Two Rounds of Tegyra

by on September 9, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: CC:Ancients

For our latest between-other-games bit of Commands & Colors Ancients, Patch and I played a couple rounds of a tiny little scenario from Expansion #6: Tegyra. Instead of the normal 5-7 banner range, this one only goes to three banners, which is fine, as the Thebans only have five units, though three of them are elite Heavy Infantry (always hit on leaders, and can ignore a banner). The Spartans have a noticeably bigger army, but they are disadvantaged four cards to six, and go second. Also, the Thebans can get banners by exiting units off the middle of the Spartan side of the board.

I had the Thebans the first time, and led off with Out Flanked to send the MC against his light units and start threatening to escape off the board. Patch naturally evaded to the baseline, and I didn’t do any damage. Patch used Order Medium get his center up to my Heavies, and engage one MC. The first attack only did one damage, and I did four to a Spartan MH, and forced it back a hex. The second unit did four hits to more than finish off my Heavy, and the third did three banners to another Heavy, forcing it back two hexes. Finally, he hit my MC, which evaded with no damage.

I used Order Two Left to drive the other MC into the gap, and pick on his one-block unit, but did no damage, while his battle back… did nothing. Patch then Double Timed into contact with all my units. My MC evaded all damage again, his second attack did one damage to a Heavy, while the battle back did one block and forced him back. The next unit finished off the Heavy, and my leader survived and put himself a hex behind the remaining Heavy. His last unit did two banners to the last heavy, who retreated onto my leader, and then he momentum attacked to do two damage to the Heavy, with battle back doing two in return.

I Ordered Three Center, and picked on a Light again, doing two blocks with a banner, the MC being forced back by a banner as well. The other MC tried to pick off his 1-block Spartan MH and failed again, taking a block. My Heavy picked off his forward MH (4 hits), and got the leader with him. Patch Counterattacked, doing a block to my Heavy, who did 4 hits in battle back to wipe out a fresh MH. 3-2

Patch led off with a Double Time to come into contact with my line immediately. His first attack was on my left leader and only did one block, but also two banners, which I could ignore, and I did four blocks in return, destroying his Heavies. The second attack did two more blocks, and two more ignored banners, while battle back cost him two blocks. The third attack did five hits to wipe out a regular MH.

I contemplated using Order Lights to try and soften him up with a little archery, but went with Order Three Center, and shifted over a Spartan MH to solidify my line. My first attack knocked out his weakened Heavies, and the second did three hits to the one remaining Heavy unit, while the battle back did two hits and two banners, one of which I ignored.

Patch then used Mounted Charge (it turned out he had both of them), and did two more hits to my Spartan MH, reducing it to one block, but the battle back did three hits, ending the game. 3-1

Afterword

The first battle went slightly longer at just about half an hour. If we’d done this physically, it could have easily taken longer to set up than play. It’s a fun little scenario though. Those heavies can pack a lot of punch, and the Spartans have to keep an eye on what the Theban MC is doing, as they could easily exit at some point. Since the Thebans have a good chance of everyone being in the center, leading to dead “Left” and “Right” cards, I think the six cards is more to make up for that than just giving them lots of options.

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Mindtouch

by on September 5, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

I can remember reading a fair number of books dealing psychic powers, adventure, and relationships in the ’80s. This is kind of a return to those, but much improved.

Psionics is never a favored subject of mine, though it’s not exactly a turn-off either. Here, we get some interesting exploration of the problems faced by a couple of contact-empaths (one in particular, really), though even with that focus, the entire subject is a bit… fuzzy. (Though the perception of emotions gets an interesting bit in the second half.)

However, the real driving force of the book is the blossoming friendship between the main two. There’s a decent supporting cast, but the novel maintains its focus so well, that many of them just serve to color their lives around the main events. Concurrent with that is the partial exploration of xenopsychiatric therapy that they are uniquely suited for. (It took me three chapters longer than it should have to realize just where the series name ‘Dreamhealers’ was headed.)

It’s not a heavy book, and it is very definitely part one of two; I’ve dived right into the second book as the first ends an appropriate break, but isn’t really the full story. It does a great job of presenting a pair of people who are not outgoing in nature, and perfect for each other. Recommended as a very good coming-of-age, alien/college environment, and lifelong-friendship story.

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FB12 The Black Ravens Are Flying

by on September 1, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: ASL

Patch and I finally got back to Festung Budapest for our latest ASL game. FB has a lot of unusual scenarios, and that’s definitely true here, as there’s a four-hexrow overlap in the opposing setup areas, and anyone who sets up in the same Location starts in Melee (setup is simultaneous and secret). This is probably easier in VASL than FtF. Right after that is worked out, a die is rolled to see who goes first, and is effectively on the attack, as they will have to Control five out of nine ground-level victory Locations at the end of five turns, and both sides have a limit of 35 CVP.

Pre-game rubble checks knocked down most of building YY30, but did nothing to four other buildings. I had the Russians, who start with nine squads (three each 628, 458, 527), a MMG, DC, a 75mm INF, and three T-34/85s. There’s also six OB-given “?”. I mostly used those to conceal the bulk of my forces, but also put a Dummy in EEE27. My main concentrations went on the VC Locations of ZZ27 and CCC28, but the MMG went further out in XX26, where it could cover most of the north side. I put two squads across the main north-south road, with a 628 on the VC Location in ZZ25, and a 527 + 7-0 next to a VC Location in EEE25. Most of my concentration was in the south, and I hoped to take and keep DDD25. The INF was in AAA29, where it was out of the Axis setup area, and could cover most of the area being fought over, especially to the south.

The Axis has three SS squads (two normal 658s and a 468), three regular elite squads (a 548 and pair of 468s), and three Hungarian 526 squads. They’re at Ammo Shortage 4, and only have two LMGs, but also have a DC, 75L AT, Pz IV H, StuG III G(L), and a SdKfz 251/9 (with a short 75mm gun), as well as six OB-given “?” and initial Control of all victory Locations. On the west-side of the main street, he had what turned out to be a dummy in YY27, and two Hungarian squads in building CCC28, one of which was instantly in Melee with my main stack with a 9-1 and 628 (the remaining Hungarians were in BBB26, with the leader in BBB24), while the ATG was in ZZ24. The rest of his squads were in a line along the east side of the street, with two of them in cellars. In one case, this meant we were in the same hex, but not in Melee, but my force in EEE25 did end up in Melee with a 468. His Pz IV was in bypass of FFF24, adjacent to the Melee, though actually out of my setup area, the StuG was in CCC24 looking down the street, while the SdKfz 251/9 was in ZZ23, where it could cover the central building.

The scenario also has purchasable reinforcements, where each side gets three points every turn, and there’s a schedule of what you can buy, from leaders and squads, a few tanks, or even eliminate the next player turn. (You just go through your turn and then do your next turn right after, costs 8 points.) The start went to the Axis, and Patch skipped buying anything, and went straight to Prep. He only fired his group in YY25 at my guys next door in ZZ25, getting a MC that I passed. Movement consisted of skulking in the center and preparing to rush into EEE25.

I didn’t want to reveal too many “?” for fear of making them vulnerable, but I did reveal the INF, which missed a shot at DDD25, but behind-the-lines fire at DDD28 broke that squad. Patch had forgotten his squad in ZZ25/c, and I pounded it, eventually breaking it with a shot from a T-34. Patch declined to advance into CC in ZZ25, though he would have had an edge in leadership and FP (he’d still be attacking at 1:1 -1, unless he could get the Ambush; too chancy). But CC went poorly for me, with the Hungarians wiping out a 628, 9-1 and DC in CCC28 while taking no losses, and he CRed my 527 in EEE25 for no losses.


Situation, German Turn 1 showing the full playing area. The red hexes are the Russian entry area, and the blue hexes are the Axis entry area. North is to the left. German setup was xx28 and above, Russian setup xx25 and below, but not in/adjacent to building BBB26.
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For Honor We Stand

by on August 28, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

The second book of Honsinger’s military-SF series delivers pretty much everything you’d expect after the first book. Unfortunately, the beginning parts of the novel have some problems. I think he felt too much of a need to re-introduce things with an in media res opening designed to show off Robicheaux’s tactical cunning and generating suspense through use of off-screen actions.

That wouldn’t be too bad as a first-chapter prologue (though I still think there’s better ways to do it), but we’re treated to exactly the same kind of spectacle right afterwards, just a bit more elaborate this time. However, after that the central plot of the story starts taking over and the remaining 70%+ of the book goes a lot smoother.

There’s a good number of familiar tropes again, but as usual they’re well-handled, and they’re not allowed to sidetrack the book. (For instance, we get the ‘snubs from an incompetent superior officer’ this time, but it doesn’t occupy half the book the way it has in some cases.) There’s also a brief lampshade of this series’ relationship to the Aubrey-Maturin series at one point. We also get to see Admiral Hornmeyer a couple times again, and I have to admit the writing for him always makes me laugh.

Overall, its pretty much exactly what you’d expect after the first book: straightforward military SF. It shouldn’t be essential to read the first book before this, but I would highly recommend it.

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Konya wa Hurricane Alliance Turn 10

by on August 24, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Konya wa Hurricane

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

Given how much trouble I ran into with my (unfocused) offensives, I faced the Alliance half of the turn with a fair amount of trepidation. The good news is any fighting would be away from his defenses, but there’s still a fair number of places I wanted to protect, and I was well aware I couldn’t cover them all.

The strain on the Alliance economies showed with the Federation cancelling their ECL and two DE builds, even as they converted two DDs to DEs, and three CLs to other duties. Sure, they’re inefficient to build, but they’ll run out someday. …Or so I tell myself. Meanwhile, the Kzinti did minimal repairs, and downgraded two CMs to FFs, though they did build a full number of hulls. They could have repaired slightly more, but both of us forgot about the two ships they captured (and salvaged) at first.

Builds:
Federation: CVA, CF, TG, 8xNCL, NCD, LTT, 12xFF, 2xCL->LSC, CL->CLD, 2xDD->DE
Kzintis: CV, TGC, LTT, MEC, FKE, 7xFF, FFK->FKE
Hydrans: RN, CU, Shipyard (60/90)

Overall, raids went very well for the Alliance. He hit several LTC province garrisons, allowing me to call up a POL to fight him two on one, but the quality of his raiders and rolls made up for it. The Hydrans raided with a RN and THR, while the Kzinti used their two DNLs, and the Federation used a DNL, CF, and a newly-built CF. I forced a couple of retreats, but did no damage to the raiders, lost three small ships, and the Lyrans had three LTC provinces disrupted.

Hydran movement started with a large force apparently heading around the capital hex, and I reacted out to generate a fairly large pinning battle in 0518. However, the Lyrans were unable to take part in any of this (all movement was away from them), and with all the fighters, the Klingons couldn’t even begin to match Hydran SEs or firepower, and the Hydran fleet ended up running over everything, and hitting every notable point in (former) Hydran space, including where a TGB had started setting up a MB in 1017. I had contemplated setting up a reserve in Klingon space that could reach that, or a very few targets in Federation space. But I hadn’t liked the opportunity cost of the reserve potentially being stranded far away from the action.

Meanwhile, the Kzintis sent the Marquis’ Fleet into the Fed-Kzinti neutral zone to pick on a small Klingon force there, and were joined by an even larger Federation force. I avoided reacting anything into the area, and did not react to a decent-sized force that picked on a province-raiding E4 in 2206 as I was afraid of moving away various picket forces from where they could interfere with any attempt on Klingon bases and captured planets. And the 3rd Fleet came out for a fight against the Klingon East Fleet in 2212.

On the Romulan border, the only activity was a couple ships sent out to pick on a pair of F5s that survived the raids intact, a pair of POL picking on a K4, and the remnants of the 5th Fleet shifting from the Gorn border to nearer the Fed capital.


The Hydran Ulcer


Activity in the Kzinti neutral zone.


The Klingon-Federation border.


5th Fleet, 2nd line of defense.

Many reserves were out of range of all combats, and one was pinned in the Hydran capital. Of those that were left, one Klingon reserve aided the East Fleet, while another two and a weak Lyran reserve went to 2206 to put a decent force into NW Federation space.

Battles:
3116: SSC: Romulan: dest K4
0418: SSC: Klingon: dest cripF5
0718: SSC: Klingon: dest cripF5, FRD; Hydran recover planet
1017: Klingon: dest E4, abandon setting up MB
0519: Klingon: crip F5L; Hydran recover planet
0617: Hydrax I: dest PDU; Hydrax II: dest PDU; Klingon: dest E4, crip D7, D6, 2xD5, 2xF5, E4; Hydran: dest LB, DDS
0518: Klingon: crip F5; Hydran: dest PGS
1905: Klingon: dest F5L
2212: Klingon: dest D6D; Federation: dest FFE
2206: Klingon: crip D5; Lyran: crip DW; Federation: dest DD

The last turn me and Bel got to in our main game, Bel blew several cloaked evasion rolls, and followed it up with poor SSC rolls. The shoe was on the other foot this time as I blew my only cloaked evasion roll of the turn in 3116, and then did poorly in SSC to lose a K4 without even forcing a pair of POLs to retreat.

Byron’s raids left a pair of F5s crippled in 0418, and then he sent a pair of crippled HR plus a POL to finish them off. One covered the escape of the other, but it is now 0419, well away from the last friendly house.

I had established the repair pool with the FRD on the major planet in 0718, figuring I could probably pin out most attempts to get past the major base in the capital. This is supposed to be a backwater….

Byron seems to have thought I was going to attempt to stand up to a major combined Fed/Kzinti force in 1905, but I just withdrew the LV3 (LTT+VP3) group and then sacrificed a F5L to get a D7C and F5S out.

Everyone largely retrograded back to their start positions; the Hydrans ensconced themselves on 0416 without even attempting to leave any garrisons on their reclaimed systems (despite my problems, they don’t really have the ability to protect two places at once), the Federation 7th Fleet ended up back in 2609, on the direct path to the capital. However, the Marquis’ Fleet went to the Kzinti capital, leaving no garrison in place for 1802.

The Federation naturally transferred 15 EPs to the Kzinti, but thanks to Coalition forces in the area, it had to be delivered to the off-map area, where it will probably maximize repairs next turn. Both Kzinti reserves are in the capital, and Federation reserves are all centrally located within three hexes of their capital, while a secondary force was sent to guard 3509.

Looking ahead, it’s pretty obvious the VP setup isn’t really meant for this early in the scenario:

Coalition: 429.8 EP (x2) + 600 (bases) + 808 ships (/5) = 1782.8
Alliance: 262.6 EP (x2) + 390 (bases) + 499 ships (/5) = 1114.8

This is considered a Decisive Victory, which the Coalition is actually some ways from achieving, and it does not count the Gorns, who come in on turn 12, and right now the Coalition is expending ships trying lower the Alliance economy and base infrastructure. I did do that, but the cost in ships was a bit high, and most of the easy targets are gone. At least the Romulan economy is still expanding thanks to needing to explore part of their own space.

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