"Ma'am, there are entire encyclopedias dedicated to the Andromedan War. Is there something shorter I can read to fill me in?"
Yes, there is! It is in Captain's Log #49, released in 2014, which includes "A Brief History of the Andromedan War" by Gary Carney. This issue is full of material for your games! It supports Star Fleet Battles, Federation Commander, A Call to Arms: Star Fleet, Starmada, Prime Directive, Star Fleet Battle Force, and Federation & Empire. There is an article on the Intergalactic Trunk Line which is the Andromedan Invaders' equivalent of the American Trans-Continental Railroad, and another article on the Klingon Eastern Marches. Mark Abukoff wrote "The Last Shot," which pits the Klingons against an overwhelming Hydran force.
As is usual, Communications is designed to inform readers about the company's activities. After Action reports are on Away Team Log, Federation Commander Tactics Manual, and Captain's Log #48. There is a tribute to the late Gary Plana. The Input Guide is designed to help writers and other people submitting material get their ideas into print. To help with that, there is an article explaining the differences between the Star Fleet Universe and Star Trek. This section is rounded out with staff awards and other information about the company's plans.
Federation Commander has information on plans for the future, rules for adding fleet repair docks and sublight movement to the game, and information about playing online or by email. There is a tactics article on close-range fighting. There are battlegroups with tactics for recovering abandoned freighters filled with vital supplies. Finally, there are Command Notes and five new scenarios.
This issue includes six scenarios for Star Fleet Battles. SL333 Vital Recovery is the scenario for the battle groups where competing sides strive to recover abandoned freighters filled with vital supplies. SL334 Golden Pressure pits Lyrans and Kzintis against each other. SL335 Command Strike has the Federation attempting to stop the Klingons from penetrating further into Federation space. SL336 Death of the Gryphon has the Federation ship facing Andromedans. SL337 Madness on the Rocks pairs off Jindarians and Nicozians (Star Fleet Battles: Playtest Module R107 – The Nicozian Concordance). SL338 Refugee Flight pits 2–3 players who represent the ships attacking the refugees, the ship defending them, and the refugees themselves.
The Star Fleet Battles tactics group has eight paired battle groups with up to 550 points of ships using the opening SFB scenario SL333. There is a final battle group featuring the Fralli. The Magellanic primer focuses on the Baduvai. There is a page of Term Papers.
Database articles include an article on the space lens. There are guidelines to convert Carnivon ships to Klingon, Kzinti, Lyran, Hydran, Federation, or Vudar technology and vice versa. There are five pages of Ask Admiral Vanaxilth. The section is rounded out with proposals, updates for adding general units to the Federation fleet, and answers to background questions.
The Venues section includes Star Fleet Warlord, SFB Online, Play by E-Mail, Star Fleet Battle Force (Paravians), Prime Directive (Adanerg), Starmada (Vudar), Star Fleet Marines (scenario), and Galactic Conquest.
The A Call to Arms: Star Fleet section has the statistics for Juggernaut Alpha and a scenario for that ship, Call-Out Notes, and a list of the changes in revision 1.2.
Federation & Empire gets its own proposals, Q&A, and "Why" questions. There is a half-page of Tactical Notes. Roaring Winds is a Displaced Empire Variant with the Kzintis and Lyrans swapped geographically during the General War.
New ships for Star Fleet Battles: Kzinti war space control ship; Hydran Kiowa-V heavy carrier; Lyran Cave Jaguar-Z war space control ship; Inter-Stellar Concordium war heavy carrier; Andromedan Deletor and Intolerant; Seltorian advanced technology scout destroyer and theater transport frigate; Klingon Black Vulture Early dreadnought, Black Warbird cruiser, Black Hawk destroyer, and Black Snipe frigate; Eneen survey frigate; Uthiki survey destroyer; Maesron heavy survey cruiser; and Probr Iron light cruiser. New ships for Federation Commander include the fleet repair dock, Romulan DemonHawk dreadnought, Baduvai strike cruiser, and Maghadim battlecruiser. Starmada gets the Vudar heavy battlecruiser, war frigate, war cruiser, and war destroyer. These are for both the Admiralty and Nova editions of that game system.
This issue of Captain's Log supports Federation Commander, Star Fleet Battles, Federation & Empire, Prime Directive, Star Fleet Battle Force, SFB Galactic Conquest, Starmada, A Call to Arms: Star Fleet, Star Fleet Marines, and Star Fleet Warlord.
The colorized SSDs from this issue are sold separately; the Supplemental File (which includes background information) is free as a PDF.
