Defenders of the Gelron Sector - Encounter at Neg'rett

Defenders of the Gelron Sector

Duke Al-Rek of the planet B’yath has recently declared in favour of the Rebel Alliance, freeing his planet from Imperial control, and starting open warfare in the surrounding systems. An Imperial Armada has been dispatched to regain control of the sector. The battle has begun…

Battle One: Encounter at Neg’rett

The Planet Neg’rett is under attack by Imperial Forces. The defenders have barricaded themselves in the Capital City and are resisting fiercely. An Imperial Battle Group in orbit is bombarding the garrison. Your Task Force has been dispatched to disrupt the Imperial attack...

Mission:

Opening Salvo

Setup: After deploying fleets, assign 1 objective token to each ship.

Special Rule: The first time a ship performs an attack against another ship, discard the attacker’s objective token. If the attacker belongs to the first player, he adds 2 red dice to the attack pool. If the attacker belongs to the second player, he adds 2 dice, each of any colour, to the attack pool.

End of Game: Each player increases his final score by half the fleet point cost of each enemy ship in the play area that has at least 1 damage card, rounded up.

Imperial Forces are first player.

Objective:

Major Victory: Defeat the Imperial Force by a margin of 100 points or more

Victory: Defeat Imperial Force by a margin of 1 point or more.

Any other result is a Rebel defeat.

Imperial Tactics:

The IEF is bombarding Neg’rett, and will therefore attempt to remain in close range of the target beacon (objective marker). Imperial Ships will follow normal target rules, but will also consider the target beacon as an option, but only counting black dice armament (using CF if available). In the event of a tied result, the Imperials will fire on the Rebel ships as priority.

For each roll of CRIT/HIT on the target beacon, the Imperials gain 1 victory token (10 points).

The Imperial Commander is Cautious.

Commander Kerazin: Each friendly ship gains +1 Engineering value.

The Imperial Focus Point is fixed and will not move during this scenario – it is directly opposite the deployment zone, in line with the target beacon.

TF1734 will default to REPAIR commands, passing tokens to the Star Destroyers, first to Valorous,

then to Glorious. If both Star Destroyers have REPAIR tokens, TF1734 will give SQUADRON orders – sending Squadrons in range to attack Rebel forces, or passing tokens if no Squadrons are in range.

Imperial Deployment and Formation is as per the picture below…

(I realised after creating this image that I had put the Imperials on the wrong side of the table - but it looks nicer with the planet there. Put the target beacon about distance 5 1/2 from the table edge. It should be in black range of the Victory Star Destroyers at the start of Round 2.)
(Also, the fighters at the front corners are too close to the Victories - so move them out a bit otherwise they get overlapped automatically)

Imperial Expeditionary Force

Valorous

Victory I (73) - Flagship
- Enhanced Armament (10)

- Commander Kerazin
= 83 Points

Glorious

Victory I (73) - Flagship
• Enhanced Armament (10)
= 83 Points

TF1734

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Comms Net (2)
= 25 Points

Squadrons:
• 2 x TIE Advanced Squadron (24)
• 4 x TIE Fighter Squadron (32)
= 56 Points

Total Points: 247

Rebel Forces may deploy in the setup area as normal.

R’yath Defence Force

Faithful Consort

CR90 Corvette A (44)
= 44 Points

Valiant Choice

CR90 Corvette A (44)
= 44 Points

Purposeful Defender

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)
Captain Doya

= 57 Points

Squadrons:
• 2 x X-wing Squadron (26)
• 4 x Z-95 Headhunter Squadron (28)
= 54 Points

Total Points: 199

Captain Doya: The Rebel Player may reroll two dice per round.

Surviving Rebel Ships gain a Veteran Captain for the next battle.
One surviving X-Wing gains a Brace token, and one surviving Z-95 gains a Scatter token.




Edit:
I played this through against the AI, and made a number of mistakes, and the Rebels lost.

So I had another go, did slightly better remembering everything from the AI, and the Rebels won (by 5 points). Here is a LINK to the vassal log file so folks who want to play this (or watch the recorded battle).

Or here is a little video report as well...

An Armada AI System - in Development

Star Wars: Armada

AI system for Imperials

v1.02

To promote solo and cooperative play

Overriding Rule – if the AI does something obviously dumb (ie, something no human would ever do) then override and make it do the obvious sensible action.

Obvious Target Rule – AI love rolling dice – to determine valid targets, the AI will always try to roll the maximum number of dice. If choosing between firing 3 red dice at a ship, or 4 dice at squadrons, the squadrons will be chosen. If there is a tied option, roll a die to determine target.

Double Arc Rule – When determining the Obvious Target rule, add all the dice that could be fired at the same target as one result.

For Example:

A Victory II has an enemy ship at long range in the front arc (3 dice), 3 squadrons in blue range to the side (3 dice), and a corvette double at long range in the side and rear (2 dice and 2 dice = 4). The AI will choose to shoot at the corvette with 2 shots of 2 red dice.

Weakest Arc – The AI will always choose to shoot the enemy arc with the fewest shields, as long as it can maximise dice.

Example:

The Victory II will shoot the Corvette with 6 dice (3 red, 3 blue).

It will choose to shoot the Corvette in the front arc even though it has shields, since shooting it in the side arc would mean losing 3 blue dice.

Defence Tokens – The AI will use any defence tokens it can to minimise damage.
It will not BRACE if there is an unactivated enemy in range with more dice to be rolled than the current attack.
AI will only use exhausted defence tokens if it would otherwise take damage cards, or in the case of BRACE, if it would otherwise be destroyed.

Example:

The Victory is being fired upon by the Corvette with 2 red and 1 blue. The Victory will not use its brace, as it is also in range of the MC80 Assault cruiser, which has not yet activated. The MC80 Assault has 4 red dice potentially on the victory. If the MC80 were a Command Variant (only 3 red from the side arc) the Victory would BRACE against the Corvette.

Squadrons –

When activated with an order, Squadrons will move towards and engage the nearest enemy squadron with the closest squadron activating and moving first.

If there are no enemy squadrons in range, squadrons will attack the nearest enemy ship.

In general, squadrons that are unengaged in the Squadron phase will move to maintain their position in the formation.

Engaged squadrons will shoot at enemies in the following order – Escorts, non-counter, Counter. If there are multiple targets, Squadrons will fire on the enemy with the fewest hit points remaining. If there is a tie, roll a die to determine the appropriate target.

Example: Tie Fighter A is engaged with X-Wings, so must shoot them first (Escort).

Tie Fighter B is engaged with the Z-95 and the A-Wing. “B” will shoot at the Z-95, as it does not have COUNTER, even though the A-Wing is only on 1 health.

Playing the Game

Choose Imperial Commander style

Roll a blue – crit = aggressive, accuracy = cautious, hit = normal

Standard mission – deploy all player forces first. Place Imperial marker as Focal Point.

Focal Point (FP) is placed midway between Player’s ships (if two ships, halfway between – if three ships, on the middle ship, etc). Pull the FP back to the edge of the board (use an Imperial Victory Token to indicate FP.

Roll blue for FP adjustment.

Crit – move FP distance 3 to West (left of Player’s side). Roll blue again – if crit, move FP distance 3 West, otherwise ignore result. 

Accuracy – move FP distance 3 to East (right of player’s side). Roll blue again – if accuracy, move FP distance 3 East, otherwise ignore result.

            

Hit – leave FP in place

Roll blue for AI deployment.

Hit – deploy forces in centre of North zone (far side to Player), facing FP.

Crit – deploy forces on Western side of North Zone facing FP

Accuracy – deploy forces on Eastern side of North Zone facing FP.

Standard formations will be developed for different scenarios / commanders, but in general – flagship in the centre – fastest ships on the outside flank – slowest ships on the inside flank.

Cautious deploy at speed 1, Normal at speed 2, Aggressive at speed 3 if possible.

Cautious commanders deploy squadrons in contact with ships, Aggressive and Normal at out to range 2 of ships.

Activate ships in the following order:

1^st – Ships with the most dice on enemy target – if tie, choose ships with a single enemy double arc’d – if still tie, roll die to determine which ship activates

2^nd – Ships with Squad value and squads in range to be activated

3^rd – Ships that can move without entering enemy range

4^th – All others – roll die to choose if multiples

Command Dials

AI ships do not have a stack of command dials. As each ship activates, roll a blue to determine action.

For each ship as it activates:

1^st – Measure to see if there is an enemy ship in range. If Yes, roll on the “IN” table. Otherwise, roll on the “OUT” table.

2^nd – Roll a blue roll a blue die to determine its order (there is no command dial stack for AI ships)

Place a command dial set to the correct order by the ship to remind you of its order and that it has activated.

3^rd – If the command chosen cannot be used this round (Squadron order taken but no squadrons in range to attack, repair but no shields or damage to repair) then take a token. If the ship already has a token of that kind, reroll blue die until a different result is generated.

4^th – Ships will use Manoeuvre dials and tokens to maintain their position in the formation as much as possible – ships on the inside edge of a wheel will slow, those on the outside will speed up. Otherwise they will simply take the appropriate token.

The exception being if a ship can Manoeuvre in such a way as to bring about a double arc on an enemy ship – in this case it will break formation and make the appropriate manoeuvre.

CAUTIOUS COMMANDER TABLE

OUT – Hit=Repair, Crit=Squadron, ACC = Manoeuvre

IN – Hit = Repair, Crit – Squadron/Concentrate Fire, ACC= Manoeuvre

NORMAL COMMANDER TABLE

OUT – Hit=Manoeuvre, Crit = Squadron, Acc = Concentrate Fire

IN – Hit – Squadron / Concentrate Fire, Crit = Manoeuvre, Acc = Repair

AGGRESSIVE COMMANDER TABLE

OUT – Hit = Manoeuvre, Crit = Squadron, Accuracy = Concentrate Fire

IN – Hit = Concentrate Fire, Crit = Squadron / Repair, Acc = Manoeuvre

If the result is Squadron / Concentrate Fire, the ship will choose Squadron if there are squadrons in range to command – otherwise it will choose Concentrate Fire.

{These are the rules that I have used so far - if you try them, let me know. If you think there are changes that could / should / need to be made, let me know}

{EDIT: Some time ago a forum member made a nicely formatted version of these rules... Thanks Kezzamachine... they can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4jv0dijeg320j83/Star%20Wars%20Armada%20AI.pdf?dl=0}

{EDIT: Here are some additions to these rules for maneuver, etc https://daveswargames.blogspot.com/2019/08/defenders-of-gelron-sector-ai-rules.html}

Rieekan Reluctantly Regrets Repeatedly Ramming Raddus

Friday night (11/5) I had a game with local nemesis (and wine-lover) Theo.

Theo is flying his ongoing Raddus dropping bomb - MC75 with Raddus Profundity, dropping a Flotilla with rapid launch bays, then bringing in a MC80 with rapid launch bays and B-Wings of various kinds.

 On this occasion Theo went first, chose Most Wanted, and deployed the MC75 facing sideways.
I deployed all of my fleet - 4 TRC90s with extra speed card thing - Rieekan on a CR90B, and a squad base - 2 VCX, 1 Wedge Antilles, 1 YT2400, and 2 Lancers - yes, Lancers. I've had them in the box for a while, painted up nice, and decided to put them on the table.
Rieekan's ship is on the right...

 At the end of turn 1, I'm heading towards the MC75 nice and spread out to try and limit the MC80 drop.

 Theo dropped with two corvettes in the medium range of the Cruiser. He then activated the flotilla, dropped 2 squadrons and killed a Lancer straight up.

 I activated a Corvette, used a squadron order to move Wedge into a blocking position, and then navigated using Engine Techs into the front arc.
The Cruiser activated and destroyed the other corvette. I Rieeken'd it, but had made a mistake - I had given it a CF instead of Nav, so it could not maneuver sufficiently to ram the Cruiser - so instead it rammed the MC75.

 Round 3, and Theo activates the Cruiser, sent the bombers after the Corvette in front, and killed it dead. I Rieekan'd it, planning to double ram the Cruiser, but instead I had a brain-fart, and decided to double ram the Flotilla, thinking I could block it in place and have it die.

This was stupid and wrong.

Turn 4, and the Cruiser is still alive, through it will die this turn thanks to some extra ramming. If I'd been able to ram it properly it could have died in turn 3...
Meanwhile, my squadrons rolled terribly, and only managed to kill a single B-Wing all game - but lost almost all of mine.

In turn 5 my Flagship completely failed to kill Bright Hope, and flew away.

In turn 6 the heavily damaged Corvette died to squadrons, Rieekan'd, then rammed the flotilla.

The game ended poorly - I failed to kill the Most Wanted, and lost my fighter wing (except 1 VCX), and 4 Corvettes.

Not the Task Forces finest hour - but lessons were learnt.

Next time!

There's always a next time.

Armada AI test - v1.01, test 3

I had another go at this last night - this time I rolled an "Agressive" Imperial Commander, and they were able to send the fighters in a timely fashion.

(The quality of this video is a lot worse)

The Imperials still lost, but again came very close to destroying the Nebulon B. I think there is a lot of promise here, but this is still for a very simple set up - the complexities of different fighter types and their possible actions may make this a fool's errand.

Armada AI Tests - version 1, tests 1 & 2

I would like a simple to use AI for Armada, allowing solo play, as well as a cooperative campaign like X-Wing has with Heroes of the Aturi Cluster.

I've gone some simple stuff, and these are the short copies of the first battle runs.

In this first one the Imperials win almost by accident - and some poor flying on the part of the Rebel commander. One of the things about playing solo is that you have to remember a whole heap of stuff - normally there is another player there to remind you of things you've missed / overlooked.

This second one was much more inconsequential - the Rebels flew better, and the AI didn't respond well to the tactical situation (I mean, how can it? It's a flowchart on a piece of paper).

I will return to the drawing board to increase the odds of the Imperials activating their fighters effectively.