Battle Report
Battlefleet Gothic
Admiral Cochrane's Hunt
Conclusion
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Turn One Turn Two Turn Three Turn Four Turn Five |
Turn Seven Turn Eight Turn Nine Conclusion |
| Surviving Characters | Cruisers Undamaged | Cruisers Crippled | Escorts Undamaged | Total points | |
| Imperial Fleet | 0 points | 3 x 220 points | 0 points | 0 points | 660 points |
| Chaos Fleet | 85 points | 190 + 190 + 170 points | 0 points | 45 + 45 + 45 + 40 points | 810 points |
God damn! A narrow defeat by only 150 points! But a defeat none the less. My tactics did not work at all well. The aim had been to have the carriers take up a holding pattern, launching bombers that would join the Hood and its escorts in a combined bomber and torpedo attack that would cripple Iain's capital ships. Initially, the bomber build up worked well. The seemingly retreating Dictators (circling in their holding patterns) even confused Iain for a while. However, just as Iain's fleet's leading elements came into contact I started failing command checks and the launching of bombers from the Dictators dried up for four turns! Even so, I still had enough bombers to aid the Hood and its six torpedo armed Cobra escorts to engage and write down Iain's leading ships (a Slaughter class and six Idolators) and gain the tactical initiative. The all out attack of eighteen bomber wings, eighteen torpedoes and the ship's weapons batteries was instead disappointing. It inflicted only thirteen points of damage over two turns. It destroyed the Slaughter class and three Idolators, but in return I lost the Hood with Admiral Cochrane aboard and all six Cobras. The Idolators in particular with their lances, 5+ armour and two turrets proved particularly difficult to kill. Iain's skillful handling of them allowed them to inflict maximum damage on my vessels, also his skillful use of fighters launched from his one carrier helped blunt my bomber attack. Iain's fleet closed in for the kill on my Dictators with the Idolators again being impossible to knock out, and in doing so screening the remaining fleet units from attack, although I did destroy his Infidels despite failing further command checks, before the action broke off.
So, what was the key reason for my defeat? Well, chiefly the failed command checks. Imperial fleets, with their reliance on torpedoes and ordnance to launch distance strikes like mine, are heavily dependant on passing command checks in order to sustain attacks in the kind of overwhelming numbers needed to destroy enemy vessels. Not passing command checks meant that I could not reload ordnance. After the first wave of attacks, my fleet's leading elements found themselves unsupported and forced to fight a close combat battle I had not intended them to do without bomber support. Secondly, I did not use the bombers effectively, particularly against the Idolators. Bombers must attack with at around 200% more squadrons than the damage strength of the ship being attacked, to knock it out. I did not do this and many bombers were dispersed to attack the maximum number of targets, so combined with the heavy defences of the Idolators, my attack failed. Add in Iain's skillful handling and there you have my defeat. The tactical deployment of my ships was the only bright spot. Holding back the Dictators did mean that they did not suffer significant damage throughout the engagement, although in part this was down to Iain suffering the same ill luck with the dice as me.
So, next time? Well, I'll use the same tactics but I'll make sure I use my bombers in overwhelming numbers. That means sixteen or more wings per cruiser, and four wings per escort. I will only release my fleet into close combat if this support is available. Oh, and of course, I'll be praying to the Emperor more fervently, in order to pass command checks; and ships with big guns will be back in the fleet, perhaps a Mars class Battlecruiser......!
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The Chaos fleet moves past the burning remains of the Hood, and on towards the rest of the Imperial fleet |
Well, that was an interesting game, and I have to say that my initial strategy worked fairly well to plan, which is always nice, if a little rare for me. The game was actually a lot closer than I thought as I started packing up. At that point I was filled with the feeling that I had delivered a resounding defeat to the Imperial scum, but the result showed only a 150 point difference, which surprised me at first. It shouldn't, that 150 points was basically the difference between Tim losing all of his escorts and me having four left at the end. It just goes to shows that every ship is important in Gothic. Also, I was seriously scared as we were setting up this game. Glancing over at the opposition and seeing three carriers when you have decided that a single Devastation will suffice is not an experience that I would recommend. Initial thoughts centre on 'I wonder how long I can hold out before I get swamped' and 'how can I change my plan to compensate'. But, I kept with the plan, managed to neutralise the worst of the attack craft and was left with more firepower as a result.
A special mention at this point must go to the Sariel. She kept throwing out fighters and although they were never going to beat back the Imperial bombers, they did take out they smaller waves and reduce the effectiveness of the larger waves. This is the key when facing superior attack craft numbers. If you can reduce the effectiveness of the waves, instead of concentrating on eleminating one wave, then you have a good chance of defence turrets whittling down numbers further.
In particular, I was very pleased by the effectiveness of the Slaughter cruiser paired with the Idolators. This advance force of 435 points managed to take on almost as many points, and emerge with escorts still functioning. In the end, this advance force swept through the Imperial fleet without really slowing down. The Idolators, with their high turret value, good armour, impressive speed and formidable weapons when used in squadrons really impressed me, and I left with a new respect for the small vessels. They really ar one of the best escorts in the game.
So, what would I change? Well, the Infidels were poorly placed. They managed to use their torpedoes only once, and then they were out of range and easily avoided. The only thing that they really achieved was to be blown to pieces in the last turn. In hindsight, I would have been better placing them in front of the second force, centrally where they would have had better fire corridors and were not obstructed by the asteroid field.
I would have liked to have taken out one of the Dictators on the last turn, and I think that I had the firepower to do. But, alas it was not to be. Had the game continued, I do think that I was well placed to win. My fleet was up close, and I had my flagship still fully operational. My only problem would be that I had no counter to the bombers as the Sariel finally exhausted her supply a few turns previously.
So, what do I think that Tim did wrong? Simply put, too much support, not enough attack. While he states that he was unlucky with his reload orders, I think that he put too much reliance in them. With that many rolls expected, it is enevitable that he woud fail some, especially with only one commander - and he was on another vessel. That said, Tim did seem to fail more than he passed, but he did not actually run out of attack craft. If this had happened to only one of the ships in the initial stages of the game, things would have been even worse. In the end, he sent half his fleet against all of mine, and that will usually end badly. Had I been him, and had I followed the same general strategy, I would have taken two of the Dictators, and replaced the third with a more aggressive vessel, such as a Lunar or Tyrant class cruiser. This would have given him the advantage of significantly more firepower against my advance force, without cutting down the bomber wings too badly. Still, I guess that this proves the wisdom of the saying that hindsight is always 20/20.
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Johanson stared around the interior of the Chaos cruiser. He was locked in the brig of the flagship, along with the
other officers. The Servitors had all been brutally culled, and Johanson almost envied them. After the initial strike,
things had moved extremely quickly. The three carriers had been rushed, and the Furious had suffered an
accident in her hanger bays, crippling any chance of launching defences. Both the Glorious and Courageous had
beat a withdrawal, managing to get away as the Furious fired all available weapons in an effort to hold up the Chaos
fleet. It had seemed noble at the time, but now the romance of the action had been stripped away and Johanson
cursed the crews that had lead to the launch problems. Rumours of Admiral Cochrane flew around the cells, everything from his capture in another ship to his rescue by one of the Dictators and their pursuit and rescue operation that would soon arrive. Johanson doubted this. He knew that, even if the Admiral were alive, it would take weeks before the sector would even be declared safe enough to launch a recovery operation, and that was assuming that a failed Admiral warranted such an operation. The Imperial crew of the Furious had a brighter future. They were taught to follow orders, and undoubtably most would not even be aware that they had lost the fight. The chain of command would just be replaced high up, and most of the crew had no idea what the commander of the ship even looked like. They would be working for the vile Chaos forces now, and would not even know it. Johanson, on the other hand, had little to look forward to. He had seen the look in Commander Wilks' eyes. As Chaos boarding parties entered the vessels, Johanson had deployed defence forces, but these were quickly over-run with the closeness and large number of Chaos ships stationed nearby. It had taken only twenty minutes for the attackers to locate the bridge and begin cutting through. At that point, it became obvious that it was over. Commander Wilks had calmly drawn his las-pistol and shot himself. That was preferable to being a failed starship captain in enemy hands. Johanson would never forget the look behind his eyes. It was utter resignation, of a fate that had been dictated by his commanding officer and his crews in the launch bays. Johanson toyed with the idea that they were all in the hands of so many others, and none really dictated their own fate. Was that what an Imperial officer was? He shrugged, these things were beyond him, and no longer relevant. |
Date: 11/03/2002
Written by: CyberShadow