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PanMa tries to consolidate his fleet at Mars, Norwegians retreat to Earth,
GUGES tries to intercept the errant PanMa squadron in vain, AEUG promptly
pulls a 180 and heads for Mars to fulfill a special mission.
Bad news for AEUG.
AEUG and PanMa man fleet clash near Mars orbit. AEUG is supposed to deliver a
VIP to Mars. PanMans are unaware of this, but predisposed toward blowing up
anyone entering their orbit. A PanMa station is nearby.
Again, using my mid-range pre-battle system, Thr2 slow-pokes can't
engage anything that doesn't want to be engaged. AEUG has paid the points for
Thr3 carriers, and it gives a very clear edge at this stage.
The VIP is safely delivered, but PanMa fast squadron and AEUG cruisers and
escorts clash. True to their style, PanMans lauch missiles and turn tail. The
AEUG force does not successfully evade all missiles, and ends up losing a
cruiser and two escorts. The remaining force tries to pursue.
PanMa detaches two pulse torp DDs to delay. Bad call, they're soon so much
space dust. Of the actual DDGs, 3 are destroyed before they accelerate far
enough to escape.
Notes: Pointswise, it turns out to be a fairly even trade. But it wouldn't
have been if PanMans hadn't tried the delay tactic. Even with a
fast force of Thr6 & 8 ships, this launch&go tactic is hard to defeat
decisively. Looks like the optimal ship for hunting would be an escort
with Thr8 and as many A-batts as it can hold -- and even then you'd have
to enter table at max speed, a somewhat risky proposition.
Not content with this clash, AEUG reunites his fleet, eludes PanMa pursuit and
hits their station, a M200 military installation.
A bloodbath ensues. The AEUG fleet of carriers with cruisers and destroyers
armed mostly with beams is exactly the kind of fleet NOT to
take against a heavily armed base -- even one without ships nearby.
Both sides deploy panzers and AEUG heads in. Mistake number one. Gunnery
duel with anything with Screen-3 and 20 batteries isn't a smart idea.
The same gunnery duel at close range is even less smart. A small launch of
missiles is attempted, but the defending panzers shoot them down. Yet again,
this house rule saves someone's bacon from missiles.
AEUG rapidly loses 4 ships while closing to boarding range. They attempt
to board one section of the base, which turns out to be an even fight but
they're unlucky and lose. Attacking panzers arrive and make short work of the
defending squadrons.
Torpedo and Attack panzers pound the base. Two aces zoom in and blow off
two screen generators, leaving one part of the base completely unshielded. The
base's days are not far from over, but this doesn't save
four more AEUG ships from destruction, including their flagship.
The mortally wounded base doesn't have much left to do but die. However,
the AEUG fleet is devastated -- only the two carriers and one escort
cruiser remain... they promptly disengage.
Notes: Proper tactics would have killed the base without this much losses, but
the most important issue is that as long as PanMa doesn't divide his fleet, no
one wants to fight it but it can't catch anyone either. Looks
like they're headed for tactical victories and a strategic loss -- one
valuable military base down, Mercury ground stations bombarded,
Mars-Mercury shipping riddled with pirate attacks... and the rest of the
players pissed off enough to form an informal allience against them.
Last night, a PanMa task force ran into regrouping AEUG carrier elements
enroute to Mercury.
PanMans had finally split their fleet in an attempt to protect their assets on
Mercury. One gigadreadnought accompanied by a fleet carrier, four cruisers and
three missile destroyers was dispatched for the job.
Meanwhile badly battered AEUG forces were heading for repairs. With two
carriers, two cruisers and four destroyers they are only the remains of a navy
once proud.
Using a slight amendment of our mid-range rules, both forces decide to
predeploy panzers before entering table.
PanMa panzers form a defensive line while AEUG races in for the kill. They
have numerical superiority but the PanMa force consists solely of
interceptors. There is a total of 20 panzer groups on the table.
PanMa behemoths trod behind their panzers while AEUG remains relatively
stationary.
The second turn sees the panzers clash. AEUG has to tie down two interceptor
groups with attack panzers to give his torpedo carriers a shot. This is
suicidal, but the rest of the action is very bloody too: Both sides lose
roughly 60% of their panzers. The torps and two unengaged AEUG attack groups
hit the PanMa dreadnought wounding it, but the aces with the groups fail to
take out the screen generators.
PanMa gunnery supremacy kills an AEUG DD and wounds another.
Next turn PanMa launches missiles. This coy trick works well. His launching
ships are forward enough to bypass most defending panzers and the AEUG force
is too slow to properly evade.
Panzers massacre continues. The scraps of squadrons regroup and AEUG pulls
back to intercept missiles. PanMa gunnery is concentrated on AEUG carriers
wounding them.
The missiles hit as the battle lines clash. Defending panzers shoot down
three, PDAFs are useless as usual causing an AEUG cruiser to eat three and
die. The remaining three hit one of the carriers, further wounding it.
Both sides disengage. PanMans are too clumsy to pursue while AEUG is too
shot up. Both sides' heavies will spend months in repairs. This ends the
AEUG career as a combat force for quite some while. It also screws up PanMa
plans to relieve Mercury. No doubt GUGES or Norway will jump at the chance to
strike at PanMa. AEUG also captured a PanMa ace.
The final panzer losses were 90% -- only 12 survived of the 120
launched. Only 2 or 3 were lost to PDAFs...
Notes: The game is obviously not designed to handle fighter actions of this
magnitude. We used a house rule to cover movement order. The dogfights are
also extremely deadly.
I took a look at it and lo and behold, an interceptor gets exactly an
average of one kill while a regular fighter gets 2/3. This means an
interceptor group on the average blows away another fighter group per turn.
Ouch. Add in aces for double ouch...
Move over 8th AF. 25% losses is nothing.
The heavies are a bitch to kill -- but they're also a bitch to repair.
Lots of delays, but we finally managed to play a game despite the summer
holidays.
PanMa vs. GUGES
As ardent followers of this tripe may remember, the PanMa strike fleet was
limping towards Mercury after the "Bloody April" panzerfest with AEUG. Left
with wounded dreadnoughts and a whopping 2 panzers left, they
were hoping for solace and repairs at Mercury station, apparently forgetting
the GUGES fleet in position there.
Their mistake.
At first GUGES is reluctant to engage, unaware of the huge panzer losses
PanMa had suffered. The PanMans almost pull off the bluff, but GUGES commander
decides to risk a missile strike.
Good move, if a bit overcautious.
The GUGES DDGs come zipping in, accelerate to 40+ while circling the
slower PanMa force. PanMa manges to score a few hits with AA's.
A 12-missile salvo is launched, DDGs turn tail before ever coming to
A-batt range. Unable to evade, the valiant PanMa panzers drop 5
missiles,
the useless-as-usual *DAF's score one and the remaining 6 slam right
into the gigadreadnought.
Had it not been already wounded, it might have survived, but now the vast hulk
is engulfed in explosions and reduced to space dust.
PanMa turns tail, GUGES is hot in pursuit with his faster ships.
Notes: We played with centimeters this time. Basically it was a good
experience. 40+ speeds with inches would have been bloody impossible to
fit on the table. A few downsides though --
Range estimation is a bitch (no, we don't allow premeasuring) ADAFs are even
less useful than they usually are. I have somewhat large models, and the
"Spacefleet" style GW bases are nearly impossible to place close enough to
provide ADAF cover.
GUGES was IMHO a bit too cautious -- he's the only player with an intact
fleet (only one DD lost) and should have hammered before the PanMa force
can elude pursuit.
My prediction is that GUGES will come on top, IF he has the balls to pursue
his advantage and attack.