Author Topic: PC: Month 144 - Part 2  (Read 2297 times)

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Offline MWadwell (OP)

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PC: Month 144 - Part 2
« on: June 01, 2012, 12:46:07 PM »
PC: Month 144 - Part 2

Continued from Part 1.


Month 144, Day 3, Frontier of the Rogen Alliance
Ship Leader Yorx steeled herself for the coming transit.  Every Alliance survey commander lived with the awareness that the next jump could bring salvation or disaster.  Salvation in the form of another intelligent race willing to help against the Eaters, or disaster in opening a new route to the feared Eater Expanses.  Alliance probe missions were a delicate affair, fraught with danger, and conducted under top security. 

And so it was that on the third day of the month the Dauntless, the lead battlecruiser of the 3rd Exploration Group’s escort force, jumped through the innermost unexplored warp point in the A-045 system.  The Dauntless appeared in the outer system of a binary white star/orange star system, 156 light minutes from the primary star.  Almost immediately alarms began ringing across the bridge.

“Alert!  EM emissions detected originating in the inner system!  Very powerful, two point sources.  Refining data now.”

Yorx turned to her sensor officer.  “Perform an immediate scan of the local area!  Quickly.”

“Scans are clear.  No artificial objects detected within the local area.  No drive fields detected within a seventy-two light minute sphere.  Wait one…sensors show that our entry point is a type 15 closed warp point!”

“Very well.  Rig for stealth and drop our drive field.  Dispatch a drone back through the warp point informing the rest of the group of our discovery.  All instruments are to focus on the EM sources in the inner system.”

Two hours later the results were undeniable.  The populations in the inner system were human, and even better, the various emissions matched the profile of ASR transmissions, meaning that these humans were members of that alliance!  Leader Yorx ordered her ship back through the warp point and then dispatched a message back to her base via the ICN.  A day later she received orders to jump back through and inform the ASR of their new discovery. 

The system turned out to be the Little Butte system, deep within the frontier reaches of the Republic.  The system had been colonized long ago, and was pretty far from pretty much everything, especially since the focus of the Republic had shifted towards the ASR.  Now, though, it found itself the focus of a hurricane.  The Republic was the furthest Member State from the Colmar Sector, and the reinforcements dispatched from the Republic would take eight to twelve months to arrive in that embattled Sector.  Now, though, the Republic had a direct route to the Alliance, one that couldn’t be interdicted by the Eaters if they should happen to win in the Xeon system.  Orders were rushed to the Republican reinforcements, consisting of 12xML, 2xCV, 3xBB, 6xCA, 2xSC, and 11xCVE, to divert to the Little Butte system.   In addition, the ASR council began debating the wisdom of shifting major fleet elements from the Republic to the Alliance, if that nation should agree to an ASR fleet presence. 

ASR
In the Xeon system, Admiral Silvestri orders his twenty-four CVE’s to jump through to the Golan system on day 1.  This is the very mission that the CVE’s were intended for, and the ship’s commanders are eager to take the fight to the Eaters.  The small ships set out across the system under cloak, heading for the drive fields of the Eater EX’s that are spreading across the system in what appears to be a standard survey pattern.  Their orders are to close with the Eater survey ships and destroy them, and then to converge on the warp point that leads back to the Eater expanses.  There they will ambush anything that comes through, until they receive further orders. 

At first the plan works well.  After all, the CVE’s were designed for just this mission.  The small ships are equipped with both a cloaking device and long-range sensors, giving them an unparalleled ability to sneak around the system and target weak points with their fighter squadron and gunboat group.  The CVE’s managed to sneak into tactical range of eleven Eater EX’s, but as they attempted to close to combat range every Eater EX in the system turned for the inner system and began running at maximum tactical speed.  It soon became clear that the EX’s had spotted at least some of the ASR CVE’s in spite of their cloaking devices.  The eleven CVE’s closest to their targets launched their fighter groups and destroyed their targets, but the other CVE’s were too far away to destroy their targets and the rest of the EX’s escaped to rendezvous with the massive Eater fleet in the inner system.  Still, Admiral Silvestri, once he was informed of the action, deemed it a success in that it stopped the Eater attempt to survey the system.   

For two days the ASR CVE’s hovered at extreme range of the Eater fleet as it orbited the new Eater colony in the inner system.  Finally the Eaters made a decision.  Six groups departed the massive fleet, headed for the outer system.  Each group was composed of twenty-one drive fields.  The ASR CVE force broke into six groups of four CVE’s each and began closing on each of the contacts.  Over the next several days it became clear what the Eaters had decided to do.  Each group was composed of fourteen battlecruisers, six destroyers, and a single EX class ship.  The battlecruisers exhibited emissions profiles consistent with their AFSC and Apin carriers, while the destroyers matched their DDE design emissions.  If all of the BC’s carried AFSC’s then each Eater force could field over six hundred AFSC’s, which would be more than enough to deal with the twenty-four fighters and twelve gunboats that the ASR groups could launch. 

After some consideration, the commander of the ASR attack group sent word back to the warp point, detached a single CVE to watch each group, and then dispersed his force to search the rest of the system for Eater activity. 

The dispersed CVE’s found no significant activity in the rest of the system.  Unknown to the ASR the Eaters had found the fact that a chaos species had possessed the cloaking device very disturbing, and, as a result, had changed its operational habits.  All shipping into and out of an active chaos elimination zone was escorted and took the form of large convoys that entered the combat area as few times as possible, to avoid enemy ambushes. 

By the end of the month the Eaters had completed their survey of the system, and had the location of the warp point to the Xeon system.  Normally, this would have been the signal for a full-scale assault into the chaos species’ lair, however, the fleet mind lay in the inner system, considering the situation, even after receiving the location of the warp point.  Sensor readings had confirmed that this chaos species was the same species that recently destroyed an entire threat elimination fleet.  The chaos species efforts to delay the survey of this system confirmed the existence of their cloaking technology, just as their desperate attempts at delay confirmed the fact that they must be rushing reinforcements to the far side of this warp point. 

All of this gave the fleet mind much to consider.  Standard operating procedures for threat elimination fleets dictated that the next move was to assault through the warp point and destroy the chaos species’ home planet, thus ending the threat.  The fact that this was the second encounter with this species, in widely separated areas, and the species behavior last time argued that this species had a multi-stellar chaos species organization, something the fleet mind had previously thought not possible.  Still, the experience of the threat elimination fleet which was ultimately destroyed was clear.  It had destroyed several colonies of this chaos species, and had then been destroyed by a fleet assembled subsequent to the destruction of the planetary populations.  If this was indeed a multi-stellar chaos species, then different tactics were called for.  Up until now, almost any casualties were acceptable as long as one capital ship reached orbit over the chaos species’ home world, because then, regardless of the loss ratio, or the expense, or any other consideration, the war was over, the threat was eliminated, and the hive was safe.  However, if the target was merely a colony world, one of many, then suddenly losses became an important consideration.  If losses were an important consideration then the chosen tactic of the threat elimination fleets, the simul-transit, suddenly became suspect.  In fact, it was only after the losses suffered in a failed simul-transit attack that the chaos species in question was able to destroy the remnants of the threat elimination fleet. 

In this case the threat species had had plenty of time to assemble defenses on the far side of this warp point, which meant that almost certainly the fleet would have to employ a simul-transit, and per doctrine the fleet mind had been considering simul-transiting its entire force, including monitors, into the other system.  Such a move, though, would be very risky and would entail the possibility of defeat, which might open the Expanses up to invasion, should this chaos species retain enough strength to counter-attack.  This species had shown itself to be masters of long-range combat, and the losses inherent in a simul-transit meant that the fleet mind’s own data-groups would likely be disrupted and weakened just at the time they would be needed the most.       

At the end of the month the fleet mind was still considering the situation.  Much rested on its decision. 

****************************************************************************************

Eaters   
Week 2: Exploration Group #14 jumps out of the heavily populated Threat-006 system (formerly the Aan home system, which is in turn adjacent to the former Rogen home system) with orders to extend the warp chain leading away from the Eater expanses.  Leaving the Threat-006 system, the group jumps into a previously probed system that had been discovered during the threat elimination effort against the chaos species that inhabited this area of space.  The system is uninhabitable, and had been surveyed, but for various reasons the warp point had never been explored.  In week 2 the group jumps through the previously unexplored warp point, right into the defenses set up by the Alliance in the Harbin system.  The defenses, which had been warned by their Apin pickets sitting on the far side of the warp point, destroy the two EX’s which came through first.  When the two leading EX’s failed to return, twenty two EX’s entered the system in one large group.  The defenses, including the fighter groups on the warp point, are more than enough to stop the EX’s before they can return.  The Alliance defense commander orders his Apins and scouts through the warp point.  They report that a single EX is speeding away, out of missile range.  The Alliance has nothing in Harbin that could catch an EX running at top speed, so the EX escapes. 

The lone remaining EX arrives in the Threat-006 system in week 4 with word of the disaster.  While there are no Eater forces stationed in Threat-006, a small fleet base is located two jumps up-chain.  The fleet base was built long ago to garrison this area against the possible resurgence of the Chaos species that were encountered here, and while the fleet stationed there isn’t as large as some of the primary nodal fleets it is large enough for most uses.  The planetary mind in Threat-006 dispatches the news at the end of the month.   

*************************************************************************************

2ND Empire of Man
Pandomn System, former Unified Races territory
Admiral Stern watched the warp point approach in the tac display, wondering what the Axons had on the far side.  Probe forces had encountered resistance, the first resistance from the Axons since the destruction of the populations in the New Berlin system, thus drawing his fleet here.  His orders from central command were clear, any and all Axon resistance was to be crushed, and all Axon controlled planets were to be occupied as soon as possible.  His fleet, and the assault group from the 1st Fleet, would arrive within the hour.  The attack, which had already been planned with Admiral Murasaki, commander of the 1st Fleet Assault Group, would be launched almost immediately. 

The brunt of the assault would fall on the fighters, gunboats, and armed pinnaces of the two fleets.  Admiral Murasaki had advocated sending his assault monitors and battleships in first, but Stern had overridden him.  Small craft were replaced far more easily than the capital ships. 

1st Fleet, Assault Group
Rear Admiral Murasaki
3xMLA, 6xBBA, 7xBB(MS), 2xBC(Sup), 3xBCR, 7xCVS, 6xDD, 189xF3, 45xApin, 41xGBP

7th Fleet (Pax)
Admiral Stern
15xMLR, 10xBC(Sup), 7xCA(Pinnace), 6xCAE, 62xCVS, 3xCLE, 9xDD, 2xFG(Sc), 1xEX(Sc), 1612xF3, 70xApin, 302xGBP

Almost immediately after the Terran fleets arrived at the warp point the fleet’s ships began launching gunboats and armed pinnaces.  After mustering on the warp point, the armed pinnaces jumped out of the Pandomn system into the Cambrai system.  The Terran small craft materialized in the Cambrai starless nexus, surrounded by Axon fighters.   One hundred and fifteen armed pinnaces, manned by crack Terran crews, found themselves facing one hundred and two Axon fighters.  The Axon fighters, although on alert and theoretically ready for an attack, reacted sluggishly, as befitted their extremely green crews.  Seconds after materializing, while still disoriented, the Terran armed pinnaces began engaging the Axon fighters.  A desperate maelstrom of fighters and small craft developed, and explosions marked the boundaries of the warp point.  By the time the Terran crews had recovered from jump effects sixty six of the Terran small craft had been destroyed.  They hadn’t gone down alone, though.  The vengeful Terran pilots, many of whom were screaming “Remember New Berlin” as they attacked, destroyed an astounding seventy three of the Axon fighters. 

As the remaining Axon fighters regrouped the Terran armed pinnaces turned as one and jumped out.  The Axons were left in control of the warp point, at least for now. 

In the Panndomn system, Admirals Stern and Murasaki examined the data gathered from the long range scanner packs that several of the armed pinnaces had been equipped with.  The data was telling:

Warp Point: 29 Axon fighters
Surrounding the warp point at a quarter light second: 1,500 mines, 750xIDEW
1.5 light seconds from the warp point: 8xDD, 4xCT
2 light seconds from the warp point: 17xEX
7 light seconds from the warp point: 3xCT
8 light seconds from the warp point: 6xDD, 15xCT, 1xCVL
10 light seconds from the warp point: 45xCT, 27xDD, 33xEX, 1xML, 1xCVE
24 light minutes from the warp point and closing: 110xCT

Admiral Stern nodded at the plotting tank.  “Their maximum fighter capacity is about five hundred fighters, if every corvette present is a carrier.”

“They probably aren’t all carriers, but the real problem is here.”  Admiral Murasaki pointed at the icon representing the Axon corvettes twenty four light minutes from the warp point.  “We have four days, and then they’ll have reinforcements.  Less if those corvettes go to maximum speed.”

“That’s plenty of time.  What they have at the warp point can’t stop us, and once we are in open space our fighters can deal with the Axon reinforcements, if they press an attack.”

Admiral Murasaki frowned.  “It appears you were right.  Those IDEW would play havoc with my assault ships.  The small craft go first.”  Admiral Murasaki’s frown deepened, a fearsome sight in such a massive man.  “To be followed by your carriers.  I cannot argue this, given the Axon’s reliance on fighters.  You were right.”

“God save them.  They go in four hours.”

Four hours later the attack commenced.  Once again the armed pinnaces led the way, all forty nine of them.  This time they were followed by the entire contingent of proto-type gunboats from the two Terran Fleets.  Fully three hundred and sixty four gunboats streamed through the warp point in a massive wave, giving each other just enough space to avoid interpenetration. 

On the far side the arriving Terran small craft found themselves once again in the midst of Axon fighters.  The seventy eight Axon fighters, their crews more alert than the previous group’s crews, attacked immediately, going after the bigger gunboats.  Fifty three gunboats exploded under the assault, but that left three hundred and sixty Terran small craft, and even through their minds were addled by transit effects, there were more than enough Terrans left to destroy the entire Axon fighter group.   

Thirty seconds after the Terran small craft entered the system they had recovered from the transit effects and, free of attack from the Axons for the second, they moved into the minefield to attack the IDEW.  In response the two groups of Axon ships closest to the warp point moved to meet the Terran small craft.  Seventeen Axon explorer class craft and eight destroyers opened fire on the Terran gunboats as they moved through the minefield.  The EX’s each launched a plasma packet from their single plasma guns, while the destroyers attacked with their quad force beam mounts and point defense.  Between them they destroyed eight gunboats, while the Terran small craft destroyed three hundred and fifty two IDEW. 

The battle around the warp point raged.  The Axon ships continued firing on the gunboats, but their weaponry was not optimal and the EX’s Pg’s took too long to recharge.  A large group of Axon fighters, launched from their corvette carriers ten light seconds from the warp point, began closing on the warp point at maximum speed, even while the Terran small craft destroyed huge swathes of the IDEW’s.  Unnoticed by the Axons, a single Terran GBP broke away from the group and transited back to Pandomn. 

The end of the battle at the warp point was nearing.  The Terran force broke into two groups, with half continuing to destroy the last remaining IDEW, while the remainder engaged the Axon destroyers and explorers.  The battle was one-sided, with only fourteen GBP’s destroyed in exchange for all of the remaining IDEW and the entire group of destroyers and explorers.  During this time the Axon fighter group had closed to 5.5 light seconds of the warp point. 

It was at this point that Terran strike carriers begin transiting into the system, in pairs, two every five seconds.  Even as the Terran carriers entered the system the Axon fighter group, one hundred and eighty fighters strong, had closed to 4.25 light seconds.  The Axons were too late, though.  As they raced to the warp point the Terran carriers, which had had enough time to recover from the transit, began launching their fighters.  Three hundred and twenty four Terran Fighters, with crack crews, accompanied by two hundred and eighty gunboats and forty nine armed pinnaces, howled towards the oncoming Axon fighters at maximum speed, and the comm channels were sounding with the battle-cries of the Terran fighters.  “Remember New Berlin!”  The Axons had no idea what the Terrans were saying, but the green Axon fighter pilots quailed at the sight of the overwhelming force of Terrans coming right at them.  The two groups slammed together one point five light seconds from the warp point, and in seconds only Terran fighters and small craft survived.  Sixty six Terran fighters died with the Axons, but space was now clear between the warp point and the main Axon force, which was now closing on the warp point at the maximum speed of the Axon monitor.  Behind the furball twelve more Terran CVS’s had transited in. 

The newly arrived Terran carriers launched their fighters and then transited out.  The combined Terran groups, numbering 582 fighters, rocketed away from the warp point, speeding towards the main Axon group while the Terran small craft returned to the warp point. 

One minute later it was all over.  The Terran fighters had dodged and turned, pulling the green Axon ships and fighters out of position, and then they struck.  Only half of the Axon escorts were able to engage the fighters, as the rest were out of position and the fighters were in their blind-spots.  So great was the Axon’s confusion that fully a third of the Axon fighters were out of position as well, unable to fire.  An avalanche of anti-matter destruction followed as the Terran fighters unleashed their fRAM’s on the Axon fleet.  Sixty three Terran fighters followed the Axons to the grave, but the battle was over. 

Slowly, ponderously, the Terran monitors and minesweeping battleships entered the system and began clearing the minefields.  The Axon reinforcements came to a halt, then turned and ran.  Unfortunately, Admiral Stern was forced to allow them to run, as nothing in the Terran fleet was fast enough to catch the Axon corvettes at that range.   

Axon Losses:
51xCTCV, 6xCTC, 306xF2, 1xCVLC, 12xF1, 1xCVE, 12xF0,1xMLR, 19xDDD, 23xDDA, 10xCT(DSBC), 50xEXA, 1500xMF, 750xIDEW

Terran Losses:
66xApin
83xGBP
129xF3

*****************************************************************************

ASR: Xanti Front
ASR Grenoble System----Xanti Home System----Valkha System (Uninhabited)

ASR and allied forces in the Xanti Valkha System:
ASR 6th Fleet, Battle Group #1
9xMLR, 21xCV, 3xBC, 6xCA, 3xCL, 22xDD, 756xF2, 321xGBP (All last-generation, non-cloaking)

Xanti Home Fleet (Reconstituted)
3xML, 9xSD, 10xCV, 11xBC, 1xCVL, 3xCA, 7xCVS, 10xDD, 2xCVE, 474xF1, 36xApin

Admiral Jacquern, commanding officer of the ASR fleet assigned to protect the Xanti home system and assist the Xanti Protectorate, wasn’t happy with the situation.  Sensor buoys placed around the warp point in the Valkha System which led to the Alkumar system had detected hostile forces entering the system, and reported such as soon as the first transiting ship was detected.  The transits went on for quite some time.  In all, the invaders had fifty-four capital ships, thirty carriers, and twenty seven smaller warships and carriers.  Jacquern was no fool, and his fleet, even bolstered by the Xanti (whom he considered unreliable at best), couldn’t come close to facing this behemoth.     

Imperial Chosen 1st Conquest Fleet
6xML, 6xSD, 8xCV, 3xCL, 9xDD, 3xCVE, 12xF0, 264xF1, 48xApin

Imperial Chosen, Primary Robotic Assault Fleet
27xMLR, 15xSDR, 22xCV, 3xCVS, 9xDD, 809xF0

After considering the situation, Jacquern communicated his intentions to withdraw.  The Xanti Fleet Commander argued against giving up yet more Xanti territory, but his arguments had little weight as the Valkha system was uninhabited and, in any case, the ASR fleet was going to do as Admiral Jacquern ordered, regardless of the wishes of the Xanti.  That much had been made clear. 

One by one the ships of the combined Xanti and ASR fleets jumped out, leaving the Imperial Chosen in control of the Valkha system.  The Imperial Chosen fleet spread out across the system in small packets, probing for any left behind forces, finding nothing.  Finally they invested the warp point, preparing to either attack or defend, as their leaders might decree. 

Later,
Matt
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: PC: Month 144 - Part 2
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2012, 08:46:14 AM »
Kurt,
I'm confused about how you were getting those Apn and GBP into the system.  They would have had to simultaneous transit to do what you described but there seems to habe been no losses from that.  Is there some rule governing these two small craft I'm missing?  They seem to have simulteanously transited in and out in the probe as well.

Gah I also just now noticed the new posts!
 

Offline MWadwell (OP)

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Re: PC: Month 144 - Part 2
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2012, 09:26:39 AM »
Kurt,
I'm confused about how you were getting those Apn and GBP into the system.  They would have had to simultaneous transit to do what you described but there seems to habe been no losses from that.  Is there some rule governing these two small craft I'm missing?  They seem to have simulteanously transited in and out in the probe as well.

Gah I also just now noticed the new posts!

I'll try and answer this.

Kurt stated (back in 2000 - see halfway through Book 1, in the "Rogen-Bug War" story) that:
Quote
Note: I am using the warp transit rules from EC# 27, which I guess are a preview of the rules from 4th Edition.  Basically, they allow more than one ship to transit per movement impulse, as long as the total size stays under the WP’s allowance.  As a drawback, a ship larger than the WP’s size limit will take more than one impulse to transit.

Without having read the EC#27 article in a few years, I don't know if this explains it, but I'm hoping that it does....
Later,
Matt
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: PC: Month 144 - Part 2
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2012, 02:23:57 AM »
ahhhhh...thanks Matt, that clears things up.  I was wondering how this was occuring without simultaneous transits all over the place.  You could shove a lot of EXs with Pgs through a large warp point in this case.  That could be upwards of 50/impulse*8 = 400...wow.  Getting 80 ships armed with Pg2 on the other side of even the smallest WP in one turn would "complicate" the defenders existance.  Hmmm...even a 100 HS warp point allows for 21 DDs in a single wave.

Ok pretty much a "day the universe changed" rule change.
 

Offline MWadwell (OP)

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Re: PC: Month 144 - Part 2
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2012, 08:27:40 AM »
ahhhhh...thanks Matt, that clears things up.  I was wondering how this was occuring without simultaneous transits all over the place.  You could shove a lot of EXs with Pgs through a large warp point in this case.  That could be upwards of 50/impulse*8 = 400...wow.  Getting 80 ships armed with Pg2 on the other side of even the smallest WP in one turn would "complicate" the defenders existance.  Hmmm...even a 100 HS warp point allows for 21 DDs in a single wave.

Ok pretty much a "day the universe changed" rule change.

I don't think that the WP's can get quite as many ships/small craft through as your calculations show - as looking in Kurt's fiction, I see that during the Terran attack into Elfman, 42 Apin transited per turn, and during one of the early UR WP assaults on the ASR, they transited in 3 Apin per second.

I think the WP sizes have been reduced in EC # 27, but I can't remember.....

Looking it up in my (early) copy of GSF, I see that each Apin would be the equivalent of 3 HS, which would mean that even the smallest WP (of 25 HS) can transit 4 Apin per transit pulse (for a total of 24 Apin per turn), whilst the largest WP (of 62 HS) can transit 10 Apin per transit pulse (for a total of 60 Apin per turn).
Later,
Matt
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: PC: Month 144 - Part 2
« Reply #5 on: July 12, 2012, 09:39:40 AM »
Ah...well if they reduced the size of warp points that would make things not quite so much like sudden death for the defenders.  I will look in my copy of GSF and see what is written there.  I have to admit it has been so long I forgot that they changed things for that game...mind you I forgot a couple of things for 3rdR!

Regardless my hat is off to Kurt for having the patience to play out battles with hundreds of small craft, dinky ships etc.  I told Starslayer after the first (and last) 250 CT battle..."Never again."  Starfire is fun at several data groups per side but battles much larger than you get in The Stars at War rapidly loose their charm, mainly due to book keeping issues.  The sort of economies Kurt is dealing with...*shudder*...that is a lot of work.
 

Offline Beersatron

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Re: PC: Month 144 - Part 2
« Reply #6 on: July 12, 2012, 10:18:54 AM »
Ah...well if they reduced the size of warp points that would make things not quite so much like sudden death for the defenders.  I will look in my copy of GSF and see what is written there.  I have to admit it has been so long I forgot that they changed things for that game...mind you I forgot a couple of things for 3rdR!

Regardless my hat is off to Kurt for having the patience to play out battles with hundreds of small craft, dinky ships etc.  I told Starslayer after the first (and last) 250 CT battle..."Never again."  Starfire is fun at several data groups per side but battles much larger than you get in The Stars at War rapidly loose their charm, mainly due to book keeping issues.  The sort of economies Kurt is dealing with...*shudder*...that is a lot of work.

Even with Starfire Assistant? I have never used it but I thought it helped considerably with these large empires/fleets.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: PC: Month 144 - Part 2
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2012, 02:58:59 AM »
I only used it once with Starslayer when we were doing the Thing's assault on err some one else...

I have to admit that it helps considerably in doing the fight, but you have to transfer the information back to the board so you need to keep track of what the current MP state of each ship is.  I suspect if you tend to play in the "empire state formation" and your combat tactic is "shoot on one target till it pops then shoot on the next" then well it is more doable.  I don't find that particularily satisfying, luckily neither does Starslayer else I doubt we would be playing.

I still would not do 250 CTs even with starfire assistant to keep track of the ships, since you still need to track manually range, and speed plus potentially location of IDEW, MF and so on.  For those sorts of battles you need a full electronic game, and Marvin would likely make a killing if such a beast ever came out.  Something the equivelent of the computer version of Renegade Legion: Interceptor or else whatever that starfleet battles one was.  Even an Aide de Camp electronic board would be a huge asset.  Especially for Starslayer and I as we are separated by nearly a full days train travel.  When we had the full group in München we tried a few of the early ISW4 battles and even those simply did not work well due to number of ships.  Starfire's system works poorly with too few ships since it isn't very detailed and a one on one battle is not terribly exciting...but it also suffers when too many ships are there in my view anyway.

Still I have to say I was impressed by SFA's battle resolver once we sorted it out...plus the "repair all button" was also very useful during the sort it out process!  What Steve did with SFA is astounding when you come right down to it.  There are things you pay for that work much less well than that program.