So, my first Firestorm Armada battle report! Please be gentle!
I did take pictures, but to say I was disappointed with the
results is not enough. My Terran Fleet
was in its Base White colour and the lack of details painted made the fleet
appear bleached out in most of the photos.
Sorry.
The Valhallan Box Set comes with two fleets, the Terrans and
the Dindrenzi, both adding up to 470 points with no upgrades. To make the battle more interesting, we
bumped it up to 500 points so that we could add some upgrades. We both agreed in advance not to bother with “Short Ranged Spacecraft” (SRS)
because, quite frankly, we weren’t really ready for those! :D
The Terran Alliance (TA) fleet consisted of:
- 1 Tyrant Battleship with +1” Movement (5pts), +2 Point Defence Batteries (5pts) and Decimator Warheads for their torpedoes (10pts). (I don’t think he took anything else)
- 3 Teuton Cruiser with No Upgrades
- 4 Armsmen Frigates with No Upgrades
The Dindrenzi Federation (DF) fleet consisted of:
- 1 Praetorian Battleship with +2 Assault Points (5pts), Added Launch Tubes (5pts), Gained Assault Blitz (10pts) and High Energy MAR to the Kinetic Weapon (5pts)
- 3 Secutor Cruisers with No Upgrades
- 3 Thraex Frgates with No Upgrades
We played on a 4’ X 4’ table with 2 Asteroid Fields for
terrain and decided not to add anything else.
The chosen mission was the standard “Border Clash”: 8” deployment Zones with the first person to
get to 10 Battle Points being the Victor
At least, that was the idea…
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| The Battle Begins! |
Looking at the stats
of the Dindrenzi and considering my “test games” using the “training scenarios”
that were included in the box set, I knew the Terrans were more manoeuvrable and better at closer range than the Dindrenzi, so I would play a “waiting game”;
staying at a distance as long as I could.
Also, knowing the Terran Battleship had such a small Crew Point value, I
intended to try boarding it with my Battleship with its enhanced and upgraded
Boarding capabilities.
Turn 1:
Terra won the first Initiative phase and decided to keep it.
Terran Cruisers moved forward, skirting the edge of an
asteroid field, only 1 ship being exposed once the movement was over. Dindrenzi Frigates turned and aimed their
weapons at this exposed Cruiser, but failed to damage the Terran Cruiser from
the long range. Terran Frigates moved to
attack the Dindrenzi Frigates, successfully damaging 1.
The Dindrenzi Battleship activated and moved forward to get
the Terran Battleship into Range Band 3.
The Railgun caused a Critical Hit on the Tyrant (Shield Overload) while
the High Energy rule forced an extra Hazard Marker on the enemy ship. The Dindrenzi’s torpedo attack failed to
damage the exposed Cruiser.
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| Terran Battleship hit by Railgun! |
The Terran Battleship moved forward and tried to retaliate
against the Dindrenzi Battleship. While
the Beam weapons failed to damage it, the Torpedoes managed to cause a Hull
Point of damage to the Dindrenzi Battleship.
As the final activation of the turn, the Dindrenzi moved
forward and sniped at the exposed Terran Cruiser with their railguns but failed
to damage the ship. The Cruiser’s torpedo
attack at the enemy Frigates were all stopped by enemy Point Defense systems.
In the End Phase, the Terran Battleship failed their repair
roll (a 1!), thus gained another Hazard token and lost another Hull Point!
 |
| End of turn 1 |
Battle Points:
TA 0
DF: 0
TA 0
DF: 0
Turn 2:
Dindrenzi won and kept the Initiative!
Trying to do the most damage and keeping my distance, the
Dindrenzi Battleship moved forward its minimum distance and unleashed HECK on
the Terran Battleship with the railgun, gaining another Hull Point damage and
Hazard Marker (3 total each ). Sadly, the
torpedoes again failed to reach the Terran Cruiser…
The Terran Battleship moved forward and turned to port
(left). The Terran’s Battleship failed
to damage its counterpart but the torpedoes managed to crit one of the
Dindrenzi Cruisers (Fire – 3 CP left).
In retaliation, the Dindrenzi Cruisers made a minimal move and turned
all weapons against the Terran Battleship.
In an exhibition of my infamous dice rolling powers, I managed . .
nothing! The Terran Cruisers finally
came from behind the Asteroid field and blasted the damaged Dindrenzi Cruiser,
destroying it! Then almost as an afterthought,
the Cruisers’ torpedoes destroyed a damaged Frigate!
 |
| 1st Dindrenzi Cruiser and Frigate are Lost! |
In desperation, the Dindrenzi Frigates coordinated their attacked
on 1 Terran Frigate, but succeeded only in damaging it! The Terran Frigates made a 90 degree turn and
formed a Line of Battle, then managed to Crit another Dindrenzi Cruiser (Hull
Breach – 2 crew left). Things were not
going well for the Dindrenzi…
 |
| Terran Frigates Attack! |
In the end phase, the Terrans only repaired a single Hazard
Token, leaving the Battleship with 2 Hazard Markers.
Battle Points:
TA 0
DF: 0
TA 0
DF: 0
Turn 3:
The Terrans played the “Power to the Shields” TAC on the
Battleship, gaining an extra Shield for the turn while the Dindrenzi played “Eye
of Rense” TAC – allowing all leadership tests to be passed automatically this turn.
Dindrenzi won the Initiative and kept it once more.
The Dindrenzi Battleship once more made a minimum move and
turned all its weapons on the Terran Battleship. When the dust settled, the Terran Battleship
had 2 more Hull Points shaved off, crippling the Battleship and giving the
Dindrenzi 2 Battlepoints! The Dindrenzi
are first with scoring points and in the lead!
It didn’t last long, though.
The Terran Cruisers turned to starboard and blasted away at the damaged
Dindrenzi Cruiser, destroying it. That
gave the Terrans 2 Battlepoints for destroying half a Tier 2 squadron, but the
Dindrenzi didn’t need to take a Disorder test due to their TAC allowing them to
pass all leadership tests.
 |
| Loss of the 2nd Dindrenzi Cruiser |
The remaining Dindrenzi Cruiser attacked the lead Terran
Cruiser with their railguns, gaining a Crit (Fire: 3 Crew left), though the Gun
Racks failed to damage the enemy Frigates.
The Terran Battleship continued its move forward, blasting
away with its weapons but failing to damage anything – the damage it had already taken affecting the
great ship’s performance.
The Dindrenzi Frigates moved to fire on one of the
Terran Frigates, but once more failed to cause any damage. The Terran Frigates meanwhile maneuvered into
one of the Dinrenzi Cruiser’s rear arc, but fortunately for the Cruiser crew,
failed to cause any damage in another spectacular display of how NOT to roll
the dice!
In the end phase, the Terrans were only able to repair one
Hazard Token on the Battleship, reducing one Cruiser and the Battleship to 2 Crew
Point each! Things were looking up for
that Boarding attempt!
Also, the Terrans decided to reclaim their TAC card, losing
1 Battlepoint in the process.
Battle Points:
TA 1
DF: 2
TA 1
DF: 2
Turn 4:
The Terrans played “Power to the Shields” TAC once more on
the Battleship while the Dindrenzi played “Burn Thrusters” TAC on the Battleship,
reducing its turn rate to 1” between 45 degree turns.
Terrans won the initiative and kept it!
The Terran Battleship managed to manoeuvre into the rear arc
of the uncrippled Dindrenzi Cruiser and managed to grind away 2 Hull Points
(leaving 1), crippling the Cruiser! The
Dindrenzi Cruiser turned to engage both the Frigates and Cruisers, but managed
to damage nothing.
The Terran Frigates manoeuvred into the rear arc of the
Dindrenzi Battleship and shot . . at the Cruiser? Turned out the Battleship was “too close” for
optimum firing and the Terran Frigates got their best number of dice rolls
shooting at the Cruiser. It was good decision
as they took out the last Dindrenzi Cruiser, earning another 2 Battlepoints and
causing the Dindrenzi to lose 2!
The Dindrenzi Battleship is committed at this point. Turning to starboard, the Gun Racks crit an undamaged
Cruiser (Point Defence Systems Offline) and Boarded the Terran Battleship! Or did it?
Nope! The ship was down to 2 Crew
Points and the Point Defence was down to 1 shot, but I bombed the attack roll
again and the defending Marines drove off the attack with 1 “hit” to spare! I did NOTHING!!! With the new Version 2 rules, the Battleship
would not be able to do another boarding action for the rest of the game! AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!
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| Boarding Combat with Overwhelming Numbers..FAILS! |
Laughing, the Terrans turned their Cruiser loose on the
Battleship, taking off a Hull Point (2 HP gone in total – the Battleship was
still in good shape). The Dindrenzi
Frigates did another 180 degree turn and crit the last undamaged Cruiser with a Corrosion Token!
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| Dindrenzi Frigate Attack Run |
In the End Phase, the Terrans managed repair the Hazard Counter
on 1 Cruiser, failed to repair the Point Defense system on another, and failed
to repair a Corrosive Effect on the last (3 Hull Points gone, 1 left). Finally, all the Hazard Markers were repaired
on the Terran Battleship! First time
since turn 1!
The Dindrenzi decided to take back their TAC card to play
again (I really didn’t have a choice), loosing another Battlepoint.
 |
| End of Turn 4 |
Battle Points:
TA 4
DF: -1
TA 4
DF: -1
Turn 5:
Dindrenzi played “Burn Thrusters” on their Battleship once
again. The Terrans played “Focused
Repair” on the Cruiser to repair its Point Defence System.
Terrans won and kept initiative once more.
The Terran Battleship turned to starboard and fired on the
Frigates, destroying 1 and damaging the other, gaining another Battlepoint for
reducing a Tier 1 Squadron below 50%.
The remaining Frigate passed its Disarray test.
Thanks to the “Burn Thrusters” card, the Dindrenzi
Battleship was able to turn and fired its forward weapons on the enemy
Battleship, finally destroying it for 4 Battlepoints while the Gun Racks crit
and destroyed a Cruiser. Finally!
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| The Dindrenzi Battleship's Revenge as the Terran Battleship & Cruiser are Destroyed! |
The Terran Frigates turned and fired on both the Frigates
and the Battleship, but failed to damage either.
The Dindrenzi Frigate moved to put some distance between
them and the enemy, but then failed to turn around enough to get anything into
their firing arcs. The Terran Cruiser
punished the Dindrenzi Frigate for its failure and destroyed it, gaining
another Battlepoint for destroying a Tier 3 squadron while the Dindrenzi lost
another Battlepoint for losing a Tier 3 Squadron.
In the End Phase, the Terran Cruiser failed to repair its
Hazard Counter and exploded!
Unfortunately, it appeared that Dindrenzi wouldn't gain a Battlepoint
for this as it was a result of an event rather than direct damage. The Dindrenzi also picked up their TAC card
again in case there would be another turn.
We messed up the Battlepoints while we were playing the
game; I had forgotten to delete points for squadrons lost. We figured the score was Terran 5 versus
Dindrenzi 1.
It didn’t look like either of us was going to get to 10
Battlepoints and as I looked over the situation, there was no way I wanted to
continue the fight. A Battleship against
2 squadrons of more manoeuvrable ships. They had already gotten into my rear arc with no difficulty once. The Battleship would have died the death of a
thousand cuts. Realistically, I would
have the Battleship fold space to escape and save an expensive resource for a
future battle, so I conceded the match.
Terran Victory!
However, while writing up the battle report, I discovered that
the score was actually 1 All before I conceded the match! If I
had moved off the table using the Space Fold Escape, the Battleship would count
as destroyed and would cost me 4 Battlepoints while Terrans would gain 5,
resulting in a 6:-3 Battlepoint win for Terra.
Great Game!
I knew the Terrans had the advantage of manoeuvrability, shields and “Knife-Fighting”. I think I had the right idea, playing the
long distance game as long as possible.
I had some pretty dismal rolls when I needed them, but so
did the Terrans. I can’t blame it on the
dice – sorry!
I think maybe I should have made the Dindrenzi Frigates
disengage around turn 3, possibly hiding around the Asteroid fields, then
re-engage a couple of turns later. The
Frigates weapons were all forward fixed arcs and by turn 4, they were too close
to get their maximum fire power. If I
could have disengaged them for a turn or two, I might have gotten the Frigates
back into optimum range (and out of immediate danger).
The other thing that would probably have helped Dindrenzi was
if I concentrated all units onto the Battleship from the beginning (and
hopefully crippled it sooner), then engage the other units. I could always come back to the Battleship
later as its firepower was badly reduced.
As it was, I got Swarmed by the rest of the fleet because I didn’t deal
with the Cruisers and Frigates fast enough.
The Boarding of the Terran Battleship was a failure, but I
think that was my fault for not doing a Targeted Attack on the Bridge
first. If successful, I could have
reduced the AP value and the Boarding attempt would have been successful. I probably should have attempted to capture
one of the Cruisers instead as their AP values were lower.
Speaking of Targeted Attacks, both sides had tried them from
time to time, but had no luck. The times
we tried, we failed to damage at all.
When we didn’t, we had some of the best rolls of the game. Hmmmm…
On the Terran side, there wasn’t much he could have done
differently. As I stated earlier, the
Dindrenzi plan was to attempt to board and capture the Battleship. As soon as it was deployed, the Tyrant was
marked by my Battleship. While the Terran
Frigates and Cruisers could have attacked the Dindrenzi Battleship to
(hopefully) reduce the damage their own Battleship took, he would have made the
same error as I did – ignoring my Cruisers and Frigates which would then have
been able to attack them with impunity.
As Terra won the game, I can’t really fault him for his strategy in this
case.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to my next game! I just need to decide how to expand each fleet...
