Victory Online RAT 34

by Ken Lin (Old_School)

"Sexy Rexy" Gorn TC

Ralph "Polish Anchor" Wiazowski (wralph), Jim Mayes (Foggy), and I formed the core of Battle Group Ann Arbor from the time period 1987-1992. Probably like more than a few of you, my grade point average suffered substantially during this time, and countless memories were made playing hours upon hours of SFB. During this time, I played plasma ships over 50% of the time (especially the powerful Romulan Firehawk TC). While in the last decade I have tended to play ships other than plasma in organized tournaments, plasma ships remain some of my favorite ships in the game. Thanks to Scott Moellmer (Lord_Goofy) for judging the tournament, to all my opponents for excellent games, and to Robert Grey (Tugger), my opponent in the final, for being a gracious and sportsmanlike opponent.

While I never managed to land "hundred points of plasma" during this tournament, this one's for Ralph.

STANDARD NOTES

I will always describe the game with the Gorn starting in hex 2530 facing direction A and my opponent in hex 1701 facing direction D. If I say “northwest corner of the map,” it means relative to the Gorn starting position.

Guards Assigned in all games: 4 plasma torpedoes, 2 tractors, 6 phaser-1s (#1-6).

GORN TACTICAL DOCTRINE

The Gorn tournament cruiser is extremely powerful when flown to maximize its strengths, and I easily consider it to be in the top third of the tournament field. The Gorn is a bruiser - its phaser suite is very strong, and its excellent hull structure makes it one of the most durable ships in the game. Both of these advantages mean that the Gorn rewards aggressive play.

One particular tactic I think deserves additional discussion is the turn 1 enveloping plasma torpedo (EPT) opening. In almost all games, like many plasma players I will arm a single EPT on turn 1. This is the surest way to deter an opponent on turn 1 with minimal expenditure of resources, and allows the Gorn to get behind his opponent by turn end, which allows the Gorn multiple options on turn 2 with 3 torpedoes hot. In most games (especially against disruptor opponents), turn 2 is where the plasma ship is most dangerous and enjoys his greatest advantage. EPT ballet tactics are well-known, but there are significant variations that I have not seen published in the tactical literature. These variations are particularly important when the plasma ship does not intend to employ ballet for the entire game.

Variation 1: Board Position vs Timing

EPT ballet tactics generally advocate a fast/slow or a fast/slow/fast plot, for example: 1-14:31, 15-32:16 (22 moves), or 1-14:29, 15-27:14, 28-32:26 (22 moves). The idea here is to sprint to the center to take as much board position as possible before launching the first EPT. This herds the opponent into a corner with limited space to run from the second EPT on turn 2. For pure EPT ballet, fast-slow is the optimal speed plot on turn 1.

I never do this.

My preferred speed plot on turn 1 is slow-fast instead of fast-slow (for example, see my round 5 game vs Bill Schoeller). The reason for this is that I almost never plan to EPT ballet for the entire game. While EPT ballet is a valid and effective tactic, to be honest I find it to be mind-numbingly boring (I should patent an "EPT" setting for the Agonizer Booth, I would make a fortune). Whenever tactically sound, I much prefer to get in there and mix it up with my opponent with standard torpedoes.

Because I generally do not intend to ballet the entire game, Timing becomes much more important than Board Position. Let's analyze 2 examples, assuming the Gorn's opponent is a disruptor ship and that the Gorn wishes to prevent range 8 on turn 1.

Example 1: Gorn speed plot 1-14:31, 15-32:16 (22 moves). Using this speed plot, the EPT launch will generally occur around impulse 12-13 of turn 1 from around range 13-14 to the opponent. Notice that the torpedo will have traveled 20 or so hexes by the end of the turn, meaning the opponent will only have to run for a short time on turn 2 before starting to turn around! Alternatively, if the opponent chooses to end the turn range 1 from the torpedo, the EPT will impact on impulse 1 of turn 2 in the 21-23 bracket. That is, this plot achieves Board Position (plasma launch from center of board), at the expense of Timing (torpedo will have traveled a long distance by the time turn 2 starts).

Example 2: Gorn speed plot 1-4:15, 5-27:16, 28-32:26 (17 moves). Using this speed plot, the EPT launch will generally occur around impulse 18-20 of turn 1 from around range 13-14 to the opponent. Notice that the torpedo will only have traveled 14 or so hexes by the end of the turn. Compared to example 1, the 7 impulses of difference may not seem significant, but they are very important! The opponent will have to run farther (compared to example 1) to run the torpedo out to the desired range. Because the Gorn in example 2 can remain "behind" his opponent longer, this has significant implications on what the opponent can or cannot do on turn 2. In addition, if the opponent chooses to end the turn at range 1 from the torpedo, the EPT will impact on impulse 1 of turn 2 in the 11-15 bracket.

Example 1 is preferable if the plasma ship intends to make EPT ballet and range 8 avoidance his primary strategy for the entire game. Example 2 is preferable if the plasma ship intends to adopt a more aggressive anchor/bolt/launch strategy on turn 2, after using the turn 1 EPT to drive the opponent off.

For the past decade, many current SFB players have considered turn 1 fast/slow board-position ballet tactics to be known and absolute, mocking the slow/fast plots as remnants of the 1980s used by players who have not kept up with modern tactics. I maintain that slow/fast is not only valid, but a superior tactical opening speed plot when the plasma ship desires to pursue an anchor/bolt/launch strategy instead of pure ballet. In 2000, ridicule of 1980s-style tactics on the SFB bulletin board was actually the tongue-in-cheek genesis of my SFBOL callsign, "Old_School".

Variation 2: Which Way To Turn?

With the Gorn starting from hex 2530A, standard EPT doctrine is to slip left towards the center of the board in order to launch the B torpedo (RP plasma launcher), before turning right to direction B, slipping away from the opponent if necessary. Once the opponent has started to run from the plasma, the Gorn generally turns back to direction A, then back to direction F to pursue. This opening is very "safe", meaning that if the EPT is launched from range 13-14, it is impossible (barring Gorn error) for the opponent to get a range 8 shot on turn 1 without closing through the plasma. In addition, this maneuver ensures that the A torpedo (LP plasma launcher) is always pointed towards the opponent. This is a very fine maneuver for EPT ballet.

I never do this.

My preferred opening is to almost immediately turn left to direction F, aiming for a launch position from the B torpedo (RP plasma launcher) while the opponent is directly off my #2 hexline, or very close to this position. I then aim to slip left until the opponent turns away from the EPT, before turning right to direction A to pursue. Comparing the 2 maneuvers, several observations can be made:

· The second maneuver (immediate turn left) allows for a much better pursuit angle than the first maneuver (launch then turn right). Especially for the Gorn with its poor turn mode, turning off to direction B after launch means it takes a long time and precious hexes to turn around.

· The second maneuver is "riskier" than the first maneuver and requires closer attention to execution. If the opponent is not on or past your #2 hexline, he can close the distance and force you concede range 8 or turn off to direction E. Readers wanting to try this approach should put counters on the map and practice turn 1 maneuver and plasma launch until they are comfortable with this.

· With the second maneuver, the A torpedo (LP launcher) is not in arc. This point is irrelevant - if your opponent wants to close through the first EPT, the Gorn is ahead by 60 damage points on turn 1 and has pretty much won the game already.

The Gorn rewards aggressive play, and turning left to launch the first EPT, while slightly risky, gains valuable hexes that will pay dividends if the Gorn is pursuing an anchor/bolt/launch strategy on turn 2.

Round 1: BYE

Round 2: Tom Gondolfi (Eric_The_Silent), Kzinti, 2 turns

Contrary to popular opinion, I believe the Gorn to be significantly advantaged against the Kzinti. Simply put, the Kzinti does not have enough direct firepower to threaten the Gorn outside of range 4. Whereas against a Klingon the Gorn must launch turn 1 plasma to prevent range 8, against a Kzinti the Gorn can safely launch turn 1 plasma to prevent range 5, or range 4, or sometimes even range 2. This generally allows for an extremely late plasma launch on turn 1, which can make the game very uncomfortable for the Kzinti on turn 2.

Turn #1: I plotted 20 moves (1-22:16, 23-32:26), armed the B torpedo as an enveloping plasma torpedo, and held the other plasmas as standards. I also held 1 wild weasel, and put 3 points of reinforcement on the #1 shield. The Kzinti plotted 23 moves (1-17:20, 18-32:26) with 4 standard disruptors. I closed with the Kzinti going pretty much straight up the map, again not particularly concerned about allowing range 8. The Kzinti eventually turned left to direction C to cross my T. On impulse 23 my speed change to 26 kicked in, and the Kzinti launched 4 fast drones. Since the drones would be tying up much of my phasers, I responded with the enveloping plasma torpedo from the B launcher on impulse 24, killing the drones with 4 phaser-1s from range 3, and a cleanup phaser-3 from range 1 after labbing the surviving drone as a type IF. On impulse 24, the Kzinti fired 2 standard FA/L disruptors (1/2 hits) and 1 FA/L phaser-1 (weapons that were about to go out of arc) from range 6, rolling poorly and doing 3 damage to my #1 shield, which bounced off my reinforcement. On impulse 25 we were at range 5, and the Kzinti fired 2 standard FA/R disruptors (1/2 hits) and 3 phaser-1s, doing 12 points of damage to my #1 shield. By impulse 28 the Kzinti had turned off to direction B to outrun the plasma, and I fired 2 phaser-1s from range 5 at the Kzinti #4 shield, scratching it.

I felt good here. The late EPT launch would drive the Kzinti to the north wall on turn 2, and I was in good pursuit position with no drones on the map.

Turn #2: I plotted 23 moves (1-16:26, 17-32:20), held my standard torpedoes and started arming the B torpedo, held my wild weasel, and put 6 to the phaser capacitors (filled them to 8.5). The Kzinti plotted 20 moves (1-12: 26, 13-22: 20, 23-32:14), with 2 overloaded disruptors (possibly some from battery). On impulse 3 the Kzinti launched 4 medium drones. By impulse 5 I had gotten to range 1 to the drones - since the medium drones did not move on impulse 6, I labbed all of them, and killed them with 3 phaser-1s and 2 phaser-3s over 2 impulses (basically using all my left side phasers). On impulses 5 and 12, the Kzinti fired 4 phaser-3s (LS and R/RR) at the EPT, which eventually hit in the 21-23 bracket for about 16 damage all around. On impulse 13 we were at range 4, with the Kzinti up against the wall with limited space to run, so I launched 50 points of real plasma from the A and C launchers, the Kzinti responding with 2 overloaded FA/L disruptors (1/2 hits) and a phaser-1 on my #6 shield. Tom knew that declaring emergency deceleration to weasel the plasma would give the Gorn the initiative for the remainder of the game, so on impulse 19 he fired 2 L/LR phaser-3s at the F torpedo before accepting the plasma impact on his #5 shield in the 6-10 bracket. The plasma did 41-21=20 internals, and I got some follow-up mizia from phasers in the range 15 bracket. After internals were applied, the Kzinti had lost 1 drone rack, 2 disruptors, 1 phaser-1 and 2 phaser-3s. Worse was the power situation, with the Kzinti having lost 3 warp and all impulse (a weakness of the Kzinti is the tendency to lose impulse and batteries quickly due to the small number of forward hull). After surveying the situation, Tom conceded.

Round 3: Jonathan Biggar (jonbig), Romulan Firehawk, 18 turns

In this particular matchup my only viable strategy would be to play plasma ballet with a ship that had not only a better turn mode than me, but also a cloaking device.

Turn #1: The Gorn and Romulan both opened with an enveloping plasma torpedo, with the Gorn plotting 16/31 and the Romulan plotting 26/14/26. We both launched near the center of the board, but because of my plot, I launched later in the turn. My torpedo eventually impacted in the range 20 bracket after Romulan phaser fire and reinforcement early on turn 2, while I ran the Romulan torpedo all the way out, giving me a slight advantage early.

Turns #2-3: Standard plasma ballet by both ships, with the Gorn launching an enveloper later on turn 2, and the Romulan launching an enveloper early on turn 3.

Turn #4: Because I needed the power for speed this turn, I finished my plasma S torpedo as standard, while the Romulan armed another enveloping plasma torpedo. We got to range 8 and I fired 4 phaser-1s, rolling poorly for 2 damage. The Romulan then turned in, and I launched 50 points of real plasma, which impacted on the Romulan #5 for 10 internals after Romulan phaser fire and reinforcement. I followed this up with a phaser chaser in the range 15 bracket, doing a few more internals. The Romulan had lost 2 warp and a phaser-3 at this point.

Turns #5-12: Standard plasma ballet by both ships, with neither ship doing much damage here. The Romulan regained some board position during this time period at the expense of resources - a 9/4/14 speedy weasel (turn 6), a pseudo S torpedo (turn 6), and a HET (turn 7). At this point the Romulan had repaired 2 warp as AWR (continuous damage repair) and 2 boxes on the #5 shield (powered).

Turn #13: The Romulan plotted 4/14 with cloak armed this turn, a good strategy by Jon. I launched 50 points of real plasma this turn, which the Romulan cloaked away.

Turn #14: The Romulan plotted 14/28 rolling his torpedoes, attempting to close with his torpedo advantage. The Gorn plotted 16/26 with an enveloping plasma torpedo. We started circling, and mid-turn I launched the enveloper in the range 8 bracket. Jon felt like he needed to press the action here, so he crashed the enveloper for 60 damage all around, resulting in 8 internals through the #5 shield (3 power and 2 phaser-3s). We ended range 8 with the Romulan in pursuit position.

Turn #15: The Gorn plotted 16/26. The Romulan plotted 20/27, pursuing this turn and ending at range 7. We both held fire, with the Romulan having 100 points of plasma to the Gorn's 90 next turn.

Turn #16: My biggest danger here was being anchored for 100 points of plasma, so I plotted tacs, 14 in tractor, and an enveloping plasma torpedo. The Romulan plotted 27/26/13/6. As the Romulan closed, I launched an F torpedo on impulse 1 and another F torpedo on impulse 3, which would eventually take down the Romulan #6 and #3 shields. On impulse 3 the Romulan had centerlined me at range 5 on my 18 box #3 shield and let fly with 4 bolts and 4 phaser-1s, hitting with 3 bolts and doing 50 damage. The resulting 27 internals destroyed 7 power, 2 phaser-1s, and a phaser-3. After turning off, the Romulan fired his RX phaser-1 through the hole, doing 3 more internals (phaser-1, phaser-1, F torpedo!). The Gorn fired some phaser-1s at the retreating Romulan, essentially leaving the Romulan with half his #2 shield as the only shielding left on his ship. On impulse 16 I finally managed to tac my other torpedo towards the Romulan and launched my enveloping plasma torpedo. The Romulan was already 11 hexes away at this point, but because of the slowdown in his speed plot, Jon was forced to declare Emergency Deceleration and wild weasel the torpedo late in the turn (3rd Romulan shuttle used, he had launched a manned shuttle earlier this turn which I killed with phasers).

Even though I had taken more internals and had lost more weapons than the Romulan, I felt good here because I had the advantage with respect to shielding, shuttles, pseudos, and repairs (Jon had repaired 2 phaser-3s, all 4 repairs used).

Turn #17: The Gorn closed at speed 10 with an enveloping plasma torpedo armed. The Romulan cloaked out at speed zero, and on impulse 32 I was forced to bolt the enveloper from range 9 (miss). End of turn I repaired a RS phaser-3 (continuous damage repair) and a box on the #3 shield (powered).

Turn #18: The Gorn plotted speed 16, and the Romulan remained at speed zero. The Romulan started to uncloak on impulse 1, and by impulse 6 we were at range 6. The Romulan launched 2 fastloads, while the Gorn launched a single fastload. The Gorn declared Emergency Deceleration to wild weasel the Romulan torpedoes (1st Gorn shuttle used), while the Romulan immediately started cloaking out. Just before cloaking out completely, the Gorn torpedo hit for 15 damage (full strength on the cloak chart), destroying the Romulan's #2 shield. With no forward shields to fight behind, Jon conceded.

Round 4: Jude Hornborg (Von_Nasty), Neo-Tholian, 2 turns

My friend and (usually) Lyran co-conspirator Jude was in the Neo-Tholian for this matchup. Because of the webcaster, this is the only game where I did not open with an enveloping plasma torpedo on turn 1. I knew that landing launched plasma would be almost impossible, and that bolting at least some of my plasma would be necessary. My plan was to evade for turn 1 and end up around range 10-15 to set up turn 2 pursuit (for the reason behind this tactic, refer to the term paper "Battle Pass Timing: The Rabbit and The Hound", which was published in Captain's Log 32).

Turn #1: I plotted 18 moves (1-23:16, 25-32:24) with 10 general reinforcement, holding all torpedoes as standards, and holding 2 suicide shuttles. The Neo-Tholian plotted 20 moves (1-22:16, 23-32:26) with 4 overloaded disruptors. I turned right to direction B and headed for the southeast corner, with Jude turning left to direction C to pursue. We ended up around range 15, the Gorn direction A and Tholian direction D. On impulse I launched a pseudo from the A launcher, and at end of turn Jude discharged 4 overloaded disruptors.

Turn #2: I plotted 23 moves (1-11:16, 12-32:26) with 2 to HET and 3 to tractor, holding all torpedoes as standards, and holding 2 suicide shuttles. The Neo-Tholian plotted 18 moves (1-11:15, 12-20:26, 21-32:15) with 4 overloaded disruptors, and starting 2 wild weasels. We closed slowly for the first part of the turn, and on impulse 6 Jude cast a 5-hex W-shaped web designed to catch the plasma as well as act as a firewall. Because the plasma was ahead of me with some separation, this made it difficult to achieve both objectives, and as a result the firewall was not positioned as ideally as possible.

By impulse 10 we were at range 6 with Jude heading to the western side of the web (Gorn #1 direction F to Tholian #6 direction D), and the Tholian let fly with 4 overloaded disruptors (3/4 hits) and 3 FH phaser-1s, doing 24 to my #1 shield. On impulse 11 we both announced speed changes to 26, and on impulse 19 the Tholian HET to direction B (5 reserve warp), trying to escape behind the web (Jude commented to me afterwards that he thought that my early speed change might have been from batteries, and that I might not have a HET powered). Because I knew I would be looking at the Tholian #4 shield for several impulses, on impulse 20 I took the bolt shot from range 4, bolting the B torpedo (hit), D torpedo (miss), and 4 phaser-1s (FA/L, FA/R, RS) for 29 on the Tholian #4 shield, netting 5 internals. On impulse 21 I made my HET to direction B (3 reserve warp plus 2 allocated), and bolted the C torpedo (miss) and 2 phaser-1s (LS) for 8 more internals. I admit I was a little bummed at this point, having got the bolt shot I wanted but only hitting with 1 of 3 torpedoes!! On impulse 22, after much thought, I bolted the A torpedo and was rewarded with a hit for 15 more internals. Because of the Tholian's speed change down to speed 15, I was also able to close (crashing a web snare to do so) to get the RA/L phaser-1 and LS phaser-3 through the down shield from close range. Jude fired most of his remaining phasers at me on the #2 and #6 shields, doing shield damage but no internals.

From a weapons standpoint the Tholian was still in fine shape - I had yet to hit a torpedo or drone, and had hit a grand total of 3 RA phaser-3s! However, having taken 38 internals, the Tholian was down 10 power and all the batteries. Jude saw that I could end the turn off his down shield for another set of internals on impulse 1, and conceded.

Round 5: Bill Schoeller (BS), Klingon, 2 turns

My friend and 2-time Fleet Captain Bill was in perhaps his most dangerous ship for my round 5 matchup. The plan here was to use a single enveloping plasma torpedo on turn 1 to get behind the Klingon, use speed on turn 2 to run around any drones on the map, with anchor/bolt/launch options to be evaluated as turn 2 unfolded.

Turn #1: I plotted 17 moves (1-4:15, 5-27:16, 28-32:26) with 5 reinforcement on the #2 shield, armed the B torpedo as an enveloping plasma torpedo, held the other plasmas as standards, with 1 to wild weasel and 1 to suicide shuttle. The Klingon plotted 20 moves (1-4:15, 5-17:16, 28-32:26) with 4 standard disruptors, 5 reinforcement on the #5 shield, 1 to tractor, and 1 to suicide shuttle. Early in the turn I turned left to direction F. On impulse 4 the Klingon launched the scatter-pack, which blossomed with 6 IM drones 9 impulses later. On impulse 20 we were approximately range 13 with the Klingon off my #2, and I launched the enveloping plasma torpedo from the B launcher. Bill fired 4 standard disruptors (3/4 hits), doing 4 damage to my #2 shield after my allocated reinforcement, before turning right to direction E, then to direction F, to outrun the plasma. After Bill fired, I turned in to direction A to pursue, and ended approximately 10 hexes behind the Klingon, with the 6 scatter-pack drones centerlined 2 hexes ahead of me.

Turn #2: I plotted 25 moves (1-3:15, 4-32:26), held my standard torpedoes and started arming the B torpedo, with 1 to wild weasel and 4 to tractor. I dropped the suicide shuttle this turn thinking that tractor power would be at a premium, and I turned out to be right! The Klingon plotted 24 moves (1-5:26, 6-13:25, 14-22:15, 23-32;26) with 6 reinforcement on the #2 shield, 3 to tractor, 1 to suicide shuttle, and 1 to wild weasel (1st turn of arming).

On impulse 2 the drones were forced to close the distance and went to range 1 centerline to me. On impulse 3, I slipped right at speed 15 and announced speed 26, running around the scatter-pack drones. The Klingon ran to the northwest corner, running the turn 1 enveloping plasma torpedo to nothing, before turning to direction B. I continued to close direction A, and on impulse 22 the Klingon turned in to range 1 direction C and announced speed 26 (Gorn #1 shield to Klingon #2 shield). Bill was planning to defeat my tractor and escape to the center of the board, splitting my plasma damage on separate shields. The Klingon did not have to turn in to range 1 here, but the alternative was to continue in direction B, which would allow the Gorn a range 2 centerline bolt shot on the Klingon rear shields, which averages 55-60 points of damage if 2 out of 3 bolts hit.

On impulse 22 I attempted a tractor beam on the Klingon, winning the tractor auction with the 9th point of power (5 batteries used), with the Klingon using 8 power for negative tractor (5 batteries used). Since we were both at pseudo-speed 12, neither of us were scheduled to move next impulse. I launched 70 points of real plasma (A, C, and D torpedoes), while Bill dropped tracking of 2 scatter pack drones to launch 2 fast drones at me from range 1.

During fire phase, I fired 4 phaser-3s (downfiring 2 phaser-1s) to kill the fast drones, while Bill took down most of my #1 shield with 2 phaser-1s, 2 phaser-2s, and a phaser-3 (the left wing phasers were not bearing due to the Klingon blind spot).

On impulse 23 the torpedoes impacted for 34 internals after the Klingon's allocated reinforcement. I dropped the tractor (wanting my RA phasers available to deal with any Klingon trickiness like a suicide shuttle or 3rd drone launch), and fired my 4 bearing phaser-1s into the hole for 21 additional internals. The Klingon returned fire with 2 FX phaser-1s, doing 3 internals to me (phaser-3, warp). At this point Bill conceded - the Klingon had taken 55 internals, losing 16 power, all batteries, all shuttles, all drone racks, 2 disruptors, and 5 phasers.

I managed to get a measure of revenge against Bill here. Last year, Bill's Klingon defeated my Archeo-Tholian in the 2009 Gold Hat final.

Round 6: Roberty Grey (Tugger), Orion (HHgBB), 4 turns

I knew Robert was a very dangerous opponent - just weeks ago, his well-flown Archeo-Tholian defeated my LDR in the Masters 2010 Final. In addition, I consider the Orion to be advantaged in this matchup. One item of note is that I rolled the A torpedo on turn 1 with the intention of enveloping it on turn 2. The Orion is simply too maneuverable, and has too much excess power (speed and reinforcement) and phaser-3s to make standard S torpedoes effective. In most cases, bringing standard S torpedoes into this matchup is like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Turn #1: I plotted 17 moves (1-4:15, 5-27:16, 28-32:26) with 5 reinforcement on the #2 shield, armed the B torpedo as an enveloping plasma torpedo, rolled the A torpedo, with 1 to wild weasel and 1 to suicide shuttle. The Orion doubled the left warp engine (power=39) and went speed 31, with 3 to roll the hellbore, 1 to suicide shuttle, 2 to tractor, and 8 reinforcement on the #3 shield (this is a good allocation, as many plasma captains will bolt at range 5 on the Orion rear shields on turn 1, after the Orion turns off).

Early in the turn I turned left to direction F, while the blazing Orion flew pretty much straight up the map. On impulse 18 we were at approximately range 14, and I launched the enveloping plasma torpedo from the B launcher, designed to prevent range 8. Robert thought for a while, but eventually turned direction C then direction B to outrun the plasma. After the Orion turned off, I turned right to direction A to pursue. On impulse 29 the Orion launched 2 drones, which I killed with 4 range 8 phaser-1s on impulse 32. On impulse 31 the Orion fired 6 phaser-3s at the EPT 2 hexes trailing. End of turn, the Orion burned a left warp engine.

Turn #2: I plotted 18 moves (1-23:15, 24-32:26), armed the A torpedo as an enveloping plasma torpedo, started arming the B torpedo, with 4 to recharge the phaser capacitor to full, 1 to wild weasel, and 1 to suicide shuttle. The Orion doubled the right warp engine (power=38) and plotted 29 moves (1-6:31, 7-21: 26, 22-32:31), with 3 to roll the hellbore, 1 to suicide shuttle, 4 to tractor, 3.33 to HET, and 3 to recharge the phaser capacitor to full.

Early in the turn Robert ran from the plasma in direction A, and on impulse 9 Robert turned to direction F, letting the torpedo impact in the 21-23 bracket for 20-7=13 damage all around. I didn't see any reinforcement from the Orion, which was important because it let me know that any phaser and plasma damage I could do this turn would "stick". On impulse 12 we were approximately range 6, and I launched the enveloping plasma torpedo from the A launcher, before turning right to direction B. Robert ran the torpedo out for 4 impulses in direction F, before HETing back to direction C on impulse 17 (speed change to 31 early, .67 from reserve warp) to juke the plasma. On impulse 17 I used 2 reserve warp to go to speed 26 early (I didn't want to allow the Orion range 2 or closer). We were at range 5 at this point, and I responded to the Orion HET with a 20 point plasma from the C launcher, and a FA/L phaser-1 which was about to go out of arc. On impulse 20 the Orion shot the plasma with 7 phaser-3s before taking it for minimal damage on his #3 shield. Robert eventually let the enveloping plasma torpedo hit in the range 15 bracket for 44 damage, in order to maintain an aggressive pursuit course towards me. On impulse 22 I had turned to direction C, and fired 4 phaser-1s (LS, RA/L, RA/R) on the Orion #2 shield. On impulse 26 I had turned to direction D and launched a 20 point plasma from the D launcher, also firing 2 phaser-1s (RS) at the Orion #1 shield. The Orion also fired on impulse 26 with 4 phaser-1s, doing 14 damage to my #4 shield. Robert had the opportunity to take a bolt/hellbore shot here, but declined the shot. The Orion maneuvered around the plasma, shooting it with 2 phaser-3s and taking it for 12 damage on his #4 shield. On impulse 30 the Orion launched 2 drones. The turn ended with the Gorn in the southeast corner of the map heading direction D, with the Orion trailing by 5 hexes, also heading direction D. End of turn, the Orion burned a right warp engine.

By the end of turn 2, the Orion had essentially traded much of his shielding (remaining shields 12/5/8/3/14/21) for a turn 3 overrun opportunity with the Gorn low on plasma (only 1 fastload available turn 3). I thought I was losing at this point. In particular, I was kicking myself for launching the last plasma (D launcher) which Robert expertly maneuvered to take on his #4 shield. I was thinking that the D torpedo would have been much more effective paired with a B fastload torpedo on turn 3 to create a 40-stack, but as it turns out, the Orion #4 shield would be very important on turn 3.

Turn #3: I considered several strategies for turn 3, but fact was that I only had a single fastload available, was in a corner, and was about to have a glowing white hot Orion 5 hexes behind me. I came to the conclusion that if Robert was really determined to anchor me, well… there was not a whole lot I could do about that. So I needed to be prepared to deal with 4 drones, 1 plasma F, up to 4 shuttles, the powerful Orion phaser array, and an overloaded hellbore. I’d survive best as I could and see what was left of my ship at the end of the turn.

It was close. Really close.

I plotted 3 warp and 1 impulse tac, 5 to arm torpedoes A-C (I left torpedo D unarmed, expecting to lose it to damage), with 5 to recharge the phaser capacitor to 7 (expecting to downfire some phaser-1s at drones and shuttles this turn), 2 to fill the batteries up to full, 1 to wild weasel, 1 to suicide shuttle, and 16 reinforcement on my #2 shield. The Orion doubled both warp and the impulse (power=50) and plotted 17 moves (1-4:19, 5-12: 30, 13-20:15, 21-32:7), with 6 to overload the hellbore, 1 to suicide shuttle, 1 to wild weasel (1st turn of arming), 18 to tractor, 0.33 to HET, and 7 to recharge the phaser capacitor to 8.5.

On impulse 1 the Gorn launched 2 manned shuttles in directions A and F as the Orion and drones closed. On impulse 4 I took my first warp tac to direction E launched a fastload from the B launcher (2 reserve warp). On impulse 6 the Orion fired 2 RA/L ph-3s into the torpedo, and it impacted on impulse 7 for 17-14=3 internals through his #5. Robert got unlucky here, as one of the internals hit a drone rack! On impulse 8 we were at range 2, the Orion tried to lab one of my shuttles and rolled a 1. I tried to lab the turn 2 drones and rolled 1,1. We both chuckled. Since the drones were not scheduled to move on impulse 9, I fired a p1 at each one (RA/R, RS) and killed them both.

On impulse 9, the Orion moved to range 1 and anchored me (no fight). I had to use the impulse tac to direction D here to get my reinforced #2 shield to bear (Gorn #2 shield to Orion #6 shield). The Orion launched the F torpedo and a drone, and the Gorn launched a speed 3 suicide shuttle through the tractor tube. During fire phase I killed the drone with 2xphaser-3s (RS phaser-3, and downfired RS phaser-1). One of my manned shuttles shot the Orion from range 1 through the down #5 shield for 3 internals.

On impulse 10 the plasma hit my #2 shield for 20-16=4 damage. The Orion tractored my suicide shuttle, and shot me with 4 phaser-1s, 5 phaser-3s (LS, gatling), and the overloaded hellbore. In return my other manned shuttle fired for 2 internals through the #5 shield from range 2. The Orion fire did 36-26=10 and 15/15 internals, hitting a tractor, 4 phaser-1s (including the unfired FA/R), the RS phaser-3, and the D torpedo. After fire I had about 4 center hull left protecting my batteries (very important for fastloads on turns 4 and 5!).

On impulse 11 I took my second warp tac to direction E to face him with my LS phasers (wanting to be able to shoot down any suicide shuttles), and Robert turned left to B to face me (#1 to #1 shield). The Orion then released the tractor (nice move by Robert), and on impulse 12 slipped left off my down #2 shield, death-dragging my suicide shuttle. Not only was I about to take another 11 internals from his remaining RA/R and RS phaser-3s, I had no way of defending against a speed 5 suicide shuttle which was scheduled to move next impulse! In desperation, I launched a speed 1 wild weasel (I made it speed 1 because I didn’t want it to move in case a suicide shuttle was launched against me). Simultaneously, the Orion launched a speed 5 shuttle, but it turned out to be manned. Robert fired his last 3 phaser-3s through the +2 wild weasel shift, rolling poorly for 5 internals on the Gorn (C torpedo).

By impulse 15 the Orion had slipped 1 hex behind me still in direction B (#4 to #4 shield). Since I was facing the weak 3 point #4 shield, I decided to take the shot here under passive fire control with 3 phaser-1s (RA/L and LS), doing about 13-3=10 internals (I did not announce active fire control on this impulse for fear of an Orion shuttle launch as a response), hitting the other drone rack. On impulse 16 I announced active fire control, and fired the LS phaser-3 under passive, rolling well for 4 more internals. On impulse 17, I took my 3rd warp tac to direction D, and fired the FA/L phaser-1 under passive (.5 from reserve warp), rolling a 1 for 7 more internals!

The Orion separated a little and looped around, and we ended around range 4, with the Orion ending direction B. I bought a 4th warp tac (1 from reserve warp) to prevent an impulse 27 range 2 shot from the Orion admin shuttle, but the shuttle eventually got off my down #2 on impulse 32, and shot me from range 3 for 3 internals (rolled a 4 and 10 but I had no phasers bearing). The Gorn ended direction C.

End of turn the Orion burned 3 engines but repaired a LW as an AWR, leaving him with 14 total power after engine burn.

I hadn't hit very many phasers, but I had hit a lot of engines with the multiple small volleys! I had hit 3 RA phaser-3s, both drone racks, and the plasma torpedo, leaving the Orion with a gatling phaser, 4 phaser-1s, 3 phaser-3s, and the hellbore as remaining weapons. The Gorn was in bad shape as well, with 4 phaser-1s, 1 phaser-3, and 2 plasma S torpedoes as my remaining weapons, and dangerously close to losing batteries for fastloads. I still had healthy respect for the Orion, with the Gorn about one volley of internals away from being stripped of weapons.

Robert thought for a good while about conceding the match after turn 3, but after some thought decided to continue on to turn 4.

Turn #4: I plotted 9 moves (1-4: 8, 4-14:7, 15-32:8), recharged the phasers and batteries, 4 to arm torpedoes A and B, 4 to HET and 2 to repair a box on the down #2 shield. This speed plot moves on impulses 4 and 5, and was designed to get the Orion admin shuttle off my down #2 shield before his phaser cycled. The Orion doubled both warp engines (power=28), plotted a warp and an impulse tac, with a speed change up to 4, 1 to suicide suicide shuttle, 1 to wild weasel, charging phasers, batteries, and the hellbore. On impulse 2 the Orion took the warp tac to direction C. On impulse 3 the Orion took the impulse tac to direction D and announced speed 4. When I pointed out to Robert that he had no impulse engines left, he conceded the match.