|
BATTLE REPORT Escalating Engagement: Space Marines Vs. Imperial Navy
INTRODUCTION This is a run down on a battle my friend Sean and I had at the Seattle Battle Bunker a while back. This was just a friendly one-off battle, but it was a lot of fun for both of us. SCENARIO After some deliberation, we decided to try out the Escalating Engagement from the BFG Blue Book. We pretty much played the scenario as-is, using dice rolls to determine which contact marker would be placed down next. FORCES We agreed to play to 1500 points, divided up into 5 divisions per the rules of the scenario. I was running a Gothic list that included the following: 1st Division:
Retribution Class Battleship My opponent was running an Armageddon sector list, allowing him to take two Lunars in addition to the usual Space Marine ships, which are painted for the Salamanders Chapter: 1st Division: Battle
Barge SETUP We were playing on a 4'x4' (120cm x 120cm) area, which some may consider small for a 1500pt battle. However, based on our past experience, we figured this area would be more than adequate for our game. Terrain included a medium planet in one corner, a large gas cloud in the opposite corner, and next to the gas clouds were a couple of asteroid fields. TURN 1
Here was the initial set up. I got my 5th division on the field first, which was all of my escorts. I won the initiative roll, and decided to set up near the asteroids for cover. Sean, in the mean time, set up his 2nd division (consisting of a Lunar and 3 Gladii) in the gas clouds. I was a little concern that my initial deployment included my escorts, since they were my fastest division and therefore most likely to be able to move on the board in subsequent turns. Unfortunately, these fears proved to be well-founded! TURNS 2 & 3
The first couple of turns involved me working my way around the asteroid field while Sean's Lunar and Gladii closed the range. My intent was to let them close the range, then cross the T on his Lunar. However, I blundered a bit here, as when I crossed in front of his cruiser I was several centimeters out of range! This left me wide-open for a gun battery attack from behind by the Gladii and a torpedo salvo from the Lunar. Fortunately, I was able to successfully brace the squadron and managed to only lose two swords. In retrospect, I would have been better off cutting through the asteroid field instead of going around it. This would have been no problem since my escorts had leadership 8 and a re-roll for navigating the asteroid field besides. Also, at this point neither Sean or I were able to successfully move another squadron onto the table. However, if you note in the top picture, both of us had several contact markers along the table edge, with ships waiting in the wings.
TURN 4
The next turn, I was finally able to get a few shots off at the Lunar, but since my fire power was halved due to the Brace For Impact (BFI), I was able to only bring its shields down. Likewise, Sean was unable to do anything against my braced escorts. And, just like last turn, neither one of us was able to bring another division on. TURNS 5 & 6
After narrowly escaping another thumping, I decided to send my four remaining escorts into the asteroids to evade Sean's ships. Fortunately, I was also able to bring my Exorcist into play that turn, which I immediately used to launch 4 wings of fighters to provide cover from the Thunderhawks being launched by the Strike Cruiser that my opponent had brought on during his turn. TURNS 7 & 8
Thanks to some poor saving rolls, two of my fighters were able to mop up both of the Thunderhawks Sean had launched. I successfully re-loaded my carrier, moved my escorts out of the far side of the asteroid field, and managed to move my 4th division onto the field, consisting of my Gothic and one of my Dominators. Sean, in the mean time, moved his Gladii away from the asteroid field, while trying to work his Lunar around them. He also moved the Strike Cruiser and Gladii that she moved on last turn into the dust clouds for cover. Additionally, he managed to move the two Strike Cruisers that made up his 4th division onto the field. Sean's moving his ships into the dust clouds presented me with a nice 35 cm range Nova Cannon shot at the Strike Cruiser (whose shields were down due to the effects of the dust cloud). This shot did little though, as the shot scattered. Even though it was only a 1D6 scatter, I managed to roll a 6, resulting in not so much as a scratch on the Strike Cruiser! TURN 9
Well, Sean wasn't going to take that Nova Cannon shot standing down! The next turn, he moved most of his ships into position to focus fire on my Dominator (a couple of his ships had broken bases, hence the models sitting on the table). I advanced my cruisers 10 cm each, and started to work my Exorcist over to provide support with her 45 cm weapons batteries. Additionally, I brought in my escorts and provided them with Combat Air Patrol (CAP) fighters, as you can never be too careful when there are Thunderhawks flying about! Unfortunately for me, Sean was able to move on his other Lunar on his turn, meaning that I was officially out-numbered. At this point in the game, I still had my other Dominator and Retribution to move on, while Sean's Battle Barge had yet to make it into the fight. TURN 10
The next turn, my Dominator was firmly in Sean's cross hairs. I decided to let his first squadron of escorts fire before bracing, mainly because I'm always hesitant to brace a ship that still has shields up. This proved to be a mistake, as he had 4 dice to roll and scored 4 hits. Nice shooting! This resulted in two hits on my Dominator, but no criticals. The next group of ships to fire were the second set of Gladii. Having learned my lesson the first time, I attempted to BFI, but failed by rolling an 11. Doh! The Gladii managed to score two more hits, one of which gave me a Bridge Smashed critical hit. Now, I would have a hard time disengaging the ship, let alone bracing it! As it tuned out, I never got the chance to try, as combined battery and bombardment cannon fire from two locked-on Strike Cruisers finished off my hapless cruiser. It did, however, explode in a Warp Drive Overload, giving me a chance to take some of those Gladii with me. Even here, though, my luck was poor, as my 3D6 roll netted all of a 5 cm blast radius (argh!). This was good enough to get a couple of hits on the nearest strike cruiser and to annihilate the closest Gladius frigate. Sean also was able to get a couple of hits in on my Gothic with his remaining Strike Cruiser. TURN 11
After having suffered the loss of one of my cruisers and now being significantly out numbered, I decided to start trying to put some distance between the Salamander ships and my own. I lost one of my escorts to a Thunderhawk wave (being proxied by some Epic Terminators), but was able to claim another Gladius with the remaining 3. Sean had some success as well, managing to cripple my Gothic with a torpedo salvo from his second Lunar, and also finally bringing his Battle Barge onto the table from the far side of the asteroid belts. TURN 12
The next turn, I continued to try and move away, but Sean managed to get enough of his ships in range to hulk my Gothic. I was, however, able to cripple one of his Strike Cruisers with a bomber wave from the Exorcist. I also decided to dis-engage my escorts by moving them off the bottom of the table edge, as the end of the battle was clearly in sight. END OF THE GAME The game continued for a couple of more turns, but all that really happened is that I managed to get my Exorcist far enough away to disengage it. I also managed to finally move my Retribution onto the field, but all it was able to provide was a few long-range pot shots. My second Dominator never did make it into the fight! CONCLUSION The final tally was that I lost one Gothic, one Dominator, two Swords, and a Firestorm. In return, I managed to destroy three of Sean's Gladii and cripple one of his Strike Cruisers. This was a clear-cut victory for Sean, and a rather disastrous defeat for me. Much of the game swung on a few lucky rolls for Sean and a few unlucky rolls for me. As a result, I found myself outnumbered during the mid to later parts of the game. At the same time, several of my tactical decisions exacerbated the situation, especially in the beginning few turns when I not only focused my fire on the Lunar instead of his Gladii, but did so rather clumsily. Sean also had a bit of advantage in that a couple of his divisions had a higher speed, allowing them to enter the battle on a 4+ D6 roll instead of the 5+ I required for mine. Still, this was an entertaining game for both of us. In general, we really liked the scenario itself. It really provides for some suspense, as you are not sure what ships will be entering the battle when. By Andy Rucker |
