R vs B Alliance Turn 12 in Review

by on January 21, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: BvR - The Wind

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

The financial strain on the Federation is already showing this turn, as the reduction in economy combined with the number of repairs exhausted the reserves, and there was no money left to send the Kzintis this turn. Meanwhile, the Kzinti had to cancel a few ships to pay for all their repairs.

(This was from a mistake; I noticed late that I hadn’t used the Kzinti free fighters on the previous turn. >.< )

There’s a few Kzinti cripples piling up in the Barony again, but things are under control. Most of the Federation cripples were handled, with a notable exception at the 6th Fleet SB, but two SIDS there were repaired by the TG.

The Federation continues to put out a fantastic number of ships, including the fourth CVA, USS Julius Caesar. The Kzinti produced their second CVA (Olympus), and converted the captured F5 converted to Kzinti service last turn to a Z-F5E as its outer escort (I haven’t heard any commentary from Bel on this yet). The Hydrans continue working on the new shipyard, and converted an NCV carrier group from their small stock of war cruisers.

The Hydrans saw a chance, and pinned one group of the Coalition fleets guarding the Old Colonies before sending out a fleet to 0416 to try and reduce the heavy defenses there. Meanwhile, the Federation was not feeling up to challenging the Romulans with the forces available, and avoided combat while moving up the bulk of the 5th Fleet to 3808.

The Kzinti pulled back from 1001, and assaulted 1202 without interference while heavy fighting continued near the Kzinti/Federation/Klingon border area. For the first time, Kzinti forces entered Lyran space, as they pinned a reserve by assaulting BATS 0705. Further forces hit the Klingon planet in 1407 and BATS 0908.

Part of the Federation 7th Fleet moved to take out BATS 2519, and Bel was smart enough not to react and let on 2518 take out other targets unhindered. Other forces hit several targets in Klingon space, including a strong force that piled onto the Southern Reserve SB, and forced his main reserves to go there, instead of saving other targets. I also sent ships to take major planet 1611, prematurely activating the 3rd IWR squadron (I had carefully avoided doing any such thing last turn since I didn’t want to release it and the 2nd IWR early).


A short-lived offensive.


Kzinti offensives.


Operation “Great Attractor”

Battles:
0519: SSC: Klingon: dest E4; Hydran: retreat; planet reverts to Hydran.
0416: Lyran: dest 2xPGB; Hydran: dest DG
0119: Lyran: dest STT; Hydran: dest RN
2519: Klingon: dest BATS; Federation: crip NCL, FF
2214: SSC: Klingon: crip D7, retreat; Federation: capture planet
1514: SSC: Klingon: dest F5L; Federation: crip FF, capture planet
1712: SSC: Klingon: dest cripD5; Federation: retreat
1716: Klingon: 2xSIDS, crip AD5, F5E, 2xE4A, dest FRD; Federation: crip DN+, 2xNCL, dest ECL
2014: Klingon: crip D7, dest BATS; Federation: crip 2xFF
1916: Klingon: crip D6; Federation: crip CC, CL, FF
1611: Klingon: crip D7, F5S, dest 3xPDU; Federation: crip 2xNCL, CL, 2xDD, dest FF
2009: SSC: Klingon retreat
1910: Klingon: crip D6, D5, F5L, dest 2xF5, E4A; Federation: crip CA, DD, 5xFF, dest 2xCL, capture planet
1808: Klingon: dest F5
1705: Klingon: dest D6
1708: Klingon: dest F5
1304: SSC: Klingon: crip E4, retreat; Kzinti: retreat
1205: SSC: Klingon: retreat
1107: SSC: crip D5, dest E4, retreat; Kzinti: crip CL, retreat
1407: Klingon: crip F5E, dest 2xPDU; Kzinti: capture planet
0908: Klingon: dest BATS, cripE4
0705: Lyran: crip STT, dest BATS; Kzinti: crip, 2xCM, SF
1202: Lyran: dest PDU; Kzinti: capture planet

The Hydrans saw a chance and took it, but it isn’t working out. The bulk of the navy is now cut off and out of supply, since I didn’t leave enough at the border to force a Coalition retreat. I also wasn’t considering just how nasty the defenses over 0416 have become. A low Lyran roll helped, but a low roll from me kept me from getting rid of all the PGBs, and there’s still a spare MB and FRD at the SB. I’m thinking it would have been best to wait a turn or two for the major push and see if the Federation can manage to disrupt Klingon supply into the area first.

With all the defenders, I wasn’t going to kill the Southern Reserve SB, but I went in for a round anyway and killed the FRD to restrict future repairs there. I was a little surprised by the self-inflicted SIDS, but considering our high rolls (5-5), we were both scrambling for things to take damage on. I think with about a dozen more ships, I could have forced the SB, but this was really a diversion. If he didn’t send the reserves here, I’d have taken it out, and Bel can’t really afford that.

I would have liked to take the planet at 1916 as well, but that was to tie down the other Klingon reserve, and I didn’t bring nearly enough to take on the C8V Vindicator. (I am glad I wasn’t facing that over the SB.)

Good Klingon rolls in rounds 2 and 3 probably saved 1611. I had hoped to take the planet, but had to retreat out with a lot of cripples and no fighters. The good news is that 3/4 of the defenses are gone, so it will need a lot more ships to defend in the future. Of course, being in reaction range of the capital, this may be the only chance to take it on the cheap I’ll see….

I expected a much tougher fight for 0705. Bel could have stuck it out a few rounds and burned through some of my forces since I had no spare fighters, but decided to avoid taking much damage himself.

Star Fleet is feeling pretty battered at the moment, with a lot of cripples, and didn’t make some its goals in Klingon space. I’m not sure just how much I’m going to be able to do next turn. On the other hand, Klingon supply points are disappearing fast to the north. It’s probably time to put a little pressure on the Lyrans, though actually consolidating and garrisoning northern Klingon space to reduce income has to become a priority.

Turn 12 scoring:
Coalition: 380.6 EP (x2) + 545 (bases) + 564 ships (/5) + 100 (Hydran Capital) = 1535
Alliance: 324.4 EP (x2) + 495 (bases) + 501 ships (/5) = 1244

Difference = 291 Major Coalition Victory

Adding in the Romulans makes a big difference in the war. More disturbing to the Coalition is that the Alliance gained 24 ships this turn (mostly Federation) while the Romulans and Klingons lost ships. Only the Lyrans came out 10 ahead, and the overall difference isn’t that big. If this keeps up the Alliance will soon overall have more ships just as the western economies start faltering.

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Champion of Orr

by on January 17, 2016 at 12:39 pm
Posted In: MMO

Smudge and I are still playing and enjoying Guild Wars 2 these many months later. Just last week we hit a big milestone in the form of the end of the original story.

Of course, we hit the level maximum of 80 quite some time ago, but we’ve been slowly exploring the world, and advancing the story as we go. For about a month now, we’ve been working through the stronghold of the enemy, the ruined nation of Orr. I have to say that was handled quite well; it’s a creepy, dangerous place, without being at all cliche about it.

The story itself was a little more standard, with a number of different missions as the Pact works it’s way across the landscape of Orr, introducing important people, and killing a number of those off. There’s not a lot of real plot twists here, but the progression is well done. This all leads up to a mission/dungeon dealing with the Big Bad Guy, the elder dragon of death and darkness: Zaitan.

Who has a bad case of ‘someone started drawing and never stopped’.

I’m not so happy with the dungeon. A number of cliches pop up in this one, and there’s not a lot of real fighting. Given that this is the only dungeon required for the storyline, it makes sense that it is easier, as it may get a lot of people unused to them. But I’m unhappy with the amount of… non-fighting fighting (manning cannons, which I would like better if this wasn’t just a wait for the target to become available, and mash the button, unlike every other time GW2 does something like this), and the pacing, which is too rushed to talk to the NPCs in places, and leaves you just waiting around in others. I imagine the explorable mode will more than make up for it….

I was also less than happy with the immediately preceding mission, which was a lot easier than I felt something that climatic should be. On the other hand, the ending sequence when you win was very good. Also, the final epilogue of the story is… huge. Pretty much every surviving NPC of the story is there and talkable. The requisite celebration is there, and you can join in, and they remind you that Zaitan is not the only world-ending problem out there.

Smudge and I have since gone through the summary of the first part of the Living World (season 1) both in-game, and the extensive one on the wiki. It’s a pity we can’t go through it directly, but at least ArenaNet caught on and made season 2 playable after the fact.

I also think that the continuing story is another area where GW2 has been doing better than most of the other MMOs we’ve encountered. When World of Warcraft was released, there were plans for a number of areas that weren’t in the game yet, and a number of hooks were in the storyline. Most prominent were the nagas and murlocks which were noted as having just arrived from the deeper oceans in the places where they were encountered. The implications were that something was up, and the Maelstrom was a planned area of expansion. All of this got pretty much paved over and permanently ignored in Cataclysm. Neverwinter starts with the siege of the city by the forces of Valendra, but much of the plotline in the game barely touches on it. It’s pretty obvious that ArenaNet is still following, in some form, their original vision for the narrative arc of GW2. I kind of wonder what they’ll do as the number of elder dragons available diminishes, but so far, they’re nicely focused.

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AP17 The Valley of Death

by on January 13, 2016 at 7:40 pm
Posted In: ASL

Patch and I returned to ‘regular’ ASL for our next game. I forget our actual decision process, but I think Patch was wanting to see the Italians again. I remembered Few Returned, an action pack of Italian scenarios, most dealing with the Soviet Little Saturn offensive. It also has a good reputation for interesting and different scenarios, and we went with the first one in the pack, AP17 “The Valley of Death”.

The Russians are defending the board 18 hills (two of them are ignored to make it a single ridgeline) with twelve squads (almost half conscripts), a few machine guns, a pair of ATRs, pair of light mortars, an 82mm MTR and a 76mm ART, and have to put at least one squad and foxhole on each hill. The Axis force is nineteen Italian squads (mostly first line with some elites) and two light mortars, with a German 81mm MTR, 20mm AA, Stug IIIG, and a Panzer IIIJ. The Russians have to set up on or adjacent to the hill hexes, and the Axis wins as soon as there’s no Good Order Russian MMCs on the hill hexes if there’s at least one Italian GO on a hill hex. In addition, there is ground snow, and it is snowing at scenario start. As a final twist, the Italians can use Banzai Charges, as long as at least one MMC participates. The scenario has a pro-Russian record, so we took the Italian balance of extending the scenario a turn, to 6.5 turns, though I recall several people saying that the real problem is that the Axis player needs to know what he’s doing.

Patch had the Axis, and generally knows what he’s doing….

It’s a pity no one told his dice.

I set up with the northernmost (18Z7) hill as my main bastion as it has the only level 2 terrain. The two adjacent level two hexes got a 50mm MTR and the 82mm, while the third level 2 hex got the HMG and 8-1. The only other hill with cover is J2, with a wooden building and a woods hex, and that was my secondary command post with a LMG, MMG and the 8-0. The other 50mm was down at the extreme south in C2, and the rest was a line of positions that I hoped could help each other laterally if Patch concentrated on one at a time. The widest gap between the hills is near the center, and I put the ART in N2 facing the road, figuring that sooner or later a tank would cruise through there (and if not, it could cover my second concentration in K3).

Patch set up in roughly three groups, with the PzIII, and two mortars in the north, the other 42mm MTR, StuG, AA, and best leader in the south, and eight squads strung out in the middle.

The first thing that happened was the snowfall increased to heavy. The second was that his 82mm turned out to have no smoke rounds, and then malfunctioned when it tried to shell my MTR. On the other hand, his AA gun promptly broke my MTR squad in 18C2. His initial advance was fairly cautious, not going CX with anything except an armored assaulting squad in the north. What little fire I had was ineffective (including a ‘2’ on an ATR shot which of course cowered to nothing).

My DFPh went very well, with a CH from my large MTR against the PzIII which immobilized it and caused the crew to bail out. The second shot was another CH which reduced and broke the squad in the hex, while also breaking the crew.

AP17-1A
Situation, Axis Turn 1, showing the full board. North is to the left.
↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Joan of Arc: A History

by on January 9, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

Helen Castor describes the story of Joan of Arc as normally being written backwards. Everything is colored by the knowledge of what she would become to history. Also, the histories pour over the transcripts of her trials looking for clues to her early life from people who had already been heavily impacted by what she had done.

So, Castor starts with the story of the civil war that tore France apart and allied Burgundy with an English bid for the French throne. How continuous political dissension tore apart the Kingdom of France and left it unable to act even in the face of a serious external threat.

And only at this point, is Joan introduced, at the point where she steps in to contemporary reports. Castor does a careful job of trying to present the religious attitudes of the day, of showing both how popular opinion would have reacted to events, and the careful scholastic investigation into Joan’s claims.

The last part of the book continues the collapse of English France after her death, and concludes with her second trial, where greatly changed political conditions guaranteed a different verdict than the original. It is at that point where people from Joan’s home village were questioned, and anything is said of her early life. There is then a short afterword that talks about her canonization as a saint in 1920.

In all, it’s a surprisingly short book, but well done, and a good look at early fifteenth-century France.

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Anime Fall 2015

by on January 5, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Anime

Ah, winter break and a season of anime wrap up at the same time! Again, I didn’t have anything I was actively watching from previous seasons carry forward into this one.

Haikyu — Smudge watched the first series of this a year ago, and she talked me into watching it and the new series when it restarted. It’s good; volleyball is not a sport that I ever got into (well, that’s almost all sports), but it’s very well done, with good characters.

Utawarerumono: The False Faces — Our group really enjoyed the original series, and I was looking forward to this one. The beginning was fine, and started looking like there could be a good story, but then the second half turned into a bunch of character introductions, and tying into the first series. It looks like there’ll be another season, and I hope the plot gets into gear.

Beautiful Bones — It wasn’t until about episode 3 that Smudge became impressed with this one, and had me start watching it. And it certainly does get better as it goes along, and they start dropping some of the overly-dramatic touches.

Heroic Tale of Arslan — I’m still not caught up to this, but I’ve seen partway through the second season now, and I’m continuing to like it. I do wish the novels would come over here though.

One-Punch Man — Smudge recently went for Hulu’s new commercial free subscription, and immediately found this. It’s a very silly superhero farce, and I’ve only seen about half of it so far, but it’s been very good.

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