COA vs KOB - 1000 points
Other Dystopian Wars games here (in French).
We had agreed that Dreadnoughts would not be allowed.
As the KOB player, I knew I would have to face waves of torpedo drones. So I took an assault carrier and two fighter SAS as local support, allowing me to protect a large share of my fleet with Combat Air Patrols. I took only one Small squadron, hoping my opponent would not get the Thin their ranks Field Order.
My friend Lord Belouga decided to test the COA naval battle group (see below), and the associated Tally Ho! action card.
COA Force, led by Commodore Edmund Whistler Belouga:
(from top to bottom on picture - click to enlarge)
- 1 x Diophantus (Assault Carrier) with Mine Controller - 210 - Commodore's flagship
- 5 x Thales (Corvette) - 100
- 1 x Hippasus (Battle Cruiser) with Energy Turrets - 130
- 4 x Diogenes (Frigate) - 100
- 1 x Aristotle (Battleship) with Target Painter Generator - 210
- 3 x Cleomedes (Cruiser) - 240
+ 3 x 5 torpedo drones
KOB Force, led by Commodore Percival Pepper:
(from top to bottom on picture)
- 1 x Regent (Battle Carrier) with Guardian generator - 160
- 3 x Agincourt (Gunship) - 270
- 1 x Ruler (Battleship) with Guardian generator - 205
- 1 x Monarch (Heavy Battleship) - 235 (Crew Type: Elite) - Commodore's flagship
- 5 x Valiant (Attack Submarine) - 125
+ 3 x 5 fighter SAW + reconnaissance SAW
Deployment
COA won the strategic advantage.
Field orders
KOB secretly drew the Free to engage Field Order (destroy seventy percent of the fleet value). COA drew Break their backs (destroy fifty percent of the fleet value including all medium models).
Turn 1: long distance shots from Britannian fleet / Thales corvettes teleported by Hippasus
Summary: as both fleet rushed forward (most COA ships still wave-lurking), long distance shots were exchanged causing one critical hit on a Cleomedes cruiser and sinking one Diogene frigate. A good start for the KOB Commodore! The COA teleported the Thales corvette squadron close to the KOB carrier Regent. The Thales squadron caused a critical hit on the Regent but lost 3 models afterwards as the Agincourt Gunships approached to defend the Regent.
Activation order: KOB reconnaissance SAW / COA Cleomedes (failed to damage Valiant) / KOB Monarch (attached a CAP + guns caused critical hit on Cleomedes) / COA Diogenes (hit and run, failed to damage Agincourt) / KOB Regent (attached a CAP + so-called "devastating" gun failed to damage one Diogene!) / COA Hippasus (placed Energy Templates) / KOB Valiants (missed Cleomedes) / COA Thales (used the Energy Templates to teleport - caused critical hit - hard pounding - on Regent) / KOB Ruler (attached a CAP + destroyed 1 Thales and 1 Diogene) / COA Drones / KOB Agincourt (destroyed 2 Thales; the remaining corvettes failed their morale test) / other COA models.
Victory points: KOB 85 points / COA 0 point
Turn 2: drones and particle accelerators wreak havoc on britannian gunships
Summary: turn 2 was a very difficult and frustrating turn for the Britannian Commodore. Two Agincourt gunships sank (the third having only 2 HP left at the end of turn 2), ravaged by drone torpedoes and by particle accelerators (crossfire from Aristote and Diophantus, both cleverly activated late in activation order). Moreover, the Monarch heavy battleship lost 6 HP - damaged by shots from Cleomedes cruisers and Aristote battleship. Meanwhile, the Britannian fleet only managed to sink the previously damaged Cleomedes cruiser and the two last Thales corvettes. Most Britannian torpedoes failed to damage their targets.
Pre-turn phase: at the beginning of the second turn, the KOB played Lost orders TAC, cancelled by the COA player.
Activation order: KOB Monarch (turrets caused critical hit on previously damaged Cleomedes, but torpedoes failed to damage Hippasus) / COA Diogene (Hit and run, failed to damage Agincourt) / KOB Ruler (guns blasted the damaged Cleomedes, but torpedoes missed Hippasus; I forgot to use the broadsides on COA corvettes) / COA torpedo drones (caused a double critical hit on 1 Agincourt!) / KOB Agincourt (turrets and torpedoes failed to damage Hippasus but rear turrets destroyed one more Thales corvette) / COA Cleomedes (torpedoes failed to damage Agincourt; turrets and broadsides damaged Monarch - 3 HP!) / KOB reconnaissance SAW / COA torpedo drones (failed to damage another Agincourt!) / Valiant (failed to damage Cleomedes) / COA torpedo drones (caused a triple critical hit on 1 Agincourt, immediatly sinking one of the powerful Britannian gunships!!) / KOB Regent (failed to damage Aristote) / COA Diophantus (particle accelerator caused critical hit on Agincourt - 2HP - and damaged Ruler - 1HP; successfully made a swift maneuvre to dive back to wave-lurking level) / COA Hippasus (failed all its shots; successfully made a swift maneuvre to dive back to wave-lurking level) / COA Aristote (broadsides and turrets damaged Monarch - 3 HP; particle accelerator sank one Agincourt and damaged another). At the end of the turn, a failed disorder test caused the last COA Corvette to disappear.
Victory points: KOB 225 points / COA 180 points
At the end of turn 2, although the scores were close, victory seemed to be just inches from COA's grasp. The best Britannian ships appeared impotent. The Covenant just had to sink the last Agincourt and finish off the Monarch.
But on the deck of the last Britannian gunship, a few reckless sky hussars decided they would not die as their peers. They prepared their jetpacks ...
Turn 3: boarding!
Summary: surprisingly, COA failed to finish off any Britannian ship at point blank range. The last Agincourt gunship (1HP left!) and the Regent assault Carrier, supported by hard pounding shots from the Ruler battleship, successfully boarded the Aristote. Only a small group of Britannian soldiers (1AP) from the Regent was left alive but this was enough to prize the COA battleship. Those desperate but successful actions gave the Britannian Commodore Percival Pepper just enough victory points to fulfill his Field Order at the end of turn 3.
Pre-turn phase: at the beginning of the third turn, KOB played Battlefield repair TAC (+2 HP to the Britannian heavy battleship). COA played Radio intercept TAC and won the initiative.
Activation order: COA Diophantus (particle accelerator damaged Ruler and Agincourt - 1 HP each) - COA played Tally Ho! cancelled by Espionnage TAC / KOB Ruler (torpedoes missed Cleomedes; guns caused critical hit on Aristote - 2HP and 3AP thanks to Hard pounding!) / COA Aristote (target-painted the Ruler - I tryed to use my Jolly bad luck!! TAC to avoid this but it was cancelled; particle accelerator failed to damage the Regent; turrets and broadsides damaged Ruler - 3HP) / KOB Monarch (guns caused critical hit on Cleomedes) / COA Cleomedes (failed to damage Monarch but damaged Ruler - 2HP) / KOB Agincourt (boarded Aristote, but just managed to kill 2AP on the battleship) / COA Hippasus (collided with Diophantus and lost 1 HP) / KOB Regent (prized Aristote) / COA Diogene / KOB Valiant (caused critical hit on Cleomedes).
Victory points: KOB 705 points - COA 280 points
KOB won
Conclusions and learning points
- A pleasant and exciting game, with a lot of unexpected developments
- My strategy against COA was plain and simple: move forward all my ships at the same speed, weaken the enemy vessels and board (whatever I could board) as soon as possible, before the second wave of drones. This strategy worked, but only thanks to a few lucky dice rolls in the last turn.
- The cards (TAC) my opponent played (80 points) helped me to fullfil my Field Order at the end of turn 3. Had he used one less 20 points card, we would have played one more turn and he would have been able to salvage the Aristote. TAC are really a two-edged sword.
- I think my list was fine, probably better than an alternative list I had prepared (the alternative list was: Monarch + Regent + Vengeance + Agincourts and Dominion + Swifts)
- Deploying the Agincourt gunships just in front of the 2 big particle accelerators was a very bad idea.
- The Combat Air Patrols did protect a large share of my fleet ... but the enemy drones wreaked havoc on other ships. I realised you cannot protect everything - the enemy will always attack your weak points. Britannian dive bombers or torpedo bombers may have been more useful than those CAPs.
- It was the first time I played a 1000 points KOB fleet and I was disappointed by the ships' firepower (well, I usually play FSA ...).
Other Dystopian Wars games here (in French).
