As I mentioned before, there is really no reason not to start the next one. Why wait? It takes 3 week to get registration sorted out anyway.

By Stephen McCann (Moose) on Saturday, March 30, 2024 - 11:33 pm: Edit

Spartan over Moose. I forgot that I had repaired a warp box as awr and had counted its power towads movement. Totally screwed up my plot, so I conceded. Geoff played a great game. Good luck to both Geoff and Jack in the final.

By Geoffrey Clark (Spartan) on Sunday, March 31, 2024 - 01:55 am: Edit

Spartan's RFH over Moose's WAX

Turn 8, impulse 18, WAX changes speed to 28 with EPT plasma inbound ... but when we look at the 17 warp boxes, it is clear that speed 26 is max with impulse, so there was a gracious concession. Thanks Stephen for the great game.

I'll summarize quickly here:

Turn 1 - RFH plots 14/12/14, holding G's, 1xWW, PFC, cloak. WAX plots 31, rolls a 3 for lock-on, so RFH uses reserve warp to stay at 14. Both ships close in, then on imp 26, RFH uses another reserve warp to accelerate to 17, spoiling the range 0 phaser strike by moving into the WAX's hex. Around this time, WAX turns left to move along the southern wall towards the East. Rom turns to move East as well.

Turn 2 - WAX is again 31, RFH plots 26/25/26/20 for 26 moves, 3 to HET, holding G's, 1xWW. WAX turns around, then heads North. Rom comes out of cloak, eventually launches 2xS, and slips out. WAX decides to challenge the S's, launches 4x drones (?) slips into the plasma at about range 10, finds they are both fake, as he expected. Rom then turns in, and WAX turns to move West, blasts with all Ph-1s, about range 4, rolls well and does 30 points, dropping the Rom's #2. Rom then HETs to give chase, gets to range 3, phasers down the #5 to 5 boxes. No additional plasma launch.

Turn 3 - WAX is 31. Rom plots 27/31/20 for 29 total moves, still holding WW. There is a race towards the south map edge, Rom has a tough time to lead the WAX, and retain an advance position, given the down #2 (maybe I should have given the range ~5 shot to him to obtain a favorable plasma launch position?) and WAX decides to launch 4 new drones, drops tracking on 2 of the others. Rom slips to avoid the new drones, WAX gets a good shot at range 2 on the full #6, scores 50, sees 3 reinf (btty) does 17 internals ... RW/LW, all forward hull, 3x Phaser, 1x btty ... Rom does not return fire. WAX is getting away, so at range 4 Rom decides to bolt on the #4, hits with 2xS, misses with F, sees 5 reinforcement, then mizia's with 2xPh-1s does ~8 internals in two volleys, hits RW/LW, 1x drone, 1x control, fluff. WAX is running North, Rom is following, having turned the #1, and also going North. Towards the end of the turn, WAX "gets greedy" (his words) and turns back in (East), slips in, and Rom launches the last Plasma F from tube D, which is angling to hit the down #4 on impulse 1. WAX slips the weak #5, and takes about 3 more internals, RW/LW, ... fluff. Rom turns out (North-West), puts the strong #3 vs the WAX's down #5 at the end of the turn.

Intermission

Turn 4 - WAX is 24, reloads phasers, btty. Rom plots 9/4/13/9, allocates 4 to tractor, arms phasers, starts some new WW, allocates power to transporters. Impulse 1, Rom tractors two drones at range 1, blasts the down #5 and does 12 more internals ... RW/LW, control, some ph-3s, fluff. WAX's return fire brings the #3 down to ~4 boxes. WAX moves off, Rom slips away from 4x drones, but remains on down #5, drops the #3 and executes 3x Hit & Runs, this nets another RW & LW, bringing the total warp down to 17 (speed 25, or 26 with impulse). Next Rom drops speed to 4, uses WW to clear the drones. WAX makes a big swing around the North-East corner to eventually bringing the strong #5 & #6 shields to bear. Rom speeds back up to 13-14, and uses reserve warp to stay at that speed. WAX launches 3x drones towards the end of the turn. Rom repairs 1 box on the #6, and 2xPh-3 on the left side.

Turn 5 - WAX plots 24. Rom plots 4/0/-9, PFC, cloaks out impulse 1, drones loose tracking. WAX closes in to try to get a weak shield, but has to settle for the full #5 due to TACs. Phaser alpha strike rolls hot and does 21 damage, even through the cloak chart. WAX moves off, we end the turn like range 12-14. WAX repairs LW as AWR.

Turn 6 - WAX plots 24, Rom plots 0/9/4 (later uses reserve to stay at speed 9), de-cloaks, has 4x Plasma ready this turn, arms only 1xF, the rest are rolling. WAX keeps his distance, staying in the 15 bracket (probably waiting to see if there is an EPT armed ...). Rom points the strong #1 and gets back up to forward speed, repairs 1 box on the #2.

Turn 7 - WAX plots 24/27 (which we later realized was not possible given his warp). Rom plots 10/17/14 (later uses reserve to accel to 19), arms 1xEPT. WAX turns in on impulse 4, about range 16-18 (?), but is aimed directly towards the Rom, so this draws out the EPT. WAX turns south, giving the Rom a look at the strong #2 & #3, fires 9x Ph-3s at the plasma, rolls poorly and scores 29 damage. WAX then turns again to the South-West, plasma ends up hitting for 6 points after phasers, and 4 of those are absorbed by general reinf. Rom is just following and gaining speed. Late in the turn, WAX launches 3x drones, Rom fires 4xPh-1s on the weak #4, range 11, and whiffs completely.

Turn 8 - WAX plots 27 all turn (again not possible given his warp status). Rom plots 19/27/14, with the other EPT armed, and chasing on a tight-rope with the full #1, but one box on the #2 & #6. WAX circles around in the SW corner, comes back out showing the strong #6, but angles will eventually show the down #5. Drones are closing in, as well as Rom, about range 9-10, Rom accelerates to 27, thinking this will permit the last move. WAX turns in about range 8 as drones are getting close to the Rom. Rom launches EPT and keeps the #1 pointed at the WAX, fires 3xPh-3 at drones, kills only 1. We are getting in closer now, about range 3-4, WAX's #2 vs Rom's #1, and WAX announces speed change to 28. At this point, we evaluate the warp situation, and discover that the WAX cannot move 28, nor 27, 26 is max with impulse. Moose concedes at this point.

Post-game discussion:

EPT is going to hit for full, less whatever phasers used in defense. Rom is considering slipping to put the #4 in front of the 2 drones that survived the phaser defenses. Rom has 2x F-torp to launch, WAX has 3x drones to launch. Neither ship has allocated tractor, WAX has 5x btty, Rom has 4x btty. Manuever plays a key roll here, with Rom trying to keep the strong #1 between, and WAX angling to get a shot before the FA Ph-1s go out of arc. Rom has used 3xPh-3, has 4xPh-1, plus 1xPh-3, has 2x Trac, but only 4 x reserve ... so it would have been pretty tricky in the next few impulses.

As I recall, in Sapphire 12/13/14 (?), Moose and I had a long game of 14 turns, WAX vs RKR, and I ended up having to concede because I used a quick load F, and then mistakenly continued to arm it as an S. This time the shoe is on the other foot. This is a tough match-up, and a skilled opponent. I look forward to a re-match someday. Thanks for the good game, Moose.

By Jack Taylor (Jtaylor) on Sunday, March 31, 2024 - 05:41 pm: Edit

BP RULES!

By Jack Taylor (Jtaylor) on Monday, April 01, 2024 - 12:22 pm: Edit

MadJack v Spartan R1 scheduled for 5p eastern today.

Probably.

By Jack Taylor (Jtaylor) on Tuesday, April 02, 2024 - 12:22 am: Edit

MadJack v Spartan got 3 turns in today.

Really brief summary

T1 - I launched an enveloper and he launched 2 real S's. We both launched late in the turn and we both fired 4p1 for light shield damage.

T2 - We both ran out torps and turned around towards the center.

T3 - He launched 2 real F's and bolted 2 fastload S and did 9 internals to the Gorn with phasers. Internals were all fluff, 1p3, no power. The real F's basically were run out for nothing. The Gorn bolted 1 S/F plus phasers for 3 internals including 1 warp and a p3 through the FH's #1 shield. The Gorn also launched an F that did 15 on shield 4. The Gorn also has more phasers so managed 14 more damage on the FH's #6. We both Heted this turn. We ended the turn at range 4 both breathing heavy. It was hectic.

Upcoming T4 - there is only 1 torp available between us.

Overall, Romulan shield damage is adding up. Gorn's 4 is down and has a few more fluffy internals.

Resuming tomorrow at 5p eastern.

By Jack Taylor (Jtaylor) on Tuesday, April 02, 2024 - 09:50 pm: Edit

MadJack v Spartan got 3 more turns in today.

T4 - He cloaked and ww'd. I shot through the shift for about 10 shield damage. He sped up very little while cloaked and I turned a circle.

T5 - He stayed cloaked and I was able to maneuver onto his down 1 for 15 internals with some good shooting at range 0. 2 power, 2 p1, 1 p3, F-torp, other minor stuff.

T6 - he came out of cloak and I launched a real s at him to really discourage pursuit on my down #4. He only has 1 front shield left so what I was really looking for was for him to turn his good shields away from me, which he did. He didn't outrun the torp or me. The torp hit his 5 for 10 and I put another 10 on it with phasers at range 8.

His shields are wrecked and he up against the maps edge with his good shields facing the wrong way. His shields are 0/26/24/10/4/1 (I think) My 4 is only 1 box which isn't good but all the rest the shields are solid. I have S/F/F available, and he has S/S/F available if they are all armed.

By Geoffrey Clark (Spartan) on Thursday, April 04, 2024 - 01:44 am: Edit

Hey Jack,

Thanks for writing the quick summaries. I'm getting ready for karate special training, departing this Friday and will be at it until Sunday evening. Maybe we can continue on Tuesday morning TYO / Monday evening your time?

By Jack Taylor (Jtaylor) on Thursday, April 04, 2024 - 03:16 pm: Edit

Ok with me - don't hurt yourself!

By Jack Taylor (Jtaylor) on Tuesday, April 09, 2024 - 10:28 am: Edit

Update - Spartan missed our session last night for some reason. Working on rescheduling.

By Geoffrey Clark (Spartan) on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 - 10:10 pm: Edit

Jack, please note the "maybe" in the note above. After a long weekend of tough karate, and too many mosquito bites (even in early April!), I was not in a position to continue our battle at that time. So, I apologize.

Thus, after consideration, I'll just concede the battle. There is an opportunity, but I doubt the position can be recovered enough for victory.

I think there were two choices made that did not end well for the Romulans. First, on Turn 3, after the bolt exchange, and the Gorn HET, the Romulan HET to pursue was not in the interest of the Romulans afterall. I should have simply used the last reserve warp to arm the RX Ph-1, taken whatever other internals I could muster, and turned off to re-arm. Second, on Turn 5, I removed too many options to avoid the Gorn phaser strike while cloaked ... no chance to change speed, no chance to slip or turn ... so that plus good phaser dice yielded too many internals. This was all the result of the decision to pursue on Turn 3, so that was the primary mistake.

Congratulations Jack.

By Jack Taylor (Jtaylor) on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 - 11:59 pm: Edit

Thanks Geoff. Personally, I think your best opportunity was a center-lined bolt the turn you launched the F's and a HET away from me. With some favorable dice you would have been pretty far ahead if you had gone with that plan. I wasn't excited about my position when the bolts happened. No matter what I was bolting you this game, that was the plan from the beginning. I didn't really get the shot I wanted so you won that part of the battle.

After the bolts, I think cloaking hurt you more than helped. You seemed to be having all kinds of power problems and were very hard pressed to keep me off a down shield or keep my phasers from shooting you every turn. I rolled great there and that made a big difference.

Congrats on another solid Final Geoff -you played some very tough players to come so far in your Firehawk. Better luck next time - Jack.

By wayne douglas power (Wayne) on Thursday, April 11, 2024 - 06:03 am: Edit

Congratulations to Jack on the Sapphire Star 16 win.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Thursday, April 11, 2024 - 04:52 pm: Edit

Jack wrote:
>>T1 - I launched an enveloper and he launched 2 real S's. We both launched late in the turn and we both fired 4p1 for light shield damage.>>

Yeah, see, as a Gorn, every single time I arm an enveloper on T1 against a Romulan, it inevitably cloaks out...

By Jack Taylor (Jtaylor) on Friday, April 12, 2024 - 08:00 pm: Edit

Peter and I are playing a round of Carls tourney Sunday at 1p in case anyone is interested

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Friday, April 12, 2024 - 10:34 pm: Edit

Nice! 1pm Eastern?

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Friday, April 12, 2024 - 11:02 pm: Edit

8am pacific Carl and Daniel will duel. It's pirates vs dinosaurs

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Friday, April 12, 2024 - 11:02 pm: Edit

8am pacific Carl and Daniel will duel, also in that tourney. It's pirates vs dinosaurs.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Saturday, April 13, 2024 - 07:43 am: Edit

1pm Eastern Sunday for Jack and I; GRN vs LYR, I'm pretty sure.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, April 14, 2024 - 04:03 pm: Edit

Played the MassiveAttack! game vs Jack (LYR) and got myself killed. I figure I'll write it up here to give Jack some good street cred :-)

T1: I move 17/24, have some reinforcement on my #6, an enveloper. LYR moves, like, 16 all turn or something, corner dodges, comes out, I launch my enveloper pretty late, LYR gets to R14 off my #6, fires and hits with all 4 standards, doing 7 that sticks to my 6. We end at about R11.

T2: I move 24 all turn, rearm my torp, have some energy in HET and tractor. LYR moves 4/14. He slows down, weasels the torp, avoids collateral. I turn off. He follows slowly, speeding up to 14 on, like, i10 or so. I kinda stay inside of 12 hexes from him. Later in the turn, he turns to face me, so I launch 50 plasma at him. He mostly ignores it, and when it gets to R1, he vaporizes the F torp and eats the S torp in the face for full, but he had thought it was an enveloper, and not a standard torp, which may have convinced him to do something different. But he is surprised when it doesn't hit him for 60 damage. We end the turn at about R10 not really facing each other.

T3: Here is where it all goes bad. I figure he is gonna come in and engage, so I want to get on top of him before his phasers cycle on i6. I plot 26/31/17/12 with a HET and some tractor. He does not do what I think he is gonna do. He keeps moving off. I HET in before I speed up to 31. He turns off and activates his ESGs. I get to R4 off his #5, blast him with 2xF bolts (one is a fastload) and 4xP1. I hit with both bolts, roll well on phasers, do 8 internals after 4 reinforcement, but I don't hit an ESG on the traditional 3rd internal (which would have *really* helped me out here). He HETs in, I turn off, avoiding the impact for a few impulses. I get a couple shuttles in the way, but take 18 to my #3, followed by 8 phaser-1's over 3 or 4 impulses. I don't get too mangled, but lose 3 or 4 phasers and both F tubes. I eventually get him off my down sheild, and then boldly tractor him at R3, and by the end of the turn, I take down his #2 with my last S torp and follow it up with a few more P1's for another dozen in (hitting a disruptor and an empty ESG...). We end the turn at R3, LYR full #1 facing my lightly damaged #6.

T4: I'm doomed, as I have no torps, and am just gonna get shot a lot. But if I'm clever, and he moves some, I can get off hit down #6 with 12 points of breaking energy, so I do that and plot -8. Sadly, Jack is always hip to all of my possible tricks, and just stops and TACs specifically to prevent this. I'm done for, so I just end up at R1, trying to get off his down #6 and I hope his disruptors all miss. Only one misses and his very good phaser dice make up for it, and I am completely mangled.

I made bad, rash decisions on T3 (i.e. HETing into a fully armed Lyran) and really just should have avoided him on T3 when it turned out he wasn't just immediately turn in towards me. It also never helps that it is impossible to surprise anyone in this game anymore :-)

By wayne douglas power (Wayne) on Sunday, April 14, 2024 - 06:22 pm: Edit

Thank you for the battle report.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, April 14, 2024 - 07:01 pm: Edit

Absolutely. Like, it is unclear, but the S torp that hit him in the face on T2 was a pseudo (I forgot to indicate that above). If it had been real, I would have been infinitely better off--his #1 shield would be mangled, and I wouldn't have felt compelled to attack on T3. And he then would have had trouble pursuing me on T3 if I just wandered off.

Oh, the decisions we make that get us killed.

By Jack Taylor (Jtaylor) on Sunday, April 14, 2024 - 09:42 pm: Edit

T2 I had like 24 reinforcement on my front 3 shields. I was expecting an enveloper. When he launched 50 I was sure it was 60+20, in my imaginary mind. Oh well, all that ends well. I would not have taken it on the #6 had I seen that and still been happy. It could have been a terrible mistake. T3, I knew Peter had to have "some" tractor after Heting at me like that and I didn't have anything in tractor. I also knew he had to slow down and that I was speeding up later that is why I turned off instead of engaging as Peter would have liked. I had mostly allocated a HET so I thought it would be fine to move off and then come back around later. I used 4 batteries to stop internals and instead should have kept 1 or 2 to fight anchors. I was worried about losing an Esg. I think I would rather lose an esg there than get anchored later.

When playing Peter - I always look especially hard at the end of the turn to see what sneaky evilness he could maybe try. I have learned my lesson the hard way before. Fool me once it's on me kind of stuff. I saw his opening to get my down shield, maybe, but I thought it would be via a 2nd HET try, not 12 points in braking. Either way my planning was good. In my life, I bet I never ever used braking energy. Like ever.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Monday, April 15, 2024 - 02:53 am: Edit

I read somewhere that braking and reverse is the Wyn Het.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Monday, April 15, 2024 - 07:53 am: Edit

Heh, yeah, this was one of those games where:

A) I made a couple guesses on what my opponent was going to do, and they he did not do that.

and

2) My opponent had seen me play in this ship 50 times; I have never seen him play a Lyran.

Ends poorly for me :-)