Yeah I suspect that if I ran headlong into Kzintai, I'd get demolished at this point; not enough maulers (i.e. one and a half currently), not enough solid EW support in the hex; the Kzintis have, IIRC, 18PDU, SB, all their Aux drone ships for extra brutal free drone bombardment. I mean, not that I'm necessarily saying I'm *not* going for the Homeworld this turn (hint: I'm not), but it is probably a terrible idea currently.

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 - 03:51 pm: Edit

(Insert sporting trash talk)

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 02:19 am: Edit

215

Looks pretty low on losses - and I am guessing the below average rolling pus EW effect probably saved 20 ships being crippled?

(150 compot say x 9%* lower damage x 11 rounds)

4% from difference in rolls and 5% due to -2 on EW. Not a lot they can do about EW - but with similar dice, that might have caused 9 more cripples say.

Alas EW is one rule which probably hurts the Hydrans more than anyone else (inability for an ally to help and no modest EW Scouts - Kzinti atleast get the CD for example AND only lose 18 compot for 5 extra EW from a SB).

Do the Hydrans have any Scout Tugs left?

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 02:31 am: Edit

Gotta get the most use that you can from aux scouts, PGS's, EW network and so on. Their DDS is a decent BG scout.

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 02:49 am: Edit

The Hydrans lost their Scout tug a few turns ago. If I put my other PGS on the line I still would have had a 2 shift against. Peter was running 13 EW.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 07:45 am: Edit

>>Looks pretty low on losses - and I am guessing the below average rolling pus EW effect probably saved 20 ships being crippled?>>

Yep. The Coalition had 13EW most of the time. The Hydrans only have PGS and SC's; they had a TGS get blown up a few turns back (as Jason pointed out). I did the math in a few rounds, and if they had leveraged EW over compot (i.e. to avoid a -2 shift and just settle for a -1 shift), they would have ended up doing less damage.

The Hydrans rolled terribly (avg +/-2.7), and then were shooting into a -2 shift. If they had rolled up instead of down, yeah, the Coalition would have taken 20 more cripples than they did on top of the dead ships (the Hydrans directed maulers and scouts, killing an impressive pile of expensive ships).

Re, Richard's comment, yeah, the AuxScouts all died at the Capital, and the Hydrans only have PGS and SCs. They probably could have upgraded to some better scouts by now, but spent all their extra money on the ID :-)

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 04:56 pm: Edit

The Hydrans really dont have "better" scouts.

There is a new shipyard coming next turn, so we shall see what they start to build.

Maybe the introduction of the Gorn will also help put some pressure on the Coalition.

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 06:13 pm: Edit

T11C combat is now over. The Alliance took a pounding pretty much everywhere, but at least in the Kzinti capital they managed to hit back a little.

The Coalition re-devastated all the outer planets, leaving Kuballus alone. In return they lost 2xCC, DW, D7C, and F5L.

It remains to be seen just how much Alliance space they will keep ships in but Peter seems very keen to keep the Alliance economy as low as possible.

By chris upson (Misanthropope) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 08:08 pm: Edit

Im obsolete by now, but on the coalition side i've loved EW battle groups for the coalition forever. FF to DWS all day just for the sheer expendability of the things, and D5S rarely fails to be more useful than a vanilla CA.

On the hydran side, there isn't a lot you can do except (duh) try to maximize the value of the free EW of your fortifications. The PIV has always struck me as being a real value for the hydrans, *mostly* for letting you not spend a ton of cash on carriers (so you can field as many of those preposterous inner escorts as possible), but having a couple PIV groups in a big hydran fleet at least makes line selection for the coalition a little harder.

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 09:08 pm: Edit

The Hydrans had very big lines. Around 173 to begin which is pretty good, but not so much when you keep rolling low, the EW shift takes you lower, and VBIR is against you pretty much every round as well.

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 09:41 pm: Edit

The best thing is to plan based on both good and bad rolls and determine if you need to take special account of such events when composing your battle line (and also when choosing what to move to potential battle hexes).

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 09:41 pm: Edit

CT11

And it's over!

In Hydran space, the Coalition killed off SB 0215 and cut the main Hydran fleet out of supply and low on fighters. They'll be back in supply with no effort at all, but they won't be doing much on AT11.

In Kzinti space, the Coalition recaptured most of Kzinti space, including 3 recovered planets (now devastated and recaptured). They raided the Kzinti Capital again, re-devastating all planets outside of the Kzintai system (losing 4 command cruisers and a DW in the process). They left Kuballis (Kzintai Minor) undevastated to avoid all the crazy ships in the Kzintai system.

On the Fed/Klingon front, the Klingons took and hold planet 2610 (although only with, like, 15 ships), killed BATS 2612, and solidified their position in the south of Fed space.

On the Fed/Romulan front, the Romulans killed 4 BATS, captured planet 3711, and a bunch of Fed provinces.

The Klingons are setting up a MB in 2916 with the Romulan BATS that is being upgraded. The Romulans are now setting up a MB at Klingon SB 1716. The Lyrans sent the Romulans 20EPs.

Coalition have most of their ships in Hydran space in 0617; most of their ships in Kzinti space at SB 1407; a bunch of Coalition ships in hex 2916 with base upgrades; about 60 ships in range of the Fed Capital (2408 and 2610). Most Romulans are in 3612 and 3912.

There are 3 Lyran reserves; 0705 (weak), 1407 (strong), 1910 (strong). 3 Klingon reserves; 1209 (modest), 1910 (pretty good), 2715 (ok). 2 Romulan reserves; 3914 (strong), 3317 (ok).

Ships Killed:
ZIN:
HYD: RN, LN, CU, (2LAV)
FED: CC, FF

LYR: 2CC, 4STT, STJ, 2CWS, DW
KLI: D7C, D6M, D6S, F5L, E4
ROM: FAL

Hydrans lost SB; Feds lost 5 BATS, 4PDU (2 minor planets).

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Thursday, January 18, 2018 - 05:13 pm: Edit

Well, the Hydrans have very little to do it T11A. There are a lot of ships out of supply that will get back in to supply, and probably 2 Coalition ships will die. They managed to build an RN and a CU, but have now completed their Shipyard.

The Kzinti are currently counting ships to see if they can do anything fun again, and I think I may be able to do something. They built a lot of FF and some escorts, but no carriers (having built 2xCVS last turn).

The Feds again built around 40 ships but are slowly getting surrounded by Coalition ships and are running out of easy targets. Its likely that I will be needing to engage big fleets regularly just to keep them at bay.

To date Peter has not invaded the Tholians. Though that option is certainly on the cards.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Thursday, January 18, 2018 - 06:16 pm: Edit

Here is the map, as of the end of CT11:

http://www.lightlink.com/pdb6/SCD2mapCT11.html

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Thursday, January 18, 2018 - 06:29 pm: Edit

Yeah, I haven't gone to the Tholians, but I'm now beginning to realize that building the Coalition SB in the south of Fed space exactly 2 hexes from Tholian space (i.e. 2916) may not have been the best idea, long term...

AT11

For construction, the Alliance built:

ZIN: MEC, CM, MSC, 2FKE (one an EFF>FKE), EFF, FFK, 6FF, 2PDU (Kzintai)

HYD: RN, CU, Shipyard 6

FED: DN+, 10NCL, 2DE, 12FF, 2FFE, 2PDU (Earth), 5FF (overbuild); activate CA, 3CL, 3FF

The Kzinti generated about 50EPs; the Feds generated about 180 EPs.

The Feds and Kzinti downbuilt a bunch of ships as FFs; the Feds didn't do any elaborate conversions; both ended with not much in treasury (ZIN about 4; FED about 17) after construction and repairs. The Hydrans finished their shipyard and have about 20 EPs saved.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Friday, January 19, 2018 - 04:02 pm: Edit

AT11

Moves have started! In Kzinti space, the Kzinti look like their plan is (at least for now) to reclaim as much of their space as possible, attacking Coalition province raiders so far. In Fed space, the Feds are doing the same, attacking province raiders and the forward deployed Klingons, as well as starting to engage Romulan province raiders. In Hydran space, the Hydrans have opened supply to their main fleet; the Hydrans will probably be able to kill a handful of Coalition ships this turn with no retribution, as the Coalition have no reserve on the Hydran front.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Saturday, January 20, 2018 - 04:36 pm: Edit

AT11

Moves continue. In Kzinti space, the Kzinti continue to lord (Lorde? She's awseome!) their ship superiority over the Coalition. That have attacked planets 1105, 1202, 1506, are retaking 1502 (well, the Klingons abandoned it), attacking some province garrisons, and then sent 131 SEQ from the Capital towards the Lyran SB in 1407; which the Coalition reacted off and pinned them in open space. The Kzinti then went and sent most of their ships on SB 1704 to pin the two dozen ships left at SB 1407 (including a reserve). The Kzinti still have about 13 ships left unmoved at SB 1704 (which looks like it might be planning on being a reserve?).

On the Fed/Klingon border, the Feds are attacking everything they can, including two fleets of forward deployed Klingons (in range of Earth) and numerous province raiders.

Over on the Romulan/Fed front, things are getting a little nutty--the Feds have attacked a few groups of province garrisons, and then sent a whole bunch of ships to start pinning the 60 some odd SEQ of Romulans on planet 3612. The 6th Fleet on SB 3611 can finish the pinning job, and then have another two dozen ships free to go and wreak havoc on the Romulan border; the Romulans do have 2 reserves, however.

In Hydran space, the Hydrans have settled for getting their main fleet back in supply (and re-stocked with fighters), and killing a couple E4s that were in the way.

Moves continue.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Saturday, January 20, 2018 - 08:25 pm: Edit

AT11

Moves are done. Nothing changed in Hydran space; in Kzinti space, the Kzinti sent their last batch of ships to go kill Klingon BATS 1307; the Lyrans sent a reserve to defend it, but it will probably die anyway (it send fighters to go and pin Kzintis in 1406). On the Fed/Rom front, the Feds ended up attacking planet 3415 (which will be saved by a reserve) and BATS 3516 (which had a reserve show up, which may or may not save the BATS). The Romulans are relived, as they were envisioning much worse outcomes for this turn...

Combat is underway. So far, it turns out that being an E4 captain is rough...

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, January 21, 2018 - 09:48 am: Edit

AT11

Combat is winding up. So far, lots of little ships have been killed on both sides, although all Romulan cloak evasion rolls succeeded (saving at least 3 little Romulan ships). Most fights have been of the "two great forces clash, each side loses an FF, one side retreats" or "My mob beats up your FF and we lose nothing" variety.

The one exciting fight was on the Fed/Rom front, where the Feds had about 2 dozen ships that could attack the Romulan front without getting pinned; they hit captured planet 3415 (which was saved by a reserve) and BATS 3516, which was defended by a reserve, but the BATS went down when both sides rolled up, and the Feds dropped 33 damage on the unimpressive reserve and BATS. Rather than crippling half the reserve and trying to keep the BATS alive, the BATS took most of the damage, a nearby Convoy got caught in the crossfire, and the Romulans blew up an SC and retreated.

I was concerned that those Fed ships were going to push into Romulan space and kill Romulan SB 4015, which would have only been defended by the same, not real impressive, reserve (a dozen ships, but mostly SP/SEH hulls), but it would have been a rough fight for the Feds that got there, and there were possible situations where ships that went to hit that SB would have been blocked from retrograding back anywhere after the fight, so I guess Jason decided it was too risky to try.

A few more fights to finish up, but most of them are one round and done fights.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, January 21, 2018 - 08:46 pm: Edit

AT11

Combat is over!

In Hydran space, the Hydrans got their main fleet back in supply, killed a couple E4s, and have control of a couple provinces.

In Kzinti space, the Kzinti recaptured a few planets, took back some space, and made an abortive attack on BATS 1307.

On the Fed/Klingon front, the Feds killed a bunch of small ships, took back planet 2610, and pushed a couple fleets back away from Earth.

On the Fed/Romulan front, the Fed killed BATS 3516, a convoy, a KE, and recaptured some space and planet 3612.

Ships Killed:
ZIN: 4FF
HYD:
FED: NCL, SC, FFE, 3FF, (E2C)

LYR: DWE
KLI: D5, 3F5E, 5E4
ROM: KE, (Convoy)

Roms lost a BATS.

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Monday, January 22, 2018 - 07:44 pm: Edit

I managed to mess up the attack on BATS 1307 by going in with about 8 or 10 fewer ships than I could have, had I been more careful with earlier pinnings. I even made proper counts in my planning, then decided to ignore that.

In Romulan space the attack on BATS 3516 went far better. Got plenty of big ships including carriers there, and managed to take out a BATS and Convoy - which will set the Coalition economy back for a few turns at least. And also encourage Peter to take longer routes.

Now I just need to find a way to get the Tholians in to the game and I can really set about blocking the Klingons and Romulans.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Monday, January 22, 2018 - 08:11 pm: Edit

Oh, that was just a regular supply Convoy in 3516, not a Commercial Convoy. The ComCon is over on the Tholian border; that Convoy was the one I used on T10 to allow the Romulans ot retreat onto planet 3612; it was just sitting around, waiting to do something useful.

The Tholians will enter the game on T22 regardless. And then I'll feel dumb that I built that Romulan base exactly 2 hexes from Tholain territory...

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 - 07:22 am: Edit

Clearly your best bet is to invade Tholian space early. We saw how effective that is with AFD.

So much money up for grabs there !

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 - 08:05 am: Edit

We're going in!

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Wednesday, January 24, 2018 - 05:18 pm: Edit

AT11

The turn is over!

In Hydran space, most of the Hydrans moved off map, leaving 8 ships spread over hexes 0117 and 0118; they have two moderate reserves off map.

In Kzinti space, the Kzinti have most of their ships in the Capital, about 50 ships at SB 1704, and no reserves (they moved all their ships again this turn).

On the Fed/Klingon front, the Feds have enough ships on SB 2204 to keep it from getting killed, a bunch of fleets around the Capital (+/- 3 or 4 hexes), and three reserves in there as well.

On the Fed/Romulan front, the Feds have about 60 ships on SB 3611, a bunch of small groups of ships up in the NE of Fed space on various BATS and planets up in that direction. There is one centrally located reserve that can reach to the Romulan front.