[FT] The Battle of Zibriske Point, a 40000cpv battle report

["Matt Tope" <mptope@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Battle of Zibriske Point.

A test of UN triple hull and grazers.

Fought 28th -29th February AD3680.

Forces: 40,000pts (CPV), split into 2 sides of 2 players with 10,000 points
apiece.

The Accord (Alliance between the independent human arc-world colonies and
the Hoidrac Empire, the former are capitalist human societies, the latter
Imperialist-decadent Aliens).

Combined fleet totalled 62 vessels, a heavy core group of 8 Hoidrac Capital
ships (including a mass 440 monstrosity) and 4 Escort cuiser (all thrust 6,
20% hull with 10% mass double layer shell armour, primary weapons k-5's,
k-6's, and k-10's, with scattergun back up). The Human Accord vessels,
provided by the Sardens, consisted of 12 SM armed capitals and cruisers and
the remaining 30 vessels were pulse topr armed destroyers (destroyers and
cruisers were using advanced drives, 30% hull, screens, the capitals being
primarily SM barrage craft used thrust 4 standard drives instead).


The Tarsonis Pact (Human forces of the Sol Republic and The Peoples
Democratic Republic of Vartiga. The Sol Republic is the largest of the Human
powers and is a communist-millitary dictatorship. The PDRV is also of the
socilaist persuasion). Combined fleet consisted of 77 vessels, including 34
Sol Republic vessels (all thrust 4 advanced, hull 32-37% in THREE ROWS,
armed with GRASERS and conventional beams), 14 destroyers and heavy
destroyers, 14 war curisers (mass 64), 2 escort curisers and 6 shock
cruisers (mass 94), 2BC, 2BCH (heavy Battleships), 1 BDN and 1 SDN, and 33
Vartigan vessels (Thrust 6advanced drives, with 20%hull, 15% triple layer
hull armour, pulse toprs, PBL's, Pulsers and scattergun), consisting of 18
V-Boats (heavy frigates), 9 CH, 2 BC, 3 BB, 3 SDN.

Playing area: 217mu x 184 mu, with clumps of "cometery matter here and
there". Battle was played with forces set up within 30 mu of the edge of the
play area, on opposite sides of the 217mu axis.
MU: cm's.
Initial velocity: max thrustx5
Movement; cinematic

Background:
It is the fifth year of a period known to later historians as the Apocolypse
wars. The Accord fleet mission is to enter the Sol Republic system of
Providence, draw out its defending fleet, destroy said fleet and commence
the conquest of the system. The Sol Republic's 2nd Red Guards Fleet (with
new advanced vessels incorporating new stronger hull structures and Grasers)
was coincedently linking up in system with the 1st PDRV Fleet when reports
from outlying sensor bouys detected the approaching invasion. The defenders
quickly responded, and both fleets met within the oort cloud, at a position
known to Sol astronomers as the Zebrinske Point.

Turn 1.
Tarsonis forces, arranged with two cruisers wings on each flank and the
heavy ships in the center, interspaced with destroyers and frigates, pushed
forward at a velocity of 20 mu. Accord forces pushed speed upto 24-26,
Sarden vessels pulled away to flanking positions, Hoidrac Heavies pushed
ahead using a very large clump of ice and rubble to shield themselves from
long range graser fire.

Turns 2-3
Both forces contnued to advance. Tarsonis PAact forces increased pace of
advance to 24mu but formation remained rigid. The Sarden left flank broke
away from the rest of the Accord fleet to explot a large gap consisting of
the straits between the very large clump of ice and several smaller ones
30-50 mu from it, threating the right flank of the Tarsonis advance.

Turn 4.
Tarsonis focres slowed back to 20mu, mainting cohesion. Hoidrac heavies
altered course to left to begin approach at speed of 26, hugging toght
behind the central large clump of ice for anti-graser protection. Sarden
right flank pushed forward and entered graser range. The Sol Republics SDN,
BDN and 2 BCH all took advantage of the opputunity to open fire with a
single class 3 grazer each on a Luharnen Jugurthur class SDN (mass 200) that
was amonst the sarden forces. 4 dice were rolled, scores were 6(reroll of
4), 6(reroll of 5), 6(reroll of 3) and 4. 9 damage dice later the SDN had
lost all its armour and suffered 1 threshold which knocked out several
weapons systems.

Turn 5.
Sarden Right flank launced salvo missiles and execueted 4 point turns to
starboard, Hoidrac continued to move round the rubble and were almost in a
position to flank the sol line, anticipating this the Tarsonis centre and
left flank increased thrust to come level with the central rubble pile,
putting it between them and the hoidrac, and fired PBL's ahead at maximum
range. This took care of most of the salvo's (and 1 unlucky Vartigan FF) ,
those which did get through were succesfully "intercepted"  by several FF
and DD's.BOOM! At the same time the heavy cruiser wing making up the right
flank turned to the right and accelerated straight into the heart of the
Hoidrac capital ships and the Sarden left wing. Both groups of ships opened
fire, but luck was with the Tarsonis Pact. One Sol CW  came under 9 k-5 and
k-6 hits in the second range band, the 9th shot, being only the fourth to
actually hit, finally killing the plucky little cruiser. When the dust
settled one hodrac capital and cruiser were destroyed and 2 more crippled in
return for 1 sol CW, and 1 vartigan CH and FF.

Turn 6.
The Sarden right flank dropped more missiles and continued to run back the
way it had come, hoping to lure the Tarsonis center and left flank with it,
in order that the Hoidrac heavies could hit them from behind. Forseeing this
the Tarsonis center execueted a 4point turn to port and the left cruiser
wing a 4pt turn to starboard, and put down a pbl barrage to the flanks to
take care of sm's. The right cruiser wing of the tarsonis forces undertook a
4pt turn to starboard in order to chase the hoidrac heavies, which did what
the Reds were hoping and continued to swing round the ice and rubble. The
Tarsonis forces had succesfully disengaged the Hoidrac heavies from the
Sarden wings and were now arrayed around them, currently out of arc and
range.

Turn 7.
The Sardens attempted to manoeveur back into the action but there SM's fell
short and they were too slow to get into a position to help the hoidrac who
accelerrated forward in an attempt to punch through the ring of the enemy
fleet before it closed around them. The Tarsonis pact heavies continued
their 4 pt truns from last turn, emerging from the shadow of the ice and
rubble to fall around the Hoidrac vessels. Grasers, pulse torps, beams and
K-guns flashed back and fourth at ranges of 10 to 0mu, 2 Vartigan
battleships popped like destroyers when hit by 2 k-10 volleys apiece from
the Hoidrac flagship, which itself was taken down after recieving fire from
1 vartigan SDN and the Sol SDN which with 4 class1 grazers and 1 class 3
grsers, backed up with 14 conventional beam dice scored 53 points of damage
(12 damage dice of of 7 graser dice!). Fter an epic struggle 7 Hoidrac
capitals were destroyed, and the remainder of the force severly damaged. The
Tarsonis forces lost 1 SDN, 1 BDN, 2 BBS and several cruisers and escorts.
Meanwhile the Tarsonis right flank was fighting it's way through a veritable
cloud of Sarden destroyers, the rsultung fire fire fight reducing the
Tarsonis right wing to 3 CHs and 2 FF's.

The Sarden vessels with their missiles all fired and lacking substantial
back up fire power, elected to disengage. The Hoidrac, reduced to a pitiful
shell of their fomer force decided the same. With the Accord vessels all
moving fast enough to get clear of pursers next turn the game came to an
end, with the Red forces of the Tarsonis pact victorious.

The Tarsonis pact had lost 30 vessels, 14 Sol and 16 Vartigan, over 50% of
these DD's and FF's sacrificed to stop SM's hitting the big boys. The Accord
had lost only about 12 (including 8 hoidrac capitals), but were spread out
and out of sm ammo. This is a the first battle I have played where the side
which took the most casualties was indisputably the winner.

GRASERS AND TRIPLE HULL.
All four players (including myself) discussed the Sol Ships and the new tech
they were using. (The Sol ships were mine in case anyone was wondering). It
was felt that triple hulls were extremely effective at enabling a vessel to
survive one volley virtually unscathed, and return effective fire. Given
that I was comming under heavy K-gun fire I wasn't expecting my ships to
survive long when targeted, but a combination of triple hull using 32-37% of
vessell mass was sufficient to keep them going long enough to fire back
before dying. In the past my fleets would be cut to ribbons and I would not
be able to respond effectively. This time I was still being cut to ribbons
but I could return fire, which seemed a lot fairer. My ships were designed
to survive k-gun fire from a vessel of equal size at mid ranges un
thresholded, and indeed this they were able to do. Which was nice.

All players were impressed by grasers and their power but all felt them to
be, at least from this single (though fired often) game, to be balanced,
causing on average similar amounts of damage as an equivilent mass of
K-guns. Screens proved to be an effectice defence, 1 Sarden ship with 2
screens getting away with only 1d6 damage from 4 graser dice thanks to rolls
of 2,4,4 and 6 (reroll 3).

We will conitinue to test triple hulls and grasers and will report back on
any new findings. However, at present the UN tech seems to be in balance
with the other systems, cost and mass wise, and great fun to game with!

Regards,

Matt Tope