It's less easy to keep them off map than one would think.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Monday, April 23, 2018 - 09:29 am: Edit

Well, it's easier to block the Hydrans off map than the Kzinti...

(SB in 2XX and you just pin them when they enter the map - yes, Coalition need to send a lot of fighters (so both sides burn 100+ fighters a turn)).

But what do the Hydrans gain?

By chris upson (Misanthropope) on Monday, April 23, 2018 - 09:38 am: Edit

If it isn't too inconvenient, I would love a hydran census. the exact question of "how do we keep the stinky little gits out of our quadrant" is one of those that I keep returning to. A game puzzle for a gamer with no time to game, you understand. So having boundary conditions that aren't a result of *me* playing both sides would be a pleasure. And I won't kibitz.

Or, you know, maybe I could sweet-talk Peter into sending me a copy of the board in vassal, instead of a link to a picture...

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Monday, April 23, 2018 - 10:35 am: Edit

Oh, sure. Sending file presently; it didn't occur to me earlier that you actually wanted the actual file :-)

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Monday, April 23, 2018 - 10:43 am: Edit

Hydran Census as of end of AT15:

-Ships: 135
-Fighters on Ships: 203 (33SEQ)

This doesn't count fast ship SEQs and FCR fighters.

Over half the hulls are FF hulls; the Hydrans are churning out another 10-12 FFs a turn at this point. They have more SEQ on the Hydran front than the Coalition do, but do suffer from a serious lack of EW relative to the Coalition and have fewer than 10 actual cruisers left. Most of the fleet is, as noted, frigates and carriers/escorts.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Monday, April 23, 2018 - 10:48 am: Edit

Paul wrote:
>>Well, it's easier to block the Hydrans off map than the Kzinti...

(SB in 2XX and you just pin them when they enter the map - yes, Coalition need to send a lot of fighters (so both sides burn 100+ fighters a turn)). >>

Well, yes. In games where the Coalition have built a SB in 0217, it is very easy to block the Hydrans off the map forever. But in this particular game, the Coalition did not build a SB in 0217 (they built one over 0617, as it was easier to do that at the time), and they aren't building a SB in 0217 any time soon, so that is kind of a moot point.

I mean, yeah, I was surprised that the Hydrans evacuated off map as well, but it isn't as big of a deal as one would think. They have plenty of ships for moving with, I can't block them off map without sending another, like, 20-30 ships to Hydran space and then building a base in 0217 (neither of which are on the horizon, given that the Feds need fighting). I'm guessing he didn't want to try and defend 0519 and then get cut out of supply this turn, especially as he had no reserves set up this turn.

The Hydrans have plenty of time to mess with the Coalition.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 - 10:42 am: Edit

CT16

Moves are well underway.

In Hydran space, there are no Hydrans, so the Coalition have just secured all of Hydran space, including recapturing planet 0519, and reorganized fleets.

In Kzinti space, the Coalition sent a ton of ships to 1401, pinning everything there, and then re-attacked planets 1001, 1202, 1502 with fleets big enough that one of 2 reserves won't save any of them, and both reserves will make a fight, but possibly lose anyway.

On the Fed/Klingon front, the Klingons are attempting to consolidate their hold on the NW corner of Fed space, sending a huge fleet including the B10 and the C8V in the neighborhood to planet 2306 where there is an outnumbered Fed fleet holding. They also sent what is probably a pinning attack to planet 2509 where the Feds have a not insignificant fleet, and are capturing undefended planets 2610 and 2106. The Feds have reserves that can reach 2306 and 2509, but the reserves aren't spectacular.

On The Fed/Romulan front, the Coalition are currently attacking BATS 3206 and devastated planet 3306.

On the Gorn front, the Romulans are attacking BATS 4004, 4006, 5008 (all undefended), have what is obviously a pinning force on the 64 some odd Gorn on SB 4206; finally sent 36 ships to the frontmost Gorn capital hex (4403). It is currently defended by 14 ships (mostly destroyers and scouts), SB, 4 and 2 PDUs, and 4 squadrons of fighters that reacted in from neighboring hexes. The Gorn have 2 reserves in 4402, consisting of another 9 ships, also not real impressive. Assuming both reserves show up, the Romulans might be able to devastate a planet or two, but are unlikely to destroy the SB, let alone capture the hex.

Some ships still left to move, including a large Romulan fleet in 3509.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Thursday, April 26, 2018 - 05:06 pm: Edit

CT16

The Coalition is done moving; waiting for Alliance reserves. The only thing that changed from above is that a significant Romulan fleet in 3509 moved to attack Fed planet 3005 (defended by 4 ships). The Feds have 4 medium (7-8 ship) reserves to move, that can reach 5 different combat hexes.

At press time, there are 17 combat hexes; 5 are against undefended, devastated planets that probably won't see reserves show up; the Coalition are attacking the Kzinti Capital (they might be going for the Homeworld, or they might be aiming to re-devastate planets; given that they have a total of 3 maulers in the hex, of which 1 is an STJ, the math probably does itself); the Romulans are attacking Gorn Capital hex 4403 which is modestly defended, but also being attacked with only about 36 ships.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Friday, April 27, 2018 - 09:36 am: Edit

CT16

The Alliance moved their reserves--the Kzinti sent two reserves to planet 1001; the Feds sent 4 reserves (about 30 ships total) to BATS 3206; the Gorn sent both Reserves to 4403.

Combat to commence.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, April 29, 2018 - 09:00 am: Edit

CT16

Combat is underway!

In Hydran space, the Coalition recaptured planet 0519 with no opposition. The Coalition hold all of Hydran space at press time.

In Kzinti space, the Coalition have recaptured planets 1001, 1202, 1502, and most of Kzinti space. The Kzinti and Lyrans each lost a DWE over 1001 before the Kzinti retreated. The Coalition still have a giant fleet in 1401.

On the Fed/Klingon front, the Klingons have recaptured planets 2106 and 2610, fled from planet 2509, and are currently fighting over planet 2306 with the B10 and C8V.

On the Fed/Rom front, the Romulans captured planet 3005 and then retreated from it (there were potential retrograde issues if I didn't retreat), Klingons recaptured 3306, and they will probably get chased away from BATS 3206.

In Gorn space, the Romulans have killed BATS 4004, 4006, and 5008. They fled from SB 4206 after a declined approach. They are currently fighting in Capital hex 4403. The Romulans have 36 ships (of which 13 are FFs), no Admiral, and a total of 12 fighters. The Gorn have 23 ships of which 3 are cruisers, 6 are CL/HD, and the rest are BD/DD and a couple scouts, 4 squads of IFF from neighboring hexes. This was not a well planned attack :-)

The Romulans are currently attacking the minor planet; it remains to be seen if they are going to attack the major planet.

So far, not much has died (a Lyran DWE, ZIN DWE, a couple Fed FFs and a SWAC) shipwise, but I imagine that will ramp up over the Kzinti capital.

Combat continues!

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, April 29, 2018 - 05:35 pm: Edit

CT16

In 4403, over the minor planet, BIR rolled up 1, and both the Gorn and Romulans rolled 6's, resulting in autokills. The Romulans dropped 37 damage on the Gorn fleet (probably killing a BD/DD, killing 2PDU, and devastating the planet?). The Gorn will, I imagine, drop the damage on the Romulans to make them absorb a bunch of damage and run away. Which may or may not work...

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Monday, April 30, 2018 - 09:18 am: Edit

CT16

As expected, over 4403, both sides dropped damage including an auto kill, seeing a couple DDs blow up, the Gorn minor capital planet get devastated, and the Romulans take enough damage (losing all their fighters and crippling a couple SPs) to convince them that going near the SB+4PDU at the major planet was a terrible idea, so they left, feeling good about themselves for devastating a capital planet.

The Klingons captured planet 2306 after a round of combat seeing each side lose a small escort and fighters, and the Feds running away.

The Coalition still have to fight in 1401.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Thursday, May 03, 2018 - 05:07 pm: Edit

CT16

In 1401, the Coalition spread out and re-devastated all Kzinti capital planets except for Kzintai (which still has 20PDU and a SB over it). There was an approach, and then rounds of 3, 2, and 2 battle lines.

The Coalition outrolled the Kzinti not insignificantly, with rolls of:

Coalition: 5, 2, 6, 4, 3, 4, 6, 6=4.5 avg
Lyran: 1, 2, 3, 6, 1, 4, 3, 1=2.6 avg

On the upside, the Coalition are just directing planets, so it didn't really matter that much; the Coalition crippled a few extra FFs over dead fighters, and the Coalition still got ships shot down every round.

After all the planets were re-devastated, the Coalition retreated; it remains to be seen if the Kzinti will pursue; the Coalition only have, like, 7 cripples, an STL to put in the line, and both sides are at -6 damage.

The Kzinti lost an FF in the approach fight. The Coalition lost STJ, 3DWS, DW, D5, F5L, and both a D6M and STT broke down on the first round of combat over planets (one or both might get killed in pursuit).

One mostly insignificant fight left for the turn (a Klingon force offering an approach in front of BATS 3206 in the face of all the Fed reserves that showed up to save that BATS).

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Saturday, May 05, 2018 - 03:45 pm: Edit

CT16

Combat is over!

In Hydran space, nothing happened other than recapturing planet 0519. The Coalition currently hold all of Hydran space.

In Kzinti space, the Coalition re-captured most of Kzinti space, and redevastated all planets in the Kzinti capital other than Kzintai. They currently hold all of Kzinti space except for the Capital province and the original Marquis Zone.

On the Fed/Klingon front, the Coalition recaptured planets 2106, 2306, and 2610, and almost all of the West side of Fed space.

On the Fed/Romulan front, the Coalition captured planet 3005, recaptured 3306, and hold most of the East of Fed spcae.

On the Gorn front, the Romulans killed 3 BATS, devastated a minor capital planet in 4403, and control 5 Gorn provinces.

Ships Killed:
-LYR: STJ, 3DWS, DWE, DW
-KLI: D7, D5, F5L, F5E
-ROM: SNB

-ZIN: DWE, FF
-FED: NCA, 3FF, (SWAC)
-GRN: DD

The Gorn lost 3BATS, 2PDU; the Feds lost 2PDU.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, May 06, 2018 - 09:20 am: Edit

CT16

The turn is over!

In Hydran space, the Coalition have large fleets in 0617, 0416, and a strong Lyran reserve in 0416.

In Kzinti space, the Klingons have a large fleet on 1506, the Lyrans have a large fleet on SB 1407 along with strong Lyran and Klingon reserves, and then battle lines on planets 1001, 1105, and 1504.

On the Fed/Klingon front, there is a large Klingon fleet on planet 1910, along with solid Lyran and Klingon reserves; a huge fleet on planet 2306, a battle line on planet 2106.

On the Fed/Romulan front, there is a huge fleet on plnet 3509, a battle line on 3704, a large Klingon fleet holding 3210, a weird Klingon reserve on 3612 and a solid Romulan reserve on 3711.

On the Gorn front, the Romulans have large fleets on 4309 and SB 4411; moderate fleets on 4110 and SB 4812 including a solid Romulan reserve, another good Romulan reserve on planet 4313, and a modest Klingon reserve in 4613.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, May 06, 2018 - 09:27 am: Edit

Map as of end of CT16:

http://www.lightlink.com/pdb6/SCD2mapCT16.html

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Sunday, May 13, 2018 - 09:00 am: Edit

As we wait for Jason to get back from a trip, a new dead ship census!

Last time I counted, at the end of AT12, the death total was:

-LYR: 64
-KLI: 125
-ROM: 9

Total Coalition Dead: 198

-ZIN: 61
-HYD: 42
-FED: 43

Total Alliance Dead: 146

As of the end of AT15, the new totals are:

-LYR: 80
-KLI: 169
-ROM: 38

Total Coalition Dead: 287

-ZIN: 90
-HYD: 56
-FED: 89
-GRN: 9

Total Alliance Dead: 244

This does not count auxes, fighters, bases, etc. Just dead ships.

So through 15 full turns, 531 total ships have been killed, for an average of 35.4 dead ships per full turn (or 17.7 per player turn). The Coalition is still ahead in ship mortality, but the Alliance is catching up. As of T12, the Coalition were losing ships compared to the Alliance at a rate of 1.36:1; as of CT15, that has dropped to 1.18: 1.

On T15, the Coalition put 55 new ships on the map, and the Alliance put 65 new ships on the map (again, not counting fighters). With average ship losses at current numbers with the Coalition losing an average of ~19 ships per turn and the Alliance losing ~16 ships per turn, the Alliance fleet is growing relative to the Coalition at about +13 ships per turn. And the Coalition is rapidly going to lose the ability to willy-nilly overbuild 6-9 FFs per turn now that exhaustion has set in, which will drop their production significantly.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - 11:17 am: Edit

AT16

Alliance Econ is done. The Hydrans and Kzinti are suffering from economic exhaustion.

The Fed generated 140 EPs, had 163 EPs to spend with savings. They built CVA, NAC, 2DWA, FFE, NCA, 10NCL, SC, 3DW, 10FF, SWAC; spent 2 on repairs, end with 15 in treasury.

The Gorn generated 86 EPs, had 133 EPs to spend with savings. They built DN, MCC, 3HD, 4BD, 2DD; converted CL>CV; spent 6 on repair, end with 61 EP in treasury.

The Kzinti generated 44 EPs, had 78 EPs to spend with savings. They built CV, NCA, 3CM, 3DW, 4FF; spent 9 on repairs, end with 18 in treasury (and 6 free fighters for next turn).

The Hydrans generated 23 EPs, had 26 to spend with savings. They built 9CUs and a free PGS; spent 1 on repair, end with 1 saved (and also 17 free fighters saved up).

The Alliance put a total of 63 new ships on the map this turn, as well as 27 new fighters.

The Coalition put a total of 58 new ships on on the map this turn, and 30 new fighters (using up all their FFF; the Alliance still have 23 FFF saved for next turn).

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - 08:00 pm: Edit

I had a look at Peter's report on total carnage for the war and thought it looked a little unusual with the Alliance losing a heap of ships in the last few turns.

Turns out its true, but the bigger picture is that I attacked a couple of BATS which were a little on the expensive side but I figure its always good to keep your opponent on their toes. The Romulans and Klingons have plenty of Reserves for the Gorn, but they are held back rather than aggressively forward. Which I like. And the Kzinti have a crazy large number of carriers and the ability to trade FF all day and all night.

Also turns out the Coalition have lost a fair few big ships, while the Alliance are mostly losing small ships. Im quite happy to trade FF and DW and the occasional NCA or Scout if Im taking down Maulers and Cruisers.

The Coalition also had quite a few cripples, including a bunch of Maulers, which will be expensive to repair.

I havent had a serious look at the map yet, but I figure if the Coalition are suffering from Exhaustion then I should do my best to make everything as expensive as possible.

I also want to find a way to hurt his fleet which contains the B-10, but I really dont know if that is possible. Its kind of like wanting to take out a Fed CVA group - wishful thinking.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - 08:11 pm: Edit

Yeah, there was a serious upswing of Alliance ship death in the last few turns, relative to the Coalition, but as noted, yeah, it is mostly Alliance FFs getting whacked, and the Coalition generally lose larger and better ships.

The Coalition still have a bunch of money in treasury, but that will likely rapidly dwindle away, as they are generally producing less money than they need to spend each turn. So soon they will lose overbuilt FFs, and then the will inevitably have to start downgrading builds.

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - 08:31 pm: Edit

Hooray !

But then you get PFs and the game changes all over again.

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - 08:34 pm: Edit

Yeah, PFs are expensive. Like, I have only played with them in reality a little, but they are only as efficient as, like, crippling 8 point CAs, so if the PFs blow up a lot, they cost a lot to replace in the long run, where the Feds get to get extra fighters on the line, which, in all honesty, I think is kind of a better deal.

I mean, like, the free explosion of PFs on planets are huge. But for continuing the offensive, PFs aren't really that hot.

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - 08:46 pm: Edit

Ive never used PFs so this will be a fun experience for me.

I do like the idea of even more fighters on the line for the Feds. Surely the Kzinti and Hydrans can wrangle something as well???

By Peter Bakija (Bakija) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - 09:14 pm: Edit

I think the Kzinti get heavy fighters in the rules we are using. Lemme check--yeah, everyone can have [8H] fighters on some carriers in the late y170's; the Kzinti (only) get free heavy fighter squadrons on SB on T20, BATS on T21, and PDUs T22 (and then start replacing them with PFs if they want on T25).

The PF deployment rules are wacky. Basically, on a given turn, an empire gets X free PF flotillas that go on bases. Then the next turn, they get X free PF flotillas that go on any left over bases, planets get even more free PFs, and they can start making PFTs. Then on the third turn, they get X free PF flotillas that go on any remaining bases, and if any PF flotillas are left over, they get to get used for PFTs (i.e. they go in the "pool"). Which basically means that the Coalition get a lot of free PFs to go on SB and BATS and planets while the Hydrans and the Kzinti get a lot of free PF flotillas to put on PFTs.

So, for example, on T20, the Lyrans get 6 free PF flotillas, that get put on SBs (or BATS) at 2 flotillas per SB or one per BATS (which is, likely, 2 flotillas each on 3SBs). On T21, the Lyrans get 18 free PF flotillas, which go to any leftover bases (including the off map SB, which gets 2 flotillas to, uh, fight monsters?), and then all original planets get some free flotillas (one per minor planet, two per major, four for a capital; basically 1/2 flotilla per PDU, but not more for free than listed), and then any extra "free" flotillas that don't go on bases go on extra PDUs (on captured planets or built up planets). Then on T22, the Lyrans get 6 free flotillas to go on bases or extra PDUs, or anything left goes into "the pool" for distribution to PFTs or whatever. (I'm mostly writing this out to both explain and make sure I understand the rules correctly).

So looking at the map currently, on T20, the Lyrans would, say, get 6 free flotillas, and put 2 each on SBs 1407, 0404, and then 0411 (6 flotillas); on T21, they get 18 free flotillas, which go to SBs 0408, 0608, off map (6 total), then 1 each to the 6 BATS they still have on the map (6 total), and then they get 6 flotillas for the pool. T22, they get 6 flotillas to replace lost ones on bases, and then get 6 free for the pool.

The Klingons would be about the same, but they have a few more SBs that need flotillas, many more BATS that need flotillas (something like 16 BATS on the map still), and then the extra 4PDU on planet 1407 would get 2 total flotillas, before any went into the pool.

The Hydrans just need to put 2 flotillas on their off map SB, and then the rest get added to the pool, so the Hydrans will end up with, like, 14 free flotillas to use.

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - 09:25 pm: Edit

PFs on BATS and SBs can be freely transferred off them, however. For more specifics check the rules.