Pavlov Grenadier
Mongoose
Hi all! We got a few games in today to test out Kziniti drone fleets. Unfortunately, due to several issues (mainly, me being dumb
), we didn’t really get a good test of the “3 drone ship” rule. The plan was for me to play my Kzinti fleet vs Mckinstry’s Fed fleet in at least two games. Game 1 was to be by the normal rules and game 2 with (same fleets) the proposed 3 drone ship limit rule. As I mention below, we never got as far as the planned “game 2” so have no input on the 3 ship rule yet…sorry (I will try to get some games in this week).
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Even though we didn’t get a good test in, all the games were fun (well maybe not game 1 but at least it was educational :wink: ). I have provided my long winded ramblings of the three games below for anyone interested.
All three games were 1,000 points played on a 4x6 table. Mission was Rescue and I rolled up 7 pieces of terrain spread fairly evenly across the table.
Game 1:
I had 2 BC and 5 FF vs. Mckinstry’s Feds made up of 1 BCH, 6 DWD and 1 Burke.
I lost the set up roll off (something Ive yet to win in any of my games… :evil: )so in a fit of idiocy, I decided to split my fleet up (apparently, our sensors were tricked by the evil Feds and we registered the ships as klingons so I thought how clever it would be to get some nice rear shots on his ships with half my fleet ). Note to self: When setting up first vs 6 DWDs, stick together! :?
Well, on turn one, I backed up and did All Power to Shields (hoping to get the feds closer as my “flanking” force sped to rescue). Well Mckinstry moves up a bit and kills two of my FFs YIKES…those DWDs are crazy.
Its going to take at 1 more turn before my “flanking’ force can bring significant pressure on the feds and I only have 2 ships left in the force facing the entire Fed fleet . At that point, we decided to reset the game and move my ships all into the same area (assuming that I still lost the set up roll-off and had to set up first).
As an aside, while the DWD is heinous for its points, the death of my ships are only my fault. One, I think taking the Kzinti FF was a mistake. No ADD, 1 Disruptor at 15”, low shields, just not impressive for 120 points. On top of that, I should have attempted IDF instead of boosting my shields (of course I could have failed those but who knows). And again, splitting my fleet up after losing the set up roll against a drone heavy fleet was just a bonehead move
Game 2: (still keeping the rule as written for drones).
At this point, we lost focus on the 3 drone rule and wanted to see if its possible to mass against the DWD fleet and come out alive. Same fleets as above with me keeping my ships together. Turn 1, I move forward to get into disrupter range and successfully rolled 5 of my 7 ships for IDF. The feds deployed across from me and move up slightly as well and rolled 4-5 of his ships for IDF. At the end of turn 1, the feds had destroyed 1 of my Frigates and damaged a BC and another FF. I had managed to almost strip the shields of one of his DWDs with a few points of damage.
Neither game was really conclusive of anything except I don’t like the Kzinti FF as it stands now :shock: (I just don’t feel its worth 120 IMHO) and that the Fed DWD is crazy…I cant imagine facing 9 of those things (if they face a Drone, fleet, no worries…ADD racks are amazing, if they face a non-ADD fleet, its going to be painful for the other guy). Also, I should note in fairness to Mckinstry, I told him to take that Fed fleet as its something we both thought you might see at a tourney from a competitive player.
Game 3
Another player showed up and we decided to roll Kzinti vs. Klingons (still 1,000 points). I changed my fleet a bit and had: 2 BCs and 4 of the War Destroyers (really liked those ships this game).
He had:
1 C7
2 D5
1 D6
2 F5
1 E4
To prove that I was actually listening to Captain Jonah’s advice, I split my fleet up into two forces (1 BC and 2 DWs) about 2-3 feet apart (of course I lost the set up roll and had to set up first….
). The Klingon (Joe) deployed all ships across from one of my forces. He closed fairly fast with this fleet using an asteroid field to hide from my “flanking” force as it approached. Ironicly, we weren’t playing the “3 ship drone” rule but due to terrain, and great maneuvering on Joe’s part, I only ever got one turn where I could fire 4 ships on one of his (D6). I destroyed it but it was a goner regardless…no ADD remaining, some previous shield damage and 1 rear-arc shot AND my BC which was about to be blow up, moved to within 1.5 inches of it to get crazy kill zone shots and overloaded disruptors…(that was fun!).
Anyway, it was a good game of maneuver. The splitting up against Klingons was good advice and paid off for me several times (although Joe does a great job of utilizing the terrain and his agility to offset this as much as possible).
By turn 4-5, I had lost one BC and had one DW disengage to his destroyed D6, E4, F5. Although I was slightly ahead on points, I think it was still anyone’s game. Unfortunately, it was getting late so we called it at that point.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Even though we didn’t get a good test in, all the games were fun (well maybe not game 1 but at least it was educational :wink: ). I have provided my long winded ramblings of the three games below for anyone interested.
All three games were 1,000 points played on a 4x6 table. Mission was Rescue and I rolled up 7 pieces of terrain spread fairly evenly across the table.
Game 1:
I had 2 BC and 5 FF vs. Mckinstry’s Feds made up of 1 BCH, 6 DWD and 1 Burke.
I lost the set up roll off (something Ive yet to win in any of my games… :evil: )so in a fit of idiocy, I decided to split my fleet up (apparently, our sensors were tricked by the evil Feds and we registered the ships as klingons so I thought how clever it would be to get some nice rear shots on his ships with half my fleet ). Note to self: When setting up first vs 6 DWDs, stick together! :?
Well, on turn one, I backed up and did All Power to Shields (hoping to get the feds closer as my “flanking” force sped to rescue). Well Mckinstry moves up a bit and kills two of my FFs YIKES…those DWDs are crazy.
Its going to take at 1 more turn before my “flanking’ force can bring significant pressure on the feds and I only have 2 ships left in the force facing the entire Fed fleet . At that point, we decided to reset the game and move my ships all into the same area (assuming that I still lost the set up roll-off and had to set up first).
As an aside, while the DWD is heinous for its points, the death of my ships are only my fault. One, I think taking the Kzinti FF was a mistake. No ADD, 1 Disruptor at 15”, low shields, just not impressive for 120 points. On top of that, I should have attempted IDF instead of boosting my shields (of course I could have failed those but who knows). And again, splitting my fleet up after losing the set up roll against a drone heavy fleet was just a bonehead move

Game 2: (still keeping the rule as written for drones).
At this point, we lost focus on the 3 drone rule and wanted to see if its possible to mass against the DWD fleet and come out alive. Same fleets as above with me keeping my ships together. Turn 1, I move forward to get into disrupter range and successfully rolled 5 of my 7 ships for IDF. The feds deployed across from me and move up slightly as well and rolled 4-5 of his ships for IDF. At the end of turn 1, the feds had destroyed 1 of my Frigates and damaged a BC and another FF. I had managed to almost strip the shields of one of his DWDs with a few points of damage.
Neither game was really conclusive of anything except I don’t like the Kzinti FF as it stands now :shock: (I just don’t feel its worth 120 IMHO) and that the Fed DWD is crazy…I cant imagine facing 9 of those things (if they face a Drone, fleet, no worries…ADD racks are amazing, if they face a non-ADD fleet, its going to be painful for the other guy). Also, I should note in fairness to Mckinstry, I told him to take that Fed fleet as its something we both thought you might see at a tourney from a competitive player.
Game 3
Another player showed up and we decided to roll Kzinti vs. Klingons (still 1,000 points). I changed my fleet a bit and had: 2 BCs and 4 of the War Destroyers (really liked those ships this game).
He had:
1 C7
2 D5
1 D6
2 F5
1 E4
To prove that I was actually listening to Captain Jonah’s advice, I split my fleet up into two forces (1 BC and 2 DWs) about 2-3 feet apart (of course I lost the set up roll and had to set up first….

Anyway, it was a good game of maneuver. The splitting up against Klingons was good advice and paid off for me several times (although Joe does a great job of utilizing the terrain and his agility to offset this as much as possible).
By turn 4-5, I had lost one BC and had one DW disengage to his destroyed D6, E4, F5. Although I was slightly ahead on points, I think it was still anyone’s game. Unfortunately, it was getting late so we called it at that point.