We started at about 2 pm and finished about 10:30
(gotta be a record for a SFB game.
We were doing basicly a reverse battle fest starting with dreadnoughts. Thats the only battle we finished.
SFB takes just as long as I remember to play.
We started with heavy dreds, I took the C10 and my friends took an ISC Don't remember the designation but it had 3 PPDs.
There was also a Fed DNI and an improved Rom conoor.
It turned into 2 fights. Me vs the ISC and the Fed vs the Romulan.
The Rom turned into the poor luck Charley as he hit nearly every Transporter bomb on the map. Then to make things worse at a range of
8 the Fed hit him with a full spread of O/L photons. Not one of the rolls was above a 2! Never seen that happen before. The Fed pulled a mid turn speed change and closed the gap faster than the Rom anticipated.
Plasmas did hit the Fed, but only did some major damage to the screens. From then on it was basiclly over as it was a closed map and the Rom
spent the rest of the time trying to put disance between himself and the Fed that kept trying to chase him down.
The fight between the ISC and myself was a little more dramtic. We both did a standard battle pass. On the approach he kept whacking away at my screens with that accursed PPD.
I will say the my tactics have changed because of SFC. Instead of trying to re-inforce my screens and move slowly I supprised my old SFB buddy by charging at him. My screens were a little wobbly, but I did get into overload range much to his suprise and cheerfully ripped his left front screen off his ship with the help of the C10's heavy phasers.
He was a little more cautious after that.
We spent the next few turns with him plugging away at my sheilds with that infernal ppd while I weakend or destroyed some of his other screens.
The fight took an unexpected turn when we mad another pass inside of overload range. My disruptors weren't O/L (didn't have the power at the speed we were moving) But I did knock down another screen. We ended up at a range of 5 with our backs pointed at each other.
With the turn rate of these large ships we were going to just come about at a far distance from each other and I was sure this was going to end badly if I let that happen.
So...I tried a HET. At range 5 I could either almost or entirely take down his rear screen and may do a few internals. Thus limiting his options a little more.
On impulse one I launched a full spread of heavy drones. Impulse 2 the HET occured....sort of....missed the break down roll. Great, I'm a setting duck now.
Just for fun the ISC launches a plasma I at my unmoving ship. At range 5 he also fired all rear phasers. (This later turned out to be a misake)
The drones were moving at 32 and I thought at best they would give him a turn of worriy while I tried to get my crippled ship moving again. There were a couple of things I didn't know however.
1. He had already expended his T-bombs. So no stopping the drones with that.
2. He had not allocated any energy to his tractors for the turn so He could move a little faster.
I did know he had spent all phasers, but to do that without having tractors or T-bombs was a fatal error.
I also know that he doesn't use WW shuttles because he hates to be slowed down.
He did fire defensive plasmas, but that left 6 drones with 24 point warheads with nothing between them and his rear shield.
124 damage-36 shield boxes = 88 internals! (insert evil Klingon chuckle)
The only internals on my ship were the ones caused by my own failed HET.
His plasma hits and crital hit takes out my shuttle launch controls, well of course they did. (SP shuttle can't be launched)
He hobbles away severly hurt at the end of the turn.
End of turn, rol for Critical hit repair, success. SP shuttle now ready for launch.
I plot and Impulse tac and set speed to 6 for warp tacs. HET immobility is now over and my dred begins to turn.
For my friends final mistake for the day he has pinned himself into a corner of the map. He cannot escape without having to go through me.
As soon as I get my lumbering dread turned around, I announce speed change to 10, launch my remaining drones, and drop the sp shuttle, and with all weapons charged I begin to close. .
He didn't live through it >
All in all it was one of my better SFB games, even accounting for my HET.
My ship had no shields left and about 20 interenals. Thats when we declared the game over because that accursed luck fed wasn't even hurt. The shape the rest of us were in meant we would have a tough time with him even if we all turned on him.
The Rom was our best hope for distracting and/or doing some damage. But he had developed photonafobia and wouldn't close
I'll call my friend and humiliate him with this for years to come. Heck I usually go to Florida once or twice a year so who knows?
Might break out the SFB maps again some day.
Topic: Old school SFB (Read 1249 times)