Colorado Springs Mega-Battle

[Rorschach]

From Denver we had:
David - Centauri
Gary - Drakh
Brian - Psi Corps
Brody - Crusade EA
Bill - Crusade EA
Nick - Brakiri
Colin - Vree

From the Springs:
Stephan - Shadows
Patrick - Vree
Art and Bernie - Minbari
Me - Centauri

On one side were Centauri, Drakh, Psi Corps, and Shadows
All others opposing.
Each Side had 36 War Points! (About 6 per player)

Here's some pics















































(Edited to fix Colin's name - sorry Colin!)

 

[wkehrman]

From Denver we had:
David - Centauri
Gary - Drakh
Brian - Psi Corps
Brody - Crusade EA
Bill - Crusade EA
Nick - Brakiri
Kevin (I think?) - Vree

Colin played Vree.

 

[JayRaider]

Thats a huge battle!
Who won?
:shock:

 

[David Anla Shok']

Thats a huge battle!
Who won?
:shock:

We all had fun. So we all won

 

[Banichi]

That looks like a lot of ships. How did the game play? Was there much manuvering? Or was it a case of both sides charging at each other, and going crunch in the middle of the table?

 

[silashand]

We had three tables pushed together for one large one (6' x 12') and we played from the 12' sides.

As to who won, we had to call it early due to myself and a couple other players having to leave (we got started later than we probably should have for a game that size). At the time we quit, the Shadows and PsiCorps had mauled the EA on one side with one of the Vree fleets doing a bit of damage in return (with some emine help from the Brakiri). The Drakh were hammering the Brakiri pretty hard up the middle and on the right side the Minbari and Vree with a little help from the second EA fleet had dished out a pounding to both Centauri fleets. The Centauri did considerable damage to the opposing EA in return. Of all the fleets on the table, only the Minbari appeared relatively intact.

In retrospect, next time we want to play another large game like this (which was great fun), some things to remember:

1. we need to decide on what and how large of fleets we're playing before we show up.

2. We should probably start earlier. The venue opened at 11am and we started playing at 1pm IIRC.

3. Having Stephan play umpire with regards to keeping everyone on track as to what was going on helped a lot I think.

Otherwise, it was cool to be able to play some of the larger ships and options not usually available in smaller games. I have a few pics I took before my camera battery died that I'll post later. One of the highlights toward the end was a Shadow Ancient doing 68 damage to the Excalibur (after halving!) and blowing off its adaptive armour in one shot (Stephan had an amazing run of beam dice). The return shot from the lighting cannon hammered the Ancient pretty hard, stunning it so they basically both ended up floating in space staring at each other.

Thanks to everyone who particpiated, particularly our CS comrades for hosting!

Cheers, Gary

 

[silashand]

As promised, here are some pics:

Deciding what to field...

I need more ships...

Patrick: What do you mean I have to face off against the Shadows?!?!

Brody trying to motivate his dice...

Colin: All these saucer things look alike.
Nick: Why are all your ships behind mine?

Blessing the fleet...

Evil incarnate...

Lots of tentacles and squiggly things...

The "good" guys...

Almost ready...

An ancient menace returns...

The "cheesy" Drakh (literally)...

Swarming forward...

When the fleets get hungry, the Brakiri have graciously arranged for the Fly-thru Taco Bell station to watch the battle...

Brody: Why are all the Centauri coming toward me?

Bizzarro no like Sharlin fish-things!

I see your Schwarz is as big as mine!

Brian: still puckered from the Brakiri's emine love...

Patrick: I ran out of fingers. How many dice is that?

Nick: "I swear I saw a mermaid on that planet!

In an incredible show of alliance solidarity, the EA magnanimously allow the Vree to head to the Taco Bell restrooms while they hold off the combined Shadow and PsiCorps advance.

The advance of the cookie consortium...

Sharlin commander: Those vorchan can't be stupid enough to attack us, can they?

Not to be outdone by the Brakiri, the Centauri arrange for Mountain Dew to sponsor their cause...

Centauri admiral: we are so stunning, we cracked the planet!

Cheese tokens: the Drakh version of spoo...

I think those Marathons are baiting us...

One Demos vs 400 Vree - Aha! I have you outnumbered!

Sharlin First Mate: I think those Vorchans really are that stupid, Commander.

Cheers, Gary

 

[David Anla Shok']

That looks like a lot of ships. How did the game play? Was there much manuvering? Or was it a case of both sides charging at each other, and going crunch in the middle of the table?

Wasn't room for all that manuervering really, some, but not much. Sometimes we play big games just for the joy of playing. Large games like this don't often go to a finish though this one would have with another hour or so. It's just fun to bash with a lot of ships from time to time. Also, this is the first time both of these groups have gamed together outside of a tournement. We wanted to do a bash just so that we could mesh the two groups together, sort of gamer bonding. We mixed members between the sides. There is an emotional mechanic on the miniatures table that is hard to predict.. people get worked up when things go bad or dice fail them. This is a good way to see how folks play and react when with others. I had a ball. Much of my Centauri fleet got hammered as I was in front of both Vree and EA while my Springs Centauri partner Dale, went head on into the Minbari. JoBoo favored most of my dice and put a good hurting on Brodys EA while getting a bit of a pasting from Colins Vree (mine really, but he was using them )
Big Bash games are a fine way to promote comradery and get people working on their fleets. Three of us spent the best part of two days repairing some ships and painting many new ones.

 

[Triggy]

How did you handle initiative issues with that many ships on the table? It would obviously not work with each side moving one ship at a time!

 

[silashand]

Each player moved one ship/squadron at a time. We had a house rule that any ship below battle level had to be fielded in a squadron of some sort in order to speed things up. It didn't have to be a full sized squadron, but it could be if desired. It definitely allowed us to progress a lot faster than such a large game would suggest.

As for sides, it ended up being 5 players on the evil side vs the equivalent of 6 on the good. Thus when it came time for the evil side to move/shoot, each evil player would take it in turn to activate an extra ship/squadron. This kept things even so one side didn't have an advantage over the other at any given point. Note that both sides did actually have the same total force size. We just added a bit to the Shadow/PsiCorps to balance the extra player on the good side.

All in all, much fun indeed.

Cheers, Gary

 

[dag'karlove]

Yes, a grand time was had by all even if i did have to play my Psi Corps, instead of being on the other side and giving the fanheads a good A** whooping from my Narn as it should have been. As it was Patricks Vree and Bills EA Had to face my wrath. I still think the highlight and lowlight of the game was when Bill rolled 11 consecutive sixes on Crit Rolls and nova'd my nemesis on turn 3 with his apollo (Named the TEXAS) and then promptly smased a Drakh Heavy Cruiser from the front battery on the same ship. Of couse Both had been battered and hammered on for 3 turns but itwas still a very nice go for bill. Then though The Texas Did however Draw The Ire of a squadron of 3 Hunters who promptly Decrewed said vessel. It was a Blast and cant wat for the springs Guys to come up to our neck of the woods and throw down again.

 

[Shadow Queen]

Wow how long for 1 turn?

 

[wkehrman]

Wow how long for 1 turn?

I think we had four turns in five hours or something like that.

One of the small problems with this big a game. Each player moved one ship per round, with the bad guys getting one extra move. Each player fired one ship per round, again with the bad guys getting one extra shot. (6 good guys vs 5 bad guys). I had Excalibur, a Warlock, a Posideon, two Marathons, an Apollo, A Chronos, an Explorer and some extra fighters. The Chronos and Explorer were squadroned based on a mandate that we squadron ships smaller than Battle. Thus I had seven ships/squadrons to move and fire. Others had several more than that, for example the Centauri and the Vree, so from my perspective, there was a fair bit of standing around doing nothing.

Over the traditional Recrimination Phase meal of beer and wings, some of us entertained the idea of a Dilgar vs. Early EA / League battle. I've noted Burger's tournament pack, and I've downloaded it. I'd like to see how this would work, i.e., a team tournament. It will be interesting to see how Burger's tournament goes.

 

[Shadow Queen]

I did a bit for Hiffs

 

[quickslvrsnwbrdr]

Was a fun battle and thanks to Stephan for being an umpire, definently kept the huge battle moving at a nice pace.

My monstrous corumai was very disapointing though, unloading its entire bank of beams at a drakh war level ship only to have everything halted by poor dice rolling and its energy grid.

The 20 ap dice at short range was pretty disgusting though, except for the fact that Gary so nicely melted all my crew inside and make it a floating wreck right after.

Anywho, looking forward to our next big get together, should have the rest of my fleet built up and have at least some paint on it.

-Brakiri Nick

 

[wkehrman]

My monstrous corumai was very disapointing though, unloading its entire bank of beams at a drakh war level ship only to have everything halted by poor dice rolling and its energy grid.

-Brakiri Nick

Yeah, sorry to steal the kill from you on that one...

 

[silashand]

My monstrous corumai was very disapointing though, unloading its entire bank of beams at a drakh war level ship only to have everything halted by poor dice rolling and its energy grid.

-Brakiri Nick

Yeah, sorry to steal the kill from you on that one...

If memory serves it didn't actually get destroyed. You just decrewed it IIRC. Same effect, of course ;-).

Then there were the two Drakh cruisers and two light cruisers that it took to do the same to *one* Avioki. Those blasted things are a pain in the a** to take down!

Cheers, Gary

 

[Banichi]

Sometimes we play big games just for the joy of playing. Large games like this don't often go to a finish though this one would have with another hour or so. It's just fun to bash with a lot of ships from time to time.

Very true. Due to the hours the club down here runs for,(1pm-5pm) we rarely get to have games that are bigger than 5 points battle. But a couple of times a year it is open late, thats when we get to really break out the fleets. And it is really cool seeing lots of ships on the table. The next time is July, and we already have a big multiplayer game planned.

I will have to hurry up and get electricity to the garage at home. Then we won't have to worry about time limits, and there is the added bonus of my beer fridge being close to hand.

 

[David Anla Shok']

Sometimes we play big games just for the joy of playing. Large games like this don't often go to a finish though this one would have with another hour or so. It's just fun to bash with a lot of ships from time to time.

Very true. Due to the hours the club down here runs for,(1pm-5pm) we rarely get to have games that are bigger than 5 points battle. But a couple of times a year it is open late, thats when we get to really break out the fleets. And it is really cool seeing lots of ships on the table. The next time is July, and we already have a big multiplayer game planned.

I will have to hurry up and get electricity to the garage at home. Then we won't have to worry about time limits, and there is the added bonus of my beer fridge being close to hand.

Availability of space is indeed a precious thing. The owners of our LGS go out of their way to make space available for us after hours. One of the two game rooms can be closed off from the store itself and it is open after hours. They have often come in just to open it for us. This last 4th of July holiday, they opened it for us at 9 in the morning and we were there well into the night... beer, bbq and gaming. It was a very good day.

 

[silashand]

Availability of space is indeed a precious thing. The owners of our LGS go out of their way to make space available for us after hours. One of the two game rooms can be closed off from the store itself and it is open after hours. They have often come in just to open it for us. This last 4th of July holiday, they opened it for us at 9 in the morning and we were there well into the night... beer, bbq and gaming. It was a very good day.

Yes, our LGS is outstanding, one of the best I have ever encountered as far as customer support goes. It's one of the reasons I will go out of my way to purchase almost all my gaming supplies from them. About the only stuff I don't buy from them are things they simply cannot get in stock, i.e. OOP items I'm looking for. Otherwise they now get roughly 90-95% of my gaming business, and that includes eBay (though even I am susceptible to the "Can't Pass It Up" bargain once in a while ;-)). Unfortunately, they never did seem to be able to reliably get in B5 minis until just recently and now it's too late. Oh well.

Cheers, Gary