on each Opp equal to starting value.

I do not recommend this, however correct it may be. I wouldnt put tokens on any Opp ships unless their values are different from the starting values. Saves on bookkeeping and makes moving ships much less of a hassle.

Thanks for this Pydro

3

That looks really useful.  Thanks!

#8 in Setup - isn't blue the Strike Force side?  You say "strike force side up - orange side".  Also, small typo in #4 ("one", not "on").

UPDATE: it looks like you've peppered in some advice along with the actual rules, which I think is great.  An example is telling people not to play a Boost at the end of the Travel phase unless you can prevent a card from activating an "R" icon.  Maybe the advice sections should be visibily differentiated from the actual rules, by italicizing the advice or coloring it or something.  Otherwise, it may look like the advice is actually how the game must be played.

UPDATE: Is this paragraph correct?

If all of the Opposition Ships in a Sector have a Primary Engager, any remaining unengaged Strike Force Ships in that Sector need to engage, though they may choose to be Secondary Engagers.

If all Opp ships have a primary engager, then any remaining SFS must be secondary engagers since you can't have multiple primary engagers.  Or should it say "any remaining unegaged SFS in that sector DO NOT need to engage"?

UPDATE: why is this true?

An Opposition ship is engaged with a Primary Engager and Secondary Engager, and the Secondary Engager moves to a different Sector: All ships are still considered engaged, but no damage will be calculated during the Damage Event.

If the secondary engager moves to a different sector, the Opp ship and the primary engager are still going to blast each other, no?

UPDATE: under Damage Event, what does this sentence mean?

However, pairs of ships will remove tokens sequentially.

4

Thanks for the help. Always good to have a new set of eye.
It should be that they do not need to engage.

Yes, the primary and and Opp ship still engage.

5

Here's more:

If an Opposition Ship is scrapped for any other reason, no one gains the Bounty.

Would it be good to give an example of when something like this could happen?  It may not be obvious to a new player.

6

If a Player has more than five cards in their hand, they must recycle cards so that they have four or fewer cards

Wha?  This is not mentioned in the rules (although I suspected it was just an oversight).

7

That's a great doc.  I love it.

8

Thanks, I got most of them. I will go through and separate the advice when I can.

What I meant to say is taht pairs of engaged ships (An Opp ships and at least one SF ship), remove tokens one after the othre. First fully resolve on pair, then go to the next.

I will put in that example later. Any other places that should have one? I am thinking one about removing tokens.

9

Here's one question I had that I don't think is answered completely by the FAQ, but could be easily - when a stack of Station Cards is emptied, we're supposed to shuffle the Station Scrap and refill it.  But it's not clear that during setup, when it says to "set aside" the remaining Station Cards, that those cards you're setting aside ARE the Station Scrap pile.

This confused me my first game, because we burned through a stack of Station Cards in our first game before any Station Cards had been scrapped, so we weren't sure what it was we were supposed to be shuffling and refilling from.

Also, just to say it, one reason I'm so pleased by this doc is because I'd decided to not manage a GSF FAQ myself this time around, so I'm super glad that someone else is doing it.  And it looks like it's going to be really useful.

Once the doc is mostly finalized, I'd be happy to host it on my GSF site, if you think that'd be a good idea.

10

Do we think it would be a good idea to suggest a first game that doesn't pit the noobs against the Syndicate?  Maybe also some other ways to tone down the difficulty while you're getting your feet wet, like reducing the number of starting Opp ships perhaps.

11

This FAQ looks really helpful. Some initial feedback (mostly to make it easier to read - my copy of the game hasn't arrived yet, so I don't have a lot of gameplay questions yet):

  • One suggestion for readability (assuming the FAQ will stay in a plain text format): put phase letters in parentheses and the energy letters in curly brackets (i.e. (R) instead of R for Requisition and {W} instead of W for Weaponry)
  • In the examples in step 4 of Battle, you have a few duplicated scenarios.
  • In each of the phases, when you talk about playing boost cards, it's a little confusing to parse. You might consider rephrasing or using formatting to make it clearer (i.e. change "Play Boosts or Boost - Travels" to "Play Boost or Boost-Travel cards"
  • You might add a brief Table of Contents to the beginning, just so people have an idea of the structure of the document. After all, this is primarily to be used for reference rather than reading in its entirety, right?
  • Little typo-stuff. I haven't compiled a list, but I can. Or if you want to give me permission to edit temporarily, I can fix them as I see them.
12

I haven’t even worked on formatting yey. The FAQ is an update from the one I made for PTing. That one was in Word, and formatting doesn’t translate well. My goal was to get it out first, then make it look good second. Besides feedback on the formatting is helpful.

Some of the nomenclature is based on previous versions, like how to write W, D. To me {*} means Energy, not a specific one. We can coe up with a standard format which would be fine.

13

If anyone wants to have access to the doc to help keep it updated and neat, just PM me your email address that you have a google account with (I think that’s the info I need).

14

Here's one: I don't believe the icon that has all the TRIBA letters on it is ever explained anywhere. We play it where the player can choose which of the letters it is each round so that the ability activates at the chosen letter's event, but it will only activate once per round, and which letter it is can be changed from round to round. But maybe it's supposed to mean that the ability can be activated on each of the lettered events each round, meaning the ability can be activated five times per round. Would be nice to know which one of those interpretations is correct and have that in the FAQ. 

15

It's each phase for the TRIBA icon spiff

OCS Waypoint would be terrible with a restriction of once per round. Would make wrath cry. 

16

Well there you go. Needs to be in the FAQ. 

17

Did some perliminary formatting, as well as throwing in a Key for the various symbols at the bottom. I'll do another pass sometime this weekend.

 

Key

[ W ] = Weaponry (red pentagon)

[ D ] = Defense (blue shield)

[ E ] = Energy (green triangle)

[ W ] + [ D ] = [ E ]

 

Phases

{T} - Travel

{R} - Requisition

{ I } - Installation

{B} - Battle

{A} - Aftermath

18

Nice job!

19

Not a bad idea. I was thinking about this and twio questions came to mind: 1) how many starting games should there be? 2) What are the key skills mechanincs? Once those questions are answered we can divide up those skills by the number of games, and come up with a new Flagship Panel for the first few games.

Also, I added in a bit about TRIBA Icons.

20

This is really helpful. I think the official rules were too condensed to be easily followed. The FAQ, as of right now, is really just a reiteration of the rules - unzipped.

 

I think I'll share these with anyone who wants to play tonight, not the glossy rules. it's an open gaming night rather than a dedicated SOTM/GSF thing, so who knows.