Battle for Wolf 359 (Part 2)

[Dan Gurden]

As requested the initial Wolf 359 was getting unweildy at 3 pages, so heres a new thread for turn 5 and further...

------------------
Dan.

"A couple of thoughts from a random mind!"

[Makklor]

This is the current list of ships and their status.

I think this is the largest group of moves since we started this.
With: 13 moves in this round, 1 eternal cube, 2 missing, and 2 quits.

I am not sure how this will look, but I will try to make it readable.

Name Captain End Position *=In Current round ##=Late
BORG CUBE Longcutus *0x 0y 0z
Ahwahnee Wolfe *0x 2,410,000y 0z

Bellerophon DESTROYED
Bonestell Avril *0x 5,500,000y 0z
Chekov DESTROYED

Endeavour Quintana *50,000x 2,800,000y 50,000z
Firebrand DESTROYED
Gage DESTROYED

Melbourne DESTROYED
Princeton Ramsey *800x 3,710,000y 1,500z
Roosevelt On Reserve

Saratoga Aldaron *1,100,000x 3,450,000y -50z
Shiloh DESTROYED
Yamaguchi DESTROYED

Miyamoto Mushashi DESTROYED
Hawkeye DESTROYED
Kyushu DESTROYED

Armistice Bishop 0x 5,500,000y 0z
Agamemnon Sheridan *200x 3000000y -2000z
Buran DESTROYED

Melbourne Gorath *750x 3,760,000y 1,500z
Tolstoy DESTROYED
Liberator DESTROYED

Montana Captain Name?
Paul Revere DESTROYED
Vigilant Marks *100x 2,206,000y –3z

Drake Ramierez Connery *999x 1,385,000y 1,500z OR
Drake Ramierez Connery *999x 1,235,000y 1,500z OR
Drake Ramierez Connery *999x 1,085,000y 1,500z
Mississippi Rosenthal *500,000x 201,791y 0z
San Francisco Ka'tghar *0x 3,710,002y 0z

Journeyman Cobb
Damocles Tvendian *998x 3,030,000y 1499z
Valkyrie Kurtz *-4x 5,000,000y 50z Close Maneuvering?

El Capitan Captain Name?
Valley Forge On Reserve
Surak On Reserve

ShirKahr On Reserve
Buenos Aires On Reserve
Shiva On Reserve

Daystrom On Reserve
Uma Norken On Reserve
T'Kren On Reserve

The 3 moves for the Drake Ramierez is because he is trying something the could give him one of the three results.

Makklor


PS. The Journeyman is my next ship, waiting for next round, if the Melbourne dies this round. Also, The El Capitan is waiting for The Vigilant to die.


[This message has been edited by Makklor (edited 03-01-2001).]

[wolfe]

I really didn't see the end coming so quickly..guess its time for after action reports...

[Arithon]

Congrats Starfleet
Ok you lost 55% but on the bright side? this was 45% more survivors then the last time and you stopped the cube . this was also a bit unfair in that you did not have 40 captains and 40 ships attacking at once which would have changed things immensely such as packing more damage in less rounds thus destroying less ships..

[Steve Long]

With 40 participants all attacking the cube at once, it would definitely have gone down MUCH quicker. In fact, I bet Starfleet could've done it in one round, given proper coordination and tactics. Such are the differences between rules-defined games and no-rules-defined TV writing.

Time to introduce a "dramatic defense" rule for the Borg in SRM: Borg.

Steve "Longcutus" Long

[Alex Pryde]

Let's all be honest though. The Borg didn't immediately rotate to protect the unshielded side.

I agree (before anyone says anything) that with proper tactics Starfleet would have been able to surround and destroy the Borg cube anyways, but I think they would have taken alot more damage.

Still, good moves by Starfleet.

[First of Two]

Makes me wonder.. did you play it as though the cube had the same telling advantage that Locutus's cube had?

Picard is generally considered to have had a thorough understanding of SF tactics, and thus, what attack patterns the Fleet captains were likely to have used, and the most effective means of countering them. His cube, therefore, had this knowledge. Did yours? I would think that the borg could identify what tactic was being employed within a few nanoseconds, and deploy their resources accordingly.

Really, ships using standard "Attack Pattern Delta" and so forth should have ended up maneuvering INTO torpedoes, rather than escaping them, if you ask me (which you didn't, I know)

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

Even rotating the unshielded side would not have helped Alex as the torpedoes are self-guiding and we targetted them on that facing to continue the pounding.

If we had a full coordination of all forty ships, the fleet probably would have lost between ten to fifteen closing the distance but then the Cube would have been decimated.

I beefed the Cube stats up in my own game and use these to represent a smaller Borg Cube.

As for the Cube going down that quickly, once a shield goes, damage begins to accumulate rapidly and given the damage codes on weapons especially during multifires, 10,000 adds up rather quickly.

Regards,
CKV.

[Arithon]

Ok.. here is a dumb question perhaps but what about the Borg's ability to adapt to frequencies? I mean, wouldn't the torpedos explode at a specific energy frequency which the borg could counter and thus ignore? that being the case Longcutus might have made things easier on you.

[Steve Long]

Let's all be honest though. The Borg didn't immediately rotate to protect the unshielded side.

Yes, they did. As soon as the cube could, it rotated the unshielded facing away. That was covered in one of the posts. The problem is, that's essentially meaningless when guided torpedoes can simply arc around to hit the unshielded side. We don't really see that happening on TV, but there's no reason for me to forbid people from doing it; it's a valid tactic, one specifically implied by the self-guided nature of torps.

Makes me wonder.. did you play it as though the cube had the same telling advantage that Locutus's cube had?

I believe that I did, by applying certain modifiers every round. Though I suppose it all depends upon one's estimation of how helpful having him around would be.

Ok.. here is a dumb question perhaps but what about the Borg's ability to adapt to frequencies? I mean, wouldn't the torpedos explode at a specific energy frequency which the borg could counter and thus ignore? that being the case Longcutus might have made things easier on you.

I applied the same adaptation rules to torps as for beam weapons, just to keep things simple. However, arguably, the Borg can't adapt to explosions at all. They're not energy beams, which have a frequency; they're simple explosive force. I think one could argue an explosion doesn't have a "frequency" at all. Additionally, adaptation ability becomes useless once the cube's shields go down.

Steve Long

[wolfe]

IMHO steve ran the borg as well as they could be..
remeber there are no 'rules' for the borg..yet.
besides each of us WILL run the borg differently than the others..
I hope this sim and these discussions give steve what he needs to create his ideals for the srm: borg.

And as he tells us time and time again if it doesn't correspond to our ideals we change it to fit...

the conflict taught our charactures one Important thing: If you do not believe in god,you had better find a damn good substitute...

[dhorkan]

Well done Starfleet!!!! And congratulations to the Princeton's captain, who had the honor to say "Assimilate this, borg!!!!".

See you back on Earth.

[Makklor]

This is the Final list of ships and their status.

This is it guys. The last one. Some of these “Survived” did take some, if not a lot of damage, but they were not destroyed.

It was fun. J


Name Captain Ending Status
BORG CUBE DESTROYED
Ahwahnee Wolfe Survived

Bellerophon DESTROYED
Bonestell Avril Survived
Chekov DESTROYED

Endeavour Quintana Survived
Firebrand DESTROYED
Gage DESTROYED

Melbourne DESTROYED
Princeton Ramsey Survived
Roosevelt On Reserve

Saratoga DESTROYED
Shiloh DESTROYED
Yamaguchi DESTROYED

Miyamoto Mushashi DESTROYED
Hawkeye DESTROYED
Kyushu DESTROYED

Armistice Bishop Survived
Agamemnon DESTROYED
Buran DESTROYED

Melbourne DESTROYED
Tolstoy DESTROYED
Liberator DESTROYED

Montana On Reserve
Paul Revere DESTROYED
Vigilant DESTROYED

Drake Ramierez Connery Survived
Mississippi DESTROYED
San Francisco DESTROYED

Journeyman On Reserve
Damocles DESTROYED
Valkyrie Kurtz Survived

El Capitan On Reserve
Valley Forge On Reserve
Surak On Reserve

ShirKahr On Reserve
Buenos Aires On Reserve
Shiva On Reserve

Daystrom On Reserve
Uma Norken On Reserve
T'Kren On Reserve


Makklor

[wolfe]

many thanks to you Mak for keeping track of the(mess) positions..
Dan for starting this in the first place
and of course Steve Lo(ng)cutus for running it all..

[Dan Gurden]

Well, we started up this second thread, and lookie here. The sim is over...

---------------------------------------------

Here's the basic breakdown, guys.
This round, I did something slightly different. Since the cube's existence was on the line, instead of automatically giving Starfleet the initiative as I had in all previous rounds, I rolled initiative normally for all ships. I split the cube's actions into three separate groups, determining initiative separately for each. When the cube acted before a Starfleet ship,
I always checked for the success of the target's defensive actions first, to give it the full benefit of its orders.
As a result, the cube destroyed six more ships before finally being destroyed by a carefully-planned attack from the U.S.S. Princeton. However, without the valiant sacrifice and tactical cleverness of the U.S.S. Mississippi, the cube would have remained intact for another round.
As I predicted, I killed about 50% of the Starfleet ships before you guys took me out. Am I good, or what?!!!
Good job, everyone! This has been a lot of fun. I'd be glad to engage in tactical analysis and discussion if you like.

Longcutus

A. Borg First Actions

1. Eliminate all Size penalties via sensor checks.

2. Attack the Vigilant
As Captain Marks valiantly struggles to get any system on his crippled ship working, to no avail, the Borg cube fires a single torpedo at the helpless ship. Marks barely manages to make it to the escape pod before a final explosion reduces his ship to space debris.
Captain Marks, you may now take the El Capitan as your next ship.

3. Attack the Melbourne
"We're not dead yet!" shouts Captain Garath at his few surviving bridge crew members. "Fire all torpedoes at the cube's unshielded side!"
A sickening electronic warble is the only response from the Tactical panel. "Sir, all torpedo launchers non-functional. And shields have failed as well!"
Seeing the bright green glow of a Borg torpedo approaching, Captain Garath and his men dive for the bridge escape pods, barely making it off the ship before a single Borg torpedo destroys the Melbourne.
Captain Garath, you may now take the Journeyman as your next ship.

4. Attack the Endeavour
"We're in torpedo range. Conn, execute evasive pattern Omega-2. Tactical, modulate shields to confuse incoming torpedoes!" A precise, clipped "Aye, sir!" greets both of the captain's orders.
And they come not a moment too soon. The Borg cube fires ten torpedoes from one of its ventral launchers at the Endeavour's forward shield as ten separate attacks. Though the maneuvering and shield manipulation cause four torpedoes which would otherwise have hit to miss the ship completely, six slam into its forward shield. The first torp reduces the shield's Protection to 500 and causes 154 SUs damage to the ship (15 of which damage the EPS
relays, reducing their ability to handle extra Power flow by 10%). The second
torp collapses the forward shield and does another 154 SUs to the ship (15 of which damage a cargo hold). The third torp inflicts 484 SUs of damage to the ship (48 of which completely destroy the Endeavour's lateral sensors).
The fourth torp inflicts 484 SUs of damage to the ship (48 of which destroy the ship's impulse engines, rendering it immobile except for minor movement abilities from the RCS).
The fifth torp inflicts 484 SUs of damage to the ship (48 of which destroy the TA/T/TS, forcing the ship to go to manual targeting). The sixth torp inflicts 484 SUs of damage to the ship (48 of which destroy the main
navigational computer).
The Endeavour has taken 2,244 SUs of its total 2,406 SUs. It will find maneuvering virtually impossible, and any other action extremely difficult, for the rest of the combat. I suggest evacuation. If you choose this option, Captain, you may take the U.S.S. Surak (Freedom) as your next ship.

5. Attack San Francisco
"All right, people, we're going in!" said Captain Ka'tghar. "Conn, defensive maneuver Delta! Tactical, full power to forward shields! Ops, break that damn cube's targeting lock on us!"
"I can't, sir!" complained the Science Officer, struggling valiantly with his systems. "Their technology, it's like nothing I've ever encountered before; the lock is just too strong!"
And with that, the cube fired ten torpedoes from one of its port launchers at the SF's forward shield as ten separate attacks. Six hit, the remainder missing due to the ship's maneuvering.
The first torp reduces the shield's Protection to 775 and causes 209 SUs damage to the ship (21 of which destroy the power transfer conduits, making it impossible for the ship to attain warp speed). The second torp reduces the shield's Protection to 275 and causes another 209 SUs damage to the ship (21 of which destroy the ODN system). The third torpedo collapses the forward
shield and inflicts another 209 damage to the ship (21 of which causes major damage to the ship's communication system). The remaining four torpedoes strike the now-defenseless ship, destroying it.
Captain Ka'tghar, you may take the U.S.S. ShirKahr (Miranda) as your next ship.

B. Saratoga Attacks
The Saratoga fires a full spread from all of its torpedo launchers as a 16-shot Multifire, using pattern Delta-9-1 to increase its accuracy. Six torpedoes hit. Although the orders do not so specify, I am assuming the forward, unshielded, side of the cube was targeted, so the cube takes 1,200 SUs of damage.

C. Damocles Attacks
The Damocles fires a full spread of 6 torps as a Multifire, and though it fails to properly establish a torpedo firing pattern, all six hit. Although the orders do not so specify, I am assuming the forward, unshielded, side of the cube was targeted, so the cube takes 1,200 SUs of damage.

D. Borg Second Actions
Princeton — any torp
Ahwahnee — any torp
Drake Ramirez — any torp
Valkyrie — any torp
Agamemnon — any torp
Mississippi — any torp, aft/port beam — The Mississippi has taken 1,065 SUs of its total 2,072 SUs in damage.

1. Eliminate all Size penalties via sensor checks.

2. Attack the Saratoga
The Borg finally decide to swat this annoying little gnat. The cube fires 10 torpedoes at the Saratoga's forward shield as 10 separate attacks as the target executes evasive pattern Omega-2. Six torpedoes hit, the others missing due to the maneuvering. This more than suffices to destroy the Saratoga entirely.
Captain, you may take the U.S.S. Buenos Aires (Miranda) as your next ship.

3. Attack the Damocles
As the Damocles attempts, but fails, to run the shields directly from the warp engine, and presents minimal aspect to make the Borg's attack as difficult as possible, the cube fires 10 torpedoes at its forward shield as 10 separate attacks. Seven hit, doing more than enough damage to destroy the
Light Cruiser.
Captain, you may take the U.S.S. Shiva (Niagara) as your next ship.

E. Drake Ramirez attacks
The ship performs all its listed actions, but as no attacks were ordered (due to a lack of missile weapons), it inflicts no damage on the cube.

F. Ahwahnee attacks
The ship performs all its listed actions, but as no attacks were ordered, it inflicts no damage on the cube.

G. Mississippi attacks
"We may be hurt, but we're not dead yet!" exclaims the captain. "Conn, get us in close using defensive pattern Theta-3! Tactical, hit it with everything we've got, phasers and photons!"
First, the ship fires 12 torpedoes at the cube's unshielded side as a Multifire. Because THE MISSISSIPPI HAD THE GOOD SENSE TO GET IN CLOSE TO THE CUBE, all 12 torpedoes hit, rocking the Borg for 2,400 SUs of damage!
Second, the Mississippi fires three separate phaser shots at the aft side of the cube (the closest side, as indicated). All three hit, reducing that shield's Protection by 540 but having no further effect.

H. Agamemnon attacks
Using evasive pattern Theta-3, the Agamemnon closes with the cube and fires three torpedoes. Although the order does not specify, I am assuming this is a three-shot Multifire at the cube's unshielded side. All three torps hit, inflicting 600 damage on the cube.

I. Borg Third Actions
Princeton — any torp
Ahwahnee — any torp
Drake Ramirez — any torp
Valkyrie — any torp

1. Eliminate all Size penalties via sensor checks.

2. Attack the Mississippi
In this case I'm going to save a little time and not worry about the full rundown, since the dice indicate that enough torps would hit the ship, which has already lost half its SUs, to destroy it.
However, it should be noted that the Mississippi, by itself, did more damage in a single round than had been done to the cube in the first four rounds of combat by the entire fleet. Good job!!

3. Attack the Agamemnon
The cube fires 10 torpedoes from one of its dorsal launchers at the Agamemnon's forward shield as ten separate attacks. Six hit, the remainder missing due to the ship's maneuvering. This suffices to destroy the ship.
Captain, you may take the U.S.S. Daystrom (Cheyenne) as your next ship.

J. Bonestell attacks
The Bonestell attempts to hack into the Borg computer systems, but fails. Good try, though.

K. Valkyrie attacks
The Valkyrie fires two separate five-shot Multifires from its two torpedo launchers (the ordered firing of the phasers is ignored, since the ship is nowhere near phaser range). Although the orders do not so specify, I'm assuming the ship directs its attack at the unshielded side of the cube.
The first attack hits the cube with four torpedoes, inflicting 800 SUs damage on the cube.
The second attack hits the cube with five torpedoes, inflicting 1,000 SUs damage on the cube.

L. Princeton attacks
After spending several rounds carefully evaluating the cube's tactical weaknesses, Captain Ramsey strikes! He fires a full volley of six torpedoes from both of his ship's launchers at the unshielded side of the cube, even achieving pattern Delta-9-5 on the first shot.
The first shot hits with all six torpedoes, inflicting 1,200 SUs damage on the cube.
The second shot hits with only three torpedoes, but that's enough to destroy the cube!!


Destroyed this round: Endeavour (effectively), San Francisco, Saratoga,
Damocles, Mississippi, Agamemnon

Casualty Summary
Starfleet: Has lost the Chekov, Kyushu, Hawkeye, Excelsior-class Melbourne,
Bellerophon, Buran, Gage, Miyamoto Musashi, Tolstoy, Firebrand, Liberator,
Nebula-class Melbourne, Paul Revere, Shiloh, Vigilant, Yamaguchi, Endeavour,
San Francisco, Saratoga, Damocles, Mississippi, and Agamemnon (55.0% of
fleet).
Borg: Cube destroyed.

---------------------------------------------
Here we go, all over, bar the shouting

Anyway, now the sim is over, Makklor, care to post a list of the entirte fleet and the surviving vessels?

And any comments ladies and gentlemen?

------------------
Dan.

"A couple of thoughts from a random mind!"