The Four Vassal War Coalition Turn 2

by on July 2, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Posted In: Four Vassal War

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

A little to my surprise, Belirahc and I’s Four Powers War game has finished off a turn before our main game, though it’s about done too.

The Lyrans are trying to clean up the mess left by the civil war. 27 EPs went into repairs, and there’s still a fair amount left to do. I’m prioritizing the current war-zone of course, but there’s not enough facilities to go around, and every fleet got some repairs. The Far Stars fleet will start slowly releasing ships after it’s all repaired, but I have a DD and 2xFF to go on that project.

Meanwhile, the Klingons are starting their fourth war with the Kzinti.

Builds:
Klingons: C6, D7, D6D, F5L, F5, 3xE4, E3, SAF, D7->D7C
Lyrans: DNE, TGP, 2xCL, 2xDD, 2xFF

Yes, the Klingons now have a ship worse than the HN in the game: the lowly 3/2 E3 Escort. The new edition of FO will have counters for them and the E3A. Just what every Coalition player wanted. >.<;

I sent out heavy ships raiding (BCE, D6), and got a pair of cripples for my pains. The Lyrans at least, should have raided a bit closer to home.

The Klingons struck into Kzinti space, mostly going after some of the border defenses, though I made a try for the Duke’s starbase and the planet at 1504 as well. I always seem to have trouble sorting out my forces (in any game) the way I want/need on the first turn, and this was no exception, with my Admiral stuck at a minor battle, and other oddities.

The Lyrans had fairly limited operations. The Hydrans are still in the area in force, and anything I tried to do, Bel reacted to aggressively. And at this point, bases with fighters on them are fairly intimidating.

We both made some errors. It wasn’t until movement was over that Bel realized he’d never set up reserves for the Kzinti. o.0 And shortly after that, I realized I forgot to move my Commercial Convoy.


Regrouping on the Hydran border.


Opening moves of the Fourth Klingo-Kzinti War.

Combat:
0410: SSC: Hydran: dest SA, crip 2xHN, retreat; Lyran: retreat
0113: Hydran: crip 2xKN; Lyran: dest CL, SC, crip CA, DD
0211: Hydran: crip CR, CU; Lyran: crip CA, 2xFF
1004: Kzinti: dest BATS; Klingon: F5, F5G
1205: Kzinti: dest BS; Klingon: crip 2xF5
1605: Retreat after refused approach
1506: Neutral: dest 2xPGB, planet captured; Klingon: crip F5
1504: Kzinti: crip CL; Klingon: crip F5L
1304: Kzinti: 2xSIDS, dest POL; Klingon: dest E3, crip D6, E4

Bel had a HN in 0410, and when I sent a ship to kill it, he reacted in another and a SA. I moved from the EB starbase (away from the nearby fleet) with a good SSC force (15 ComPot total) and then rolled an 11 to nearly wipe them out. Past that, the Lyrans didn’t have any combats where they had an adequate force.

The Klingons put a D6D and TGB-2DP on the line with an F5S in support for the starbase battle for 5EW, but Bel just put a SF in support with a CD and CLD on the line, and dialed the SB’s EW to 6 to generate a -2 shift anyway.

I’d hoped to do a lot more than kill two bases this turn, but I’m going to have to come up with a better plan than this to do it.

However, the score is a bit more even now, partially thanks to continuing repairs, and partly to killing two Kzinti bases. The Coalition is up eleven points to 34.5 VP and the Alliance is up point nine to 59.4, a Major Defeat for the Coalition

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R vs B Coalition Turn 11 in Review

by on June 16, 2015 at 9:37 pm
Posted In: BvR - The Wind

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

Naturally, Belirahc’s first action on his turn was to pull the newly homeless Klingon cripple pile back to the capital. He also sent the pile that had built up on the Kzinti border back there. There’s now an impressive 31 crippled ships there, ranging from a pair of C8s down to a pair of E4As that I assume he’s in no hurry to repair (there’s been a couple of spare healthy E4As in the capital for some time now).

Fresh fighting broke out in Hydran space as he moved to eliminate the province garrisons left behind, but there was only one place where I could react the main fleet out. However, there’s been no effort to pull spare ships out of theater yet.

Along the Federation border, the Klingons struck at five BATS, and I shifted in forces to all of them. I couldn’t do as much as I might have liked as I needed to keep forces on major targets like the 3rd Fleet SB while he still had mobile forces in the area. My real regret is that I lost track of where the neutral zone planets were, and didn’t react to moves on them.

That done, the Klingon North command sent a decent force into 1506, followed by the Lyrans shifting forces forward from 1001 to 1202. Since things were starting to wind down, I reacted from the Kzinti capital to make an off-turn offensive into 1202.


Kzinti theater.


Battles all along the Federation border…

Battles:
1509: SSC: F retreats
1507: SSC: Z: dest FF
1906: SSC: K retreats
2215: SSC: K retreats; F: dest FF
0218: H: dest CU
2416: SSC: K retreats
2113: SSC: K: crip E4 and retreat
0418: H: dest HN
0117: K: dest FV, F5E; H: crip SC
2214: K: dest E4, capture planet
1901: K: crip E4, capture planet
1304: K: crip E4; Z: crip 2xCL
1303: L: crip 2xCW; Z: crip BC, CM
1302: L: crip 2xCW; Z: crip FF, EFF
1202: L: dest DWE; Z: crip CC
1506: K: dest D7, D6, crip D7, D6, D6M, CVT, AD5, F5E; Z: dest EFF, crip CM, Z-D5, MEC; F: dest FF, crip CVS, NEC, DE, NCL, SC
2008: K: crip D7, 4xD5; F: dest BATS, FF, crip 2xCL, 3xDD
2213: K: crip E4A; F: crip FF
2012: K: dest D7, F5L, 2xF5; F: 2xSIDS, dest FF, crip DD
2006: K: dest D5, 3xE4; F: crip NCL, FF
2010: K: dest F5L, 2xF5, crip F5S
1809: K: crip 2xF5; F: crip 2xFF
1808: Unopposed withdrawal

2416 was annoying since it was an F5 squadron vs a CL and battle tug. Both sides rolled absurdly low (K: 4, F: 2), allowing the Klingons to retreat in the normal procedure. I had hoped I might manage to force him off of 1202 after I reacted on to it near the end of movement, but even with a reserve, the fight was somewhat even, and the first round saw a 6/1 split in the Lyrans favor. I stayed two rounds and retreated out with no fighters left.

1506 turned into a much harder fight than I expected. Bel has realized that it is only six hexes away from the Klingon capital, while I consider it part of my defenses in front of the Marquis area and planet-rich north-western Federation space. Two reserves seemed like enough at the time, but initial die rolls of 6/1 and then 5/1 against me made it into a really close battle where both sides crippled an entire carrier group.

In general, my plan was to engage in an aggressive attrition battle, and try to wear out the Coalition fleets with cripples and kills. I might have been a little too successful, for I’m feeling fairly bloodied myself. Certainly, luck went Bel’s way at a few important points, which is only fair, as the Kzintis have outrolled the Coalition a good number of times.

Romulan construction split between the 4th Legion in 3514 and the 2nd Legion in 4012 (both next to neutral zone planets, and the former in easy reach of Orion). The bulk of Klingon construction (17 ships) went to SB 2318, indeed keeping me from any more easy victories there (a few ships participated in the border battles, along with the 1st IWR Squadron).

Most new Lyran construction went to 1202, and it looks like he will be transferring control from the Klingons to Lyrans, giving them a base that covers most of Kzinti space. Also, he has a PDU and MB setting up in the hex. I think I have a priority target for my turn….

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The Four Vassal War Hydran Turn 1

by on June 14, 2015 at 10:02 am
Posted In: Four Vassal War

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

Erich and I have been back at playing our main F&E game for a while now, but our second game has still been on hold. Bel has been feeling uncertain of his mastery of the expansions after all this time (and, after doing some work, I realized I had forgotten a fair amount too).

Anyway, we’ve now officially put that game on hold to do a play of “The Four Powers War”, using the final draft version that was prepared for the upcoming re-release of Federation & Empire: Fighter Operations. Since this is a ‘replacement’ for Second Wind, I will be playing the Coalition, and we will be using FO, CO, and AO. Once this is done… we’ll either pick up Second Wind, or restart it. It is also serving as a major test of the 2.0 version of the Vassal module and the large map.

The scenario starts with Hydrans attacking the Lyrans in Fall Y157. The Lyrans are in the middle of a civil war as the Hydrans decide to try and ‘adjust’ the border further away from their capital. So the Lyrans start by distributing 40 points of damage in each fleet. Any crippled ships then have a 1/6 chance of being destroyed. I took a chance, and didn’t destroy any cripples to avoid the ‘free’ kills, and got lucky: only two FFs (in the Far Stars fleet) succumbed to the die rolls.

Builds:
Hydrans: TG, 2xKN, CR, 2xCU, MB, Convoy, PT, POL, 2xPDU (on Hydrax)

There’s only limited raiding in this era, and a LN successfully disrupted province 0107 after defeating a called up POL.

The Hydrans boiled over the border, hitting both border stations (at this point, one is a BATS, and the other a base station), and sent a decent force to the 0411 starbase. He also sent a DG to disrupt the 0109 province, but I was able to react a squadron out from the capital to handle that. (He also moved an SA into 0410, but for some reason I didn’t think about intercepting it with the last two uncrippled ships in the capital (2xFF).)


Lyran-Hydran border; Fall 157. Green=movement; light blue=reactions; blue-grey=reserves; red=retreat.

Combat:
0209: SSC: Lyran: retreat; Hydran: dest DG
0413: Lyran: Dest BATS; Hydran: crip CR, CU
0212: Lyran: Dest BS; Hydran: crip CU
0411: Lyran: crip 2xCA, 3xCL, DD ; Hydran: dest RN, CU, SC

I had a DD at each border station, and they helped out a lot against the smaller station-busting lines Bel brought, retreating out as damage mounted.

Belirahc didn’t bring nearly enough to take on a well-defended starbase, but I still couldn’t breathe easy because of the number of ships crippled in each fleet made my available forces a bit thin. Thanks to the fact that Lyran SCs have two EW, I was able to dial the SB up to 4 EW for a -2 shift against the Hydrans, which made it even tougher for him. He went three rounds, during the last two of which he tried assaulting with a troop tug (you know, escorting with HNs doesn’t really give up much ComPot…), but poor rolls, and a -2 VBIR on the first try made sure it didn’t do anything.

On the other hand, I really didn’t want another six cripples…

The scoring in this scenario tracks all sorts of things, like how many bases have been destroyed, planets devastated, ships destroyed, ships in need of repair, etc. As of this moment (with the vast bulk of the game to go), the Coalition has 23.5 VPs (mostly in Alliance BS that need to be upgraded to BATS), and the Alliance has 58.3 (mostly in base upgrades, but also for Lyran repairs, provinces, and 5 permanent points for those two bases he destroyed), for a a Hydran Decisive Victory (juuust shy of Astounding). If only they could get the war to end here….

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R vs B Alliance Turn 10 in Review

by on May 16, 2015 at 4:11 pm
Posted In: BvR - The Wind

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG

With the Romulans going for a couple turns of peace, the Federation gets to decide where the war goes next during the Alliance half of Turn 10. A couple years ago, I knew I was putting the Federation on a full wartime footing, removing the limitations on construction, and doing what I could to disrupt the Klingon border.

When we got the game going again, I pondered the wisdom of this. The Gorn navy is small, but good quality, and I was starting to look at the Romulan navy with a lot of trepidation. I need all the help I can get against that. Letting the Gorns sit out the war seemed like a bad idea.

But, I did it anyway. With the Hydrans finally off their capital, this is the last chance I’ve got to hurt the Klingon Empire before ships from that front start showing up on the Federation border. Last turn I had set up to be able to hit the Northern Reserve starbase; the Klingons then sent a lot of ships to 1407 (only two hexes away), and established two reserves there, which complicated things.

Base F&E, without any expansions, only sees modest changes in ship types during the war. However, Turn 10 effectively marks the beginning of the ‘CVA era’. The Federation actually builds the first carrier based on a dreadnought hull—a heavy carrier, or CVA—on turn 6. But on turn 10 the Kzintis adopt the idea, and the number of CVAs doubles from 2 (the turn 6 and 8 Fed carriers) to 4 (the Fed turn 10 carrier, and the first Kzinti one). In two turns, the Klingons will join in on the fun. (The Hydrans can also build/convert a CVA this turn, but are often otherwise occupied, and my Hydrans are out of DNs.)

Finally unchained from various production restrictions, the Federation went from a stored treasury of 90 EPs to having 54 left after production. They built a new CVA, converted a CA to a CVS, built a FFV, and a heavy carrier pod; that’s a lot of fighters to pay for (24 in fact)! In addition, they deployed 5 new PDUs (all outside the capital; I need to work on that) and a FRD.

Movement was complicated by the fact that I not only needed to pin the Klingon reserves, but the rest of the ships as well, and the Kzinti navy was just capable of doing it. Bel reacted aggressively, trying to keep me out of the hex, and the old Kzinti/Klingon border erupted in a series of battles. Then the Fed 4th Fleet and Battle Group MacArthur went in for the SB.

In Hydran space, I pinned the forces near the Old Colonies so the main fleet could get back in range, and in supply for combat.


Kzinti theater.


Operation “Contain Aggression”


Occupied Hydran space…

Battles:
1304: SSC: K: crip D6 & retreat
1705: SSC: F: retreat; K: dest F5
1808: SSC: K: dest F5
1407: Z: dest SF; K: crip 3xD5
1809: F: crip 2xFF; K: dest BATS
1406: Z: crip CM
1811: F: crip FF; K: dest BATS
1606: Z: crip CM, SF; K: dest D5, E4
2215: K: dest BATS
1507: K: dest D5, F5L
2416: F: crip FFE; K: dest BATS
0218: L: dest cripCW; K: dest cripD6D
2517: F: crip 2xNCL; K: dest BATS
0119: H: crip DG; L: dest DWE
2518: K: 4xPDU, planet captured
1509: K: dest SB, FRD, stored PDU

Much of the Klingon border is now disrupted, and I’ve basically opened a mini-front with the capture of major planet 2518. I’d like to press on and take out the other bases in the area, but I figure the area will draw a lot of Klingon reinforcements which will at least stalemate me.

But it should sure draw attention away from elsewhere….

Outside of that area, the Federation has mostly pulled back to the border. They put the third CVA into the 6th Fleet Reserve (which means it’s permanently part of that fleet until it is released), and overall just more ships near the Romulan border than the Romulans built, but most construction went to the Klingon border. The Kzintis are attempting to place a new PDU on 1402, and have moved a spare Mobile Base from the Barony to 1704 (from where it will presumably go to a new destination next turn…).

Turn 10 is also the start of the scenarios that have a regular scoring mechanism that could be applied at the end of any full turn since the same scoring is used for every scenario from now on. It checks (non-exhausted) economic income, existing bases, and ship numbers, and if capitials have been captured.

At this moment it says:
Coalition: 290 EP (x2) + 355 (bases) + 337 ships (/5) + 100 (Hydran Capital) = 1102.4
Alliance: 329.4 EP (x2) + 520 (bases) + 427 ships (/5) = 1264.2

This gives a difference of 161.8, which is an Alliance Tactical Victory. But, the Coalition totals don’t include the Romulans, as they are at peace, and when they come in there will be a major swing in points. Also, I expect the Federation to lose a number of bases, which will also erode that score.

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R vs B Coalition Turn 10 in Review

by on May 7, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: BvR - The Wind

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG

Hopefully, everyone is as glad to be reading this as I am to be writing it. Belirahc’s life started getting extremely busy in early 2012, which led to our PBeM slowly grinding to a halt late that year. There were a couple of restarts past that, including a fairly decent one in 2013. Recently, he got back in touch, and we’ve managed to pick up where we left off.

So, where were we again?

Turn 10 marks the beginning of the third scenario, The Hurricane, and is the the turn in which the Romulans are put under player control. Often, if the Coalition invasion of the Federation does not happen on turn 7, it happens on turn 10 as a combined Klingon/Romulan assault.

However, with Bel still struggling to clean up Hydran space, he declined to declare war on the Federation, and put the Romulans on a Peacetime economy. The bad news is that they must spend at least two turns at peace, but the good news is that they won’t hit exhaustion until turn 18, even if they go to war on turn 12.

This leaves me with the decision (on my turn) of if the Federation should declare war on the Klingons. The Federation is fairly hampered in what it can do while only at Limited War, but if they declare war, the Gorns will not join in unless attacked.

However peaceful the Federation border, things were happening elsewhere. Several major fleets moved on the Hydran capital, in the long anticipated second attempt to take it. The on-map reserve was pinned again, though a couple ships reacted out of the Old Colonies, and freed up one ship to help in the capital….

There were a number of aggressive moves in Kzinti space, and I shuffled units back and forth to try and keep everything nailed down.


Kzinti front.


Hydran front.

Combats:
1807: SSC: Z: crip FF & retreat; K: retreat
1105: SSC: Z: dest FF; K: capture planet
1202: Z: crip CL, FF; K: crip F5S, capture planet
1303: K: crip D6
1402: Z: crip CM, MEC, dest FF; K: crip D6, 4D5
1502: Z: dest 2xEFF, 2xPDU; K: crip F5L, 2xF5, dest 2xD5, F5; F5 captured
1504: Z: crip CC; L: dest 2xCA
1704: Klingons retreated after refused approach.
0119: H: dest CU; K: crip D5, F5
1506: Z: dest EFF; K: dest 2xD5
0617: Hydrax: 9xPDU, 2xSIDS; H: crip RN, H-D7; L: crip 2xBC, DWS, SC, dest STT, 5xCW, CVL, CWE, DWE; K: crip 2xD6, dest 2xD7C, 2xD7V, 2xD6M, 2xD6, 2xAD5, 2xF5E

Overall, Kzinti space went fairly well, but he has now killed the last PDU on 1502, which makes defending that planet more complicated, since if I want new PDUs (yes), I have to spend a turn setting up the first one.

I probably could have drawn out the fight over the Hydran capital longer than I did (six rounds before retreating out), but I’d either be crippling a lot more than I did, or I’d run out of fighters. Right now, the Hydran fleet is out of supply, so I need a good number of fighters for the journey off-map. I also could have dropped damage rather than direct killing carrier groups, which would have meant a lot more cripples and self-kills, which might have forced Bel into using the smaller ships that came in…. I might, even, have barely forced him to retreat, keeping the capital again (the fact that I rolled consistently higher would help here). But, that would leave me stuck on a shipyard with no economy available. I’ve been considering abandoning the capital as it is, I’m not going to wreck myself just to try and force a third go at the hex.

As it is, the Klingons and Lyrans both have a reserve in Hydran space, and some Lyran production was diverted down there. There’s two reserves that can reach part of the Federation border, but much of that large expanse is wide open, with only the bulk of the East Fleet in 1914 to protect it….

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