I'm trying to develop a relatively simple scenario involving the Kravak.
Here's the general idea. NAC and ESU are fighting each other in a standard
meeting engagement between equal forces. After a few turns, the referee (me)
introduces some Kravak ships into the battle. The Kravak's goal is to destroy
any and all human ships, both NAC and ESU. The NAC and ESU players won't know
about the Kravak from their initial scenario briefing. All they know is that
victory depends on destroying the other player's fleet. The Kravak will be a
complete surprise, and the victorcy conditions will change when the Kravak
arrive.
A websearch turned up Indy's page which included a scenario entitled, "Phalons
off the Starboard Bow" which is similar to what I have just described.
However, Indy's scenario doesn't list any Victory Conditions, and it is not
clear how powerful the Phalons are in this scenario.
So, I'm hoping this list can help me develop this scenario by answering a few
questions.
1. I would like the NAC and ESU players to get the feeling that it would
benefit both of them to put their differences aside and attack the Kravak
together. However, the NAC and ESU players can still score points by
destroying each other's ships. It is a short term gain that might hurt them in
the long run. How would the Victory Conditions support this idea? What if I
gave the players double points for destroying Kravak ships?
2. How powerful should the Kravak fleet be? Should it be equal to the NAC or
ESU fleet? Or should the Kravak fleet be equal to the NAC and ESU fleets
combined?
Thanks for your time.
--Greg
I find these '3rd party' scenarios are such that you can't have the third
party bigger than either of the other 2. Depending on how early they arrive,
these Kra'Vak should be as big as the NAC or ESU, or smaller than either. They
may enjoy some positional advantage by surprising the enemy, plus they'll face
only 80% of the human attention. Lastly, you don't want to be the GM who
smokes both players or decides the battle when they wanted to shoot each
other. The Kra'Vak, then, should definitely not be capable of defeating or
even challenging the players' combined might and its best if they can't match
either player.
Lastly, the MT Kra'vak are worth about 50% more than the book values.
> Greg wrote:
...Snip...JTL
> 2. How powerful should the Kravak fleet be? Should it be equal to the
Greg,
This is I presume a FT/MT battle.
The normal points ratio for a good fight is 3 (human) to 2
(Kra'Vak).
The actual points value will depend on the time of entry of the KV and just
how much you want the humans to fight each other. If no requirement exists for
the KV to have a chance to win then the KV can have fewer points
and be a sideshow/diversion from the main mission.
Bye for now,
This was a scenario I ran at last GenCon. You couls easily change the
forces and/or scale it down for a smaller group.
Affairs of State
Contre-Amiral Alexis Bauer watched the icons of the NSL fleet
creep along on the far side of the planet. He frowned as he studied the
positions; it would be a difficult fight given the parity of the forces.
The ship's computer spoke softly, "New contacts bearing 295 tack +05."
His spine stiffened against the command chair's shock harness as the computer
re-scaled the holographic display, adding in over a dozen new icons.
There was a general intake of breath audible across the bridge as they all
recognized the vivid purple of Kra'Vak ships. "So," he mused quietly, "we may
not fight the Swabians today after all." And then more loudly, "M.
Vitelle, plot a new course. I suspect we'll be hearing from Vice-Amiral
Raoux shortly concerning a slight change of battle-plan."
Players: 4-10
Table: 6' by 8'
Situation: In late 2193, the Kra'Vak menace was no longer as potent a unifying
force for the nations of the 3rd Solar War. The NSL and FSE once again began
to eye each other's borders with a view to expansion. A task force from the
NSL's Zweite Raumsflotte (2nd Fleet), under Admiral Hendrik Braun, attacked
the FSE border world of Fortezza, defended by elements of the Bataillegroupes
Athena and Cerberus, under the overall command of
Vice-Amiral Luiz Raoux. Just as the two fleets moved to a definitive
engagement near the planet, a large Kra'Vak force appeared on long range
sensors, forcing an uneasy and temporary alliance.
Player Breakdown: 1-3 NSL, 1-3 FSE, 2-4 K'V (Ran'Tek and Bar'Get Clans)
Set-up: NSL, FSE, Ran'Tek, and Bar'Get forces set up in their designated
zones.
Initial Velocity: NSL and FSE fleets may start with a velocity up to the
Thrust Rating of their slowest ship. Kra'Vak ships may start with a velocity
up to twice the Thrust Rating of their slowest ship.
Rules for Planets and Moons: Any ship beginning its movement within Fortezza's
gravity well will be moved directly towards the planet's center before it
executes its movement orders for the turn, 1 inch if within the 24 inch
diameter gravity zone or 2 inches if within the 12 inch diameter gravity zone.
The moons will not orbit appreciably over the course of the scenario. They are
considered stationary. Any ship whose movement path intersects with the planet
or either moon is destroyed. Ships may "hide" behind the planet or its moons.
If the line from the center of one base to another intersects any portion of a
planet or moon, they may only exchange fire if both players agree to do so.
The gravity well of the planet makes transition to FTL drive impossible for
any ship on the table.
Rules for Withdrawal: When a force reaches 50% casualties, it must retire from
the field. Ships must turn with all available thrust points, making best
possible speed to the table edge along their entry area. The judge (or player
consensus) must approve all movement orders to ensure that the spirit of this
rule is followed. Ships may still fire weapons as they retreat. Each force, as
listed below, is considered a separate entity for purposes of this rule,
regardless of how many players actually control a given nation's fleet.
Forces: Kampfgruppe 21 Zweite Raumsflotte, under Kommodore Heinrich Wegner:
MARIA VON BURGUND BB (414) KRONPRINZ WILHELM CL (161) WALDBERG DD (100)
WALDBERG DD (100) (775 total) Kampfgruppe 34 Zweite Raumsflotte, under Kapitan
Bertrand Voors: MARKGRAF CH (271) MARKGRAF CH (271) RADETZKY CE (195)
STROSCHEN CT (47) (784 total) Kampfgruppe 17 Zweite Raumsflotte, under Admiral
Hendrik Braun: SZENT ISTVAN BDN (500), 1 HVY FG (30)
WALDBERG/M DDM (101)
WALDBERG/M DDM (101)
STROSCHEN CT (47) (779 total)
[NSL Total = 2383]
Escadre 11 Bataillegroupe Athena, under Contre-Amiral Rafael Palma:
BOLOGNA CVL (580), 2 STD FG (36), 2 ATTK FG (48) SAN MIGUEL DD (112) (776
total)
Escadre 03 Bataillegroupe Athena, under Vice-Amiral Luiz Raoux:
ROMA BB (377) JEREZ CH (293) IBIZA FF (61) ATHENA CT (48) (779 total)
Escadre 13 Bataillegroupe Cerberus, under Contre-Amiral Alexis Bauer:
TOLEDO CHB* (293) FIRENZE CEB* (206) DE CORCOVA CLB* (181) SAN MIGUEL DD (112)
(792 total) * Historically the ships of Bataillegroupe Cerberus replaced their
SML arrays with an equal mass of beam batteries (point costs are the same).
For those who wish to accurately represent this, see the notes on the listed
classes below. Otherwise, simply use the standard ship for the class.
[FSE Total = 2347]
[Human Total = 4730]
Ran'Tek Clan Force 1, under Ran'ise'Dor KO'VOL BB (657) VA'DOK CH (448) KA'TAK
CT (87) (1192 total) Ran'Tek Clan Force 2, under Ran'ari'Vod VA'DOK CH (448)
VO'BOK CL (314) VO'BOK CL (314) KA'TAK CT (87) (1163 total)
[Ran'Tek Total = 2355]
Bar'Get Clan Force 1, under Bar'oka'Kar LO'VOK BDN (804), 1 HVY FG (30) DI'TOK
DD (185) DA'KAK FF (156) (1175 total) Bar'Get Clan Force 2, under Bar'ove'Ser
SI'TEK CE (365) SI'TEK CE (365) DA'KAK FF (156) DA'KAK FF (156) DA'KAK FF
(156) (1198 total)
[Bar'Get Total = 2373]
[K'V Total = 4728]
Victory Conditions: This scenario uses a two tiered system to determine the
victor. The first tier is race, and the second is nationality. 1st Tier:
Humans lose if all their forces are forced to retire by the Kra'Vak. Likewise
the Kra'Vak loose if all their forces are forces to retire by the humans. 2nd
Tier: At the moment that the last force of the opposing race qualifies for
withdrawal, the player of the victorious race with most ships in the planet's
gravity field is the victor. If more than one player has the same number of
ships, the one with the smallest sum of the combined distances is the victor.
Historical Outcome: The FSE fleet took the brunt of the Kra'Vak assault,
absorbing a tremendous volume of fire in initial contact. Vice-Amiral
Raoux expertly directed SML fire, causing the Kra'Vak to expend a large number
of Scattergun charges for defense. He could not, however, deflect the
magnitude of incoming Railgun fire, and when his flagship, the VFE Athinai,
was destroyed, it broke the back of the FSE fleet. Soon two-thirds of
his forces were limping away from the battle, owing to heavy damage. Only the
detachment from Bataillegroupe Cerberus, under Contre-Amiral Bauer,
remained. The NSL fleet fared better. The Kra'Vak seemed loathe to close the
range with the Swabians, and Admiral Braun took full advantage of the longer
range of his heavy beam batteries, raking them from outside effective Railgun
range. They did not come out unscathed; the heavy cruiser, KRS Erzherzog, took
railgun hits to both its bridge and engineering sections, reducing it to a
drifting hulk, and many lighter ships were shattered under withering fire.
Only when it became clear the FSE might be completely driven from the field
did Braun render any assistance to his beleaguered "allies." The lack of any
coordinated defense by the NSL and FSE left the enemy capital ships relatively
undamaged in the latter stages of the battle, a
mistake that would almost be their undoing. Contre-Amiral Bauer's
detachment had made it through the Kra'Vak battle-line and was moving
around the far side of the planet to reengage. In the meantime, the full force
of both Kra'Vak clans concentrated on the slower NSL fleet, this time quickly
closing the range to where the Railguns would be far more lethal. Now it was
the NSL taking the brunt of the Kra'Vak fire. Admiral Braun coordinated his
batteries well, even under fire, dealing severe blows to the Kra'Vak capital
ships. Having expended virtually all of their Scattergun charges, the Kra'Vak
ships were now vulnerable to the NSL missile destroyers, KRS Kaunitz and KRS
Oettingen. The SML volley caused part of the Kra'Vak forces to start their
withdrawal as they saw one of their capitol ships destroyed. The combined
firepower of the remainder of the NSL fleet, still under the direction of
Admiral Braun aboard the
battle-dreadnought KRS Prinz Eugen, and Bataillegroupe Cerberus, now
reentering the fight after circling Fortezza, started a general Kra'Vak
retreat. Though the NSL ships remaining were numerically superior, Admiral
Braun decided on withdrawal to inform his command of the impending alien
threat. The battle was generally considered an NSL victory, though none of the
NSL's initial objectives, namely taking Fortezza or at least reducing its
defenses for a future assault, were met.
Bataillegroupe Cerberus: The sixth of eight battle groups that make up the
FSE's Colonial Fleet, Bataillegroupe Cerberus is tasked with patrolling the
borders of the "French arm." This primarily involves pickets along the NSL and
NAC borders, though larger patrols circulate throughout the frontier. Cerberus
ships are also frequently tasked with jobs requiring only one or two vessels,
as their absence least disrupts fleet organization. The organization of the
group matches others of the Colonial Fleet, breaking down into squadrons
(escadres). The squadrons are task oriented, but whereas other groups tend
toward tasking for larger scale conflicts,
Cerberus escadres tend to be self-contained units capable of independent
action or "units" of single pickets, which are thus labeled solely for
organizational purposes. Because their duties often involve long patrols or
other extended independent duty, the standard SML armament for many FSE ships
was considered inappropriate. The SMLs were stripped from the hulls and
replaced with beam batteries of equal mass, though in some cases existing beam
suites were upgraded. Modified ship classes include the Madrid Class
BB-B (the largest ship in the Cerberus inventory), Toledo CH-B, Firenze
CE-B, de Cordova CL-B, Venezia DH-B, Elba FF-B, and Circe CT-B.
To represent these ships, simply replace their SML/SMR and magazines
with the following;
Madrid Class BB-B - Upgrade all of the three arc class 2 batteries to
class 3; the arcs on two remain the same, and the other two are shifted to
(FP/F/FS). Upgrade one of the class 1 batteries to a 360° class 2
battery.
Toledo Class CH-B - Upgrade the two class 2 batteries to class 3 with
the
same arcs. Add one class 3 battery with (FP/F/FS) arcs.
Firenze Class CE-B - Add three 360° class 2 batteries.
De Cordova Class CL-B - Add one 360° class 2 battery and one class 3
battery with arcs (FP/F/FS).
Venezia Class DH-B - Add two class 2 batteries with arcs (AP/FP/F) and
(F/FS/AS) respectively, and one 360° class 2 battery.
Elba Class FF-B - Add one class 2 battery with (FP/F/FS) arcs.
Circe Class CT-B - Add one 360° class 1 battery.
Alexis watched the icons of the NSL fleet vanish one by one. The crisp lines
of the display were slightly blurred by the last vestiges of smoke that the
ventilators had not quite completely cleared from the bridge. It left an acrid
taste in his mouth, matching his feelings; the Swabians could have easily
attacked the planet had they not decided to withdraw. His battered escadre
could have done little to stop them.
Their "support" in driving off the Kra'Vak had been half-hearted
at best. They'd waited until after Amiral Raoux's fleet had been ravaged
before committing to the battle. He frowned as the last icon vanished from the
system. "They will be made to pay for this outrage." His fist clenched tightly
on the edge of his chair as he continued to stare hate at the now empty
holographic sphere. M. Augereau, his senior weapons officer slowly turned to
him, his
gaunt face under-lit by the blue-green glow of his targeting display,
"There will be another day, Capitaine." His voice held just a hint of sadness,
"Another day."
> Affairs of State
What diameter planet and moons did you use?
> What diameter planet and moons did you use?
I think 3" moons and a 6" planet.