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silky_octopus's review
4.0
Available in electronic format only, this was the second in a series of faction-specific publications intended to accompany the main Star League-era sourcebooks and focuses on the state of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns.
In common with the other books in this series, this book begins with a general overview of the state of the AFFS and the Federated Suns, giving strategic and logistical updates on the state of the military incorporating details on the various military academies scattered around the realm, the role of mercenaries and the Federated Suns Navy and the underlying infrastucture. The main portion of the book is a breakdown of the various brigades of the AFFS, some running to three pages. This is followed by a brief rules annex, including random assignment tables, and then two Technical Readout-style entries for new WarShips, the Defender-class battlecruiser and the Congress D-class frigate, followed by a deployment map before finishing with record sheets for the two new WarShips. Other than the record sheets the book is in colour throughout, with illustrations of the unit insignia for each Brigade, plus the new WarShips and a smattering of other art including a full-page piece.
I personally found this to be one of the better books in the series; in addition to being good at things that almost all of the series are good at - introducing units and facilities not mentioned in any of the later books and which were all wiped out in the Succession Wars, making this a definitive text - this Field Report goes a step further by giving every regiment a mention in some level of detail, making each generally distinctive in some form, and many of them have colourful backgrounds that make them potentially interesting for those looking to adopt a unit. A number of the formations are newly-introduced to the canon universe, but within their background detail are effectively identified as units active during the Age of War, making this Field Report useful for that era too, whilst there are also mentions of disbanded units/former units of the Federated Peacekeeping Forces that were disbanded during the reforms that led to the formation of the AFFS, which is great detail for someone looking to run games during particular campaigns like the Davion Civil War.
This Field Report also contains a complete list of the WarShips in the Navy as at 2765, broken down by type and by fleet assignment, making it useful for arranging period-accurate BattleSpace games, as well as including names for a number of the individual WarShips, something that I always enjoy seeing.
In common with the other books in this series, this book begins with a general overview of the state of the AFFS and the Federated Suns, giving strategic and logistical updates on the state of the military incorporating details on the various military academies scattered around the realm, the role of mercenaries and the Federated Suns Navy and the underlying infrastucture. The main portion of the book is a breakdown of the various brigades of the AFFS, some running to three pages. This is followed by a brief rules annex, including random assignment tables, and then two Technical Readout-style entries for new WarShips, the Defender-class battlecruiser and the Congress D-class frigate, followed by a deployment map before finishing with record sheets for the two new WarShips. Other than the record sheets the book is in colour throughout, with illustrations of the unit insignia for each Brigade, plus the new WarShips and a smattering of other art including a full-page piece.
I personally found this to be one of the better books in the series; in addition to being good at things that almost all of the series are good at - introducing units and facilities not mentioned in any of the later books and which were all wiped out in the Succession Wars, making this a definitive text - this Field Report goes a step further by giving every regiment a mention in some level of detail, making each generally distinctive in some form, and many of them have colourful backgrounds that make them potentially interesting for those looking to adopt a unit. A number of the formations are newly-introduced to the canon universe, but within their background detail are effectively identified as units active during the Age of War, making this Field Report useful for that era too, whilst there are also mentions of disbanded units/former units of the Federated Peacekeeping Forces that were disbanded during the reforms that led to the formation of the AFFS, which is great detail for someone looking to run games during particular campaigns like the Davion Civil War.
This Field Report also contains a complete list of the WarShips in the Navy as at 2765, broken down by type and by fleet assignment, making it useful for arranging period-accurate BattleSpace games, as well as including names for a number of the individual WarShips, something that I always enjoy seeing.
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