This is the full Battle Mat for the Lyran assault on the Count's Starbase, and pretty impressive it is too. It could take quite a few games to play right through to the conclusion, whatever that might be. As usual, the Kzinti are relying on the installation plus fighters to balance out the enemy superiority in ships. I have too many variations of bits and pieces for both
Star Fleet Battles and
Federation and Empire, so I lost track of exactly who could build what and when. This means the Lyrans have a couple of light carriers on War Destroyer hulls a bit earlier than they should have, but then again they did pay the economic cost for them. Besides, I find it rather strange that they only have the two Jagdpanther variants until Y171 and then suddenly get to build loads, so I am going to pretend this is proof of concept. It certainly gives the Lyrans a bit more attrition capability.
I also have a bit of a bonus:
A Kzinti Starbase with its attendant fighters, plus a shield marker to show where the No.1 shield is facing as the base rotates. The base is from a boxed set of space station bits I bought from Goblin Games. I don't know if the pack is still available there, but it allowed me to build something a bit more interesting than a generic SFB Starbase. That is available from Shapeways but it is very much the clean, smooth, rounded Federation version, and I wanted something a bit more spikey or something. The Kzinti fighters are from Shapeways too.
First Engagement
The first battle sees the Lyrans exchanging ships for Kzinti fighters - they must have been watching how the Klingons do things. Anyway, neither side actually loses any ships destroyed, but there is quite a bit of attrition on this pass. The Kzinti cripple two Lyran Heavy Cruisers with a drone strike from the CVS Group's fighters; an Escort Frigate is crippled by disruptors from the Kzinti Command Cruiser and two accompanying Battlecruisers; and a War Cruiser is crippled at medium range by firepower from the Starbase. A second War Cruiser is severely damaged by phasers and disruptors from the Kzinti Battle Tug. In return, the Lyrans cripple a Kzinti Light Cruiser with short-range Phaser-1 fire from the two Jagdpanther Carriers. Mostly, though, the Lyrans spent their time wiping Kzinti fighters - twenty destroyed for a lost of only ten Lyrans. I really like the Jagdpanthers: lots of Phaser-1s.
Second Engagement
The forces this time are pretty much the same as before. The Lyrans have replaced their losses like for like, except that a War Destroyer is in place of the crippled Escort Frigate. The Kzinti have taken a Light Cruiser from the line and replaced it and the crippled one with a couple of Destroyers. Both sides have replenished their fighters, although the Lyrans are down a couple overall. The attrition continues as the Kzinti destroy the War Destroyer and inflict heavy damage on both of the War Destroyer Carriers as well as one of the Jagdpanthers. All of the Lyran fighters are wiped out in this battle. The Lyrans inflict heavy damage on a Kzinti Battlecruiser and destroy another nineteen fighters.
Third Engagement
This time the attrition ramps up, although mostly in terms of heavy damage to ships, with fighters destroyed. The Kzinti lose both squadrons from the Starbase, along with heavy damage to two Battlecruisers, a Destroyer and their Battle Tug. The Lyrans have a War Destroyer Leader crippled, with heavy damage to their Battle Tug, a War Destroyer, and a War Cruiser. Their fighters are also wiped out.
Fourth Engagement
The Battle Mat is starting to look rather different now, as both sides feed reinforcements into the ongoing campaign. And it just keeps getting nastier as the attrition ramps up another notch. This time the Lyrans lose a Heavy Destroyer, a War Cruiser and a War Cruiser Leader destroyed; a War Cruiser, their Battle Tug and Battlecruiser crippled; and a War Destroyer heavily damaged. In return, the Kzinti lost a Command Cruiser and a Battlecruiser, with two other Battlecruisers crippled. Both sides also lost all of their fighters. The fighting was exceptionally intense!
Fifth Engagement
This means that the Battle Mat changes yet again:
The Kzinti are starting to run out of fighters, and have had to commit a couple of Medium Cruisers to the fray. This is the first time they have appeared in the campaign. As with the various fights at the frontier battle stations, the Kzinti are inflicting loads more damage than they are receiving, but even so they are beginning to run out of heavier ships that can contribute to the fighting. They may have to start using carriers as heavy cruiser equivalents without fighters, which is really risking such expensive vessels.
And in this fight, the attrition intensifies even more. The Starbase itself doesn't do much as the Lyrans stand off, mainly because they have no fighters left. Instead, the Lyrans use their powerful disruptor and phaser capability to shred the incoming Kzinti fighters. However, this of course means that the Kzinti are able to build an enormous drone wave. The Baron's Dreadnought rides the crest as it crashes into two Lyran Heavy Cruisers and their Command Cruiser. The two heavies are crippled and the command ship completely destroyed. The Kzinti CVS group takes on the Lyran heavy command ships at extremely close range. The Lyrans almost entirely wipe out the fighters from the carrier, cripple one of the carrier's escorts and inflict heavy damage on the other, enough certainly to remove it from this campaign. In return, the Kzinti do loads of damage to the enemy Battlecruiser, so it will play no further part in events. They even inflict some internals on the Lyran Dreadnought, which shrugs it all off in exemplary fashion. The other main event in this engagement comes when a squadron of light Lyran vessels (a Heavy Destroyer and two Light Cruisers) makes a suicide run against the two Kzinti Battlecruisers, crippling both of them with ESG rams. They themselves pay the ultimate price, however.
Sixth Battle!
That Battle Mat is seeing a lot of use:
The attrition is really beginning to tell on both sides. The Lyrans still have quite a lot of fighting power left, although they are starting to use their lighter vessels. The Kzinti are almost completely out of fighters now, and are reduced to using their CVL and their Carrier Tug as Battlecruisers. The Starbase has none left at all. This also marks the first appearance of an Orion mercenary as the Kzinti engage the services of a Battle Raider that happens to be lurking nearby, raiding the logistics lines behind the Lyran advance. This should be interesting.
And it is. The Kzinti set up with their CV and CVL well off to the left, fronted by two Light Escort Cruisers and the last remaining squadron of fighters. The Battle Raider deploys on its own close to the Starbase. The rest of the fleet is concentrated to the right and right rear of the Starbase. Two squadrons of Lyran light ships, each composed of a Light Cruiser and two Destroyers, face off against the Kzinti carriers and the Battle Raider, with the remainder of the Lyrans facing the main part of the Kzinti force. The first of the Lyran light squadrons destroys the majority of the Kzinti fighters, but both Lyran Destroyers are crippled and the Light Cruiser destroyed by the volume of missiles, phasers and disruptors from their enemy. The second Lyran light squadron combines firepower with their Dreadnought and Battlecruiser against the Orion, who takes the lot for two turns and then warps out with heavy damage. However, this has drawn the light Lyran vessels close enough to the Starbase that it cripples both Destroyers.
The main part of the battle takes place as the heavier ships of both fleets clash. The Lyrans get in first blood, with their three Heavy Cruisers and Command Cruiser operating as a squadron. They close on the three Kzinti Light Cruisers, destroying one and crippling the other two. The Kzinti response, however, is devastating as their Carrier Tug and Dreadnought combine with the two Medium Cruisers, Destroyer and Scout Drone Frigate to vaporise a Heavy Cruiser and cripple two others; the Lyran Command Cruiser is also badly damaged. The Lyrans leave.
Engagement Seven
The Battle Mat changes again:
The Kzinti have only seven fighters left, scraped together from the remnants of several squadrons, and are having to commit all of their carriers because of their disruptor and drone power. Even so, they are starting to need their lightest ships. The attrition is telling on the enemy too, as the Lyrans start to dig into their reserves of War Cruisers and lighter vessels.
This time, the Kzinti try to outsmart their Lyran opponents and fail. The defending cats deploy their two CVE Escort Carriers as far to the left of the Starbase as they possibly can, supplemented by the Destroyer and FFK refitted Frigate, the idea being to try to keep the lighter carriers alive. The rest of the force sets up behind and to the right of the Starbase. The Lyrans set up most of their fleet facing the majority of the Kzinti, albeit rather more spread out. The attackers have a bit of luck with their deployment, however, since they seem to have had the same idea as the Kzinti, only they are intending to preserve their command ships - and the heaviest ships in the Lyran fleet are facing the Escort Carriers.
The Lyrans are trying to use their many light ships to absorb as much of the punishment as they can, and in fact this is what happens. Their smaller vessels handily destroy the few remaining Kzinti fighters, although the Lyrans do lose a Frigate destroyed by drones very early in the battle. A Lyran Light Cruiser is also destroyed, and a War Cruiser and both Destroyers are forced to disengage by warp acceleration due to heavy damage. The main event, though, comes when the Lyran Dreadnought and Heavy Cruiser execute an ESG overrun on the Escort Carriers after their lighter companions are striped away. The Destroyer and FFK are both crippled along with one of the carriers, and the other simply disintegrates under the Dreadnought's onslaught. The Lyrans leave, satisfied.
This is the first loss of a Kzinti carrier in the campaign, albeit a light one. This will make the Lyrans very happy - they hate the bigger cats' carriers with a passion.
Battle Eight
Things change yet again:
I have decided that the Kzinti are willing to risk at least one more engagement, depending of course on how their heavier carriers fare. They are really scraping the bottom of the barrel now, but at least their Strike Carrier groups are back up to full strength in terms of appropriate escort ships - shame they have no fighters. The Lyrans still have some command and heavier vessels left, but the lighter ships are now all from the frigate-classes, and plenty of them.
This one turns out to be the last hurrah for the Kzinti defenders, as they lose both Medium Cruisers destroyed and their Carrier Tug crippled by a close pass from the Lyran command ships - they unload everything: ESGs, overloaded disruptors and all phasers. The attackers lose two Frigates destroyed, a War Cruiser crippled and anotherWar Cruiser heavily damaged. The Kzinti can no longer afford to stay, given the damage to their heavy vessels, so they reluctantly retire to Zamyan. I roll randomly as the Lyrans swarm the Starbase, and they lose a War Cruiser Leader destroyed, with their Scout Tug crippled.
Comments
Post a Comment