The Black Ocean

The Black Ocean has updated their fleet recognition for Firestorm Armada.



Source

From the update:

Want to see all the current ships for Firestorm Armada? Need to plan your next fleet. We have just updated our Fleet Recognition page on the main site. This contains all know ships for the Storm Zone. Including many brand new ships.

The Black Ocean updated their online resources with the combined ship stat cards for Firestorm Armada 2.0.



Source

From the announcement:

It has been a arduous week for us here at The Black Ocean but we have a little something for you. The Combined Ship Stat Cards 2.0!

This document includes the statistics already released by Spartan Games and the Model Assigned Rules for those ships!

Please note that the Model Assigned Rules MAY be from some of the earlier versions of the rules and should be treated as such! As we get newer versions we will update this document. (You should read that as: Don't freak out!)

The folks at Spartan and the Spartan Community Beta Test Group have spent hundred of hours developing this for you. The Black Ocean has done its best to faithfully reproduce that incredible body of work here. But if you find any mistakes please let us know and we will correct those. I will post in this thread when a update occurs (there may be quite a few at first).

I would like to personally thank the Beta Test group also, Not just for the work they have done on version 2.0 but for also helping us proofread this document.

The Black Ocean has done its first updates on its site for 2.0. Be sure to check it out! There is more to come!

Spartan Games is taking the word to the community and looking for your guy's input into making some new ships for Firestorm Armada.
You can comment on the Spartan page or The Black Ocean's page (that's where the links go from here).



From the announcement:

Are you a Firestorm Armada fan? Do you want to help design our next set of models for the six major races? Then head on over the Spartan Games Community and The Black Ocean Facebook Page to see how you can get involved.

The Black Ocean has updated their Army Builder Data Files for the new Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game from Fantasy Flight Games.

That really is a mouthful. But the title is not the important part. What you can do with these files are!

For those of you who don’t know Fantasy Flight Games recently released the Star Wars X-wing Miniatures Game and here at The Black Ocean we have fallen in love with it. In this game we get to do what most boys I grew up with wanted to do. Pilot an X-wing!

To help with building lists with this great game we have created data files for use with Wolflair’s Army Builder. With these files you easily can make lists for tournament or casual play. It can be used to make endless “what if” pairings and “how do these work together” squadrons. Once you have just what you want you can print them out with all stats and pictures, then just grab you miniatures and go!

The Black Ocean is committed to the X-Wing Miniatures Game. As new expansion packs come out we will be updating our Army Builder files.

The Black Ocean went and updated... basically everything about their website.

With the release of Spartan Games new Hardback Edition Rulebook and the Marauders of the Rift Campaign book for Firestorm Armada many of the rules have changed. So we have a plethora of support documents that have also changed or have been added.

I’d like to start with the beautiful Redesigned Unit Stat Cards (note that there are several other versions on our website). This endeavor was started by You Look Like A Nail but has been taken up by the_larz and Caine-Hoa from the Spartan Community. I would publicly like to thank them both on behalf of the community for all their hard work. These are must have to enhance your tabletop.

We have added (or reinstated) three new files. The Fleet Guide for New Players gives insight on how each of the core fleets play in Firestorm. We have Wenyuan from the Spartan Community to thank for his trials and tribulations on this. This is the first document a new player should read.

Confused about what all these Firestorm related terms you see advanced players throw around? No need to be any more. We have compiled the Firestorm Armada Glossary. This contains the terms and abbreviations that are commonly used within this game.

A returning file is our Player Made Ship Stat Cards. This contains collected ships from various Firestorm players all updated to the new V2 format and rules. There are many pages for great new ships and even some ships that were made before the current time of conflict.

Another additional document is our Fleet Construction – Marauders. This combines the fleet building rules for the seven awesome new factions in the Marauders of the Rift Campaign book. It is a good place to start to plan your model purchases.

Our other two fleet construction documents, Fleet Construction – Alliance of Kurak and Fleet Construction – Zenian League, have been updated to the current rules. Within these two you will find all the information you need to assemble a devastating fleet and terrorize the Storm Zone.

Lastly we have updated our much praised Combined Ship Stat Cards. Here you will find every ship that currently has rules in the Firestorm Armada Universe. We have just added all of the 26 ships from the Marauders of the Rift and their supporting rules in one convenient place.

The Black Ocean helps you make your Firestorm Armada fleets with their Army Builder data files version 1.0.

The Black Ocean is pleased to announce that we have built data files which can be used in Army Builder from Lone Wolf Development. With these data files a Firestorm Armada player can make fleet lists for casual play or tournaments. The 1.0 version encompasses every rule and ships so the player can concentrate on building the best fleet to crush his opponent.

Within these files you will find every ship for the core fleets (Aquan, Terran, Sorylian, Dindrenzi, Directorate, and the Relthoza), Alliance fleets (Alliance of Kurak and the Zenian League), Rogue Factions (Oroshan) and Civilian fleets. All current ship types are represented including the new mark 2 ships, destroyers and even asteroid stations.

Admirals and captains will be able to create pure Core Fleets (Aquan, Terran, Sorylian, Dindrenzi, Directorate, and the Relthoza), various Alliance Fleets that can contain ships from two or more other fleets and Support Fleets that have ships from only the Zenian league or the Alliance of Kurak. In addition the Pirate Factions (Brethren of the Belt and Marauders) can be used within Core Fleets, Alliance Fleets or as stand-alone fleets.

All Model Assigned Rules are clearly and concisely presented on the printed out, html or pdf lists as are Tactics Points, Escort rules, ship specific rules, and Local Wings. All validation is handled by the program so no more wondering if you can add that dreadnought or not. You build the list, it will be legal.

As a special feature the Black Ocean and Alexmann have added player made ships to the data files. These ships, submitted by the great Firestorm fans on the Spartan Games Community, have been checked and included for your playing pleasure. Play a game with classes of ships not yet explored! These ships will be updated periodically so submit yours today on the Spartan Games Community thread.

So open Army Builder today and download our FREE file from the update button within the program. If you do not have Army Builder you can buy and download it from here.

The Black Ocean has the latest version of their fleet-making program up on their website. Don't leave Earth without it.

This is the version of Army Builder for Firestorm Armada you have been looking for!

In this version all core fleet ships are included and validated.
Local support wings can now be chosen.
Tactics points are on all squadrons.
Asteroid Stations make their appearance including the ability to add in Ad Hoc Bays.
The Zenian League and the Alliance of Kurak ships are included.
Support Fleets are now able to be selected.
All other issues with validation and point costs are fixed.

The Firestorm Armada community owes a big thanks to Alexmann for all his extra work! Visit his blog at http://mannmomo.blogspot.co.uk/ and tell him thanks.

You can download this update from within Army Builder.

The Black Ocean has revamped their website. Go check it out!

With a new year comes a new site. The Black Ocean version 2.0 is up and running. It features a flash slider and new mouse over navigation for frequently used files. The redesigned Resources mouse over link holds Fan and Black Ocean created files. The Vault holds mirrored files from Spartan Games for Firestorm. There are direct links to the Podcast, Forum and Facebook.
You are invited to stop on past. Be sure to check out our Forums and like us on Facebook.

The Black Ocean posts Episode 02 “The Bigger They Are The Harder They Explode”.

From their announcement:

Admirals,

The Black Ocean, your home for Firestorm Armada and Sci Fi gaming, is pleased to announce that, Episode 02 “The bigger they are the harder they explode,” is posted to ITunes for your listening enjoyment.

This is our Christmas present to you; a Dreadnought sized show.

Included are the following sections:

Hailing Frequencies - our news section from around the Net.

Combat Information Center - Fleet Review and Background this month the Relthoza

After Action Debrief - Battle Reports, Model Assigned Rules, two battle reports “Trixsy Relthoza “ and " The bigger they are the harder they explode "

Rec Room - inspirational Sci Fi media, Space Battleship Yamato 2010

The Ensigns Station - new player's corner, Dante takes on Wings

Comms Intercept - Interviews, this month Jonathan from Corsec Engineering

From the Void - user submitted content, "Battlestations 2 by Andy "Ruckdog" Rucker

You can find us on iTunes by entering “The Black Ocean” in the search and scrolling down to podcasts. You can also get to our iTunes section by following .

So check us out at www.theblackocean.com, friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

The Black Ocean will be unable to Attend The Wild West Shootout 2:

From their announcement:

This is to announce that The Black Ocean will be unable to attend the Battlefoam Wild West Shoot Out on January 6 thru 8th this year due to a scheduling conflict. It is with heavy hearts that we must withdraw from this great event. If you were planning on attending the Firestorm Armada Tournament the Black Ocean will not be running that this year.

We would like to assure you that we will still be working on tournament rules and supporting to the fullest Firestorm Armada from Spartan Games in every way we can. We are in preliminary discussions with quite a few major tournaments to run games and continue to build the first Firestorm Armada Tournament circuit.

So keep checking our Webpage, Facebook, Podcast, and Forum for news and events!

If you have questions or comments please send them to show@theblackocean.com

The Black Ocean has posted a new episode:

The Black Ocean, your home for Firestorm Armada and Sci Fi gaming, is pleased to announce that, Episode 01 “Decompression Sucks,” is posted to ITunes for your listening enjoyment.



This Episode is bursting with content. We named this Episode one because we are finally in full swing. Included are the following sections:

Hailing Frequencies - our news section from around the Net.
Combat Information Center (New!) - Fleet Review and Background this month the Terrans
Ready Room (New!) - Rules that we missed, Point Defense.
After Action Debrief - Battle Reports, "Decompression Sucks"
Research and Development (New!) - Review of Products, Corsec Engineering's Omni Stand and Tripple Dice Dock.
Rec Room - inspirational Sci Fi media, Chris talks about the Best Space Battles of All Time
The Ensigns Station - new player's corner, Dante chats about Link Fire and Turrets
Comms Intercept - Interviews, this month Warbossjim
From the Void - user submitted content, "Battlestations by Andy "Ruckdog" Rucker

You can find us on iTunes by entering “The Black Ocean” in the search and scrolling down to podcasts. You can also get to our iTunes section by following this link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-black-ocean/id458663169 .

So check us out at www.theblackocean.com, friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

The Black Ocean is upon you…

The Black Ocean is a podcast calling for listener submitted content.

Calling all communication officers.

The Black Ocean is calling for listener submitted content.

This is your chance to add to the Firestorm Armada community without the hassle of managing an entire podcast. Let us do that for you!

You can write or record anything Sci Fi or Firestorm Armada related and send it to us at: show@theblackocean.com.

The content should be about 10 minutes long or be able to be read by the hosts within 10 minutes time. We take teasers of your writing, reviews of products, battle reports or anything else you can create.

Please submit recordings as 128 bit MP3’s and writing as a Microsoft Word document. Include whatever name you would like to have your submission credited to.

The Black Ocean reserves the right to edit as necessary.

The Black Ocean has posted their first podcast, Episode 0.

From their announcment:

Hello gamers,

We here at The Black Ocean, your home for Firestorm Armada and Sci Fi gaming, are happy to announce that our first episode, Episode 0 is posted to ITunes for your listening pleasure.

In this Episode we have the introductions of your hosts, Dante and Chris, new Firestorm Armada admirals and podcasters. Also included are the following sections:

Hailing Frequencies – our news section from around the Net.

After Action Debrief – Battle Reports

Rec Room – inspirational Sci Fi media

The Ensigns Station – new player’s corner

>From the Void – user submitted content

You can find us on iTunes by entering “The Black Ocean” in the search and scrolling down to podcasts. You can also get to our iTunes section by following this link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-black-ocean/id458663169 .

So check us out at www.theblackocean.com, friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

A new Firestorm Armada community website, The Black Ocean, is now open. From their announcement:

A community site for Firestorm Armada and sci-fi war gaming, The Black Ocean combines forums and file hosting in an easy to access package. This site is intended to be the nexus for new and seasoned Firestorm Armada gamers and a hub for discussion and creation of the first ever independent tournament circuit. A Podcast of the same name is forthcoming this month and the teaser is already up on iTunes. Be sure to join the free forums, follow on Twitter, and like the Black Ocean on Facebook.