Spring Y169: the first of many

 First of many battles, that is, as the northernmost Lyrans forces pounce on a Kzinti Battle Station.

I've decided to take the game photos from the perspective of the defenders from now on - consistency makes life easier. Above is the left of the Kzinti fleet looking upwards towards the attackers. The Kzinti have a Command Cruiser and Fast Battlecruiser here; the approaching Lyrans have much more.

Although Lyran forces in the centre are very powerful - Dreadnought and three Heavy Cruisers - so are the Kzinti. The defending cats have a Battle Station with full complement of fighters plus a Light Carrier group with its fighters. Eagle-eyed (cat's-eyed?) observers will note a couple of extra counters outside the Battle Station. I decided not to use all of the rules that make sense in a single-ship engagement, since they clutter everything too much at fleet level. However, since this is a fixed position defence, I let the Battle Station launch its four admin shuttles for extra 360 degree phaser-3s, not to mention more absorption against any ESG attacks.


Above is the view from behind the Kzinti right. Here their carrier tug is supported by a Drone Scout Frigate; the fighters have pulled away towards a Lyran Light Cruiser. The intrepid (mad?) captain of a Lyran War Destroyer Leader has turned in to help his compatriot. Roughly at the top centre of the photo are three Kzinti Frigate-class ships engaging the other two Lyran War Destroyers.

The battle is developing nicely in the centre as the Battle Station's fighters attack a Lyran Heavy Cruiser. Unlike the first two battles I have played, in this one the Lyrans spread quite a bit of damage across the three Kzinti fighter squadrons. The hope here is to degrade the attrition units so that subsequent attacks will force the defending ships to withdraw, leaving the Battle Station to fall.

This is what the Lyran Heavy Cruiser looks like after running into all those fighters. Facing a Battle Station with no front shield is not a good place to be, even at medium range. A salvo of Phaser-4s and Disruptors now cripples the cruiser, forcing it to disengage via silent running.

At the same time, the fighters from the Light Carrier swoop in towards the Lyran Dreadnought. It ignores them in suitably lordly fashion.

The Lyran War Destroyer captain on the extreme right of the Kzinti line is about to pay for trying to help the Light Cruiser. The DWL took out the first wave of drones, but it cost every point of power it had; the second wave slams home and there is a rather satisfying KABOOM.

On the other side of the battle, there is quite a nice little fight developing between the cruisers. This part turned into a really good sub-routine. The Kzinti Command Cruiser takes some internals, but the Fast Battlecruiser shrugs off everything the enemy can throw at it - the extra-large warp engines help to make this ship an effective damage sponge.


Having vaporised the War Destroyer Leader, the fighters now turn their attention to the Light Cruiser, supported by Disruptors and Phasers from the Carrier Tug. The Light Cruiser loses its front shield and takes substantial internal damage. Not enough to cripple it, but if it sticks around the next attack will finish it, especially given the six drones the Drone Frigate Scout is sending in this direction. I really like that little ship!

Meanwhile, the centre of the field sees the Kzinti fighters and Light Carrier group downing the front shield of a second Lyran Heavy Cruiser, and like its friend previously, it too is crippled by shots from the Battle Station. In the same part of the field, another little sub-fight takes place between the two Lyran War Destroyers and the three Kzinti Frigates. Here, the FFK Frigate Leader is forced to warp out after taking quite a large amount of damage - not enough to cripple it, but with these smaller ships one takes no chances.

At this point the Lyrans have reached their fleet breakpoint, and leave the field to the Kzinti. The larger cats have done well: a War Destroyer Leader destroyed and two Heavy Cruisers crippled, with a Light Cruiser out of action, in return for an FFK hors de combat plus nine fighters lost. This last will hurt in terms of ongoing attrition. The Kzinti Command Cruiser has also taken damage, but not enough to force it to leave the area for the rendezvous retreat point.

Another wave of Lyran ships can be detected approaching as the Kzinti patch up as best they can in the meantime...

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