A lot of Hydrans were in 0617 - the entire Hydran navy except for 5 ships in the Old Colonies. I'm not sure I ever encountered this particular situation of an "attacker's base" scenario in which I wasn't enthusiastically accepting the approach anyway in an attempt to score some retreating cripples or otherwise cause more damage to the fleet doing the fighting retreat. In this case the planet was abandoned and had been captured and garrisoned by a lone FF, who really couldn't do much to resist even a small Hydran fleet.
But anyway there *had* been a battle at 0617; redevastating outer planets and then fighting over the SB at Hydrax, taking out a few scouts (the Hydrans had 4PGS they have been putting on the line to gain the EW advantage) and a few cruiser hulls (including an RN capture), mainly in exchange for Lyran CR10 ships. That was the only action in Hydran space.
In the ZTO things were not terribly exciting, either. Attempts on 1502 and 1504 were foiled by reserves, 1202 and 1506 were recaptured. An attempt on 1401 saw the bigger Lyran fleet get pinned out and a smaller one get in; unfortunately the smaller fleet didn't have enough oomph to do significant damage, and retreated after the first round. The pinning battle just outside of Kzintai (1302) went on for way too long. The Lyran fleet was better quality, and although the Kzinti did have 3CVS on the line I was just picking off escorts each round. Overall much of the theatre was a stalemate.
Fed space was where all the action was all around. Border BATS went down on all fronts. NW Fed space saw the remaining Kzinti border BATS removed, planet 2106 captured, and the BATS in 2603 destroyed as well. Notably, the 12 Fed ships in Kzinti space are now cut off from Fed supply and may need to become expeditionary to avoid the Kzinti paying for homeless support.
In central Klingon space the Feds continued their AT10 shenanigans by sending a reserve to the planet in 1611 to open up supply for the 10th fleet, which had been mostly crippled and out of supply since the end of AT10. The planet not garrisoned with anything, and was captured (2 hexes from Klinshai!) The 10th fleet itself got jumped by the Klingons, who scored some kills but of course the Feds got away with the two BTs surviving.
Southern Fed space and the Romulan theatre are one big continuous mess. At the end of the turn coalition ships and fleets are blocking supply in a continuous line drawn roughly NE from 2414. With at least half of Fed ships in this partial grid, and the lion's share of fed cripples sitting on 6th and 7th SBs, we may see some Orion smuggling to get things done AT11. Only one fleet of any substance is off of a base, though, so likely there will not be a lot of EPs paid out for supply.
There is of course only one more turn until Gorn entry. Both coalition and alliance have offense turned up to 11 these last few turns, so the Gorns may have an advantage in their freshness.

By Karl Mangold (Solomon) on Thursday, September 16, 2021 - 12:47 am: Edit

Map, if anyone's interested:
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i/karlmangold/BoG_End_CT11.png

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Thursday, September 16, 2021 - 11:41 am: Edit

Alliance Economy:

Hydrans have 20 EP and smuggle 3 from offmap, repair PAL TG PGS HR and build 3HR. Offmap, they build a CU and have 58 EP stored up for a rainy day.

Kzinti have 61 EP (plus 23.5 offmap from the Feds). They build BC 2MEC 8FF and repair DN Z6M 4CC 2MEC CM CLE 2FF 2SIDS(1704). Then they convert CM=>MSC and pay for homeless supply lines for 11 Feds. Kzintai is undevastated and the rest of the capital becomes so next turn, so the Kzinti build a PDU over Kzintai.

The Federation get 159 EP, for a total of 193 available. They build DN+ CA CVS 12NCL 12FF, activate CA DD 3CL 3FF, and convert 2CL=>2LSC DD=>DE FF+>FFE. Probably the last turn they can afford building the extra CVS. They make 16.5 EP of miscellaneous repairs and end with 15 EP in the treasury. They've still got 30 EP offmap, but that's earmarked for the Kzinti.

The Feds have a significant partial grid on the Romulan front; it pulls in 19 EP (and gets 3.5 from the main grid). There the Feds spend it all doing repairs, including a SIDS step in 2915. They've still got half a dozen cripples in 2915.

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Sunday, September 19, 2021 - 03:01 pm: Edit

Moves progress on A11, with the Hydran theatre done. A Federation FF has captured a bunch of the Hydran-Klingon NZ and a Klingon province. The Hydrans are attacking province raiders in 1017 and a convoy in 1218. They're kicking the Lyrans off of 0718 (not permanently, just for now). There are a couple of other small fights in 0714 and 0614.

They're also attacking the Klingon MB in 0514. Both reserves are already in the hex, and the Hydrans have essentially their whole fleet there, so the Coalition can't keep it up if the Hydrans want to take it down. Once it's down (and the convoy destroyed), Hydrax will once more be outside of Klingon supply.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Monday, September 20, 2021 - 10:24 am: Edit

Alas for the Hydrans….I would guess the Coalition are pretty happy to not be in range of 617 (supply wise... until a new Convoy gets built anyway!) while they strangle the Hydran Economy, with it being cut off from the Old Colonies?

Can the Hydrans pin enough ships to get some Tug/LLT/FFT's into the Old Colonies so they can do a reverse EP run next turn?

(Clearing a Strategic Path from the OC to 617 is probably tough.....).

Alas, the Best 'Ship Navy' lacks the Ep's to build the Best Ships

By Richard Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Monday, September 20, 2021 - 11:02 am: Edit

Or another way to look at the Hydran theatre is that it's A11 and the Hydrans _still_ have their capital.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Monday, September 20, 2021 - 01:25 pm: Edit

>> it's A11 and the Hydrans _still_ have their capital.

And as such they continue some production at their primary shipyard, collect EPs from their (devastated) home planets, deny the EPs from all the home planets to the Coalition, and prevent the Coalition from locking up the theater and releasing some ships to fight the Federation....

--Mike

By Richard Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Monday, September 20, 2021 - 01:31 pm: Edit

and in general are a giant PITA

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Monday, September 20, 2021 - 01:44 pm: Edit

I'd say it's a win for the Hydrans - killing a MB means more resources sent this way. And either the Klingons need to reestablish supply or the Lyrans need to send more ships south - otherwise, the Hydrans should be able to start recapturing their space.

I have thoughts about getting the EPs out of the Old Colonies, but they're not the kinds of things I can share at this point.

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 - 11:03 am: Edit

Moves in the Romulan theatre have now wrapped up, with a total of 9 battle hexes.

Both Romulan reserves are pinned in 3715. A small force is taking out BATS 3516, and there are pinning battles in 3015 and 3415. Ships blocking supply are being killed in 3311, 3211, and 3112 (and the Feds are using those battles to get the cripples in the theatre back to the capital for repair).

Finally, the fleet that was repelled from 3518 on A10 is returning to finish the job. All the ships which were field repaired (and two de that weren't) are on that starbase. Fleets there:

Feds: DN+ NCL FF CVB CVS DE 2de 2FFE CVL
Romulans: SB(7 SIDS taken) krc ke 5we snb sn

It won't make a big difference to the Romulan economy (and the Romulans don't really need the strategic movement), but losing that repair capacity and keeping those ships from being repaired for another turn or two is going to be significant.

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Sunday, September 26, 2021 - 01:06 am: Edit

In southern Klingon space, a lot has happened.

3 BATS (2014, 2215, 1918) are being attacked, plus the 2 minors being held by F5s (1514, 1714), plus 2 other minors (1916, 2216), plus the SR starbase (1716). Additionally, there's a TGB in 1314 being taken out by 2NCL. There's a Lyran reserve in 1411 (which can probably save the SB) and a Klingon reserve in 1809 (which could save 2014), but everything else is going down.

In 1716:
Feds: DN+ DN CC 3CA NCL CL FF TG-V CVB CVS 2DE 2FFE 2SC LSC
Klingons: d7 2f5 SB

In northern Federation space, the Klingon fleet setting up a PDU in 2403 is under assault by a stronger Fed force. There are the same number of SEQs, but the Federation have 2CVA DN and the Klingons don't have the supply to use their drone bombardment. This is because there are ships in 2202-2203-2204-2305 blocking supply. There are 2 province raiders being dealt with as well.

We now have 27 battle hexes; lots of blood, with any luck, most of it will be Coalition. Just Kzinti space left for movement.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, September 26, 2021 - 07:57 pm: Edit

Game on!

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Thursday, September 30, 2021 - 12:04 am: Edit

A11 movement has concluded.

The Kzinti are attacking BATS 0906 (+FRD), BATS 1107 (+FRD), BATS 1307, and SB 1707. There are pinning actions in 1303 and 1204, and SSC in 1105, 1301, 1506, and 1604. The Federation 10th Fleet (the remainder of the ships which blew up SB 1509) is being supported in an attack on the 1407 minor by 3 Kzinti FF. 11 battle hexes in the theatre.

There are two reserves which could help most of the bases plus the Lyran reserve in 1411. The fleet in 1707 could fight a few rounds, but the B10 is there, so it probably won't try to take down the starbase. Even if the reserve leaves entirely, the Kzinti aren't guaranteed to take it down.

This puts us at 38 battle hexes total, which is a new record for this game.

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Saturday, November 27, 2021 - 02:46 pm: Edit

A11 combat is over! Lots of carnage. For various reasons, this is the third time I'm writing this. :/

In Hydran space, it went pretty well - the Hydrans killed a bunch of small ships, the convoy, and the MB while only losing an RN. I thought that the defense of the MB would be fiercer, but there was no approach and the Coalition left after I blew the base.

In Kzinti space, the Kzinti successfully killed a couple BATS, devastated 1407, and blew up an FRD. They also killed a whole bunch of cripples that stuck around to defend those bases. An attack on 1707 (which barely pinned the ships there) turned out to be just an effort to get some Fed ships home: after a split retreat, the Federation ships which killed the 1509 SB finally had a retrograde path back to Federation space.

The Feds took out a whole bunch of BATS and PDUs, emptying south-central Klingon space of fixed defenses other than SB 1716. The Klingons were able to keep a supply path open to south Hydran space (worth about 5EP in income). But SE Klingon space is entirely cut off, which will be a significant blow to Klingon finances.

The Romulans lost the 3518 SB as well as the 3516 BATS, and their fleet in 3509 is cut off from supply. The Federation mostly sent cripples back to the capital for repair and consolidated their forces on their starbases.

The one battle that went very poorly for the Alliance was over 2403. I was hoping to drive the Klingons off of it so that they were unable to smuggle in supplies for their ships; I mostly just managed to cripple the Klingon fleet. There's a single PDU set up there now. It's unlikely that those ships are going to be a real nuisance on C12 - the 8 uncrippled ships there might take out a BATS or two, but they don't have the strength to take out 2901.

The Feds sent another 20 EP to the Kzinti this turn and they've got 20EP sitting offmap for transfer to the Kzinti, but they're ending the turn with a modest deficit so it's an open question whether they'll continue funding the Kzinti offmap repair centre.

Casualty report:

H Crip: HN (2EP)
H Dead: RN
Z Crip: L-CWE CLE DD 2SF 5FF (11.5EP)
Z Dead: 3FF
F Crip: 2CA 9NCL CL 4DE 2DD 2FFE 19FF (49EP)
F Dead: CA LSC 3FF

Alliance total repair EPs: 62.5
Alliance hulls lost: 9

L Crip: TG 3CW FF (7.5EP)
L Dead: BC DD 3FF cw 2cl 2ff z-ff
L Unit: FRD
K Crip: 2D7C D6D D5V AD5 11D5 2F5S F5E 2F5 3E4 (33.5EP)
K Dead: TGB d5 D5 2F5 2E4
K Unit: 5BATS(1918, 2215, 2014, 0906, 1307) 6PDU(1916, 2216, 1407) CONV MB(0514)
R Crip: SPF(shock) SK 2K5 (4.5EP)
R Dead: WE SNB SN 2we snb
R Unit: SB(3518) BATS (3516)

Coalition total repair EPs: 45.5
Coalition hulls lost: 24

The z-ff was captured and then lost in the same battle.

Overall, I'd say that was a very good turn for me. Final disposition of Alliance forces is in the Hydran and Kzinti capitals, 30ish ships on 1704, and significant fleets on each of the Federation starbases. The Kzinti have a reserve offmap and one in 1401. The Feds have decent reserves in 2610, 2907, 3209, and 3306.

End turn map: https://imgur.com/a/ia7LoNz

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Saturday, January 15, 2022 - 10:57 pm: Edit

After a good Christmas break, we're back at it.

Economics was rough for the Klingons, with only 110.4EP in income (and 12.2 in partial grids). They managed to build a full schedule including a C8V at the cost of leaving a huge repair backlog. They only did 11 points of repair, and their repair capacity is saturated, so even if they find the money next turn any Klingon cripples taken this turn will likely not be repaired on C13.

The Lyrans and the Romulans are both doing fine. As a comparison:

Lyran cripples after econ:
BC CC CA TGC H-RN(unconverted) 3CW 3CWE DWS CL DD 2FF (25.5EP)

Klingon cripples after econ:
5D7C 12D7 2D6M D6D D6V 6D6 2CVT TGA 3D5V D5S 35D5 6AD5 11F5L 4F5S 4F5E 21F5 30E4 4E4A (211EP)

Romulan cripples after econ:
KRC KR KE SPF 3SP 4WE 3SKE 2SK 2K5 3SNB 2SN K4 (32.5EP)

I'll let Karl post anything else he wants to about econ.

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Sunday, January 16, 2022 - 12:48 pm: Edit

Perhaps even more telling, the Klingons have something like 159 ships and about 165 SEQ that are not in fighting shape. And it's only AT11!!!!

I bet the depot is working in overdrive!

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - 01:16 am: Edit

Moves are mostly done (but not quite). The Romulans avoided starbases, hitting 4 minors and 3 BATS. The 6th fleet was not lured off of their starbase except to pin out some maulers, so it's pretty Romulan-favoured in most of the battles. The Feds do have an unpinned reserve in 3306 and a pinned reserve in 3209, so they'll probably be able to save one planet of their choice.

In Hydran space, there's the Klingons killing an HN - and no Coalition ships in the capital, which is unfortunate for reasons I'll state later.

No combat in Kzinti space except for 2 Lyran FFs killing a Kzinti FF and the Lyrans capturing planets. In all likelihood, the Kzinti reserves will save a couple planets and leave the FF to die.

Northern Fed space has a bunch of Federation frigates dying and 2505 and 2306 being attacked. There are two reserves in range (the one in 2907 could also go to the Romulans and the one in 2609 could go south). The Feds are also fighting a whole bunch of crippled ships in 2305 (they've got 8 uncrippled ships escorting them, so it's not going to be a complete slaughter).

The B10 is attacking BATS 2010 and has drawn out a significant defensive fleet from 2211.

There are 40 or 50 Klingons left to move - and about half a dozen Fed ships in Klingons space which have not yet been attacked.

Total number of combat hexes: 28 - and half of those are killing single or paired ships.

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - 11:26 am: Edit

Movement is done. The Klingons attacked a lot of province raiders - most of them will die, but with the huge repair backlog they definitely accomplished their goal. BATS 2012 will probably go down - there's a few ships defending it - and BATS 2213 is doomed. SB2211 is being attacked by not even enough ships to pin, though the Feds don't have enough uncrippled ships for a full battle line.

Fed reserves have been sent to rescue 2 minors and a major in Fed space - 2305, 2505, and 3706. The Kzinti sent a reserve to 1402 to save an FF and a few ships to 2202 to save an FF.

The Hydrans were actually able to move their reserve this turn! An HN was left intentionally out of supply in 0515, and so the offmap reserve is attacking 0117 to get it into supply. The Hydrans have a slight edge in the battle. Unfortunately, there aren't any ships in 0617 or the Hydrans would have a chance at opening supply from the offmap to the capital.

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Saturday, January 29, 2022 - 10:48 pm: Edit

Combat is over for C12!

The Romulans made significant gains, destroying the remaining BATS up to 3806 and taking minors 3210, 3711, and 3612. The 6th Fleet SB and the 7th Fleet SB are the only Federation hardpoints remaining in the theatre. We'll see how much they prepare for Gorn aggression with their retrogrades.

The Klingons were shockingly bad at SSC this turn. Out of 19 SSCs (mostly heavily Klingon favoured), they crippled 4 Feds and killed 5. Meanwhile, the Alliance got 2 cripples and 3 kills. The Federation had a bunch of battles - including pursuits - where good Fed rolls would mean Coalition ships die. In most of them, the Feds rolled poorly, the Coalition rolled well, and I had to cripple a bunch of ships.

The B10 saw its first combat, where it failed to destroy BATS 2010 (though the BATS is now crippled). It was nearly crippled in the first round - I scored 39 damage and it wasn't in formation. There was more damage than usual dropped on Klingon forces, adding to the repair backlog.

The Kzinti lost a bunch of ground by not defending it. They've still got SB 1704 and the Kzinti capital has recovered from devastation, so they're in really good shape.

Total casualties:

Z Crip: FF (1 EP)
H Crip: TR HN (2.5 EP)
H Dead: HN
F Crip: CC 3CA 7NCL 2CL 2DD 2DE 8FF 3FFE (38.5 EP)
F Dead: CA NCL LSC CL 7FF
F Bases: 5BATS(3215, 2615, 2213, 2012, 2308) BATS(2012 - just crippled) 10PDU(3210, 3612, 3711, 2306)

L Crip: CW 2FF (3.5 EP)
L Dead: FF
K Crip: 2D7 2D6M D6 6D5 AD5 D5V D5S F5L 7F5 F5S 3F5E FV 7E4 (46 EP)
K Dead: D6D D5 2F5 2E4
R Crip: 3SP WE BHE SK SKE K5 2SN (12 EP)
R Dead: FAL 2SP SKE

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Tuesday, February 01, 2022 - 12:55 am: Edit

I forgot to mention that the Feds captured the FAL! The Alliance now has 2 maulers.

Econ:
Kzinti get 64EP (and have 24 offmap), build CVA BC 3MEC CM 4FF. They spend 24 on repairing 16 ships.

Hydrans get 13EP and build 2RN HR (they smuggle some EP from offmap). They've got 72EP left offmap and really hope that they can access it one of these turns.

Feds get 150EP and build CVA TG 9NCL 12FF, skipping a few builds. They also spend 61.5 EP on repairing 46 ships - I think I'd rather have repaired ships now than full builds and crippled ships later.

The Gorn enter the game! They get 87EP and build DN TG HV HDS 2BDE 3BD. They also convert 5CL into CCs. It's a nice feeling to be able to leave 13EP in the bank.

-----------------

Moves have started with the Hydrans attacking some province raiders and offmap blockers. There are a couple of reserves which can reach what is basically the Hydran main fleet killing a pair of frigates. Likely going to see a bunch of small ships die and the Hydrans go mostly back to their capital. A tug also carried a MB offmap - it'll probably be nice to have if the capital falls.

On the other side of the map, the Gorn have engaged a bunch of undefended Romulan BATS. There are 2 Romulan reserves which will likely save a couple. Still to move in the theatre are 24 Gorn ships and about 60 Feds.

By Kosta Michalopoulos (Kosmic) on Tuesday, February 01, 2022 - 01:09 am: Edit

Remember that the Hydrans can always build a frigate at the off-map starbase.

Edit: Plus they can also do conversions and repairs at that starbase.

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Tuesday, February 01, 2022 - 01:17 am: Edit

Oh yeah, that's happening. They built a CU and repaired a couple ships, plus a couple at the capital. They managed to get an FRD offmap so when Karl finally manages to take Hydrax the repairs shouldn't take forever. I'd love to do conversions, but it doesn't seem worthwhile to make the one TR I've got there into an HR (for 6!) and I don't have enough carriers to justify DEs.

By Kosta Michalopoulos (Kosmic) on Tuesday, February 01, 2022 - 01:33 am: Edit

It is important that the Hydrans have enough carrier groups to fill the battle lines for all those battles where you fight one round, lose one ship to directed damage (hopefully just an HN acting as an ad hoc escort) plus a gazillion fighters, then retreat. You can never have enough DEs for those types of battles, IMHO.

By Sam Benner (Nucaranlaeg) on Tuesday, February 01, 2022 - 01:49 am: Edit

Well, maybe I'll get an RN offmap and make another CV. But as it is the capital doesn't have the money (I'd rather keep up the production of cruisers, as it keeps the lines over the SB deadly) and the offmap doesn't have the hulls. I'm not fighting a lot of pinning battles with the Hydrans at this point anyway - I just want to keep the capital intact instead.

By Richard Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Tuesday, February 01, 2022 - 02:06 pm: Edit

You might be able to convert DDs offmap into some LNH(V). Don't know if that hull is available in your game though. You could also convert a TR to an NEC for 1+3.