Post by unclejoe on Jun 27, 2010 15:00:14 GMT -5
OK, so I've posted my initial thoughts on the game mechanics and design system. Soo, I thought I'd share a quick battle report for the game that we played last night:
The Terran Republic had scouted out Sector 327:6 and found a habitable planet rich in minerals. They quickly sent out a mining expedition to set up a base camp and begin to prepare the way for further colonization.
Unfortunately for the Republic, the Hive Collective had also discovered this planet and was preparing to move in with a force of their own. Both side grabbed a squadron that was closest to the sector and rushed to lay claim. As the Terran squadron emerged from the Jump Point, they were aware of Hive ships blazing in from across the sector. Battle was soon joined!
The Terran Admiral had 2 Templar class CAs and 1 Lancer class CAs. The Templars carried heavy laser armament and some autocannon for close in work. The Lancer was a missile ship, carrying 2 batteries of 3 ASGMs and some lighter weaponry. In addition, a screen of 2 Crusader class CLs, a Hussar DD, and a Mongol DDG rounded out the force. The Terran admiral insteaded to stay close to his screening ships and move in as a group.
Coming at this force, the Hive had sent a Hive Guardian BCB escorting a Hive Mind Flagship (BC-F). The Guardian was configured for heavy long range fire with 4 FC, 8 Turbo Lasers, and some Heavy Disrupters. The Hive Mind carried Bombardment missiles and some other shorter range torpedoes and cannon. Along with them was a Mantis-class CL, designed to be a fast and maneuverable strike element (RDF-role). Finally, a small flotilla of 3 Swarm-class Scout DDs lurked in Stealth nearby.
The open round saw both sides closing the range (initial range of 24, both side moving at Vel 5) and salvoing missiles. The Guardian also fired and scored some hits on a Terran DD, bringing down the forward shield and causing some minor hull damage.
The second round saw both side continuing to close, and the missiles trying to get on an attack run. One Terran Screen ship managed to move to scrub the bulk of a Hive salvo with ECM. Both sides exchanged weapons fire. The Terrans lost the unfortunate Mongol DDG before she could salve the rest of her missile load and the inflicted minor damage on the Mantis.
The third round saw disaster for the Terrans. Both sides had almost interpenetrated and the ranges were practically point blank. The heavy weapons on the Hiver BCs exploded one of the Terran CAs outright and things looked grim when the 3 DDs decloaked behind a 2nd Terran CA to fire their AP Torps. Luckily for the Terrans the Bug DDs must have calculated their positions poorly and they scattered widely (damn those compound-eyes!), effectively preventing a concentrated attack. The 2nd Templar escaped with simply a downed rear shield.
Now it was time for the Terran retaliation. To their consternation, their weapons could not easily penetrate the heavy armor on the Hiver BCs. Even at point blank range the best they were able to manage was to take down about a quarter of the hull points on the lead BC. Things were looking grim when the Lancer dumped a full salvo of 6 ASGMs directly into the face of the lead BC...
The following round the missiles screamed in on the Guardian. 5 Penetrated the PD fire and scored hits, but only 2 penetrated. The Hive was prepared to shrug these hits off with a scornful laugh when the last missile scored a crit on the Bridge, killing the snickering insects where they stood!
Even with that lucky hit, the Terran admiral thought he was doomed. There was still an undamaged BC out there (missiles expended with no hits) and the swarm of stealth DDs to contend with. He considered breaking for hyper, but remember that his mission was defend the planet below where the civilians were still trying to escape or find shelter. He doggedly decided to carry on for another round or so.
That round the bugs had passed by at higher velocity and were not able to easily turn around to re-engage. The Terrans managed to get behind the Hive Mind BC and started doing some internal damage. Again they were dismayed by the armor preventing their weapons from doing much more than scorching the hull. But with the Guardian still on a ballistic course away from the battle, they decided to continue the fight. The bugs however, had recovered from that lucky hit and had their C&C facilities back online.
The next and final round saw the Guardian moving back towards the fight and the Terrans continuing to maintain position behind the Hive Mind. The Terrans had managed to whittle down a few of the Scout DDs and had damaged the CL, but it was obvious that the fight would come down to the BCs and remaining CAs. At that moment, disaster again struck the Terrans. From extreme range the Guardian penetrated a weakened shield on the last Templar CA and with the final Disrupter, scored a critical that hit the fusion reactor! With the catastrophic explosion of their only remaining heavy combatant, the Terrans knew they had to retreat. They shifted to max burn and left the planet and the colony their to their fate....
OK, that's it.
The ships that we used I had hurriedly put together and some of them clearly showed their inefficiency. I had tried to vary the weapon mix between the two sides and it was obvious that the Bugs got the better end of that deal with more numerous d10 attack and pen weapons. The Terrans had more missiles, but 2 of the 3 main salvos never found targets, greatly reducing the kill potential from what it could have been. It also did not help that their 2nd missile combatant (DDG) exploded so early.
One thing that struck us was how utterly dominant even a small BC is over a CA. This is simply because regardless of the turn order, it will be able to fire first. Given that the truly heavy weapons and armor are also restricted to the larger hulls, this presents a 'double whammy' that makes it tough for the smaller ship to have any chance (even though both were hull size 3 IIRC).
Armed with the experience of this battle, we'll prepare for another battle hopefully next week. FWIW, I also intend to try out the armor changes listed in the other thread to see what we think.
The Terran Republic had scouted out Sector 327:6 and found a habitable planet rich in minerals. They quickly sent out a mining expedition to set up a base camp and begin to prepare the way for further colonization.
Unfortunately for the Republic, the Hive Collective had also discovered this planet and was preparing to move in with a force of their own. Both side grabbed a squadron that was closest to the sector and rushed to lay claim. As the Terran squadron emerged from the Jump Point, they were aware of Hive ships blazing in from across the sector. Battle was soon joined!
The Terran Admiral had 2 Templar class CAs and 1 Lancer class CAs. The Templars carried heavy laser armament and some autocannon for close in work. The Lancer was a missile ship, carrying 2 batteries of 3 ASGMs and some lighter weaponry. In addition, a screen of 2 Crusader class CLs, a Hussar DD, and a Mongol DDG rounded out the force. The Terran admiral insteaded to stay close to his screening ships and move in as a group.
Coming at this force, the Hive had sent a Hive Guardian BCB escorting a Hive Mind Flagship (BC-F). The Guardian was configured for heavy long range fire with 4 FC, 8 Turbo Lasers, and some Heavy Disrupters. The Hive Mind carried Bombardment missiles and some other shorter range torpedoes and cannon. Along with them was a Mantis-class CL, designed to be a fast and maneuverable strike element (RDF-role). Finally, a small flotilla of 3 Swarm-class Scout DDs lurked in Stealth nearby.
The open round saw both sides closing the range (initial range of 24, both side moving at Vel 5) and salvoing missiles. The Guardian also fired and scored some hits on a Terran DD, bringing down the forward shield and causing some minor hull damage.
The second round saw both side continuing to close, and the missiles trying to get on an attack run. One Terran Screen ship managed to move to scrub the bulk of a Hive salvo with ECM. Both sides exchanged weapons fire. The Terrans lost the unfortunate Mongol DDG before she could salve the rest of her missile load and the inflicted minor damage on the Mantis.
The third round saw disaster for the Terrans. Both sides had almost interpenetrated and the ranges were practically point blank. The heavy weapons on the Hiver BCs exploded one of the Terran CAs outright and things looked grim when the 3 DDs decloaked behind a 2nd Terran CA to fire their AP Torps. Luckily for the Terrans the Bug DDs must have calculated their positions poorly and they scattered widely (damn those compound-eyes!), effectively preventing a concentrated attack. The 2nd Templar escaped with simply a downed rear shield.
Now it was time for the Terran retaliation. To their consternation, their weapons could not easily penetrate the heavy armor on the Hiver BCs. Even at point blank range the best they were able to manage was to take down about a quarter of the hull points on the lead BC. Things were looking grim when the Lancer dumped a full salvo of 6 ASGMs directly into the face of the lead BC...
The following round the missiles screamed in on the Guardian. 5 Penetrated the PD fire and scored hits, but only 2 penetrated. The Hive was prepared to shrug these hits off with a scornful laugh when the last missile scored a crit on the Bridge, killing the snickering insects where they stood!
Even with that lucky hit, the Terran admiral thought he was doomed. There was still an undamaged BC out there (missiles expended with no hits) and the swarm of stealth DDs to contend with. He considered breaking for hyper, but remember that his mission was defend the planet below where the civilians were still trying to escape or find shelter. He doggedly decided to carry on for another round or so.
That round the bugs had passed by at higher velocity and were not able to easily turn around to re-engage. The Terrans managed to get behind the Hive Mind BC and started doing some internal damage. Again they were dismayed by the armor preventing their weapons from doing much more than scorching the hull. But with the Guardian still on a ballistic course away from the battle, they decided to continue the fight. The bugs however, had recovered from that lucky hit and had their C&C facilities back online.
The next and final round saw the Guardian moving back towards the fight and the Terrans continuing to maintain position behind the Hive Mind. The Terrans had managed to whittle down a few of the Scout DDs and had damaged the CL, but it was obvious that the fight would come down to the BCs and remaining CAs. At that moment, disaster again struck the Terrans. From extreme range the Guardian penetrated a weakened shield on the last Templar CA and with the final Disrupter, scored a critical that hit the fusion reactor! With the catastrophic explosion of their only remaining heavy combatant, the Terrans knew they had to retreat. They shifted to max burn and left the planet and the colony their to their fate....
OK, that's it.
The ships that we used I had hurriedly put together and some of them clearly showed their inefficiency. I had tried to vary the weapon mix between the two sides and it was obvious that the Bugs got the better end of that deal with more numerous d10 attack and pen weapons. The Terrans had more missiles, but 2 of the 3 main salvos never found targets, greatly reducing the kill potential from what it could have been. It also did not help that their 2nd missile combatant (DDG) exploded so early.One thing that struck us was how utterly dominant even a small BC is over a CA. This is simply because regardless of the turn order, it will be able to fire first. Given that the truly heavy weapons and armor are also restricted to the larger hulls, this presents a 'double whammy' that makes it tough for the smaller ship to have any chance (even though both were hull size 3 IIRC).
Armed with the experience of this battle, we'll prepare for another battle hopefully next week. FWIW, I also intend to try out the armor changes listed in the other thread to see what we think.
