(SP___.0) Joint Adventure
(Y196) by Scott Tenhoff, USS California

By Y196 the Andromedan war had been in full swing for a full 5 years, with all of the Empires facing significant setbacks on all fronts. But by the Spring of Y196 a lull in many of the Andromedan aggressions verses the Lyrans and the Western Klingon Empire occurred though, as this was the time that an Andromedan Dominator was lost assaulting the WYN Cluster. Seeing the lull in the fighting the Lyran Duke of the Foremost County contacted the Klingon Empire to attempt to reestablish a secure convoy route between the two Empires. This was mainly done to bolster the Lyran economy in the Duke’s domain as much Klingon shipping went between his Starbase, the Far Stars, and the Lyran homeworlds. The Klingon High Command agreed since considerable materials needed to be shipped to the Klingon Far Star outposts, and considerable numbers of warriors were waiting for transfers to Empire schools and academies.
The Duke formed his own force centered on his 2nd in Command’s Division Control Ship (his own CCX was to remain at the SB), while the Klingons formed an ad-hoc force centered on a D5X, who’s captain needed some tactical tempering to his innate hot-headedness). The Klingons decided a Penal unit would be assigned to get them away from Klinshai to complete a successful mission, for them be reintegrated back to their home ships or units. The intense training aboard ship, combined with the confined spaces of the DWG would erase any disciplinary problems amongst the unit. This strange force composition eventually did not sit well with the Lyran Duke but he could say anything as it was the Klingon Admiralty’s prerogative, as long as the combined force could patrol a previous trade route to clear it of any Andromedan infestation, it would have to do. The mission would take longer than the Duke had wanted his ships gone, but he could not authorize a full Lyran contingent to conduct the mission so he was forced to settle on the Klingon’s schedule and composition.
As the forces traveled together, and stopped for numerous “training missions” for the Penal Units, they seemed to find faint signs of Andromedan ship passage along with clear signs of Andromedan strip mining on isolated planets. This lead to an intense search of the area, stumbling upon the first, and possibly only, significant Andromedan production facility within the Alpha Quadrant so far.
(SP___.1) NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2, or 3; the Andromedan player and the Galactic player if playing 2 players, or Lyran and Klingon ships can be played by different players if playing with 3 players.
(SP___.2) INITIAL SET UP
TERRAIN: Class M planet in hex 2215, Map B, without atmosphere.
Andromedans: set up within 5 hexes of 2215-Map B, WS-III, speed 10, facing the choice of the Andromedan Player.
Andromedan Factory, 2215-A, see (SP___.462)
Planetary Defenses: PCB, 2 AGBT, and AGPS all joined in a power grid (2215-D), AGMG and BPB (2215-B), 6 AGMS (1 each hexside, not joined in any of the other power grids and at separate GCLs from other bases)
1 Minefield, see (SP___.461).
6 Displacement Buoys located in hexes 2210, 2220, 1713, 1718, 2713, and 2718
Cobra-01, King Snake-01, Gun Sled-01
11 MWP, MEP, MMP, 4 MCP, and MTP (combined from BPB and PCB)

Reinforcements per (SP___.47), enter Map B along the 42xx column, speed max, WS-III, facing E or F.
Missionary Aname1 (empty), Exploiter Aname2, Ravager Aname3 (w/ Cobra-01)

Galactic Player: set up between 01xx and 10xx of Map A facing direction B or C, speed Max, WS-III.
Klingons:
D5X Dark Lord with two G1B PFs
DWG General Kuzak w/ P-T3 with 4th and 7th Penal Battalions, with the Mech-Link Refit and 2xG1G, see (SP___.48)
F5K Fire Warrior

Lyrans:
NDS Lname1 with BOB-L, 4 BOB-A, BOB-S, and 12 Z-YC
HDW-E Lname2 see (SP___.45) for configuration, and the Mech-Link refit with PFF and PFQ docked to it.
DWA Lname3
FF+p Lname4

YEAR: 196

(SP___.3) LENGTH OF SCENARIO: The scenario continues until all forces belonging to one side have been destroyed, captured, or have disengaged.

(SP___.4) SPECIAL RULES
(SP___.41) MAP: The map is fixed; it does not float. The map consists of 2 maps laid side-by-side, Maps A to the left, Map B to the right. Any unit leaving the map has disengaged and cannot return. The Andromedan units can only disengage in direction B or C from Map B. The Galactic units can only disengage from D, E, or F of Map A. Units which disengage in unauthorized directions or areas are considered destroyed.
(SP___.42) SHUTTLES AND PFs: All shuttles and PFs have warp booster packs.
(SP___.421) MRS shuttles may be purchased [up to the limits in (J8.5)] under (SP___.431).
(SP___.422) If using EW fighters, one of the Z-YC on the NDS is a Z-YE. If not using EW fighters, it is a standard Z-YC.
(SP___.423) The six Lyran PFs are a standard flotilla including one leader and one scout. The 11 MWP, 1 MTP, and MEP have been formed into one “flotilla” before the start of the scenario. The other MCPs and MMP have been formed into a separate “flotilla”.
(SP___.43) COMMANDER'S OPTION ITEMS
(SP___.431) Each ship can purchase additional or special equipment as Commander's Option Items (e.g., T-bombs, extra marines, etc.) up to 20% of its Combat BPV. See (S3.2) for details and exceptions. Note that whatever is spent here counts in the Standard and Modified Victory Conditions (S2.2) as victory points for the enemy. See (SP___.48) for restrictions upon the Klingon DWG. See (SP___.451) for bonus points for the Lname2.
(SP___.432) All drones are "fast," i.e., speed-32. Each drone-armed ship can purchase special drones up to the historical racial percentages as part of the Commander's Option Items. Note that (S3.2) allows drone ships extra points for this purpose.
(SP___.433) If players wish to use the optional rules for Prime Teams (G32.0), they can purchase such teams (25 points each) as part of their starting forces for the Klingon D5X, Lyran NDS, or any Andromedan reinforcement.
(SP___.44) REFITS: All that are available. The HDW-E has the Mech-Link refit to carry its two casual PFs. The D5X Dark Lord and General Kuzak also have the Mech-Link refit. Historically no ship had any partial X-refits, as a balance item below (SP___.72) these could be purchased with CO points.
(SP___.45) Lyran Lname2 configuration.
(SP___.451) The Lname2 is configured as an “Escort” version. As such it has Full Aegis for all of its Phasers. The Rear Optional Mounts are equipped with Aegis controlled Phaser-1s, its APR and NWO boxes are configured as 8xCargo for this extended patrol though. These cargo boxes are carrying 20 spaces worth of drones each at the beginning of the scenario (the remain space is used for fuel, consumables, parts, or drones used in a prior mission). The Lyran player receives 160 Type-IF drones stored here at the beginning of the scenario. The Lyran player receives an extra 32 COI points to upgrade these drones exclusively (above and beyond what the HDW-E normally has). These drones can be transferred to the NDS/DWA/ or Klingon ships to be loaded on fighters/PFs which land to use the ready racks or dock to the Mech-Links by any means. As a note, the traditional “hybrid” fighters assigned to the HDW-E in this case were destroyed in an encounter with a Monster (or were used to replace losses on the NDS from the same mission), as such it is carrying no fighters of its own, but the Lname2 does have Z-YC readyracks and deck crews.
(SP___.452) The PFs assigned to the Lname2 represent fleet assets assigned to the Lyran group to provide additional capabilities on a long term patrol, notably additional surveying gear (PFQ) and fighter/PF recovery (PFF) and while not a standard assignment of the PFs to a combat mission, during this period of the Andromedan war, a mission quite possible on many occasions.
(SP___.46) Andromedan Factory Planet.
(SP___.461) Andromedan Minefield. The Andromedans have set up 3 minefield packages (M?.?) located between 6 and 10 hexes from the planet. The Factory and all of the ground bases may spend their COI’s to purchase additional mines per (M6.33) as normal.
(SP___.462) Andromedan Factory. It is located on 2215-A. A Satellite Base located on the surface of the planet represents the Factory, there are 2 cargo pods (Andro P-CS found in Module R2) joined to the Satellite Base to simulate the production facilities, each with 36 cargo boxes (these cargo boxes represent Fabrication Facilities hit on ‘Cargo’ on the DAC). The normal collapsible cargo boxes on the Satellite Base are not installed at this Base, they are being replaced with the Cargo Pods, each Cargo pod is a separate “area” for Advanced Boarding Party combat (meaning the Sat Base has a total of 4, 1 for each Cargo Pod and 2 for the Sat Base). As this base is located on the planet all rules found in (P2.75) apply when attempting to enter the facility. As a reminder an Andromedan Base cannot use the Temporal Elevator since it is physically located on the planet.
(SP___.463) Andromedan Ship production. There exists 2 Cobras in the middle of being completed when this raid occurs. They exist at the same GCL of the Andromedan Factory, under it’s shielding but not physically part of the Factory for damage purposes. They are inoperable and cannot be activated, but serve as goals for the Galactic and Andromedan players in the Victory Conditions. They have no crew or boarding parties to start with; they can be reinforced or guarded by Andromedan forces after the scenario starts. They are considered “joined” to the Factory/Base via 1 Passageway each. If the Galactic player wishes to enter then, he must still consult the chart in (P2.75), modified by (P2.752), to enter these ships, as a reminder the Satellite Base is a Size Class-4 base. These ship’s systems cannot be “activated” or used by any means during the scearnio.
[NOTE TO SPP: WOULD YOU WANT TO JUST INCLUDE A NEW BOARDING-PARTY DIAGRAM FOR THIS SCENARIO THAT I’D HAVE TO DRAW UP?]
(SP___.464) Evacuation of Andromedan Factory. The Andromedans are interested in only saving the core of the Factory (Satellite Base) and the almost finished Cobras, the Fabrication facilities being easily replaced as they are mostly assembly and/or storage areas or machinery easily replaced. While preparing the Factory for immediate transfer to a Mothership would have been possible, the Andromedans had hoped to repulse the Galactic assault and complete the Cobras and evacuate before a possible 2nd Galactic assault. Either of the Cobras may be transported up to an Andromedan Mothership as any other standard Satellite Ship. To transport the Factory core up to a Mothership the Factory must cut the passageways to the fabrication facilities. Once a Mothership reaches range 5 to the planet the Factory can begin “cutting” the passageways to the fabrication facilities, and unlocking the positional stabilizers on the Satellite Base. This takes 32 consecutive impulses to accomplish. Once those 32 impulses are complete the Factory can be beamed aboard the Mothership as any other Medium Sized Sat Ship. The Andromedans can’t start this until a Mothership is actually within range of the Factory.
(SP___.47) Andromedan Reinforcements. The disastrous loss of the local Dominator, which had invaded the WYN Cluster earlier this year, had left a hole in the Andromedan’s ship pool for the region temporarily. A crippling of one and separate destruction of another left the region two Intruder-hulls short and had reduced their versatility even more temporarily, so until reinforcements and/or replacements could be brought from other areas the Andromedans were caught short-shipped. As such, the Andromedans hadn’t been able to evacuate this factory when they detected the Galactics in the area (or set an ambush for them beforehand like they had wanted to). Had the available Missionary been sent sooner to remove the factory it might not of mattered, but it was on another mission of high-priority. The Andromedans believed that its movement would have been detected anyhow, resulting in an immediate interception by the Galactics before the factory could be disassembled. The Andromedans hadn’t wanted to sacrifice the almost completed Cobras to send the available Missionary to evacuate the Factory, deeming the Cobras were needed help replace losses against the coming assault against the LDR. The Andromedans did send reinforcements though along the RTN when it was apparent that the Galactics had detected the hidden Cobra factory to prevent a massacre at the facility. Before the scenario begins the Andromedan player must choose the order of which his reinforcements arrive on and write this down on a piece of paper. Beginning on Turn #3 during the EAF, the Andromedan player rolls 1d6 with the following modifier (dependant upon the ship that is arriving next):
Exploiter -1
Missionary +0
Ravager +1
When the running total reaches 10 the reinforcement arrives the following turn along Map B’s 42xx edge. The total is then reset to zero, and the next turn the rolling begins again during EAF to determine the arrival of the next reinforcement. This is done again until the 3rd and final reinforcement has arrived. As a reminder, per (S8.???), only 2 ships with Displacement Devices may have them active on the board at any one time, if a reinforcement is to arrive it’s Displacement Device has to be active, meaning only 1 Andromedan ship with a Displacement Device can have it active on the board that turn (the King Snake and each Andromedan reinforcement have their own Displacement Devices). The running total is always known, but the modifier is kept secret. The arrival of the reinforcement is announced during EAF, and it moves onto the map on Impulse #32 along Map B in the 42xx column, speed max, WS-III, facing E or F.
(SP___.48) Klingon DWG General Kuzak w/ Troop Pod. While this ship is carrying two “Penal Infantry” Battalions, these troops are counted as Normal, not Poor, quality for Boarding Party purposes, no matter what you’ve heard before of Klingon Penal units. Neither Battalion though has Commando squads to start with though, nor Commando squads be purchased as these Penal Battalions wouldn’t have the training to act as true “Commandos” for SFB boarding purposes. The DWG must purchase at least an additional 14 Boarding Parties with its Commander Option Points to reflect the completion of the Battalion loaded upon it, leaving it with 2 40-squad Battalions. The remaining Commander’s Option Items can spent however the Klingon-player see’s fit to.

(SP___.5) VICTORY CONDITIONS: Use the Standard Victory Conditions (S2.20). The Andromedans score 150 points per Cobra and 200 points for the Satellite Base if they are disengaged off the map. The Galactics score 100 points for capturing a Cobra for 32 consecutive impulses. The Galactics score the standard victory points for capturing any Andromedan Ground Base. The Galactics score triple the victory points for capturing the Factory (Satellite Base) instead of the normal double victory points.
(SP___.6) VARIATIONS: The scenario can be played again under different conditions by making one or more of the following changes:
(SP___.61) Change the forces to other neighboring races, replace the Lyran or Klingons with Kzinti ships. All ships are replaced with equivalent designs.
(SP___.62) Allow the Attacker to choose 1500 BPV of a single race to assault the Factory System. No SC-2 ships, no minesweepers, a single X-Ship can be used.
(SP___.63) Remove the 3 Minefields from the Defenders and remove all PFs from the Lyrans (they are to be assumed to of been destroyed in a previous engagement with the Andromedans). Mines could still be bought independently with Commanders Option points though.
(SP___.7) BALANCE: The scenario can be balanced between players of different skill levels by one or more of the following:
(SP___.71) Replace the active Cobra with a Mamba (to aide the Andromedan Player) or the Cobra with a Viper (to aide the Galactic Player) or replace the King Snake with a Queen Snake (to aide the Andromedan Player).
(SP___.72) Allow any Galactic Ship to be given Partial-X Refits.
(SP___.73) Allow the DWG to purchase a Legendary Marine Major or Legendary Ground Forces Officer. Allow the Andromedan GMG (or Factory Base) to purchase a Legendary Ground Forces Officer.
(SP___.74) Destroy an additional 1-4 fighters from the NDS from the previous encounter with the monster, or add Z-YC to the HDW-E.
(SP___.75) Replace the Lyran FF with a DWA or MP. Replace the Klingon F5K with a F5DB or F5WK.
(SP___.76) Delay or speed up the Andromedan reinforcements by 1 turn (Begin rolling Turn 2 or Turn 4).
(SP___.8) TACTICS:
Andromedans: Your order of reinforcements is obviously going to depend on what you want to do, the Exploiter to bring the battle to the Galactics, the Missionary to evacuate the Cobras, or the Ravager to do either, but not very well. Use your Displacement Buoys while you can to send out the Cobra and retrieve it quickly before drones can chase it down. Your King Snake is your only DisDev platform until your reinforcements show up, so be careful with it.
Galactic: You are going to have to use your PFs and fighters to launch drones through the minefield to hopefully whittle it down some before you try to send your units through. You have to watch out for the Andromedan player using the planet to break seeking weapon tracking on your drones though. You’ll have to keep your size class-3 ships alive though as they carry the tools you need to win, either X-tech, drone reloads for fighters and PFs, or Ground Troops if you go for the gold and try assaulting the Factory. Your HDW actually has a ton of extra drones for the Klingons and fighters, so don’t let it get pounded excessively to loose those precious resources.
(SP___.9) PLAYTESTERS COMMENTS:
(SP___.X) DESIGNER'S NOTES:
A scenario featuring a “grounded” Andromedan base needed to be somewhere in the SFB universe.
HISTORICAL OUTCOME
The Coalition ships decided to breach the minefield behind a wave of drones provided by the Klingons and the fighters, with the Lyran escorts leading the Dark Lord with the PFs and fighters bringing up the rear, General Kuzak, Lname1, and Lname2 staying at a discrete range to avoid being swarmed by the Andromedans. The Lyrans would clear a path through the minefield with their ESGs, but the Andromedans would luckily displace Lname4 adjacent to a NSM which caused some severe damage.
With the minefield breached, the close-quarter combat got hot-and-heavy between the Andromedan defenders and Coalition attackers. The MWPs

By Scott Tenhoff (Scottt) on Friday, May 09, 2008 - 05:04 pm: Edit

The above was a scenario I made up featuring a grounded Andromedan SatB. After reading a CL-article pretty much stating scenarios w/ Minefields don't get published (or rarely do). I figured it'd never get published, so I never sent it in to SPP.

The scenario could be changed for Module X1R, replacing the Lyran NDS w/ an XPFT(?) possibly.

If the minefield was removed, the Andromedans would get overrun I believe. But if anyone wants to discuss it on the BBS. Feel free.