Images in gallery (smaller versions inserted below):
150 points per side.
Orange
1 Carrier (Fleet Admiral on board)
2 Particlebow Frigates
1 Control Corvette
2 Skirmish Fighter Squadrons
2 Missile Fighter Squadrons
Blue
1 Hammerhead Battle Cruiser (+1 extra missile Salvo, Fleet Admiral on board)
2 Particlebow Frigates
1 Control Corvette
1 Skirmish Fighter Squadron
Deployment
Orange deployed all fighters directly to the board (rather than on the carrier, to get them into the fight quicker). They were placed centrally in a tight line, with the Orange Particlebow Frigates and Control Corvette behind them. Hopefully the fighters will be able to screen the ships from Particlebow attacks until they can close. The Carrier was deployed to the far right, indenting to move up the flank.
Blue placed a Particlebow frigate at each corner of the deployment zone, pointing towards the centre (the idea being that whichever one gets swarmed by fighters, then the other will be able to snipe from a distance). The Hammerhead, Control Corvette and Fighters were placed centrally.
Turn 1
Blue's forces all stayed in place while the Particlebows were charging their weapons. The Hammerhead launched a missile, hoping to able to disrupt whatever movement plans Orange had, or at least draw some fire.
Orange sent all fighters forward (using the afterburners on the missile fighters to advance as quickly as possible). The Control Corvette followed behind, and the Particlebows remained still, charging weapons.
The Carrier remained where it was. The Missile Fighters tried to shoot down the advancing missile, but both failed.
Turn 2
Each of Blues Particlebow Frigates fired their charged weapons at a Missile Fighter Squadron, obliterating one, and dispersing the other. The missile swarm hit a Skirmish Fighter Squadron, destroying it. The Hammerhead launched another missile toward the orange lines, and managed to move on top of it again (using the Fleet Admiral to get an extra move.) The Blue skirmish fighters accompanied it, hoping to act as a screen to any Particlebow shots.
Oranges remaining fighters whizzed past the Hammerhead, towards the Control Corvette. The Orange Particlebow Frigates (now fully charged) moved forward into firing positions, and the Carrier began moving up the edge toward a Blue Particlebow. The Carrier shot at the missile swarm on the Hammerheads base, destroying it, and doing a single point of damage to the Hammerhead.
All other weapons fire either missed, or was stopped by armour.
Turn 3
One Orange Particlebow fired a charged shot at the Hammerhead - doing just one point of damage. The other was charged, but had nothing in range and arc to shoot at (the Blue Particlebow was fractionally out of range!).
The Blue Particlebows stayed still, recharging. The Orange Carrier moved towards the Blue Particlebow, at full speed (using the additional move from the Admiral), taking it out of the fire arc of the Hammerhead.
The Carrier fired at the Blue Particlebow dead ahead, but failed to damage it. The remaining ships manoeuvred carefully, keeping out of the fire arcs of the Particlebows, and the few shots from the various fighters failed to connect.
Turn 4
One Blue Particlebow shot the advancing Carrier, taking it straight to damaged status. The other Blue Particlebow fired at its Orange counterpart, doing 2 points of damage. The charged Orange Particlebow was out of arc, so had to hold its fire.
The Orange Carrier, in a last ditch effort, rammed the Particlebow, and did a couple of points of damage (none to itself!).
The rest of the ships swirled round each other, each one trying to keep out of arc of the others. This was excellent fun - the final positions of the ships were certainly not where they had planned to be at the start of the turn! The Blue Hammerhead only managed to get into firing position by using the Fleet Admiral to get an extra move order once again.
Many of the ships managed to exchange fire this turn, with most taking a point or two of damage. The Orange Particlebow next to the Blue Hammerhead fared the worst, and was taken to 'Power loss' status.
The Carrier failed to repair any damage.
Turn 5
It was intended to stop after 4 turns, but the last turn ended at such an interesting point, I just had to see what happened next
The charged Orange Particlebow was out of arc, so had to hold its fire again.
The movement phase was even more nail-biting than the last one, with the ships all desperately trying to gain advantage in a small region of the board. By the end they were really packed close together, which made manoeuvring even more tricky! This turn really brought home the advantages of the more manoeuvrable ships, and the usefulness of having a second move order.
The Blue Particlebow (unsurprisingly) finished off the Orange Carrier. The other Blue Particlebow was hit by several shots from the swarm of Orange ships around it, and brought to 'Power loss' status.
The combined fire-power of the Blue Hammerhead and Control Corvette crippled one of the Orange Particlebow Frigates, and brought the other to 'Power loss' status.
Final Status:
Orange
Control Corvette: Undamaged
Carrier: Destroyed
Particlebow Frigate: Crippled
Particlebow Frigate: Power loss
Skirmish Fighter Squadron: Destroyed
Missile Fighter Squadron: Destroyed
Missile Fighter Squadron: Dispersed
Skirmish Fighter Squadron: Undamaged
Blue
Control Corvette: 1 damage
Particlebow Frigate: 2 damage
Particlebow Frigate: Power loss
Hammerhead: 4 damage
Skirmish Fighter Squadron: Undamaged
Notes:
5 turns, slightly bigger fleets than last time, and the total time was 90 minutes. Much faster, and a much better game.
The Fleet Admirals make a big difference to the effectiveness of the ships - the Hammerhead would have spent much of the game out of range or out of arc without it, and the ability to pour on even more fire-power when there are lots of targets is excellent.
The Particlebows proved to be the decisive ships as before - they really dominate the board. The extra move order for the Control Corvettes really allowed them to show their worth this game - they both managed to avoid damage by good manoeuvring.
Once again, the fighters were mostly ineffective, although once again I suspect this was due to poor tactical choices
Towards the end, when they had made it behind the slower ships, it was obvious that the slower ships would be unable to bring them back into arc, but by then it was all over. I still expect them to do better next time!
The Carrier was disappointing again- even up against a single Particlebow, it was unable to do much damage before being destroyed. I'll give it another try (mostly because it looks so cool on the tabletop), but it is starting to look like it will only be useful in much longer games, for repairing fighter squadrons (there just isn't time for this in a short game).
Steve