BatRep: 1,000 Points Kingdom of Britannia vs Prussian Empire

Admirak Von Shtupp was relaxing on the bridge of the SMS Kaiser Karl - the first of the Class of the Heavy Battleships.  Looking out the starboard window, he reminisced about the times he flew his flag from an Emperor-Class Battleship.  He had fond memories of those times.

The SMS Graf Zeppelin and SMS Graf von Zieten were back at port undergoing repairs and resupply.  The Pflichts were out on patrol over the crowded island chains.  Von Shtupp was patrolling near the Americas, looking for easy targets and gathering intelligence.  At least, that was the plan.

“Admiral!  We’ve spotted a fleet coming in to intercept us!”

“I suppose we should prepare to show the Americans a warm welcome.  I’ve never fought them before.”

“Admiral, they’re not Americans!  They’re Britanian!”

Oh well.  Maybe next time…

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Once more, the EEEEEvvvviiiiiillllll Britannians were after our hero, the Glorious Prussian Admiran von Shtupp!  The Cowards!  The Horror!!!

(Well, I had to come up with SOMETHING to start this Battle Report with!) 

A “New: idea to make things interesting:

Actually, Graham's done this to me numerous times, so I thought it only fair to share the “pain”.

I made up 5 separate lists, each for 1,000 points.  Each list was different “theme”, for lack of a better word.  One was heavy Air Support, one carrier, etc.  Then made him roll a dice (a 6 would require a re-roll – I just didn’t have time to come up with a 6^th list).  That would be the list to use.

The result: Each game, you not only know what fleet you’re going to have, as well as having to draw random missions!  More thrills (and heartache)!

Prussian Empire (PE) Deployment (Left to Right):

Prussian Empire Deployment 

• 3 Arminius Frigates
• 1 Kaiser Karl Heavy Battleship (the Commodore’s Flagship)
• Fighter SAS (5 Tokens)
• I Emperor Battleship
• 3 Hussar Gunships
• Fighter SAS (5 Tokens)
• 3 Riever Light Cruisers
• 3 Arminius Frigates

Kingdom of Britannia (KoB) Deployment (Left to Right):

Kingdom Of Britannia Deployment

• 4 Attacker Frigates
• 2 Agincourt Gunships
• Fighter SAS (5 Tokens)
• Fighter SAS (5 Tokens)
• 1 Ruler Battleship (may have had the Guardian Generator)
• 1 Majesty Dreadnought with 2 Bastion Escorts
• 4 Attacker Frigates

As you can see, we rolled pitifully little terrain.  One Massive Island in each of the Middle sections.

The Other “Oops” isn’t really a mistake, so much as a condition of the game.  NEITHER of us brought carriers, but had to declare the SAS squadrons in advance.  As a result, we both ended up with 2 SAS of Fighters (to deal with each other’s non-existent Air Forces) that would have absolutely no impact on the naval actions below.  On the other hand, they did provide a couple of extra activations for stalling…

We drew our missions, selected our Tactical Action Cards (TACs) and stared each other down as the dice began to roll…

Turn 1

Neither of us played TACs for the first turn.  Britannia won initiative.

The Britannian Dreadnought moved forward, flanked by her escorts, and turned her weapons on the Kaiser Karl.  After a bit of nail biting, the Karl suffered a Hit Point of damage.  Not a good start for the Prussians!  Kaiser Karl moved forward and fired everything she had back at the Dreadnought, but failed to damage the mighty ship.  Britannian attention hadn’t shifted from the Prussian Ship yet as the Britannian Battle Ship moved forward and attacked the Karl as well.  Fortunately, Karl’s legendary toughness prevented any further damage!

Seeking to protect the Kaiser Karl, the Prussian Gunships raced forward to blast the Britannian Battleship and scored a Crit!  Sadly I rolled “Chaos and Disarray”, something that wouldn’t impact the Battleship too much, so I played “Lucky or Unlucky shot”, allowing me to re-roll the Crit.  Graham was having none of that and cancelled the card by playing “Espionage”.  A quick 40VPs for the Prussians!

Realizing that their Battleship was now in danger, the British Gunships sailed out from beside the island and fired on the Prussian Gunships, damaging 1 ship and Crit the other (Chaos and Disarray).  This is what the Emperor was waiting for!  Time to move out and blast the Gunships!  EXCEPT!  I had moved MY Gunships in the way and the Prussian Battleship didn’t have the room to sneak behind the Prussian Gunships and attack the Britannian ones.  Dejected, The Emperor Battleship did a move forward and managed to damage one of the Britannian Escorts.

Britannian Frigates on the Prussian Left dashed forward, formed a Line Of Battle as they turned to starboard, but their long-range fire failed to damage anything.  Prussian Frigates on the left raced forward to attack and managed to damage 1 Frigate.

After all that, we both wasted time by fluttering our SAS around, jockeying for position but not attacking.  Obviously, neither of us wanted to be the next to expose a vulnerability, but ultimately, the Prussians had more stalling power than the Britannians.

Finally, the Britannian Forces had to activate something, so the Frigates on the Prussian Right moved forward and formed another Line Of Battle.  Sadly for the Britannians, they failed to damage anything and they were the last unit to activate.

Gleefully, the Prussian Rievers and Frigates poured out from behind the island and did . . NOTHING!  Sad, sad day for Prussian marksmanship…

In the End Phase, I missed noting if anything was repaired this turn. 

End of Turn 1

VPs:
PE:          40
KoB:       0!

(This is the first game I think we have ever had where NO ships were sunk in Turn 1!)

Turn 2

Both players glared at each other and Snapped down cards for the TAC Phase!  Britannia played “Radio Intercept” and rolled +1 to their Initiative roll.  Prussians played “Lost Orders”!!!  Britannia lost “Brace For Impact”.  20 more VP each!

Of course, Prussians won the Initiative (with Double-Sixs – Take THAT!  “+1 Initiative" – HAH!!!)

Prussian Gunships moved forward once again and blasted the British Battleship, getting another Crit (Hard Pounding – 7AP left).  

Gunships Crit the Battleship!

The British Dreadnought moved forward, its Escorts moved to the far side (hiding out-of-sight).  The Dreadnought then turned its weapons on a Gunship and the Kaiser Kark, damaging the Battleship but failed to damage the Gunship.

On the other side of the battle, the Rievers formed a Line Of Battle and fired everything at the lead Gunship, critting it.  Rolling on the chart, the Gunship suffered a Magazine Explosion, Just sinking it, another Frigate that was just a little too close and damaged the Gunship following close behind!  First Blood for the Prussians!  The Surviving Gunship, shocked by the violence of the explosion, failed its Disorder test!

Magazine Explosion!

The British Battleship managed to Crit a Gunship (glad they had already been activated).  Prussian Frigates on the right attacked and sank 2 more Britannian Frigates!  The Prussians were on a roll!

Britannian Frigates Sunk by Prussians!

Britannian Frigates on the left attacked and damaged 2 Prussian Frigates.  The Prussian Emperor Battleship did a minimum move forward and successfully damaged the Britannian Battleship.  The Surviving Britannian Gunship, despite being Disordered, turned towards and managed to sink a Riever Light Cruiser!  Britannia finally sank a ship!

Prussian Riever Sunk!

Meanwhile, in the skies above, the Britannian and Prussian Fighter SAS engaged each other.  All 4 SAS squadrons suffered casualties!

Prussian Frigates on the left move forward and damaged another Britannian Frigate.  The Britannian Frigates counter-attacked and damaged 1 Frigate and Crit a Riever (Fusion Leak – 3 Corrosion Markers!)!  The Kaiser Karl then turned her turrets towards the Dreadnought and Played “Devastating Barrage”.  The Britannian Admiral realized he couldn’t take the chance and dispelled it with “Stoke The Engines”.  As a result, the Karl missed critting the Dreadnought by a single hit!

In the End Phase, the Prussians repaired all damage effects without incident.  The Britannian Gunship lost 2 AP and then Rallied – all other damage repaired.

End of Turn 2

VPs:
PE:          280VP
KoB:       110VP

Turn 3

In the TAC Phase, both player played “Battlefield Repairs”.  The Britannian Battleship repaired its damage from 5HP to 3HP gone.  Prussians were luckier; managed to repair 4 HP damage on the Hussar Gunship Squadron, repairing all but 1HP of damage to the Squadron!

Prussia won the Initiative.

Prussian Gunships started to Circle the Britannian Battleship and all 3 fired their Tesla Generators at the ship, but only 1 Tesla inflicted damage; Hard Pounding (6AP left).  The Gunships then opened fired and managed to damage the Battleship once more.

Meanwhile, the Britannian Dreadnought (with Escorts hiding on the far side) reminded the Prussians that while Frigates are maneuverable, they can still be rammed.  The Prussian Frigate Squadron on the left was completely mowed down by the speeding bulk of the massive ship.  The Dreadnought then played “Devastating Barrage” (which was cancelled with “Stoke The Engines”) and fired on the Kaiser Karl, damaging it.

Prussian Speed Bump!

On the other side of the battle zone, the Prussian Frigates maneuvered to board the Gunship while they fired on the Britannian Frigates.  When the smoke cleared, One Frigate was damaged and the Boarding had failed!  One Frigate lost their AP to the Gunship’s AA while another Frigate lost a crew in deadly hand-to-hand combat while the Gunship lost only 1 AP – resulting in a TIE!  Per the boarding rules, this meant that the Boarders made their way back to their ships under the smoke and confusion of the battle and no further damage to either side.

Prussian Frigates Fail To Board The Gunship!

The Britannian Battleship, feeling out-numbered and surrounded, mad a minimal move forward, turning her torpedo tubes towards the Emperor Battleship as the guns prepared to engage the Gunships at Range Band 1!  When the smoke cleared, the Emperor Battleship was damaged by Armor Piercing Torpedoes and suffered “Hard Pounding” effect.  The Gunships suffered 2 ships damaged and the third was crit (Chaos & Disarray).

The Rievers, laughing at their Fellow Captains on the Frigates raced forward to board the Britannian Gunship.  Or tried to.  When the Boarding Phase ended, the Gunship and ALL the Riever Cruisers had run out of Assault Points!  When both sides run out of AP, the Attacker commits an act of Sabotage.  As a result, the Gunship suffered 2 Raging Fires and an AP.  As the Gunship had no AP left, the ship lost a Hull Point instead (we couldn’t find an example in the rule book right then, but agreed it seemed the most likely outcome based on other situations where the ship loses an AP and has none).

Britannian Gunship Survives a Second Boarding Attempt

Laughing at the Prussians, the Gunship made a turn to starboard and fired on a Riever and SANK it!  The Survivor, Shocked at first failing to board the target in the first place, and seeing their sister ship sank instead, failed its Disorder Test!

Britannian Gunship Sinks a Riever!

The Prussian Emperor Battleship turned to starboard and fired on the Gunship and caused a crit (Generators Offline).  The last Britannian Frigate on the right turned to port and fired on the Prussian Frigates, but failed to cause any damage.  The Kaiser Karl fired all its weapons at the British Battleship, but the only thing to cause damage was the Speerscluder!  This added a Lightning Rod counter and removed another AP from the Battleship.  The Britannian Frigates on the left moved forward, turning to port and targeting the Kaiser Karl.  Fortunately (for Karl), there was no damaged to the Prussian Heavy Battleship.

Ending the Activation Phase, the fighters went at it again.  This resulted in both Britannian SAS destroyed while the Prussians were reduced to 1 and 2 Tokens each!  Prussia had Air Supremacy, but it was worth NOTHING!!!

In the End Phase, the Britannian Battleship managed to remove the Lightning Rod.  The Britannian Gunship was unable to put out all the fires and as a result, the burning hulk sank beneath the waves.  The Prussians couldn’t laugh as their Riever lost enough AP in its attempt to rally (which it didn’t have) that when it transferred into HP damage, it sank the Light Cruiser!

End of Turn 3!

VPs:
PE:          410VP
KoB:       340VP

Turn 4

Britannia won the Initiative!

In one of those “Use-It-Or-Lose-It!” moments, the Britannian Battleship activated and attacked the Emperor Battleship.  The Emperor suffered a Crit (Chaos & Disarray) – the LAST thing I wanted!  Chaos & Disarray prevents boarding attacks – the primary reason why I brought the Emperor!

Prussian Emperor Under Fire!

The Kaiser Karl turned to port and fired, all weapons failing to damage their Targets!  The Dreadnought turned its guns on the Emperor next and crit the Emperor once again (Navigation Lock – NOW I couldn’t turn to ram the Britannian Battleship which otherwise was in perfect position)! 

On the other side of the battle zone, the Prussian Frigates made a 180 degree turn and sank the last Britannian Frigate on the right, clearing that half of the board of the Britannian Forces.

Another Britannian Frigate Sunk!

Back on the left, the Britannian Frigates moved forward and unloaded guns and torpedoes on the Emperor Battleship.  It was too much for the brave battleship.  It finally succumbed to its injuries and sank into a watery grave.

Death of the Emperor!

Trying to Avenge the Emperor, the Prussian Gunships continued to circle the Britannian Battleship and inflicted another Crit (Shredded Defences).

In the End Phase, the Britannian Battleship failed to repair the Shredded Defences.  The Prussian Gunships managed to remove the Chaos & Disarray from their squadron.

VPs:
PE:          440VP
KoB:       530VP – (Britannia hadn’t completed their objectives yet)

Turn 5

Kingdom of Britannia won Initiative again!

The Britannian Battleship declared Ramming Action and rammed the Kaiser Karl!  After we rolled the dice – NEITHER ship had suffered any damage!  Kaiser Karl then did a 90 degree pivot to disengage the ships.  While the Ram didn’t damage the either ship, this allowed the British Battleship to fire all weapons.  The Battleship was able to crit a Gunship (Engine Failure).

This was my chance!  The Britannian Battleship had Shredded Defences and had lost over half its Assault Points!  The Karl made a minimum move and boarded the Britannian Battleship!  Or tried to.  In one of the WORST rolls of the game, the Kaiser Karl’s Boarding action was DEFEATED by the minimal Britannian crew!  The only saving grace was that because it had Shredded Defences, the Battleship couldn’t take advantage of the retreat and use its AA on the AP as they disengaged.

The Dreadnought crossed the stern of the Kaiser Karl and blasted with everything it had and caused a crit (Hard Pounding – 5AP left)! 

Absoluetly frustrated and not wanting to take chances, the Gunships continued their circling of the Britannian Battleship and fired all weapons.  When the smoke cleared, the Britannian Battleship was nowhere to be found! 

The Britannian Battleship is Lost!

In retaliation, the Britannian Frigates turned and blasted the lead Gunship out of the water!

Britannian Frigates Sink a Gunship!

Finally, the Prussian Frigates on the far Right raced towards the rest of the conflict, but were too far away to make an impact this turn.  The Prussian Fighters could do nothing but watch the battle as it continued to unfold below them.

In the End Phase, the Prussians failed to repair anything.

VPs:
PE:          635VP   Sink 50% & all Mediums: Completed!
KoB:       615VP   Sink 50% & all Larges & Massives – Incomplete!

Prussian Victory!

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WOW!  NASTY Battle!

Normally, a battle like this would only last 2-3 turns.  To last 5 turns like this one did is all attributed to the missions we drew and the forces we used!

First, the Prussians had an "easier" time as they only needed to sink 500 points and all the Medium-Sized vehicles.  Sinking the Mediums was relatively easy (the weakness of having a single Medium Squadron).  While I wiped out the squadrons on the right, the left was more problematic as most of the smalls hid behind the protection of the Dreadnought.  That left the Battleship as a prime target.  While I was able to focus 2 Battleships and a Gunship Squadron at the Britannian Battleship, it proved to be a tougher target than I originally planned.

Not to mention how many failed Boarding attempts I made.  So much for the "Prussian Boarding Powers"...

On the Britannians side, he drew a tough mission - having to sink or capture 2 large major warships, and battleships at that.  While the Emperor finally sank, it took 5 turns and the Kaiser Karl, though badly damaged, was still had more than 1/2 its Hull Points by the end of the battle.  Not an easy mission at all.

In the end, though I won the game by completing both parts of the mission, there was only a difference of only 20VPs between our scores.  This really was a much closer battle than it appeared!

Anyway, a great battle!  I enjoyed it immensely!

Now excuse me.  I need to figure out some new lists for next battle!

Good Luck!

BatRep: 2-Kill Over The Canal (Check Your 6! Jet Age)

Before we start - please check out the Events Page.  Posted new information regarding Legiocon 2015 & JimCon.  If you're in Winnipeg or the surrounding area - check it out!

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Needing a break from DW for a bit, we decided to face off in Check Your 6! Jet Age.  Once more, we decided to do a mission from the Star and Pyramid campaign book.

The Date: 10 July, 1970, 09:30

Location: West of the Suez Canal, Egypt

Situation: Russians have decided to help Egypt by deploying a SA-3 Surface to Air Missile System (SAM) to help defend the Suez.  The new missiles have caused problems for the Israelis and they have launched a mission to take out one of the SAM sites.

Mission takes place between Surface and Low CABs (Combat Air Bands), giving both players a total of 12 TALs (Tactical Altitude Levels) to maneuver within. 

The Israelis launch 4 A4H Skyhawks, fully loaded with (medium) bombs and 2 Mirage IIICJ Fighters with Drop tanks and 2 AIM9B Infrared Missiles (IRM) each.  Israeli Aircraft deployed to the west of the Suez Canal at Low Cab, TALs 1 & 2 (equivalent of 7 & 8 TALs above ground).

The Egyptians had the SAM SA-3 battery, which deployed hidden, also had a Light AA battery and a Medium AA Battery to deploy, not hidden.  The Egyptians also got to deploy 2 cloud formations (10 hexes each).  Finally, on patrol were 2 MiG 21MF fighters, each with 4 AA2 IRM.

Egyptians rolled Special Mission Rule “Tactical Training” and deployed hidden (I actually plotted their moves off the table).  Israelis rolled “Israeli Intelligence Operations” and discovered the location of the SAM site!  It was no longer hidden and the enemy knew exactly where to go and bomb it!  Ouch!

Mission - Israeli Forces:
Get more Victory Points than the Egyptians by destroying the SAM site and/or Fighters!

Mission – Egyptians:
Have More Victory Points than the Israelis!  Start with 10VP if the SAM site is intact at the end of the game.  As well as normal Kill points for Aircraft, Egyptians get, 1 VP for every Israeli Aircraft still in Zone A, B, C or D at the end of Turn 15!

Start of the Battle

The Battle:

Turn 1:

Things started slowly with the Israelis moving straight forward.  The AA and aircraft failed to spot each other.  This was because everyone was beyond the visual range for this game.  In spite of the Radar, the SAM was unable to detect any Israeli Aircraft.  The MiGs, hidden at CAB Surface, TAL1, moved forward towards the Israelis and the Suez on the southern half of the map.

Turn 2:

MiGs (still hidden) continued to move forward.  The Israelis started to turn to port (left) as they reached the Suez.  Mirages dropped their drop tanks in preparation for Air Combat Maneuvers.

In the Discovery Phase, the Mirages spot the Medium AA battery, but the battery failed to spot the Mirages.  The A4s failed to spot anything (they were out of range), while the SAM finally spotted the Israelis over the Suez.

The Egyptian’s SAM got a Missile Lock-on one of the A4s over the Suez.  Not enough to fire, but it would be able to next turn.

Turn 3:

MiGs continued straight forward at low level.  The A4s started a dive to the Surface CAB level, TAL 5 and turned towards the SAM site.  The Mirages continued towards the A4s, not turning, not dropping into the lower CAB.

In the Discovery Phase, the MiGs are finally Spotted by the Mirages and placed on the table – almost Head-to-Head with a flight of A4s!  The A4s spot the Light AA Battery.

Finally, the SAM launched 2 SA-3 missiles at one of the A4s, and while 1 missile malfunctioned, the other detonated with a Proximity Blast to the Israeli Aircraft.  

The A4 managed to avoid Major damage, but suffered a Lucky Hit (he rolled Double 6’s on his Robustness Save)!  Rolling on the Lucky Hit Table, the A4 suffered “Elevator Damage”, forcing the plane to do a Steep Dive next turn (fortunately he had the height to avoid crashing).  The A4 also suffered damage to the Afterburner (not that the A4 had one) and was not able to perform Special Maneuvers or Extreme (tight) Turns for the rest of the game.  Fortunately, the A4’s Wingman was not behind the damaged plane as it could have suffered damage from debris falling from the damaged aircraft!

Turn 4:

The MiGs flew straight forward, climbed to TAL2, still below the A4s going the opposite direction.  The damaged A4 dropped to TAL2, below the Radar Horizon, so the SAM site lost Lock-on with the damaged plane.  The rest of the A4s dove to TAL3 and increased speed to 5.  The Mirages dropped to Surface CAB, TAL5 and increased speed to 7.

The SAM got a Lock-on on another A4, but was unable to fire this turn.  No one else had a shot.

Turn 5:

The MiGs do a Split-S and are in good position to launch their AA2 Atol Missiles – Except you can’t launch these missiles after performing Extreme Turns or Special Maneuvers (DRAT)!  The A4s continued forward and the Mirages continued to head towards the A4s, side-slipping and dropping more altitude.

In the Discovery Phase, the SAM site discovered the A4s were too close to launch, so proceeded to get Radar Lock on a Mirage.

Finally, 2 A4’s did a strafing attack on the Light AA battery, which fired back.  Sadly, the AA Battery failed to hit the A4s, though the A4s succeeded in destroying the Light AA Battery.

Light AA Battery Destroyed!

Turn 6:

The A4s continued forward, towards the SAM site while the MiGs hit the Afterburners for an extra 2 spaces movement to close in on the A4s while the Mirages performed an Immelmann Turn to lose speed and gain some altitude.

One MiG launched a missile at an A4, but the missile malfunctioned and spiraled away, uselessly.  The Other MiG launched a missile at the A4 with Elevator Damage and caused Airframe damage with another Proximity Blast. 

MiGs damage a Skyhawk!

The SAM Site lost its target as the Mirage, turning towards the MiGs, also turned towards the SAMSite, increasing the minimum distance required for the SAM to activate.  As long as all the aircraft were facing the SAMs, the Minimum Range was increased to 30 Hexes – all aircraft were now well within this range.  The SAM site would not have another opportunity to shoot unless one of the Aircraft turned sideways or away from the SAMs.

Turn 7:

The MiGs used Afterburners once more, increasing their speed an extra hex/turn as well as moving an additional Hex this turn – still in good position for a Missile shot on the A4s.  The Mirages dropped in behind the MiGs.

The one MiG fired at another A4, but the missile malfunctioned once again!  The other MiG was unable to fire as a cloud blocked its Line-Of-Sight (you cannot fire IRMs through clouds).  The Mirages, found themselves too close to fire missiles and too great a height difference to shoot their guns at the MiGs.  They would attempt to remedy that next turn.

Turn 8:

The A4s were in 2 dual-plane formations.  One formation moved forward and prepared to strafe the SAM Site.  The other formation (with the damaged A4) moved forward beside the other formation.  The MiGs continued to tail the A4s and prepared to launch another volley of missiles while the Mirages prepared to launch against the MiGs.

The A4’s failed to damage the SAM site with their strafe attack while both MiGs launched missiles at the other formation.  Once missile malfunctioned and fell to the ground without the motor firing, the other spiraled directly into the tail pipe of an Undamaged A4, obliterating the plane!  No parachutes were spotted, the pilot killed in the massive explosion of the fully loaded bomber.

Splash 1 A4!

Before the MiGs could celebrate their accomplishment, a missile from the Mirages blew apart one of the MiGs!  Having diverted his attention to the attack on the A4s, the Mirages got into perfect firing position against the MiGs!  No parachute was seen leaving the MiG – another Kill!

Splash 1 MiG 21!

Turn 9:

Well, the inevitable happened.  The 2 A4s that strafed the SAM Site last turn over-flew the SAM Site and dropped their bombs.  The first bomb attack failed to damage the SAMs, but the second plane’s attack succeeded where the first had failed – Target Destroyed!  The Israelis had accomplished their mission!

SAM Site Destroyed!

Seeking revenge, the last MiG launched another missile at the A4s, but once again, the inferior quality control failed the pilot and the missile failed to track.  The Egyptian Pilot’s disappointment was brief as the Israelis’ quality control was better and a missile from the Mirages caught up and destroyed the last MiG!

Another MiG Destroyed!

Turns 10-15:

With the Egyptians’ planes gone and the SAM destroyed, there really was nothing to do except see if the Israeli planes could get across the table before their time was up.

The damaged A4 could not turn fast enough to avoid flying off the table (its damage prevented extreme turns and it was traveling just a bit too fast to make the turn it was required to avoid flying off an “unfriendly” table edge).  We rolled and per the rules, the plane crashed and the crew was captured – counting as a “Kill”.  That made it 2 “Kills” each.  

The Mirages made it off the table with plenty of time (nice to be a super-sonic fighter), but the remaining A4s made it off the required table section by the skin of their teeth.  No extra points for Egypt that way.

Victory Points:

Israel:
2 X MiG 21s @ 2 VP each = 4VP 
(We were both shocked at this one, but the campaign book was quite specific)
1 Skilled Pilot shot down =  2VP
Destroyed the SAM Site = 10VP

16VPs Total!

Egypt:
2 X A4 @ 5VP each = 10VP
1 Skilled Pilot shot down = 1VP

11VPs total!

Israeli Victory!

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WOW!  A Nail Biter!

When we first started the game, I offered Graham his choice of sides and he picked the Israeli side because he Liked F4 Phantoms!  I forgot to mention to him this mission didn’t use any.  ;)

After his initial disappointment, he thought I was cheating again when I told him the SAM site was hidden and then rolled that the MiGs were hidden as well.  He stopped complaining when he rolled that the SAM site was no longer hidden…

Overall, I think this was a very interesting mission.  It was the first time we used Ground Support and targets with these rules and it wasn’t as bad a learning experience as I thought it might be.  We hit a few rough patches, but mostly that was due to us having forgotten the rules or doing things out-of-sequence, but I think we got it all worked out by turn 6.

I did learn a few things, mostly by reviewing my mistakes.  First mistake was the deployment of the Medium and Light AA Batteries.  I tried to “bluff” the location of the SAM site by placing one in each of C & D sections of the map, but the limited ranges and the placements meant that the light AA only got to shoot as it was being attacked and the Medium was so far out of the way, it never got off a shot!  I probably should have placed the batteries in a line, East-to-West and closer to the SAM site so that the AA “might” have been able to protect the SAM better.

Mistake 2: I didn’t read the capabilities and, more importantly, the LIMITATIONS of the SA-3 SAM.  Due to the closing speed, the SAM needs more distance (and time) to lock-on and attack (30 hexes).  The table was only 45 hexes long.  I couldn’t shoot at anything approaching the SAM site once the planes crossed the Suez.  Side Arc is 15 Hexes minimum.  If I had noted that, I could have tried to Lock-on to a Mirage in turn 4 and launched in turn 5, possibly destroying a Mirage and maybe saving a MiG for another turn.  NAHHH!  This is me we’re talking about!

Mistake 3: In Turn 7, I kept the MiGs after the A4s when the SAM Site’s fate was pretty much sealed already.  I should have had 1 MiG Break-off his attack run and try to attack/disrupt the Mirage attack run.  Doing that, the other MiG MAY have lasted longer to destroy another A4 or more while the Mirages could (hopefully) be kept too busy to Interfere.  It was a gamble, but I at least wouldn’t have been doing a “blind sacrifice” to save an already doomed target.

On the Israeli side, I only see one “mistake” and that was the handling of the damaged A4.  If it had turned a turn earlier or reduced its speed, it wouldn’t have flown off the wrong table edge and allowed the pilot to be captured.  A bad oversight as it gave me more points.  Actually, as the plane was damaged, it would have had to make a safe landing roll (and failed) and the crew would have had to try and survive (and failed a 2^nd roll) using the same dice rolls.  Graham rolled pretty badly on both.  I think that pilot was doomed, anyway.

Still, it was a good game and I look forward to another mission sometime soon!  I hope you enjoyed this!

BatRep: Dystopian Wars V2 – Covenant of Antarctica vs Prussian Empire – 1500pts

Admiral Von Shtupp was once again enjoying the view from the command deck of the SMS Graf Zeppelin.

The last battle was a great victory for the Prussian Navy.  They not only stopped a Britannian probing mission, they stopped it dead in its tracks and inflicted significant casualties.  Already communications had made their way back from Prussia, with the Emperor expressing his happiness at the outcome.  More importantly, the British Navy’s future attempts to attack the new Prussian Base of Operations in the Caribbean would be delayed by the loss of surprise and a significant portion of their force in the area.  Things were looking good for Von Shtupp…

The Prussian Fleet was on their way back to base to resupply.  The Battle Cruiser and Corvettes had been separated from the Task Force to do a long–range patrol.  Meanwhile, Von Shtupp was ordered to meet up with another task force and to escort it to the base.  What the force consisted of, he did not know.  Yet…

“Admiral!  Lookouts report they see aircraft to the North.  They’re ours, 2 Pflicht Zeppelins.  We’ve established radio contact with them now.”

“Excellent!  It will be good to have some more Air Support.  How soon before they can join formation with us?”

“If they maintain present speed – about 2 hours.”

“What’s their Task force consist of?”

“A squadron of Frigates, a squadron of Destroyers, a squadron of Riever Cruisers, 2 Pflichts and . . Sir!  They have SMS Graf von Zieten!  A Blucher-class Dreadnought!”

“The von Zieten!  Here?  At last, we’re going to have some REAL power under my command in the Caribbean!”

Another aide came running onto the bridge deck.  “Admiral!  Our ships have spotted a fleet coming from the south!  It appears to be the Antarcticans!”

“WHAT?!?  Wave them off!  Warn them if they come closer, we will engage them as a threat to the Prussian Empire.”

“We’ve tried, Admiral.  There has been no response.  What are your orders?”

“Radio the von Zieten and have them form up with us.  Prepare all ships for battle.  Send a message to our base.  Tell them we are about to engage forces of the Covenant!”

=================================

Bwa-ha-haaa!  I finally dug out the Dreadnought!  I was going to surprise my opponent this time! 

We had decided to play a 1500pt battle; something large enough to justify a Dreadnought.  I could have just added a Dread and a couple of other choices to my previous fleet.  However, there were a couple of things I wasn’t comfortable with.

First, I did expect to face a Dreadnought, thus the primary reason to include my own.  The Battleship Kaiser Karl & the Elbe Fleet Carrier would round up my Large and Massive Choices.  Both were excellent ships with good capabilities.

For my medium choices, I started with a couple of Pflichts.  These airships are some of my favorites.  Good attack characteristics, decent bombs, assault points and Air Hunter for dealing with other aircraft.  I would have taken 3, but jus\t couldn’t swing the points for it.  I decided to keep the Uhlan Cruisers.  They’re decent ships with decent capabilities.  I decided to put away the Konigsberg Battle Cruiser.  Though it did well in the last battle, it was a single ship squadron.  I just couldn’t risk the points and I had enough heavy-hitters.  I needed something to deal with smalls.  For that reason, I took a full squadron of Riever Light Cruisers.  While they have decent firepower, the more important fact is they are not Capital ships – no penalty for shooting at most smalls!  They’re good dual-purpose machines and cheap at 150pts for three.

My choices for smalls were limited.  I was low on points but still needed to have at least 1 squadron, preferably 2.  In the end, after playing around with multiple squadron configurations, I ended up with a squadron of 4 Arminius Frigates and 3 Stolz Destroyers.  I could have taken a full squadron of Corvettes, but it left me with 20 points free.  Any other combination of smalls and I was going to be over 1500 points.  Finally I confesses to my opponent I was 5 points over.  He agreed to let me have the extra points and I spotted him an extra 5 Victory Points at the start of the game.

So I was ready to defeat The Bashing Britannians or Confusing Chinese or Samurai Suns!

At least, that was what I thought…

I forgot he also had Accursed Antarcticans!

Table was 4’ X 6’, an island on the North-East corner and the South-West Corner.  We rolled for Advantages and the Antarcticans won Operational Advantage and the Prussians won Strategic.

Covenant of Antarctica (CoA):
Southern Table Edge, from East to West:

• 1 X Arronax Assault Robot
• 1X Epicurus Sky Fortress with Fighter SAS (5 tokens) and a Recon
• 1 X Daedalus-Beta Large Flier with Energy Turrets
• 1 X Zeno Armoured Cruiser
• 1 Fighter SAS (5 tokens)
• 4 X Diogenes Frigates with 3 X Diogenes Frigates following
• 1 X Aristotle Battleship  with Energy Turrets & Disruption Generator
• 1 X Fresnel Gunship
• 3 X Diogenes Frigates
• 1 X Fresnel Gunship
• 1 X Pericles Fleet Carrier with 2 SAS Dive Bombers ( 1 with 5 tokens, 1 with 4) & Energy Turrets
• 1 Fighter SAS (5 tokens)
• 2 X Icarus Medium Fliers with Energy Turrets

Prussian Empire (PE):
Northern Table Edge, from East to West:

• 3 X Riever Light Cruisers
• 2 X Pflicht Scoutships
• 4 X Arminius Frigates
• 1 X Elbe Fleet Carrier with 2 SAS Dive Bombers ( 1 with 5 tokens, 1 with 4)
• 2 x Fighter SAS (5 tokens)
• 1 X Blucher Dreadnought with Shield & Tesla Generators
• 1 X Kaiser Karl Battleship
• 3 X Uhlan Cruisers
• 3 X Stolz Destroyers

Carriers for both fleet were the Commodore’s Flag Ship.  All fliers were Obscured, the Aristotle was “Wave Lurking” (Partly Submerged).

We drew our Orders and selected our Tactical Action Cards (TACs).  We were ready to play!

Start of Battle

Turn 1:

In the TAC phase, both sides played “Lost Orders”: we each drew a random card from the other’s hand.  The Prussians lost Break Neck Maneuver (20VP) while the Antarcticans lost “Devastating Barrage (40VP).  That and both sides “gave up” 20VPs to each other.

Prussians won the Initiative!  (Though I didn’t want it…)

Killing an activation (that I didn’t have), The Prussian Dive Bombers moved behind the North-Eastern island.  Not for cover, but to keep distance from the CoA Fighters.  The Antarctican “Worm” (Arronax) played “Stoke the Engines” (giving the Prussians a free 40VP) and gained an extra 2” movement.  Moving full speed across the water, the Arronax headed towards the North-Eastern Island.  The Prussian Rievers turned to port, peeked around the corner of the island and blasted the Arronax, but only lightly damaged the “worm”.

Rievers attack the Arronax

On the western table edge, the Icarus Airships moved over the Island, fired their Energy Turrets at a Uhlan Cruiser and caused a crit (Generator Offline).  Seeking vengeance, the Prussian Uhlan Cruisers made hard turns to starboard and targeted the Icarus airships, but failed to cause any damage.  A CoA Fresnel Gunship turned to starboard and fired at 2 Uhlan Cruisers.  Though it failed to damage the previously damaged Uhlan, the other Cruiser took damage.  Being cautious, the Stolz Destroyers moved forward their minimum move and hid behind the Uhlan Crusiers.  The other Fresnel Gunship also turned to fire on the Uhlans and critted a damaged Cruiser (Generator Offline).  In anger, the Prussian Battleship moved forward and blasted at both Fresnels and did . . NOTHING?!?!?

The CoA Battleship Commander, laughing at his Prussian Counterpart, turned to starboard and with its energy turrets, Crit the Karl!  (Guns Damaged)

Things were not going well for the Prussians.  In desperation, the Prussian Dreadnought activated.  First, the Prussians played “Stoke the Engines” and gained 3” movement AND gave up 40VPs to the Antarcticans.  The, activating the Tesla Generator, the Dreadnought gained another inch!  Racing forward, the Dreadnought fired in all directions.  The Guns damaged the Antarctican Battleship (missed a crit by 1 hit due to shields!) and Crit a Fresnel Gunship (Raging fire (3)) as well as inflicting an extra AP damage due to Lethal Teslas (leaving 1 AP left).

A squadron of Antarctican Frigates moved forward their minimal move to avoid collisions.  Prussian Fighters move over the Eastern Island.  The Antarctican Armoured Cruiser turned and lined up its Particle Accelerator on the Dreadnought.  Sadly for the Antarcticans, the PA did nothing. 

Prussian Dive Bombers moved forward to kill another activation.  Antarctican Fighters moved forward over the western island.  The Prussian Carrier activated.  First, it converted the 2 Fighter SAS into 2 Dive Bomber SAS.  The Carrier then moved forward and zapped the Armoured Cruiser with Linked Tesla & Speerschleuder, causing a Crit (Corrosion (1)), as well as an extra lost AP and a Lightning Rod Token.

The Daedalus Flier came out of the clouds, turned starboard and fired on the Prussian Cruiser and caused a crit (Engine Failure).  Both Prussian Pflichts dropped from the clouds, fired broadsides at the Daedalus but missed.  The forward Teslas triple-crit the Armoured Cruiser, sinking it!  First Blood to the Prussians!  The Pflichts then slipped back into the cover of the clouds.

Pflichts Sink a Zeno!

The Antarctican Carrier then moved forward from behind the western island.  Though it fired on the Prussian Dread, it caused no damage.  Prussian Dive Bombers then moved straight forward from in front of the Prussian Carrier.  The Antarctican Skyfortress dropped from the clouds , turned to starboard and fired on the Riever Cruisers and caused a Magazine Explosion and sank 1 Riever in one shot!  The resulting explosion damaged another Riever and crit the third (Nav Lock).  The Skyfortress then damaged a Pflicht, then failed to climb into the cover of the clouds.

Riever is Lost to a Magazine Explosion!

The Prussian Frigates, startled by the massive explosion of the Riever Cruiser, forgot to turn on the engines and coasted forward their minimum move.  Sadly, this was also the last Prussian Activation of the turn.

Totally unopposed, the Antarctican Frigates ran amok!  One squadron of three maneuvered between the Fresnel Gunship and the western island, then made a torpedo run on the Uhlan Cruisers.  The Cruiser’s Concussion Charges (CC) stopped the attack – no damage got through.  Another Frigate Squadron of 3 made a torpedo attack run on the Dreadnought, but also failed to damage the great ship.  Antarctican Drones fluttered around various points of the table, preparing to be a nuisance next turn…

End Phase:

The Prussians managed to repair all damage except for the Generator Offline on 1 Cruiser.  For the Antarcticans, the managed to put out 2 fires on the burning Fresnel Gunship, but the 3^rd fire took out their last AP!

VPs:
CoA:      115
PE:          150

(Sorry!  Forgot to take a picture!)  

Turn 2:

In the TAC phase, the Antarcticans played “Radio Intercept” for a bonus on the Initiative roll, giving the Prussians another “free” 20VP.

The Prussians still won the Initiative – by 1!

The Prussians started the turn activating their Dreadnought.  I played the TAC “Devastating Barrage” (all 6’s on initial roll gain an extra dice on the second set of rolls (total 2)).  As expected, it was countered by “Espionage, so the Prussians gained another “free” 40VP.  The Tesla Generator granted the Dreadnought an extra 2” movement and away she went!  When the smoke had cleared, the Antarctican Battleship had suffered a double-crit (2 Generators Offline) and both Fresnel Gunships had been damaged!

The Antarctican Battleship performed a hard turn to port and fired its PA through the Dreadnought and through 2 Uhlan Cruisers and 2 Stolz Destroyers!  Fortunately, the PA had lost significant fire power and only damaged 1 Destroyer.  The Battleships turrets fired at the Pficht Scoutships, but missed and the broadsides fired at a Cruiser, but also failed to damage anything.  The damage suffered was really telling on the Battleship!  To add insult to injury, Prussian Dive Bombers pounced on the hapless Battleship, and sank the Antarctican Battleship with a Double-Crit for no losses!

The Dive Bombers (and the Dice Roll)
that sank the Antarctican Battleship!

Antarctican Dive Bomber Drones made an attack run on a Prussian Cruiser, but Ack-Ack shot down 3 of the 4 tokens.  The surviving token crashed into the sea without damaging the Cruiser – placing all 4 tokens into the “Scrap Pile”. 

(Antarctican Drones work differently than other nation’s Tiny Fliers.  They’re basically missiles that once they’ve completed their attack, they crash and are placed in a separate pile.  Each turn, the Drone Carriers can re-launch as many drones as are in the Scrap Pile, up to their carrier limit.  Each time a Carrier or the Commodore’s command ship takes a crit, they lose a drone from the Scrap Pile, never to be launched again.  What makes this especially nasty is that a Drone SAS can attack and be relaunched in the same turn!)

Prussian Uhlan Cruisers continued to attack the Icarus Skyships over the Eastern Island, turning slightly to port as they moved.  Once again, the clouds and angle caused the Prussians problems and the Fliers remained undamaged.

The Antarctican Worm finally made landfall on the Western Island.  It took a shot at a damaged Pflicht and caused more damage.  In retaliation, Prussian Dive Bombers attacked the Worm before it could burrow away, causing a crit (Raging Fires (3)) for a loss of 1 token.  Antarctican Fighters made their attack run on a Prussian Dive Bomber squadron and wiped out the entire squadron.  (Remember, Prussians cannot re-launch destroyed SAS!)  The Drones lost 2 tokens in the attack, but the rest of the force joined them in the Scrap Pile after the attack run was complete.

Hoping to prevent another lost squadron, Prussian Fighters attacked a Drone Fighter SAS and shot down 4 of the 5 tokens for a loss of 2 of their own.  Another Antarctican Dive Bomber SAS attacked one of the Uhlan Cruisers, lost 1 token to Ack Ack and this time caused a double crit!  One of the Crits rolled was Magazine Explosion (of course)!  The damaged Cruiser suffered another lost HP, but the Undamaged Cruiser suffered a Double-Crit – Sturginium Flare!  The extra damaged sank the luckless ship as it started to teleport.  The sole surviving (damaged) Uhlan managed to pass its Disorder test, in spite of losing both squadron mates in 1 attack!

Another Magazine Explosion
AND
A 2nd Cruiser lost to Sturginium Flare!

Not wanting to be too exposed to enemy fire, the Prussian Pflichts stayed in the clouds, then turned to engage the Worm and the Skyfortress.  Sadly, they failed to damage either.  One of the Antarctican Fresnels moved forward and engaged the Uhlan Cruiser, but failed to damage it.  Prussian Destroyers raced forward and managed to damage the Fresnel.  The solitary Antarctican Drone attacked the Pflichts, but was unable to do anything to the Scoutships before the drone crashed and was added to the Scrap Pile.  The Prussian Carrier didn’t have any SAS to restock, re-purpose or replenish when she activated, so turned to port and engaged the Daedalus Flier with forward Tesla & Speerschleuder while the broadsides targeted a Fresnel.  The Fresnel was sunk, and the Daedalus suffered a crit (Fusion Leak (1 counter)) as well as an extra lost AP and a Lightning Rod Token!

Prussian Carrier Damages the Daedalus & Sinks A Fresnel

The Antarctican Carrier activated.  First she launched 2 Dive Bomber SAS (on strength 5, the other 4 tokens), then moved forward its minimum speed and declared “Slow Maneuvers”.  She fired on her Prussian Counterpart, but was unable to damage the Carrier.  The Prussian Battleship then moved forward, but failed to damage anything.  The last Fresnel then copied the Prussian Battleship; moved forward and failed to damage anything.  The Prussian Rievers then maneuvered to the west of the island and tried to get a shot at the Skyfortress with turrets and broadsides, but failed to damage the Fortress.  Finally, the Antarcticans were able to do something when one of their Frigate Squadrons made a torpedo Run on the last Uhlan Cruiser, and sunk it along with 2 Destroyers using their broadsides!  Ouch!!!

Torpedo Run On the Uhlan & Broadsides on Destroyers

For the last Prussian Activation of the turn, once more the Frigates activated, moved forward and attacked the last Fresnel.  Taking a shot, they managed to damage it and remove an extra AP due to the properties of their Tesla Guns.

That left the Antarcticans to run the rest of their manoeuvres unopposed again.

First, the Daedalus moved forward and attacked both Pflicht, critting both!  (Nav Lock on one, Shredded Defences on the other!)  Drones attacked a Dive Bomber SAS and shot down 2 before they all crashed and restocked the Stock Pile.  The Skyfortress launched another flight of Fighter SAS and shot down one of the Pflichts, the survivor passing its Disorder test.  The Icarus moved forward and missed both the Prussian Battleship and Destroyers.  Then the last two Frigate Squadrons made their attack runs.  The first fired at the Dread with torpedoes, but caused no damage, though they did succeed sinking a Frigate with Broadsides.  The other Squadron made attacks on both the Dreadnought and Destroyers, but failed to damage anything.

The Final Casualty Of The Game

End Phase:

The Antarcticans lost another Hull Point from the Daedalus due to Corrosion as well as being unable to remove the Lightning Rod.  The Worm put out 2 fires but lost another AP to a third.  For the Prussians, they fixed the Shredded Defences on the Pflicht and the Destroyer lost all 3 AP as they rallied from their Disorder.

Sadly, we were playing at the local store and between the gabbing and answering questions, etc, we had wasted the afternoon and had run out of time.

VPs:
CoA:      500pts   Mission: 70% of the fleet’s force - Incomplete
PE:          530pts   Mission: 70% of the fleet’s force – Incomplete

A DRAW!

End of Battle

=================================

TACs:
CoA:

Stoke the Engines
Devastating Barrage
Espionage
Radio Intercept
Lost Orders
Flank Speed (Drew it in error – Meant to take Stormtrooper but picked up the wrong card!)
Brace For Impact
Battlefield Repair

PE:

Devastating Barrage
Stoke the Engines
Break Neck Maneuvers
Lost Orders
Battlefield Repair
Prepare My Personal Transport
Medic
Espionage

=================================

As we were being kicked out of the store, we really had little time to talk about the battle, but I did pick up a few thoughts from Graham before we left.

First thing to note – he confessed right away as we reviewed the TACs he selected that he grabbed the wrong card.  Flank Speed is useless to a force without flankers.  He had meant to take Stormtroopers and somehow got the cards mixed up as he flipped cards from the main deck to the game deck.  Oops!  We’ve all done something similar at one time or another.

Graham’s fleet was chosen specifically to take two “complete” forces.  Though it was a naval battle, he had what he thought was a complete Air Force.  (In fact, he didn’t have any “smalls”, but other than that, he was right.)  The Antarcticans wanted Air Superiority (something I usually had on him) to throw me off my game.  It was working too as I was having a horrible time dealing with all those fliers.  The Prussians just couldn’t seem to hit them.  With both a Sky Fortress AND a Fleet Carrier, he had more SAS squadrons as well as fliers on the table than I did.  Not to mention he could relaunch his destroyed drones every time he activated a carrier.  Definitely, the Antarcticans won the Air War.

The cost of this large Air Component though deprived him the points he needed to take a Dreadnought for his core force.  As a result, he took a Battleship instead to protect his Carrier (not that I ever really tried to move against it).  Limited in points by his Air Force, he was happy to discover he could take Gunships and Armoured Cruisers in Squadrons of 1.  He chose to do so in part to try it out but also to get more activations.  That worked really well for him as he had pretty much free reign at the end of the turn when I could do nothing to counter his remaining activations!  For the rest of the Antarctican forces, limited available points dictated what choices and how many in each squadron he took.

While this was a larger battle than I’ve posted in a while, we both acknowledged playing the game at the store was not the best idea we had.  While it generated some interest, a lot of questions, bantering and posturing, it really did impact how quickly we could have played.  If we were isolated somewhere, we probably would have finished at LEAST 1 more turn, if not 2 in the same time period.  Turn 3 would probably see one of us completing our objectives as we were quickly coming to the crunch!

From my side, I really liked the synergy between the Prussian Dread and the Carrier.  Each had a large forward-facing Tesla Coil, tough as nails and in the case of the Dread, 3 Shields.  Both performed well.  What’s not to like?

The “Mighty” Kaiser Karl Battleship is making a reputation for itself; hard as nails and can’t hit the broadside of an aircraft carrier from 5 feet away.  I may have to drop a turret and add a Tesla Generator to make her faster.  Maybe I can use her as a Boarding Ramp if I can’t hit with the guns…

My poor Cruisers!  Both Squadrons suffered a Magazine Explosion that damaged their fellow squadron mates!  Though the Uhlans didn’t do much (they couldn’t hit the fliers at all), the Rievers at least damaged the Worm!

Speaking of the Worm (Arronax), both of us were kind of befuddled by it.  The way the rules are written, it can burrow in the earth, but it cannot submerge in water!  This is a drastic change from the V1.1 rules.  Neither of us really agreed with this logic, but we think it’s the only “vehicle” in the game that could potentially move on both land and sea and Burrow (it is Multi-Purpose).  No other Submerging or Burrowing model that we can think of can operate on both terrain types – land and water. 

Overall, it was quite an interesting and challenging game.  I wish we had more time to play another turn, but that was not to be.

I hope you enjoyed the report!