Well, that was nasty!

 This time, the Klingons elect to meet the approaching Hydrans in open space just to make sure the vicious little sods take longer to get anywhere near a Battle Station:


The Battle Mat shows just how powerful is the Hydran fleet - and how relatively brittle. They don't exactly have much in reserve, while the Klingons do.

In the event, this took a whole hour and a half to play to completion, including set-up and pack away time. I got the chance to roll for some space terrain, but this time it's in the open. I'm looking forward to dust zones, asteroid fields etc. because they will add a bit of extra spice to a battle, but it doesn't happen on this occasion.

There are three main actions in this engagement. On the Hydran left,  their Lancer Destroyers go in as the initial wave, followed by the Ranger Cruisers. They meet the F5V Light Carrier and its E4 Escort, and vaporise the smaller of the two craft. At this point a Wing of D7 Battlecruisers intervenes, and each damages a Lancer so badly that all three of them have to leave. In turn, the Rangers roar up to point-blank range, and each cripples a D7. All this in the space of a few minutes.

In the centre, the Hydran fighters coalesce into a single large group, ignore the Klingon fighters, and go straight for the D6CV group. In a matter of moments, both of its E4s cease to exist and the carrier is crippled. In return, the Klingon ships and fighters wipe out the fighters from the Lancer destroyers.

And on the Hydran right, their frigate squadron meets the two F5 Frigates, crippling one and heavily damaging the other. The C5 Dreadnought takes its revenge by destroying both Hunter frigates. It actually hits each with a couple of drones because they have used all of their power against the Klingon frigates.

As the space dust clears, the Klingon admiral simply cannot believe his eyes. With all of the disengagements, crippling and things going BANG, he is left with precisely three ships: his own, the D6D Drone Cruiser deployed behind him, and the F5V Light Carrier. Oh, and all of his fighters.

The Hydrans have had almost all of their lighter vessels removed, which will make continuing to the Battle Station rather risky, and the Klingons watch as the Hydrans retire. The lack of Hydran numbers tells against them, while the Klingons realise that their decision to engage at a distance from the Battle Station has probably saved it.

In economic terms, the Hydrans lost 5 points. The Klingons lost 18.

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