Replicator Tuesdays is an article series appearing on InsideGMT. It features insights into the development of the 2nd expansion for the board wargame Space Empires:4x by Jim Krohn. Here the designer, developer and play testers will share their thoughts and experiences on this upcoming expansion. Since there is much crossover between the Space Empires and Talon development teams, both Space Empires and Talon articles will be featured in this series.
Issue #45: After Action Report
This is an After Action Report of one of the Solitaire Playtest Games that I conducted for the Space Empires: Replicators Expansion.
The game was played on a Large 2-Player Map, so there were six hexes of Deep Space between the empires.
The Difficulty Level was set at Hard, so the Replicators had an extra 2 Hulls to start with as well as having one RP.
At the time this game was played Mines counted as one hull in regard to how the Replicators would move. So, some of the battles in this AAR might not have taken place with the published rules where Mines are counted as 1 and a half hulls.
First, I drew House of Speed and On the Move. I wanted to try and put Raiders into the game so House of Speed was out. Plus with their need to buy Defense Tech to offset their vulnerability to enemy fire I was worried about feeding the Reps RPs.
Reps turned out to be Fast. It would have made an interesting game if I had gone with House of Speed and both sides ended up being able to move three hexes a turn.
In my reports I will list Econ Phases as 1.0, 2.0, 3.0….
Combat will take place with the listing of say 4.1 which would mean that it took place in the first player turn after Econ Phase 4.0. If I lost a SC to a Black Hole on its first move this would be said to have taken place in 0.1. Losses are listed in Red. Example of this is 2/1 CAs v 2 DDs, 1/2 SCs. This should be read as a battle between 3 CAs versus 2 DDs and 3 SCs. One of the CAs was destroyed, both of the DDs were destroyed and 2 of the SCs were destroyed. The hex the battle took place in is listed after the turn. NPAs are listed by their Letter Grade.
1.0 Reps buy an extra Hull. I buy 4 Colony Ships.
2.0 Reps buy an extra Hull. I buy Ship Yard Tech 2, 2 Colony Ships and 2 MS Pipeline.
3.0 Reps buy an extra Hull. I buy Move 2, 5 MS Pipeline and a Miner.
4.0 Reps buy Move 4. As this is a Solitaire Game and they are Fast they started at Move 3. I buy Move 3, Exploration 1, 2 Ship Yards and 6 MS Pipelines. I set aside 3 CPs to refit my Flagship so that I can get some use out of the Exploration Tech.
4.3 Reps find a Space Wreck so they are now at 2 RPs.
5.0 Reps buy Move 5. I buy Move 4, Ship Size 2, Tactics 1, Mines, and a Base. I set aside 6 CPs to refit my Flagship again and my 3 SCs. So now all of my ships will be able to move two hexes a turn. This will be the last refitting I do in the game. Due to the Movement Tech available to the Reps at this point I have decided to not try and deploy Raiders, but to try and hold the line with Mines and see what I can do once more of the map is revealed.
5.1 Reps find a Space Wreck so they are now at 3 RPs.
5.1 D9 Type II v C, 3 Ds. Reps gain 1 RP so now they are at 4 RPs.
6.0 Reps buy Move 6. Note that the rules were later changed so that they would not have done this, but would have bought an extra Hull instead. I buy Ship Yard Tech 3, 2 Ship Yards and 10 Mines.
6.3 D9 9/1 Type IVs v C, 3 Ds. Reps collect Stim Packs. 10 CPs for them and no great loss for me from not being able to draw that card later.
6.3 I2 Base v Flag, 13/1 Type IVs. Reps gain 2 RPs so now they are at 6 RPs. I had moved the Base to this hex to force the Reps to convert their Hulls to Ships before they hit my Mines. Something that is very important to do when dealing with the Solitaire Replicators is to force them to convert Hulls to Ships before they hit a large concentration of whatever you have built, especially if they are about to hit Mines/Raiders/Fighters. This way they will have less of a chance to show up with a lot of the SW/Scan/PD Ships that they will need.
7.0 Reps buy Move 7. I gain Move 5 from a Space Wreck. I also buy Ship Size 3. I really need to know what my left flank looks like and my Flagship is out of position to give me the answers that I need. I buy 12 Mines and a CA as well. At this point the Reps have hit several Super Novas and Black Holes in the center of the board and two of their Exp ships are probing forward on my right. The other one is working on my left. I need to see what is between me and the SNs & BHs before the Reps do and exploit any clear paths.
7.1 J2 4 Ship Yards, 14 Mines, MS, 1 Infantry, 5 CP Colony v Flag, 13 Type IVs. Well that takes care of that group of Reps.
7.1 I2 Flag, 3 SCs v Exp. I start the task of blinding the Reps.
7.3 D1 8/1 Type Vs v B, C, 2 Ds. Reps collect Resupply Depot.
8.0 Reps buy an extra Hull. I buy Terraforming 1, Anti-Replicator Tech, 2 DDs, 6 SCs and a Transport.
8.2 F6 12/1 Type Vs v B, 3 Cs. Reps collect Central Computer.
8.2 G1 Flag, 3 SCs v Exp. That takes care of the Exp ships on the right side of the map. Now I just need a way to get to the one on the left side before it finds another way to get at me.
8.3 H6 CA, 1/1 DDs, 6 SCs, 4 Ship Yards, 1 Transport, 4/2 Inf v 3 Cs, D, 3 Militia. I lacked Drop Pods so I wanted to try and get two hits in Bombardment, but since I needed to be able to use my Ship Yards at this planet in 9.0 I stopped at one hit. I choose Cold Fusion Drive over Electronic Warfare Module. In looking back that choice was a mistake as I really did not have time to get Raiders online and deployed with the Reps having Move 7 Tech. Had to make do with the 6 SCs here as I had to pay for Terraforming in 8.0. Thankfully their targeting computers proved to be top of the line. Though that proved to be true only in this battle.
9.0 Reps buy an extra Hull. I buy 4 MS Pipeline, 6 Mines, 2 DDs and a Colony Ship. At this point all but six hexes have had their Deep Space Counters exposed and I have peeked at 4 of them. The center of the board is a mess of Super Novas and Black Holes. There is a way into my space on the right. The left is potentially wide open. I need to kill the remaining Exp before it can clear a path. If I can seize and hold F6 at the same time I can keep the Reps focused on retaking it instead of going for my home space.
9.1 H3 2 SCs v 11 Type Vs, 1 SW. I moved the SCs here to force the Reps to commit their Hulls to Ships. So though this group will sweep a Mine the rest of the Mines they will move onto will deal with them.
9.1 G6 2/2 SCs, 1/1 MS. Losses are caused by the ships entering a hex with a Black Hole. The bill for me not losing any ships to my Home Space Black Hole in many previous games comes due. This will mean that H6 and F6 will not be connected to my HW in 10.0 as the linking MS will have to instead be used to link the Ship Yards in H6 to F6.
9.1 G7 2 SCs v Exp. The survivors from G6 take their second move to attack the Exp which retreats.
9.2 I2 1/13 Mines v 11 Type Vs, 1 SW. Reps have now swept one Mine.
9.2 G8 2 SCs v Exp. Exp retreats.
9.3 I2 2 DDs v 5 Type Vs. Slight problem here in that though these ships are now committed there is one hull a hex back that is not committed yet and will almost undoubtedly become a SW when these ships hit my next Minefield.
9.3 G7 2 SCs v Exp. Well I finally killed it, but it will be replaced in 10.0. So these SCs will be tied down till they kill the replacement.
9.3 F6 1 CA, 1 DD, 2 SCs, 1 Transport, 1 Colony Ship, 1 MS, 3 Inf v 1 CP Colony. Reps gain 2 RPs now at 8 Total. With a colony established here new threats to my Home Space Colonies is now negated until the Reps manage to retake this hex. Though the forces from 9.3 I2 will have to be dealt with.
10.0 Reps buy an extra Hull. I buy 13 Mines, 1 DD, 1 Transport and a MS Pipeline.
10.1 J2 7 Mines, DD, Transport, 4 Ship Yards, 4 Inf, MS, 5 CP Colony v 5 Type Vs, 1 SW. Reps have now swept 2 Mines.
10.1 F8 2 SCs v Exp. Exp retreats.
10.2 D6 2 SCs v 5 Type VIIs. The Reps would not attack F6 in 10.1 due to a lack of hulls so I moved my ships forward to slow their rate of advance to one hex. They could thus attack these 2 SCs or my CA. The DD and Transport were back a hex screened by the other three ships. As the SCs were more dangerous in bombardment due to getting two shots and less dangerous in killing a SW, if one was generated, as they would fire after the rest of the Rep ships I had the Reps attack the SCs.
10.2 G8 2 SCs v Exp. Exp retreats.
10.2 D9 CA, DD Transport v Full Colony. 2 hits in bombardment.
10.3 F6 2/5 Mines, 3 Inf, MS, 1 CP Colony v 5 Type VIIs.
10.3 G7 2 SCs v Exp. Exp retreats.
10.3 D9 CA, DD, Transport v 1 CP Colony.
10.3 D1 Flag, DD, SC, Transport v Full Colony. 2 hits in bombardment.
11.0 Reps buy an extra Hull. I buy Ship Size 4 and 4 BCs. I did this in response to the Type VIIs matching my CAs letter grade and tactics rating. Not sure that was the right option, but it was the one I went with. Really regretting passing on Electronic Warfare Module.
11.1 F6 4 BCs, 4 Ship Yards, 3 Inf, MS, 3 CP Colony v SW. Reps gain 1 RP now at 9. Reps sent in one Hull to gain an RP and the dice came up that it would be a SW even though there were no Mines in the hex.
11.1 G8 2 SCs v Exp. I have managed to keep the Reps from scanning either H8 or H9 since 9.1. So there are still four hexes of unrevealed counters on my left flank.
11.1 B9 CA, DD, Transport v Full Colony. All misses in bombardment.
11.2 B9 CA, DD, Transport v 7 Type IXs, 1 SW, Full Colony.
11.2 B4 Flag, DD, SC, Transport v Full Colony. 1 Hit in bombardment.
11.3 E7 2 SCs v 7 Type IXs. The extra hull from the 11.2 B9 fight went to D9 to restart the colony.
11.3 A5 Flag, 4 BC, DD, SC, Transport v Full HW.
My ending forces were: Flagship, 4 BCs, DD, SC, Transport, 8 Ship Yards, 2 Mines, 2 Miners, 14 Inf, 17 MS Pipeline, 30 CP HW, 10 5 CP Colonies, 1 3 CP Colony.
My ending Tech:
Move – 5
Ship Size – 4
Ship Yard – 3
Tactics, Terraforming, Anti-Replicator, Exploration, Mines – 1
Rep ending forces were: 7 Type IX, 6 Full Colonies, 2 3 CP Colonies, 1 Start Colony. Reps had 9 RPs, Movement 7, 49 CPs in the bank and had swept 2 Mines.
The Reps gained 3 RPs from Deep Space Stuff and 70 CPs along with turning in 3 cards for 30 more CPs.
I gained Move 5, 20 CPs and a defensive line that allowed me to only have to deal with one threat axis at a time. Though once the game was over and I looked at H8 and H9 I realized that I was very much correct in keeping the Rep Exp away from those hexes as they and I7 and I8 were all counters that would have been removed from the board once revealed. This coupled with not having a colony to base Ship Yards at beside these hexes could have spelled disaster.
I failed to effectively fight the Reps in anything close to straight up combat, but instead just Mined them to death. This was also made possible by being able to move my Ship Yards to the closet points of contact with a colony to support them. It allowed me to concentrate my new builds at those locations instead of having to wait a turn or more to move them together. This also allowed me to not have to spend any CPs in this game to gain the Initiative in an effort to move up new builds to threatened hexes before the Replicators moved.
Previous Article in the Series: Replicator Tuesday Issue #44: Changes to Technology Reveals (Part 2)
Next Article in the Series: Talon Tuesday Issue #46: Vassal Update for Talon
Author: Oliver D. Upshaw III
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