MT1 First shots

#5 Triangulum System II
rjvonline - Red 14 points
gotigerssc - Green 21 points (22 total)

First, a big thank you to Renaud for helping me along in my first game of Red Alert. I went with a heavy fighter strategy and it mostly worked out, but I got extremely lucky to eliminate his carrier with the perfect roll. It was a tight game throughout but that 6 point swing made the difference in the score. Ultimately, I was able to claim his entire right flank (fleet?) and notched an additional 6 points from planet objectives. 

 

#2: Uncharted Supply Base (BD-16-0820)
Mark McG (Commonwealth) 20 pts - 8 enemy eliminated + 1 exit
Justin (Confederation) 16 points - 7 enemy eliminated

Another scenario where the point score fell short of 21, alibi by 1 point.

I again opted for the Fighter heavy OB, thinking they could exit most easily. 1 did exit, but at some point it became a race to eliminate 8 enemy, and the eliminated were mostly fighters and destroyers. We in fact had a very few capital ships, just a flagship each, and I bought a battleship (TF 4 &

tied at 7 eliminated each, I used Warp charge on the flagship to eliminate a single figure destroyer.
 

#5 rjvonline (green) 21 vs gotigerssc (red) 6

I added 2 destroyers and 3 heavy fighters on my left wing. While I took hold in the smaller planetary system and maintained a presence there all game long, I only scored 2 planetary VPs for it at the very end (the 2 points that gave me the win) as Justin was always able to deny me scoring except at the very end when a red alert finally chased him away. But I scored 10 planetary VPs in the larger system as I maintained a numerical advantage and was able to take advantage of the larger size. My command cards were so-so, with a lot of useless center-only cards most of the time, but I scrounged by, as Justin's die-rolling luck was quite poor throughout. Of note, it was the second game today (including a loss vs Gonzo) where the player with a large star token advantage nonetheless lost.

#2: Uncharted Supply Base (BD-16-0820) - Match 2 
Justin (Commonwealth) 7 pts
Mark McG (Confederation) 21 points

This being a Breakthrough scenario, I altered my OB Mix to have more Capital ships and no extra Fighters. Justin led off by sending his only battleship around the right flank to target my Flagship. The BB Hood fired a shot, and then the Confederate battleships moved to protect the flag, and on the first salvo broke the Hood in two. Actually remembered to put down Capital ship debris... first time ever.

My battleships then decided to Warp power up the middle to the exit, which would have worked my better with some Centre cards. Stalled after a miserable attack, I had to rely upon battleback to get hits. Fortunately the Commonwealth shot like Imperial stormtroopers this day, missing me, the barn and several planets.

In the end I was trying to get through on my right flank, but stalled there as well. My last effort was to shoot my way to victory, and a Light up the stars lit up the Commonwealth fighters like Ronsons.

Decided I like battleships, but I don't think I'll warp attack with them again!

#1: Cardinal’s Belt (BD-16-0816)
Mark McG (Commonwealth) 21 points
Mirko (Confederacy) 18 points

Mirko's first game, so took some time. Turned into a intense firefight with losses mounting for both sides. Capital and Strike class ship losses were about the same, so it was just fighters and 1 clearance VP that made the difference.
 
The usual confusion about Red Alerts.. does anyone have a good crib guide?

Also the Command/Combat card conflict issue. In essence, my view is that a Combat card cannot directly contradict the limitations of a Command card. In this instance Battleline (move 1 hex) and Light Speed. This has come up elsewhere, notably Tricorne, and the Borg response was outside the rules per se.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/3015692/can-lig...-unit-ordered/page/1

Be good to get this clarified.

#2 Uncharted Supply Base

Renaud (Commonwealth, TF #12), 8 kills, 17 points
vs Mirko (Confederation, TF #1), 4 kills, 3 breakthroughs, 16 points

Most of the action took place on the left as Mirko moved aggressively for a break-through, benefitting from a Light Speed command card and then following up with fighter rushes. I had not read the VCs so that took me a bit by surprise. Still I had the chance to kill a 1-hit CL and a 1-hit heavy fighter on the last row, each time rolling 3 dice... and failed. Another 1-hit fighter also managed to exit. Fortunately I did manage to kill the biggest prize -- one of his 2 battleships (just realizing now that we forgot about the debris!), also on the last row between battle-back and follow-up attack. More action on this flank resulted in several units being destroyed, but eventually Mirko had no units left there as a Fighter card allowed me to destroy his last fighter there with one of mine and I assaulted--and destroyed--his DD on the other flank with 2 fighters of mine. His counter-attack failed to kill either of my exposed fighters, instead resulting in his losing 1 fighter on battle-backs. And then he had also used the Light Speed combat card to move a fighter forward in hope of a break-through, but my next play brought 2 CL against it, cutting its retreat path, but that was not even a factor, as they managed to destroy it right, giving me my 8th kill.

Nice tight game.

#4

Renaud (Confederation, TF #3), 5 kills, 6 planetary control points, 22 points
vs Samim (Commonwealth, TF#6), 6 kills, 2 planetary control points, 17 points)

Tough match against Samim, even though it was his first Red Alert experience. I took a good lead thanks to some good die rolls and grabbing a foothold on the larger planetary system with my heavy battleship, which Samim only contested late in the game. While my attack die rolls were generally good, my combat card die rolls were poor, and I wasted some precious star tokens on unsuccessful cards. A first opportunity to win presented itself when I had my flagship and a destroyer targeting a 1-hit enemy destroyer, the former at range (for 3 dice) and the second in close combat (for 3 dice as well). Due to limited card range I had to use the "Direct from Starbase" card with only 2 tokens available. I made the mistake to attack first with my destroyer. Samim happened to have Warp Escape and his weakened DD disappeared never to be seen. Had I attacked with my Flagship first, he couldn't have played the card and may I would have woulda, coulda, shoulda won, but it wasn't meant to happen... Next turn, Samim played Counter-Attack but he had 12 star tokens so ordered all 9 units and had plenty of juicy targets. I was a little lucky that I only lost 2 DDs, and then as my turn came I was able to attack one of his DDs with both my DD (which died on the battle-back) and my flagship (which scored the final kill).

I can honestly say that had Samim been a bit more experienced at RA he most likely would have won this one (among other things he mis-moved a battleship on a warp charge late in the game that might have succeeded in taking my flagship down, but since his move had a legit target I wasn't aware of his mistake and since dice had been rolled when he realized his mistake it could not be undone).

I'm looking forward to the return match.

#5: Triangulum System II (BD-16-0827)
Mark McG (Commonwealth) 21 points
Togan (Confederacy) 17 points

What started as a struggle for planet control (which Togan won 10-4), turned into a close action firefight around the planets. The centre was pretty empty the whole game (which didn't suit my cards at all).

I think I'm getting a grip on the Red Alert die face now.
 

#1 Cardinal's Belt

Game 1
toganalper (commonwealth red) - 18 points
gotigerssc - (confederation green) - 21 (22 total) points

I was on the ropes with not much hope until I somehow knocked down his flagship on my final turn for 8 points and the win - confirmation die cooperated. No sector was completely emptied but there were times when mine was close.

Game 2
gotigerssc (commonwealth red) - 8 points
toganalper (confederation green) - 21 (22 total) points

A game of what-ifs. At the end, green had four 1 figure units and three 2 figure units that I just could never seem to finish off. Would not have even had 8 points if not for Togan letting me roll a die on his flagship that I forgot to roll, which ended up exploding it - confirm die hit too. Again, no sector was emptied but some were getting thin. Tough competition!

Gonzo and I played both of our games (his victories, so his to report on) a while ago. Just an FYI.