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The Alliance gained 0.8 VP for holding four Lyran provinces at the beginning of the turn. Three were held by the Hydrans who had been left alone by the Lyrans, while the fourth was held by the Kzinti, thanks to a poor SSC roll last time. That had also stranded an important part of the Lyran fleet out of position, which was to have grave effects.
Construction was fairly normal, though both the Kzintis and Hydrans showed defensive concerns upgrading planet defenses, and the Hydrans built a new Monitor (for 0519), and provided all their monitors with carrier pallets.
Builds:
Kzintis: BC, 2xCL, DD, 3xFF, 3xPDU upgrades
Hydrans: DG, 2xKN, CR, 2xCU, MON, 3xMPV, RN->LM, 2xPDU upgrades
Both raids hit the Lyrans again. The Hydran raid continued to pick on province 0107, but the called up POL forced a retreat. Meanwhile, the Kzintis tried to raid a hex that already had a POL, but I was still able to call up a POL and the pair of them crippled the Kzinti CL.
Movement was brutally direct: Bel moved just about everything available onto the two main Lyran SBs, while avoiding contact elsewhere. On the Hydran border, this was simple, and expected, as major portions of the Hydran fleet were still adjacent to the SB. In Kzinti space, Bel first first pinned my main fleet in front of the SB before moving everything else in. I had managed to pin a couple of his larger scouts out before that, but it was to be of little real use.
This left me with one active reserve (one being pinned in 0404, and all the Klingon reserves were well out of range), which I sent to 0404 in the hopes of saving the Kzinti-border SB.The Kzinti assault./pic3045921.jpg)
The Hydran assault./pic3045923.jpg)
Combat:
0705: SSC: Lyran: POL destroyed
0604: Lyran: Crip CA; Kzinti: crip CLD
0404: Lyran: dest SB, 2xCL, 5xDD, 8xFF, (stored) MB, crip BCE, 2xCA, 4xCL, 4xDD; Kzinti: dest CC, 5xCS, 3xCD, CL, CLG, 2xFF, SF, crip DNE, 2xTTB, FF, SF, DF
0504: Lyran: crip 3xDD; Kzinti: crip BC, CL
0411: Lyran: dest SB, DD, DDG, FF, POL, SAS, FTS, (stored) MB, crip CC, CA, 2xCL, CLG, DD, capture LN; Hydran: dest TGB, TGT, DG, PT
0404 went seven messy rounds before I retreated behind the barely surviving SB, with both sides at max BIR, and generally getting high rolls. The Kzinti generally had 9-11 EW available, and I had to boost the SB's EW just to keep the die shift to -1. I contemplated directing on the CDs to lower the EW deficit, but dropped damage to try and force the Kzinti fleet off. He did self-kill a couple at the beginning, and I should have followed up by killing another after that. Bel should have killed the CLS I put on the line to force the -2 shift, or forcing my SB to minimal ComPot. He did a troop assault every round, and managed to kill the inherent G. As I didn't have any troop ships in the hex, I bought a G for the SB a couple rounds before letting it go (they both did their job of absorbing a loss/SIDS).
0411 didn't have sufficient forces on it after last turn's assault; I had planned for the reserve to go there, but saving 0404 seemed the safer bet. However, the Lyran 2-EW SCs and poor Hydran EW allowed me to generate a -2 shift on the Hydrans. This time I concentrated on killing key units (mostly tugs) for four rounds before retreating behind the SB.
The Lyran fleet is is really bad shape (there are four uncrippled DDs left), but Alliance losses have generally been bigger, and it's possible for them to get going again. But the Klingons are going to be carrying the war for the Coalition in the meantime. Last turn, I was expecting to see not a lot of major moves; I'm going to have to figure out how to get out of this hole.
Destroying a SB is 8 VPs, and incurs another 8VP penalty in bases that need replacing. Both our totals for enemy ships destroyed have shot up, though I retain a healthy lead there. Technically, my repair needs are down, and the Klingons are about to get to cycle through a number of them, but the Lyrans won't have much to do.
In all, the Alliance is up to 142.4 VPs, and most of it isn't going away. With all the ship kills, the Coalition is up to 113.85 VPs. This is near the top end for a Minor Victory for the Alliance, and if they can keep up this kind of momentum, might have a chance at a Major victory.
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Archive for Four Vassal War
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Sun Jun 5, 2016 9:27 pm
- [+] Dice rolls
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As the war drags into its third year, Klingon occupation of Kzinti space earns a VP (actually, 0.1 comes from a province disrupted by the Lyrans). The grand total of 5.6 VP earned for taking enemy territory (including one-time bonuses for capturing a planet at all) is still the smallest component of of the VP totals, showing that this isn't really a war of conquest.
The Lyrans left a lot of repairs undone, but that was purely because of a lack of facilities. The Klingons had a fairly hefty bill, but managed to get almost everything repaired, and still had money to overbuild a D7 and F5.
Builds:
Klingons: 2xD7, TGB, F5L, F5, F5S, 3xE4, E3, PGB, BS->BATS, D6->D6S, D7->D7C
Lyrans: BCE, CA, CL, CLS, 2xDD, 2xFF
The first truly heavy scouts are introduced with the Klingon D6S and Lyran CLS at this point, which are going to be needed to counter the effect of all the Kzinti drone bombardment platforms.
The Lyrans raided the Hydrans with a new CA and destroyed a called up POL to disrupt the province, while the Klingons went deep into Kzinti space, hoping to pull a ship out of a Reserve. However, they pulled a BC out of a different nearby fleet, and destroyed the raiding D6, retreating back to the capital in process.
The Lyrans drove back across the Kzinti border, and Kzinti forces reacted into them generating a large fight in the neutral zone, and further forces pressed on to BS 0701. Meanwhile, Klingon forces probed into the same area, and after some initial indecision, I made a stab at the planet in 1001 instead of the SB next door.
The Lyrans didn't do anything on the Hydran border. With both borders in bad shape, they wanted as little overall activity as possible. The Klingons raided the border, going after individual ships, and generated a few small fights.The Kzinti front./pic3015960.png)
The Hydran front./pic3015961.png)
Combat:
0502: SSC: Lyran retreat
0701: Kzinti: dest BS, CC, BC; Lyran: dest CL, crip CA, 2xDD
0703: SSC: both sides retreat
0603: Kzinti: crip CC, CL; Lyran: dest 2xCL, crip DD
1001: Kzinti: crip CL, FF; Klingon: crip D6, F5, F5G
1002: Kzinti: dest CC; Klingon: crip E4
1004: Kzinti: dest FF, SF; Klingon: crip E3
1605: Kzinti: dest BS, FF; Klingon: crip D5, F5
0915: SSC: Hydran: crip CR, 2xCU, retreat
1216: SSC: Hydran: retreat
1217: SSC: Hydran: dest LN, HN
1317: SSC: Hydran: retreat
1217: SSC: Hydran: retreat
0502 was another annoyingly bad roll in SSC (2), which saw a CL retreat from a FF (which is a +2/-3 combat).
The BS at 0701 took three rounds, with the remaining Kzinti forces retreating out on round two after my DDG successfully scored a SIDS to cripple the base. I stayed in the hex, which has turned into a problem as the later retreat out of 0603 closed their retrograde path, and the hex is also out of supply range.
Even with the maneuvering I did, I didn't have nearly enough to take out planet 1001. My ComPot was slightly lower, and I couldn't keep up with Kzinti EW (boosted by the defenses) and then I rolled 3 under the Kzinti to take nearly twice as much damage. With good rolls, I was prepared to try and force the issue, but not the other way around.
0915 had a full hellbore-armed squadron against an F5 squadron, but this time the rolls were 10 vs 2 in my favor.
1217 continued good SSC rolls with a '12' to wipe out both Hydran ships. Later, the squadron from 1317 retreated into the hex, and both sides rolled average to merely force another retreat.
Despite problems, I still destroyed another two BS this turn. Combined with another eight ship kills and a slowly growing repair bill, my VPs are up to 104.4. Meanwhile, the my repairs have overcome last turn's cripples to Alliance VPs to 94.6 (and another BS->BATS conversion is underway to reduce that total further). This is a Marginal Victory, down from a Minor Victory as of my previous turn, thanks to how bad Alliance Turn 4 was.
We seem to be solidly in the middle part of the war, with all the easy targets taken out, except for the Klingon border stations, which I have so far managed to protect, and three Hydran Lyran-border bases, which the Lyrans have been in no shape to get to.
Sat May 14, 2016 6:09 pm
- [+] Dice rolls
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Despite the Hydran pull-out last turn, and my attempts to pick off the garrisons, they still held a bit of Lyran territory to generate another 0.3 VP.
Construction was fairly normal, though even with the reduced economies of this era, the budgets are far exceeding his spending. However, the Hydrans did a lot of conversions (6 in all, plus using a couple FTS to form the basis of a SAF), mostly turning Rangers into tougher Lord Marshals. I generally avoid that conversion as it reduces the number of fighters, but Belirahc pointed out that the LM is a Hellbore-armed ship, which can do extra damage to Klingons.... So here, it's certainly a good deal.
Builds:
Kzinti: DNE, CD, 2xCL, DD, 3xFF, FF->SDF, CS->CC
Hydrans: TEM, RN, 2xLN, SA, 2xHN, 2xLC->LM, 3xRN->LM, HN->SC, 2xFTS->SAF
Both raids picked on the Lyrans again, off in areas where the only choice was calling up POLs. Both POLs were lost against the CL and LN with Prime Teams sent raiding, but the CL was forced to retreat, so only one province was disrupted.
Movement started with a sweep of province raiders in Kzinti territory, but then moved to assaults on the Lyran border stations. I had set things up so that I could shift forces from one threatened base to another, but I ended up not suitably concentrated at any one base. I was expecting a push at the captured planets in 1105 and 1504, but instead everything went into Lyran space.
The Hydrans similarly started by sweeping Coalition pickets in their space, and then moved a couple of moderate-sized forces against a pair of Klingon bases before moving a very large force against the Lyran SB in 0409.The Kzinti front./pic2955003.png)
The Hydran front./pic2955007.png)
Combat:
1217: SSC: Klingon retreat
0815: SSC: Klingon: dest E3
0915: SSC: Klingon: retreat; Hydran: dest HN, crip SA, HN, retreat
0714: SSC: Lyran: dest FF
0615: SSC: Lyran: dest FF; Hydran: retreat
1214: Klingon: crip D6, 2xF5; Hydran: dest KN
1415: Klingon: crip D6; Hydran: crip LN, PGZ
0312: Lyran: CL
0411: Lyran: 6xSIDS, dest BCE, CA, 2xCL, 4xDD, 2xFF, POL, crip CC, 2xCA, TCB, 3xCL, 4xDD, SC; Hydran: dest TEM, 4xLN, 4xKN, 3xCR, 2xSA, 4xCU, 2xHN, crip RN, LN, KN
0705: Lyran: dest BATS, crip 2xCL; Klingon: crip D6; Kzinti: dest 3xFF, FFG
0504: Lyran: dest BS, FTS, crip DD; Kzinti: crip 2xCS
0502: Lyran: dest BATS, crip CA, 2xDD; Kzinti: dest CL, BC, crip FFG
1204: Kzinti: dest FF
0703: SSC: Kzinti retreat
0904: SSC: Coalition retreat
1103: SSC: Lyran: dest DD, FF; Kzinti retreat
1004: Klingon: crip D6, E3; Kzinti: dest FF; crip 2xFF
Three ships to two, and Bel couldn't roll high enough to generate casualties in 1217 (neither of us rolled over 5), and I retreated out before the odds caught up to me.
Bel sent a lackluster squadron to fight a fairly good one of mine in 0915 (SA, 2xHN vs F5L, F5, E4; I suppose he just wanted to pin them), and we both rolled high, which nearly wiped his force out, while the mods kept me down to needing to retreat out of the hex.
The SB battle in 0411 wrecked both fleets in seven rounds as Bel tried to force a kill of the base. I had a good reserve of smaller ships, and started using them from the start to take damage. It wasn't enough I also had an EW advantage, though it took me a few rounds to realize that I'd gain ComPot by putting a second SC on the line so I could dial down the SB's EW. And it was a very good thing I had the EW, as Bel generally outrolled me and the -2 shift dragged him back down to my rolls, leaving me to do more damage by virtue of the SB's extra ComPot.
A problem that came up in playtesting the scenario is that the Alliance is supposed to be unaware of the utility of heavy scouts at the start of the General War, but the Kzintis can build a number of them now. The eventual solution was to limit scout production in this scenario, but it's not helping a lot. Bel was able to put up 9 EW in 0705. It was otherwise a fairly even fight, but with that disadvantage, and not wanting to wreck the Lyran fleet on both borders, I was ready to pull out. However, I crippled the BATS, and a successful troop assault finished it off, and Bel pulled out after that.
The SSC in 0904 went two rounds with no damage when I retreated out before my -4 vs his -3 mod finally caught up to me.
1004 was a pinning battle from my planet 1105 garrison moving to block his fleet going the Lyran border. I had a tougher line, but only had five uncrippled ships after the first round and failed pursuit on a '5'.
Three destroyed bases gives Bel 8 VP (plus another 4 for bases I need to replace), and the destroyed ships and repairs (I note with annoyance that my overall repairs are exactly where they were a turn ago) drive his total up to 100.7 VP. On the other hand, the fantastic number of Alliance ships lost has driven my VPs up to 93.7. This is a Marginal Victory for him, but I think he's going to regret losing those ships....
Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:29 pm
- [+] Dice rolls
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The beginning of Y159 is when the terms of the Treaty of Smarba kick in, requiring me to start delivering D6s and F5s to the Romulans. Since these are activated out of mothball stores for minimal expense, and then shipped free, this is not a large burden (though delivering a pair of TGBs is a little more problematic).
However, I realized I'd made a terrible mistake. I'd been assuming I also got the normal General War mothball activations of 2xD6, 2xF5, 1xE4, but the scenario uses its own OoB, and this does not include any mothball activations for the Klingons unless the capital is attacked.
Oddly, I seem to have caught this on turn 2 (I paid for activations, but didn't pull the ships), but then missed it and did the activations on turn 3. Thankfully, there's enough money available to pay for them as overbuilds, though D6s and E4s is not what I'd choose to overbuild....
Straightening that out ended with me skipping some Klingon repairs this time, but the Lyrans are in good shape.
Builds:
Klingons: C6, D7, D6, 2xF5, 3xE4, E3, BS->BATS
Lyrans: DNE, CA, 2xCL, 2xDD, 2xFF
This is also the turn where repair ships and repair pods start becoming available, but I'm not planning on repairing at the expensive rate when the normal repairs have been a major part of the budget.
I sent both raids into Kzinti space this turn. Bel reacted a CS out of a reserve to fight the Lyran CA, and the CA crippled while doing nothing to the CS. The Klingon D6 had no trouble defeating the called up POL and disrupted a province.
With much of the outer defenses out of the way, I targeted a couple of starbases for this turn's thrusts, sending combined fleets to 1304 and 0716. This did not work out so well.
I had actually meant to re-work some of my last move to 1304 if Bel reacted to protect planet 1202, which he did, but I ended up not bothering. I should have stuck with the plan.Invasion of Kzinti space./pic2901421.jpg)
Invasion of Hydran space./pic2901423.jpg)
Combat:
1701: Kzinti: crip CS, CLD, 2xFF; Lyran: crip CA, CL, SC, 2xFF
1202: Retreat after refused approach
1304: Kzinti: crip 2xCL; Klingon: dest 3xE4, E3, crip D7, F5L, F5S
1204: Kzinti: dest FF
1405: Kzinti: dest BATS; Klingon: crip F5
1506: SSC: Kzinti: retreat; Klingon: capture planet
1605: Retreat after refused approach
1504: Kzinti: dest 2xPGB, crip 3xCL, CLG, FF; Klingon: dest E4, crip F5L, 2xF5, E4, capture planet
0714: Hydran: dest BS; Lyran: crip FF
0512: SSC: Hydran: dest CU; Lyran: crip CL
0511: SSC: Hydran: retreat
0211: SSC: Hydran: dest CU
0210: SSC: Hydran: retreat
1116: Hydran: dest BS, LN; Klingon: crip F5L, E4S
0716: Hydran: RN captured; Klingon: crip F5, 2xE4, E3
The first few battles showed how unprepared I was for a general assault. 1701 featured a Kzinti EW advantage thanks to a CD, CLD and SF. SB 1304 had a large Kzinti fleet at it, and generated far more ComPot than I could, and then there was 1-6 die roll split just to make it that much more painful.
My petty revenge was retreating on top of a lone Kzinti FF in 1204 (direct path to nearest supply), which didn't have a chance.
The flip side of that was that the squadron I sent to take the NZ planet in 1506 caused no damage, and the defending Kzinti squadron was able to retreat onto 1605 next door making the combined defending force+base tougher than the assigned squadron could handle. So they retreated onto 1506.
I had an advantage at 1504, but a bad roll could have reversed things. As it was, the first round was 6-4 my favor, and Bel ended up retreating out with most of his force crippled, but with an intact monitor.
I refused to assault the Hydran SB, but they came out to engage me in an approach battle. I had a heavier line, and got a 6-1 roll to allow me to direct on a RN, which I then captured. I was halfway through typing the normal response when it hit me what had happened. I handed the hull to the Lyrans who will presumably convert it next turn.
Another three bases down means another seven points; capturing 1504 is another two points, and holding 1105 and disrupting two provinces is another 0.6 VP. Along with destroyed ships and enemy repairs (the Kzintis have a lot of crippled ships piling up) gets me up to 82.3 VP. Meanwhile, I've upgraded a rear-area BS to BATS and made good on many of my cripples to reduce the Alliance VPs to 72.3. This gives me a Minor Victory, and things will only get better if I can hang onto Kzinti territory.
Wed Feb 24, 2016 6:22 pm
- [+] Dice rolls
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While the Kzinti are having a hard time, with the Klingons having occupied the planet in 1105, they still hold the neutral zone planet in 1506, and the Hydrans were still disrupting three Lyran provinces and holding another at the start of their turn (worth 0.5 permanent VP) while only one of their provinces are held by he Klingons.
Both economies are in good shape and could absorb the modest number of cripples to repair with no trouble. I was surprised that Bel had no conversions this turn, but both empires paid to activate an extra Prime Team.
Builds:
Kzintis: BC, CL, CLD, CLG, 3xFF, MB, PT
Hydrans: DG, 2xKN, CR, 2xCU, Convoy, MB, PT
Both raids were against Lyran territory. The Hydran one easily fought off the called up POL that responded, and disrupted a province, while the raiding Kzinti CS fought a CA that responded from the adjacent SB and was crippled, while the CA merely retreated.
I had done my best to set up so as to be able to respond to most attempts to assault my border bases, and especially the more valuable BATS, but Bel quickly defeated all of that by sending a Hydran force around the edge of the Klingon border, and hitting 1011. Late in the turn, all the major forces in Lyran space headed east, I assume towards the relatively unprotected depot in 0810. I reacted off the Enemy's Blood SB, and didn't have enough to completely pin either move, but Bel stopped and fought there.
The Kzintis meanwhile struck near the Lyran-Klingon border, and finally sent a force beyond the border to hit 0707. Everything else was well enough in hand that I sent a reserve there, though I'd had to send a Klingon reserve to make a fight of the BATS at 1013, instead of trying to save 1011.The Kzinti offensive/pic2869403.jpg)
Hydran moves in Lyran space/pic2869406.jpg)
Hydran offensive into Klingon space/pic2869413.jpg)
Combat:
0209: SSC: Lyran: dest POL
0410: Lyran: dest FF
0502: Retreat on refused approach battle
0511: Lyran: crip 4xFF; Hydran: crip RN
1219: SSC: Klingon retreat
0512: Lyran: dest DD
0915: SSC: Hydran retreat
1013: Klingon: crip F5; Hydran: dest LN
1011: Klingon: dest BS
0707: Lyran: crip CA, DD; Kzinti: crip BC, 2xFF
0504: Lyran: crip CL, DD; Kzinti: dest CL, 2xFF
0906: Retreat on refused approach battle
0705: Retreat on refused approach battle
1105: Klingon: crip F5L; Kzinti: dest 3xFF
0803: Lyran: crip DD; Kzinti: crip FF
0511 was the large pinning battle. I went in for a round with my heaviest line with a TGC+BP, DNE, BCE, 2xCA, and then a battle group, and was still fighting 9 ComPot down thanks to how scary Hydran cruisers are. Low rolls kept anything meaningful from happening, especially as I was just short of killing a LN. He didn't bother to pursue the heavy line when I retreated, and the cripples are now at the Enemy's Blood SB for repairs.
Bel wanted no part of 1013 after my reserve showed up, but I challenged him to the initial approach battle. This is one of a few times lately where he's tried to preserve his forces with a minimal line where it doesn't make a lot of sense. He still had to put up about five ships, which is more than my force can destroy in a round, so he might as well put up a full line and do as much damage as possible in return.
0504 was a second case of this, and I ended up killing his cripples in pursuit. With a full line, I might have needed a much lighter line for pursuit (CLs to FFs) after taking the extra damage.
1105 was third time he did this. I don't blame him for wanting out, as most of his force was FFs. I didn't think to increase my BIR to 4, and let him off a bit easy.
Much to my surprise, Bel retrograded all but a handful of ships, leaving the Lyrans free to pick off Hydran province raiders for the first time in the game. They've been having to maneuver around large, aggressive Hydran fleets in their space all this time. Like me, he used almost all his forces in offensive operations this turn, and the Hydrans only have five ships in reserve, but the Kzinti Barony fleet just arrived from off-map, and formed the basis of two healthy Kzinti reserves on their capital.
The Alliance is up to 79.6 VPs, with 3.8 permanent VPs this turn, while my repairs also continue to pile up. Meanwhile, my VPs are also up slightly, to 64.75, thanks to all the ships I managed to kill. Overall, this is a Minor Alliance Victory, but that's still eroding.
Sun Jan 31, 2016 8:04 pm
- [+] Dice rolls
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And with turn 3 this truly becomes the Four Powers War as the Lyrans attack the Kzinti in support of the Fourth Klingo-Kzinti War.
Thankfully, the Lyran border with the Kzinti is in much better shape than the Hydran border. The Count's Fleet is in position, but everything else has been needed against the Klingons, giving a much better fleet ratio. The opposite is true for the Hydrans, with the bulk of the Hydran navy sitting in or near Lyran space.
The Lyrans are still struggling with a lot of cripples, though the last of the repairs from the recent civil war are done, and a DD from the Far Stars fleet became active (now that the entire fleet is repaired, one random ship from it becomes available each turn). Meanwhile the Klingons have enough extra money to start the process of turning various inaccessible base stations into battlestations (which is worth VPs... or rather, not doing so is worth VPs to the other side).
Builds:
Klingons: D7, TGA, F5L, F5, 3xE4, E3, D7->D7C, D6->D6D, BS-BATS
Lyrans: BCE, CA, 2xCL, 2xDD, 2xFF
Raiding continued to go poorly for me. I put repaired both ships from last turn and sent them raiding into Kzinti space. Despite attempting to stay away from heavier ships, a Kzinti CC reacted to the Lyran BCE and destroyed it while the CC was crippled. The Klingon D6 only had to deal with a called up POL, and successfully disrupted a province.
The Klingons counterattacked at four Hydran bases along the border, while Lyran efforts focused on getting at the logistical train that had moved up to 0513 (a convoy, FRD and TG hauling the parts for a mobile base).
On the Kzinti front, I spent a lot of time and effort trying to avoid confronting all the Kzinti forces on the Klingon border while still conducting an offensive, but couldn't manage it. Bel aggressively reacted to all my province raiders, which helped dilute the base defenders, but not by enough. I ended up by concentrating on the west side of the border, with the real drive at Zelkrat in 1105, while Lyran forces took on two border bases unopposed.Combined assault on the Hegemony/pic2808759.png)
Counterattack into Hydran space/pic2808764.png)
Limited operations in Lyran space/pic2808765.png)
Combat:
0703: Kzinti: dest BATS, crip CL; Lyran: crip FF
0803: Kzinti: dest BS; Lyran: crip FF
1004: SSC: Kzinti: crip CL, retreat; Klingon: crip E4, retreat
1205: SSC: Klingon: retreat
1105: Kzinti: dest FF, 2xPDU; Klingon: crip D6, F5, capture planet
1304: Kzinti: 2xSIDS, crip CL; Klingon: crip D6, D6J, F5, F5S, dest E4
1605: Retreat on refused approach
1219: Hydran: dest BS; Klingon: crip F5
1217: Hydran: crip SA, dest BATS; Klingon: crip 2xF5, F5G, E4, E4J, dest E4
1116: Retreat on refused approach
0915: Hydran: crip HNG, dest BATS, POL; Klingon: crip D6, D6J, 2xE4, dest F5
0211: SSC: Lyran: crip CL, dest FF, retreat
0513: Hydran: crip TEM, RN, dest 2xLN, FRD, Convoy; Lyran: crip CC, 2xCA, CL, dest DD, FF
0412: Unopposed defender withdrawal
0512: SSC: Hydran retreat
Both 1004 and 1205 were province raiding missions gone bad when Bel proved more willing to react off of bases than I had supposed. Neither of us rolled very well in either of them, which was fortunate in 1205 since I was overmatched.
Our lack of experience with the ground attack rules showed at 1105. I sent in the D6G, and directed on a FF. Bel took some of his leftover damage on a PDU, which gave the defense gap needed for a bonus on the ground attack. If we'd looked at the modifiers, I'd have directed on the PDU. As it was, the ground attack took out the remaining PDU, and Bel retreated out.
I'd sent a reasonably sized force to SB 1304, which drew the Kzinti reserve. Without that, he only had a pile of cripples stationed there. I went in for one round, then retreated, but between cripples and SIDS, his repair capacity is overloaded there....
1217 had about half a line protecting it, which with all the fighters was able to do a good amount of damage before retreating out right before the BATS blew.
Bel was determined to make my raid on his support units as painful as possible, and succeeded. We went five rounds, increasingly desperate to keep a viable force together while I tried to kill the valuable units. Eventually, he retreated out, and I was just able to kill the FRD and Convoy in the slow unit battle. (For some reason, hauling around a MB doesn't make a tug slow....)
0512 was another in a chain of SSCs with low rolls. I did one casualty to him, which he used to retreat out. However, he's stuck against the edge of the LDR, and was forced into 0511 and out of supply.
Killing five bases this turn does a lot for my score, as does capturing a Kzinti planet. My VPs are up to 63.25, and a healthy percentage of that is in points that can't be taken away later. The Alliance is up to 73.2, thanks to the ships I'm loosing, which shifts me up to a Minor Defeat.
A big problem is that just to do this much, I had to use just about all my available ships, and my reserves are small for the upcoming turn.
Sun Dec 20, 2015 11:59 pm
- [+] Dice rolls
-
For the Alliance half of turn 2, the war continues to expand into the Four Powers War, with the Hydrans able to attack the Klingons in support of the Kzinti.
The Kzinti repaired the damage to their SB, while the Hydrans repaired a number of frigates.
Builds:
Kzinti: DNE, CS, 2xCL, CLD, 3xFF, MB, Convoy, CS->CD
Hydran: TEM, RN, 2xLN, SA, 2xHN, Convoy, MB
Bel concentrated his raids against the Klingons, and disrupted two provinces at the cost of a crippled LN.
The Hydrans kept up pressure on the Lyrans, putting much of their navy into Lyran space for a second assault on the Enemy's Blood SB, and sent a strong force forward to kill the BS at 0109. Meanwhile, the 1st Fleet crossed the Klingon border and attacked the two border stations near the rim of the galaxy.
The Kzintis also counterattacked, hitting four border stations, the NZ planet, and the planet in 1407.Hydran occupation of Lyran space./pic2687497.png)
Kzinti counterattack./pic2687498.png)
Supporting the Hegemony./pic2687499.png)
Combat:
0411: Hydran: dest RN, SC, crip SA, 2xHN; Lyran: crip 2xCC, 2xCL, 4xDD
0109: Lyran: dest BS, POL
0512: Hydran: crip HN; Lyran: crip FF
0312: SSC: Hydran: crip CU; Lyran: crip DD, retreat
0412: Lyran: dest DD
1419: Hydran: dest SC, crip HN; Klingon: crip D6, F5L
1417: Hydran: dest 2xCU; Klingon: crip F5, 2xE3
1004: SSC: Kzinti: crip FF, retreat; Klingon: crip F5, retreat
1305: SSC: Klingon: dest E3
1505: SSC: Klingon: dest F5
1606: SSC: Klingon retreat
1506: Kzinti: crip 3xFF; Klingon: crip 2xF5
1507: Kzinti: dest CL, crip 2xCL, CLG; Klingon: crip D7, D6, E4
0906: Kzinti: dest CL
1005: SSC: Klingon: dest F5
1107: Refused approach, retreat
1307: Kzinti: dest DF, crip SF; Klingon: crip D6
1407: Kzinti: dest CLD, SF, SAS, FTS, crip CL; Klingon: crip 2xD7C, D6, TGB, F5, E4
The SB battle was impressive, with the Lyrans getting 114 ComPot even while dialing the SB EW up to 4. The Hydrans went for a heavy line, and got up to 118, but were looking at a -2 shift, and then I destroyed the only scout so I could dial the EW back a little. After killing a RN on the second round, he retreated out, as I still had a pretty deep reserve even with all the cripples I was taking.
The cost of all the mayhem in Lyran space is that the Hyran forces facing the Klingons are completely inadequate. He attacked two bases, and after the reserves showed up, didn't have nearly the firepower of the Klingons at either.
The SSC in 1004 should have been a kill for Bel, as it was 3xFF vs an F5. But a low roll on his part just did two casualties, allowing it to retreat out. Better, a '12' from me caused one of the FFs to cripple as the Kzinti retreated out. I'd promote the captain to a D6 command, but the F5 was overrun and destroyed by forces retreating out of the 0906 battle.
The main action on the Kzinti border was an attack on my minor planet in 1407. I was able to retreat 1307 into the battle, which sadly moved some cripples away from repair, but made sure I could drive him off. He'd even brought in a couple auxiliaries, but they had no chance to do anything in the one round before retreat.
The Hydrans still have substantial forces in Lyran space, which really puts the onus on the Klingons to be active on that front to try and force him to redeploy. Not a pleasant prospect in the face of good ships, bases with fighters, and the BIR adjustment against hellbore-armed ships, though so far everything there is fusion-armed.
Thanks mostly to a good number of ship kills, the Coalition total is up to 41.45 VPs. The Alliance is starting to gain VPs for occupying Lyran provinces and a large number of cripples, and is up to 71.2 VPs for a Major Victory.
- [+] Dice rolls
-
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.
And shortly after that, I realized I forgot to move my Commercial Convoy.Regrouping on the Hydran border./pic2578851.png)
Opening moves of the Fourth Klingo-Kzinti War./pic2578852.png)
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 34.5 VP and the Alliance is up point nine to 59.4, a Major Defeat for the Coalition.
- [+] Dice rolls
-
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./pic2558514.png)
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....
Sun Jun 14, 2015 5:57 pm
- [+] Dice rolls
