BatRep: Dystopian Wars v2 Kingdom of Britannia vs Russian Coalition (1,000pts)

Admiral Dimitry Orlov was lucky.  No other word for it.

One moment he was on the flying bridge of the Carrier Kiev, the next he was in the water.

Of the Kiev, ther was no sign.

The crew of the Battleship, Georgy Pobedonosets II ("St George the Victorious II" in English) was sailing alongside when it happened.  An observer saw him fall off the bridge when the superstructure was hit by a salvo, moments before the great carrier sank.  Due to his quick warning, rescue crews saved him before he drowned.  There was a reason why he love the Georgy Pobedonosets II!

The Czar’s staff figured he needed a break so he was sailing back to the Atlantic to participate in war games against the Kingdom off Britannia.  Part of this was to improve relations with the British, the other to evaluate whether Orlov was fit to command.

I’ll just have to show them what I can do…

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Due to some mis-communications, Graham and I out-guessed each other.  I had told him my new Prussian Naval Battle Group box had arrived (which he thought I meant to bring) and he laughed about his last win, so I complained I needed a rematch (and thought he was bringing his Empire of the Blazing Sun).  Both of us were surprised and ended up with an “Allied Training Mission”.  Oh well, I can still sink him…

To speed up the game (due to limited time), we decided to play on a 4’ X 4’ rather than the standard 4’ X 6’.  British rolled Strategic Advantage, Russians got Operational Advantage. 

We had 3 islands on the western side of the map, clear open spaces on the east.  Russians setup in the South, British took the North.

Russian Deployment (Left to Right):

• Tunguska Large Skyship with SAS Fighter (5) Support & Glacier Generator (Obscured)
• 2 Suvorov Cruisers
• 2 Saransk Medium Skyships (Obscured)
• SAS Fighter (5)
• 3 Novgorod Frigates
• 4 Rostov Destroyers
• Borodino Battleship with Rocket & Torpedo Jammer (Commodore’s Vessel)
• 3 Novgorod Frigates

British Deployment (Russian Left to Right)

Advance Deployment:

• 2 Hawk Scout Rotor (Obscured)

Main Deployment:

• Eagle War Rotor (Obscured)
• SAS Fighter (5)
• 2 Orion Destroyers
• 2 Vanguard Submarines (Submerged)
• SAS Fighters (5)
• Ruler Battleship w/ Guardian Generator (Commodore’s Vessel)
• 3 Attacker Frigates
• Ruler Battleship (No Options)

Start of Game Deployment!

We selected orders, but the British drew a 6 – allowing Graham to pick any mission (secretly) he wanted.

Turn 1:

British won Initiative.

The Eagle stayed obscured, moved slowly behind the islands, and missed its shots at the Saransk Skyships.  The Tunguska also stayed obscured, moved forward and turned to expose its beam turrets to multiple targets, but failed to damage any of its targets.  British Hawks moved forward and each dropped a mine, then targeted a different Saransk.  The Saransk Skyships moved forward and in another display of bad rolls, did nothing.  Things weren’t happening too quickly.

The British Commodore’s Battleship moved forward and turned to port, and damaged 1 Frigate and 1 Saransk Skyship.  As the turrets are piercing weapons, the Frigate was down to 2AP from Hard Pounding and the Saransk suffered Nav Lock.  Finally, Russian Fighters attacked and shot down one of the British Hawk Scout Rotors with a Triple Crit!  First blood for the Russians!

Russian Fighters Draw 1st Blood!

The British subs surfaced and turned to each fire at a different Cruiser, but failed to damage either.  ! Sub failed its dive roll so was stuck on the surface.  The Russian Cruisers hugged their closest island as they advanced, then managed to Double Crit the Surviving Hawk Rotor (2 Shredded Defences).  British Destroyers advanced and damaged one of the Cruisers.  Finally, a second squadron of Fighters attacked and shot down the last British Hawk Rotor!

Second Hawk Shot Down By Fighters!

The second British Battleship moved forward, turning slightly to present all weapons on the Russian Battleship, and managed to damage it, in spite the range and Ablative Armor.  Russian Frigates went around the left side of an island to hide behind the Russian Cruisers.  British Frigates came out of their deployment zone but were unable to damage anything.  The second Russian Frigate squadron went out at maximum speed towards their British counterparts, but were still out of range.  British Fighters came out and shot down 4 Russian Fighters for no loss, leaving 1 lone fighter token in the squadron!  The Russian Battleship came out from behind the islands and though the turrets failed to cause any damage, the broadsides crit the Vanguard sub still on the surface (Fusion Leak – 3 Counters)!  The final British move of the turn was the second fighter squadron moving towards the British Eagle War Rotor.  The Russians then moved their last Fighter squadron towards the air war on the western table edge while Russian Destroyers finally moved forward.

In the End Phase, the British managed to repair all the Corrosive Counters on the Sub, while the Russians fixed the Nav Lock on the Saransk Skyship.

VPs:
KoB        0
RC           160

Turn 2:

Russians won Initiative.

Almost Start of Turn
Russian and British Battleship on the left already activated in turn 2!

Knowing the British Battleships were going to double-team the Russian, the Commodore moved his Battleship first, getting into RB 2 to the British Commodore’s Battleship!  When all the smoke cleared, the Great Russian ship had caused NO damage anywhere!  Laughing, one of the British Battleships turned to starboard and blasted the Russian, but only the turrets caused a crit (Hard Pounding: 9AP left).  The Russian Saransk Skyships moved forward and turned to starboard, dropped mines and targeted the Eagle Rotor with their turrets, critting the Eagle (Hard Pounding + Concussive = 5AP left).  The Eagle Rotor, moved and turned to port, shot down the lone Fighter with AA and damaged one of the Saransk Skyships.

The Russian Cruisers turned to fire on the surfaced sub before it could dive again, but missed!  The British subs then (both surfaced) turned their prows and torpedoes towards the Russian Battleship, but caused no damage thanks to a combination of the Torpedo Jammer and Concussion Charges.  This time, the other sub was left stuck on the surface while the other submerged successfully.  Russian Fighters moved forward and attacked the Eagle Rotor and crit it (Shredded Defences) for a loss of 1 token.  The British Commodore’s ship then turned to blast the Russian Battleship and Crit it: Sturginium Flair!  The Russian Commander’s ship suddenly teleported forward, between both British Battleships!!!

"How'd I end up HERE?!?!?"

Russian Frigates on the right moved forward and sank 2 British Frigates!  The survivor failed its Disorder Test.

Russian Frigates At Work!

The surviving British Frigate darted between the British & Russian Battleships, attempting to hide from the Destroyers.  The Russian Destroyers finally pounced, attacking the British Commodore’s Battleship.  Though they failed to crit the Battleship, the guns’ Piercing rule caused the Guns Damaged Crit Effect.  British destroyers moved next, but in attempting to maneuver avoiding mines, 1 Destroyer clipped the stern of the surfaced sub, damaging both.  Afterward resolving the collision, the Destroyers failed to cause and damage.  Another Russian Fighter Squadron attacked and Crit the Eagle War Rotor again (Guns Damaged) for no loss.  British Fighters attacked and crit a Saransk Skyship (Hard Pounding – 5Ap left) for no loss. 

That was the last British Activation for the turn.  Russian Frigates on the left moved forward and damaged the surfaced Sub, then sank the damaged Destroyer.  The surviving Destroyer passed the Disorder Test.  Finally, the Tunguska Skyship moved forward, two turrets failing to damage the Eagle Rotor, but the other Beam Turret, not wanting to waste any opportunity, took a shot at the surfaced sub, and caused a crit.  Magazine Explosion!!!  The blast took out both subs and a Destroyer!  The closest Saransk Skyship was spared any damage only because its Ablative Armor was still intact!

 Magazine Explosion!

In the End Phase, the last British Frigate lost its last AP, then rallied.  The war Eagle repaired its Shredded Defences, but failed to repair its Guns Damaged, as did the Commodore’s Battleship!  By this time, there were no Effects for the Russian to repair (mostly Hard Poundings – unrepairable).

VPs:
KoB:       0!
RC:         420

End of Turn 2

Turn 3:

British won initiative!

The British Strike Back!  The British Battleship mad a minimum move and turn to present full broadsides on its Russian counterpart.  The good news for the Russian ship was it was too close for a torpedo attack and Primary Guns suffered a -1 penalty to hit, but it really didn’t matter.  With 23 dice requiring 5+ to hit, the British inflicted 12 hits, a CRIT!  The Russian’s Battleship sank quickly, the Commodore’s presence was unknown, causing panic among both the Frigate squadrons, the Cruisers and the Saransk Skyship!  Only the Destroyers and Tunkuska managed to keep order!

Death of a Battleship!

The Tunguska, now within 8” of the British Eagle War Rotor, used its Mimic generator to copy the Eagle’s Guardian Generator (Yeah!  The 1^st time EVER I actually got the Mimic to copy am enemy’s generator!).  The Tunguska’s commander thought briefly of trying to prize the Eagle, but only had a 2AP more than the eagle, so instead turned 2 turrets on the Rotor.  Ducking back in the clouds, the War Rotor managed to avoid taking any damage.  The British Commodore’s Battleship then moved forward, firing weapons everywhere.  When the smoke cleared, the Russians had suffered a Destroyer and Frigate damaged and another Frigate sunk.

Russian Fighters attacked the Eagle War Rotor, but failed to damage the large air vessel.  The British Fighters attacked and shot down the most damaged Saransk Skyship for no loss!  The British were finally making up for lost time: 300 points destroyed in 3 ACTIVATIONS!!!

British Fighters Seek Revenge

Another Russian Fighter squadron attacked the Eagle War Rotor, and AGAIN, the wiley British commander avoided taking damage!!!  Surely there was only bubble gum and string holding the hull together now!?!?!  The Eagle finally activated, but was so heavily damaged, was unable to damage the Frigates it fired on.

Back on the other side of the table, the Russian Destroyers, angered by the loss of their Commodore, made their attack run on the British Commodore’s Battleship, critting it (Generators Offline).  As the last British activation, the lone Frigate managed to break through the Russian’s front line, but was unable to damage a Frigate it fired on.

Moving with impunity, the Russian frigates on the right sank the last British Frigate, in spite not being able to link their fire.  The last Saransk Skyship turned to port, attacked the Eagle War Rotor, but its attack was blocked by the War Rotor’s Guardian Generator!  Russian Cruisers made a minimum move and fired their turrets and broadsides at the War Rotor as well, still unable to damage the British Rotor!  All this shooting and no one could damage the War Rotor, to the Russian’s shame!  Finally, the Russian Frigates on the left move towards the table center.

Last British Frigate Sunk After Flanking The Russian Line

In the End Phase, the British failed to repair the guns on both the Commodore’s Battleship and the War Rotor!  On the Russian side, all those disordered squadrons rolled their damages.  After we completed it, the Saransk Skyship lost 3AP, one Cruiser lost 1 AP, and between the 2 squadrons, 3 Frigates lost 1 AP each.

VPs:
KOB:      300
RC:         450

Turn 4:

The Russians won the Initiative.

While the British had made great inroads this last turn, things were still grim.  Only 3 units still existed.  While 1 Battleship was undamaged, the Commodore’s Battleship was badly hurt and the Eagle War Rotor was down to 1HP left!

The Russian Tunguska activated first and turned to port, targeting the War Rotor with 2 turrets.  Once again, the War rotor avoided taking damage!  The British fighters, trying to protect the War Rotor, attacked the Saransk Skyship, hoping to shoot it down before it activated, but only damaged it.  The British Fighters’ effort was in vain as Russian Fighters finally shot down the War Rotor.  Only the 2 British Battleships left!

Death Of The Eagle!

The British Commodore, realizing that 1) he was the closest target and 2) the most damaged and easily sunk, turned his great Battleship around and headed for his deployment zone.  This was a bad idea as it gave the Russian Destroyers the opportunity to do a minimal move forward and still keeping the Battleship in optimum RB 2 range.  The Destroyers managed another Crit on the Commodore’s Battleship, taking out the Guardian Generator!  No more shields for the Commodore!

The last British activation was to have the other Battleship to try and damage those units that hadn’t activated yet, prolonging the life of the British Commodore’s ship.  When the smoke cleared, the Russians had lost the last 2 Frigates from 1 squadron, a Destroyer damaged, and a Cruiser Crit (Generator Offline).  

Trying to protect the Admiral!

It didn’t matter.  The last Russian Frigate Squadron made their maximum move from the left, JUST made it into RB2 and sank the Commodore’s Battleship with linked guns and mortars.

Avenging the Russian Admiral!

The Russians didn’t bother activating anything else – the British only had 1 Battleship left.  The game was over.

VPs:
KoB:       390         50% of the fleet value & all smalls – NEITHER accomplished.
RC:         800         70% of the Fleet value – Mission Accomplished!

Russian Victory!

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Admiral Dimitry Orlov turned to the Referees of the war game, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“I assume we all agree that the Russians have won this particular exercise?”

“Most definitely, Admiral Orlov.  I am concerned though that you lost your command once again.”

“Bah!!!  What did you expect when you ruled my ship suffered from that Sturginium Flair and moved out of formation and into Prime Targeting Range of TWO British Battleships???  I think I and my commanders did quite well under those circumstances.”

“Perhaps, Admiral.  Perhaps…”

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Well, that was quit a nasty fight!  While the Russians and the British are “supposed to be” allies, it’s always fun to see what could happen when neither opponent’s weapons are “optimized” for that particular foe.

So, the Tunguska.  What can I say?  While it did get that incredible Magazine Explosion on the British sub, it was an incredibly lucky shot – I had no expectations of doing any damage that time.  Beyond that, the most useful thing I got from the Tunguska was the extra Fighter SAS!  I did hold it back, but probably too long.  I got so fixated on “stealing” the Guardian Generator from the Eagle War Rotor that when I did, it didn’t do me any good!  The Tunguska was too far out of position to do anything but shoot at the War Rotor which kept hidden in the clouds all game.  (Actually, ALL the fliers stayed obscured the entire game!).  While the Saransk had Air Hunter, the Tunguska did not, so it was always rolling 5+ to hit and when it DID hit, the War Rotor’s Guardian Generator kept saving it from damage!  I should have started moving the Tunguska to help / avenge the Borodino.

Speaking of the Borodno Battleship, it was well supported with a squadron of Frigates and Destroyers, Cruisers not far behind, but I couldn’t have anticipated that Sturginium Flare moving me so close to the enemy Battleships and away from the support I had provided!  I only had 1 really good salvo from the Main Turrets and I bombed the roll!  I never got a second chance after that.  I think I played the Battleship correctly, I just had bad luck this time around.

The Saransk Skyships performed well as anti-aircraft platforms, but the real workload against enemy fliers were the Russian Fighter SAS!  WOW!  They rocked this game!  Usually, I’m lucky if they can damage another SAS, but they are responsible for taking out all the British War Rotors!  Don’t leave home without them!  As I didn’t have a carrier in this force, there wasn’t any real reason to take anything other than Fighters as I couldn’t rearm Dive or Torpedo Bombers.

The other heavy hitters this game were once more, the Novgorod Frigates!  Once more, they were hitting well above their weight class.  The Destroyers are nice and fast, but expensive and I had to hide the Destroyers until they had a chance to run out and do something.  The Frigates, while slower, were shooting and damaging almost every time they fired.

On the British side, well, he had some pretty bad luck!

We never did get to see what the Vanguard subs were capable of, both being taken out with a magazine explosion.  I think Graham took a chance coming to the surface to get better odds firing his torpedoes.  I think he may have been better off staying submerged and firing submerged.  Yes, it would require 5+ to hit, but I think it would have been a good trade-off to keep the subs safe(er) as they made an approach to ram.  We really didn’t have a chance to see what else they could do.

Again, with his Airships, the British had bad luck.  By both sides deploying their aircraft in the clouds, which made all To Hit rolls base 5+.  While he had better range (in theory), he couldn’t’ capitalize on it before the Russian Fighters drove them from the skies.  I think they were good choices, I just think the sequence of activation and pure bad dice rolls rendered them more ineffective than they have should been.

While having 3 Large choices made it tough to get my 70% of the fleet value, it also hampered the British fleet, restricting the size and numbers of his Medium & Small choices.  He had 2 Medium and 2 Small squadrons, but all were undersized and he was outnumbered by activations simply by my having an extra Small choice and the extra SAS from the Tunguska.  Those lack of activations really hurt the British fleet, letting the Russians play the waiting game more effectively.  On the other hand, he was able to overwhelm the Russian Borodino Battleship very quickly with 2 Battleships ganging up on the Russian 1!  The Russians made a few activation sequence errors as well, but the British weren’t really able to capitalize on it.

Over all, a very good game!  Good thing it was a training mission or I don’t know how I would justify saving Orlov again! 

Hope you enjoyed the battle report!  Hopefully I can get another report sometime soon!