[FT AAR] New Israel/Islamic Federation II (long)

Laserlight captured the action pretty well, but here it goes.

NI HK (1574 pts): 
1 Miflagti class BB - "Senesh" [uses Tel Aviv mini, for you Brigade
fans]
1 Natanya class CA-V "Natanya" [uses Tal mini] (1 stealth (same as
heavy)
attack squadron)
1 Natanya-E class CA-V "Herzlia" [same] (1 stealth (same as heavy)
attack
squadron)
2 Kineret Class CVDs "Kineret" and "Yam Suf" [tolkovsky mini] (1 heavy
squadron each)
10 Sheir/Karakau scouts, 5 with single submunition packs [right now I
use
small SFB ships, but will probably use Brigade strikeboat minis in the
future]

NI Convoy: (212 nonfreighter NPV)
5 FB auxiliary freighters [any freighter will do]
3 Even class corvette variants [Reshef mini] required to stay w/i 12" of
freighters until convoy is attacked
3 Sheir/Karakau scouts

Turn 1 was a closing turn as all sides angled for the convoy and the
convoy
began a slow acceleration to escape. All fighters launched. Early long
range
fire from the IF heavy destroyer damages the Convoy escort missile
carrier,
but not severely.

On Turn 2, IF switch targets, and the missile ships flip axis to keep
the HK
group in the SM arcs. All IF ships except the heavy destroyer angle for
the
HK group. The CVD's attempt to disengage and leave the combat (a fatal
mistake). The HK group accelerates to intercept, and the convoy
continues to
flee

The Mameluke goes after the convoy escorts. The turn saw a veritable
hail of
fire  first three SM's (nine missiles) take out one of the Mass  6
Shier/Karakau scouts on the flank of the Senesh. Fighters and 2 MT
missiles
from one of the corvettes engaged one of the Ifrits, meeting with 8 PDS
and
3 class 1's that destroyed both missiles and 8 fighters. The rest of the
fighters inflicted under par damage, but manage to caused a single
threshold
on one Ifrit. 19 class two beams from both Ifrits and the Saber
converged on
Senesh at close range, inflicting a threshold. Senesh's Level 1 screen
deflected fully 11 points of damage, saving the BB from a second
threshold.
Senesh's fire, however is weak, as a full beam barrage fails to cause a
threshold on the Saber. Senesh's torp, lobbed at the fighter-engaged
Ifrit,
misses. NI cruiser beam fire and the scout submunitions were directed at
the
fighter-free Ifrit and inflicted just enough damage to destroy it.

Other action: C1 fire from one Ifrit destroys a scout escorting the HK
group. The Mameluke destroys one of the convoy escort CTs, evading its
beam
and subpack.

Turn 3: The IF flashes past and throws all remaining SMs. NI fighters
press
the attack on the remaining Ifrit, the HK group turns to face the now
receding raiders, and the lone destroyer chases the convoy. SMs destroy
another  AI scout, and two rounds (7 missiles) find the Yam Suf. Without
the
protection of the AI scouts, Yam Suf's 2 PDS manage to destroy one
missile,
far from sufficient; the CVD is destroyed. Fate is again unkind to the
fighter groups, which see another eight fighters lost to PDS, in
exchange
for a single hit from the eight surviving fighters. The IF beam-heavy
ships
are now largely out of range or arc of NI ships. NI fires on one Qaws -
causing heavy damage, but leaving the drive undamaged - and the
destroyer,
flaying off all armor. The destroyer takes its first and only shot at
one of
the freighters, chipping its hull.

Turn 4 is the last turn. The IF missile ships and beam ships are now
well
out of range, so the fighters and HKs converge on the Mameluke. The last
8
fighters are eliminated by the destroyers 4 PDS, but combined beam fire
and
a successful torp hit seal the destroyers fate before it, too can
escape.

Historical outcome:
Raid intercept encounter occurred outside Naveh system, Jan 26, 2184.
Primary objectives of the raid (kill convoy) failed. Secondary
objectives (
damage enemy, escape intact) were moderately successful. Primary
objective
of defenders (protect convoy) succeeded. Secondary objectives (destroy
raiders, avoid damage) was marginal, successes in one balanced by
failures
in the other.
The IF lost ~30% more NPV than NI did, which makes for an overall
expensive
NI victory. 

Using a fighter-loss die roll (even = fighter salvageable; odd= fighter
destroyed; 1-2 = pilot OK, 3-4 = pilot injured; 5-6 pilot killed), the
four
NI squadrons had 17 recoverable fighters, 9 pilots killed, and 9
injured.

For ships casualties I used a % roll, modified +10% for each additional
crew
unit scratched on the same turn - % overdamage if ship was destroyed.
For
simplicity all casualties are considered fatalities.

Damaged/destroyed ships:

Damaged Corvette 0% (no crew unit scratched) Heavy repairs. Probably to
be
scrapped for parts.
Destroyed Even Corvette 100% (16 crew killed)
CVD Yam Suf 100% (36)
BB Senesh  10% (12) Light to moderate repairs required
3 SK scouts 100% (0 - crewed by AI).

Destroyed Ifrit 80% (56)
Damaged Ifrit 17% (12) Light to moderate repairs required
Damaged Qaws 13% (8) Heavy repairs, likely recoverable.
Destroyed Mameluke 82% (29)
Damaged Saber (0 - no crew unit scratched) Light repairs required

Surviving fighters and pilots were recovered after the IF forces were
confirmed disengaged. Survivors in enemy lifepods were recovered for
prosecution on piracy charges.

Lessons learned:
The decoy scouts (my first use of them) worked perfectly against SMs.
Breaking ships from their protective formation is a Bad Idea. This
scenario
was basically the right tool for the right job as far as NI was
concerned,
but variability in possible IF configurations suggests a need for more
real
point defense.

The scenario as we played turns out to be balanced in favor of New
Israel
point-wise. IF has two target groups to chose from: the hunter-killer
squadron or the convoy. IF is almost guaranteed heavy casualties, and
the
question is what can they take out before they have to break off. A
slight
modification of starting speeds would have given the IF a better shot at
their primary goal of destroying the  convoy. I think if I had been in
Laserlight's boots I'd have dove for the convoy and ripped it up as much
as
possible with two missile waves, and a beam pass, taking heavy
casualties as
I did. 

A different missile/fighter mix might have changed things, however the
NI
fighters can't be counted on to be regularly as ineffective as they were
this time.

Whether this scenario describes a "typical" raid intercept or not is
interesting to think about. I designed my Hunter Killer groups to
counter
what I thought would be a standard raiding party - a number of destroyer
class ships lead by perhaps a cruiser designed to wipe out shipping. An
HK
group that finds such a raid should be able to put it down/chase it off
easily. The encounter we had involved ~twice the "expected" IF
firepower.
Either it was an atypical encounter, or I've under-designed my HK
groups, or
it could historically indicate a change in IF tactics.