Ships Of The Rense pt 3: Lets get Spooky!

SeerK here. Today we break into the Tier 2 ships of the Rense System Navy. The Spook/Shrike is the

backbone of the Rense Navy. It is a compact and lethal cruiser with a dual role in the Rense Navy. Sleek, silent and well armed this ship carries out a variety of missions when deployed. On the table the Spook is lethal at short and long range. Protected by a cloaking shield it can dish out a lot of punishment while avoiding major damage.

Firestorm Armada: War Log 3724 Update!

 

Our coverage of the war continues with the recent update to the War Log from 3 June, 2014. 

After 171 games counted, the Zenian League continues to lay the galactic smackdown on the Alliance of Kurak. What had been a gradual closing of the points gap by the Kurak forces has turned I to a widening of the margin for the Zenian side. The points gap sits at the Zenian League leading by an even 120 Battle Log points. That has got to sting!

Dindrenzi take the the top spot of most Battle Log earned by an individual faction with the Aquans maintaining their hold on the number two position. Terrans drop from first place down to third. And in an impressive showing, the Zenian League alliance forces jump to fourth place. Probably due to the seemingly recent increase in popularity for the Rense System Navy. 

The always controversial Sorylians gain a net two points of Battle Log over their six games since the last update, and their points per game drop slightly. Some may be disappointed in their performance, but looking on the bright side, they are increasing their score, albeit at a painfully mediocre rate!

The top earning faction for average points per game switches from the Aquans to the Zenian League alliance forces, sporting a solid 6.61 Battle Log points per game. Looks like they are really smashing some face out there.

Will the Kurak forces be able to turn this around? Or are we seeing the beginning of a new trend where the Zenian forces continue to widen this gap, eventually pulling so far ahead that even the best Kurak admirals have little hope of regaining control?

Only time will tell.

Don’t fear the Repo - Directorate Boarding Tactics

SeerK here with a guest post from our local Melcon VP SMD_Vogrin. Learn well Corporate Ladder climbers.  This VP is making a name for himself in Acquisitions. 

Like most FSA factions, the Directorate has access to a wide variety of tactics. We can match the enemy

gun-to-gun, engage in long-range duels, or smash face in a close range brawl. However, we also have a variety of tools that let us get tricky - why fight against the enemy’s strengths when you can target his weaknesses? One of those tricks is the capture of opposing vessels.

Many factions are pretty good at boarding - it is an additional tool for them to further damage or destroy their targets. For the Directorate, however, it can be not just another tool, but a core tactic to build your fleet around. With widespread access to Special Forces MAR, our cyberwarfare weapons, and the Biohazard option for many of our weapons systems, the Directorate demonstrates a unique strength in boarding. Where others would damage, we crit; when others crit, we capture.

The Dindrenzi Federation: Tactical Summary

Meet my Dindrenzi fleet:
The 108th Expeditionary Task Force.

The Dindrenzi Federation is known mainly for one thing, its incredibly powerful rail gun technology. Most of its ships are literally a gun with some engines attached and covered in thick armor.

Believing that raw firepower will win most conflicts, the ships of the Federation boast crippling, long range attacks from their solid slug kinetic rail guns, capable torpedo banks, and ability to blanket the area behind them in a veritable forest of mines.

The Dindrenzi do not utilize shield technology like their mortal enemies the Terrans, but rather, rely on layers of armor. Lots of armor. Dindrenzi ships are harder to hurt than most others of their size class, and can typically take more punishment over the course of their service life.

Michigan Firestorm Tournament: The Assault on Anseris

In just seven days time, the Admirals will learn of the mysteries of the Anseris system.

The Assault on Anseris will be held on Sunday, June 8th.

Doors open at 11am and dice roll at noon.

$10 Entry Fee. 100% prize pool payout (and likely more since Evolution Games is cool like that).

Location:
Evolution Games
6323 W Saginaw Hwy, Lansing Charter Township, MI, USA
(517) 323-8600

Points: 850 (Normal Battle Fleet restrictions apply)
Three rounds
Battle Log scores used to determine pairings and winner.

Round 1: Escalating Engagement
Round 2: Border Clash
Round 3: Secure the Outpost (Event Specific Scenario)

Painted models are encouraged but not required.

Players may bring two different lists and choose which to use before each round, both lists must have the same primary faction.
Players need to bring at least two copies of each list. One to turn in at registration and one for use during the round.

All models must be the actual models if they exist. Proxies must be pre-approved.


***************************************


The Anseris system is somewhat of a mystery. Debris and a nebula-like cloud of gas and dust encase the system, making long range scans mostly futile other than to identify its boundaries. Anseris has been largely ignored to this point due to a near lack of strategic value because of its positioning on the galactic war maps. However, a recent civilian probe attempted to pierce the cloud and detected a massive power source within the system of which its energy readings were of an unknown pattern. Shortly before contact was lost with the probe, its sensors indicated that the interior of the system was more or less normal and safe for space flight, and therefore combat operations, if necessary.

You have been tasked, Admiral, to guide a fleet through the veil and secure this power source. Unfortunately, intelligence reports have confirmed that you will not be alone in your search, the enemy has also dispatched forces to Anseris. 

Good luck.

Firestorm Armada: War Log 3724 Commentary

There is an great thread going in the Spartan Games Community currently. It is called War Log 3724. You have to be signed into the forums to see it, but we will be covering it here as well. Though, if you have any interest in Firestorm Armada, I encourage you to sign up for the forums.

How to Read the War Log Board: The 487 for the Alliance of Kurak is the total amount of Battle Log points added together from all battles, and the 5.53 below it is the average Battle Log earned per battle across all games reported. The Zenian total is to the right of it. Below the overall totals are the faction breakdowns, read left to right, [Name of faction, Faction total Battle Log, Games Played, and average Battle Log per game. This breakdown repeats for all of the factions.

The War Log works like this, as games are played throughout the world, the results are posted in a special thread on the forum, then tabulated into a massive spreadsheet. The goal is to see how all of the factions are doing in a specific manner and wage a worldwide, international campaign between the Zenian League and the Alliance of Kurak. The War Log is updated periodically, but only games that were standard book missions and battles between the Zenian League and the Kurak Alliance are shown. Zenian vs Zenian and Kurak vs Kurak are still noted and will appear as data in the end of the year report (January 2015). This War Log began in January 2014 when the new Version 2.0 Firestorm rules came out. Firestorm Armada uses a Battle Log game mechanic to decide the victor of each battle. As the game progresses, your Battle Log will be raised or lowered depending on what is happening on the battlefield. The higher the number the better.

This post is going to discuss the War Log between April 1st, 2014 to May 19th, 2014 and so will be longer than future ones. As new updates become available, the posts will cover the new board updates only.

Tutorial: Making a Gaming Board for Spaceships!

Example of a pretty NASA photo and kind of what
we are going for with these boards.

Making a new board to play your war game of choice on is usually a fun experience. It gets a bit tricky in the planning stages when you attempt a completely new style or genre though. I'm no stranger to making grassy fields, hills, ruins, etc. However, when it came time to make a board that looked like "space", some Internet research needed to be done as I had no experience in the matter. Firestorm Armada was taking off in popularity at the store, and it was time to upgrade from black fabric and make some legitimate boards to play on.

After reading a number of articles, tutorials, and examples of what had been done before, I was a little disappointed. I was really looking for an "easy button" step-by-step that was both cheap and looked good. Thankfully, nearly all the places I researched had a gem or two of information, and when combined, actually had all the parts we needed to get this project done. So far, we have made six of these boards for our FLGS, Evolution Games, and they are all a bit different and universally well received. The following is a run down of how to make one.