Archive through August 06, 2021
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Star Fleet Battles: General Tactics Discussion:
Klingon Tactics:
Archive through August 06, 2021
In our ongoing Captain's Game, I've been assigned OPFOR in the base defense mission.
Year is 165. I've have a D7B and D6B to attack a Federation Base Station defended by a Federation CAR+.
Looking at the SSD for the base station, I'm at a loss as to how these two ships could take it down alone much less when it is defended by a heavy cruiser.
With 4 Phaser-4s bearing in any one direction, doing enough damage to the base before losing fighting effectiveness seems daunting.
Would appreciate any advice.
Buy maximum amounts of IX drones with ATG.
Scatter packs at range 35. ATG to come on right at max range freeing up your control channels. Multiple scatter packs timed to arrive at intervals inconvenient to rotation and 8 impulse shooting delay over turn breaks
There is only one man who was ever able to destroy a Federation Base Station defended by a Heavy Cruiser with only a D7B and a D6B. They had to add a completely new rule just for his unique tactics. Please lookup:
(SPP.KK.840.4562.99.6160133) KLINGON KAMIKAZE
I don't think the long range approach will work well. ATG is only available on 1 drone in Y165 and would replace medium speed. Also, the ship start closer than 35.
I'm thinking maybe go in as fast as you can and fire overloads at range 8. Maybe some standards at 9-15 depending on power availability and how much reinforcement you can afford. I haven't checked the distances but it looks like you start 20-ish hexes away from the base? Try to time it to get into 8 by impulse 25, fire overloads, and fire them again impulse 1, and then flee the scene. Base rotation may affect the timing since you want to hit the same shield both times if at all possible. If they fire early you may be able to push to range 4 but the extra 2 damage per disruptor isn't worth being crippled unless it means you also get to cripple the base (and can still escape with that ship).
Be sure to buy UIM with your Commander's options. If you can get two turns of firing on the same shield then don't use UIM on the first one. Burnout would completely remove your second salvo.
The station will be at WS-I so won't have weasels. You're at WS-II so get those drones and scatter-packs out there, timed to hit the same shield as your firing pass. The scenario is set for Y168 as the default. Request that. Y165 is a major hindrance as it limits speed 20 drones to 10% (1) instead of 25% in Y166 (2). 10% means only one Type x-M. 25% means you can have 2. This is a big deal for scatter-packs.
Think about powering transporters. You're going to lose a shield and can pop T-bombs out of it. The base won't set them off but a single drone or shuttle can.
All you have to do to win is cripple the base while only having one attacker crippled so don't get tunnel vision.
Get in. Get out. Regale your comrades with stories of puny humans crushed beneath the might of the empire.
Note that to get two weapon shots on one shield requires a base with a rotation of 3 or less (Rotation 4 is every 8 impulses, turn break weapons fire is 9).
Norman, can you just publish a link?
Sure, Mike. Let me get the link to the Klingon Kamikaze for you. That's strange...it's been deleted by someone with top-level clearance.
Uh oh! SPP just Displaced onto my front lawn from his Dominator. He's wearing his black helmet and black cape. His red lightsaber is lit.
"Good morning, SPP. I won't mention your maneuver again, I promise! Please, spare me! I apologize, just like Captain Needa did. No wait! You don't have to use your red lightsaber on me..."
"AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
Well, I'll take a gander at this...
Take the 2 allowed SP's going in.
Begin loading a third SP.
Park both ships at range 10.
With maximum reinforcement, the P-IV's will not take down the shield.
Launch the ship's drones at the Base and 1 SP (speed zero) from each ship targeting the Base.
As your double drone control frees up, launch more drones asap (ship or available SP).
One will recover the used SP via tractor beam (at range 0).
In theory, you have 3 turns before the Base can have a WW ready.
Nah. You want the Scatter packs to break AT LEAST 16 hexes out so as to make popping them difficult.
Perhaps get some good drones out (at base) and space them so t-bombs can not get them all, target some at the CAR to keep it away, and then get in close to effective ph-2 range and blast away at the base (may also get to place up to 8 Klingon T-bombs at base and set them off, or mass BP hit and runs).
Sitting could be a recipe for disaster unless you get lucky and the reinforcements are slow.
Also, why range 10? 9-15 is the same for your phasers and disrupters. You want at least 14 since that's the spot where P4s drop off.
Range 15 can be good, is there a time limit/turn limit to complete the scenario?
There's no time limit but if the CAR+ arrives and the Klingons are just sitting still they could be in for a world of hurt. Then again, maybe the photons roll all sixes and they get to really, really win the scenario.
I did a practice run last night. The attacking ships are at Weapon Status II. So only one prepared SP. I used my one "rare" drone as a speed-20 ECM drone. All other drones are speed 12.
Since the base is in the center of the map, you start off pretty close. I decided to try doing serious damage to the station ASAP, so I set speed of 20 (which would park me right next to the base at the end of the turn) and left the disruptors unpowered in order to have ECM and a bit of reinforcement. On impulse 1 I launched ECM drones to accompany my ships.
The base started warming up 2 weasels, set ECM to 10 (for a guaranteed 2-shift) using one of the channels , and charged up phasers as best as it could.
The attackers used all 4 shuttles (two decoy two real) when dropping scatter packs off. This gave the base some difficult choices of what to do with the Ph-4's. Each SP broke with 2x large and 2 x small drones.
On impulse #25, the base fired on the D6 with 4x Ph-4. The rolls were very bad and only 45 damage was scored - dropping the #1 shield and doing 2 internals after reinforcement and batteries.
On impulse #32 the Klingons parked right next to the base with their #2 shields facing the base.
Turn 2 impulse 1 was exciting! The Klingons (speed 12) fired all 8 overloaded disruptors. The D6 also fired all bearing phasers (figuring it was about to get wrecked) and the D7 held off firing any phasers. Both ships also launched 2x large drones.
The base threw 4x Ph-4 into the D6 against a 1-shift and rolled (4,6,6,6). Yikes! The D6 still took a pile of damage but was not crippled. Half the disruptors hit (40 dmg) and the D6 did well with Ph-2 (13 dmg) considering the shift. The base took heavy damage but was not nearly crippled. It lost one sensor, both bearing Ph-3, and a drone rack.
On impulse #2, the base launched a WW. The D7 shot it down immediately (mistake, I think), and also threw some Ph-2 into the base's down shield, taking out the ADD, the remaining special sensor, and the photon.
Impulse #3 had the Klingons turn off and use their remaining phasers out the "phaser hose" to the rear - stripping the base of most of the rest of its weapons. They also performed H&R raids that managed to take out the last shuttle bay on the base (no more WW). The drones hit the exploding WW and did 10 collatoral damage to an undamaged shield.
A few impulses later, I made a huge mistake with the base that cost the game. 
The base rotated and brought the remaining 2 Ph-4 into arc. And I took a shot at the D6, hoping to take it to crippled. This voided the weasel and the 8 incoming drones re-acquired the base. With no drones, ADD, phasers, or weasel...
By the time the CA arrived on Turn 3, the Klingons were leaving a very much crippled base behind.
Had I not made the error with the weasel, I think the base would have been heavily damaged but not crippled and the Klingons would have been forced to make another run (with the CA defending) or call it a draw.
I learned a lot and hope that the practice will make me better at both defending and attacking bases.
"By the time the CA arrived on Turn 3"
IMO this is the biggest issue with this scenario. A turn 3 or 4 CA is vastly different than a turn 1 CA.
I'm now wondering if the Base Station is intended to have hangar modules and fighters? Or what? The scenario isn't very clear.
The base could have used the remaining channel to break the lock of the shuttles, could have had 3 chances at range 15 and in.
Ten Klingon transporters, especially at point blank range with downed shields. Hit-and-Run raids? Especially against Phaser-4s.
Any minefield? If not, why not put down a t-bomb (or three) along a route you might expect the Fed CA to come down?
Have the Scatter Pack set to go after the Fed CA? They're delayed by that, you're able to do a bit more to the base before skedaddling
The scenario specifies exactly what each side has. No fighters or pods are mentioned. That would defin9help even the score.
I wonder how the scenario would play out of the reinforcements were always scheduled for the end of turn 1?
The arriving CAR turn 1 may be in the scenario options? (or make it so, to try it out).
Could the base have generated 12 ECCM (6 from the base and 6 from a special sensor) to negate the Klingon's ECM advantage? It must truly be a FED Base Station for "a 1-shift and rolled (4,6,6,6) at range 1". That did not help. In this attack the Klingons are smiling as they had an EW advantage. This was too easy for the Klingons.
If no pods are mentioned does the base have zero pods? Cargo pods? I was under the impression that there was always some kind of pod. But I'm not very base-savy.
As for EW. The base had the choice of either hiding or seeking. Since it's mission was to survive till help arrived I decided to go with ECM. The 2-shift saved the base a pile of damage.
Scatter packs were set to break open at range 16 to avoid issues with the scout channels. 
The CA could arrive on turn 1 or it could arrive on turn 4. This kind of wild variability is a signature of SFB. It can drive you crazy when playing something huge like "The Lone Grey Wolf", but it makes for great emergent storytelling.
A lot of SFB scenarios have random elements in the scenario design that can affect balance; anything from initial weapon status to the arrival of reinforcements. I like Daniel Eastland's comment about this making for "... great emergent storytelling." And uncertainty about when the enemy reinforcements will arrive can create interesting choices for the attacher. Usually, this random element is not so decisive that it determines the scenario victor all by itself. But for exceptional cases, if the random variability is felt to be too decisive in terms of scenario balance, you can adjust it based on player skill and experience. In the specific scenario under discussion, if the Klingon is the more expereinced player, define by fiat that the CA arrives early. If the Klingon is inexperienced, define it as arriving late.
I think the Base Station could use a second special sensor to create 6 ECM. So 12 ECCM and 6 ECM (or vice versa) is possible. The third sensor would be for drone removal.
I do not think the Base Station could defend against a renewable 24 drone wave before a WW could be armed. While I learned my execution can be improved as a Klingon, I think the concept is valid.
John,
A Base Station only has two special sensors. A Battle Station has four.