We have decided to put our Star Fleet battles campaign of the General War to rest after over four years of inactivity. The campaign was paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and then further postponed by some other real life issues.
As the campaign stood, the Lyran empire had made some minor gains in Kzinti space, and had destroyed the majority of the Kzinti fleet (though with little actual benefit). The Klingons had crossed the Kzinti border in several places, destroying base stations, and with forces converging on the first Kzinti Starbase. Kzinti space would likely have been reduced to the homeworlds, maybe a starbase, and maybe a tether to the Federation.
The Hydrans had massed most of their fleet into one invading force in Lyran space, with the Lyran's having lost a planetary system, and the Hydrans having the capacity to take at least one more Lyran system, and causing a lot of damage to the Lyran fleet. The Lyrans had tactical victories in most of their battles, but were losing the strategic situation.
The Klingons were beginning to enter Hydran space, and in time would likely have conquered the Hydran empire, as the Hydran forces would have been greatly reduced in numbers by the Lyrans, and were at a strategic disadvantage which would have likely lead to most of their surviving fleet being cut off from supply by the Klingon advance.
The Klingons would have found themselves in possesion of much, if not all, of Hydran space, a big chunk of Kzinti territory, and a notable chunk of southern Lyran territory, after defeating the Hydrans. The Lyrans at best could have traded back some Kzinti space to the klingons, who may or more likely may not have given the Lyrans back their lost territory.
I played the Lyran and Klingons as two separate "characters", always making decisions based on what was in the interest of the respective empires, rather than as a single unified force. Thus the Klingons did not send their available fleet to aid the Lyrans in the big battle with the Hydrans, as greater Lyran losses in that battle served the klingon interest every bit as much as Hydran losses in the battle.
Depending on how long the strategic rules kept the Federation from getting involved, there is even a chance that the Klingons could have openly attacked the Lyrans and taken their home world, resulting in almost the entire "western half of the map becoming Klingon territory.
The Federation had amassed a large fleet with the intent of eventually attacking the Klingons, but were restricted by a series of rules whereby the Federation could be released early (relative to the General War timeline) to go to war with the Klingons.
If the Federation had sent an expeditionary force into Kzinti space (which they could have done), and they had been attacked by Lyran or Klingon forces, it would have released the Federation for premature extry into the war and kept the Klingons honest. But this did not happen.
As things stood at the end of the last turn, the Klingons probably had enough forces to stop the Federation from taking the Klingon Home world, and could have likely pushed the Feds back into Federation space, before the Federation ship building program (which had not yet ratcheted up) could have had any effect on the game.
The question is whether the Klingon construction rates with the gained Hydran, Kzinti, and possibly Lyran resources and construction rates could have come up to speed fast enough to outmatch the Federation construction rate, and given the Klingons the ability to defeat the Federation, once they became the primary Klingon focus.
My feeling is that the Klingons would not have consolidated the conquered resources fast enough, and that eventually the Federation would have been able to conquer the Klingon homeworld, and destabilize the empire.
Involvement by the Romulans (my favorite race in the game) and Gorn was so far down the timeline, that I have no feel for how they might have impacted the war, or if they ever would have had the chance.
In any event, the Kzinti empire was down to about a dozen ships, most serving as a task force of the Hydran fleet and remainder in Kzinti territory could not defend much beyond their homeplanets.
The Hydrans had achieved operational overreach, and could not have gotten their forces back to their homeworld in time to stop the Klingons.
The Lyrans were in the process of expending their fleet to destroy much of the Kzinti and Hrdran fleets, at the expense of not being able to control their own space. The Lyrans won most of the battles, and the Klingons were winning the war.
The campaign lasted about 18 months before Covid hit, and we had some great fun, some really odd situations, and it would have been interesting to see how it would have played out. But being four years removed from the campaign, it just feels like something that we did, rather than something that we are doing, so yesterday, while playing a pick-up game of... Star Fleet Battles, we dicided to put the campaign to rest, and discussed starting over with a General War campaign.
I am sure it is disappointing to give up on the campaign... but you are doing it for the right reasons, and even better discussing it while playing a game of SFB!
ReplyDeleteHow did that game go?
I was Gorn trying to take control of some asteroids for mining. Lost a destroyer for the cost of two Federation old light cruisers, but couldn't secure the objectives before Fed reinforcements arrived. Fun game despite leaving in shame.
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