STAW 9: Rude Interruption (@ NAGA 04-03-2015)

So during my Warzone demo with Anthony Evans we had discussed some members of Phat Katz coming over for some demo or taster games of Star Trek Attack Wing.  We’d ummed and ooohhhhed and aaahhhhed about it and finally this week we managed to get something in the schedule that suited us both.  I asked Anthony if any of his Phat Katz buddies also wanted a taster session or game.  I offered to either run a game and go through each phase slowly as if they were novices to the game or play within it myself.  We agreed that I’d also play.  Anthony indicated that he wanted to play Borg or Klingon.  Given my feelings towards Borg (STAW Easy mode for somewhat bad pilots who can maneuver ships) and the fact that Anthony already had a Klingon ship I set about building him a reasonably competitive list I;d happily roll with using the build rules we agreed…..120pts Faction Pure.

Anthony spread the word amongst the other Phat Katz members and the challenge was taken up by Robert Howard, who had a Dominion fleet so would build a list accordingly.  At this point we get to how the scenario got named…..a forth player decided to invite himself into the game.  A 3 way game at 100 points on a 3ft by 3ft space mat is tight at best, a 4 way with 480 points is nigh on impossible without ships being ontop of eachother from the get go.  Also not helped that said player then decided to roll up with easy mode Borg.  Not the first time either.

So I set about planning my fleet and decided I would try Officer Exchange Program as my resource.  This card costs nothing to equip and has the following actions:- prior to the fleet building choose two factions, one as primary and one as secondary.  All Captains, Admirals and crew upgrades from the second faction can be added to your primary faction like factional cards.  Not only do they not incur the +1 cross factional penalty but they also get a reduction in cost by 1pt (to a minimum of 0pts).  Also all captains in your fleet, even those of the primary faction get a -1 reduction.  So given the chronic lack of action economy of Romulans I thought I’d see if Jean-Luc Picard aka The Baldy Gimmer and Spock could alleviate some of these problems for me.  This lead me to the following build:-

Reman Warbird (36)
Jean-Luc Picard (6-1=5)
Tactical Officer (3)
Ship SP: 44

Scimitar (38)
Mr. Spock (4-1=3)
Tactical Officer (3)
Ship SP: 44

Valdore (28)
Donatra (4-1=3)
Ship SP: 31

Total Build SP: 119

Anthony would play the following fleet:-

Vor’cha Class (26)
Martok (5)
Ship SP: 31

Vor’cha Class (26)
Gowron (4)
Ship SP: 30

Chang’s Bird-of-Prey (22)
Nu’Daq (3)
Photon Torpedoes (4)
Ship SP: 29

I.K.S. Koraga (26)
Chang (4)
Ship SP: 30

Total Build SP: 120

I’d be showing him how the interaction between Martok and Gowron works to give the Klingons the awesome firepower they have at their disposal.  I also went for some nice named ships to show him the difference between abilities and some Photon Torpedoes to compliment Chang’s Bird-Of-Preys ability.

Rob would play a Dominion fleet consisting of two Jem Hadar Attack Ships and a Jem Hadar Battleship but the exact make up of his fleet and upgrades escapes me right now so I will update with a comment later.

The battlefield.

The assembled Romulan fleet with Federation Officers “exchanged”.

Donatra’s Valdore class

Spock’s Scimitar.

Picard’s Reman Warbird

Robert Howard’s Dominion Fleet

Dereks Borg Fleet

Anthon’y Klingon Fleet

After turn 1

Picards Cloaked Reman Warbird fires at Martoks Cloaked Vor’cha using its Target Lock and Tactical Officer destroying it instantly.

After Turn 2

Picard fires first again and using his Target lock and Tactical Officer destroys Nu’Daqs Bird-Of-Prey in one shot before it can fire its Photon Torepdoes back.

The battle rages between the Dukat led Dominion and some Drone captained Borg Spheres.

The Klingon fleet about turns to face off against their Romulan adversaries hoping to gain some revenge for the death of Martok and Nu’Daq.

Some close range firing from Picard and Spock destroy Gowrons Vor’cha.

Spock finishes off Chang’s IKC Koraga in a single shot utilising his superior Firing position, his Target Lock and his Tactical Officer.

On the far side of the sector the Borg finish off the Dominion fleet leaving a damaged cube to regenerate as the Romulan fleet recloaks and engages.

The fleets close in.

The Romulans adopt attack formation and split the Borg fleet. Spock sweeps to the right to cut off the Borg Spheres escape as Picard and Donatra sweep left to take on the damaged and regenerating Sphere.

The Borgs eye perspective of Turn 1

The Borg and Dominion engage.

The Romulans move in for the kill against the Klingons.

The Jem Hadar Attack Ship takes on a Sphere as the second Jem hadar Attack Ship and

Picards Reman Warbird narrowly avoids hitting the Borg Spehere in an epic display of piloting. In the next exchange of firing it suffered a crit that would decide the game.

Spock chases the third Sphere behind the planet before taking one of the other two speheres out. Picard and Donatra take down a Sphere before falling to some critical damage.

The Sphere standing