Democratus
Mongoose
Mission: Blockade, Raid.
Attacker: Earthforce (5 pts)
Hyperion Heavy Cruiser, Khartoum (1 Nova)
Avenger Fleet Carrier, Mitchell (8 Nova)
Hyperion Assault Cruiser, Vostok
Hyperion Assault Cruiser, Erinyes
Oracle Scout Cruiser, Hind
Sagittarius Missile Cruiser, Franklin
Saggitarius Missile Cruiser, Barber
Tethys Missile Boat x2 TLP-532M, TLP-396M
Tethys Laser Boat x2 TLP-404L, TLP-632L
Defender: Dilgar (2 pts)
Targrath Strike Cruiser, Omen (2 Dartfighters)
Targrath Strike Cruiser, Slayer (2 Dartfighters)
Setup:
The entire battle was inside a power drain area. All ships were at -2 speed and -1 AD to all weapons.
Earthforce set up first, attempting to cover the width of the board as well as possible. The very center was dominated by the core of his fleet. Both Sagittarius missile cruisers, the Hyperion, the Avenger and the Oracle. The Saggitarius and Oracle were loaded with long-range missiles, giving them the ability to reach any point on the board with very little movement needed.
To either side about halfway between the center and the edge were two identical squadrons, each consisting of a Hyperion Assault, a Tethys Laser Boat, and a Tethys Missle Boat. These ships were each accompanied by a supporting Nova flight. It was the earther's hope that a heavy volley of Precice missile fire would score enough criticals to slow down one of the Dilgar ships enough for a boarding action.
All earth ships were set back far enough that the Dilgar ships (even moving at max chat) would not be in range for a shot in the first "free" turn.
Dilgar ships begin off the board and will move on during turn 1. The hope was to get a couple of good shots off against a Tethys, killing or crippling it. This would allow me to loose one of the cruisers and still win the scenario so long as the other escapes unscaythed.
I chose the Targrath because it is both tough and fast. With the power drain field in effect, their speed is reduced to 10 (rather than 12) which means they will spend an extra turn on the board. On the plus side, earth Nova fighters will be slowed down to speed 8. My Dartfighters' speed will be reduced to 15, which just happens to be the speed of the cruisers on max chat. Convenient!
Turn 1:
Flipping a coin, the Dilgar ships decided to race both cruisers down the left side of the board, hopefully making all earth ships on the right side irrelevent to the battle. Gritting their teeth, the Omen and Slayer gave the order, All Power to Engines! and raced 15" onto the board. The squadron of Hyperion Assault/Tethys L/Tethys M was in my forward arc but conveniently 26" away. Each ship had a Dartfighter flight in support.
So much for a free kill against the Earthers. Still, because he deployed so far away it would give him much less time to try and intercept me.
Turn 2:
Initiative Dilgar. Initiative was largely irrelevent in this battle, as the Earther could just move his ships on the opposite side of the board to sink and my movement was very predictable.
The Earther moved his center group slowly toward my edge of the board. They wouldn't get very close, but the Sagittarius (and Oracle) with their 40" missiles did not need to. Each of these ships gave a Concentrate All Firepower! order against Slayer. Likewise, the nearest patrol group (Hyp. Assault, Tethys M, Tethys L) moved in getting a boresight laser shot for the Tethys L and an easy shot for the missiles of the Tethys M. Each of the 3 ships in the squadron had an attached Nova flight for increased interceptors, just in case.
Omen and Slayer raced along the edge of the board another 15", putting them 18" away (2 turns, optimally) from safety. Seeing all the concentration of firepower both Dartfighters moved to lend support to Slayer. There were no Earth ships in the FA of the Dilgar cruisers. Running was the only important thing.
Earthforce opened fire on Slayer with a cloud of long range missile fire. Here they paid the price for the ammo exchange as several missiles failed to penetrate the Dilgar armor (Long Range missiles are AP, rather than SAP). This, combined with the brave sacrifice of both fighter flights providing interceptor fire managed to reduce the effects to 10 damage and 10 crew with two criticals. The Tethys L had tracking issues with its laser but scored 4 damage. Not bad for a 1 AD beam. Luck was with the Dilgar as the criticals caused only damaged power relays (-1 speed) and touched off some secondary fires throughout the ship (-2 crew).
Turn 3:
Initiative Earthforce.
I could see that my opponent wasn't going to conveniently fly a small ship into the guns of my cruisers, and peeling off the Slayer to engage while Omen escaped would be a high risk against the troop heavy assault ship. A capture of the Slayer would spell certain doom. So, despite my desire to spill enemy blood, I made best speed for the edge. Omen got within 3" of the edge. Slayer, with her damaged engines, came within 4". This would be the last chance my opponent had to pull a rabbit out of his hat.
With the reduced speed caused by the power drain field, the Hyperion cruiser from the center group was not quite able to get in range for a laser shot. Likewise the Hyperion assault ship couldn't get in range for a plasma volley. Once again the Earthers gave a flurry of Concentrate all Firepower! orders with his missile ships. The Tethys L lined up its laser for a second try.
This was when we both remembered that all the missiles (and the Tethys' laser) were Slow Loading. There would be no second wall of missile fire.
Turn 4:
Initiative Earthforce.
Omen raced off the edge of the board, having lost only her fighter flight. Slayer, bleeding atmosphere and fighting internal fires, also exited the board.
Result:
Dilgar victory (20 VP to 0 VP)
Thoughts and Conclusion:
This is always a tough mission for the 'blocker'. While it seemed the power dampening field might be a problem for the runner, it proved far more crippling for the blockader as it reduced the firepower they could bring to bear and made interception even more difficult.
The Earther choice to bring missiles gave them the guaranteed ability to hit the Dilgar, but would only be usable once in the battle unless a critical hit could stop at least one ship. I really can't fault this strategy. I believe this battle is a tough one for the blockader without some serious luck on the criticals table.
I can't fault him for the gamble. Had he managed to cripple one of the ships and capture it - that would be a well-earned victory.
The only thing I think he could have done better was to place his ships further forward on the map. Sure, he denied me a first-turn shot at anything but he gave me space to run unmolested as well. Putting the larger ships (Hyperion assault) far up front may have given them the extra proximity to bring their plasma batteries to bear.
The Targrath cruisers only had to move fast and survive some fire. I was dissappointed that they have no weapons in the Port or Starboard arc. But no ship is perfect. They did the job and brought their crews home to safety.
Attacker: Earthforce (5 pts)
Hyperion Heavy Cruiser, Khartoum (1 Nova)
Avenger Fleet Carrier, Mitchell (8 Nova)
Hyperion Assault Cruiser, Vostok
Hyperion Assault Cruiser, Erinyes
Oracle Scout Cruiser, Hind
Sagittarius Missile Cruiser, Franklin
Saggitarius Missile Cruiser, Barber
Tethys Missile Boat x2 TLP-532M, TLP-396M
Tethys Laser Boat x2 TLP-404L, TLP-632L
Defender: Dilgar (2 pts)
Targrath Strike Cruiser, Omen (2 Dartfighters)
Targrath Strike Cruiser, Slayer (2 Dartfighters)
Setup:
The entire battle was inside a power drain area. All ships were at -2 speed and -1 AD to all weapons.
Earthforce set up first, attempting to cover the width of the board as well as possible. The very center was dominated by the core of his fleet. Both Sagittarius missile cruisers, the Hyperion, the Avenger and the Oracle. The Saggitarius and Oracle were loaded with long-range missiles, giving them the ability to reach any point on the board with very little movement needed.
To either side about halfway between the center and the edge were two identical squadrons, each consisting of a Hyperion Assault, a Tethys Laser Boat, and a Tethys Missle Boat. These ships were each accompanied by a supporting Nova flight. It was the earther's hope that a heavy volley of Precice missile fire would score enough criticals to slow down one of the Dilgar ships enough for a boarding action.
All earth ships were set back far enough that the Dilgar ships (even moving at max chat) would not be in range for a shot in the first "free" turn.
Dilgar ships begin off the board and will move on during turn 1. The hope was to get a couple of good shots off against a Tethys, killing or crippling it. This would allow me to loose one of the cruisers and still win the scenario so long as the other escapes unscaythed.
I chose the Targrath because it is both tough and fast. With the power drain field in effect, their speed is reduced to 10 (rather than 12) which means they will spend an extra turn on the board. On the plus side, earth Nova fighters will be slowed down to speed 8. My Dartfighters' speed will be reduced to 15, which just happens to be the speed of the cruisers on max chat. Convenient!
Turn 1:
Flipping a coin, the Dilgar ships decided to race both cruisers down the left side of the board, hopefully making all earth ships on the right side irrelevent to the battle. Gritting their teeth, the Omen and Slayer gave the order, All Power to Engines! and raced 15" onto the board. The squadron of Hyperion Assault/Tethys L/Tethys M was in my forward arc but conveniently 26" away. Each ship had a Dartfighter flight in support.
So much for a free kill against the Earthers. Still, because he deployed so far away it would give him much less time to try and intercept me.
Turn 2:
Initiative Dilgar. Initiative was largely irrelevent in this battle, as the Earther could just move his ships on the opposite side of the board to sink and my movement was very predictable.
The Earther moved his center group slowly toward my edge of the board. They wouldn't get very close, but the Sagittarius (and Oracle) with their 40" missiles did not need to. Each of these ships gave a Concentrate All Firepower! order against Slayer. Likewise, the nearest patrol group (Hyp. Assault, Tethys M, Tethys L) moved in getting a boresight laser shot for the Tethys L and an easy shot for the missiles of the Tethys M. Each of the 3 ships in the squadron had an attached Nova flight for increased interceptors, just in case.
Omen and Slayer raced along the edge of the board another 15", putting them 18" away (2 turns, optimally) from safety. Seeing all the concentration of firepower both Dartfighters moved to lend support to Slayer. There were no Earth ships in the FA of the Dilgar cruisers. Running was the only important thing.
Earthforce opened fire on Slayer with a cloud of long range missile fire. Here they paid the price for the ammo exchange as several missiles failed to penetrate the Dilgar armor (Long Range missiles are AP, rather than SAP). This, combined with the brave sacrifice of both fighter flights providing interceptor fire managed to reduce the effects to 10 damage and 10 crew with two criticals. The Tethys L had tracking issues with its laser but scored 4 damage. Not bad for a 1 AD beam. Luck was with the Dilgar as the criticals caused only damaged power relays (-1 speed) and touched off some secondary fires throughout the ship (-2 crew).
Turn 3:
Initiative Earthforce.
I could see that my opponent wasn't going to conveniently fly a small ship into the guns of my cruisers, and peeling off the Slayer to engage while Omen escaped would be a high risk against the troop heavy assault ship. A capture of the Slayer would spell certain doom. So, despite my desire to spill enemy blood, I made best speed for the edge. Omen got within 3" of the edge. Slayer, with her damaged engines, came within 4". This would be the last chance my opponent had to pull a rabbit out of his hat.
With the reduced speed caused by the power drain field, the Hyperion cruiser from the center group was not quite able to get in range for a laser shot. Likewise the Hyperion assault ship couldn't get in range for a plasma volley. Once again the Earthers gave a flurry of Concentrate all Firepower! orders with his missile ships. The Tethys L lined up its laser for a second try.
This was when we both remembered that all the missiles (and the Tethys' laser) were Slow Loading. There would be no second wall of missile fire.
Turn 4:
Initiative Earthforce.
Omen raced off the edge of the board, having lost only her fighter flight. Slayer, bleeding atmosphere and fighting internal fires, also exited the board.
Result:
Dilgar victory (20 VP to 0 VP)
Thoughts and Conclusion:
This is always a tough mission for the 'blocker'. While it seemed the power dampening field might be a problem for the runner, it proved far more crippling for the blockader as it reduced the firepower they could bring to bear and made interception even more difficult.
The Earther choice to bring missiles gave them the guaranteed ability to hit the Dilgar, but would only be usable once in the battle unless a critical hit could stop at least one ship. I really can't fault this strategy. I believe this battle is a tough one for the blockader without some serious luck on the criticals table.
I can't fault him for the gamble. Had he managed to cripple one of the ships and capture it - that would be a well-earned victory.
The only thing I think he could have done better was to place his ships further forward on the map. Sure, he denied me a first-turn shot at anything but he gave me space to run unmolested as well. Putting the larger ships (Hyperion assault) far up front may have given them the extra proximity to bring their plasma batteries to bear.
The Targrath cruisers only had to move fast and survive some fire. I was dissappointed that they have no weapons in the Port or Starboard arc. But no ship is perfect. They did the job and brought their crews home to safety.
