Dan Ibekwe of the Face Book full thrust group wrote this scenario and we volunteered to help him play test it.
More information on what a Beanstalk, or space elevator, is can be found here
link
The scenario
Sink the Beanstalk
Beanstalks are huge tethers, stretching from a planet's surface all the way out to geostationary orbit (GEO) (in fact, a bit further – to a counterweight asteroid positioned slightly further out to keep the tether taut). Cable cars – essentially vertical trains – run up and down the tether to a space station at GEO, providing very low-cost access to orbit (albeit quite slow – it takes several days for each train to complete the journey),
Beanstalks are of huge economic importance to planets that possess them – and of great interest to their enemies.
Setup: The defender places an Earth-like planet (~6MU in diameter) on the centreline of the table 24MU away from one short edge. The attacker now places a piece of cord et.c representing the beanstalk extending ~18MU from the planet's surface in any direction desired (he can choose his direction of approach). Place a counterweight asteroid at the end of the tether and the orbital station on the tether ~15MU from the planet . Use the station example from FTXD page 51 if necessary.
Forces:The attacker has 500 points of ships which set up within 6MU of the short table edge opposite the planet, speed and heading at the player's discretion.
The defender has 250 points of ships on table within 24MU of the planet, either in orbit or docked to the base on the first turn. He has re-enforcements – three ships, none larger than 300 points, totalling 500 points or less. He rolls one D6 at the end of each turn and keeps a running total. The smallest re-enforcing ship arrives when the total reaches or exceeds 7, the next when it reaches or exceeds 14, the largest when it
reaches or exceeds 21. These ships enter the table from a random (D12) direction from the planet.
Length:The game lasts 12 turns, or until all of the attacker's forces have been destroyed or left the table. Any attacking ships left on the table after turn 12 are considered captured by the defender.
Special: Attacking the Beanstalk. Beanstalks are very difficult targets – they radiate and reflect very little energy and absorb little damage from weapons fire. They may not be targeted by missiles of any kind, scatterguns or MKPs. Only beams, p-torps, K- guns and grasers may fire on them from 6MU or less. The Beanstalk requires 32 points of damage to damage and 64 points to destroy.
Victory Compare both side's losses in CPV. If the Beanstalk has received no damage, the Defenders have won and receive a bonus of 200 points. If the Beanstalk has taken 32 to 63 points, the attackers receive a bonus of 100 points. If the beanstalk has taken 64
or more points damage, it collapses, causing immense damage on the ground and crippling the planet's economy for several years. The attackers have won and receive a bonus of 1,000 points. Any other result is a draw.
The defenders: Colonial Fleet Miniatures by Ravenstar studios
the attackers: The Eurasian Solar Union from full thrust fleet Book 1. Miniatures being used are By raven Star.
The Stands and playing mat are from corsec engineering
Set up was pretty straight forward. My opponent, the defender, decided to keep his heaviest ship in reserve along with one of caracols. The other two ships stayed in orbit. i set up mine with the two cruisers aiming to intercept the colonial ships and the frigate heading off to the beanstalk. I didnt want such a fragile ship mixing it up with his.
The first turn the fleets moved tword their respective targets and began scoring damage on each other.
The ESU light cruiser took a minor hit but since the colonial guns are basically 'K-guns" the hit punched thru to the hull. The ship reeled and began streaming air.
One colonial destroyer took a more severe beating tho when the ESU heavy cruiser opened fire at long range.
The next turn the ESU won the initiative and the they closed the range.
The ESU light cruiser wanted payback and fired first wrecking havoc on every deck of the enemy ship.
The poor colonial ship returned fire and missed. the ESU heavy cruiser got its firing solution on both colonial ships and fired, destroying the damaged caracol and smashing the hull of the other.
Unfortunately it was still very much in the fight. The ship returned fire, this time targeting the frigate hoping to discourage it from going after the Beanstalk. all fire missed.
Turn three
The Colonials poured on the speed trying to get behind the ESU ships and hopefully in a safer position. One of their reserve ships also came on and unfortunately, right in front of the oncoming ESU cruisers.
The ESU frigate meanwhile continued to close the range on the beanstalk. The scenario dictated that the 'stalk' could only be fired upon from 6" away so the frigates skipper ordered the helmsman to begin breaking maneuvers.
The ESU had the initiative again and the first exchange of fire was brutal.
The ESU heavy cruiser, tho not in the best position for its weapons, managed to inflict crippling damage on the already the newly arrived caracol and destoyed the other.
The newly arrived caracol however exacted a bit of revenge and heavily damaged the ESU light cruiser
The ESU light cruiser then fired its remaining weapons for little effect.
The following turns saw the ESU ships ignoring the remaining caracol and angled for firing potions against the beanstalk.
Unfortunately the caracol was still a threat and got a good firing solution against the frigate before it could fire on the 'stalk'. The damage was devastating
The ESU cruisers returned fire and destroyed the caracol.
The next turn
The ESU cruisers maneuvered for a good firing lock against the 'stalk'.
And fired at the stalk and inflicted heavy damage totaling the 32 points necessary for the minimum victory conditions dictated by the scenario. Unable to repair its fire control the frigate had become little better than a tourist.
Next turn the Colonials last reserve ship arrived. A charger class cruiser, the biggest of his fleet, this ship would be difficult to deal with considering the damaged state of the ESU light cruiser.
The colonials had the initiative and fired at both the frigate, destroying it and at the ESU light cruiser severely damaging it and breaching the shielding around the reactor core.
The ESU heavy cruiser fired on the beanstalk and the colonial ship missing both entirely.
The next to last turn.
The light cruiser was unable to repair any of its damage and was in little position to fight.
The colonials had the initiative and decided it was time to take the ESU heavy cruiser out of the picture.
The attack destroyed the bridge, killing everyone at their posts and leaving the ship out of control. It also lost life support and most of the engineering crew was killed as well.
The last turn all ships passed each other but at the end both of the ESU ships lost their reactor containment and exploded.
Conclusion:
Points wise the ESU was ahead but at best i would call the game a draw if not a colonial victory.
The scenario was alot of fun and building the beanstalk was enjoyable as well. I built it out of bits and junk I had laying around my hobby room and only took about 20 minutes. If we decide top incorporate this scenario into our tournaments I'll finish it.
As for the scenario itself my only critique would be to specify the starting speeds for the ships and maybe decreasing how much damage the stalk needs to take to be destroyed. that part would need more playtesting. I would also like to see a 'sliding scale' on the stalk for larger (or smaller) game so players are not restricted to just 500 point-ish fleets.
All in all the scenario was defiantly worth while trying.
Any and all comments welcome!
now paints and bases the model.
