Stardate 48630.2:
The Dominion Cold War is destabilizing the Alpha Quadrant. Peace hangs by a thread. Only diplomacy and clever politics is preventing an all-out war between the major galactic powers. Political alliances frequently form, but they seem to be short-lived and dependent on political and situational needs.
A new and potentially explosive situation is starting to form just a few light years from the well known Deep Space 9 space station. Scans of a nearly uninhabited region of space have shown a high concentration of the valuable dilithium crystal. There is enough dilithium to support thousands of starships and power-cores. This treasure could change the balance of power and predetermine the outcome of a galactic war. Many governments have dispatched forces to the region, but it seems that they are not alone...
Win Conditions:
An alliance must hold 5 of the 7 Victory Centers at the end of a round to win (The 7 Victory Centers being the 6 staring locations and the center planet of Radan).
Map Information:
This is a 3 vs. 3 player map. The Borg can be added as a third party.
Planets are randomly placed in the beginning of the game, so every playthrough is different.
There are several resource types in play. Read about them in the Resources section.
The dices used are 10-sided.
All players, besides Borg, share unit types. Read about them in the Units section.
Units do not need to be placed in the same round as they are bought.
Most units can be upgraded via the technology development system.
Friendly Space-Stations and Repair-Vessels will repair damaged multiple HP units.
Because many units generate resources, players are encouraged to disable the End of Turn Report. Unselect the box in menu: Game - User Notifications - Show End of Turn Report.
Alliances:
Khitomer Alliance - The Human dominated Federation, alongside their Vulcan affiliates, were once at war with the Klingon Empire. However, tensions eventually eased considerably, which lead to the signing of the Khitomer Accords peace treaty. Now, eight decades later, these old parties have formed a temporary alliance to prevent their common foes from seizing the recently discovered treasure trove of Dilithium.
Pact of Powers - The Dominion, a superpower from the Gamma Quadrant, have started a campaign to destabilize the Alpha Quadrant. Spearhead forces have managed to build a space station near the planet Radan. Political envoys have secured a temporary alliance with two of the strongest powers of the region: the Romulan Star Empire and the Cardassian Union. Together, they seem unstoppable in their pursuit of Dilithium.
The Borg - This race consists of humanoids that have been turned into cybernetic organisms. They now function and serve as drones in the hive mind called "the Collective". The only way the Borg can reproduce is by assimilation - the process by which the Borg add new members and new technology to the Collective. The Borg race and its ruthlessness is feared throughout the galaxy.
Resources:
Commanders rely on several different resources to build up their forces.
Command Command is used to acquire most combat units. Controlling Planets, Relay-Stations and Support-Vessels gives command.
Engineering Engineering is used to acquire most support units. Controlling Space-Station, Planets, Asteroid-Fields and Repair-Vessels gives Engineering.
Science For commanders to get their hands on the best and most advanced technology they must do research. Controlling Planets, Microquasars and Research-Vessels gives Science.
Dilithium This crystalline mineral is highly precious. Governments frequently award promotions to commanders for acquiring dilithium. Commanders can also expect relief forces, political actions and extraordinary resource deliveries when shipping dilithium back to their respective governments.
Assimilation Assimilation is only used by the borg. It is obtained by building Borg-Complexes or capturing Space-Stations, Relay-Stations, Asteroid-Fields and Microquasars. The Borg also require Dilithium. The Collective will send reinforcement ships in exchange for this resource.
Rank The rank of a commander is in itself a resource. Fleet commanders start out as Commodores, and this rank gives 5 Command, 5 Engineering and 5 Science every turn. For every promotion the commander receives, the given resources are raised by additional 5 Command, 5 Engineering and 5 Science.
Communication:
While on mission, fleet commanders may communicate with their governments. They can call in reinforcements, seek promotion or ask for political aid. If a communication is chosen, it must be transmitted via the communication terminal. Instruction: Place the communication on the terminal in the top left of the screen.
Request-Strike-Force
This communication delivers a fleet of vessels. A force of 5 Scout-Ships, 4 Escort-Cruisers, 3 Light-Cruisers, 2 Heavy-Cruisers and 1 Flagship will reach the main space station after 1 round.
Seek-Promotion This communication gives the commander a 50 % chance of advancing to next naval rank. If the promotion is declined, then the next request for promotion is given a 60 % chance of success. If however the promotion is granted, the next request for promotion is only given a 40 % chance of success.
Diplomatic-Ceasefire This communication urges the politicians and diplomats of the government to force through a ceasefire with the hostile governments. However, the ceasefire only hinders fighting between the single government and its three main adversaries. The two other allies and the Borg are not affected.
Units:
Commanders can chose between several unit types when calling in reinforcements.
Scout-Ships Scout-Ships have the longest range of all units, but they also have relatively weak offense and defense. Despite their fast warp drives, they can have their engines upgraded.
Escort-Cruisers Escort-Cruisers are relatively cheap defensive units. They can carry up to 1 Security-Force. Despite their good defensive capabilities, they can have their defensive weapons upgraded.
Light-Cruisers Light-Cruisers are relatively cheap offensive units. They can carry up to 2 Security-Forces. Despite their good offensive capabilities, they can have their offensive weapons upgraded.
Heavy-Cruisers Heavy-Cruisers are double-hulled, slow and strong offensive units. They can carry up to 3 Security-Forces. Heavy-Cruisers can have their offensive weapons upgraded. Furthermore, their relatively slow warp engines can be upgraded.
Adv-Cruisers Adv-Cruisers have anti-stealth technology that detects cloaked ships. They are double-hulled, slow and have weaker offensive weapons than Heavy-Cruisers. They can carry up to 4 Security-Forces. Adv-Cruisers can have their weapons array upgraded, thereby enabling them to assist Security-Forces with precision bombardment. Furthermore, they can have their relatively slow warp engines upgraded.
Flagships Flagships have the strongest offensive and defensive weapons of the double-hulled units. They can carry up to 5 Security-Forces. Flagships can have their strong offensive and defensive weapons upgraded to become even stronger. Furthermore, they can have their relatively slow warp engines upgraded.
Transport-Vessels Transport-Vessels are specialized in carrying up to 5 Security-Forces. Their relatively slow warp engines can be upgraded.
Support-Vessels Support-Vessels are specialized in giving up to 3 other allied ships better offensive and defensive abilities. Furthermore, each of these vessels gives the commander 3 Command every turn. Note that a ship cannot benefit from 2 Support-Vessels, and Support-Vessels cannot benefit each other. Their relatively slow warp engines can be upgraded.
Repair-Vessels Repair-Vessels are specialized in repairing double-hulled ships. Furthermore, these vessels each gives the commander 3 Engineering. Their relatively slow warp engines can be upgraded.
Research-Vessels Research-Vessels have anti-stealth technology that can detect cloaked ships. These vessels also continuously do research and therefore gives the commander 3 Science every turn. Their relatively slow warp engines can be upgraded.
Security-Forces Security-Forces are used to secure space stations and planets. They must be transported from place to place. Their offensive abilities can be upgraded by acquiring Assault Phasers, while their defensive abilities can be upgraded by Personal Shields.
Cloaking All cloaked units are marked with golden symbols, unlike uncloaked units which are marked with silver symbols.
Cloaking Technology:
Stealth - All ships with this technology are invisible to enemy scans, allowing them to perform first strike sneak attacks on unsuspecting and unprepared enemies. However, ships are not produced with cloaking devices installed. Commanders will have to assist their governments with science and research to gain access to cloaking devices. Once access is gained, all new acquisitions of specific starship classes will come with cloaking.
Anti-Stealth - Cloaking can be countered. Research-Vessels and Adv-Cruisers will always detect cloaked ships and reveal their positions to all friendly units in their vicinity. Therefore, Research-Vessels and Adv-Cruisers will always deny cloaked ships their first strike sneak attacks.
Astronomical Objects:
Starships may encounter a variety of different objects when traveling through space. Many of them can give fleet commanders tactical or strategically advantages.
Relay-Stations These installations are part of the local communication network. They are valuable sources of intelligence. A commander gains 1 Command every round per Relay-Station under control.
Asteroid-Fields Huge rocks filled with rare metals and minerals are to be found throughout space. Engineering can always make use of such resources. A commander gains 1 Engineering per Asteroid-Field claimed.
Microquasars There are many quasar-like phenomena to be investigated in the region. But many governments also want to study them. A commander gains 1 Science every round per Microquasar claimed.
Black-Holes These geometrically defined regions of spacetime can be dangerous. However, if precautions are taken, these objects may provide traveling spacecraft with gravitational slingshots. All craft departing from a Black-Hole gain +1 move.
White-Holes Unlike Black-Holes, which suck in everything nearby, this direct counterpart emits huge amounts of energy. If given adequate time to prepare, skillful weapon officers are able to utilize this abundance of energy to boost the power of weapon systems. All craft defending at a White-Hole gain +1 defense.
Nebulae These interstellar clouds of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases provide excellent camouflage for defending units. All craft attacking enemies hiding within Nebulae suffers -1 attack.
Wormholes Three pairs of stable wormholes have been detected nearby planet Radan. Spacecraft can use the Blue, the Red or the Green wormholes as shortcuts through the fabric of space and time. Beware of enemy attacks when near these anomalies.
Credits:
Sounds are mostly from STdimension.org, Trekcore.com and the Star Trek Armada games.
Many unit pictures are from Star Trek Supremacy, an ongoing and awesome Star Trek fan game project. Download it via the Supremacy forum section of Armadafleetcommand.com.
Some unit pictures are from the Star Trek Attack Wing HeroClix game.
Some unit pictures are from Airmasters Star Trek ship collection on Steam, made for Galactic Civilizations III.
Decorations use elements of the LCARS artwork of Alexander Richardson. Visit his blog and inspect his spectacular art at lcarsgfx.wordpress.com.
Thanks go to all the contributors and testers, as well as all the minds behind the Star Trek universe.
Map design and idea by Frostion.