This is a solo game I played last month. I haven't had time to post it earlier. Photos are in the links
BACKGROUND
July 2077. The First Battle of Ceres ended in a stalemate. NATO successfully defended their mining outposts in the asteroid, but the Russian and Chinese forces were able to disrupt operations there. While each side lost but one escort, all spacecraft taking part in the battle suffered damage.
Now operations on Ceres have normalized, and the Russian-Chinese forces have received orders to mount a second offensive as soon as repairs have been completed. Fortunately for the NATO forces, their spacecraft have also completed their repairs and are ready for the new invasion.
ROSTER
NATO SQUADRON
Draco (Orion Mk 2 Class); Commanding Officer: Col. Paul Feinberg, USAF
Waterloo (Masada Class); Commanding Officer: Gp. Capt. John MacArdle, RAF
Tripoli (Northampton Class); Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. Anna Caggiano, USAF
Halifax (Northampton Class); Commanding Officer: LCol . Paul LeBlanc, RCAF
Spacecraft Stats
RUSSIAN –CHINESE SQUADRON
Beijing (Dongfang Hong Class); Commanding Officer: Air Force Col. Choi Wei, PLAAF
Leonov (Vostok Class); Commanding Officer: Col. Alexei Peskov, VKO
Buran (Buran Class); Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. Olga Titova, VKO
Heilong (Buran Class); Commanding Officer: Air Force Major Wong Hua, PLAAF
Spacecraft Stats
THE GAME
START
The two sides begin on opposite sides of the board. The Russian-Chinese squadron will stay in tight formation. The NATO forces will split into two groups and attempt to flank the enemy.
TURN 1
All spacecraft advance except for Halifax, which holds its action. Tripoli and Waterloo begin flanking maneuvers.
TURN 2
Both sides continue their advance. Draco, Tripoli, Waterloo, and Leonov launch drones. Heilong and Buran launch decoys.
TURN 3
All spacecraft and drones press forward but are still out of range. Draco and Leonov launch more drones. Heilong and Buran launch another set of decoys.
TURN 4
Heilong and Buran move to protect Beijing and Leonov respectively. Drones speed toward their targets. Spacecraft are nearly within shooting range.
TURN 5
Waterloo flanks Buran; Halifax attempts to flank Heilong. Leonov launches its last set of drones. Tripoli's drone reaches Buran but misses. Tripoli has better luck with its missile strike, knocking out one of Buran's autocannons. Buran fires missiles at Tripoli, but the missiles do not get past the latter's armor. Draco's missiles miss the Leonov; its autocannons likewise fail to shoot down an approaching drone. Halifax launches a missile at Heilong and knocks out an autocannon. Heilong returns fire, but it's missiles are foiled by Halifax's ECM.
TURN 6
Halifax again attempts to flank Heilong, which changes course to meet its attacker. Heilong launches a decoy, as does Buran. Draco changes its heading in order to flank Heilong, but it is vulnerable to the larger spacecraft. Tripoli and Waterloo converge on Buran. Most of the drones reach their targets (Heilong, Leonov, Draco), but none of them successfully hit. Tripoli fires on Buran. Its missiles are foiled by Buran's decoy, but Tripoli's railguns damage the smaller spacecraft's hull. Buran's return fire proves ineffective. However, its armor withstands a missile strike from Waterloo. Heilong's decoy saves the spacecraft from a missile launched by the Halifax, but Halifax inflicts some hull damage on the Heilong. Heilong's return fire damages the hull and an autocannon of the Halifax. Draco fires on Heilong, but the small spacecraft somehow withstands the barrage. Draco's armor in turn withstands a missile strike by Leonov. Beijing is still out of range.
TURN 7
Buran and Heilong move backward as he larger spacecraft advance. Draco and Halifax sideslip and switch targets to Beijing. Leonov and Tripoli face each other, while Waterloo pursues Buran. Leonov's final drone reaches Tripoli but misses. Leonov's missiles damage some of Tripoli's armor, but its railgun slugs miss their mark. Tripoli's missiles and railguns damage Leonov's hull. Buran fires on Tripoli, knocking out an aft autocannon and inflicting hull damage. Waterloo fires on Buran, knocking out its armor and missile launcher. Heilong inflicts some damage on Halifax, but loses a missile launcher and a railgun when Halifax returns fire. Beijing's railguns hit Draco, but the latter's armor prevents any significant damage. Draco's railguns damage one of Beijing's autocannons.
TURN 8
Heilong turns in order to use its remaining railgun, but it is flanked by Halifax. Leonov and Tripoli face off, as do Beijing and Draco. Waterloo flanks Buran. Waterloo's missiles damage Buran's hull; the latter's return fire is ineffective. Tripoli's railguns knock out one of Leonov's missile launchers. Tripoli's armor prevents any damage from Leonov's missiles but not from the latter's railguns. Halifax's railguns score a critical hit on Heilong, but no systems are lost. Heilong's missiles further damage Halifax's armor. Draco's weapons cause significant damage on Beijing but takes some in return.
TURN 9
The Russian and Chinese spacecraft attempt evasive maneuvers, while the NATO spacecraft pursue. Buran launches another decoy. The decoy saves Buran from one of Waterloo's missiles, but not from a second missile. Buran fails to damage Waterloo in return. Tripoli and Leonov inflict minor damage on each other. Heilong's weapons fail to get through Halifax's armor, while Halifax knocks out another of Heilong's weapon systems. Beijing scores a couple of hits on Draco, but Draco manages to knock out one of Beijing's railguns.
TURN 10
NATO spacecraft continue pursuing the retreating enemy. Buran launches its last decoy and fires on Waterloo. It manages to cause some damage, but Waterloo's missiles destroy the Buran. Tripoli and Leonov exchange fire and manage to damage each others' hulls and weapon systems. Beijing causes some damage on Draco's weapons and armor, but Draco's return fire inflicts major hull damage on Beijing. Halifax fires all its weapons on Heilong, knocking out the latter's armor, but failing to destroy the spacecraft. Heilong's shots all miss.
ENDGAME
With all its spacecraft severely damaged, the Russian-Chinese squadron surrenders. The mining stations on Ceres are safe.
CASUALTY COUNT
NATO Stats
Draco: No significant damage; all key personnel OK.
Waterloo: No significant damage; all key personnel OK.
Tripoli: The CO, XO, EWO, Engineer, Pilot and Gunnery Officer suffered moderate injuries.
Halifax: The XO and Pilot were killed; the Medical Officer was severely wounded; the CO suffered moderate injuries; the Navigator and Gunner suffered light injuries.
Eastern Force Stats
Beijing: The EWO was killed; the Navigator was severely wounded; the CO suffered moderate injuries; the XO, Pilot, and Gunnery Officer suffered light injuries.
Leonov: The Engineer was killed; the Navigator and Gunnery Officer were severely wounded; the CO, XO, and EWO suffered moderate injuries; the Pilot suffered light injuries.
Buran: Spacecraft destroyed; all hands lost.
Heilong: The Engineer, EWO and Pilot were severely wounded; the XO suffered moderate injuries.
POST-GAME THOUGHTS
Not having played Starmada in a long time, I forgot some of the rules. I allowed decoys to stay longer than normal in the early rounds, and allowed a maximum of two decoys to be in use at the same time. I corrected that error during the game. More importantly, I forgot that mass drivers (railguns) do extra hull damage with every hit and did not apply the extra damage until the final round. The battle would have been a much bloodier affair had I remembered that rule.
Another rule that needs revision in solo games is determining which weapon system gets knocked out. By the book, the player whose ship has taken damage gets to choose which weapon is damaged. But in my solo games I found myself hitting the autocannons repeatedly, as they have the shortest range and pack the least amount of punch. In the future, I will use a die roll to determine which weapon gets taken out.