Battle report: Operation Greenhorn and Test of the Ranger

Combing through the Galactic Knights Yahoo group archives, I found this after-action report from December 2007--nearly three years ago.  Here it is verbatim:

Samurai-class destroyer leader and Swiftsure-class destroyers

Over Thanksgiving, I broke out Galactic Knights and played a couple of games with my brother. I've been busy since then, so this is the first chance I've had to share my experience with the group.

First, we played Operation Greenhorn, the basic scenario in the GN rulebook. My brother, more used to slow-playing games like Warhammer 40K, was please with how quick Galactic Knights plays out. It was the first game for both of us, and it took awhile to get used to drift. As my brother noted, "Speed kills." He also noted that in a game with few ships on each side, the initiative roll will probably determine the outcome. I destroyed one of his ships, and he quickly took out two of mine, eventually winning the game.

One thing when you play Galactic Knights that will add to your enjoyment: be sure to name your ships. I wasn't going to bother naming mine in our first game, but then I saw my brother name his ships after his dogs--so I named mine after his cats. It makes the game a little more fun to refer to "The Muttley" instead of "Destroyer 03."


For the next game, we played the background-inspired "Test of the Ranger" scenario that I posted awhile back. We modified it a little, by giving each side's ships a drift of 3 to start out. The scenario played out fairly close to how it was depicted in the rulebook's "history." (He named his four star bombers after prominent individuals in our college's history; I named my cruiser something lame like "Intimidator.")


To start the game, I placed my cruiser behind his four star bombers, which were in a line formation, and accelerated after them. The bombers split to the left and right, and I sent the cruiser after the right-side pair. I sent a missile salvo after one SB, and my brother thought he had messed up by keeping the two ships next to each other until I told him that missles only affect one ship; they don't have a one-hex blast radius. Despite the two bombers' point defense, three missles got through, detonating the SB's plasma torpedoes and obliterating that vessel.


The next turn, the cruiser's remaining missiles took out the second enemy on the right, and the two SBs on the left curved around toward the larger vessel. I knew I had to keep out of their four-hex range--a torpedo salvo would probably take out the cruiser.

I fired the heavy plasma battery to damage one bomber, destroying the engine. As it would drift off the board the next turn, it was no longer a threat. My other guns missed the remaining star bomber. On the final turn, I lost initiative, and the star bomber got to react to the cruiser's moves. I thrusted away from the smaller ship and rotated to keep my unshielded rear armor away from those torpedoes. Alas, I spent too many maneuver points on thrust, and not enough to turn the ship completely around so that the two layers of front shield lay between the two craft. The star bomber closed within range and unleashed its dual salvos. Seven of the 10 torpedoes struck the cruiser, ending the game with a catastrophic defeat for the Terran forces--losing a valuable cruiser to a squadron of star bombers!

All in all, we had a good time, and plan on playing again.

I'm curious; has anyone else played anything besides the scenarios in the rulebook? If so, what?

Scenario: Test of the Ranger

Ranger-class cruiser

The target was the small rebel fleet in Pacifica, on the fringe of the Delta Sector. The Ranger invaded the star system alone, set upon the four star bombers immediately ...  -- Galactic Knights Rulebook, p 39 sidebar

FORCES: The Terran player gets one Ranger-class cruiser. The rebel player gets four Mars-class star bombers (alternately, the rebel player may take four Asp-class Kmet attack frigates or four Hornet-class Nova Liberian star bombers).

SETUP: The rebel ships begin play in the center of the map within 5 hexes of one another, all traveling in the same direction parallel to the map's long axis, 3 hexes ahead of their drift markers. The Terran ship enters from any direction its player chooses, 9 hexes in front of its drift marker. The Terran fleet has the initiative for the opening turn of the game.

VICTORY CONDITIONS: Play stops when only one player's ships remain on the map. Note: It doesn't matter if a ship merely drifted off the map and is on its way back to the battle -- if you float away while the other guy's still there, the game ends. Once the encounter is over, tally up the losses on both sides.

• Four rebel ships destroyed: Unbelievable Terran victory.
• Three rebel ships destroyed: Decisive Terran victory.
• Two rebel ships destroyed: Draw
• One or zero rebel ships destroyed: Terran defeat.
• Terran ship destroyed: Catastrophic Terran defeat.

PLAYTEST NOTES:  I came up with this scenario after reading the GK rulebook and shared it with the Yahoo group back in 2007.  Go to the next post to see my playtest of this scenario.

Starship Morale Rules (or, "I have not yet begun to fight!")

Awhile back, I posted an optional morale rule for individual vessels to the Galactic Knights Yahoo group in response to another member's fleet morale system.  As I said at the time, while reading up on real-world naval battles, I noticed instances in which captains who belived their ships were too damaged decided to leave the battle.  I thought it might make starship combat more interesting than when everything remains on the board, fighting untilit blows up.  Since it's been three years since this idea has seen the light of day, I thought I would pull it out, dust it off, and share it with you:

Carnivoran Lion-class battlecruiser: Is its captain a 'fraidy cat?

STARSHIP MORALE:  At the end of each combat phase, players must make a morale roll on a d10 for any vessel taking one or more critical hits.  If the roll is less than or equal to the number of critical hit points remaining, the starship will fight on.  If the roll is greater than the remaining number of critical hit points, the vessel must flee the battle during the next movement phase.

• EXAMPLE 1: An undamaged super galactic dreadnaught takes 2 crits in a combat phase. It won't have to bother with a morale roll (it starts with 12, and with 10 crits remaining, a morale roll is unnecessary). The next turn, it takes one more hit, so that turn it must roll a 9 or less to stay in the game.
• EXAMPLE 2: A pristine cruiser (6 starting crits) loses one critical hit point. It must roll a 5 or less to avoid fleeing the battle during the next movement phase.
• EXAMPLE 3: An untouched star bomber loses 1 of its 2 crits. Unless it rolls a 1, it will skedaddle.

There are two options for handling fleeing ships:

1. If you think the game background allows starships to jump only at certain warp points, then a fleeing ship must attempt to move off the board (generally, by accelerating at its maximum rate in the direction it's already going) while avoiding enemy craft.
2. If you think the game background lets starfaring vessels jump from any point in space, then it is removed from the table when activated during that sides movement phase.

Although I came up with this idea for Galactic Knights, the morale rule seems pretty adaptable to other starship combat games as well.

Scenario: Test of the Invincible

In its very first combat the Invincible was ambushed by six Nova Liberian star bombers supported by nine heavy fighters.  -- Galactic Knights Rulebook, p. 41 sidebar

FORCES: The Terran player gets one Invincible-class dreadnought. The rebel player receives six Hornet-class Nova Liberian star bombers (or their Kmet or Terran alternatives) and three squadrons of heavy fighters.

 

SETUP: The Terran player sets up at one end of the map, moving parallel to the map's long axis, 3 hexes ahead of its drift marker. The rebel ships may enter from anywhere on the opposite half of the map, with the star bombers 5 hexes ahead of their drift markers (remember, fighters do not drift). Although the rebel player may split the Nova Liberian forces, all three fighter squads must enter from the same side of the map, as those squadrons came from the same point of origin (a nearby space station). The rebel fleet has initiative for the first turn; roll normally after that.

VICTORY CONDITIONS: Play stops when only one player has ships or undepleted fighters on the map. Each fighter squadron counts as one ship for determining victory. Each depleted squad must leave the same side of the map that it entered from before the game ends, or else it is considered destroyed for purposes of determining victory:  

• Nine rebel ships/squads destroyed: Unbelievable Terran victory.
• Six to eight rebel ships/squads destroyed: Decisive Terran victory.
• Four or five rebel ships/squads destroyed: Draw
• Three or less rebel ships/squads destroyed: Terran defeat.
• Terran ship destroyed: Catastrophic Terran defeat.

PLAYTEST NOTES:  This scenario originally had the Terran dreadnought in the middle of the map with the rebels entering from any direction 8 hexes ahead of their drift markers.  When I tried it out (on a table too small to use the entire hex mat), the half-dozen Mars-class star bombers entered from the DN's rear, and two of them were able to accelerate to torpedo range.  Needless to say, 20 plasma torpedoes turned the Invincible into a rapidly expanding cloud of superheated gas on the very first turn.  The heavy fighters didn't even factor in this go-round.

I started over and slowed the SBs down to a drift of 5, still coming in from behind the DN.  The dreadnought had a chance to accelerate two hexes and turn around to face its attackers as it drifted backwards.  It fired a missile salvo at one of the incoming vessels, but the star bombers' combined point defense knocked out all but one of the Lance missiles.  The projectile took out the star bomber's jump drive, but didn't take it out of the fight.  The dreadnought fired its heavy and medium batteries at the other ships, hitting a plasma torpedo bay in one of them and causing it to explode.  Meanwhile, the heavy fighters approaced from the DN's starbord.

The next turn, the remaining bombers accelerated and two of the three fighter squadrons closed to attack range--one of them from the dreadnought's rear.  The capital ship slammed on the brakes, thrusting back the way it came.  The DN then fired another missile salvo, taking out the SB it had previously injured.  It also opened up its point defense on the six heavy fighters off its stern and starboard, but all but one of the Meteors managed to avoid the light batteries.  The remaining five fighters unleashed their attacks, taking out sensors and some light and medium batteries.  The Invincible then fired its remaining heavies and mediums, taking out two more star bombers.  The remaining pair of SBs then launched their plasma torpedoes.  Unlike in the first game, this time the attacks came from the front and had to go through the dreadnought's shields.  Still, the torps took out sensors, ECM, a missile magazine, and two shield generators, punching through to the ship's internal structure! 

On the final turn, the momentum of the last two star bombers carried them off the map and out of the game (they had accelerated some 13 or 14 spaces ahead of their drift markers).  The five depleted heavy fighters turned for home, but the remaining three-fighter squadron got back around to the dreadnought's rear facing.  The Meteors easily evaded the point defense from the Invincible's two remaining light batteries and slammed their attacks home, trashing more weapons, sensors, ECM, and even the dreadnought's jump drive.  When all was said and done, the DN had one critical hit point remaining as the remaining fighters fled the scene.

This was a quick game--three turns--and I had fun playing it.  According to the scenario, it resulted in a draw (four rebel ships/squadrons destroyed), but considering the thrashing the Invincible took--most weapons and electronics, almost all its internal structure--and that the loss of its jump drive meant it was stuck in enemy territory, I have to hand this one to the rebels.

GK errata: build points

Constellation-class attack carrier

While going through the earliest messages on the Galactic Knights Yahoo group (why, no, I don't have a life; thanks for asking) I found a message from the game's author in response to a question from a player.  The author noted the Design Chart I on page 35 of the rulebook contains an error:  The number of build points for a Terran attack carrier should be 230-360 BPs; not 200-300 BPs.  (Actually, based on the ranges of build points for the other ship types, I think the carrier should start at 231 BPs, and the destroyer should start at 46 BPs instead of 45.)

Since the GK rulebook contains other errors, and I don't think there's a single place that has all the corrections, as I come across more errata for the game, I will note it on this blog.  If anyone comes across other errors, please let me know.

You Don't Mess With Him

You don't mess with him.

Meet the lurker element for my Hordes of the Things 40K army.  The figure is "Shorty," a Ratling and one of Citadel's mercenary figures from the Rogue Trader days--back when the Imperial Guard was still called the Imperial Army.  Sure, he may look small, but he fights way above his weight. Like I always say, you don't mess with him.  As I noted in my recent after-action report, he tied up an enemy general for a turn or two, then popped up on the other side of the battlefield, where he eventually took out two stands of spears and kept them from joining the main battle.  And that's the best use for this element: tying up your opponent's elements.

Although lurkers are tied with hordes as the cheapest element in HotT at 1 AP, I think they more than pay for themselves this way.  You spend one PIP to get them on the table, and if you place them correctly--attack the enemy's flank or rear so he's forced to turn out of his line or column--then even if you lose the close combat, your opponent then has to burn PIPs to bring his occupied elements back into the game.  Not only that, but they serve as an intimidation factor, making an enemy think twice about moving his troops into bad going. 

If a lurker loses a combat, it flees and can reappear in bad going elsewhere on the table.  Sure, if it's doubled it gets destroyed, but hey, it's only 1 AP.  And if you have more than one lurker, they can take down more powerful opponents if played right.  One time I was playing my dollar-store spider army (12 hordes, 3 sneakers, and 3 lurkers) when an opponent's behemoth blundered through bad going.  The lurkers popped up all around him, and with his -2 in bad going, plus the overlaps, he was down from a +4 to a 0 against my lurker's +2.  Since he had enemies on his flanks, a loss in close combat would kill him--which it did.  So lurkers, cheap as they might be, are also fun to play and can make a difference on the battlefield.

Bonus pic: The lurker element for my skeleton army, another Citadel figure.

Crossover Wars

One of the attractions of starship combat games is the fact that the ship design rules (if the game has them) allow players to depart from the stock models to come up with their own creations or adapt vessels from other works.  For example, I remember my friends playing Starfleet Battles (the Star Trek franchise), duking it out with homemade record sheets depicting the Battlestar Galactica and a Cylon Baseship!

 

Indeed, the original Starfleet Wars rulebook and the new Galactic Knights rules both note the game can be played with other lines of miniatures.  And most other rulesets--even if they don't spell it out--are adaptable to other minis lines or settings.  No other space minis game is as well known for this as Full Thrust.  This game has been out for seventeen years (and out of print for awhile, too), and thanks to all the rules being available online--for free!--FT has developed a much more widespread following than the admittedly obscure games by Superior Models and Monday Knight Productions.  I've never played Full Thrust, but I have read the rules and a few battle reports from those who have played it.  It seems like an enjoyable game, and if I can find someone around here who plays, I'd love to get a game going.

I wouldn't even have to worry about finding suitable miniatures.  Thanks to Dean over at Starship Combat News, I can obtain Full Thrust record sheets for my Galactic Knights/Starfleet Wars ships:

• Aquarians
• Avarians
• Carnivorans
• Entomalians
• Terrans

Dean offers a brief background for each race and a design philosophy for each fleet.  You won't find stats for every model in these fleets--no transports, star bombers or armored pursuit ships--but you will get designs ranging from destroyers on up to super galactic dreadnoughts.  Dean even has two versions of the SGDNs: one describing only the weapons on the top of the mini, and the other listing all weapons, dorsal and ventral.  He also describes fighters in Full Thrust terms. 

Unfortunately, there seems to be a shortage of Full Thrust players here in the Austin-San Antonio area.  If I ever do find an opponent, though, I will already have a fleet (or five) ready.