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The station has some tough choices. It has 18 power after housekeeping. Arming all the Ph-4s takes 12 power. Arming both shuttles as WW is 2 power. 6 ECM plus self-lending 4 ECM (for 10 total ECM) costs 11 power.

There just isn't enough to do everything. Which is also a key feature of SFB.

Tough choices make for good games.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Monday, August 09, 2021 - 06:00 pm: Edit

Daniel Eastland:

In the normal scenario, the base has no modules or pods or anything else (besides its Commander's Options). That is why the modules are listed as the final option under (SG3.6) Variations. There are no fighters or hangar modules, much less PFs and a PF module, or power augmentation modules, or a VIP module for the visiting diplomatic personnel, or what have you. Or cargo modules or tug pods to provide damage padding. Any of them might be added in a variation up to the limits of the base and the BPV of the raiding force adjusted to reflect this. But the basic scenario is essentially versus a stripped down base.

By Daniel Eastland (Democratus) on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - 09:09 am: Edit

Steve Petrick,

Thanks for the clarification.

With all the old cruft in my head, I'd thought bases never existed without modules and maybe defaulted to cargo modules.

That means this will be a very tense mission indeed, depending on the time the defending cruiser arrives!

By Ginger McMurray (Gingermcmurray) on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - 10:39 am: Edit

I may be doing this scenario on the base's side. I'm very interested in your results. I can't really see how the base can survive unless the CA shows up really soon.

My thinking is to go full-on ECM. You can guarantee a 2 shift and use the other sensor to break drone lockons. Even with that you're going to drain capacitors really quickly and there will be a swarm of them incoming thanks to scatter packs. No weasel means that turn 1 is going to be a nightmare.

Future turns will be hellish as well since available power will plummet and the enemy can send drones in waves to overwhelm your weasel supply. I haven't studied the weaponry in both sides but I'm thinking it might be possible for the attackers to leave some or all disruptors uncharged in order to have even more reinforcement. It depends on how many drones they can put in the air.

By Eddie E Crutchfield (Librarian101) on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - 10:53 am: Edit

Ginger a little trick, when he drops the Scatter packs, they will move in a direct line toward the base. While he is at long range use you EW advantage to drop a shield just before you rotate and lay several TBs in his direct line to the base, the drones will stay bunched up, no way for them to spread out. Weasel is the last line of defense. Set the TBs for drones only. The drones will probably follow him in, not lead. Speed 8 or 12 on the drones, the ships will probably move faster. If the SPs dont break by range 15 use your 1 remaining channel to possibly break their lock on.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - 11:41 am: Edit

Eddie Crutchfield:

When drones release from a scatter pack they are only required to have their target in their FA tracking arc. They have to track the base and move closer if they can, but you can break the drone stack from a scatter pack into at least two stacks with enough separation that one T-bomb cannot get them all. At least until they are within two hexes of a stationary target such as a base.

By Douglas Lampert (Dlampert) on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - 01:28 pm: Edit

Don't know about the YIS limits, but I recall using external armor on scatter-pack drones as a way of getting them to spread out some vs. a stationary target.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - 04:51 pm: Edit

As an aside, avoid become too comfortable with your tactical choices, take some time to consider options and to change up and do things differently. Long story short, I was somewhat embarrassed when a less experienced player "knew my pattern" and realized that I was going to attempt to overrun him during the next turn, which gave him opportunity to overload his hellebores and fusion beams to receive my attack.

By Daniel Eastland (Democratus) on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 - 09:33 am: Edit

If the defending cruiser arrives on Turn #1 I think the base is okay. Arriving on turn #2 makes it a tight one. And arriving turns #3 or #4 spells serious trouble for the base.

However, the base does have a good chance of crippling one of the enemy ships.

I think as the Klingon attackers I would leave disruptors disarmed and aim to be right next to the base on turn 1 impulse 31 and launch 4 heavy drones at the base. These could not be weaseled and will hit the base on impulse 32.

Turn 2, Impulse 1 will be OL disruptors into the same base shield, along with phasers and possibly hit and run raids. The two scatter packs should cause headaches for the base toward the end of the turn.

If neither attacking ship is crippled and the base is crippled, then it's time to pack up and leave before the defending cruiser can be a factor.

All of this is "theory crafting in a vacuum" though. Plans seldom work out when you have an opponent actively trying to disrupt them.

By John L Stiff (Tarkin22180) on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 - 10:43 am: Edit

I think the K-D6D and K-D7D can launch more than 4 drones on a single impluse. Bigger advantage Klingons!

By Ginger McMurray (Gingermcmurray) on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 - 12:14 pm: Edit

@Daniel the base has 4 Ph-4 which should face them regardless of where how come in. Expected damage at range 3 is 73, -30 for the shield. Probably another 10 from reinforcement. 33 Internals has a good chance of taking off one of those drones. 2x Ph-3 will take off another. As mentioned previously, T-bombs can help stave off drones from scatter-packs. If the Klingons apply 0 power to ECCM the drones will have a shift of 3, meaning there's a decent chance one of the remaining drones does half damage.

Either way, turn 2, impulse one is going to be rough. The base can put every ounce of power into ECM and reinforcement, which won't matter if the backup doesn't arrive soon.

Which reminds me, at what point during a turn does backup arrive? For example, if the counter says T1 is it at the end or the beginning of the turn?

@John the scenario specifies A standard D6 and D7. If the Klingons are allowed to sub in a D version of either then it becomes an entirely different ball game. The entire landscape changes if the Klingons have special sensors and fewer disruptors.

By Daniel Eastland (Democratus) on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 - 01:52 pm: Edit

Ginger,

You're absolutely right. My one trial run had the Feds rolling nearly entirely 6s against a 1-shift with the Ph-4s. Average rolls will probably ruin one of the cruiser's day.

There are no commander's options in our Captain's Game. So no T-Bombs and no extra marines.

By Ginger McMurray (Gingermcmurray) on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 - 03:43 pm: Edit

The mention of marines made me go back and look at the SSDs. The base has 12 boarding parties. The Klingons have 10 transporters, 2 shuttles that won't start as scatter-packs, and 28 boarding parties. I could see a scenario where the base actually gets captured.

That's a scary thought.

By John L Stiff (Tarkin22180) on Thursday, August 12, 2021 - 08:15 am: Edit

Oops, a standard D6 and D7?
That makes it harder for the Klingons.
Initially I assumed no EW.
I also thought the drone speed for the year of the scenario was 8.

By Ginger McMurray (Gingermcmurray) on Thursday, August 12, 2021 - 10:56 am: Edit

If there's no EW then the base doesn't have much of a chance. It's going to struggle as-is.

The default year is either 167 or 168. I don't remember offhand. It's the year when speed 20 becomes more available.

Oddly enough the setup description says the attackers can't have more than 225 BPV. The recommended force for Klingons vs Feds gives them more. Only by a few points so no biggee.

By Ginger McMurray (Gingermcmurray) on Thursday, August 12, 2021 - 10:57 am: Edit

That said, if both sides agree then the Klingons could have different ships up to the 225 amount. That would allow for a D version. Maybe 2 if the points add up.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Thursday, February 06, 2025 - 03:02 pm: Edit

A question for any Klingon players in the audience: how well, or not, would you consider the Klingons to work in squadron or fleet battles alongside the "lost empire" Paravians of Module C6?

In the "Mapsheet P" timelines from said module, the Paravians are often aligned with the Romulans against the Gorns and ISC. Yet, I wonder if the faster pace of combat preferred by the Paravians (with their heavy use of quantum wave torpedoes, which can be armed and launched every turn) might better work alongside that of the Klingons, as opposed to the slower pace imposed by the Romulans' cloak-and-plasma doctrine.

Or, to put it another way: elsewhere on the BBS, I was speculating on what a Paravian Coalition with the Imperial Klingon Marches - with the IKM taking the place of the Romulan Star Empire on "Mapsheet P" - might look like in F&E terms. But on a tactical level, I was curious as to how well the IKM (which uses "standard" Klingon Empire warships, though without any maulers present) would fare alongside their Paravian counterparts against "big plasma" opposition - either in the Middle Years, or in the midst of the General War era.

Or, indeed, against the likes of the Andromedan invaders...