Admiral Dimitry Orlov was relaxing in his cabin on the Russian Batttleship Georgy Pobedonosets ("St George the Victorious" in English). The communications from Headquarters had finally caught up with him and he was digging his way through the required reports and forms required to run a fleet. To make matters worse, they were on their way to attach themselves to a convoy enroute from the Aleutians. If only something would happen to break the monotony…
“Battle Stations! Battle Stations! Admiral to the Bridge!”
I’ve really got to learn to be careful what I wish for…
. . .
“Status Report!”
“Admiral, we’ve been challenged by the Antarcticans. They want to inspect our ships for illegal technology!”
“What are they talking about? What on earth is illegal technology in a time of war?”
“What shall we do, Admiral?”
“What we always do when someone threatens the Mother Russia! We protect her as best we can. In this case, I think we’ll use a good defensive tactic: Prepare to ATTACK!!!”
So Graham and I decided to do an 800 point battle this last
weekend. After making me roll a dice, he
decided that it meant I had to play against his Antarctic Fleet (the first time
he ever played it). As we added up the
points, I realized I had too many points, but he said that was ok, he’d throw
another Frigate into his fleet. Except
he had only 1. I told him to go ahead
and attach it to his destroyer squadron as a “reinforcement” for this game.
Deployment
Russian Coalition
(RC), top to bottom:
-
3 X Novgorod Frigates
- 2 X Saransk Medium Skyships
- Borodino Battleship
- 1 Squadron of Fighters
- 1 Squadron of Dive Bombers
- Tunguska Large Skyship
- 3 X Novgorod Frigates
- 2 X Suvorov Cruisers
Covenant of
Antarctica (CoA), top to bottom:
-
Aronax Submersible (The “Worm”)
- 1 Squadron of Dive Bombers
- 3 X Plutarch Destroyers (+1 Diogenes Frigate)
- Callimachus Time Dilation Orb – MK II
- Aristotle Battleship
- 3 X Zeno Armored Cruisers
- 1 Squadron of Fighters
Russians rolled for 50% of the fleet value captured or
destroyed, plus all small vessels.
Antarctica rolled for capture the Flagship, but opted for
70% of the fleet’s value
Turn 1
Russians won initiative!
Russian fighters started things off, moving maximum speed
straight forward. CoA Fighters moved
towards table center at ½ speed. Killing
another activation, Russian Dive bombers also moved forward maximum speed. The
Aronax sub submerged and moved around the right of the island, but was out of
range of any targets. The Medium Skyships
moved to the right, to intercept the “Worm”, but were just out of range.
On the other side of the table, the CoA Cruisers moved
forward, one ship angling for a shot at the Russian Battleship hidden behind
one of the islands, but the Particle Accelerator failed to do any damage.
Back on the right, Russian Frigates move to hide behind the
island on the right. CoA Dive Bombers
moved towards the Russian Skyships on the right.
Back to the left, Russian frigates moved to the right of the
leftmost island, hugging the coast to make room for the Russian Cruisers
later. CoA Destroyers moved forward at ½
speed. Russian Cruisers moved forward
around the islands and frigates, but were out of range to any targets. The CoA Time Dilation Orb attempted to
teleport the Battleship, but rolled two 1’s with Inventive Scientists – causing
the Battleship to be frozen partway between time and space. This left the CoA out of any further
activations. The Russian Large Skyship
and Battleship moved forward at their maximum speeds.
So at the end of turn 1 – no damage to either side.
Turn 2:
Russians won initiative again.
The Russians decided the “Worm” was a threat that had to be
dealt with first, so activated the Medium Skyships. The Skyships turned and dropped mines as a
blockade to the Worm, then fired their guns at the sub, Using Water Hunter to
hit on a 5+, and caused a Crit on the Worm (Hard Pounding, maxed the AP damage,
+1 for Concussive Barrage) this left the
sub with only 3 AP left (photo showed error – corrected later)! Good way to start the turn!
Like a living Sandworm, looking for revenge, the Aronax Sub
surfaced, closed and fired both the Maw Gun and Particle Accelerator at a Skyship,
causing triple –crit and destroying 1 skyship.
First Blood to the CoA! The
Surviving Skyship passed its Break Test.
Russian Frigates on the right moved out from behind the
island and fired on the surfaced “Worm”, causing another HP damage.
CoA Dive Bombers attacked the surviving Medium Skyship, but
only caused 1 HP of damage while they lost 3 tokens to AA.
To test the new fleet list and rules, the Russians moved
their Fighter Squadron full speed to do a Hard Shell Attack on the Time
Orb. AA failed to take out any tokens
before their suicidal charge, so the Orb suffered a Crit (Engine Damage).
CoA Fighter Drones intercepted the Russian Dive Bombers, and
shot down 2 bombers and forced them to use up an extra 2 fuel, but lost their
entire flight of 5 tokens in the attack!
Russian Frigates on the left moved from behind the island and managed to
damage 1 of the CoA Cruisers. The CoA
Armored Cruisers moved forward next and fired their Particle Accelerators, but
only succeeded in sinking 1 Frigate, failed to damage the Russian Cruiser
behind it! (Gotta love that Ablative
Armor!) The Russian Cruisers moved out
from behind the island and demonstrated to the CoA then fired on 1 CoA Cruiser–
causing a crit (Navigation Lock).
The CoA Orb attempted to teleport the Battleship again and
failed their test to do so. The Russian
Battleship passed its Sturginium Test, so moved straight forward the full 7”,
just getting all turrets into Range Band 2 for 1 Cruiser. The Cruiser’s Shields prevented a Crit, but
it still suffered an HP of damage. The
Battleship’s Broadsides damaged one of the CoA Destroyers from RB 3. The CoA Battleship came to surface and moved
to fire its Particle Accelerator and Turrets against its Russian
Counterpart. The PA failed to damage but
the Turrets succeeded in removing the Ablative Armor and causing an HP of
damage! The Large Russian Skyship moved
and turned towards the table center, firing in all directions. When the dust settled, the Frigate and a
Destroyer were sunk while Broadsides did another HP damage on one of the CoA
Cruisers.
CoA Destroyers moved to the left, firing broadsides at the
Russian Battleship (causing 1 HP) and sinking a Russian Frigate with forward
guns. The Frigates passed their Break
Test. Finally, the Russian Dive Bombers
attacked one of the Destroyers, sinking it for the cost of 1 Token, leaving the
remaining 2 tokens with a single fuel pip.
In the End Phase, the CoA repaired the Engine Damage on the
Time Orb, but failed to repair the Nav Lock on the Cruiser.
Turn 3:
Russians won Initiative AGAIN!
(3 times in a row! This has never
happened before that I can remember!)
The CoA activated the “Worm”, turned towards the Medium
Skyship and did a double Crit with its weapons – destroying the Skyship! As a defensive measure, the “Worm” then
deployed its cloud for some additional protection.
Russian Cruisers moved towards the enemy Cruisers, sank 1
and damaged another. The CoA Cruisers
passed their Break Test.
The CoA Battleship again lined up the Particle Accelerator
and let loose on the Russian Battleship, but in a display of bad rolling, the
PA only caused a single HP of damage and the Turrets a second (4HP damage total
on the Battleship)! The Large Russian
Skyship turned and moved towards the CoA Battleship, but instead targeted the
Orb farther away with the Main Turret and a Beam Turret, causing a Crit (Engine
Damage). The Skyship’s other Beam Turret
and Broadsides targeted the two surviving CoA Cruisers, and successfully sank
1.
The CoA Cruiser attempted to win the game by itself. It moved forward, it dropped a mine, targeted
a Russian Cruiser with its Particle Accelerator, the Broadsides at the Russian
Battleship, and then attempted to Board the other Russian Cruiser! Busy little boat! While they successfully did another Crit on
the Battleship (Hard Pounding – 10AP left), the PA failed to damage the Cruiser
and the CoA Cruiser lost ALL their AP attempting to board the Russian Cruiser
while the Russian Cruiser lost none!
Truly a dismal effort on the dice!
Adding insult to injury, the last surviving Russian Frigate on that side
moved up, boarded and successfully took the CoA Cruiser as a Prize! OUCH!!!
The CoA Orb finally successfully teleported the CoA
Battleship into the rear arc of the Russian Battleship, but as the Battleship
had already been activated this turn, it was unable to take advantage of it
this turn.
As the turn wound down, the Russian Frigates on the right
side fired at the “Worm”, but the Cloud Generator threw their targeting off and
no damage was caused. The remaining CoA
Drones attacked the last of the Russian Dive Bombers (the only target they could
hurt), but failed to do any damage. The
Russian Dive Bombers crashed into the sea as they used up the last of their
fuel trying to defend themselves.
In the End Phase, the Prized Cruiser drifted forward another
2”, the CoA repaired the Engine Damage on the Orb and the CoA Mine moved towards
the Battleship, though not close enough to trigger it.
Checking the points,
The moral of this story?
Don't be afraid to double-check your rules during a game!!!
Thanks, everyone!
The Russians suffered only 280 points lost!
The CoA suffered 560 points lost (over 50%) AND all smalls
were destroyed, completing the Russian Mission Objectives!
Russians Won the Game!
Wow! That was quite
the battle!
In Graham’s defence, it was the first time he had played the
Antarcticans AND he had some pretty dismal rolls. I mean, he had a LOT of DISMAL rolls. Usually I can expect winning initiative once
a game. Graham rolled low twice and when
he finally had a good roll, I had an excellent roll. Same thing with shooting. He was rolling 7 dice on those Cruiser’s
Particle Accelerators and failed to damage a FRIGATE twice in their first
attempt! And to roll double 1’s when
trying to activate the Transporter function and “loosing” his Battleship for a
turn as a result? What can you say about
luck like that?!?!?
This was the first time I got to use the Russian Coalition
with the new PDF rules. From what I’ve
seen so far, I can’t really complain.
I’m starting to feel guilty using the Tunguska Large
Skyship. It has just enough speed to be
able to get into range when it wants and with Ablative Armor included now –
what’s not to like? I can’t decide
whether to put it away for a while or get another one…
The Saransk Medium Skyships died quickly to the CoA Worm,
but they did their job. With Water
Hunter and Concussive Barrage, they reduced the Worm’s Assault potential by
over ½ in one volley. Unfortunately, I
didn’t realize the Worm could shoot air targets within 8” and the worm got its
revenge faster than I expected…
The Fighters being able to make a Hard Shell attack now
caught Graham off guard (as I had intended).
Unfortunately, it’s not a trick you can repeat too often. I foresee these attacks as being used against
targets of opportunity or “using up” the last couple of tokens against a small
ship or flier. The look on Graham’s face
was priceless though. ;)
The Battleship was slower but at least it comes with the
Sturginium Boost now. Overall, it
continued to perform as expected – Super Fire-Magnet Extraordinaire! This allowed the rest of the fleet to do
their jobs.
On Graham’s side, I think he was a little overwhelmed with
bad dice rolls rather than a bad fleet composition or tactics. The only flaw in tactics I saw was when he
had was deploying the Battleship in the Russian Deployment Zone AFTER it had
already activated in turn 3, and that was a judgement call. However, the CoA Battleship had a perfect
opportunity earlier and I don’t blame Graham for taking the shot he did. He just rolled really, really badly! If the game had gone on 1 more turn, that
Battleship would have been a major pain in the behind! Literally!
================================
UPDATE
So, after a few comments on the Spartan Forums, I have to acknowledge a couple of errors we made in this game:
- Particle Accelerators have to target their "1st" target within 12". The "long shot" against the RC Battleship in turn 1 shouldn't have happened. It caused no damage, but it was an oversight.
- The "Worm" should NOT have fired its Particle Accelerator at the Skyship. While the model had the "High Angle" MAR, the PA rules themselves specify that their attacks MUST be on the same level as the model shooting the PA.
- When the Orb failed the teleport of the Battleship in turn 1, the Battleship SHOULD have been teleported in Turn 2, after the Orb had activated in turn 2. I shudder to think what would have happened if either of us had caught THAT error! It would probably have swung the battle in the opposite way.
Don't be afraid to double-check your rules during a game!!!
Thanks, everyone!
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