Second Battle

 The second game gets underway: 

Photos taken from behind the Lyran fleet. The two Lyran Heavy Destroyers run almost immediately into a heap of trouble in the form of fighter and carrier drones from the CVS group immediately to their front. Unlike in the previous engagement, however, I have decided to use electronic warfare to eliminate drones. The larger Lyran vessels are easily capable of taking care of themselves, so rather than support them, it seems much more sensible to counter the Kzinti missiles. The combination of defensive power plus a burst of static from the Lyran Scout Destroyer takes care of the incoming.

Further into the Lyrans' centre, their two Light Cruisers and Heavy Frigate encounter a Kzinti FFK frigate leader, amply support by disruptor fire from their heavier ships.


Over at the Lyran extreme right, their Command Cruiser and War Cruiser Leader are facing a cruiser squadron with CVE group support, including more fighters.


Back on the Lyran left, the enemy FFK has gone into silent running to escape after being crippled, while the Lyran Heavy Frigate has warped out after losing several shields and taking substantial damage. Well, it's either that or make a spectacular sunburst in a few moments' time - look at all those drones! Both Lyran Heavy Destroyers have also vanished from the sensors, with one warping out before being destroyed, and the other going silent after being crippled. Hence all the suddenly empty hexes...


Not a lot is yet happening in the centre of the battle.


Things are about to heat up at the Lyran right. The three ships at the bottom of the photo as you look at it are a Heavy Cruiser and a couple of War Cruisers. The Lyran Command Cruiser and War Cruiser Leader are much faster, and will take the initial wave of Kzinti damage; hopefully their compatriots will move in afterwards.


The lone Lyran Heavy Cruiser at the left of their line is about to be hit by an unfeasibly large drone wave from the Kzinti fighters. However, it has plenty of defensive juice and this, plus another burst from the Scout Destroyer, removes the missiles. Larger Lyran vessels that carry more than one ESG can account for lots of drones, but the amount of power expended is considerable.


The centre is still relatively quiet. 


I won't complain too much about the sunlight, since we don't see much of it here at this time of the year. I'm hoping you can still make out what is going on here. Basically, the Lyran Command Cruiser and War Cruiser are being targeted by more drones.


Over on the other side of the battle, things are about to become very bad indeed for two Lyran Light Cruisers. In a classic fighter wave assault, the Kzinti hurt both of them; the CVS group is about to move in for the kill, and both CLs are destroyed completely.


The CVE's fighters use the last of their drones on the Command Cruiser. A really messy fight develops here as the remaining Lyran Cruisers get into action, supported by their Battle Tug. The Frigate escorting the CVE and the lone Kzinti Light Cruiser are both crippled. Off to the right, the Lyran War Cruiser Leader puts up a brave fight against the enemy cruiser squadron, but is then crippled by four drones from the Kzinti Command Cruiser. The Lyrans vacate the premises.

This battle played out much more quickly than the previous one, being finished in two and a half hours. Staggering the deployments really helped, as did the Lyran use of electronic warfare and larger ships. The Kzinti are vicious opponents due to the combination of fighters and drones, but when superior Lyran (and Klingon) numbers start to converge at the strategic level, the big cats are going to be up against it. Looking forward to that...

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