As well as building and painting, we also play the game! With the launch of BfE, a couple of us have decided to play through the campaign in the Battle for Earth book.
As such, this is the first battle between the invading UCM (Zub) vs. the defending Scourge (Bsking).
The first mission is Station Assault with 700 pts per side.
Zub's UCM Fleet:
- Battlegroup A - SR 7
- San Francisco
- New Orleans x 2
- Battlegroup B - SR 11
- Battlegroup C - SR 6
- Battlegroup D - SR 3
Bsking's Scourge Fleet:
- Battlegroup A - SR 10
- Battlegroup B - SR 10
- Battlegroup C - SR 5
- Battlegroup D - SR 4
Turn 1:
The UCM sent the New Orleans on Full Thrust splitting left and right. The Havanas & Santiagos approach as a group on the left, the Seattles, San Francisco & Jakata aim for the middle stations.
The Scourge likewise split the Gargoyles between the middle & left stations, sending the Chimera to the right, the Nickars supporting the left Gargoyle, and the Basilisk & Hydras through the middle.
No firing or launch due to the ranges still involved.
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| After Turn 1 - UCM deploying from top left, Scourge from bottom right |
Turn 2:
Movement consisted of consolidating the initial moves, still no firing due to the ranges involved.
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| Turn 2 - After Activation Phase - UCM pushing down the left, Scourge heading central and right |
In the Launch phase, the Havanas sent 3 missiles at the Basilisk, and the Seattle launched bombers at the same. The Scourge split between fighters to protect the Basilisk, and Bombers on 2 of the Havanas.
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| The UCM really want rid of the Scourge Battleship! |
Ground assets led to the Scourge claiming 2 stations, and the UCM likewise.
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| Turn 2 - After Launch phase - lots of Bombers, Torpedo's and Fighters on the Basilisk! |
Turn 3:
The first turn with any real shooting ... launched assets (Torpedos & Bombers) see off the Basilisk, but only after it takes down one Seattle and puts 4 damage on the San Francisco. In return the Scourge Bombers take the two Havanas down to 1 hull point left each, and then the Gargoyle on the left breaks off from it's run to the space station to remove the final hull point from both, whilst the Nickars aim for the New Orleans.
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| Post the bomber runs, prior to the Gargoyle arriving. |
The Gargoyle (having removed 2 Havanas) is in return swarmed by the 3 Santiagos, who make short work of it. However, the Gargoyle in a final act of defiance detonates it's drives, and takes 2 of the Santiago's with it ... (and probably the posthumous "Man-of-the-Match" award, having been responsible for the destruction of 1/3 of the enemies ships!)
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| Before : "Sir, it's getting hot in the engine room!" |
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| After : Space is a lonely place! |
The UCM also managed to destroy the second Gargoyle, and one of the Nickars in this turn, leaving the Scourge a little short-handed.
In the Launch phase, the Scourge aimed Bombers at the San Francisco, but crucially not before it managed to drop troops onto the central space station. In return the UCM launched the remaining Torpedo, and Bombers at one of the 2 Hydras.
On resolution the San Francisco, and the Hydra were gone, but by now the UCM controlled 3 space stations to the Scourge's 2.
Turn 4:
With most of the cruisers gone, the remaining turns became a bit of a blur. The remaining ships on the left turned into the centre, whilst the Chimera made a tactical mistake of trying to chase down and kill the New Orleans on the right, instead of heading to try and retake some of the stations in the middle. The carriers in the centre fired and launched at each other, leaving both wounded, and the Seattle on 1 health. When all was said and done, the Victory points at the end of Turn 4 were:
UCM - 3 stations controlled - 9 pts
Scourge - 2 stations controlled - 6 pts
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| End of Turn 4, not many ships left! |
Turns 5 & 6:
In the shooting in turn 5, the Chimera finally destroyed the New Orleans, whilst the Hydra finished off the Seattle, before the last Santiago and Havana moved in to try and finish off the Hydra.
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| Moving in for the kill ... |
The two remaining UCM ships were successful in destroying the Hydra, but again the Scourge decided to have the last laugh, with the Range and Severity of explosion dice both coming up as 6's, removing all 3 ships in one tremendous blast!
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| Kill achieved, but at what price? |
With the Chimera not able to do anything of note on turn 6, the game ended with the same control again as in turn 4, leaving the final scores as:
UCM - 18 Victory Points. Scourge - 12 Victory Points.
A win for the Zub's UCM, and deservedly so, therefore leading the next battle to be a Moonshot at 700 pts that is planned for mid October!
Hope you like this battle report, check back to see the results of the Moonshot next month, and next article up will switch the focus back to the Dropzone Terrain and the first set of completed buildings from the Battle for Earth Event Board ...
- Bsking
