After-action report: Meeting Engagement
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:47 pm
This battle was the result of a meeting engagement in a mini-campaign. A Federation force consisting of a heavy dreadnought (HDN) and a heavy cruiser (CA) faced off against a Kzinti DN, new command cruiser (NCC), and destroyer escort (DE).
The Feds entered moving at speed 8 with photons pre-loaded. They completed their photon loads with maximum overload energy. The Kzintis approached in a tight formation moving at speed 16. Just before entering overload range, the Kzintis began using sideslips in order to present their #2 shields instead of their #1 shields. The Kzinti DE also decelerated and dropped back 2 hexes. On impulse #8 of Turn 1 the main elements of both sides had closed to range 6 and everything let fly.
The Feds targeted all their overloaded photons on the NCC. Out of the 10 that fired, only 3 hit. The NCC's #2 shield dissolved and it took 39 internals. The Fed HDN also fired 11 Ph-1s at the Kzinti DN, but, after battery reinforcement by the Kzinti, only did 5 hits to the shield. The Kzinti ships concentrated overloaded disruptor and Ph-1 fire on the Fed CA, but only knocked down part of its #2 shield. During Launch Phase, the Kzinti ships launched a total of 14 drones at the Fed CA.
On Turn 2 the Feds moved at speed 24 and began a circling movement around the right of the Kzintis. The Kzinti ships still moved at speed 16, but turned toward the Fed ships to cut them off. On impulse #2 another wave of drones was launched, but this time, the DN launched at the Fed HDN. The others targeted the CA.
The Fed ships moved together and were just beginning to outrun the Kzintis when the first wave of drones arrived. The HDN used its phasers to blast as many of the drones as it could and launched 6 drones of its own, all targeted on 6 Kzinti drones. A tractor beam was also used by the CA to hold an impacted drone. The Kzintis held their fire.
By mid-turn, the Feds had used all of their available energy (the HDN was pre-loading its photons) and the 2nd drone wave began to arrive. The Kzintis had also turned and were accelerating to keep station on the Fed right-rear flank. The Feds used everything they had left to try to destroy the drones, but 2 got through the #3 shield of the CA, taking it down and doing 1 power hit. Then the Kzintis fired everything they could muster through the same #3 shield of the CA. Substantial power damage was taken, along with all hull and several ship systems and weapons. The HDN, seeing that the 6 drones from the Kzinti DN were about to impact it, veered off and fled the area.
On Turn 3 the HDN continued to run from the Kzinti drones while the CA attempted to move in a circular path to outrun and evade the oncoming Kzinti ships. Unfortunately for the CA, it just did not have enough power to accelerate at speed 24 for the entire turn. As the midpoint of the turn was reached, it was evident that the Kzinti ships would soon close to within 1 hex, launch more drones, and open fire again. The CA surrendered and the HDN, now many hexes away, turned and disengaged from the battle.
The turning point in this battle was when 7 of the 10 overloaded photons missed their target. Had they been able to take out the NCC, things would undoubtably gone differently.
For the first time, players in our group were able to see how drones could be used to influence movement during a battle. They also saw how drones sapped the phaser firepower of one side.
This scenario was played in squadron scale in less than 2 hours using several in-house playing aids to speed up the game. The Alpha Strike aid was used to allocate the large numbers of internal hits that occurred. Both major strikes were done in about 30 seconds apiece. A simplified DAC was also used. This system allowed players to take power damage on any power boxes they wished and to take system hits in a prescribed order. Finally, a computer program that was written by one of our club members was used for weapons resolution and die rolling. This saved lots of time by replacing manual dice rolling and the lookup of weapon hit results.
The Feds entered moving at speed 8 with photons pre-loaded. They completed their photon loads with maximum overload energy. The Kzintis approached in a tight formation moving at speed 16. Just before entering overload range, the Kzintis began using sideslips in order to present their #2 shields instead of their #1 shields. The Kzinti DE also decelerated and dropped back 2 hexes. On impulse #8 of Turn 1 the main elements of both sides had closed to range 6 and everything let fly.
The Feds targeted all their overloaded photons on the NCC. Out of the 10 that fired, only 3 hit. The NCC's #2 shield dissolved and it took 39 internals. The Fed HDN also fired 11 Ph-1s at the Kzinti DN, but, after battery reinforcement by the Kzinti, only did 5 hits to the shield. The Kzinti ships concentrated overloaded disruptor and Ph-1 fire on the Fed CA, but only knocked down part of its #2 shield. During Launch Phase, the Kzinti ships launched a total of 14 drones at the Fed CA.
On Turn 2 the Feds moved at speed 24 and began a circling movement around the right of the Kzintis. The Kzinti ships still moved at speed 16, but turned toward the Fed ships to cut them off. On impulse #2 another wave of drones was launched, but this time, the DN launched at the Fed HDN. The others targeted the CA.
The Fed ships moved together and were just beginning to outrun the Kzintis when the first wave of drones arrived. The HDN used its phasers to blast as many of the drones as it could and launched 6 drones of its own, all targeted on 6 Kzinti drones. A tractor beam was also used by the CA to hold an impacted drone. The Kzintis held their fire.
By mid-turn, the Feds had used all of their available energy (the HDN was pre-loading its photons) and the 2nd drone wave began to arrive. The Kzintis had also turned and were accelerating to keep station on the Fed right-rear flank. The Feds used everything they had left to try to destroy the drones, but 2 got through the #3 shield of the CA, taking it down and doing 1 power hit. Then the Kzintis fired everything they could muster through the same #3 shield of the CA. Substantial power damage was taken, along with all hull and several ship systems and weapons. The HDN, seeing that the 6 drones from the Kzinti DN were about to impact it, veered off and fled the area.
On Turn 3 the HDN continued to run from the Kzinti drones while the CA attempted to move in a circular path to outrun and evade the oncoming Kzinti ships. Unfortunately for the CA, it just did not have enough power to accelerate at speed 24 for the entire turn. As the midpoint of the turn was reached, it was evident that the Kzinti ships would soon close to within 1 hex, launch more drones, and open fire again. The CA surrendered and the HDN, now many hexes away, turned and disengaged from the battle.
The turning point in this battle was when 7 of the 10 overloaded photons missed their target. Had they been able to take out the NCC, things would undoubtably gone differently.
For the first time, players in our group were able to see how drones could be used to influence movement during a battle. They also saw how drones sapped the phaser firepower of one side.
This scenario was played in squadron scale in less than 2 hours using several in-house playing aids to speed up the game. The Alpha Strike aid was used to allocate the large numbers of internal hits that occurred. Both major strikes were done in about 30 seconds apiece. A simplified DAC was also used. This system allowed players to take power damage on any power boxes they wished and to take system hits in a prescribed order. Finally, a computer program that was written by one of our club members was used for weapons resolution and die rolling. This saved lots of time by replacing manual dice rolling and the lookup of weapon hit results.
