[FT - AAR] NAC vs Imperium

While I have an undisturbed moment, thought I would try and bang out
the AAR from the game between Aaron Teske and I when he visted here a
few weeks ago (see also his report on Battlefleet Gothic).

To start, when Aaron arrived we got caught up on Life Things(tm) for a
while,
watched the remains of a scary movie ("Killer Clowns From Outer Space";
it was
scary only in that someone actually spent time MAKING it!), then
discussed my
recently posted NAC Fleet Roster and some variant ship designs I had
(notably
my CVEs). Then we decided to break out our ships and do a game in what
little
room I have on my livingroom floor.

		 *** AAR: NAC vs Imperium ***

We settled on forces ~1000 pts each. I toyed strongly with taking
Destroyer
Squadron 18 (which consists of 1xCL, 4xDDH, 2xCVE, 1xCT), but thought
Aaron
would be expecting me to haul out my 'new' CVE designs to play with, so
opted
instead to send in Destroyer Squadron 13 (made up of CL HARTFORD, DDHs
TUFFLEY,
LEARY, DAVIS, and IZENBERG, DDs EXETER and ARNOLD, and FG SELENA; all
info
can be found at  http://scivax.stsci.edu/~kochte/nac_roster.html ),
which
totalled 972 pts. Close enough to 1000 to work. Aaron brought out his
Light
Combat Group, which consisted of his Gothic battleship RELENTLESS, a
couple of
escort/light cruisers (SHRIKE & TALON), and 3 torpedo frigates (FERRET,
WEASEL,
and POLECAT), also coming in just under 1000 pts. Thus set, we placed
our ships
on the 'board' (basically my 4'x6' carpet). Our initial speed was to be
1d6+6.
Aaron had me roll: a '1'. Wheee. We're going to close fast...

Turn 1: accelerating as best as everyone can, my ships ramp up to speed
13,
while Aaron's Imperium ships split: the torpedo frigates zip up to speed
12
and head down the side of the 'board' while his larger ships take a
single
point turn starboard and max accel from there (his light cruiser TALON
goes
to speed 12, the other two heavier ships to speed 10).

Turn 2: Again we accelerate, trying to get in range of each other. My
DDHs
do a quick swing to the starboard (my pov; all turns will be noted as
from
the pov of the ship's controller), while my CL, DDs, and FG continue
forward.
The Imperium's heavy ships do a slow 1-point turn to port, while the
torpedo
frigates swing a little harder to port (2 pt turn). This leaves our
closest
ships just outside of the 12" range band (unfortunately for me, my DDHs
were
well within range of Aaron's heavy ships, but unfortunately for Aaron,
his
torpedo frigates were facing the wrong way to do anything themselves).

I win initiative (Aaron groans as it seems I almost always win
initiative when
we play together - of course this doesn't help when I try firing any
p-torps at
him! ;). The TUFFLEY opens up with 4 Class-2 batteries on the SHRIKE.
Screens
flare, and no damage is dealt. The SHRIKE responds in kind on the LEARY
with a
p-torp and 3 Class-2 batts, inflicting only 1 point of damage. The LEARY
also
fires at the SHRIKE with 4xClass-2 batts, and nicks it for 1 point of
damage.
Aaron gives me the "8 class-2 batts, and THAT'S the best you can do?"
look.
The Gothic BB RELENTLESS unleashes a small hell of fire (2xClass-2,
2xClass-3,
1xP-Torp) on the IZENBERG, scoring 5 pts of damage and forcing a
threshold
check. One Class-2 battery goes offline.

The IZENBERG fires its remaining three Class-2 batts at the SHRIKE: all
miss.
The TALON fires and misses on the IZENBERG, and finally the DAVIS
unloads on
the SHRIKE. Screens flare madly, but two more points of damage are
inflicted.
Aaron's unfired ships are his torp frigates, but nothing is in their
arc, or
in range, so all fire remaining is mine. All the rest of the NAC ships
fire on
the SHIRKE, and I manage to score 3 more points damage, forcing a
threshold
check (screens dropped, FTL drive went offline, and a Class-2 batt
stopped
tracking).

Turn 3: The NAC ships pull hard to starboard (2-3 pt turns), while the
Imperium
ships slow hard and turn starboard (Aaron desperately tries to get his
torp
frigates around to nail my ships, but it's already too late). The
Imperium
gains initiative, and Aaron's torp frigates, which have nothing in range
of
their main guns - and are DANGEROUSLY close (and in arc) to my DDHs -
fire what
they can (which amounts to a Class-1 and a PDS each) at the IZENBERG.
Their
initial fire hits for 2 pts, forcing a second threshold check on the
IZENBERG
(thrust drops by half, FTL drive goes offline). The TUFFLEY s-lams the
FERRET
(closest torp frigate) with 9 points of damage, killing it by 2. Aaron
shifts
his attention to my other ships as his light cruiser TALON opens on the
EXETER
for 4 pts, forcing a threshold check (and a Class-1 batt and FTL drive
go
offline). The HARTFORD is in poor position to do much of anything, but
fires
what she can at the TALON, scratching the paint for 1 pt. The RELENTLESS
now
tracks on the EXETER and the SELENA. The EXETER suffers 2 pts from 4xPDS
and
1xClass-3 batteries, which means a second threshold check (the EXETER
now loses
power to both Class-2s and both PDS'). The SELENA is the recipient of
2xClass-2s, which score 2 pts damage, forcing a threshold, in which the
SELENA
loses half her thrust rating and FTL drives. The SELENA and ARNOLD
return fire
on the TALON, but it comes to nothing. In the meantime, the remaining
torp
frigates try to score more damage on the IZENBERG, but fail. The
remaining
three DDHs remove the two remaining torp frigates with most excellent
fire
(POLECAT took 9 pts damage from IZENBERG and DAVIS, while WEASEL took a
whopping 11 pts from the LEARY). The torp frigates did no further damage
before
they died.

Turn 4: Damage control rolls for all damaged ships yield the IZENBERG
gets her
thrust ratings back up to normal, and the SHRIKE's screens regenerate
once
again. Movement: the NAC swing *hard* to starboard, while the Imperium
ships
try their best to get behind the NAC. The NAC gain initiative this turn.
The
HARTFORD fires everything she can on the RELENTLESS (which, to my
dismay, has
level-2 screens), squeezing in 3 pts of damage. The RELENTLESS returns
fire:
1xP-Torp and 4xPDS (yes, we are still that close!) on the HARTFORD (5
pts,
forcing a threshold check, knocking out both Class-1s, one Class-2, a
FireCon,
and the FTL), one out-of-arc Class-2 at the SELENA (no damage), and all
other
guns (2xClass-2, 2xClass-3) broadsiding the ARNOLD for 14 pts (5 pt
overkill!).
Poof. But the IZENBERG takes an accounting on the SHRIKE, and with three
rerolls, strikes it for *9* points damage (forcing 2 thresholds - #s 2 &
3;
screens stay up, however, as does one FireCon, a PDS, and a Class-2).
The
SHRIKE fires back with what's left at the IZENBERG - 1 pt damage. The
EXETER
volleys in on the TALON, but the TALON's screens prevent any damage from
coming through (how many 4s were in that roll???). The TALON fires
EVERYthing
it has on the HARTFORD, including 6xPDS (so, Aaron WAS expecting me to
use
some CVEs!), but only scores 1 pt damage. The remaining DDHs splash the
SHRIKE,
but the SELENA fails to damage anything.

Turn 5: Damage control rolls for the NAC sucked eggs through garden
hoses (1s
and 2s across the board). By the look on Aaron's face the Imperium
faired
better. Movement: The NAC ships slam on the brakes and heel hard to the
starboard, trying to keep the Imperium ships in some of the fire arcs.
The
remaining Imperium ships (that would be the RELENTLESS and TALON) creep
up
behind and beside the NAC, and gain initiative. The RELENTLESS fires
first,
targetting DDHs TUFFLEY and LEARY. The TUFFLEY suffers 2 pts damage from
4xPDS
and a P-torp, but the LEARY....10 dice of damage from 2xClass-2 and
2xClass-3
with 3 rerolls, for a total of 13 pts. With an immediate level-3
threshold
check, only 2 Class-2 batteries and half thrust remained on the ship
("Umm,
boss? Ship broke..."). The LEARY now has 1 point of damage left. Eep...

The TUFFLEY retaliates on the RELENTLESS, but only scores 2 pts damage.
The
TALON divides its fire up between the HARTFORD (6xPDS - yes we are still
that
close!) and the DAVIS, scoring 2 pts and 3 pts respectively. The
HARTFORD's
drives drop by half on her second threshold check. The DAVIS fires on
the
RELENTLESS, scoring 3 pts damage - and forcing a threshold check!
But...no
systems went down (drives remained steady, screens didn't fluctuate, all
batteries continued tracking the NAC ships). With no further Imperium
ships
to activate, Aaron had to wait until I finished the rest of the NAC
fire.
The HARTFORD fired on the RELENTLESS for 3 pts. The EXETER missed badly.
But
the SELENA, our little NAC frigate, pummelled the TALON hard for 5
points.

Turn 6: Damage control repairs: the LEARY gets a firecon back, and the
SELENA
gets her drives back up to snuff. I have no idea how Aaron's repairs
were going
(unless it was an obvious thing - such as drives being restored, screens
coming 
back up, etc - we didn't tell each other what was repaired). Speeds are
now
down around 7 or 8 for the Imperium ships and DDHs; the SELENA is
powering
about at 'long range' (~12 inches) at speed 10, and the rest of the NAC
were
at 5. The NAC continue swinging to starboard, while the Imperium sits on
their
tails. But because the SELENA was so far away (this is all relative),
and was
going oh so much faster, she managed to get behind the Imperium ships.

The Imperium gain initiative. The RELENTLESS spreads her fire out
amongst the
NAC ships: the HARTFORD, SELENCA, LEARY and IZENBERG. Only the HARTFORD
and
IZENBERG suffered damage (1 pt each). Not great rolls for the Imperium.
The
SELENA centerlines the RELENTLESS (first centerlining I've managed to
achieve
this scenario) and opens up with all - scoring a massive 5 pts of damage
through level-2 screens! This forced the RELENTLESS into her second
threshold
check, in which her screens dropped by half, thrust dropped by half, the
p-torp
shorted out and a class-2 battery stopped slewing. The TALON divided up
her
fire between the LEARY (no points), HARTFORD (1 pt), and the SELENA (1
pt). No
further fire from the NAC (all targetted on the TALON) was effective
(the DDHs
were still out of arc).

Turn 7: Damage control rolls - the SELENA gets her FTL back online.
Movement:
everyone slows HARD, and the furball really escalates. The Imperium
gains
initiative again. The RELENTLESS divides her fire between the HARTFORD
(1 pt),
the TUFFLEY (no damage), and the LEARY (5 pts - sending her to the
grave). The
TUFFLEY sends 4 pts of damage screaming into the RELENTLESS. The TALON
divides
up her fire between 3 ships also, but manages to only score a point on
the
SELENA (threshold check #3: she loses the FTL and thrust) and 1 point on
the
EXETER (3rd threshold check; it is now a Thrust-3 Class-1 battery with a
firecontrol). The SELENA fires back on the TALON, scoring 4 hard points
and
forcing a threshold check (the TALON loses ability to use one PDS,
1xClass-1,
1xClass-2), but no other NAC ship manages to score any damage this turn.

Turn 8: Damage control rolls: the IZENBERG repairs her firecontrol.
Aaron
looks reasonably pleased over in his corner of the floor. Everyone is
now
creeping along at speeds of 1 or 2 (the RELENTLESS is speed 0; the
SELENA
is speed 7) while trying to jockey for position (having the Imperium
ships
in my aft arcs wasn't make life comfortable for me at the moment). Most
ships
are now within 1-2 inches of each other. The NAC score the initiative
win and
the TUFFLEY smashes the RELENTLESS for 7 pts damage, forcing threshold
check
#3 (I don't know what shorted out this time around). The RELENTLESS
fired back,
but this time divided her fire up on only the HARTFORD and IZENBERG, and
only
scored 2 pts on the DAVIS (forcing a threshold check, in which she
lost 2 Class-2 batts). The DAVIS fires back with what was left, scoring
4
pts damage (killing the RELENTLESS by 2!). <whew> Only the TALON
remained.

The TALON divided up her fire between the HARTFORD and the SELENA (Aaron
finally decided to take out the annoying frigate; that's too bad, too,
because
she was proving to be a *quite* capable ship :).  The HARTFORD suffered
3 pts
damage (2 from PDS'!), and the SELENA absorbed 4 (putting her at -1).
The
HARTFORD goes through her 3rd threshold check, and loses EVERYTHING but
her
screens and her forward Class-2 battery. She is now thrust-0 and drifts
away.
All other ships miss except the IZENBERG, who taps the TALON for 1 pt.

Turn 9: Damage control rolls for the NAC come through: the IZENBERG and
DAVIS
manage to get 1 Class-2 battery each back into functional form again.
Movement:
speeds are 0-4. The TALON turns directly in front of the DDHs ("meat!").
The
NAC grab the initiative, and the TUFFLEY whacks the TALON for 4 pts
(threshold
#2!). The TALON puts 5xPDS' on the HARTFORD (1 pt) and everything else
on the
DAVIS (1 pt). The remaining DDHs (the only ships left on the NAC side
able to
fire) score 4 more points on the TALON (threshold #3 - the TALON loses
all
thrust!).

Turn 10: No successful damage control rolls this turn. The TALON starts
cycling
her FTL drive, and her screens afford her some protection from the
IZENBERG's
fire. The TALON's fire on the NAC is ineffective. The EXETER parts a
long-range
(remember, this is all relative) shot with a Class-1 battery on the
TALON, and
hits for 3 pts (took 2 pts to destroy). End game.

Final summary: the Imperium have no idea what happened to their Light
Combat
Group - none of them escaped to report back. No idea what they are
thinking.
The NAC faired better, but it will be a while before Destroyer Squadron
13 will
see action again as a group, if at all. Of the 8 ships that comprised
DS-13, 3
were destroyed (SELENA, LEARY, ARNOLD), 3 were critically damaged
(HARTFORD,
EXETER, IZENBERG) (and it's a toss whether or not it will be cheaper to
scrap
them and build new, or repair them), one was moderately damaged (the
DAVIS),
and one lightly damaged (the TUFFLEY). It is highly likely that DS-13
will be
disbanded and the [two] combat-capable ships assigned to other
squadrons.

At least the NAC have some idea of these Imperium ships. No idea,
though, where
they came from. But examination of the remaining hulks and bodies did
yield a
small wealth of information.

Mk
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Sarah: "Is this the point where I say, 'why in the heck am I doing
this'?"

Indy: "And this is the point where I say, 'belay's on'."