Another first game of ACTA:SF and AAR

[billclo]

My first game of ACTA:SF and an AAR.
We played Feds and Klingons, and used:
C7, D7, D6
BCH, CA, OCL
We started at 48”. I had some issues with getting pictures that were not washed out. Hopefully next game will have better lighting in place.
Start of game:

Turn 1:
The BCH and CA make their Intensify Defensive Fire rolls, and the OCL boosts shields.
All Klingons boosted shields.
All Klingons fired on the OCL, causing no damage, but running it out of ADD ammo.
End of Turn 1:

Turn 2:
Again, the Feds rolled for Intensify Defensive fire, with the OCL and BCH making it.
The Klingon C7 and D6 Boosted Shields.
The Klingon C7 and D6 break left, while the D7 chases down the OCL.
All Klingons fire on the OCL, bringing the shield down and causing minor damage.
The Feds all fire on the D6, bringing the shield down and causing 4 internals.
End of Turn 2:

Turn 3:
The D7 Overloads Disruptors.
The BCH and CA boost shields.
The D7 fires overloaded Disruptors at the OCL, causing damage and 2 crits.
The C7 and D6 fire at the BCH, causing shield damage.
The BCH attacks the D7, damaging it.
I have no Turn 3 Picture due to my error.
Turn 4:
The D7 boosts shields, trying to escape over the OCL.
The BCH, CA and OCL all boost shields.
The D7 cripples the OCL.
The CL damages the D7.
The CA damages the D7.
The D6 damages the CA and OCL.
The C7 destroys the OCL with drones and Disruptors, and causes minor damage on the CA + a critical hit.
End of Turn 4:

Turn 5:
The D7 and D6 Boosts their shields.
The BCH Boosts shields.
The C7 fires at the CA, causing some damage.
The D6 also fires at the CA causing some damage.
The D7 hits the CA with 2 drones, causing damage.
The BCH and CA damage the D7 further, crippling it.
End of Turn 5:

Turn 6:
The D6 rolls for Intensify Defensive Fire and makes it. The C7 Overloads Disruptors.
The BCH Boosts Shields.
The D7 moves straight away.
The C7 fires Overloads at the BCH, causing shield damage and 2 critical hits.
4 drones fired at the CA, no damage.
The D6 fires at the BCH, causing internal damage and 3 criticals.
The BCH fires at the D6, crippling it.
End of Turn 6:

Turn 7:
The C7 Boosts shields.
The BCH Reloads.
The BCH backs up 4”.
The C7 closes slowly, remaining outside of 8” (Kill Zone).
The D7 moves straight away.
The C7 cripples the CA and damages the BCH.
The BCH and CA destroy the D6.
End of Turn 7:

Turn 8:
The C7 Boosts shields.
The D7 moves away.
The BCH backs up again, and initiates All Hands on Deck to help with repairs.
The C7 fires at the BCH, scoring internals and more criticals. It also destroys the CA with rear phasers and drones.
End of Turn 8:

At this point the Fed resigned the game. He was nearly crippled, with several criticals.

The Federation player thought the Klingon double shield rule was too powerful. At several points in the game I mentioned that it was best for the Feds to fire Photons, back up and reload. I also pointed out that on the occasions he managed to hit my flank/rear shields he did major damage (though that only happened what, twice?).

I offered to let him play the Klingons next time, and we may add a Frigate to each side.

I was rather concerned about the length of the game in that it took nearly 6 hours to do 8 turns. Some of that I attribute to the learning curve and frequent interruptions for rules clarifications. The rest of it, I don't know. I hope the games go faster and faster, else I'd better rethink my plans for a convention game. I might have to reduce the number of ships or allocate more time.

As the Klingon, I liked the agile cruisers. The C7, while it was indeed a murder machine, it was hard to maneuver at times, especially when I was trying to centerline an enemy ship.

As for the Fed ADDs on the BCH, only once did I fire drones at it, since I knew that I had little chance of running it out of ADD, and the one time I did, he lost ammo.

 

[archon96]

once my son and I got a hang for the rules we were done in about a 1 1/2, and with room to get quicker with better ship sheets.

 

[scoutdad]

Bill, we've found that games where we're teaching newcomers take about 3 to 4 hours as each aspect ofthe rules requires explanation.

After that, they get quicker.

The two of us who play most often can run a 1000 point Fed/Klingon battle i around 90 minutes to 2 hours.

Even with 20 versus 20 ships, we're usually done in under 5 or 6 hours.

 

[Totenkopf]

Bill, we've found that games where we're teaching newcomers take about 3 to 4 hours as each aspect ofthe rules requires explanation.

After that, they get quicker.

The two of us who play most often can run a 1000 point Fed/Klingon battle i around 90 minutes to 2 hours.

Even with 20 versus 20 ships, we're usually done in under 5 or 6 hours.

So says the man, the legend, the Scoutdad

 

[Totenkopf]

Nice report Bill, and from the sounds of it the Fed player didn't really play the game well from a strategic stand point and you had your way with him.

 

[mojo]

I just can't find it anywhere- where did you get those special order markers and the labels for your bases?

 

[billclo]

I just can't find it anywhere- where did you get those special order markers and the labels for your bases?

The firing arc stickers, I had a local graphics artist make them up, and then had them printed by a printer. I do sell them, by the way. PM me if interested.

The Special Action markers, one of the members put up a link to where he had them available for download. I can't recall who it was.

 

[billclo]

Nice report Bill, and from the sounds of it the Fed player didn't really play the game well from a strategic stand point and you had your way with him.

More or less, though as usually happens things didn't go quite as planned. That BCH is a formidable opponent. The Fed was really doing well with his die rolls, whereas I was a bit sub-par.

We'll see if I do any better when the roles are reversed.

 

[Totenkopf]

Nice report Bill, and from the sounds of it the Fed player didn't really play the game well from a strategic stand point and you had your way with him.

More or less, though as usually happens things didn't go quite as planned. That BCH is a formidable opponent. The Fed was really doing well with his die rolls, whereas I was a bit sub-par.

We'll see if I do any better when the roles are reversed.

If he still doesn't have a strategy for how he intends to wins, then I don't expect the outcome to be much different, especially given how much tactics you've been reading up on in these forums.

 

[Da Boss]

great report thanks

Try adding some terrain as well when you get a chance - makes for a fun game IMO and can make some interesting tactical choices become part of the game.

8)

 

[billclo]

I think the only major error I made was in that D7 maneuvered after the OCL and got cut off from the other 2 Klingon ships. While he made short work of that OCL, the BCH and CA really wailed on his rear shields. Oops.

Should have stuck together better.

 

[TJHairball]

Looks to me like there were a couple mistakes made here - rushing one ship into the middle of a Federation grouping is generally a bad idea - but if the D6's shields were down on Turn 3, the Federation player should probably have smashed its face in on Turn 3, which would have cut your firepower a fair bit.

Since the first mention of reloading is on Turn 7, I'm guessing the Federation player held onto their photons a little too long. An interesting fact: You're as likely to cause through-shield crits with photon torpedoes at 15" as at 7".

The C7, while it was indeed a murder machine, it was hard to maneuver at times, especially when I was trying to centerline an enemy ship.

You might keep in mind that the C7 has 2 AD of APS Phaser-1s, so it can actually deliver 8 dice of phaser-1s along not only the 12:00 bore, but also the 10:30 and 1:30 bores on the edge of the front arc. You don't actually have to centerline the C7 to deliver a full offensive payload.

We've also found that the game moves very quickly once people know how to play - your next match should be a lot faster.

 

[billclo]

Yes the Feds did hold onto their Photons too long. The OCL and BCH fired the first volley, but the CA's sub-par maneuvers ensured it couldn't fire til T7. But the Feds were getting pretty good die rolls with the Photons they did fire.

I did tell him what typical Fed tactics were: fire Photons at 15" on one target, back up and reload. But either he didn't believe me, or wanted to wing it.

I could have done a little better on the maneuvers as well.

I did discover that a) it can be quite tricky to get a good RX shot in without an enemy ship slipping in behind and wailing on you. I also discovered that the drone defense on the D6 isn't all that great.

 

[Totenkopf]

Yes the Feds did hold onto their Photons too long. The OCL and BCH fired the first volley, but the CA's sub-par maneuvers ensured it couldn't fire til T7. But the Feds were getting pretty good die rolls with the Photons they did fire.

I did tell him what typical Fed tactics were: fire Photons at 15" on one target, back up and reload. But either he didn't believe me, or wanted to wing it.

I could have done a little better on the maneuvers as well.

I did discover that a) it can be quite tricky to get a good RX shot in without an enemy ship slipping in behind and wailing on you. I also discovered that the drone defense on the D6 isn't all that great.

He only had six drones to fire offensively though right?

 

[billclo]

Yes the Feds did hold onto their Photons too long. The OCL and BCH fired the first volley, but the CA's sub-par maneuvers ensured it couldn't fire til T7. But the Feds were getting pretty good die rolls with the Photons they did fire.

I did tell him what typical Fed tactics were: fire Photons at 15" on one target, back up and reload. But either he didn't believe me, or wanted to wing it.

I could have done a little better on the maneuvers as well.

I did discover that a) it can be quite tricky to get a good RX shot in without an enemy ship slipping in behind and wailing on you. I also discovered that the drone defense on the D6 isn't all that great.

He only had six drones to fire offensively though right?

Correct. But once the D6's ADD ran out, there were only 3 P-1 front arc and I had to rely on tractors for the rest. The drones had already fired so they weren't available. If I'd been able to set up an RX angle on him it wouldn't have been so bad since the waist phasers would have been available.

 

[Totenkopf]

He didn't hold back his drones for drone defense?

 

[billclo]

He didn't hold back his drones for drone defense?

You mean the Fed? Nope. The OCL ran out of ADD the first turn, the CA's didn't last much longer, and I only attacked the BCH with drones once. I figured that it would be better to fire at a target that I had a better chance of hitting. The BCH fired repeatedly at the D6, and scored multiple hits.

I had some really lousy dice though. One time I manged to hit the CA with 4 drones and he was not able to stop them. 4d6 roll = 7! :evil:

 

[Iain McGhee]

I just can't find it anywhere- where did you get those special order markers and the labels for your bases?

The firing arc stickers, I had a local graphics artist make them up, and then had them printed by a printer. I do sell them, by the way. PM me if interested.

The Special Action markers, one of the members put up a link to where he had them available for download. I can't recall who it was.

http://pdfcast.org/tag/acta-sf

 

[Totenkopf]

He didn't hold back his drones for drone defense?

You mean the Fed? Nope. The OCL ran out of ADD the first turn, the CA's didn't last much longer, and I only attacked the BCH with drones once. I figured that it would be better to fire at a target that I had a better chance of hitting. The BCH fired repeatedly at the D6, and scored multiple hits.

I had some really lousy dice though. One time I manged to hit the CA with 4 drones and he was not able to stop them. 4d6 roll = 7! :evil:

I would introduce those dice to my hammer...

 

[billclo]

He didn't hold back his drones for drone defense?

You mean the Fed? Nope. The OCL ran out of ADD the first turn, the CA's didn't last much longer, and I only attacked the BCH with drones once. I figured that it would be better to fire at a target that I had a better chance of hitting. The BCH fired repeatedly at the D6, and scored multiple hits.

I had some really lousy dice though. One time I manged to hit the CA with 4 drones and he was not able to stop them. 4d6 roll = 7! :evil:

I would introduce those dice to my hammer...

Well we were sharing the dice, so they rolled well for him and lousy for me. I swear I put out vibes that affect die rolls or something.