From: "Allan Dunbar" To: babylon5-wars@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU Subject: [B5W]: Battle Report Date sent: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 19:59:16 PDT Send reply to: babylon5-wars@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU BATTLE REPORT : Following rules were used: Jammers work as stated in the rulebook. Ramming is allowed. All Interceptors are Mk 1 variants due to the time period the battle is set in. Rolling mapboards are in use. 1 Nova class dreadnought (twin laser variant) EAS Bellepheron 2 Hyperion class cruisers. EAS Thunder and EAS Sydney 36 Star Fury class fighters against 2 Sharlin class cruisers (Warriors Way and Gleaming Sword). 2 Tanashi class frigates (Lights Flower and Shining Path). 24 Nial class heavy fighers. It was an effort to recreate the feel of battles that would have taken place in the Earth-Minbari war. As I understand things, the Minbari almost always outnumbered and outgunned the EarthForce fleets they faced. I would have liked to include the Olympus class corvette in my fleet, but I didn't have a SCS for it. Battle went as follows. Turn 1. Minbari win initiative. Nova accelerates and moves in at SPD 8, as do the Hyperions. The Furies are staying close for now, edging out to one side to draw off the Minbari fighters. The Minbari player reacts predictably, slowing and splitting his EW half and half. Tanashis target a Hyperion and the Sharlins decide to concentrate on the Nova. Nials move to intercept the Furies, just like I thought they would. This is a horrific round for EF, the Sharlins badly damage the Nova, but it somehow survives to round two. The targetted Hyperion (the EAS Thunder) survives with only minor damage due to some bad rolls. Minbari ships also fire on Furies, wiping out an entire squadron. I weep. Turn 2. Minbari win initiative. Nova accelerates to SPD 10. Hyperions also accelerate to SPD 10. Furies light off their afterburners, accelerating to SPD 14, and slipping around to the side of the Minbari fleet. Minbari pretty much sit in place and repeat last round. Nials and Furies mix it up in the biggest furball I have yet seen in a game. Sharlins fire secondary batteries at the EA ships, inflicting minor damage. I am yet to unleash the true firepower of my taskforce yet. A fact the Minbari player is suddenly aware of, noting the shortening ranges between our fleets. But damn is it painful watching this damage get done to me without being able to hit back. Turn 3. Minbari win initiative. Nova moves right in close to the Sharlins. Both Hyperions are right there with it. Furies continue to engage Nials. Tanashis try to back off, using their superior speed and maneuverability to get out of the forward firing arcs of my ships. I don't care about them much at this stage. Sharlins try to move away, but are too big and slow. How sad. Finally I get to unleash the true firepower of my task force. My Nova centrelines a Sharlin and fires every single gun it has, inflicting fatal damage on the Sharlin, which explodes. My opponent cannot believe it. Frankly, neither can I. Both Hyperions fire everything they have at the other Sharlin, damaging it badly, and more importantly, knocking out it's jammer in THE single most tensely rolled set of critical hits of all time. My opponent embarks upon a rant at this stage. Sharlins return fire, obliterating the Nova with their fusion cannons and severely damaging the EAS Thunder. Nials have just about wrapped up their game of 'hit the ghost' with my furies. Turn 4. Earth Force wins initative. Realising that this is the last turn of the game. I declare that the EAS Thunder and it's crew are going to ram the damaged Sharlin. The EAS Sydney is going to try and close with a Tanashi, and the last of the Furies are going to fend of the hordes of Nials still hanging around. Tanashis manoeuvre for shots and the Thunder ploughs on in. The Thunder strikes the Warriors Way directly amidships and both ships explode (I rolled a twenty for ramming result). The EAS Sydeny is obliterated by weapons fire and the furies decide to run for home. Overview : The Minbari player was hampered by bad luck and made a few mistakes. I personally would have moved perpindicluar to the EA fleet, keeping the range open for as long as possible, letting them get off a few more shots with their Neutron Cannons. However, my tactics were rather obvious and I was surprised when he didn't concentrate on the Nova as much as I thought he would. Additionally, going fully defensive every round bar the 1 point for lock on, allowed me to dodge a large number of hits, even at point blank range. I still can't believe how well I did. Mostly though, it was luck. I was very very lucky when I took out the first Sharlin. Just that right number of primary hull hits. And the criticals against the second Sharlin were absolutely amazingly lucky. But I still lost, however, honour was satisfied and Dean (my friend and opponent) will not tout the speriority of the Minbari as loud as he did before. On another note, I was surprised at how long my furies lasted against the Nials. Damn good fighter that fury. They also inflicted quite a bit of damage against the Nials, taking out 12 of them before the end. Not a good exchange rate, but still, alright. If you are interested, 14 furies managed to leave the battle area, some of which were damaged. Allan ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com