Ya, Peter...I definitely regret not taking that shot. Range 2 centerline from Hydran is good enough, I shouldn't have been greedy. I got range 1, but it was not centerline & too many weapons missing by then, so a vastly inferior shot.

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - 11:03 pm: Edit

Sir_CatWhoEatsPhotons (KLI) v. Romwe (HYD)

We got through 3 turns.

Turn 1. Klingon goes 16 all turn. Hydran goes 14 all turn. The Hydran corner dodges (probably to load up those fusions). Klingon launches SP and allows the drones to catch up and get slightly ahead by the end of the turn. No fighters. Two disrupters at range 17 hit and do 4 damage, but bounce of what is probably pre-plotted reinforcement. The other two disrupters are overloaded and are discharged.

Turn 2. Klingon goes 16/26/16. Hydran goes 20/26/20. This battle pass is interesting. At first I intend to do an oblique pass and turn off, taking advantage of UIM, but things didn't go that way. We pass each other off of the #2/#6 (my #6) and manage to get to range 5. I fire 4 OL-UIM and 5 ph-1. He returns fire with 1*std HB, 2*fusion, 5*ph-1. One of my disrupters misses, but I still do 6 internals (ph-1, rwarp, center shield). His phasers are lackluster, but his fusions roll badly *and* his hellbore misses. I only take 20 damage on the #2.

I was surprised to see him fire the fusions. The way the SP drones moved, I know that he will have to deal with at least 4 of them (I spread them out so he could not avoid all of them with speed). He then turns into me.

Only facing a HB, 2 GATs and 2 fusions (and knowing those GATs were probably going to be dealing with drones) I make the opportunistic decision to turn in myself in order to have a better position overall. He was mildly surprised. A close range pass is now guaranteed.

He launches fighters. I launch two fast drones.
At range 2 I fire an ADD at a fighter and hit, doing 4 damage. He tractors two of the SP drones, fires a OL HB at me, and uses an offside GAT to bag the other two drones that would hit him. His OL HB misses *again*. Worse, his fighters are forced to move forward to range 2 to my ship off my #6 shield at range 1. Since they are still within the 8 impulse delay after launch, I put 2*ph-2 and a ph-3 into one of the fighters, killing it. I take a risk and fire the ADD again at range 2. Not only do I hit (rolling a 2), I also roll a 6 for the damage - exactly enough to kill the fighter. He uses his other GAT to destroy my fast drones (better than shooting my ship!)

So, his fighters are now dead, he's got a down #2 shield and 6 internals and is dry. I only have 20 damage on the #2 and that's it.

Demoralizing for any player, but Romwe took it in stride.

He turns off and heads for the center of the map. I start to swing around.


Turn 3: I go 21 all turn, he goes 20 all turn. He uses 6 shots from GATs to kill the remaining 4 drones (the two he had run from and the two he had tractored). This turn is a pure chase turn. I finish swinging around and he goes straight pretty much the whole turn. Now he's in the lower right of the map and I'm some 12 hexes behind him.

That is where we ended for the evening.

Turn 4 will be another battle pass. While the Hydran is behind, it is not yet out of the fight and there's many a slip between being ahead and victory.

Brian is going on a vacation and will be gone all next week. Therefore, we will finish this game (probably in one more session) either during the weekend or early on the Monday or Tuesday after next.

-T

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Monday, August 12, 2019 - 03:32 pm: Edit

It looks like the only outstanding game in Round 2 is 2.2. Any word?

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Monday, August 12, 2019 - 03:55 pm: Edit

On the 6th of August Ted Fay and Brian Evans had agreed they would play tonight 8:00 EDT (7:00 CDT).

By Brian Evans (Romwe) on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - 07:36 am: Edit

Yeah, we played. Victory goes to Ted. He was going to report the win.

By Drew Klenotic (Tillek) on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - 01:21 pm: Edit

.... and so all the Hydrans fall.

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - 05:52 pm: Edit

Some curious points:

Both Bill and I are playing Klingon and defeated a Hydran to get to this point.

Both Bill and I are going up against plasma in the semifinal.

It is possible that the final match will be a Klingon civil war.

I have *never* beaten Peter B's Gorn in a D&D ship. I am jinxed against him for some reason - I'm either out-played or get so unlucky as to result in a loss for me.

Will the Curse of the Bambino continue to hold for me? Inquiring minds will find out in about a week and a half! (Peter is on vacation at the moment).

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - 06:13 pm: Edit

Summary of end of game 2.2

Turn 4, I plot 16/21/16. He goes 26/14/26. I overload all 4 disrupters and figure I'm going to close to at least range 4 before firing. Normally not such a great idea against the Hydran, but I have the advantage and a wounded Hydran can't take a big hit to its weapons.

Somewhere around impulse 20-ish I catch him in the lower right corner. Knowing he's going to be caught, he turns in and tries to get as close as he can. His speed change to 26 kicks in, so I'm gong to have a closer-than-I-wanted battle pass.

At range 3 I launch 3 medium speed drones facing in a manner to discourage him from getting to range 1. Brian calls for fire. I decide to hold my fire. Brian, worried that I would alpha strike at range 3 I think, fires a hellbore and 2 ph-1. The standard hellbore hits, but it's half damage goes to my weakest #2 shield (not facing). The phaser-1s don't do great (7 damage?)

Oh, earlier in the impulse, at the critical moment where I was going to downshift in speed I use reserve warp to increase my speed to 26 (costing me 4 reserve warp energy to go 26 instead of 16 for the rest of the turn).

The next impulse, since the Klingon has the superior turn mode, Brian is forced to move first. Had I been the one to have been forced to move first, I would have had to have gone to range 1 in order to ensure that my FA weapons could fire. As it was, he slipped in, so I slipped out. This resulted in us at range 2 with my #6 facing his #6.

Both of us unleash hell. His overloaded hellbore hits. However, his phaser dice stink, most importantly his gatling phaser dice stink. Standard fusion beams do average damage at range 2. Now my #6 shield is down and I take 8 internals. The Hellbore does another 13 internals through the down shield, plus another single internal through the offside #6 shield (now also down obviously).

The Klingon is hurt, but I still have all 4 disrupters and plenty of power. I've lost a drone (ADD) and the phaser-3s. I have 2 batteries left (though that last point got used to block a point of damage).

My return fire sees one OL disrupter miss on a "6". However, my phaser dice are hot (1, 1, 2, 6, 6 on ph-1, average on ph-2, and 5 on ph-3s). I end up doing 60 damage and 28 internals.

Tellingly, I hit a hellbore, a fusion, and 4 ph-1 (one other ph-1 already killed on the first battle pass). So, all he has left is 1 HB (now fired), 2 fusions offside, and 2 GATS (one used).

I'm dry, but it's near the end of the turn, so it's likely I will be able to hit him again near the beginning of the next turn. I've lost my ADD, but I still have both my Type IVF drones and a suicide shuttle in the bay.

At this point I'm ahead by 15 internals or so, and I have the advantage of dirsupter fire on the next turn, and the Hydran has been Mizia'd badly. Brian sees the writing on the wall and graciously concedes.

I have to say, this game *would have* been about even had Brian's luck been anything like normal. Brian played well, but lady luck betrayed him horribly.

I'm not saying he would have won with average luck, but I am saying that for sure he lost this game because of bad luck, which he accepted stoically.

Until next time.

In the meantime, I'm up against Peter B's Gorn.

Great. I have never beaten his Gorn in a D&D ship. Ever. Honestly, I'd rather face Paul Scott in the original Andro!

By Norman Dizon (Normandizon) on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - 07:32 pm: Edit

Great Write-Up!

By Andrew J Koch (Droid) on Friday, August 16, 2019 - 01:03 pm: Edit

Prepare for Bolty McBolterson....

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, August 18, 2019 - 12:08 pm: Edit

It is what they call me.

By David Cheng (Davec) on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 - 11:13 pm: Edit

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Thursday, August 22, 2019 - 12:59 am: Edit

David, please reserve this topic for the Sapphire Star tournament. Announcing your tournament in the appropriate topic as you originally did is sufficient.

Jean
WebMom

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Monday, August 26, 2019 - 11:10 pm: Edit

R3

bakija (GRN) over Sir_Cat_Who_Eats_Photons (KLI)

T1: I move 15/17/24 with an enveloper armed, a standard S held, a weasel, and 5 reinforcement on the wrong shield. Klingon moves 26 most of the turn, speeding up to 27 late (probably off of battery). We just close up the map, him slipping in a couple times, but no one turning. At R13, I pitch out my B torp enveloper and turn off, he gets a little closer, shoots my #5 for 9 damage with 4 standard disruptors, turns and runs. I turn at him and follow. Impulse 32, we are about 12 hexes apart, he launches 2 medium drones, my enveloper is 2 hexes away, we are both facing F.

T2: I move 17/26, rearm my plasma, have 3 power in tractors, 2 in HET, hold the weasel. Klingon moves 27, 25, speeding back up to 27 at some point (off batteries). He turns A back towards his side of the map early. Plasma chases him, but evaporates before it hits him. I follow, speeding up to 26 by impulse 8, and turn A after he turns B and launches 2 fast drones. I get in front of his medium drones, and at R6, the Klingon turns to face me. I launch 50 plasma at him. I slip away for a hex, shoot down both his medium drones behind me (type I's), tractor the two fast ones. He speeds up to 27, so he isn't going to HET away, and when he can't emergency decel to avoid the plasma, I HET back at him on an impulse I don't move and he does. He takes the 50 plasma for 42 after phasering it some, taking 12 brutal internals through his full #2 (3 phasers, disruptor, drone hit). I launch my in arc armed F torp at him in such a way that if he turns away from me at this point, he'll eat the plasma F in his down shield. He avoids that by turning at me. We end up at R1, my full #2 to his full #6. He launches a shuttle. I cripple his shuttle and fail to kill one of the tractored drones with a P3 (both IDed at this point at type Is), he tries to tractor me, but only has 1 power, and I have more available to fight that. He shoots me at R1 with OL disruptor, 2 std disruptors, 3P1s, 2P2, missing with the OL and a STD disruptor, doing 34 damage to my full #2. The 4 internals hit 3 hull and a warp. Ted thinks here a bit and resigns. In 2 impulses, I'm gonna get, like, 6P1 in his down #2 that he can't possibly avoid, and it'll be way too tough to come back from that.

If Ted had 4 power in tractors at that point, I was doomed, but I figured he probably didn't have that much tractor when I compelled him to come in to me instead of turn off.

Good, quick game!

By Norman Dizon (Normandizon) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 12:16 am: Edit

Wonderful Game! Aww, I was hoping Sir_Cat would win, mainly because he kept saying he has never beaten you before in this matchup...

Some things I noticed:

1) You guys made full use of your tractors. Not only for drone defense, but also to anchor the other guy. Interesting.

2) How can you miss at R1 with an OL and STD disruptor?? Those must have been really bad rolls!

3) Why didn't the Klingon launch a SP? That would have forced the Gorn to use up his P1's or launch a weasel.

4) There seems to be a power mix-match in the two ships. Does the Gorn have a lot more power than the Klingon? I'll have to look that up...

5) Would a Weasel have helped against all of the Gorn's Plasma?

6) It looks like both of you still had full #1's by the end of the game. Is that correct?

7) I can't see the map or the impulse chart, but why couldn't the Klingon avoid his down #2 in 2 impulses? Could a prepared HET have prevented this?

8) You didn't fire any Bolts this game. What happened to your Nickname?!?

By Andrew J Koch (Droid) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 09:17 am: Edit

8) Ted was too cagey to allow the R5 CL shot.

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 11:17 am: Edit

1) I guessed wrong. I thought his S tube filled with a second enveloper to chase me into a corner.

2) I got extremely unlucky. His 12 internals were about as perfect as they could get, including blowing off one of my disrupters. On my important disrupter dice the rolls were 6/6/hit, including missing with the overload.

3) I failed to have one additional point of tractor. Had I had that point available, I would have anchored him, and that would have meant lizard boots for me. He would have been empty of all but a fast load on the next turn and I would have blasted him.


Norman's questions.

As for why I didn't launch the SP, I was unloading it for the reload drones. I thought that this would be a long plasma ballet. I was wrong. Again.

As for weasels, they really are for emergencies. Once you slow down you are playing into a plasma chucker's hands - especially if you emergency decelerate. Usually the plasma chucker just trundles off and is happy to burn your weasels over the course of 10 turns - and then you die.

Yes, our #1 shields were both fully intact - didn't come into play this game.

As for not avoiding the down #2, there was a chance I could have forced him not to hit the #2. However, I could not HET. I was going too fast - speed 27.

Your last question... you must ask Peter.

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 11:49 am: Edit

And, yeah, this is just another game I lost to Peter Bakija. He is my kryptonite!

By Norman Dizon (Normandizon) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 11:54 am: Edit

Thanks Ted and Andrew for the answers. I did a little research of my own and here is what I found:

4) Gorn TCC: 30 Warp, 4 APR, 4 Impulse, 38 Total Power, 5 Batteries
Klingon D7TC: 30 Warp, 4 APR, 4 Impulse, 38 Total Power, 1 Emer Impulse, 5 Batteries

So I guess there was no power mismatch after all.

This was still a great game. There were incorrect guesses, unlucky die rolls, lucky die rolls, and the outcome all came down to 1 point of power.

What more could you ask for in a Star Fleet Battles game?

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 11:54 am: Edit

Norman wrote:
>>1) You guys made full use of your tractors. Not only for drone defense, but also to anchor the other guy. Interesting.>>

Someone famous once said "Use your tractors, damnit!"

So I do. In the Gorn, I use tractors for drone defense regularly. I mean, like, tractoring two drones is often problematic, as it signals "I'm not going to anchor you", but a lot of the time, the anchor isn't actually a threat given the situation anyway. And if you don't have a enveloper armed on T2 (or whatever turn is the main engagement turn), the Gorn has reasonable amounts of power for things like tractors and contingent HET.

>>2) How can you miss at R1 with an OL and STD disruptor?? Those must have been really bad rolls! >>

A 6 is a 6, and misses even at R1. He rolled 6, 6, 3 or something for OL, STD, STD. Which is terrible luck. But in reality, probably didn't change much of the outcome. Like, if he hit with both disruptors, I take 19 internals instead of 4, which probably hits 3 already fired phasers, an empty F tube, and worst case scenario, a tractor, 'causing me to take 12 damage on my #1. He still gets hit for, like, 30 some odd internals in a couple impulse when I get all my P1s in his down shield which was completely unavoidable (he couldn't HET, couldn't turn, couldn't change speed till I had already taken the shot). I mean, like, the missed disruptors were certainly a kick in the teeth, but I don't think they were gonna make much difference in the long run.

If he had tractored me, on the other hand, that would have been terrible :-)

>>4) There seems to be a power mix-match in the two ships. Does the Gorn have a lot more power than the Klingon? I'll have to look that up... >>

The Klingon has 39 power and 5 batteries; the Gorn has 38 power and 5 batteries. But the Gorn tends to have a lot more available power when it is holding torps and not arming an enveloper. On T2, I spent 4 power on housekeeping, 24 on movement, had 4 power total in my plasma torps (2 to hold and 2 to start rearming; the two Fs hold for 0), holding a weasel, and still had 5 power for tractors (3) and contingent HET (2). The Klingon had a high speed (25 moves allocated, I think?), housekeeping (4), maybe 4 standard disruptors (8), leaving 2 power and batteries. He probably had a weasel armed, and I think he needed to recharge a battery from T1. Which means he is left with 5 battery power to use for the turn. He used some battery power (2?) for an unplotted mid turn speed change to get up to 27 after he turned into me (I *think* he changed 8 impulses of 21 into 8 impulses of 27? I looked at his EA form, but don't completely remember), and IIRC, he used 2 batteries to overload a disruptor before he got hit by the plasma torps. So when we got to R1, he had 1 power available for trying to tractor me; I still had one available in my tractor pool (as I allocated 3, and used 2 on the drones), and 2 batteries left (as I did an HET, using 3 batteries and the 2 I had preallocated).

>>5) Would a Weasel have helped against all of the Gorn's Plasma? >>

At the point when I launched the plasma, he could have decelled and weaseled, but it would have prevented him from doing any significant damage, and I would have been able to get a R5 shot with 5 or 6 P1s and an F bolt on his #1, and then get away to reload. Which is certainly better than dying on T2, but he was gambling that my S torp was a fake. As it wasn't at all unlikely and unreasonable that it was a fake, given when I launched it.

>>6) It looks like both of you still had full #1's by the end of the game. Is that correct? >>

Correct. #1 shield is important. I go out of my way to protect it until it is needed (which sometimes it is, especially in a Gorn trying to anchor someone, which is often a thing that happens, but in my games, it usually happens late in the game, rather than being the thing I try from the get go. As that usually gets you killed). But in this instance, on T1, he shot my #3 (which was not the reinforced shield, he likely guessed my #6 was reinforced, and could get the shot on my #5 without getting himself killed). On T2, we ended up #2 to #6 when he shot me.

>>7) I can't see the map or the impulse chart, but why couldn't the Klingon avoid his down #2 in 2 impulses? Could a prepared HET have prevented this?>>

He was moving speed 27 (i.e. too fast to HET; a TC with 30 warp can't HET at higher than speed 26 for reasons), had just turned, couldn't legally slow down for 3 impulses, and I was moving across his bow, getting to R1 in front of him an impulse he didn't move. The next impulse I was gonna be at R1 or R2 off the down shield that the plasma went through (#2).

>>8) You didn't fire any Bolts this game. What happened to your Nickname?!?>>

Didn't come up. If he had decelled to weasel the plasma, I would have certainly bolted an F torp at his face before he stopped.

I don't play to get alpha bolt shots. I only very rarely bolt my S torps (well, ok, I usually bolt S torps at Tholians, but in general, only rarely will I bolt an S torp). But I regularly bolt F torps, as the difference between 5-6P1 on a flank shield and 5-6P1's +F bolt on a flank shield is a down shield to exploit later and a few internals (and then possibly a few more internals on the next impulse if I HET away and get another P1 or two in arc, which often is the case) vs an almost down shield that will be reinforced next time I see it. So I will regularly use an F bolt as a shield breaker.

Every once and a while, I have an opportunity to take a strong alpha bolt shot where it can really make a difference--against a WYN AUX that has turned off from pseudos or an enveloper (that won me a tournament final once), or against a cornered ship that just declared emergency deceleration. I won the Platinum Hat one year against a Romulan TKR, 'cause I had to stop and reinforce against a giant pile of plasma I couldn't weasel at the start of a turn, my opponent showed me a weak shield at R10, so I got him with S+F bolts and some P1s, and I lucked out, hitting with both bolts on 1-3's.

I'm generally more willing to risk bolts than a lot of people who play Big Plasma, which sometimes wins me game, and sometimes loses me games. But being more willing to do it than most other folks tends to work to my advantage, I'd like to think.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 11:59 am: Edit

Hey Paul! The tournament tree seems to be down?

By Norman Dizon (Normandizon) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 12:05 pm: Edit

Ted, what you have to do is hang a black and white picture of Peter on your wardrobe mirror in a cabin deep in snowy Russia. Then train super-hard like in Rocky IV, staring with rock-hard eyes at the picture every day. Play "Burning Heart" and "Heart's on Fire" in the background as you train. When you finally reach the top of the snowy mountain, yelling "BAKIJA!!!!!!!" for all of Russia to hear, you will be ready to destroy his ship in combat when next you meet.

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 12:08 pm: Edit

---

Quote:

At the point when I launched the plasma, he could have decelled and weaseled, but it would have prevented him from doing any significant damage, and I would have been able to get a R5 shot with 5 or 6 P1s and an F bolt on his #1, and then get away to reload. Which is certainly better than dying on T2, but he was gambling that my S torp was a fake. As it wasn't at all unlikely and unreasonable that it was a fake, given when I launched it.

---

By Norman Dizon (Normandizon) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 12:17 pm: Edit

Peter, thanks for the wonderful insight!

Understanding your energy allocation details, what would have happened on good die rolls (instead of bad), why the weasel and HET wasn't used by the Klingon, what your exact positions were on the map in regards to the down #2 shield, and why you bolt and don't bolt in games is invaluable. Much appreciated.

You guys are truly Masters of the Game!

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 12:20 pm: Edit

Ted wrote:
>>Maybe I'm wrong, but I seem to recall seeing some way to avoid the phasers through the down shield. But it's probably moot (and Peter is probably right).>>

It isn't at all impossible that I was off an impulse or something, but at the time last night, I saw that:

A) You were too fast to HET, and probably couldn't anyway.

B) Couldn't satisfy your turn mode before I got off your shield.

C) Couldn't slow down and turn before I got off your shield.

I think the sequence was (from when we were at R1, #6 to #2), the next impulse (N), I moved directly in front of you and you didn't move. N+1, I move forward, you can go forward (down shield, R1), slip away (down shield R2), or slip the other way (identical positions to impulse N). If you slip the other way, impulse N+2, you go forward, I go forward, back to R1, down shield.

Like, again, at the time, I was certain this was going to happen (I checked your speed change impulses, etc.). But then it is also possible I was wrong then :-)