Blockade

[AdrianH]

Another of the less standard missions. I prefer the 1st edition rules in which the blockade fleet is scattered, rather than the 2nd edition rules in which the blockade fleet sets up as it likes but is inactive the first turn. Because under 2nd edition rules, blockade runners with speed at least 12 are pretty well guaranteed to get through.

Turn 1: All Power To Engines. The ship is now 18" from the starting edge.

Turn 2: Close Blast Doors. This is the one chance the blockaders have to stop it, otherwise it's now 30" from the starting edge.

Turn 3: All Power To Engines. The ship is now 48" from the starting edge, i.e. off the other side of a 4' wide table.

A fortunate layout of asteroids or a lucky critical might stop something like a Demos or a White Star. Not much else will.

Another tactic which I read on the forum a while ago is for the Narn to use a T'Loth. Barring criticals (which it now has a 1/6 chance of avoiding by using Close Blast Doors), it just lumbers across the table absorbing damage - it has more damage points than most Battle level ships.

 

[Banichi]

You are dead right about fast ships in this scenario. I've played a few games of this against the ISA, and the best I managed was a draw. And I had to use shadow scouts to manage that. (I was the blockader). We have wondered if it might be fairer to play this scenario lenghtways on the table if the blockade runner was using ships that could travel above a certian speed. But have yet to try it out.

We had one game at patrol level (again I was the blockader) were he put down his bluestars, I looked at them, did the math, and called him a rude name. :lol: :lol:

While I've never had to face it myself, I've watched our local narn player pull the unstopable T'loth trick a few times. It's quite entertaining to watch. (my opinion may change if he does it to me though. )

 

[Burger]

Yes ISA basically gets a free win if they are the blockade runners. But I guess fast ships should have an advantage in this scenario, that is what they were designed to do after all. It seems a bit unfair to change the difficulty of the game based on how good one player is at it! Maybe it should always be played length-ways... but that seems harsh on fleets without fast ships.

I don't really understand why the blockaders can't move in the first turn, are they all on a coffee break or something? Can't they see the blockade runners coming on long-range sensors, or their jump points opening?

 

[Banichi]

.I don't really understand why the blockaders can't move in the first turn, are they all on a coffee break or something? Can't they see the blockade runners coming on long-range sensors, or their jump points opening?

LOL, maybe the sensor watching guy has gone to the loo.

I can see your point about changing the scenario though. Some fleets are always going to be better at some things than others I guess.

 

[Democratus]

I agree that this is an odd mission. We played it just last turn in our campaign. It is a very tough mission for the attacker (blockader) as they have a whole board to cover while the runner can watch the setup and then try and run through the weakest point.

While I've seen some nearly drawn games I haven't ever seen the blockader pull off a win. A little luck is called for in this case. Pick weapons with the 'Precise' trait and hope for engine criticals.

 

[Misiolak]

Blue stars can cross the board in two turns, so can pirates with fast league ship (like Eyehawk) and afterburner. Now imagine the Campain on Terror. Attaker chooses softly tactic and has 50% to win without even playing.
On the other hand, it is quite easy to stop Vorlons, as they can't APTE.

 

[nightshade]

What about giving each blockading ship a chance to move and/or attack on its first turn with a crew quality check of 9 or 10? That would represent some of them becoming aware of the incoming ships earlier and scrambling to intercept.

 

[Burger]

Nah thats not realistic. If I were the captain of an advanced spaceship involved in a blockade, I would let the runners get halfway across the board before I even put my cup of coffee down, let alone turned the ship's engines back on!

 

[Target]

Yes ISA basically gets a free win if they are the blockade runners. But I guess fast ships should have an advantage in this scenario, that is what they were designed to do after all. It seems a bit unfair to change the difficulty of the game based on how good one player is at it! Maybe it should always be played length-ways... but that seems harsh on fleets without fast ships.

We play it that way, makes a fair bit harder

 

[AdrianH]

A check reveals that the 1st edition rules required the blockaders to be inactive during turn 1 as well as being scattered! So much for using 1st instead of 2nd edition. I still think that scattering the blockaders but allowing them to act in turn 1 makes more sense than making them inactive in turn 1.

Alternatively I like nightshade's suggestion of allowing blockaders a CQ check to react. And let fighters be able to react automatically. This makes it similar to "Ambush".

Playing the scenario length-ways along the table might be overkill - not only does it mean the blockade runners have further to go, it also means the blockaders only have to spread their forces across 4' rather than 6'.

For a real nightmare, I suggest Campaign of Terror, Shadows doing the attacking, Softly Softly tactics to bring the FAP roll down, and some poor ship has to try to stop a Shadow Scout. :twisted:

 

[locarno24]

It's next to impossible for some people to win, and next to impossible for some people to lose, as it stands....

Best suggestion for evening it out - running a blockade with warships isn't usually the point; make him run the blockade with some freighters in tow.

Either you can go Ka-Zoom and leave them behind (as target practice) or you can stay with them and try to protect them (and risk not making it off the board yourself)

 

[Burger]

That would make it very similar to convoy duty, though, with the FAP's switched around!

 

[nightshade]

Or combine things a bit:

Do it lengthwise down the table, but have a CQ check that gets easier each turn (10 first turn, 9 second turn, 8 third, etc.) for each ship. Then not all ships will be able to respond right away, but good crews would be able to start positioning themselves. It would give the runner a chance to move up a bit, balancing the added distance travelled.

Of course, a 6x8 or 8x6 table might be better, forcing the blockader to cover more territory, while making the runner move through a longer distance.

If only I had room for such a table...

 

[AdrianH]

Another thought: when generating stellar debris, let a 5 or 6 result in something being placed. Twice as many asteroid fields around the place ought to make the blockade runner think twice before charging through on All Power To Engines.

 

[Burger]

I don't like this CQ check to wake up thing. Come on, they are on blockade duty, they should be WATCHING for blockade runners, and should see them on long-range sensors and be woken up in plenty of time to respond in the 1st turn!!