BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Player Boards => Challenges and Gatherings => After Action Reports => Topic started by: Lyran Archer on 04 September 2011, 02:13:51
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Lord Cameron and I had an AeroTech dogfight today.
Lyran space. Near a border world. 3025. An unknown DropShip is heading to a Lyran planet and refuses calls to identify itself. The Lyrans scramble a trio of fighters to intercept. The DropShip is not military-grade and slows down but launches a quartet of its own fighters. The Lyrans must defend their world from these unknown raiders.
I am playing the Lyrans which include an R20 Lucifer, a K5 Stuka, and a D36 Thunderbird:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/002-4.jpg)
Lord Cameron's unknown raiders include a D36 Thunderbird, a SL-15A Slayer, a SL-17 Shilone (proxied by a Lightning), and a SB-27 Sabre:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/001-4.jpg)
Here's our starting deployment and we used all this space and more:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/003-5.jpg)
We used advanced vector movement. Here we are out of range and the next turn...
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/006-3.jpg)
...missiles are flying:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/007-4.jpg)
The Lyran Stuka and T-bird squared off with the raider Slayer and T-bird while the Lyran Lucy fly off on his own to take on the Sabre and Shilone:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/008-4.jpg)
The raider Sabre and Shilone, however, break off and want to play with the big boys:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/009-3.jpg)
The 100-ton Lyran T-bird has some choice words with the 25-ton Sabre about that:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/011-5.jpg)
The gutted and chastised Sabre breaks for home and leaves the bigger boys to play:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/014-5.jpg)
Next, the Lyran Stuka finishes off the Shilone (Lightning) that the Lucy was pounding on. The raiders are suddenly down two fighters:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/015-4.jpg)
...but the raider Slayer evens the odds by blasting apart the Lyran T-bird:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/016-3.jpg)
It's now a two-on-two fight with the Lyran Lucy and Stuka versus the raider T-bird and Slayer:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/017-5.jpg)
The Stuka strafes the T-bird:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/018-3.jpg)
There are several turns of mixing it up with lasers and missiles flying:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/021-5.jpg)
Initiative is everything. Losing initiative is bad! My Lyran Lucy is out of position and my Stuka is mauled from both ends!:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/022-3.jpg)
Winning initiative redeems the situation and turns the tables on the raiders:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/023-3.jpg)
It is not enough for my Stuka, which is destroyed by the T-bird, leaving my Lucy alone against the T-bird and Slayer:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/024-3.jpg)
The raider's T-bird and Slayer, however, are battered by this time while the extremely heavily armored Lucy is barely scratched. When the Lucy finishes off the T-bird, the badly damaged Slayer burns for home, leaving the Lucy the victor:
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p21/Star_Destroyer/025-3.jpg)
The raiders' DropShip recovers the returning Sabre and Slayer and turns back to its JumpShip, which then leaves Lyran space. The Lyrans recover their two ejected pilots, capture the two ejected raider pilots, and salvage what they can from the wreckage left tumbling through space.
It was an enjoyable battle. I was really impressed with the R20 Lucy. Though its only real firepower was two large lasers, its incredible armor laughed off virtually all enemy fire and rarely even gave the chance for a crit. Other fighters were faster, more maneuverable, and had more firepower, but the R20 had the staying power to bide its time, shrug off enemy fire, and slowly wear the enemy down.
If I was the Lyran AeroSpace Fighter Command CO, pre-Eisensturm days, I would make the R20 Lucifer the mainstay fighter throughout Lyran space!
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awesome, thanks for the batt rep, very interesting
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"With Lucifer's aid, we might look forward to a more succulent occasion..." -- unknown contributor to a Skinny Puppy cassette I used to have in high school
Seriously, Lyran Archer, it looks like you had a really interesting time playing AeroTech with Lord Cameron. I once played AeroTech in high school and I found it somewhat more complicated than BattleTech, but that's not to say I didn't like it. AeroSpace Fighters look cool, and I definitely want to add some to my collection. [I currently have 48 'Mechs for my reinforced battalion, but no air support yet.]
However, I will say that after reading your battle report, it looked like it was going to be curtains for the Lyrans, when you were down to only one fighter. Then I remembered that you were piloting an R20, which has better armor. Those raiders didn't know what they were up against, until it was too late.
Thanks again for sharing with us, and if I'm ever in Winnipeg, I'll consider playing games with you sometime. :)
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However, I will say that after reading your battle report, it looked like it was going to be curtains for the Lyrans, when you were down to only one fighter. Then I remembered that you were piloting an R20, which has better armor. Those raiders didn't know what they were up against, until it was too late.
Thanks again for sharing with us, and if I'm ever in Winnipeg, I'll consider playing games with you sometime. :)
I was actually thinking about bugging out after the Shilone & Lyran T-bird went down, having lost only the 65 tonner vs destroying a 100 ton Lyran. The raider's T-bird was in decent shape but the Sabre had winged out with shattered armour, FCS & engine hit, the Slayer had lost it's armour on one wing and taken a point of structural. However he got a lucky crit on the T-bird's engine and then the raiders had no choice but to turn and fight it out.
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I was actually thinking about bugging out after the Shilone & Lyran T-bird went down, having lost only the 65 tonner vs destroying a 100 ton Lyran. The raider's T-bird was in decent shape but the Sabre had winged out with shattered armour, FCS & engine hit, the Slayer had lost it's armour on one wing and taken a point of structural. However he got a lucky crit on the T-bird's engine and then the raiders had no choice but to turn and fight it out.
So THAT'S why your T-bird turned his aft to my Lucy and Stuka! You were thinking of bugging out! I thought it was a very strange moment in the game to expose its aft like that. I knew it was in trouble with the first engine hit reducing it from 5/8 to 3/5 but the second engine hit putting it down to a thrust of 1/2 really doomed it.
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So THAT'S why your T-bird turned his aft to my Lucy and Stuka! You were thinking of bugging out! .
Yep. ;) I didn't figure that it was winnable after when I was down to two, the T-Bird was in decent shape, but the Slayer was badly damaged on the wings. I figured with only the Shilone destroyed vs your T-bird, it would be a tactical victory. (although the Lyrans would have a strategic victory by preventing the raider's incursion) I knew that if I could get the T-bird beyond medium range then you'd have only a couple of shots with LRM's and couldn't catch the faster Slayer, so I was hoping to get moving to my board edge before you could react.
Bad time to take an engine hit though. #P
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Gratz on the Voctory Lyran Archer.
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If I was the Lyran AeroSpace Fighter Command CO, pre-Eisensturm days, I would make the R20 Lucifer the mainstay fighter throughout Lyran space!
Coming soon: an all-Lucifer force.
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Coming soon: an all-Lucifer force.
Too late. Already there. I already have six Lucys and two Eisensturms. I came all ready to play an all R20 Lucy force in this battle, but Lord Cameron asked that I not, then or in the future. He said that it was very highly unlikely to find a squadron of all six of the same model fighter except on a very major world. I disagree, of course, especially since the fluff says, "House Steiner has invested heavily in production." I imagine that Lucys are actually quite common in Lyran space, even on a minor world.
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Cool report.
What do the various dice represent?
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Great pictures, wonderful paint jobs! [rockon]
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Cool report.
What do the various dice represent?
It was a space battle, so we used vector movement.
The dice represent the velocity in each direction.
When is space, the ASF can rotate, so that it is facing a different direction than the direction of travel.
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Okay, so you put a die in the hex for how much velocity the ASF is moving in that direction.
Quick question.... When you play that way, how does an ASF turn? Is the ASF only allowed to accelerate/decelerate along the primary axis? Sorry, I've been thinking about adding ASFs to my own campaign but I've never played Aerotech before.
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Too late. Already there. I already have six Lucys and two Eisensturms. I came all ready to play an all R20 Lucy force in this battle, but Lord Cameron asked that I not, then or in the future. He said that it was very highly unlikely to find a squadron of all six of the same model fighter except on a very major world. I disagree, of course, especially since the fluff says, "House Steiner has invested heavily in production." I imagine that Lucys are actually quite common in Lyran space, even on a minor world.
Ayup.
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Okay, so you put a die in the hex for how much velocity the ASF is moving in that direction.
Quick question.... When you play that way, how does an ASF turn? Is the ASF only allowed to accelerate/decelerate along the primary axis? Sorry, I've been thinking about adding ASFs to my own campaign but I've never played Aerotech before.
Each ASF has so many thrust points to use to either turn, increase its speed or decrease its speed. You can be going a speed of 8 in Direction A, but then use 3 thrust points to do a 180 and are now pointing in Direction C, but you are still travelling in Direction A, just backwards. They did it all the time in the space battles in the revamped version of BattleStar Galactica. To change the direction you are going you have to spend thrust points to cancel your speed in the direction you are currently travelling. Sometimes it may take you more than one turn to change direction if your current speed is more than your thrust points.
Imagine a 100-ton ASF with 3/5 thrust but going a speed of 12 in Direction A. It'll take a few turns to change direction. DropShips burning planetward from a jump point can actually take a couple days to slow down!
There are simpler AeroSpace rules in Total Warfare - more akin to how starships move in Star Wars movies, but I'm sure one of the moderators here can tell you where to look up vector movement rules if you want to play more realistically.
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Okay, so you put a die in the hex for how much velocity the ASF is moving in that direction.
Quick question.... When you play that way, how does an ASF turn? Is the ASF only allowed to accelerate/decelerate along the primary axis? Sorry, I've been thinking about adding ASFs to my own campaign but I've never played Aerotech before.
Turning is similar to ground combat - 1 MP per hexside turned. The heaviest (slowest) fighters have a movement of 5/8, while the lighter (fastest) have movement of 10/15 or even 12/18. The first number is normal thrust, while the second is "overthrust", which gives you more MP but also a penalty to your hit rolls and control (piloting) rolls.
One thing to remember is that it is VERY important to keep good position on the enemy, because unlike mechs that can torso twist, if you have an enemy on your flank he could be blasting you, while you can't shoot ant anything. So while armour & heavy guns are great, if you are too slow, you might just be a sitting duck.
You can basically only thrust forward, so you have to turn around to reduce velocity, except that you can use 1 MP of thrust per turn in any direction (retrothrusters)
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You can basically only thrust forward, so you have to turn around to reduce velocity, except that you can use 1 MP of thrust per turn in any direction (retrothrusters)
Is this rule from StratOps? What page?
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Is this rule from StratOps? What page?
Yep.
Vector Movement - StratOps p 64, the 1 MP Lateral or Deceleration (retrothrust) is p. 66
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Thank you, Gentlemen!
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Yep.
Vector Movement - StratOps p 64, the 1 MP Lateral or Deceleration (retrothrust) is p. 66
thanks, can't believe I missed that!
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Ahh, reminded me of the good days of Babylon 5 Wars. Thanks! :)
BTW, cool pics and nice report. Well done!