Hi!
This is a game between my friend Joern (Alliance) and myself (Coalition).
We play the scenario (673.0) Cloudburst from the old CapLog 28.
Despite several games on our own, we’re still pretty green, as evidenced by many of our questions on the BBS having the most obvious answers and having made us look like first year cadets. Hence the name of this game, which we like to share with you, maybe getting one or two useful hints from the audience.
Have fun….
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Soeren Klein

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Saturday, August 10, 2024 - 08:17 am: Edit

Rule sets used:
All rules and modules included with the exception of Advanced Raids from PO and any Orion rule not already included in Cloudburst.
Some minor rules may come and go as we remember them. We are too inexperienced to remember every rule and die roll, so it will either favor or hurt us both equally. And if it happens to change the balance to one side, than so be it. We won’t make a fuss of it.
No option points beside the Admiral and TO conversion points.
The ISC was introduced much later than this scenario. So there are no instruction how to play them with this delayed beginning of the war. We might see when the time arrives.

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Saturday, August 10, 2024 - 08:18 am: Edit

Minor Empires:
They were introduced way later than this scenarios but we’d like to include them, too.

WYN:
- WYN trade yes,
- otherwise treated like described in the scenario rules.

Seltorians will show up on schedule to take care of the Tholians.

Vudar:
- neutral, but alliance friendly, move last on coalition turns.
- will take over Klingon provinces on schedule and pay klingon tribute (547.112) unless the Klingons decide to fight them for those provinces.

LDR:
- neutral, but coalition friendly, moves last on alliance turns.
- trades with surrounding empires (548.112)
- May try to take over unguarded Hydran territory. Hydrans may engage until they drive them back. Then revert to neutral status.
Both will engage in an early version of Electric Storm (630.0). They will primarily move through neutral zones but may use klingon or hydran provinces without fixed defenses. They‘re allowed move through hexes with friendly units but end there only if retreat rules permit no other hexes. No movement through or ending in hexes containing unfriendly units.

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Saturday, August 10, 2024 - 08:22 am: Edit

We are currently in the preparation stage for the first turn.

All empires set up according to the sequence in the scenario rules with frigates and destroyers guarding the borders and larger ships waiting at the starbases throuout all empires.

Admiral and TO points are being spent as follows:

Admiral points (673.4):
F (40): 4xDW+8xFF
K (40): AD5; 3xCVT->3xCVT+; 4xF5E; 3xF5
R (30): SUP->SUB; SPB->FHB; 2xSKE
Z (20): MEC; 2xDWE, DW
G (20): 4xDD; 2xHD
T (10): DN->DP; 2xPC->FCR+SC
O (10): 4xLR
H (20): 4xAH; 1xDWE
L (30): 2xDWE; DWS; DW; LTT; 2xFF
D (10): CL->BCH;
V (10): 4xFF
S (10): DD+2xFF
LDR, Vudar and Seltorians are not covered by (673.4) but as they all have 1 Reserve fleet, they would get 10 points.

TO conversion points (551.9)
free leader upgrades (551.0) +
F (20): 2xDD->DHD,HDD; 4xCC + 4xCA ->8xCB
K (16): 6xD7 +1xD7C->7xD7W
R (16): 3xWE->3xQE; 3xSE->3xQSE; BH->BHB
Z (10): DD->DDB; CC+2xBC-> 3xCCH
G (10): 4xHD->2xNHD+2xHDF; 2xDD->2xDE; POL->FFE
T (4): CC->CCH; PC->DDF
O (0): ---
H (10): 2xDG+LB->3xCHC; 2xRN+LC->CHA
L (12): 3xCW->3xHCW; 3xCC+2xCA->5xCCH
D (4): FF->HPF; MP->MPS
V (4): extra FWL
S (0): ---

We are currently working up the economics and production orders for C1 and prepping for raids and movements next.

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Sunday, August 11, 2024 - 02:47 am: Edit

It is the early Y177. Tensions are rising within the Federation after Starfleet initiated a blockade around the Orion Enclave to force their return to the Federation. The Coalition protests and issue an ultimatum, but to no avail. When Starfleet moved their third and sixth fleet back to Antares (2610) and Vidalia (3210) to increase pressure, the Coalition decided to use the opportunity and storm the borders lightly guarded by frigates and destroyers.
In the west, a lyran BATS disappears. Onsight investigations found no cause but the obvious culprit sits right across the border, having two fleets ready to invade Lyran territory through this breach. The Emperor immediately mobiles his fleet to reinforce the border while the Enemy’s Blood fleet engages in punitive action against a Hydran base.

C1 Eco:
Klingon:
Income: 142 + 28 on credit
Survey: 8
Activations: -7 2xD6; 2xF5; 3xE4
Conversions: -9 2xD6->D6M + D6S
Constructions: -151 C8; D7D; D7V (6FFF); DDW; D5S, D5H; AD5; 4xD5; D5L; 2xF5W; FWE; 6xF5; E4J; F6B (free); FRD; PRD at 2216; 2xConvoy; 1 Primeteam (free); 1 B10 roll
E&S: 2 EP
Balance: 1 EP

Romulan:
Income: 113 + 22 on credit
Survey: 0
Activations: 0
Conversions: 0
Constructions: -151 NH; FHB+SPM+SKE (6FFF); SPC; 2xSP; SPL; 2xSK; SEH; FAL; SN; FRD; 2xConvoy; PRD at 4112; 2xPrime (1 free)
E&S: 4 EP
Balance: 19,5EP

Lyran:
Income: 115 + 6,5 on credit
Survey: 11
Activations: 0
Conversions: -14 9xCA->9xCC; CL->BC
Constructions: -99,5 STL; CV (3xFFF); NTG; LTT; 2xCWE;3xDWE; 3xFF; FRD; 2xConvoy; PRD at Silmark; 2xPrime (1 free)
E&S: -4
WYNCOVIA: -4
Balance: 0 EP

Orion:
Income: 10 + 10 Cartels
Survey: 0
Activations: 0
Conversions: 0
Constructions: -19,5 BR (Cartel gift, cluster) DWS (Orion SB); 2xPDU; 1xPrimeteam (free)
E&S:
Balance: 0,5EP

LDR:
Income: 3,5 + 6 trade
Survey: 0
Activations: 0
Conversions: 0
Constructions: -8 CW; MP
E&S:
Balance: 1,5EP

[Edit]: LDR still on peacetime economy as the Vudar are the aggressor in (630.0) and have not declared war until their turn an A1.

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Sunday, August 11, 2024 - 02:51 am: Edit

We're not quite sure about the orion Eco.

According to (673.1-O4) they have ten points from planets and their province plus ten points support from the cartels. All in their maingrid 2810.

As the federation has put up a blockade around the enclave, that means there is not supply connection to their ship yard in the WYN cluster and their EPs can not be used to build ships there, right?
So 1 DW available by starbase construction and the rest free to build planetary units, until the blockade is broken.

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Monday, August 12, 2024 - 09:09 am: Edit

Raid Phase:
Race	Raider	Hex	Target	Reaction	Combat	Result
K	C5	2713	Kill DW	FF from 2612	SSC 11Fvs11 -> 0vs-3 -> 10vs3	DW and FF crippled and withdraw
	FD7	2513	Disruption	6xFF from 2612	SSC 7-8Fvs6 -> +1vs-3 ->9vs1	6IFF killed, province disrupted
	PT	2612	Disrupt Reaction		Roll = 7	Failed
R	PT	Sebelia	Steal F-EP		Roll = 12	KIA
	PT	Gordon	Cripple DD		Roll = 9	WIA
L	CL	0218	Disruption	6xFF from 0318	SSC 6vs6 -> 0vs0 -> 5vs8	Fighters killed, but raider crippled and withdraws
	CF	0117	Disruption	DG from 0215	SSC 7-8Fvs10-9 -> -2vs+1 -> 9vs8	DG crippled and withdraws, CF crippled and withdraws
	PT	Phtha III	Steal EP		Roll = 5	Mission success
	PT	0215	Disrupt Reaction		Roll = 2	Mission success

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Saturday, August 17, 2024 - 05:29 am: Edit

Combat is done and finished retrograde movement.
We are currently in the final phase of the turn, still discussing wether or not to redo the battles of SB 2915 and Arcturia and have 7th fleet defend their SB instead of the planet.

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Saturday, August 17, 2024 - 05:37 am: Edit

Empire	Lost	Crippled	Bases/Planets	Depot’d	Captured	Attrition Units
Federation	5xFF, SWACS	CA; CVB; 3xNCL; DW; DD; DDE; 5xFF; FFV; 2xFFE; CFF	Gordons Planet; 2xSB; 9xBATS; 2xPDU; 2xSIDS			29
Gorn
Hydran		DG; KN; 4xCU; HNG	BATS			24
ISC
Kzinti
Tholian
Alliance Total	5	24	14			53
Klingon	D6; 2xF5; F5V; E4A; E4	D7W; D7C; D7; 3xD6; 2xD5; 3xF5L; 13xF5; F5V; 3xE4; E4J; 2xE3; 3xE3A				24
LDR
Lyran	DW; FF	2xCC; STJ; 2xCL; DWS; 2xDD; 2xFF		CL
Orion
Romulan	5xSNB	2xSP; SPF; 2xSK; SKE; K5L; 2xK5; 2xK4; 3xWE; BHB; 3xBH; SNB; 6xSN				35
Seltorion
Vudar
Coalition Total	13	65	0	1	0	59
Ballance	-8	-41	+14	-1		-6

Battle details to follow when I figured out how to format the tables right for the BBS.

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Monday, August 19, 2024 - 01:36 am: Edit

	Forces	(SEQ+FF+Bases+Specials)		Casualties (Emp.: Loss (Crip))
Location	Attacker	Defender	Result	Attacker	Defender
			Hydran Theatre
0114	5L	2H + BATS	While the main strike went to 0315 a small cruiser force flank the Hydrans and attacked BATS 0114. Defended only by to minor warships the Hydrans put up a gallant defense while the Lyran attackers failed to gain the upper hand (Average DR: 3.4 vs 1.6). In the end both sides mangled each other until most of their ships were crippled and the base was scuttled to secure the retreat.	L: DW; (2xCC; DWS)	H: BATS (KN; CU)
0315	17L	16H+18 + BATS + 3iff	BATS 0315 was the target of Enemy’s Blood main thrust. A successful E&S mission disrupted reinforcements from SB 0215 so the Hydrans couldn’t scramble their fighters there. Still the Lyrans ran into well prepared defenders and suffered several casualties during two approach battles that crippled to many of their ships for them to continue their attack.	L: CL(depot); FF; (STJ; 2xCL; 2xDD; 2xFF)	H: 24xiff; (DG; 3xCU; HNG)
			Federation theatre
			Southern Reserve Fleet
BATS 2012	11K*5	1F+ BATS	Southern Reserve swamped the two bases with too much forces for the defenders to have a chance.	K: 2xiff; (2xF5)	F: BATS; FF
BATS 2213	11K+4	1F + BATS		K: 4xiff; (F5; E4)	F: BATS; FF
Bezwell Index	7K	2xPDU	Bezwell tried to resist, but the Klingon numbers were too high.	K: (F5;E4)	N: 2xPDU
			Eastern Fleet
SB 2211	18K+14	3F+8+SB	Other than 7th fleet the 3rd fleet expected to be engaged at their SB and kept the CVB group close by although it ultimately did not prevented defeat. Both sides skipped the approach and fought it out close to the SB. Starfleet kept its ships in safe distance and disengaged, after the base took too much damaged and went down.	K: 10xiff; (D7C; D7; 3xF5; CVT+; F5V; 3xE3A)	F: SB; 8xiff
BATS 2308	6K	3F + BATS	What was meant to be a surprise strike deep into fed territory was foiled, when two frigates from 4th fleet showed up for the defense.	K: (D6; F5L; 2xF5; 2xE3)	F: 3xiff; (2xSIDS; 3xFF)
BATS 2414	5K	1F + BATS	The base dominated the battle and the Klingons had to take have casualties to finally subdued the defenders.	K: E4; (F5L; 2xF5)	F: BATS
			Tholian Border Squadron
BATS 2615	4K	1F + BATS	The Klingons underestimated the resolve of the federation BATS and only send a minimum force against it, resulting in heavy losses on their side, while the BATS went down and the FF escaped.	K: 2xF5; (F5L)	F: BATS
Arcturia	13K+4	13F+3 + 2xPDU	It remains disputed weather to react on Arcturias call for help or stay and safe 7th Fleet SB. During the chaos of the Klingon attack the 7th fleet commander decided to react on the desperate calls for help and move to the citizens of Arcturia before the Romulans began their move and crossed the border with their patrol detachment to engage 7th fleet SB while its defenders were gone.	K: D6; F5J; F5V; E4A; (D7W; 2xD6)	F: 14xiff; (CA; 3xNCL; FFV; FFE; CFF)
BATS 2816	5K	6F+BATS	Starfleet rallied their nearby patrols making it too difficult to engage the BATS with only a SC4-battlegroup. So, bothsides engaged in an approach battle at extreme ranges before the Klingons withdrew and the Federation decided to play it safe and not decisively pursued them.	K: (E4)	F: (FF)
			New Constructions
Shermans Planet	6K	2xPDU	Sherman resisted but was taken in the end.	K: (F5;E4J)	N: 2xPDU
BATS 2008	7K	1F + BATS	A short battle taking damage on the BATS before it died and the warships withdrew.	K: (2xD5)	F: BATS
BATS 2010	6K+6	1F + BATS	The BATS was quickly obliterated	K: 6xiff; (F5)	F: BATS; FF
			Orion Relief Operation
2713	2 O	2F	SSC 14cloakvs11 -> +2vs-2 -> 10vs6 The Orion sent their main forces directly to Orion using the gap by the Klingon intervention. 2 BRs engage the intercepting Starfleet ships and drove them away before withdrawing to Orion themselves.		F: (DW; FF)
			Romulan Patrol
BATS 3016	5R	F BATS	The BATS kept the upper hand until the last few attacks and dealt deadly damage to the engaging squadron before finally succumbing to Romulan fire.	R: 2xSNB; (3xSN)	F: BATS
BATS 3215	5R	1F + BATS	Despite an initial success with cloaking the romulan frigate squadron never really gained the upper in this combat. Time favored them but the kill of the base came with the crippling of their whole squadron, including one lost ship, and a missed chance to pursue the federation frigate.	R: SNB; (K5L; 2xK5; SN)	F: BATS
SB 2915	20R+8	3F + SB	Despite a careful approach by the romulan commander, cloaking tactics paid off. The Romulans mauled a frigate and slowly grounded the SB down while taking heavy damage.	R: (3xWE; BHB; 3xBH; 2xK4)	F: SB; SWACS; FF
			Fleet of the West
Denebola	4R + 6iff	2xPDU		R: 6xiff; (SNB; SN)	N: 2xPDU
BATS 3414	8R+12	1F + BATS	A standard attack, killing the base in exchange for the fighters	R: 11xiff	F: BATS
Helvetia	3R + 6xiff	2xPDU		R: SNB; 2xiff; (SN)	N: 2xPDU
BATS 3613	6R+4	1F + BATS	A standard attack on the BATS.	R: 4xiff; (SK; SKE)	F: BATS; FF
BATS 3812	5R	2F + BATS	A frigate arrived as reinforcements which made the BATS too hard a target.	R: SNB	F: 5xiff
Gordons Planet	26R + 18ff	5F+8+2xPDU+12 iff	The Romulans engaged with superior numbers and immediately concentrated their fire against the federation carrier group, using their mauler and just enough points to cripple the whole group. Unfortunately, the crippled CVB group dodged behind the planet which was quickly given up by Starfleet.	R: 12xiff; (2xSP; SPF; SK)	F: Planet; 2xPDU; 4xiff; (CVB; DDE; DD; FFE)

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Monday, August 19, 2024 - 01:42 am: Edit

A detailed battle hex list above.

The Klingon-Romulan-Orion coalition smashed the Federation border defenses and cleared the way for the Orions to reinforce the enclave forces. But the price was high and the operation not fully successful. The coalition opted to form smaller squadrons and attack Starfleet on a broader front. But that reduced their fire power and allowed Starfleet to deal more damage to coalition ships. A large number of ships has to be withdrawn for repairs and Starfleet managed to take most of their damage on the doomed bases while withdrawing their ships to fight another day. Finally the 7th fleet managed to hold Arcturia and one of their bases on the Tholian border, blocking the way for the Romulan B10.
The Romulans obliterated the southern Starfleet bases but couldn’t muster enough forces to decisively strike the 6th fleet near its SB. But reinforcements are on their way.
The Lyrans knew they did not had enough forces to make a meaningful invasion of the Hydrans and had to expect a massive response not only from the Hydran’s 2nd fleet, but Home and Expeditionary Fleets also. So the made their move carefully and than retreated back to Enemy’s Blood SB while rushing reinforcements from home to the border.

By Soeren Klein (Ogdrklein) on Monday, August 19, 2024 - 01:50 am: Edit

[Edit] Image upload failed. Sorry