Sunday 7 April 2013

Show the Flag - 5150: Fighter Command AAR

In the upcoming 5150: Fighter Command there are rules for combat between Capital Ships, the same classes found in Star Navy. But whereas Star Navy is all about fleet combat, FC allows for smaller actions. The action still is fast but tactics play a large part. So with that in mind I set out to do a solo variation on a Patrol Mission.
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I played a Star Navy Rep 5 Cobra Class Destroyer. The Cobra mounts both Beam and Plasma Batteries as well as one torpedo tube. Add 2 Defensive AA Turrets to the armament the Cobra Class combines speed with punch. 

Recently Planetary Defense Forces have encountered Zhuh-Zhuh CapShips and Fighters harassing them as well as the local merchant ships. Not enough to cause a war but enough "showing of the flag" to embarrass and weaken Gaea Prime influence. Hence the Mission.

"You are to intercept and force any Zhuh-Zhuh forces from the sector. Use of appropriate force is condoned."

How this was delivered at crew level, "We need to teach the Monkey Boyz a lesson and send them packing."
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Here's a picture of the table at the start. I'll let the pictures tell the story, comments at the end..








Well that played very well. The 1st PEF was resolved as a Flight of 2 Light Fighters. Their movement, as well as those of the PEFs, were all driven by rolling on the NP Force Movement Table.

The Zhuh-Zhuh Cutter appearing to the rear of the Destroyer gave me a start and was due to Random Event. The Zhuh-Zhuhs have established a Surveillance Satellite which generated a PEF in a random location. The Cutter was a pre-loaded PEF from a previous game.

The Star Navy fired first but shot badly, the Zhuh-Zhuh shields holding. In return fire my shields were damaged, luckily the rest of the hits were ineffectual. It was obvious to me whichever ship could bring their torpedo tubes to bear first would have an advantage. Luckily my higher Rep allowed for that.

The remaining PEFs were a second Flight of Fighters and after linking up they headed towards us, again dictated by the NP Force Movement Table.

Engineering repaired the shields and firing between the two CapShips was even until the Destroyer came about and fired its torpedo. Zhuh-Zhuh Defensive AA Fire missed and the torpedo hit, causing a rip in the hull, casualties, and a drop in Rep to 3.

Rolling Reaction Tests resulted in the Cutter choosing to retire. I decided not to fire at the Cutter with my guns as the Mission was to drive them away, not destroy them. The Fighters, once the CapShip began to leave, veered off as well. You guessed it, the NP Force Movement Table.

It was as expected and very satisfying in that the NP Forces acted based on the game mechanics.  I didn't have to make any decisions for them. Having cleared all the PEFs and one CapShip I decided that the Mission was done and a success.





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