Hydrans lost 2 x DG, 2 x HR (both already crippled), CR (also crippled), CU and 2 x HN to escape the 318 trap and break 119 open.

Lyrans lost 2 x FF's.

Both sides have a huge stack of cripples from 119 (18 Eps of cripple for the Hydrans and 26 Eps of cripples for the Coaltiion).

It will allow a Tug+MB to escape, plus 6 cripples to reach safety.

Both sides did use 2 Cp's (Klingon & Hydran) again - so Klingons are down to 3 and Hydrans 0.

Have to say, the turn 3 and 4 offensives should have been done differently - been an absolute massacre on the Hydrans in escaping (dragging the MB's* away didn't help!).

* - Tugs with MB can't Op move into Enemy held hexes.... a tad difficult to advance/escape with them!!

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 03:57 pm: Edit

Although it will not have any significant affect on the Hydran front - William did choose to un-garrison the 3 minor planets in 617 (there was 2 reserve fleets there and all but 3 ships left to go to 119).

So that will atleast cost the Coalition 3 Ep's for the next two turns and require some ships to return to the Hydran front.

Hydrans will have to small reserves available (4 ships and 2 Ships) - which atleast give them some options on C7, if they get attacked.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 08:42 am: Edit

And so Alliance turn 6 ends.

Kzinti withdraw to 1401 1502, 1704 - with pickets left in 802, 903, 1105 and 1202.

The Counts Fleet with 13 Eqs is in 2103, claiming asylum along with a FF in 2201.

(They either have to leave on A7, or become an Expeditionary Fleet).

Wierdly - crippled Kzinti Ships can be sent to e repaired in Fed Space if the Feds are at Limited War - but can't go there if they are at full War (other than as an Exp/Tug).

Hydrans withdraw the bulk of their cripples off map, but do keep a modest fleet in 218 (and small fleet in 119).

For once, every Alliance ship is in Supply.

In Kzinti space, 10 Lyran ships are OOS in 1102...

Kzinti have strong reserves in the Barony and 1401.

Hydrans have two weak Reserves in the Old Colonies...

….. and the Feds have 4 rally strong reserves (which no doubt 2 will be pinned, 1 will be out of range and 1 unreleased!)

I forgot how bad the Federation deployment areas and forces are - why doesn't the Home Fleet have a reserve marker?

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 03:15 pm: Edit

A6 Dead for the Turn

Kzinti - CC, DD (already crippled), 4 x FF, EFF plus - 4 Ep's of Repairs

Hydrans 2 x DG, 2 x HR (already crippled), CR (already crippled), 2 x CU (already crippled), 2 x HN plus 2 CP's plus 24 Ep's of Repairs

Lyran - 2 x CW, 2 x DD and 2 x FF plus 14.5 Ep's of Repairs

Klingon - No dead plus 2 CP's and 29 Ep's of Repairs.

Tactially, the Coalition did well (towards the end, the Kzinti were losing FF's hand over fist and the Kzinti not getting enough damage to kill anything in return - although, 18 damage was sometimes needed and 12 to kill a Kz-FF was generally a lot easier to achieve) - but strategically, the Alliance achieved it's aims.

The Coalition will only be able to claim 3 Ep's in Kzinti space (2 Provinces and 1 minor) - although Hydran space remains very much a Coalition cash cow.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 05:18 pm: Edit

Lyran economy, Turn 7
Survey roll 11
Survey total 71
Survey EP 6
Offmap 24
Capital 35
Planets 24
Provinces 32
Conquered 5.8

Income 126.8
From last turn 1.1
Total Money 127.9

Repairs
809 1
707 2
EB 8
413 10.5
K NR 6
Subtotal 27.5

Builds
BC 10
STT 10
2CW, CWE 16
2DW, DWE 13
3FF 7.5
CA(overbuild) 16
Carrier pod 14
Subtotal 84.5

Conversion
Lyrantan CA>DN 6

Total spent 118
Remaining after econ 7.9

Transfers
Allocated for Klingons 7.9

End of turn (provisional) 0
Command points: 6+1=7

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 05:20 pm: Edit

Klingon Economy, Turn 7
Survey roll 4
Survey total 44
Survey EP 4
Capital 49
Planets 41
Provinces 52
Conquered 23.4
Income 169.4
From last turn 24.4
Total Money 193.8

Repairs
NR 4.5
1507 6
1707 2
1307 1
1013 4
Subtotal 17.5

Builds

D7C 9
D6M 10
D7V 10
8D5, AD5 46
4F5, F5S, F5E 20
3xE4 7.5
B10 roll 5
Activations 2
Subtotal 109.5

Conversions
Klinshai 2D7C, D6M 9
1807 BATS>SB 36

Subtotal 45

Other
Support lines for 10 homeless Lyrans 5

Total spent 177
Remaining after econ 16.8

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 06:40 pm: Edit

Big economic news of the turn is that the Klingons are suddenly rich!

This has a lot to do with the fact that they cleared the vast majority of their repair expenses from the Hydran campaign on turn 6.

They are spending their surplus on an attempt to upgrade to an SB in 1807.

With the Fed campaign about to start, it is unclear if they will remain rich for long.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Thursday, November 26, 2020 - 01:12 pm: Edit

Kahless has declared:

We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down.

With that, the invasion of the Federation has begun. Numerous BATS are already under attack, as are two SB, with many more Klingon forces still to move.

By Stefano Predieri (Preda) on Friday, November 27, 2020 - 06:30 am: Edit

Wiliam, unless there was another CA to convert at Lyrantan, remeber that conversion of just Overbuilt ship cost double too...

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Friday, November 27, 2020 - 08:17 am: Edit

There was. This turn's overbuild is for next turn's conversion . . .

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Saturday, November 28, 2020 - 05:53 pm: Edit

Coalition turn 7 op move is done. The Klingons attacked all three Fed SB they can reach, all four planets they can reach, and 13 of the 14 BATS.

BATS 2612 is not under attack as I felt doing so would have stretched the Klingons too thin. The lesson for next game is that I needed a slightly greater number of Klingons on the border. But I did get about 230 Klingon ships into the Federation, so I'm not going to kick myself.

The Kzinti SB, planet, and two BATS in the Marquis region are also all under attack. The Kzinti doubly reserved the SB, which will at a minimum make that assault more expensive.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Sunday, November 29, 2020 - 09:05 am: Edit

For those that have Intergalactic Facebook...

The Federation has 'defriended' the Klingons

….and I thought we was best buddies!!

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Sunday, November 29, 2020 - 02:39 pm: Edit

Well 2 SB's down (as in dead!) and 2 to go.

At least I extracted afew pounds of flesh over 1704 and 2204.

I'll let William give all the details.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Sunday, November 29, 2020 - 08:44 pm: Edit

Ship losses from the two SB assaults thus far this turn are are:

K 2D6M, D7, D5, FV, E4
L 4DN
Z DN, CC, FF

Crips:
K+L 60EP approx.
F+Z 40EP approx.

Command points:
K, L, Z: 2 each.

Both SB did go down.

For comparison, Lyran DN losses from the first six turns of the game were only 3.

Fortunately for the Lyrans, they have never missed an opportunity to build or convert a DN -- a total of 10DN during turns 1-7.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Monday, November 30, 2020 - 02:53 am: Edit

Over 2204 - had a choice of the FV+E4A or a Klingon Battle Tug in the final round.

2204 - There was only 10 uncrippled Klingons left, so the killing of D6M and 2FV may seem to have made a difference....

...but the Feds only had 5 uncrippled ships left!

1704 was not as close - the Coalition still had 30 ships with Compot 5 or greater left (and 7 OC 4) v 11 uncrippled Kzinti ships although the bulk of the Alliance directing occurred here.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Wednesday, December 02, 2020 - 03:34 pm: Edit

Well, I think it will be a while before we have 4 SB's die again in a turn!

As suspected - all 3 attacked Fed SB's have died (plus the Marquis one).

Border BATS have all died too - best BATS got a 5 Coalition cripples (but did have a Fed FF direct killed) and worst only got 1 cripple.

The picket forces did help - but more importantly will generate some extra Eps in keeping provinces Federation owned.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Thursday, December 03, 2020 - 03:34 pm: Edit

Coalition turn 7 is done. As one would expect for a side making four SB assaults, Coalition losses were heavy:

L 4DN
K 3D6M, D7C, 2D7, D6D, 3D5, FV, F5E, E4

Alliance ship losses were lighter:

Z DN, CC, CM, 2FF
H LM, HN
F 2DD, FF

Command points spent:
K 4, none left
L 2, 5 left
Z 2, 5(?) left

Additionally, the Coalition have perhaps 100EP of crips, against maybe half that for the Alliance.

The Coalition did get something in return for their losses, as they killed 4SB, 15 BATS, 10 Fed PDU, 2 Kzinti PDU, and a Fed FRD.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Saturday, December 05, 2020 - 07:36 am: Edit

Alliance Turn 7

Kzinti - Hurrah an above average survey roll of 13 (total 68) (average is 3.23 - so not too bad).

On Map income 64 (inc original Off map territory), off map income 6.

Builds CV, MEC, 2 x CM, 7 x FF, SF

15.5 Eps spent on Repairs.

May need to spend some Ep's on Expeditionary Fleets - still working on a plan.

2.9 Ep's left and 7 CP's.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Saturday, December 05, 2020 - 07:41 am: Edit

Hydrans

Survey - well it can't get much worse - roll of 7, total points 41 and 2 provinces. (Average roll 2.733.…)

Best roll so far for the Hydrans have been an average 11...

On Map income 0 - off map income 21 (includes original Old Colonies).

Builds NH and LN (converted to a DE) - 7 Hybrid Fighters left.

8 Ep's spent on repairs and 4 Ep's spent on the new Shipyard (Total 23).


Balance 0.5 Eps and 1 CP.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Saturday, December 05, 2020 - 07:46 am: Edit

Federation

Well with 7 dice... they roll less than what the Lyrans have rolled with 3 dice - 15 (total 15 and 0 provinces - so the Feds join the Alliance in all scoring below average on found provinces). Average 2.14

Income 175@75% (conversion to war turn) = 131.25 Ep's.

Builds
DN, TG(S), 2 x NCL, NCD(S), FV(S), FFS(S), FF.

Conversions
2 x CA to CVS, 2 x FF to FFS, 3 x DD to DE, 3 x FF to FFE and CA to CC (26 Ep's)

1 Command Point bought (total 2) and a VAP pod.

8 ships de-mothballed.

Balance 14.25 Eps (less any spent on Homeless Supply.... )

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Monday, December 07, 2020 - 11:44 pm: Edit

Alliance turn 7 op move is done.

A Kzinti fleet has made it into the SB upgrade hex 1807. However, it has no DN, and its compot is already borderline for killing a BATS, and there is an approach battle to contend with.

The Hydrans are offmap licking their wounds. Even though they could have gotten into a Coalition FRD park which is defended only by cripples, this is probably a wise decision. They still have 23EP of crips, and the only worthwhile attack would have involved using all of them, with some highly likely to get killed. Furthermore, the fleet at the FRD park would have been trapped on the map, with no retro, and their battle lines would have included a bunch of CU/HN.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Tuesday, December 08, 2020 - 03:10 pm: Edit

Well, the boom or bust attack was alas the latter.

Needed to outroll by 1... and WIlliam ourolled by 4 plus VBIR went the wrong way.

My modest approach battle and base battle line therefore evaporated after the first battle - I then had to run.

Chance of killing the BATS upgrade was slim - both of us by the sounds of things had worked out what I needed to do to kill it (beat William in the approach battle AND roll exactly the right number to cripple or kill a ship, without leaving any balance to take (so William would be unable to overcripple) would mean it was a 50/50 chance of crippling the BATS - which would have kept me happy.

Only saving grace was the battered force was able to retreat into 1806 and protect a bunch of cripples clearing the approach to 1807 from a Klingon Mauler (and the two sides wiih 25+ships each then did not a lot, crippling a F5 and Kz-FF by directed damage....as we both had forgot to bring ammo - a truly massive 12.5% for each side!)


Damage so far is
Kzinti CL, FF some crippled
Federation FF
Lyran CL
Klingon D5, F5L, 2 x E4 plus more crippled

The modest chance of liberating 2106 also failed.

Had a SSC with +1 v -2 in my favour (I needed a 9, although a 7 might have worked... and we both rolled 4's) to win in 2005 and then retreat normally into 2106 (if the D6 has been crippled on a 7 or 8 roll, it would have been -2 v +1 in Williams favour - but a single casualty on the Klingons would have probably meant they would have retreated).

Several battles still to be done.

By William Jockusch (Verybadcat) on Tuesday, December 08, 2020 - 06:06 pm: Edit

Yeah, basically, if a big result requires three things to happen, and each is a bit under a 50/50 chance, then the chance of the whole thing happening is unlikely.

To kill the SB upgrade, Paul needed to:

1) win the approach battle on the first round (15/36 chance, or 40-odd percent)

2) In that approach, do an amount of damage that he could use up exactly all of it with a dirdam attack
(unclear chance, but definitely under 50% . . . and the fact that this is not independent of event 1 probably makes things worse for him), and

3) Do at least 24 damage in the first round of the base battle (also unclear chance depending on his compot at that point, but 1/3 seems likely).

If you multiply all that together, the chance of the SB upgrade getting killed was slim. Hence the Lyrans did not need to spend command points to ensure a win in the approach battle.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Wednesday, December 09, 2020 - 09:28 am: Edit

Well, that could have gone a lot better but not much worse.

Dice was horrible - the bigger/the more important the fight - the larger the difference.

Total Dead is
Kzinti TGC, MEC, CL, EFF, 2 x FF, SF and DF (some were already crippled - the TGC, MEC and EFF died in a pursuit we did later) plus 1 CP spent
Federation CC (was already crippled), 2 x DD, 2 x FF
Lyran CL and FF
Klingon D5, F5L, 3 x E4

Cripples is probably close to even or marginally in my favour (as in some battles, I couldn't direct and so William had to cripple a couple of times when he killed one of me).

I wasn't going to mention the dice.... but they were just horrible.

Basically, in the one sided or smaller battles - I generally rolled badly (thereby William escaped with either no damage or a cripple) and in the larger battles, William generally rolled very well.

A couple of times I rolled the maximum possible.... to do no damage (Twice I think I did 8 damage and I needed 9 to get something)

At least William did fail a shock roll.

50/50 Turn for Alliance Pursuits (1 of 2) and 100% success for the Coalition (6 for 6 IIRC).

Going to need to blow some Ep's replacing some of the light escorts I lost (Field Repair)!

About the only saving grace wasn't I didn't throw Hydran ships away in trying to kill those 2 FRD's in range!

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Wednesday, December 09, 2020 - 09:52 am: Edit

The dice gods hate you, Paul. This happens to you again and again and again and again!

Perhaps the solution is to *expect* the dice to go bad on you and plan accordingly.