Dicember 2022

[Kelly]

This month, I am determined to put models on the table and roll dice, just to get practice in.  When I do have a rare chance to play, I want to be totally prepared as far as movement and priority decisions go, so first up was the introductory Maritime Patrol scenario on a 36 x 48 between Basileans (142) and Orcs (142).

The list building was more difficult than it needed to be, because I wanted all of both sides' ships to have veteran crews for a 50% base chance of passing skill checks but that brings in multipliers and rounding into the otherwise straightforward point calculations and ship upgrading.  This was my first use of squadrons, the tiny size support ships, and brought the totals to 4 ships on the Basilean side vs. 6 ships on the Orcs side.

Basilea - Elohi x2, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs - Hammerfist x2, Blood Runner, Rabble x3

For turns 1-4 I realized just how rusty I was as 2/3 of my Orc points lost an entire turn as both Hammerfists and their captain went sailing merrily off of the board.  I was so focused on ramming attempts to use the Orcs special rules that I totally lost sight of the turns I would have to make to keep them in play.  The Basilean side was more disciplined and only had one ship sail off the board, and their extra 20% points for veteran crews allowed them to successfully pass their skill checks to evade all of the ram attempts by each Orc ship.  (Basilea - 40 points of damage lost / Orcs - 30 points of damage lost)


For turns 5-8 with slightly better angles, more shooting attacks took their toll, and the Basileans lost both of their support ships, with the Orcs losing one squadron as well.  Another ship for each side sailed off the board in the final turn which counted against their scenario totals.  (Basilea - 98 points of damage lost / Orcs - 59 points of damage lost)


Overall, the result was an Orc victory 69 to 24 and the shooting attacks seemed to be comparable between both sides, the only difference being that the Basileans had less opportunities to shoot due to their opponents' poor steering decisions.  There was a total lack of boarding this game due to the Basileans making every evade roll, but I have a better understanding now of when rams should be attempted vs. a regular grappling attempt and expect that to change.

Only one picture, right before the Gur Panther took its final critical hit, but each of these were painted and crewed.

[Kelly]

And a second practice of Maritime Patrol with the same fleets to apply any lessons learned...

Basilea - Elohi x2, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs - Hammerfist x2, Blood Runner, Rabble x3

On this run through, mostly slower speeds and higher turns led to only one ship running off the board, and I concentrated more on lining up shots from multiple arcs.  Overall, far more shooting damage was dealt out on this group of turns 1-4 and 3 ships were destroyed or surrendered.  (Basilea - 69 points of damage lost / Orcs - 96 points of damage lost)


Turns 5-8 saw the first boarding action of the game with a successful grapple, which does not involve bonus damage from the special Orc ramming rules, but grapples are much easier to achieve.  The Orc ship that initiated the grapple destroyed their target within two rounds of boarding, and even though they did not last to the end of that turn, the Elohi they took out was over double their cost in points.  Less damage from shooting on the second half, but that was due to less targets being available, and two ships wandered off the board in this block.  (Basilea - 123 points of damage lost / Orcs - 126 points of damage lost)


Overall, the result was a Basilean minor victory 81 to 67 and I feel far more comfortable in maneuvering again in order to set up shots than the first practice run.  Successful rakes against bows and sterns add considerable damage which more than sets off negative modifiers for firing as she bears or firing at long range which I incurred a lot while trying to set up those shots.  Also, the boarding action felt like it was a reasonable return for the difficulty in positioning it required, and I can see now how the other rules balance into boarding / grapples / rams.

[Kelly]

The second book scenario is Capture the Kraken; a large sea monster travels around the board attacking everything near it, and scoring is based on damage dealt to the Kraken.  Again the setup was on a 36 x 48 with Basileans (188) and Orcs (190).

Basilea - Elohi x3, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs - Smasher, Hammerfist, Blood Runner, Bombboat

The most important lesson from the start was the necessity of judging angles to avoid collisions if the wind / activation order changes, AND if the activation order remains the same.  The Basilean plan fell apart when their captain caused 3 collisions between turns 2 and 3, and the ensuing damage destroyed his ship since no one on their side could make any evade rolls this time around.  There were four successful rams in the battle by the Orcs with three against the Basileans, and one against the Kraken.  (Basilea – 4 points / Orcs – 6 points)


Turns 5-8 saw more points scored by the Orcs hitting the Kraken, and the Basileans were left out of position due to the speed lost from the collisions and rams at the start, and since three of their five ships were already lost.  (Basilea – 0 points / Orcs – 7 points)


The final result was a major victory for the Orcs 13 to 4 and I feel that that more medium size ships vs. fewer large ships is preferable… except in this mission.  Planning out close maneuvers of ships is harder than it appears, and the large Orc Smasher had enough structure points to not only close within the Kraken’s attack range with impunity, but to engage in a boarding action with it as well.  Even with purchased upgrades to their structure, each of the medium Basilean Elohis would have had to stay out of range of the Kraken had they not collided, much less attempt a boarding action against it.

[Easy E]

Sailing off the board!  That sounds like par for the course when I play any Naval game!

Nice maps for the bat reps!

[Kelly]

Scenario three is The Vortex, scoring is based on proximity to a magical whirlpool which not only pulls ships towards it, but also deals out incremental damage to each ship in a scoring position.  With this scenario being a split deployment, I set up on a 36 x 36 board with Basileans (188) and Orcs (186).

Basilea - Elohi x3, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs - Smasher, Hammerfist x2, Rabble

With no scoring for sinking enemy ships, both sides went straight in towards the center… the Basileans took an early lead, and the Orcs had their Smasher ground itself on a sandbank after the whirlpool pull at the end of the first turn.  As a large ship, it could not free itself, but its positioning did allow it to still engage from multiple arcs.  Partly as a result of the fire from the Smasher, and partly from the whirlpool scenario damage, the Basileans lost 4 ships.  (Basilea – 17 points / Orcs – 15 points)


For turns 5-8, the Orcs were able to score more points due to the majority of their opponents having been sent to the bottom of the ocean / the bottom of the whirlpool.  The Orc Smasher was finally destroyed by the D10 damage being inflicted each turn by the whirlpool from its size and grounding, but it did score a point for each of the 7 turns it remained intact.  (Basilea – 0 points / Orcs – 13 points)


A major victory for the Orcs 28 to 17 but it could have easily gone the other way with one or two different random whirlpool pull rolls for the Basileans.  Preemptively placing a ship as a grappling / ramming target for the Orcs to descend on worked well, and freed up their other ships to position for scoring.  The split deployment zones are also perfect for this scenario with an impassable center and compulsory moves drawing every ship closer at the end of each turn.

And here is a fully painted picture of turn 4, right before the Gun Brig sails into the whirlpool to be removed from play.

[Kelly]

X Marks the Spot is the fourth scenario, and every ship has the opportunity to pick up treasure tokens (points) from the two islands on the board which also form navigation hazards.  The larger ships cannot approach as closely or pick up as much treasure as smaller sized ships which is a good balance, and treasure is lost along with the ship upon a sinking, unlike the last scenario.  Another setup with a 36 x 36 board and similar fleets to the last one, Basileans (188) and Orcs (191).

Basilea – Elohi x3, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs – Hammerfist x2, Rabble, Smasher

This was the first scenario where using the repair rules makes sense, as they require forfeiting any attacks that activation.  One Hammerfist grounded itself on the southern island and managed to make good use of repairs through turns 1-4.  The tiny and small ships for both sides managed to easily pick up their maximum treasure tokens and then tried to deliver those tokens to larger ships for safe keeping.  The Orc Rabble survived, and the Basilean Gunbrig did not.  The Orc Smasher as the only large ship managed to anchor itself safely between the two islands and waited to take on treasure.


Three more Basilean ships were sunk in turns 5-8, along with their accumulated treasure, which sealed the victory for the Orcs (19 to 5) as the majority of their points had been transferred onto the Smasher.


This scenario saw the most dramatic swings in points between the two sides; at one point Basilea had the advantage of 13 to 12, but ended up losing those points along with the ships carrying them.  The star of the show was the tiny Rabble, who managed to pick up the maximum of 6 treasures (twice!) and somehow survive all of the fire aimed at it.  Easily the most exciting scenario so far, I really hope there are not any disappointments in store later on…


Five scenarios down, and then we have Hunt the Flagship.  The largest ship in your fleet is designated the flagship which has to make it from one side of the board to the other as a simple pass / fail.  With the recommendation of the book, I went back to a rectangular board of 36 x 48 and fleets of Basileans (188) and Orcs (191).

Basilea – Elohi x3, Gunbrig, Gur Panther
Orcs – Hammerfist x2, Rabble, Smasher

This was the least interactive and least interesting scenario so far.  Even on a 48 inch table, only 39 inches need to be covered by the flagship to leave the board after accounting for the deployment width, and 5 turns are all that takes even with a speed of 4.  The scenario rules do place limits on what the flagship can do, but also allow repair actions out of normal sequence, and the best move is to simply advance with no maneuvering and just repair every turn.  The Smasher used its bonus to repair to recover all 40 points of damage it took over the game and easily left at the start of turn 5. 


Overall, it was a disappointing win for the Orcs (1 to 0) which was over quickly at least.

Nice maps for the bat reps!

Thank you, only about half of my Armada ships are painted, so not the best for photos yet, and recording each of the steps is really what is helping me get back into practice.  I'm glad you enjoyed them!

[Kelly]

I gave Hunt the Flagship a second chance, and this run-through was just as disappointing.  I reversed the sides and had the Basileans try to move in a closer formation to block the Orcs and allow their flagship in the center to slip through with no luck.  This round was over in 3 turns with a Basilean loss since there are only so many grappling tests that can be avoided… sigh.


The only other approach that I see to simply driving straight ahead, would be to deploy your flagship at a 90 degree angle and sail as slowly as possible around one board edge, hoping that the momentum of both halves of your opponent’s forces do not allow them to join up.  The problem with that is the scenario requires your largest ship to be named the flagship so 25% - 40% of your fleet is out of the action for the majority of the game; the more I think through this one, the less I like it.


Scenario six is A Storm is Brewing, which introduces both weather features and defined wind patterns which make activations more predictable.  Another set up on 36 x 48 and the same fleet builds of Basileans (188) and Orcs (191).

The first four turns saw the most successful grapples and boarding actions out of every test so far (6) since the random movement of rain squalls on the board conspired to block visibility for shooting and forced both sides closer than the Basileans would have preferred.  However, their fleet rules give them some bonuses to survive boarding actions (they need them to stand up against the Orcs from the starter box) and they mostly held their own and managed to disengage successfully after no more than 2 rounds of attacks.


Five through eight saw more shooting damage, but also more opportunities to repair as ships had activations with no visible targets, and both sides were roughly even until ships left the board which affected the scoring.


A narrow victory for the Orcs of 120 to 98 only because this scenario awarded points equally to ships that were crippled and that were off board.  Overall, the rain squalls had a huge effect, not from potential damage to ships in the squalls, but from their line of sight blocking.  This scenario was interesting, but one of the rules was for random movement of squalls as opposed to the regular book rule, which kept me from using a 2D template for ships to move in / across like all of the other defined terrain.  The best solution I could find were circular rings of pipe cleaners (not the most photogenic) that could be picked up and replaced after their random moves and could lightly sit atop any ships that may end up partially within.  Not the most precise, but still good.

[Kelly]

Number seven is Attack Waves, one fleet is a split deployment with half in reserve and the other has to reach the opposite table edge to score.  The board was 36 x 48 with Basileans (188) and Orcs (191) again as the two fleets. which were not ideal for this setup.

Only three turns for this one before all the Basilean defenders escaped, which was a foregone conclusion since no reinforcements are allowed until turn three at the earliest.  The Orcs did manage to sink two ships but still lost 4 to 9.


Much like the flagship scenario, there is no real incentive to engage as the defender, only to avoid and move past the attackers, but unlike earlier, points are awarded based on whether each and every ship of the defenders escapes or is sunk so there is a greater variance in possible results.  Not ideal for low point games, but this would have more of a place in a campaign or event.


And scenario eight is Flotsam and Jetsam, cargo tokens are scattered across the board with hidden values of 0, 1, or 2 which are revealed when retrieved by a ship.  Another square board of 36 x 36 with the same two fleets I settled on for practice, Basileans (188) and Orcs (191).

All ten tokens were claimed and revealed within the first two turns, and then were traded after boarding actions.  Ships sailed off the board, this time on purpose, as the lost turns were more than made up for by better firing angles, and there are no penalties to leaving in this scenario.


Turns 5 through 8 saw all of the 1 and 2 point tokens secured on ships in no danger of sinking, but much more maneuvering as both sides tried to claim 0 point cargo tokens, the tie breaker in this scenario.  At the end, another Elohi was destroyed due to a high critical damage roll, and somehow the small Gunbrig survived as it rolled the minimum possible on its last critical damage.  The final score was an Orc victory 6 to 2, and overall this was a much more interactive scenario than the prior one.

[Kelly]

Treaty and Treachery is the penultimate scenario in the book, two main battle ships from each fleet are breaking off negotiations and have movement restrictions as they try to make their way off of the far board edge.  Again, I set both of the same fleets of Basileans (188) and Orcs (191) on a 36 x 36 board.

Points are awarded for sinking opponent’s ships, but 6 points are awarded to the side whose emissary ship makes it off the board first.  With the limited deployment areas available, I sent both fleets to the center to try and claim points from each other, as intercepting the emissary would need at least 3 ships to ensure they could not evade collisions or grapples from past experience.


On turn 5, the Basilean emissary escaped first and claimed 6 points, but there was still room for the Orcs to draw or win as all the Basilean ships had heavy damage.  However, only the lowly Gunbrig was sunk for another point and their other medium ships barely survived.  A solid victory for the Basileans of 6 to 3.


The survival element of this scenario was not a negative like it was in Hunt the Flagship or Attack Waves because the large escape bonus was balanced out by the other scoring being based on ship size instead of ship points.  The wind direction played a large part in the Basileans winning the race to escape (seven turns of E or SE), but since the opposite side deployment was in effect the side that has a disadvantage for emissary moves also has an activation advantage for all of their other ships.  Not the best, but I enjoyed this set more than I thought I would.


And at long last, we have come to the tenth and final scenario, Plant the Flag.  Three locations on the north edge of the board need to be claimed at the end of eight turns, and the wind in this scenario will begin to push any ship that fails a skill test away from the coast.  The recommended board for this one was 42 x 36 and the same fleets were in of Basileans (188) and Orcs (191).

For the first half, both fleets sailed as fast as they could to get into position for the end game scoring as anchoring is the best way to avoid the wind pushes each turn.  Some shooting led to the Basilean Elohi captain being sunk, along with an Orc Rabble.


Starting in turn five, the game was defined by grapples, and limited maneuvering as each ship was trying to anchor in the most advantageous spot before final scoring.  A chain reaction on the largest multiple grapple so far led to each of the ships involved being destroyed, and only three survived in total.  As a fitting end to the test runs of the book scenarios we had a 3-3 tie.


The variety in these scenarios was surprising and there are several things I did not pick up on earlier read throughs until they were put into practice on the table (well test practice).  I can now see which would be more suitable for higher or lower point games (when more is painted) and should be able to better brief an opponent when I can get a regular game in.