Training Sim 011914 -- an ACTA Battle Report

          So, as readers may have surmised we've been on a bit of a Star Fleet Universe kick around my game room of late.  The last two battle reports have been involved stories.  For those that prefer a simple tactical layout I'll go with a straight forward battle report this time, after all we opted this time for a straight up fight of 2000 pt Klingon and federation fleets.  We did include a couple of homemade units (D6D and D5WD).

First, the fleets.  The Federation fleet opted for a solid gunline task force with a few escorts to cover their tails.  The fleet consisted of:

BB Kali

DNF Concordat

BCF Bismark

BCF Gneisenau

NCC Kearsearge

NCA Lexington

CLE Bosnia

DWA Alert

DWA Buckler

The Klingons brought a mixed fleet of small and large hulls.  It consisted of 

1 C10

2 D6

2 D5W

1 D5WD

1 D5E

2 F6

1 F5W

1 E5

Tad was overjoyed at being Klingons.  He likes a good knife fight and appreciates the ability to turn so tight he can shoot his foes in the back.  Just look at that shifty grin!

 In the opening phases the Federation opts to close cautiously while boosting shields to mitigate long range disruptor fire.  The plan works for the most part as the Klingons close to 24" and open fire.  Some good defensive work from the escorts, plus the long range means no Disruptors or drones get through for significant damage, just a few annoying hits here and there.  The Federation has no response at this range.

 The Klingons begin to close.  As they do they spread into three wings.  The D5 squadron closes along with the Frignaugts.  On the left of the Klingon line the D6s hold at medium range.

Fearing that the my fleet would face a weight of fire disparity on the left, I ordered the BB to try a risky HET to turn at the beginning of its move.  It makes it out to the left of our line to add much needed support.  The Klingon F6s dive into the heart of the Federation formation to make enough of a nuisance that they needed to be dealt with.  Planning to sacrifice them, Scott felt free to open up with all their disruptors, shock be damned. 

His plans of glorious Klingon death nearly go awry when the Buckler (DWA) manages to miss with 8 of 12 phaser shots at 2" kill zone range.  (Yes, I rolled 8 rolls of 1 or 2 out of 12 dice).

 The Kali spreads firepower all over the sky targeting multiple Klingon ships.  She hurts the D5W as well as both F6s.

 On the other end of the line, Andrew makes up for my rolling and fire from the Concordat and the Gneisenau explodes one of the D6s.

As the turn ends, The Klingons have suffered a little worse than the Feds.  The DNF and the NCC are nearly crippled and the D5W along with the F6 destroyed the poor Buckler.

As we move into the next turn, Tad takes his squadron and aggressively wraps into the rear of the Fed formation closing to point blank range determined to make sure that if he dies he hurts us as well.  The Fed fleet with the exception of the NCA are out of photons this turn, so the Klingons determine to try to kill as much as they can.  Will the aggression pay off?  Even the E5 dives into the middle of the Federation fleet.

 Weapons fly once again.  The Concordat (DNF) is crippled and left with two boxes remaining.  The D5W dies to fire from several ships, and the E5 takes a pounding.  Then the BB fires.  I was left with a tough choice.  The DNF was nearly dead and the C10 hadn't fired yet.  The klingon plan was to kill the DNF badly enough that it exploded in the middle of our formation.  I regretfully decided that the Concordat was a write off and I had to protect the fleet.  The Kali put 6 drones into the E5s unprotected rear.  The little ship exploded immediately, and the six AD of damage finished off the DNF in non spectacular fashion.

 At the same time, Kali fires its phasers into the side of the second D5W.

 Finishing it off as well.  As we end the turn, space is filled with debris and escape pods.

 We move into the final act as the flagships close with one another.

 Scott and Tad decide to make one last throw of the dice as the Feds get most of their photons back.  The D5WD hangs back still, but the remaining ships interpose themselves between the Federation and the C10.

 The Bismark is the first casualty of the turn as it takes several nasty criticals, and the damage from previous turns finally adds up.  Alert follows her to the grave, but the Federation return fire (including 8 overloaded photons that score 6 hits on the D5E) is devastating.

 The blasts of failing reactors clear leaving the Federation with an untouched BB, a nearly crippled BCF and untouched CLE and NCA.  At this point the Klingons concede.

All in all it was a fun game.  We experimented for the second time with using the Federation as having the Slow Reload trait on photons rather than having them require a Reload action.  This lets the Feds actually move or defend themselves while still making use of photons (something they can do in the other SFU games but couldn't so far in ACTA).  My take as the Fed player is that this is a BIG help for the Feds.  It solves a lot of the balance issues, and even makes the Klingon Forward shield rule tolerable.  One of our players suggested dropping the Devastating trait from photons if doing this.  Since I am not sure what exactly the devastating trait portrays, I am willing to try it that way next time.

As for the Klingon loss, Scott and I determined that his biggest weakness was too many small fragile hulls.  The D6s just don't bring enough fire power to the table, and the F6s bring firepower, but on a really fragile hull.  That, combined with them not getting lucky enough with crits on our big ships (meaning they soaked tons of damage) and the odds were against them.  I'd also say that in an effort to be fair I think Scott overcharged himself a bit for his D5WD.  I look forward to the rematch.

Klingon Players: Scott and Tad

Federation Players: Dan and Andrew.