We are now in to the final part of this scenario. It is a long one (almost 10,000 words and over 100 images). However, I have done this deliberately. I want you to have a complete picture of the game as it is played out so you can clearly see what is going on.
At the end of this post I have also made an analysis of the scenario, lessons learned, what could be improved, and so forth.
Right, let’s get on with the battle.
NOTE: If you want to read the other parts of the battle report, check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
Turn 24:
Activation Dice: Imperial 2 / 1
The start of Turn 24
At this point I am 17 hexes from freedom, thanks to the torpedo manoeuvres. Because I get to crucially move last, I can see where the Ork fire arcs are going to be and try and manoeuvre around them.
The northern Fighta-Bommas and Bommas continue their pursuit. PEF 1 moves out of the dust cloud and resolves as 2 assault craft.
The Orks move
The assault craft appear
I randomly determine their facing and speed and they move directly towards me at top speed. They are also Rep 5 veterans. Both move to lock on to the Forlorn Hope.
The rules are unclear if boarding takes place during movement, or during the action phase. I would say during movement. The assault ships, however, need to enter my hex and cannot make it. They are one hex short!
The assault craft close in
The other Orks move, jostling for position. There are so many of them, there are bound to be collisions.
The Orks move in a swarm
The Forlorn Hope flies on, dicing to avoid a head-on collision with the Fighta-Bomma. It’s a 2d6 test vs. Rep and the crew pass 2d6, letting the Forlorn Hope avoid being struck by the ship.
The Forlorn Hope surrounded
And we do some fancy flying
My actions are resolved first, so I let rip with my AA turrets. I am in a “target rich” environment. I mark the targets A, B and C, with A receiving 4 shots, and B and C taking 3 each.
Targets are set
I hit A 3 times, B once and miss C completely. None of the shots penetrate the shields.
Ship A takes the Received Fire test and passes 0d6! He moves a half move and turns to port, ending up in my hex! This time we collide and the Ork takes a hit as if struck by a rocket. There is no mention of what happens to a capital ship, so I will take an Impact 1 hit. Had it been a direct collision (the Ork passed 1d6 on his avoid collision test – so this is a glancing blow), I would say the capital ship then takes an Impact 3 hit.
I have got to compile these ad-hoc rules in to a document…
The Ork ship has its guns knocked out by the impact. I roll a 1 for the Forlorn Hope, meaning it also takes a damage roll. It loses a defensive AA turret until repaired! That could be deadly! It could be worse, if it had damaged the engines or shields I would be in big trouble.
The aftermath of shooting and the collision
As there is no more shooting (the only Ork ship that has an arc of fire has its guns damaged) any Ork ships can make repair rolls.
The Fighta-Bomma with a damaged comms passes 1d6, so next activation the comms will be repaired.
Turn 25:
Activation Dice: Imperial 3 / 2
The start of Turn 25
The Orks move first. Let’s get that out the way and weigh up our tactical options. Note that I am working through the flights from right to left.
One of the assault boats flies past the Ork Fighta-Bomma and avoids it easily. Another Fighta-Bomma crosses the Assault Boat’s path. By some miracle the inexperienced crew avoid a collision.
I move the Forlorn Hope in a direct line to the table edge. 12 hexes to go. I need to stay on this path and not deviate from it.
More chaotic movement
The moves in close up
Shooting. My lone AA turret opens up on the Fighta-Bomma next to me. I get 2 hits, but no shield penetrations. There is no return fire as the Ork does not have arc-of-fire. I get to work repairing the damaged AA turret, and it will be repaired next activation.
The Ork with the damaged comms completes his repairs, and the Figthta-Bomma beside the Forlorn Hope repairs its guns.
Turn 26:
Activation Dice: Imperial 3 / 3 => Re-roll Imperial 5 / 1
The Orks move, getting ready to catch me. The Assault boats are still trailing me, and the rest of the Ork armada is circling round for another shot. The only thing keeping me alive is speed.
I have a dilemma in my move. The Orks have manoeuvred to catch me. If I move in a direct line, I will get shot at by the Ork Fighta-Bomma and the rockets of the leading assault craft. But if I deviate, I will lose a hex of movement and get caught by the assault boats.
Luck got me this far. Let’s push it to the end. I move in a straight line towards safety.
The moves
I repair my damaged turret as my first action. Then fire at targets A, B and C with 4 shots on A and three shots each on B and C.
I hit A 3 times and 2 of those hits penetrate the heavy fighter’s shields. That is super lucky! I then roll a double hull hit and destroy the fighter in a blaze of plasma.
I hit B twice and one shot penetrates the shields, damaging his shield generator. That makes him a sitting duck.
However, I miss C completely.
Some great shooting
Assault Boat C fires his rockets at the Forlorn Hope and both hit. One hit penetrates the shields and knocks down my shield generators! This is going to be really dangerous!
All the ships within 5″ of A must make a Ship Down test. C passes 2d6, as does the other assault boat. B passes 1d6, and as he has lost his shields, will pull out of the combat by moving away. Next turn he will fire his afterburners.
The Ork gets out of the fight
Can we survive?
Turn 27:
Activation Dice: Imperial 4 / 2
Start of Turn 27
We all move and I am managing to stay just out of range of the Ork guns. The advantage I have is there is just one ship to shoot at, and fighter (or bomber) guns have a very narrow arc of fire. So they get a pass and then have to circle back.
As the Forlorn Hope is a fast ship, it doesn’t often give them that chance.
The Forlorn Hope runs for home
The scenario plays well and I am very happy with it. The only thing I may do, is give Bommas a gun capable of hurting capital ships, like a plasma cannon. Otherwise all is balanced and good.
In my action I repair the shield generator and fire an AA turret on each assault boat. However, I only cause one hit on each and fail to penetrate their heavy shields.
The Ork with the damaged shields also repairs his damage.
It seems I should make it home unless Ork reinforcements appear in front of me.
Turn 28:
Activation Dice: Imperial 3 / 4
The start of turn 28
And sure enough I generate Ork reinforcements!
I couldn’t make this stuff up!
It is a flight of 2 Fightas and they appear in the north-east corner next to the Ork short edge. I don’t put them on the map. They will play no part in this battle.
We all move again.
The final moves…
Barring a miracle from Gorka and Morka I should complete the scenario next turn.
Turn 29:
Activation Dice: Imperial 4 / 6
I move first and exit the map
It is an Imperial victory!
Post Battle Analysis:
WOW, what a game! It was really touch and go there for a moment and what I thought would be a small scenario turned into quite a battle. Let’s look back over the scenario and see what could be changed and what we learned.
1) The Forlorn Hope is a very fast ship. It actually moves fast than a bomber and can out-turn some heavy fighters. It is designed to be a fast ship and a less agile craft would not survive the mission. The scenario is balanced in this respect.
2) Small craft have quite a restricted arc of fire. This fits for fixed mount guns. It seemed that fighters struggled to line up shots because they were facing a lone and highly manoeuvrable ship. I think that works fine too. Missiles and torpedoes have a 180° arc and that is fine too.
3) The rules for torpedoes seem a little odd – specifically the manoeuvring. In a game where you have to plan your moves carefully, having these random moves can seem quite out of place. Also, where in the turn sequence do you test for torpedoes? So I would propose the following:
- Torpedoes on small ships have a range of 10″. Torpedoes on capital ships have a range of 20″, moving 10″ per turn.
- Torpedoes from small ships that hit cause 1 damage roll. Torpedoes from capital ships cause 2 damage rolls.
- Torpedoes can only target capital ships. Fighters are too nimble and dodge them.
- They are fired and moved during the action phase. However, all torpedoes are resolved after all ships have taken their actions.
- A capital ship makes a 2d6 test vs. Rep when resolving the torpedoes in its hex that are targeting it.
- If it passes 2d6, it may brace for impact and fires all turrets against the torpedoes. Shots must be spread evenly against the torpedoes.
- If it passes 1d6, it may snap fire all turrets against the torpedoes. Shots must be spread evenly against the torpedoes.
- If it passes 0d6 it may snap fire half of its turrets (rounding down so 1 turret becomes 0) against the torpedoes.
- Torpedoes are hit on an 8 if firing normally, or on a 9 if snap firing.
- Torpedoes have no shields. If they are hit, they are destroyed.
4) Let us test Item 3 against the example that came up in play. The Forlorn Hope would have faced 6 torpedoes – 4 from the Fighta-Bomma squadron and 2 from the Bommas. The Forlorn Hope passes 2d6 and braces for impact. It also fires both turrets against the 6 torpedoes, requiring 8s to hit. 4 torpedoes get 2 shots, and 2 get one shot each. I roll the dice and 2 torpedoes get through. One goes to the hull and the other to the bridge. I relocate the bridge damage to the thrusters (so I can no longer turn). And we carry on. That to me sounds solid and represents a cloud of torpedoes being used to take down capital ships.
5) THIS GAME IS FUN! It is not overly detailed,yet is still chunky, it handles damage and movement well, has lots of options and generates good gameplay. I may be hooked on it.
6) Fighters and small ships need to plan ahead to take down a capital ship. That is very reasonable.
7) Collisions between small ships and large ships. This is not covered by the rules so I propose the following:
- Roll 2d6 vs. Rep for the collision test. The craft currently moving takes the test.
- If the ship passes 2d6 the collision is avoided.
- If the ship passes 1d6, there is a minor impact. The small ship rolls on the damage table. The capital ship takes an Impact 1 hit.
- If the ship passes 0d6, there is a major impact. The small ship is destroyed. The capital ship takes an impact 3 hit.
8) The scenario is balanced even when, like me, you roll for nothing but Ork reinforcements.
9) Plan your moves ahead. Your ship is always going to move. Understand that and plan where you want to be otherwise you will never get to shoot.
10) If you are thinking about buying this rules set, do. You will have a lot of fun with it.
11) The rulebook could have done with more diagrams and examples. Hopefully this detailed battle report will stand in for some of them.
12) I made a lot of mistakes (some in terms of rules and lots in terms of tactics). It’s a learning curve. I should have planned to enter the Ork 10 hex wide zone at an angle so i didn’t end up spending 3 turns in there generating PEFs. That almost cost the mission.
The above represent my personal views on how I would handle the mechanics. If they don’t work for you, ignore them. The wargame police will leave you alone. I promise.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the game, and will follow the campaign as it continues.
Do let me know your comments.