[BE]: Knife Fight Round Two

[cmoeller]

This is the follow-up to the gunship duel Per and I just finished. In this firefight, a Yaadasahm frigate comes nosing around, looking for the lost Vaylen gunship. Captain Glasser has been reinforced by two of his sister ships...

My Character:

---------------------------------

Shila'yu (Vaylen)
Age: 44
Yaadasahm Frigate Captain
Lifepaths: Yaadasahm Naiven. Bhrigu. Ansa. Sakti. Ansaka. Angiris. . . .

BELIEFS
-Yaadasahm are the true warrior clan. We don't flinch from killing our enemies, because we don't covet them.
-The head of the clan is failing. If I am bold, I can take advantage of his weakness.
-This new campaign into Human space will be the one for our clan. We will rise this time.
-My ship is my sea. My crew is my clan. I will keep them safe.

INSTINCTS
-This host is precious to me. I will never abandon it.
-The Makara mind is beautiful. Every day, touch something new in it.
-Study tactics when I am tired.

TRAITS
Makara Clan
Obedient
Disciplined
Stoic
Fearless
Self-Satisfied

SPECIES, CASTE, CULTURE
Alien Control
Encoder
Psycho-Endoparasitic
Worm
Membraneous Flesh
Tentacles
Aquatic

Affiliations & Reputations:
Khitar Clan (Yaadasham Clan Offshoot) (affiliation) 1
Solar Squid Squadron (affiliation) 2

RELATIONSHIPS:
Ho-Vayu Gardzashi'en

STATS:
Will: 4
Perception: 4
Agility: 3
Speed: 3
Power: 4
Forte: 6

ATTRIBUTES:
Resources: 7
Circles: 2
Steel: 6
Hesitation: 1

TOLERANCES:
Superificial: 4
Injured: 7
Maimed: 9
Mortal: 11

SKILLS:
Soldiering 2
Squad Support Weapons 4
Sensors 5
Pilot 2
Vehicular Weapons 4
Command 5
Signals 3
Void Signal-wise 3
Tactics 5
Profile-Wise 3

TECHNOLOGY:
BRK Basic Recovery Kit

[pfischer]

I've been subdued by real-life stuff, so apologies for not responding earlier. I'm curious how to handle three ships at once, though they are all the same unit of course. Do we need a commetary thread?

So yes, Captain Glasser and his young Kerrn Lt. have company. Two other imperial corvettes of the Napoleon class, the "Battle at Coeus" and the "Low Altitude", have joined them in the Tranin System. The three ships have gathered and are stationary relative to the lifeless Mercator wreck.

EDIT: As Luke said.

[luke]

Space pedant: Stationary relative to the mercator wreck.
Sorry.

Anyway, Per, you're basically going to get a fucking pile of helping dice, plus the outnumber bonus for your dispo. You'll also be able to take a lot of DF shot opportunities, which is tremendously powerful if you can script it right (I once removed 13 out 14 dispo points from my opponent with two DF actions). Otherwise, you're going to script for Glasser and he's going to pass the orders down. In most maneuvers, it'll just be color.

-L

[cmoeller]

Plus you can assign hits to your wingmen, keeping Glasser from taking damage. Not that it'll help you, human scum.

Chris

PS- I'm down with a fever so my shipbuilding will take a bit longer than normal.

[pfischer]

That's fine, Chris, no worries and feel better soon. One of my secondary captains coming up.

Captain Moresar
Age: 28
Commander of the corvette The Battle of Coeus
Lifepaths: Born noble, Soldier, Sergeant, Anvil Pilot, Hammer Captain

TRAITS
Mark of Priviledge
FUGAZI
Oddly likeable
Daredevil
Officer
Human
Agnostic
Stern Demeanor
Your Majesty

Affiliations & Reputations:
Napoleon Squadron (affiliation) 2
Lt Saki (affiliation) 1

STATS:
Will: 4
Perception: 4
Agility: 5
Speed: 4
Power: 4
Forte: 4

ATTRIBUTES:
Resources: 6
Circles: 1
Steel: 6
Hesitation: 6

TOLERANCES:
Superificial: 3
Injured: 5
Maimed: 8
Mortal: 10

SKILLS:
Soldiering 2
Sensors 5
Pilot 3
Vehicular Weapons 5
Command 3
Sensors 5
Tactics 5
Hammer-Wise 3
Strategy 2
Close Combat 5
Etiquette 2
Observation 2

TECHNOLOGY:
CEBW

[pfischer]

Here's my other captain. I wanted a pilot character with a civilian background, but that was hard with only 5 LPs, so this one is 6 LPs. Let me know if it's not kosher. Rose is a she BTW :)

Another thing: Capt. Moresar's ship is slightly different from the other two - it's without the Cyber Reflexes and Complex Traits (he hasn't got a Crucis).

Captain Rose
Age: 30
Commander of the corvette Low Altitude
Lifepaths: Born Freeman, Yeoman, Sense Rigger, Pilot, Navigator, First Officer

TRAITS
Working Class
Hazed
Light Sleeper
Illegal Crucis
Undeterred
Bulldog
Flyboy

Affiliations & Reputations:
Napoleon Squadron (affiliation) 2

STATS:
Will: 5
Perception: 5
Agility: 4
Speed: 4
Power: 3
Forte: 4

ATTRIBUTES:
Resources: 6
Circles: 0
Steel: 6
Hesitation: 5

TOLERANCES:
Superificial: 3
Injured: 5
Maimed: 7
Mortal: 9

SKILLS:
Sensors 5
Pilot 3
Command 5
Tactics 4
Close Combat 2
Crew 3
Navigation 3
Ship Management 3
Profile-Wise 3
Helm 3
Mercator-Wise 3
Vehicular Weapons 4

[cmoeller]

perfectly kosher, per. Shila'yu is a 6 lp character.

-Chris

[luke]

Your 2iCs can't have 5s. Page 119.

[cmoeller]

Huh... yeah it's 2 LP's less than the main character, w/exponents capped at 4. I didn't do that last time. So we have to reburn our lieutenants, Per. I'll probably just use Zad's clone and nerf his 5's. Thanks for the pre-catch, Luke.

-Chris (still fighting a fever, damn it)

[cmoeller]

Garzadshi'en

Vaylen, Age: 28, Shila'yu's second in command

Lifepaths: Yaadasahm Naiven. Bhrigu. Sakti. Vayu. . . . . .

TRAITS
Makara Clan
Obedient
Illegal Crucis
Cool-Headed
Seen it All

SPECIES, CASTE, CULTURE
Alien Control
Encoder
Psycho-Endoparasitic
Worm
Membranous Flesh
Tentacles
Aquatic

Affiliations & Reputations:
Solar Squid Squadron (Affiliation) 3

Relationships & Contacts:
Commander Shila'yu

STATS:
Will: 4
Perception: 4
Agility: 4
Speed: 3
Power: 4
Forte: 4

ATTRIBUTES:
Resources: 4
Circles: 2
Steel: 5
Hesitation: 3

TOLERANCES:
Superificial: 3
Injured: 5
Maimed: 8
Mortal: 10

SKILLS:

Soldiering (Wil/Per) 2
Sensors (Per) 4
Helm (Per) 4
Profile-wise (Per) 4
Void-wise (Per) 2
Command (Wil) 3
Tactics (Per) 4
Signals (Per) 4
Navigation (Per) 3

TECHNOLOGY:
Breaker

[pfischer]

Yeah, I completely missed that as well - bloody hell.

I'll have to give Glasser an extra LP and re-burn the two other captains to 4 LP - I wonder if it's possible to become a captain at all in such a short time? Suggestions welcome - do I just burn them as pilots for the ships, perhaps, instead?

[cmoeller]

My guy managed 5 points of "general skill" points Per, and I bought Tactics & Command with those.

-Chris

[pfischer]

My updated main character - now 6LP and a badass hammer captain. Let's just say, when he speaks, people listen :)

Lars Glasser, Hammer Captain & Squadron Leader
Human, age 35
Lifepaths: Born to Rule, Cæptir, Armiger, Lord-Pilot Anvil, Lord-Pilot Hammer, Hammer Captain

BELIEFS
- The Vaylen are the black death of the empires - I will fight them
and their allies and obliterate them
- Loyalty is the foundation of our freedom - I shall heed my Emperor's
call no matter what cost
- Military force preserves the order of things - I will earn my place
by the use of weapons

INSTINCTS
- Keep ship on battlestations when patrolling
- Save crew or passengers before yourself
- Always let my allies know where we are

TRAITS
Mark of Priviledge
Anvil Trained
Corvus and Crucis
Distortion Sickness
Officer
Hammer Flies, Anvil Dies
Iron Trained
Tough

CULTURE
Human
Darikahn Loyalist

Affiliations:
Nobility 1D
Hammer Captaincy 1D
Crew on Napoleon XII
Napoleon Squadron

Reputations:
Infamous (Anvil Military Faction) 1D

Relationships:
Chrohm, Kerrn Lieutenant

STATS:
Will: 5
Perception: 4
Agility: 4
Speed: 4
Power: 6
Forte: 4

ATTRIBUTES:
Resources: 8
Circles: 4
Steel: 4
Hesitation: 5

TOLERANCES:
Superificial: 3
Injured: 5
Maimed: 9
Mortal: 11

SKILLS:
Pilot (Per/Agi) 4
Vehicular Weapons (Per) 5
Command (Wil) 4
Signals (Per) 4
Tactics (Per) 5
Close Combat 2
Assault Weapons 2
Squad Suport Weapons 2
Strategy 4
Etiquette 4
Iron-wise 2
Helm 4
Navigation 2
Vaylen-wise 2
Hammer-wise 2

[cmoeller]

My modified patrol craft (added 9 Tt) is on the Wiki: the Vara class Raider. Illustration is now live as well.

http://www.burningempires.com/wiki/index.php?title=Vara_class_Raider

PS - it turns out the fever was Bronchitis. They've got me on all sorts of magical elixirs now though, so I'm feeling tons better. Thank god we don't live on a sub-index world.

[luke]

Beautiful. Is Per using his assault shuttle/gun ships again?

[cmoeller]

Yep, three of 'em.

Okay, let's get this party started, Per. I'm going to be out of town visiting relatives from the 22nd to 28th, so there will probably be a gap in the shooting (I hope I don't blow up THAT quickly!). So...


------------------

Same map as before, but now there are two hulls in the center of the map, making up the same position: the empty shell of the K13 captured by Glasser in the previous firefight, and the human cargo ship covered with small Vaylen robots. The status of the human crew is unknown. It's without power. The crew of the K13 are floating away in a cloud of boiling, salty ice, but two of the Naiven managed to escape from their hosts before the ship was decompressed, and are nestled in emergency aeumifesh hosts, secreted deep within the walls of the ship. If they have the opportunity, they will power up the ship if it's pinged by Vaylen IFF signals.

As Glasser is joined by his comrades, there's a HEx neutrino burst, north of the system's particle disk. A small-tonnage vessel has just emerged from a micro-jump directly "above" their position. That can only mean one thing. It's coming down to find out what happened to the vaylen gunship.

----------------------
My Objective: To recover the black boxes on the K13 and the Human cargo ship, or destroy them before they fall into Human hands.

My Contact roll: Sensors 5, Fork Signals 3/Profile-wise3 (+2), Help from Automation 5 (+2), Help from Garzadshi'en's Sensors 4 (+1), for a total of 10 dice.

Roll: (I used the code "Spacefight2"): 10d6≥4: (6, 1, 5, 5, 6, 2, 4, 5, 3, 6:≥4) = 7 successes

Oh and 3 more Advantage dice for the Nap's Profile (2, 4, 4:≥4) = 2 more = 9 total successes (gods of dice stay w/me!)

------------------

The sleek Raider jetted down toward the source of the distress signal, her powerful scanners probing the darkness for targets. She was all power and speed and watery grace, surging through the night like a lone wolf on the hunt. The enemy wouldn't know that her pack wasn't just around the corner...

---------------------

[pfischer]

Holy mole, the Moeller is back :) I'll be there in asap with my two amended captains. Had to re-burn MOresar from the start and just downgrade the lovely capt. Rose.

emergency aeumifesh hosts? Whatever that is, it's awesome.

[pfischer]

Captain Moresar
Age: 23
Commander of the corvette The Battle of Coeus (No Cyber reflexes or Complex traits)
Lifepaths: Born noble, Bastard, Soldier, Hammer Captain

TRAITS
Mark of Priviledge
Bastard
FUGAZI
Officer
Human
Stern Demeanor
Your Majesty

Affiliations & Reputations:
Napoleon Squadron (affiliation) 2
Lt Saki (affiliation) 1
Nobiliy 1D
Infamous (Nobility) 1D

STATS:
Will: 4
Perception: 4
Agility: 4
Speed: 4
Power: 4
Forte: 6

ATTRIBUTES:
Resources: 5
Circles: 1
Steel: 6
Hesitation: 6

TOLERANCES:
Superificial: 4
Injured: 7
Maimed: 9
Mortal: 11

SKILLS:
Soldiering 2
Sensors 3
Pilot 2
Vehicular Weapons 2
Command 2
Sensors 3
Tactics 2
Hammer-Wise 2
Strategy 2
Close Combat 2
Extortion 2
Hammer-wise 2
Family Secret-wise 2

TECHNOLOGY:
CEBW

[cmoeller]

I'm filled with the glorious, radiant power of antibiotics...

-Chris

[pfischer]

Captain Rose
Age: 21
Commander of the corvette Low Altitude
Lifepaths: Born Freeman, Yeoman, Sense Rigger, Pilot

TRAITS
Working Class
Hazed
Light Sleeper
Illegal Crucis
Bulldog
Flyboy

Affiliations & Reputations:
None. Rose is alone on her ship apparently.

STATS:
Will: 4
Perception: 4
Agility: 4
Speed: 4
Power: 4
Forte: 5

ATTRIBUTES:
Resources: 0
Circles: 0
Steel: 5
Hesitation: 6

TOLERANCES:
Superificial: 3
Injured: 5
Maimed: 8
Mortal: 10

SKILLS:
Sensors 4
Pilot 4
Command 2
Tactics 2
Close Combat 2
Crew 3
Profile-Wise 2
Helm 2
Vehicular Weapons 2

Tech:
Jack Laser

[pfischer]

Glasser is pouring water on his face in his private cabin, speaking to himself in the mirror, and getting ready to shave.
"And who gets sent here by the Imperial forces? That bloody his lordship grace almighty son of a whore. AND! AND, I say, his little girlfriend. Since when do civilian cargo monkeys count as naval captains? A disgrace, a bloody disgrace!"
The intercom buzzes with Lt Chrohm at the other end.
"Kap'n, Sir, ve 'ave a strange blip on ze spectrum analyzer. Dudden make sense. Vait...a...VORMS! They jumped right on top of us!"
Glasser cuts himself with the razor.

------------------------

Unit Objective: Get the hell out of here and escape the Vaylen escort vessel.

Contact roll: Signals 4, Help Auto(5) 2, Help Rose's Sensors 1, Moresar's Sensors 1, Yaadasahm Profile, total 11 dice.

(5, 6, 3, 4, 5, 4, 2, 6, 5, 2, 1:≥4) = 7 successes

Officer's roll for Disposition: Tactics 5, FoRK Command +1: six dice

(3, 3, 1, 4, 6, 1:≥4) = 2 successes

[cmoeller]

You can buy a relationship w/her with one of Glasser's circles points: "my misguided niece" or something.

[cmoeller]

---------------------

In center of the darkened tactical pod, the piratical Makara Angiris Shila'yu hung like a sinister aquatic ghost. He barely moved, his eyes gleaming like rubies. About him, his crew's tentacles snaked and touched with hypnotic precision, assessing, quantifying, sifting the data...

---------------------

Officer's roll: Shila'yu uses his Command 5, forking Tactics 5 (+2) with help from Gar's Tactics 3 (+1).

Roll: 8d6≥4: (4, 3, 1, 5, 4, 2, 5, 5:≥4) = 5 successes.

Let's run down the list of modifiers:

Contact: I won, and I'll take the mod +2 Vaylen
Superior Position: no
Outnumber opponent by vast margin: is 3:1 vast? In wargaming, 3:1 is the sweet spot on the CRT. I say yes. +2 Human
Psych advantage: no
Superior Training: no
Superior weaponry: no
Superior infiltration: no
Right tools: no
Iron superiority: no
Vehicle heavy chassis: +1 Vaylen
Vehicle greater mobility: +2 Vaylen (Space 8 v. Space 5)

Totals:
5+5 Vaylen Disposition = 10
2+2 Human Disposition = 4

--------------------------------
Shila'yu's heavily lidded eyes closed in satisfaction as his Raider burst in on the clutch of human gunships, all clustered together as if sitting down to a picnic.
--------------------------------

[luke]

Uh oh. Glasser better take up a position.

[cmoeller]

I have a position all picked out for him.

Per, for the moment I have range superiority. Ready to script?

Volley One: Suppress

Volley Two: Suppress

Volley Three: Observe

[pfischer]

Nooo, I'm want to get off! Please let me go!

I'm also worried about Chris's apparent knowledge of wargames and CRTs.

Sorry.

This is the hardest decision I've had to make in a long time.

Volley One: Advance

Volley Two: Advance

Volley Three: Take Cover

[cmoeller]

Advance versus Suppress

Tactics 5, Help from Gar's Tactics 4 (+1), Artillery bonus (+1)

-------------------
As the human ships sprang to life, Shila'yu raised one tentacle a fraction of an inch. The twin artillery batteries on the Raider's bow burst into a blaze of blue fire. Behind that curtain of death, a long grey missile slung down and away, its maneuver jets blazing.
-------------------

My roll: 7d6≥4: (3, 2, 1, 2, 5, 3, 2:≥4) = 1 success

*dry Makara laugh*

-Chris

PS -Artha: 1 Persona, 2 Fate again good with you?

[pfischer]

OK with Artha :)

Advance attempt to reach Dense Cloud 1, which has an Ob 3.

Command 4, Help Chrohm Command +1, Moresar Command +1, Rose Command +1: 7 dice.

(4, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 4:≥4) = 2 successes

OK, I win the test, but only eat off one point of the Position Ob.

---------------
This is where captain Glasser's rigorous drill regime of fire exercises and contigency plans on board the Napoleon XII starts to make sense to the crew. Even before Glasser throws himself down into his seat on the bridge and jacks into the mainframe, his young Kerrn Lt. has already fired up the Distortion drives to operational temperature, run several high and low risk evade simulations in the background, run preemptive low currents through the gun systems, plus sent maydays back to central command and alerted the two other Napoleons to perform evasive actions.
Not a word is uttered between the two officers on the bridge, as all lights on board dim to battlestation green as maximum power is allocated to the ship's main drives.
A barrage of artillery fire hails down upon the three corvettes as they accelerate away towards a huge dust cloud a few thousand clicks away.
---------------

[cmoeller]

------------------
The crew of the Vara glanced back at their commander, clearly impressed by the speed with which the seemingly unaware human gunships had scattered. If Commander Shila'yu felt anything, it only showed in a slight darkening at the edge of his gastrovascular cavity. His arm twitched again, and the warship's turrets slewed about, tracking their flitting targets. Another missile joined the first, the only evidence of its launch a slight tremor radiating from the command pod's walls.

-----------------

I'm doing a second Suppress, Per. There IS another advantage to your successful Advance... you've negated my Long Range bonus. Only six dice this time.

Roll: (2, 5, 6, 1, 1, 4) = 3 successes, I explode the 6 with one fate: (4:≥4) = 1 more

Total of 4 successes.

[pfischer]

Advance attempt to reach Dense Cloud 1, Ob now 2. So that's five successes needed. Hmm. Is it still possible to FoRK for an advance?

I'll use a FoRK - if you rule it out, it's the last die of the roll, OK?

Command 4, FoRK Hammer-Wise +1 Help Chrohm Command +1, Moresar Command +1, Rose Command +1: 8 dice.

(3, 5, 5, 1, 4, 4, 3, 1:≥4) = 4 successes

Again, one point off the Position Ob. Darn!

---------------
Napoleon XII leads the small squadron at maximum speed, all three corvettes constatly jaunting and shifting positions seemingly engulfed in a fireworks display of enemy laser bolts and explosions. As soon as they reach the outer edge of the enourmous dust cloud they spread out in wild evasive maneuvers with their deflector shields working on overtime with fire and dust particles and fragments.
Still not a word from the commander. Chrohm looks at his superior officer, who is deeply immersed in reading and digesting the avalanche of data from the data system. A trickle of blood from his shaving wound has found its way down to his chin where it hangs like a tiny ripe fruit about to drop.
---------------

[cmoeller]

Nope, I rolled 4 successes too, so it's a wash. On to volley 3... Observe vs Take Cover. My roll is Sensors (5), Fork Signals 3,Profile-Wise 3 (+2), Help from automation 5 (+2), Help from Gar's Sensors 4 (+1) = 10 dice

Roll: (5, 1, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 6:≥4) = 8 successes

-------------------
"We've got solutions on all three ships, commander" The operator's voice thrummed in the dark water.

The Vara maneuvered through a thin scree of ice and vaporized Makara flesh. From the wreck of the K13, a faint radio signal began to pulse.

"Good. Let the guns cool. They'll be dodging the missiles for a while yet. Put us into firing position, helm." The voice was deep, like whale-song. Rows of dark red eyes pulsed with hatred.

------------------------------

Shila'yu declines to roll for an ammo check, guaranteeing failure and one volley of reloading next exchange (ie: no direct/suppressive fire).

-Chris

[pfischer]

Apologies, Chris, I suck at counting (especially the opponent's) successes ;)

Take Cover vs your 8 successes *sigh*

Command 4, FoRK Helm +1, Help Pilot +1, Help Chrohm Pilot +1, Moresar Command +1, Rose Helm +1: 9 dice

(3, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3, 2, 2:≥4) = 0 successes


NOOOOOooooooooo......

------------------
Warning messages appear on several screens in front of Glasser and Chrohm. The young Kerrn is the first to break the silence: "Ve 'ave a target lock on us, Sir, ze random diversion maneuvers did not shake 'em off."
"Bloody software. I'm switching to direct neural control."
"Sir, ah..."
"Look at the thermal spectrum from the Vaylen ship. Their guns are boiling. Maybe we've got a few seconds. Captain Moresar! Miss Rose! Follow my lead!"
-------------------

[pfischer]

Glasser Exchange 2

Volley One: Advance

Volley Two: Take Cover

Volley Three: Supressive Fire

[cmoeller]

Hey Per,

Sorry to leave you hanging brother, but we leave for Santa Fe tomorrow. I'm bringing my laptop, so if I get a moment, I'll check back in and fight 'cha some more. If not, I'll be back in town on the 29th.

Happy holidays to all of you (who aren't hulled).

Chris

[pfischer]

No probs, Chris, have a nice time :)

[cmoeller]

Hey gang, back after a 34 hour flight from Albequerque to Pittsburgh with two missed connections. Gawd.

Per, I'll try to post my volleys this evening.

-Chris

[pfischer]

Welcome back, Chris!
Don't sweat it - a day or two more doesn't matter. Besides, I found an old Unreal Tournament that runs on my PowerBook and am now trying to shoot the ass off of my friend, who is visiting from London over the New Year.

[cmoeller]

Okay, here's my script for the next set of volleys.

Volley One: Flank

Volley Two: Direct Fire

Volley Three: Direct Fire

------------

The Vaylen Raider dropped out of distortion, its attitude thrusters nudging it onto a new, slanting vector. A white signal node pulsed once, indicating the course correction was complete. The Vara's distortion drive re-engaged, sending the dark warship careening off on its new vector, attempting to cut the humans off from the dust cloud they seemed determined to drop into. The Raider's fusor turrets swiveled to track the tiny enemy targets...

--------------------

My Flank roll is Tactics 5, Help from Gar's Helm 4 (+1) for 6 dice total:

Roll: (5, 2, 5, 4, 1, 3:≥4) = 3 successes

-Chris

[pfischer]

Advance: Command 4, FoRK Hammer-Wise +1 Help Chrohm Command +1, Moresar Command +1, Rose Command +1: 8 dice.

(3, 5, 3, 4, 3, 6, 2, 1:≥4) = 3 successes

--------------
"Cap'n, there's no safe way into dat dust cloud. It's just too DENSE!"
-------------

[cmoeller]

Heh. Hey Happy New Year, filthy human!

My second volley is Direct Fire:

Tactics 5, Fork Command 5 (+2), Gar helps with Tactics 4 (+1), Missile helps with its Intelligent trait (+1, for the missile mount only).

Roll: (5, 6, 2, 4, 4, 1, 1, 2, 5:≥4) = 5 successes for the missile, 4 successes for the batteries (I considered the last dice the extra one for the missile's intelligent trait).

-Chris

--------------------------
As the Vara's batteries flashed into action, hurling blue fire at the human ships, another long, grey missile dropped from its launch bay, fired up a launch vector and then sped away at distortion 9.
--------------------------

[pfischer]

Take Cover: Command 4, FoRK Helm +1, Help Pilot +1, Help Chrohm Pilot +1, Help Moresar Pilot +1, Help Rose Pilot +1 (9 dice)

(1, 6, 1, 3, 3, 5, 6, 6, 3:≥4) = 4 successes

This is a versus test, right?

[cmoeller]

Right Per, it's a versus test. So, my artillery batteries don't get any successes, my missile battery does (I guess that's how it works?). Assuming so, I'll give my missile a shot opportunity:

Um... Neither of my guys have the Artillery skill, and the Vara's equipped with... Artillery. Gulp. I can fire one of my secondary weapons, using Gar's Vehicular Weapons 5 skill, or I can have a mook fire my artillery. I'll have a mook operate the big guns I guess. I don't have the Clan Leader trait, so I don't have a guaranteed exponent for my crew. I need to think this through...I think, either I take an exponent 3 guy (the default NPC exponent), or I circle up a guy with a better exponent? No idea. I'll take the exponent 3 guy unless some helpful member of the peanut gallery tells me how to do better.

Missile Shot Opportunity: Junior Daityas Mo'ok rolls Artillery 3, with help from the missile (+1) vs. Obstacle 2 (no cover so far). That's 4 dice:

Roll: (5, 5, 1, 4:≥4) = 3 successes. I'll use the extra success to gain a +1 on the Die of Fate...

Die of Fate: 2 + 1 = 3, a Mark Hit on one ship (S7), Incidental hits on the other ships via Megablast trait (S4). The Napoleon has a V13 destroyed tolerance... so these Superstructure-rated hits wipe out the entire wing in one gigantic explosion. o-o

-------------------

The Vara turned casually away as its missile plunged into the heart of the enemy gunship wing. A brief flare on the screens was the only sign, in the dark heart of the Yaadasahm warship, that the enemy had been obliterated without a trace.

Bubbles rose from beneath Shila'yu's outer veil, an inhuman mockery of a laugh. The crew closed in on the wreckage of the K13 and its prey, the human cargo ship.

-------------------------

Well, that was a short, violent battle. Assuming I didn't get something wrong here, I guess we learned that it's unwise to fight outside your weight class!

-Chris

[luke]

Hi Chris,

Some technicalities:

You don't roll Command for each battery/weapon. You roll once and assign extra successes to shot opportunities for all of the ship's weapons. That didn't really affect the results, though.

The missile's Intelligent trait can't help the officer's Command/Tactics roll for Direct Fire. However, the missile would use it's own inherent skill, Artillery 4, for the shot opportunity.

So that would have been one die less for the DF Command test and one die more for the shot opportunity.

And you're right, if that missile hits with a Mark result, it wipes out Per's whole wing. Feels good, doesn't it?

[cmoeller]

Ah, cool. So the missile only helps (or drives) on the individual action test, not the unit test. That clears up the "don't roll for individual turrets" question too.

More importantly, it means you avoided my missile entirely, Per. The fight's still on! Get your ass into cover, filthy human!

My third volley's another Direct Fire:

Tactics 5, Fork Command 5 (+2), Gar helps with Tactics 4 (+1) for 8 dice:

Roll: (1, 5, 4, 5, 6, 1, 3, 4:≥4) = 5 successes, I unlock the six with a fate point: (5:≥4) = 1 more for total of 6 successes.

-Chris

--------------------------

Gar's high pitched squeal shattered the normally quiet, professional atmosphere of the command pod.

"Commander! The missile must have detonated prematurely! The enemy ships are still showing on the scanner!"

Shila'yu directed one of his eighteen eyes disapprovingly at his lieutenant, but his voice was calm as a midnight sea when he gave the order to engage the targets once more.

"And this time," he hissed menacingly, "Don't miss."

------------------------------

[pfischer]

Suppressive Fire: Tactics 5, Help Chrohm Tactics +1, Moresar Tactics +1, Rose +1: 8 dice

(1, 3, 6, 5, 3, 3, 2, 2:≥4) = 2 successes

Fate for the six: (1:≥4) = 0 successes

Not...good...

-------------
The exploding Vaylen missile sent the three human ships rolling and tumbling like pins in a crazy bowling game. For the first time ever, Lt. Chrohm saw the faint shadow of fear in Captain Glasser's eyes.
Glasser sent wild sprays of fire against the Vaylen ship in a last desperate attempt to win a little time.
"Worms! Cap'n we're got a target lock! Can't...shake..it...off! Blood!"
------------

[cmoeller]

Not good indeed...

Okay, so we have four successes left over. That's one shot opportunity per mount, plus one left over. I'll put that into the missile attack.

Battery #1: Senior Daityas Mhouk, Artillery 3. Roll: (1, 6, 5:≥4) =2, unlock that 6 w/my second Fate (6:≥4) = 1, and again (3:≥4) = 0, for a total of 3 successes.

Battery #2: Lieutenant Daityas Mewk, Artillery 3. Roll: (1, 2, 1:≥4) = 0 successes. Mewk is dismembered and served up as calamari to the rest of the crew.

Missile: Smart Bomb, Artillery 4, with help from Junior Daityas Mo'ok, Artillery 3 (+1). Roll: 5d6≥4: (6, 5, 6, 6, 1:≥4) = 4 successes (wow, should have saved that Fate).

EDIT: Forgot the extra dice added to the Missile attack from the unit action. Not that it matters...

So that's two hits.

Hit #1: The battery DoF (+1 for extra success): 1 + 1 = 2, that's 1 S4 hit on the primary target, and 1 V4 on another of the ships.

Hit #2: The missile DoF (+2 for doubling the Ob): 1 + 2 = 3, that's the Mark hit that obliterates all Gunships within a 200 km radius...

-----------------
Instead of veering off complacently, the Vara moved in closer, examining the wreckage with a full battery of scans. Bits of Kerrn and human effluvia amongst the burning plastics and white-hot ceramics convinced commander Shila'yu that this attack wasn't a premature explosion.

Garzadshi'en phosphoresced apologetically before the commander, the protein granules in his endoplasm glowing the deep red of shame.

Shila'yu stung him playfully with one of his tentacles and motioned him to his station.

"Let's extract the survivors from the K13 and scavenge what we can from the human cargo vessel."

Shila'yu drifted comfortably in the exact center of the pod, feeling the alarm vibrations cease their pulsing. Vengeance was sweet...
-----------------------

[luke]

Garzadshi'en phosphoresced apologetically before the commander, the protein granules in his endoplasm glowing the deep red of shame.

Shila'yu stung him playfully with one of his tentacles and motioned him to his station.

LOL

One of the many reasons I love you!

Was there a compromise?

[cmoeller]

Not this time. One giant explosion for the Vaylen team. We never got around to the disposition losses...

-Chris

[chris_worm]

Did you guys perform an Ammo check at the end of the first exchange? Not that it would change things since no direct fire or supresive fire actions were called as the first volley of the second exchange.

In fact the humans may have stood a better chance if pfischer had used the fate point to call for an ammo check after the first direct fire. The single shot Missile with an operator skill of 3 may have failed it's ammo check, and therefore no missile in the tube for the second direct fire shot.

[cmoeller]

Wow, what an awesome suggestion, Chris! That use of Fate never crossed my mind, though I remember it's being the second use for it. That's pretty damn powerful in the right circumstances...

The Vaylen chose to fail their ammo check after the first series of exchanges and re-load during the first volley of the second exchange (thus the Flank/Fire/Fire).

-Chris

[chris_worm]

Ah - explains why I never saw the roll. Re-reading that summary I see where you said that now.

They do say hindsight is 20-20; and who in this situation would have anticipated that the Vaylen would be so succesful on the second Direct Fire action and the Humans would have been so poor on their suppresive fire action - both were in fact eight dice.

Looking at how things turned out of course it looks like a great tactic to call for that ammo check; but that was before you both rolled for the third volley. However, if the dice had been reversed it would have appeared to be a waste of a fate point.

Still a tactic to remember in future if mooks are firing the guns, and your opponent has scripted numerous fire actions in a volley.

Anyway wanted to thank both you guys for these arena fights they have been a great read and useful to me in understanding some rules I had overlooked.

Thanks

[pfischer]

Thanks, Chris - and Chris! That was fun :) I think the fights show how incredibly yummy these rules are - not only the Firefight rules I might add.

I wasn't even aware of that use of Fate, thanks for suggesting it. In retrospect I should have used a Fate point to reroll sixes in my Take Cover roll (my second to last action) - maybe that would have helped slightly.

Any other comments regarding tactics in such an out-gunned situation? What's the possible options? What if it was in a game? Would you surrender outright or not enter into the conflict at all. Would there be a way to simply try and get the hell out of there before the big Vaylen ship arrived fx.?

[cmoeller]

Hey Per, yes thanks for the fight. It certainly was instructive :)

If you'd gotten into cover, you would have done tons better. My artillery had the "wave" trait, (reducing all cover to a "1"), but my missiles didn't. A couple of points of cover would have made my huge strikes less likely. To that end, I think focusing on getting the contact roll could be a really big deal (upgrade sensors, give your main guy sensor/signals up the wahzoo..). If you win the contact roll, you can upgrade a position AND then put yourself in it at the start of the fight. Big advantage if you're outgunned.

-Chris

[chris_worm]

My thoughts were that following the successful observe at the end of the first exchange, and then the failed ammo check - going for a withdraw maneover as the first action in the second exchange might have been useful. If succesful, you would have cleared the observe on your guys making both Direct fire actions by your opponent into hesitates instead which would have given you the opportunity to get into cover later. Also this would have lowered your opponents disposition, so when the firefight is oer you can aim for a compromise. The risk with the withdraw is of course you willr educe your own disposition, and you loose the acquired MOS towards gaining a position.

Again hindsight is 20-20.

[chris_worm]

Actually looking at the rules again - perhaps the best chance would have been close combat, since close combat weapons fire uses the secondary weapon systems, and not the primaries. Since the secondaries have the lower damage threshold the smaller vehicles would have a chance of surviving a hit. Although the secondary weapons of the smaller vessels would probally not have a significant impact on the larger vessel there is the oportunity for a 'death of a thousand' cuts. Although time is against you due to the disposition impacts of close combat.

[cmoeller]

I think your idea about the withdraw is a good one, Chris, especially since I "passed" on my ammo check. My optimal move would have been another observe on volley one, to insure against the tactic you suggested.

In my original fight against Per, I didn't consider using the withdraw option, which I should have. I would have knocked my own disposition down, but I could have eked out a compromise and used that to get away, or hide... something to mitigate Per's outright victory.

-Chris