That's right! But unlike the Evil Empire© (its members being forced to tow the party line), we know when have done something wrong and readily admit it. In our hurry to get out a new, incredibly fun game for you to play, sometimes we miss something in proof reading, or just plain screw up. This section of our web page provides you with answers to frequently asked questions (hence the clever name, "FAQ Page"), and admissions/corrections to our mistakes.
This FAQ is divided up into categories covering Flagship Games in general, and each of our games in particular. If you ever have a question about one of our games, please don't hesitate to call/email us and, if the question is not a dorky one (we have low standards, but have to draw the line somewhere), we will post it here!
To use our handy dandy FAQ page, simply click on a link
below, or scroll down to your heart's content.
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Boy, we get asked this one all the time!
Q: As famous game designers, gamer chicks must flock to you. Is that true?
Unfortunately, yes.
Actually, this has turned out to be true only for Thomas, who is the suave and debonair one here at Flagship Games. Brad and I have attributed it to his suspenders (he is never seen without), and his wearing of a "dude rag" at many gaming events. This has set him apart from the T-shirt and jeans crowd, making him an object of desire to the typical gamer "chick". Whether this will carry over to the growing LARP crowd has yet to be seen. . .
For the record, Brad is married, and sends out "married vibes", mostly due his son Nicholai being with him all the time. As for me, well, I couldn't get a date at a Jenny Craig convention with a chili cheese dog tied around my neck. 'Nuff said.
Q: What is the shelf life of your products?
Most of our games stay fresh for up to seven years, at which point the statute of limitations runs out and what you do with them is no longer a concern of ours.
Q: Has anyone ever actually eaten a copy of Pirates!?
Not to our knowledge, although recently someone threatened to do so.
Q: This is perhaps the most worthless FAQ I have ever encountered.
Wait! Don't give up yet!
The real questions can be found below!
Q: What is the scatter distance for rockets?
Q: What are assault marines?
Q: What are the rules for mines?
Q: Why are there different templates for the swivelgun and fire thrower?
The above are questions that pertained to the second edition of the Pirates! rules. All these errors and omissions have been corrected in the Pirates! 3rd Edition rules.
Q: When will you be releasing a Viking style ship?
Our answer for years to this question was, "No!"
Like all good wargamers, now we have changed our minds, and a Viking Ship is in the production queue. Unfortunately, it's not at the top of the list, the ancient ships taking priority. We will get around to it, though, so chin up!
Q: Any plans for sculpting any ancient period warships?
Our line of ancient ships is underway, the the first release, the Libernian, may be seen here.
Q: Hey, you guys wrote this game. Share your game-winning secrets with us!
Try not to sink. That's the hard bit. If you can pull that one off, then you can try and sink your opponent(s). Note that in 3rd Edition it is suicidal for small ships to ram larger ones, so no more kamikaze wolfpack ramming attacks on Hulks!
ERRATA:
Refer to the Crit Charts, which are found on the last page of the book. Under Torso Crits, the last crit (applied on a 121+ roll), indicates that the Omega Suits reactor goes critical and explodes. The damage inflicted from the explosion should be 4D12.
Q: Can Omega Warriors self destruct?
No, James, they cannot...
ERRATA:
Refer to the Monk Army List, page 53.
If you look at Veteran Sohei and Sohei, you will see that they each require
that you spend 40% minimum and 80% maximum of your points on these categories.
Taken as written, this would mean that you end up spending 80% on the two
categories, minimum. (Combine this with the 10% minimum for Peasants
and 90% of your points are already spent!) Needless to say, something
got left out. We are blaming it on the printer, who obviously left
out a critical sentence during printing. Of course, we would never
do such a thing...
Anyway, what it is supposed
to say is that you are to spend 40% minimum and 80% maximum on a combination
of both categories (Veteran Sohei and Sohei). You can even spend
the minimum 40% on a single category if you wish.
ERRATA:
Refer to the rules for Morale, page 37. The situation, "Testing when taking casualties during a charge" should instead read, "Testing when taking missile fire during a charge". Oops.
Q: Can you explain in more detail what happens when a Tai switches to Withdraw orders?
There are two times a Tai will switch to Withdraw orders. The first will be when the Army Commander issues the Withdraw order, and will not happen too often unless he is trying to pull a battered Tai out of the battle in the hopes it will not end up having to take (and probably fail) a Tai morale check. The other, and much more common event causing a Tai to switch to Withdraw orders is when it fails a Tai morale check.
Any Tai operating under Withdraw orders must fulfill all the requirements found on page 16 of the Taiko! rules. To wit: The Tai must attempt to move its units at least 12" away from any known enemy unit at all times. Any units engaged in melee may make a "fighting withdrawal" as described on page 34-35, but units not engaged must move away from the enemy with all speed. This will usually mean they have to either wheel to face away from the enemy, or turn (see pages 22 and 23), as units may not move backwards. If the Tai is 12" or further away from all known enemy units, then it does not have to move unless it wishes too. If the Tai is on Withdraw orders as a result of a failed morale check, however, it must move away from the enemy and off the battlefield in the most logical direction until such time it rallies or leaves the battlefield, in which case it is removed permanently from the game. During this withdrawal, all Units of the affected Tai will move as normal, having to wheel/turn to accomplish any changes in facing.
Q: If a unit "may" pursue a defeated unit (as opposed to "must pursue"), does it suffer fatigue?
Any pursuit move counts as moving at the charge rate, so pursuit movement, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, is used for determining fatigue. Note that following up a push back does not count as pursuit movement.
Q: Does a unit that receives fire during a charge have to check morale, even if no casualties are caused?
Yes. The act of charging through a swarm of arrows and/or bullets is enough to make even the bravest warrior think! In the case of hand guns, however, their fire must cause casualties to inflict the automatic demoralization on a charging unit (pages 26 & 36).
Q: Does a unit that has taken 75%+ casualties have to check morale for every casualty inflicted after reaching that level, just like a Tai?
No. Unlike a Tai, a unit that reaches 75% casualties and passes that morale check will no longer have to take morale checks for casualty levels, although it will for other incidents such as losing melee, taking casualties from missile fire during a charge, etc. This reflects the "do or die" attitude of the samurai. Units that have taken such horrendous casualties and still pass morale have obviously determined to give their all!
Q: Does a unit hit in the flank/rear still get the "first strike" bonuses for their special weapons (pole arms, long spears, etc.)?
A unit hit in the flank or rear retains the retains the first strike bonuses for its weapons, with the exception of long spears. A long spear armed unit hit in the flank/rear counts as having hand weapons for the duration of that melee, and loses all the long spear bonuses until the melee is resolved (see page 33).
Q: Do routed units count as casualties for the Tai morale check?
Only if they have routed off the battlefield.
Q: Does a Tai that is withdrawing due to failed morale ever have to take another Tai morale check if it reaches the next casualty level (i.e. 25% to 50%)?
No. A Tai that is withdrawing due to a failed morale check cannot be in any worse state, so no further morale checks are necessary. Note that if a Tai rallies, it will then be subject to any morale checks required after the point at which it rallies.
Q: Are routing units subject to fatigue?
Yes. That typically means that they will be fatigued within a turn or two of beginning their route move. Needless to say, this is a bad thing.
Q: Bows can fire more than once per turn, however, we've noticed that their fire is not very effective after the first or maybe second shot. Why bother?
It is true that bow fire after the first or second shot in the turn will typically be ineffective when it comes to causing casualties, however, it will still force a morale check on charging units, whether any casualties are caused or not. This makes them handy to have mixed in with hand gun units, which have a limited ability to fire.
Q: We have discovered that charging a large unit of hand gunners can be suicidal. With their ability to cause automatic demoralization, we just can't get into contact! Any suggestions?
Yes. Charging a large unit of
hand guns will require you to have several units at your disposal.
One unit alone will probably never make it, unless it gets luck and never
gets hit (it can happen). Instead, use the ability to freely interpenetrate
your own units to send unit after unit against the hand gunners.
If you have enough units, eventually the hand gunners will no longer be
able to fire, and you will be able to get into contact. It is typically
best to use your worst units first to "absorb" the fire of the gunners,
and follow up with your better units afterwards.
We get a lot of questions about ordering
and shipping. Here are some answers to the more common questions.
Q: After I place
my order, how long until it ships?
A: This is a very good question. The answer is - If we have the product in stock, then the order will typically ship within two business days of receipt. So, if we get your order on a Monday, it will go out no later than Wednesday. If we get your order on a Friday, it will go out no later than the following Tuesday. Normally, we can ship on the next business day, but, since the guy in charge of shipping is also a single father, sometimes that just doesn't happen.
If we are out of the product you ordered, then the answer changes to something like, "Whenever." This can mean a week, two or three weeks or, in extreme cases, even more. Normally, the delay will only be a couple of weeks. It can be longer when we are rebuilding molds, which we do regularly to maintain a high standard of quality for our castings. We also subcontract out all our metal ordnance, although the turn around time on that is usually pretty good, and we are seldom out of stock on any of those items.
Regardless, we will always strive to fill your orders as quickly as possible, and, if there is going to be a delay, we will do our best to keep you updated.
Q: What's up with shipping to Canada?
We have had a lot of problems getting orders to Canada, with a failure rate of approximately 20%. This is bad, especially when you consider that we have not had any problems shipping anywhere else in the world using the US Postal Service. After some research, it appears that the problem lies with Canadian Customs. Apparently, they can hold onto packages for quite some time before sending them on. We had one package (for which we paid airmail rates) take 6 months to get to its destination, and many others haven't made it at all. This ends up costing us quite a bit of money because we replace lost orders out of our pocket.
As a result, here's our new "Shipping to Canada" policy:
In spite of the above semi-rant, most packages do get through in a reasonable amount of time, and we certainly don't want to scare off our Canadian customers (and we have a lot of them!). Our advice is don't pay for Global Priority mail unless you are ordering books/printed matter only which can fit into a Global Priority envelope. Airmail is usually reasonable, but if you are placing an exceptionally large order, you may want to consider shipping via ground as it has a good chance of getting held up by Canadian Customs.
Q: How can I tell how much shipping will cost on my overseas order?
A: To be blunt: Overseas shipping can be quite expensive, especially since the unfortunate tragedy of 9/11. We can give you an estimate of what shipping will be when you place your order, but the true cost may vary a little when we actually get everything packed and ready to ship.
Here's some information to help you get an estimate on how much your order will weigh.