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Thursday, December 31, 2009

THIS YEAR AT ADB, INC.

It was, looking back on it, a surprisingly good year. Let's run down things one product line at a time.

STAR FLEET BATTLES: The girl who brought you to the dance deserves a few spins around the dance floor, and SFB certainly got some interesting products.

Module Y2 Early Years II continued our exploration of the Pre-Television era of the Star Fleet Universe. One interesting feature was the early years of the ISC, and the wars that made them into one integrated empire. We made a deal with Iron Crown to design the early ISC ships to match some of their existing minis. We were able to use the countersheet to provide some extra counters for Module Y1.

Modules G3 and G3A are part of the Masters series, and update the surprisingly popular G2. Steven Petrick, who runs SFB, added many new charts, tables, and annexes to the database. New features in G3A included the Compilation of Convenient Charts, Master Weapons Chart, Technology Timeline, and an updated Sequence of Play (with the tournament entries in bold for easy access). G3A included an updated Master Table of Contents, the complete Carrier Escort Chart, and a Master Scenario Index.

FEDERATION COMMANDER: We did several new products for this line.

Briefing #2 focused on The Middle Years time period (where the original television series was set), and included a whopping 72 Ship Cards.

The Reference Rulebook updated all of the various product rules to the Revision 5 standard. We then updated every product to this level.

Hydran Attack was in some ways the "second half" of Distant Kingdoms, with more ships and scenarios for the Lyrans, Hydrans, and WYNs. Hydran Attack was associated with Booster Packs #25-#27, Squadron Boxes #25 and #26 (#27 will be along in 2010), and Border Box #9. Hydran Attack also includes counters for Boosters #91-#95. Squadron Box #91 (the first new production of the classic Zocchi plastic ships) and Booster Pack #91 have been released.

CAPTAIN'S LOG: We did two issues, #39 last May and #40 in November, both on schedule. These were both good issues. The new Supplemental Files are proving very popular and are evolving from an afterthought into a serious part of the product creation cycle.

FEDERATION & EMPIRE: This product line should have had a new product this year, but the die-cutting crisis disrupted the overall schedule, and plans to release the new F&E 2010 edition were pushed back to February.

PRIME DIRECTIVE: We have released the d20 Modern version of the Klingon book. Jean Sexton continues work on PD Federation, which should be released in the spring.

STARLINE 2400: The miniatures had a banner year, seeing the release of the long-awaited fighter, shuttle, drone, and plasma minis. We also released the Klingon F5W and other new ships.

STARMADA: This excellent game, done by our friends at Majestic Twelve Games, had not been available in stores until we released a printed edition for them. We have also released Klingon Armada, an expansion which brings our universe to Starmada gamers and the super-fast Starmada game system to the Star Fleet Universe.

GALACTIC CONQUEST: For many years, John Berg and his crew have run a series of campaign games based on Star Fleet Battles. Their rulebook is a fascinating compilation of campaign rules, but were sold only as PDFs and only to participants in the game. Thanks to the magic of print on demand, we made this rulebook available to everyone.

PDF SALES: We started selling a few PDFs as an experiment late this year, and so far, things are going well.

NEWSLETTERS: We released twelve issues of Hailing Frequencies (the on-line newsletter) and twelve issues of Communique (the PDF newsletter for Federation Commander) this year.

NOT A PRODUCT, BUT: The biggest news this year came in January when we found a new building and bought it. ADB, Inc., now has its own home, a very nice 3,000 square foot office building. Everyone now has more space, and Mike Sparks no longer has to pack orders in the warehouse (where the temperature varies from zero to one hundred degrees).

Eric Olivarez has done yeoman work updating our website.

Origins went very well, with unusually strong sales. Jean Sexton sold over 500 miniatures in her "save a starship" campaign.


NEXT YEAR AT ADB, INC.

With a new die cutter able to produce non-defective counters, we are planning a great year.

Star Fleet Battles will see several new products, including the Interim Master Starship Book, Module C3A Andromedan Threat File, and Module R12 Unique Ships.

Federation Commander will complete (but hardly finish) the series with War & Peace, adding the Andromedans, ISC, and Vudar. It will also get the Federation Admiral campaign system and more new boosters.

Captain's Log will get two more issues, the first of which is already nearly one-third done.

Federation & Empire will get the 2010 edition, and work will move forward on ISC War and Civil Wars.

Prime Directive can expect to see the long-awaited Federation book, as well as the first entirely new game system.

Starline 2400 is ready for a series of important new ships, including the Vudar miniatures.

We hope to see entirely new product lines: Battlestations Star Fleet and Silent Star Fleet, done by allied game companies.