
- BGG rank
- BGG #6,486
- BGG rating
- 6.9
BattleTech: CityTech
- 2–6 players
- 90 min
- Complexity 3.4/5
- 1986

Rules assistance for Federation Ship Recognition Manual
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Federation Ship Recognition Manual is an expansion for Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator released in 1985 for 2 players and 60 minutes per game. It was designed by Forest Brown and L. Ross Babcock, III and its main mechanics are Simultaneous Action Selection, Paper-and-Pencil, and Hexagon Grid.
The Federation Ship Recognition Manual expands on the ships types seen in the base game Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator, adding new variants for every Federation ship in that product, including new shuttles, starships, freighters, and starbases. As with the base Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator itself, this is ostensibly an "expansion" for the Role Playing game, in that it provides more data than just the combat element requires. 3-dimension views are provided for all craft, along with extensive historical notes and background. The cover of this 42-page product features a cutaway of the Federation 'Remora' escort craft. No counters are provides with this product, however, the last page is a fold-out diagram showing a time line of the service lifetimes of the various ship classes, as well as silhouettes of all ships showing relative sizes.
Federation Ship Recognition Manual supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Federation Ship Recognition Manual is 60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
Federation Ship Recognition Manual has a complexity rating of 3.2 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Federation Ship Recognition Manual belongs to these categories: Wargame, Science Fiction, and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Simultaneous Action Selection, Paper-and-Pencil, and Hexagon Grid. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Federation Ship Recognition Manual are: Forest Brown and L. Ross Babcock, III. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Federation Ship Recognition Manual as an expansion for Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator to use it. Check that your edition of Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.