Post by dotichnus on Jan 25, 2011 0:31:51 GMT -5
As a player of the original Colonial Battlefleet, I downloaded the new rules including the Man vs. Machine expansion after a friend told me they were available. We enjoyed the original rules but the new ones looked even better so I've spend the past several days playing around with stats to build the canonical (in my view) Mercury class and Basestar.
Naturally I ignored the ships provided in the rules
and here are my initial builds. Note that I combined the Gunship and fighters into the same hardpoint I'm calling the "Hangar:"
Mercury
980 pts
Size 5
Delta 1
FC 3(4)
EQ Marines x4 (d6)
P DEF 5
AV 10
SEC FRC x10 (d6)
Hull 99
F Hvy Rail Gun x4
F Missile Bomb x1
P Hangar 4 x MkIII, 1 x Gunship
P Tur Rail Gun FPS x2
S Hangar 4 x MkIII, 1 x Gunship
S empty
DCB +1
Flak
Basestar
846 pts
Size 5
Delta 1
FC 3(4)
EQ Centurions x9 (d10)
P DEF 0
AV 8
SEC FRC x5 (d10)
Hull 92
F Missile Bomb x5
F Hangar 5 x Raider, 1 x Hvy Raider
P Missile ASGM x5
P Hangar 5 x Raider, 1 x Hvy Raider
S Missile ASGM x5
S Hangar 5 x Raider, 1 x Hvy Raider
DCB +1
Playing this out solitaire, I spaced the ships about 35 hexes apart, started at speeds 5 (on hindsight I would allow the Basestar to start at speed zero to permit a missile strategy to develop).
The Cylons won the initiative every turn. The first fighter clash had even losses on each side. However, subsequent battles showed the Colonials with a high kill ratio (probably 10:1) due to their +1 bonus plus the Raptor recon bonus. I forgot to use the Wingman bonus which would have helped the Cylons a lot (probably). Anyhow, outnumbered 15:8 the Colonials did well (as they should).
A few fighters tried shooting down missiles but it was infrequent, much like the original rules. I used the optional missile movement rules so the bombardment missiles turned once and only moved 6 hexes. The bombardment missiles were my proxies for the nukes.
I would also note that I ignored use of ECM, Cyber-Infiltration, Micro-Jump and fighter-borne nukes--just didn't want to use them.
The fighter rules were interesting. The Raiders were trying to swarm the Battlestar, but couldn't attack if engaged in dogfight. Also, the flak and point defense took out a few of the raiders that got through the screen. The raiders that did get through did some significant damage--3 squadrons inflicted 16 hits.
However, the Mercury class ship only suffered a total of 26 damage on its hull of 99--the result of 1 missile, some more fighter damage and a point of damage from making a turn with structural damage.
The Mercury class was able to close in on the basestar and rip through it with its heavy rail guns. Two solid volleys (coupled with the rail gun turrets) were enough.
Before that happened, the Basestar was able to land two heavy raiders with 6 Centurion boarding parties (d10s) which faced a complement of 14 marines (d6s). The marines held them off but with only 7 dice left!
As I work to balance the ships, the first thing I'm removing are the pair of rail gun turrets. I might make the Battlestars have a 2-hex footprint to make it easier for the missiles. But these are only first impressions, and I may have missed some rules. In any case, we're going to have a lot of fun with this system.
Naturally I ignored the ships provided in the rules
and here are my initial builds. Note that I combined the Gunship and fighters into the same hardpoint I'm calling the "Hangar:"Mercury
980 pts
Size 5
Delta 1
FC 3(4)
EQ Marines x4 (d6)
P DEF 5
AV 10
SEC FRC x10 (d6)
Hull 99
F Hvy Rail Gun x4
F Missile Bomb x1
P Hangar 4 x MkIII, 1 x Gunship
P Tur Rail Gun FPS x2
S Hangar 4 x MkIII, 1 x Gunship
S empty
DCB +1
Flak
Basestar
846 pts
Size 5
Delta 1
FC 3(4)
EQ Centurions x9 (d10)
P DEF 0
AV 8
SEC FRC x5 (d10)
Hull 92
F Missile Bomb x5
F Hangar 5 x Raider, 1 x Hvy Raider
P Missile ASGM x5
P Hangar 5 x Raider, 1 x Hvy Raider
S Missile ASGM x5
S Hangar 5 x Raider, 1 x Hvy Raider
DCB +1
Playing this out solitaire, I spaced the ships about 35 hexes apart, started at speeds 5 (on hindsight I would allow the Basestar to start at speed zero to permit a missile strategy to develop).
The Cylons won the initiative every turn. The first fighter clash had even losses on each side. However, subsequent battles showed the Colonials with a high kill ratio (probably 10:1) due to their +1 bonus plus the Raptor recon bonus. I forgot to use the Wingman bonus which would have helped the Cylons a lot (probably). Anyhow, outnumbered 15:8 the Colonials did well (as they should).
A few fighters tried shooting down missiles but it was infrequent, much like the original rules. I used the optional missile movement rules so the bombardment missiles turned once and only moved 6 hexes. The bombardment missiles were my proxies for the nukes.
I would also note that I ignored use of ECM, Cyber-Infiltration, Micro-Jump and fighter-borne nukes--just didn't want to use them.
The fighter rules were interesting. The Raiders were trying to swarm the Battlestar, but couldn't attack if engaged in dogfight. Also, the flak and point defense took out a few of the raiders that got through the screen. The raiders that did get through did some significant damage--3 squadrons inflicted 16 hits.
However, the Mercury class ship only suffered a total of 26 damage on its hull of 99--the result of 1 missile, some more fighter damage and a point of damage from making a turn with structural damage.
The Mercury class was able to close in on the basestar and rip through it with its heavy rail guns. Two solid volleys (coupled with the rail gun turrets) were enough.
Before that happened, the Basestar was able to land two heavy raiders with 6 Centurion boarding parties (d10s) which faced a complement of 14 marines (d6s). The marines held them off but with only 7 dice left!
As I work to balance the ships, the first thing I'm removing are the pair of rail gun turrets. I might make the Battlestars have a 2-hex footprint to make it easier for the missiles. But these are only first impressions, and I may have missed some rules. In any case, we're going to have a lot of fun with this system.
