Konya wa Hurricane Alliance Turn 11

by on September 29, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Konya wa Hurricane

Thanks to taking out a number of Federation planets on my turn, the overall Alliance economy was down 30 EP. 17 points of the Kzinti budget were stuck in the Barony (the Federation had been forced to deliver them there instead of to the capital last turn), which were used for repairs and building a FKE. The Kzinti subbed two FFs for a CL, but had to cancel their BC. The Federation built their full schedule, started upgrading a MB to BATS at Earth, and converted some ships to escorts, but built no new carriers.

Builds:
Federation: DN+, 2xCA, 11xNCL, LTT, 12xFF, MB->BATS(F), 2xDD->DE, 2xFF->FFE
Kzinti: CV, LTT, 2xMEC, FFK, FKE, 6xFF
Hydran: KN, HN, 2xHR->NEC

The Hydrans raided two province garrisons this turn, forcing a crippled F5L to retreat, and killing an E4, eliminating Long-Term Capture in another province. The last E4 that began as a garrison in the area has to be getting nervous…. The Kzinti re-raided province 0701, killing a FF, and crippling a DW, while the other DNL picked off an E4 in 2101, also disrupting two NZ hexes. A Fed DNL hit an F5 (with a second reacting in), which retreated intact, the other DNL forced a SN and K4 to retreat, and the CF picked off a SN. In no case were Coalition ships able to even make a raider retreat (the use of DNLs, often with PTs, is just murder, even on the larger garrison ships).

Movement started with the bulk of the Kzinti navy moving out not only to re-take 1802, but hitting Klingon task forces at the edge of Federation space in 2003 and 2005. Most things couldn’t react, but the Lyran garrison on 1502 blocked a little of it. Further moves in Federation space showed that there was a broad advance against Klingon positions underway. I had expected him to toss me off both planets in the 4th Fleet zone, but he only hit one, with most of the 4th Fleet moving to hit 1807 with the combined Klingon BATS + Lyran MB. The 3rd Fleet moved to hit NZ planet 1910, with further ships hitting the two BATS nearby and a good force to  major planet 1611.

On the Romulan side, the 2nd and 5th Fleets moved to take back 3706, but nothing else happened other than moving some cripples back towards the capital, and repositioning some POLs. Hydran space saw no Operational activity whatsoever.


Activity in eastern Kzinti space.


Hitting me where it hurts.


One strike on the Romulan front….

As can be expected, all this struck into the areas without great reserve coverage, though a Lyran reserve was pinned in 1807, and a Klingon one in 1910. The only ones available to respond were a Lyran reserve, which went to aid the pinning fight in 1601, and a Klingon reserve, which went to aid the defense of 1910.

Battles:
1809: Retreat after refused approach.
1810: SSC: Federation: crip FF
1811: Klingon: dest BATS; Federation: crip FF
2111: SSC: Klingon: dest F5L
2209: SSC: Klingon: dest E4
2408: Klingon: dest F5; Federation: crip FF
2007: SSC: Klingon: dest F5
1802: Klingon: dest E4
1502: Kzinti: dest FF
2409: Klingon: dest F5; Federation: crip FF
1611: Klingon: dest MON, 4xPDU; Federation: dest DE, capture planet
2210: SSC: Klingon retreat
1910: Klingon: dest D5, F5L, 3xF5, FRD, crip D5, MD5, 2xF5; Federation: dest CC, SC, crip FF, planet captured
2106: Klingon: dest F5, F5J, E4A, crip F5, F5G, E4R; Federation: dest EFF, crip NCT, DD, 2xDE, CFF
2003: Klingon: crip D5, F5; Kzinti: crip MEC, CLE
2005: Klingon: crip D5, 2xF5; Kzinti: dest FKE
1807: Lyran: dest MB; Federation: dest NCL
1601: Lyran: crip 2xCW, 2xDW; Kzinti: dest SDF, crip SDF
3706: Romulan: dest FAL, SKE, 2xSNB, K4, crip 2xK7R, SP, SK; Federation: dest CC, LSC, crip CA, CF, 6xFF

BATS 1809 had reacted out its fighters to pin a FF in 1810, so even though he only had three ships, the 9 fighter factors he had suggested to me that he’d try to at least damage the station, but instead he retreated out and into the big battle for 1910. Meanwhile, the fighter squadron managed to cripple, but couldn’t quite kill the FF. The other border BATS in 1811 faced a similar force, but with 2xFF instead of 1xCL, and this time he went in to take it out, and good rolls (4-1 and 6-1) let him take it for minimal damage.

Three good carriers was way more than a major planet’s defenses could take, though a 1-3 split at least allowed me take out a DE, and a FFE stayed behind as a garrison in retrograde, meaning there’s a CVS without escorts for the moment.

Byron tied one of the garrison F5s up with a fighter squadron strike from the 3rd Fleet SB, and after I reacted other ships in, supported the fighters with a LAV. With both sides near the top end of SSC totals, neither side hurt the other, and I retreated out, since I’d have to chew through the fighter squadrons before getting to do any real damage.

My main hope was to hold onto the forward base of NZ planet 1910, but even with two reserves present, I just couldn’t match the force Byron put into the hex (aided by a two-ship differential in the lines thanks to having an ADM, and me not having better than a D7C). The second round went decently, but I just couldn’t match the damage he was doing.

On the other hand, we were very evenly matched over 2106, and the first couple rounds were pretty even damage at low BIR, despite the Klingons being at a EW disadvantage again, but by round three, the Federation force was out of fighters, and was out-rolled. In 2005, the forces were nearly even, except for the Kzinti CV groups backed by carrier tug refills. A lucky roll got nearly even damage on each side, and I retreated. Byron failed pursuit, but considering my decent line, I think he would have paid for killing a couple F5s. Unfortunately, the battles in this region left my forward forces out of supply, and if I’d paid greater attention, I could have avoided that.

With the main portion of the 4th Fleet in 1807, I expected Byron to take out both the Klingon BATS and the Lyran MB in the hex. I didn’t hide the MB so I’d get some aid from both bases at once, and the Federation just blew the MB and retreated instead of taking the BATS as well.

The Federation arrived at 3706 with a lot more than the Romulans had, but no fighters, and the first round saw a small ComPot advantage from larger ships that quickly faded as high BIR burned through both sides.

The VPs still aren’t very meaningful at this point, but did shift in my favor over the last turn:

Coalition: 423.1 EP (x2) + 599 (bases) + 829 ships (/5) + 100 (Hydran Capital) = 1876.8
Alliance: 232 EP (x2) + 370 (bases) + 525 ships (/5) = 1044.0

This is still a “Decisive Victory”, but still does not count the Gorns, who come in next turn. Also, I don’t regard the 100 points for the Hydran capital at all stable at this point. The Alliance economy really fell off this turn (purely from Federation losses), and the Federation lost four BATS. While all three Alliance Empires gained ships (+14 Federation, +10 Kzinti, +2 Hydran), so did the Coalition to a lesser extent (+3 Klingon, +7 Romulan, +11 Lyran), which is surprising at the rate they’re losing ships.

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Konya wa Hurricane Coalition Turn 11

by on September 17, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Konya wa Hurricane

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

Overall, the Coalition economy took a hit from the loss of all the captured planets in Hydran space and some captured provinces, but the fact that the Romulans are still exploring their own space allowed them to pick up nearly 10 EP (including captured NZ hexes) to make up for the bulk of that.

After doing all the repairs I could, the Klingons were slightly short of their goals and had to upgrade a MB to a BS with one fighter module instead of a BTS with the normal two. (Which isn’t entirely bad—taking the extra step costs a turn, but is still the same number of EPs, so if he can kill it this time, I’m out less money, and if he kills it next time, he still encounters a partially upgraded base. I hope he doesn’t kill it at all, of course….)

The Klingons have started work on their third B10 (I think I’m unlikely to start the fourth, but we’ll see how the budget looks in two years), and while B10-2 is delayed (‘1’), B10-1 got a ‘6’ to put it in line for completion in two to three turns (it’s at 32/40; I just need to average ‘4’ to get it in two turns, and as long as I get at least a ‘2’ next time, it will be possible to get it in two turns. …Or it could drag itself out for eight turns, at which point I definitely won’t be starting B10-4….)

Builds:
Klingons: D7C, D7V, D6M, 4xD5, D5U, 2xAD5, MD5, D5S, F5L, 6xF5, 2xF5E, E4R, MB->BS(f), D6->D6S, D6->D6D, D6->D6J
Romulans: CON, FH, SP, SPB, SPC, SPF, SK, 2xSKE, SH, WE, SNB, WE->KE, BH->BHF
Lyrans: BC, STT, CW, LTT, STJ, CWE, DWV, 2xDWE, 2xFF, FCR, PDU, BS(F)->BATS(F), CW->CVL, 2xFF->DW

My raids were largely a repeat of the previous turn’s: One Lyran raid to disrupt the Kzinti capital province, and one into NW Federation space, while all the Klingon and Romulan raids went deep into Federation space. The crippled D5 from last turn was replaced with a C5 and the Romulans filled their last raid slot with another SP. Both Lyran raids worked, but the Klingons and Romulans only succeeded with one raid each, and another D5 was crippled, though three different Federation fighter squadrons were destroyed.

With the collapse of the Hydran front, my activities there were confined to re-occupying the home system and neighboring planets to re-establish the supply grid, moving cripples out of the theater, and securing all possible on-board provinces. Kzinti space was somewhat more active, with the main Lyran fleet moving over to take out planet 1802, the last Kzinti base outside the capital, and substantial portions of Klingon forces shifting to take out a Federation BATS and planet 2106.

My main goal in that area was actually to hit as many of the planets near and behind the 4th Fleet SB as I could (presumably four of them), and BATS 2603, which lost its fighters in a raid. However, he reacted out a few ships to 2106, and a noticeable number to 2306, so instead I turned everything I had left in range to the SB to try and take it out. Meanwhile, the Romulans continued rolling up the border stations along the border, and sent a force to take the minor planet near the 5th Fleet SB, small forces to two locations past the 6th Fleet SB, and the bulk of the Home Fleet to the major in 3509.

I expected to see one of the western Fed reserves go to a planet fight (probably 2306), and the other to either go to the SB or to 2106. Instead, one went to 2306, while the other went to unpin the reserve in 3209. I had expected the 3008 reserve to do that, and 3209 to go to 3706 or 3509. Instead, both eastern reserves went to 3509.


Kzinti space and the 4th Fleet area.


Minimal activity between Earth and the border.


Romulan Drive For Five.


Picking up after Hurricane Hydrax.

Battles:
0418: SSC: Hydran: dest POL
1802: Kzinti: dest 2xPDU; Lyran: dest BC, crip DW
1702: Klingon: dest F5
2103: Federation: dest BATS; Klingon: crip F5
2306: Federation: dest 2xCA, FF, MON, 3xPDU, capture F5J; Klingon: dest D7A, D6M, planet captured
2106: Federation: dest CA, FFS, 2xPDU, crip CFF; Klingon: crip F5E, planet captured
2204: Federation: crip NCL; Klingon: dest D6D
2105: Federation: dest FF, crip FF
2610: Federation: dest 2xPDU; Klingon: crip F5G, capture planet, then retreat to let it go again
2511: SSC: both sides retreat
3210: Retreat after refused approach
3612: Federation: dest 2xPDU; Romulan: crip WE, SK, capture planet
3810: Federation: dest BATS; Romulan: crip SEH
3209: Federation: crip NCD, 2xDD, 2xFF, capture WE; Romulan: dest SN, crip WE, 3xBH
3808: Federation: dest BATS; Romulan: crip KR
3509: Federation: dest 2xPDU; Romulan: dest FAL, crip F5L
3806: Federation: dest BATS; Romulan: crip SK
3706: Federation: dest MON, 2xPDU; Romulan: crip SP, capture planet

The Kzintis directed on a BC at 1802, and Byron was happy to trade fighters for a BC. I was happy to trade a BC for a defended planet. After the first round, the Kzinti left, and did a fighting retreat over what would have been a small SSC and killed a F5.

I had two D7As available at 2306, and would have used both if there had been an approach battle. As it was, he killed it and a F5J (which was a hard lesson on just how bad the damage rules on penal ships are), and thankfully, when he rolled a successful capture attempt, got the F5J. He burned the F5J for a die roll bonus on the second round, and then retreated behind the MON and one PDU left on the planet before round three (though he didn’t have any cripples either).

With the reserve going to the 4th Fleet SB, I didn’t have what it took to really threaten it (especially since I didn’t really have specialty ships past three medium and two light carriers), and he had an ADM and I didn’t (he was busy in 2306), and then he spent a command point. Rather than try to slog through to cause some damage over a few rounds, I took a round of 11 ships to 13 once and left. I did a Fighting Retreat over the force that had retreated from 2106, and killed a FF and crippled another in return for fighters. Overall, we each lost three cruisers in those four fights, except that mine were more valuable, and the Federation also lost two extra FFs, a MON, and 5 PDUs.

I thought I’d have a decent fight at 3209, but was sadly mistaken. Part of the problem is the continuing trouble with Alliance EW superiority, and the Roms are nowhere near combating that, so a -2 shift with a small-ship heavy line caused a nearly 2:1 difference in damage. Another good capture roll got Byron a WE, which is in an odd space at the moment. The KE seems to be on its way to being its own hull (the KEV lists its hull type as KE, but the KE says WE), which means a captured WE can’t be upgraded to it (which makes sense, with how thorough the conversion is), and the ‘Queen Eagle’ variants aren’t in the game yet. Byron will be turning it in for scrap, though I’d probably keep it as an extra hull myself.

I put more than enough on 3509 that I figured I could take a major planet with a MON and about half a dozen FFs parked there, and a reserve. I had not expected two reserves to show up, and the fleet wasn’t able to take it. So I traded a FAL for a couple PDUs (couldn’t do enough to kill a third), and then retreated out, taking minimal damage, and left the Federation with a number of unresolved involuntary minus points.

My goals were a bit better focused this turn, and the results show it. The two big disappointments were not doing any damage to the 4th Fleet SB and not taking 3509. However, I had expected two reserves to to go to the two planet fights in the Western Fed (making those fights iffy at best), and one to 3509, which I’d take with some damage, and have something of a bloody fight over the SB. Instead, most of the damaging fights were avoided, and I’m happy with having (temporarily) taken five Federation planets this turn.

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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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Konya wa Hurricane Coalition Turn 10

by on August 16, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Konya wa Hurricane

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

I’ve been meaning to get some more PBeM gaming in this year, and at the time I happened to be in a real F&E mood, a new player asked for a teaching game on the ADB forums. I accepted.

As usual when I do something like this, I ended up with two games. The second one with a fairly experienced player. I had been wanting to try out the revised Hurricane scenario, which starts the action as the Romulans invade the Federation in support of the Klingons who invaded three turns earlier. In addition to getting the Romulans into the action early, it also gets us to the introduction of later carrier types and some new mid-war ship types that I haven’t seen in action.

So, despite saying ‘turn 10’ in the title, this is the start of the game. With the title of the scenario being “The Hurricane”, calling this game “Konya wa Hurricane” (There’s a Hurricane Tonight) seemed obvious. But for those who need the reference:

I’m playing the Coalition, and Byron Sinor is playing the Alliance, and we’re using what I consider the ‘main three’ expansions, Fighter Operations, Combined Operations, and Advanced Operations (short of the optional rules), which is about what I think I can remember in terms of new rules. We also adjusted the OoB slightly to account for older ships that show up in Gale Force (which was revised last year, and starts after this scenario):

Hydran: 1xCR->SA
Kzinti: 2xFF->FH
Lyran: Sector A: 1xFF->HFF; Sector B: 1xDW->HDD

Also, we’re testing out a bunch of new Auxilaries that have been added to the on-line SITs but have yet to be published. At least in theory; we’ll see if either of us does much with them. Guidelines:

1) Auxes generally use the FO2016 unified rule.
2) All Aux production (and conversion) takes ‘pods’ as well as EPs. Federation & Klingons get 8/year, Tholians get 4/year, everyone else gets 6/year.
3) The existing limits for particular types of Auxes still limits them. (Probably just count the jumbo and heavy auxes as part of the large limit.)
4) Auxiliary combatants are not tied to provinces as in CL43 playtest rule, but they don’t exist for activation either. Only built Auxes are available.

As a large scenario, setup is actually complicated, as certain ‘strategic reserves’ are set up after most everything else, and can be shifted between fronts, while most forces are assigned to a particular region. I started ignoring my own plans there, not concentrating them in a few places as I had meant to as I worried about various problems. Production was certainly nice, as the Coalition has the luxury of occupying most of Hydran and Kzinti space to swell their economies.

Builds:
Klingons: C8, D7, TGA, 5xD5, D5V, 3xAD5, F5L, 6xF5, 2xF5E, E4, D6Y->D6U, D5->AD5, D7->D7A, 2xVP2->2xVP3
Romulans: NH, FH, 2xSP, SPB, SPC, SKB, 2xSKE, SEH, WE, SNB, JAC, WE->KE
Lyrans: STL, TGC, CW, LTT, CVL, CWE, 2xDW, DWE, 2xFF, FCR, MB, PDU, MB->BS(F), CA->STT, 2xFF->DW

The Lyrans raided the Kzinti capital province (most everything else was likely to be disrupted anyway), while the remaining six hit Fed space (the Romulans only put two ships into the Raid Pool this turn). Only three raids succeeded, but only one raiding D5 was crippled, and no raiders were lost. In addition, the BATS in 2308 lost its fighters fighting off an adjacent raid.

With everything in good shape (the scenario decrees a number of ships crippled at start, but you can easily set them up on bases to repair them), I did offensives across the board. The Hydrans somewhat inexplicably have an intact planet after everything else is wiped out, and I sent in the fleets to there, including some of the Aux CVs, which was a mistake. I went after the Kzinti capital as it has several planets that have recovered from devastation, but still have no defenses. In NW Federation space, I tried going after several planets and BATS, but blew my sequencing so the 4th Fleet could react to save 2306 (Cygnus) as all the other major fleets in range of the SB had moved. I actually saw the problem, but just didn’t want to go back and re-record a long log I was in the middle of. The Romulans naturally poured over the border to take out the border BATS and threaten the 6th Fleet SB and adjacent planets, with the Home Fleet coming up to set up shop on one the NZ planets.

[Green arrows are movement; light blue are reactions, and darker blue is Reserve movement.]


Kzinti space and the Federation border.


The Klingon-Federation border.


Day of the Eagle


Out of the capital, but not off the map.

Battles:
0217: SSC: Hydran: retreat
0218: SSC: Hydran: dest POL; Klingon: crip F5
0416: Hydran: dest NSC, DDS, crip 2xHR; Lyran: dest STJ; crip 2xCW, DW; Klingon: dest D6M, 2xE4A, SAV, crip D6G, F5
1702: SSC: Kzinti: retreat
1902: Kzinti: dest BATS, CLD, SDF; Klingon: dest D6J, F5L, crip D7C, D5, F5
1802: Kzinti: dest FKE, crip CVE, DDE; Klingon: dest D5, E4, crip 2xD7, F5E
2006: Federation: dest BATS
1702: Klingon: dest F5
1401: Keevarsh I: devastated; Keevarsh II: devastated; Vielsalm I: devastated; Vielsalm II: devastated; Vielsalm III: devastated; Vronkett: devastated; Kzinti: dest CLD, 2xFKE, SDF, SAD, crip CL, CLD, 2xSF, capture DWG, E4A; Lyran: dest CWS, 2xDW, DWE, crip CA, 4xCW, CWE, STJ, DW, DDE; Klingon: dest F5, crip F5, E4A
2004: Federation: dest BATS; Klingon: crip F5
2106: Klingon: dest 2xF5
2308: Federation: dest BATS; Klingon: crip D6
2311: SSC: Federation retreats
2306: Federation: dest 3xPDU, DD, crip DD, SWAC; Klingon: dest MD5,F5L, 2xF5, F5E crip D7, D5, F5; Lyran: crip BC, 2xCW
2211: Retreat after declined approach
2312: Klingon: dest F5L
2509: Federation: dest FF; Klingon: dest D5A, crip F5
3212: Federation: dest BATS; Klingon: crip F5
3215: Federation: dest BATS; Romulan: crip WE, SNB
3415: Neutral: dest 2xPDU; Romulan: crip WE, capture planet
3414: Federation: dest BATS; Romulan: crip BH
3613: Federation: dest BATS; Romulan: crip K5L, K5
3812: Federation: dest BATS; Romulan: crip SK, SNB
3912: Neutral: dest 2xPDU; Romulan captures planet
3612: Romulan: dest KE
3711: Federation: dest 2xPDU, crip 3xFF; Romulan: crip K7R, capture planet
3611: Federation: dest CC, DD, crip DD, FF, 2xFFE; Romulan: dest SUP, K4, crip SP, 2xSN

Tackling the main Hydran fleet turned out to be a lot tougher than I had anticipated. Not only does the IC allow for high ComPot (even for Hydrans!), but they were able to force a -2 shift with relative ease. (I started chipping away at that.) I decided to pull out before I exhausted all the fighter reserves, and left a large Hydran fleet loose with a lot of Coalition cripples around. I had anticipated pushing him off the last intact Hydran planet, and so brought along the Klingon SAV, which I promptly lost in the slow unit battle.

A D6 and F5 vs 2xPOL rolled a ‘2’, allowing one to retreat after the other withdrew to 1802. Meanwhile, a decent force took out the last Kzinti BATS, and both sides then retreated onto 1802 (further talks about the meaning of ‘units’ in retreat says I may not have been able to do that; it would have been close though). Sadly, a successful ground assault took out a defending ‘G’, but couldn’t do more on a second roll. Both sides then retreated off the planet, with the Kzinti going to 1702 to kill the F5, and re-open the supply grid to 1802.

The raid on the Kzinti capital went well, since I was fighting his ships without defenses backing them up in the outer systems. I re-devastated everything outside the main system and managed to pick off a few valuable ships. However, the we finally saw good capture rolls for the retreat and the slow unit retreat, letting the Kzinti get two poor ships: a DWG and an E4A. The slow unit retreat tripped me up again, with Byron able to bring extra ships to balance the non-slow escorts I was using. Still, I have a number of spare E4As at the moment, and nothing bigger went.

I went in for a round at the major planet at 2306, and regretted it when the Feds rolled a ‘6’ with a larger line than I had expected. I mauled half the the PDUs, and then got an approach round to burn off most of the resulting involuntary minus points before retreating. He killed the MD5 in form, so at least it saved killing the BC.

Having already taken more damage for less gain on the Klingons than I wanted, I retreated out after a declined approach battle with the 3rd Fleet SB. The Federation also retreated off, hitting a little two-ship holding force in 2312, and reestablishing main grid supply.

Byron was understandably surprised when I put the D5A on the line in 2509, but I wanted the extra ComPot, and wasn’t expecting to be facing yet another -2 EW shift, which canceled my plans for actually using the SFG. And, I’m not a fan of the marginal abilities of the D5A, so I’m not too unhappy at losing it.

About half of the Federation 4th Reserve went to 3612, which was still far better than what the Romulans had in the hex. I didn’t want to kill a KE, but it was that or cripple 3xWE, and probably lose them all in pursuit.

Overall, I can’t help but be disappointed with the results, though I wasn’t really expecting to take planet 3711. I knew there would be some problems, as I’m stepping into a big war in progress without a great idea of what shape everyone is in. There’s no immediate ‘history’ to provide momentum. In addition, I made a number of mistakes, and did not really focus on just a few goals. Over our years of play, Bel has been playing catch-up to me, and now I’m facing someone who knows the game much better than I. In retrospect, I needed to pay a bit more attention to mauler and scout builds, as the Alliance EW situation is a lot better than I expected.

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Destroyer Demolition Derby

by on February 6, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: SFB

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG

Somewhat to my surprise, after Patch and I finished up “Arctic Crossroads” he suggested an SFB game. He wanted smaller ships, and something other than Klingons, so I looked to a Kzinti-Lyran fight (appropriate as they’re also involved in the Four Powers War right now) with squadrons using ships smaller than CAs.

The Kzinti produce their first Destroyer in Y159 (our current playing date), and I certainly wanted to show it off, as I don’t think it appears in many scenarios. It’s mostly known as an ‘also ran’ ship, as production is halted in favor of the later Medium Cruiser, and it is relegated to second-line duty during the General War. But right now, it is brand new, and effectively the one of the most advanced designs around, and certainly the best ship the Kzinti have for the tonnage. At a Move Cost of 1/2, it has 24 power, 2xdisruptors, 4xph-1, 2xph-3, and 4xdrone racks. This is more power and firepower than the larger Light Cruiser class, which it is effectively replacing (the CL will be refitted to have more power, more disruptors, and bring its drone racks up to 4, but that’s a few years away still). It shows a shift from ph-3 to ph-1s, and an increase in drone throw weight (eventually, just about all Kzinti ships have at least four drone racks, but until now, that’s only been true on the much larger CS/CA/CC hull as well as the seven racks on the much larger DNE).

Then I chose a Lyran Light Cruiser to lead the opposite squadron. It has the exact same BPV as the DD (after adjusting for the lack of ESG capacitors), and while larger with more internals, and it has slightly better phasers (4xph-1, 4xph-3), coverage isn’t quite as good, and its shields are slightly weaker than the DD’s.

Both sides’ squadrons were rounded out by a pair of frigates, which also happen to have the exact same BPV, and fairly similar characteristics. Patch, as it turned out, went for a full load of Type-II (speed 12) drones, with no larger Type-Vs, for a total cost of 16 BPV. I vaguely contemplated taking some transporter bombs, and I should have, but neither of us took any.

We set up, and rolled randomly for Weapon Status (with a +1 for a war zone), and ended up with WS III. That was to my advantage, as the Kzinti don’t have any multi-turn weapons, and it meant my ESGs were already fully charged. I also had a suicide shuttle pre-charged on the CL. The Kzinti squadron went speed 15 for the first turn, as did my CL, while my FFs went 16. We simply closed the range for the first half of the turn, but the DD turned off at about range 25. During impulses 28-30, we fired as ships hit range 15. I stuck to disruptors, which all missed with six straight 5s. Patch launched half his drones on each ship, and volleyed all his disruptors, which all missed with three 6s and a 4, while four phasers he fired also missed on “better” rolls (two 3s and two 4s). On impulse 32, I turned towards the Kzinti FFs to see if could engage them separately from the DD.

With ranges coming down fast, I decided to put power into overloads on CL, and EW on the FFs, and went speed 9 for the CL and speed 13 on the FFs. Meanwhile, Patch sped up to 19 on his FFs while the DD stayed 15. Patch was surprised I hadn’t boosted speed as well, which I had considered, but I wanted to be prepared for a close-range pass (and the FFs stayed on regular disruptors in case something like this happened). Sadly, I only had slightly better EW than Patch, but it meant I would have even shots at his FFs while everyone else was at a +1 to fire at each other.

Patch’s FFs turned off on Impulse 4, confirming my fears that he would just dance around my slower-moving squadron this turn. On Impulse 10, I turned towards the gap between Patch’s forces and starting warming up an ESG to tackle the wave of drones that was in there. To my surprise, Patch turned his DD in shortly after, allowing me to get closer to it. Things started coming to a head on Impulse 15, when my FF-1 started sweeping the drones with its ESG, and my FF-2 and the DD traded shots. Both ships hit with one disruptor, and missed with the other, and had similar phaser rolls, though the ph-2s on my FF led to less damage being done.

On Impulse 18, I turned towards the DD, as it turned back away, launching its last two drones for the turn (the other racks had staggered fire over the previous few impulses). The DD scored another 4 points on the front shield of FF-2 with the 360-phasers, while the CL did 15 points to shield #3 of the DD, hitting with both disruptors and one good phaser roll (a second phaser missed entirely…). The next impulse, FF-2 announced its ESG, and I fired another three phasers at the DD. FF-1’s phaser missed, but the remaining ph-1s on the CL both rolled 1s to knock down the shield and do 5 internals, including a ph-3 and two power. That was pretty much it for the turn, though on Impulse 28, the two Kzinti FFs fired disruptors at my FF-1, with one hitting, and on the next couple impulses, they launched drones.


Turn 2, Impulse 18, showing movement throughout the turn.
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