UBoater658 Wargaming

The loss of the Nelson was a blow to TFN morale but also focused the fleet's resolve. The data gathered about the enemy ships and weapons from the battle at Orphichon was quickly analyzed. The focus of research was on counteracting the Tractor capability and developing a multi-ship coordinated fire capability - data link. In the meantime, while the Khanate didn't detect the hidden warp point back to Federation space, they were probably looking for it. It was the only way to explain where the Terran squadron came from.  Therefore the TFN HQ planned an immediate probe/attack in a different direction from VX-134 - the system identified as Kompakutor in the captured Khanate astrogation database:   After the experience at Orphichon, the TFN formed a squadron of all available CL's and new construction DD's. It was designated TF 232 in VX-134 under the command of Rear Admiral Hara Tadioshi - 3 CL's and 4 of the new Brazwell class DD's. And they were all itching for a f...

Back again - The Starfire Saga - ISW 1. This is also in response to something I heard at the end of the of a Grogcast Episode - "just get the game out and play it." So the dance between the nascent TFN and KON continues… Mix and match on the Scenario and Rules. Using the Gorm-Khanate 2nd edition updates to the rules - biggest for this scenario is using Engine Rooms now instead of individual Ion Engines. A number of new systems are included that now matches better with the later Starfire 3rd Edition Rules. Therefore I am using The Stars at War scenario ship list and the updated ship specs from the 3rd edition rules. But I am still using the setup from the original 2nd Ed scenario which starts at the Tactical level vs. the System level. The KON has some definite technology advantages in this scenario - specifically Datalink, Force Beams, and Tractors. Datalink allows 3 ships to form a group and fire together - better chance to inflict more damage and possibly overwhelm the targ...

Capt 'Lucky' Howie limps back to Epsilon Eridani with critical information for the Terran Federation - there is an aggressive/hostile alien race with at least similar technology 3 Warp Points from the Sol system and Earth. Either the TFN can fortify the Epsilon Eridani system and wait for the inevitable attack or they can carry out a preemptive 'offensive recon' mission. The decision is made to return to VX-134 but this time ready for a fight. The Discovery is refitted with 2 new dual purpose Gun/Missile launchers (W) in the place of its dedicated Gun (G) and Missile (R) launchers. These new launchers are able to fire either unguided gun shells for close range or standard missiles for long range combat. Discovery is joined by another converted Frigate (FF) class survey ship the Outreach and also a new Destroyer (DD) class warship the Napoleon. Capt. Anderson will command the newly formed Task Force 101 from the DD 'Nappy'. Meanwhile on the other side of the Warp...

An AAR I posted on the grogheads.com forum in 2017. This hopefully begins a series of AARs starting at the beginning of the Starfire Universe. Starfire is a starship combat game that started as a Task Force Games pocket game in the late 70's - which matches with my early years of gaming. It was around the same time as the Metagaming Pocket games (Orge, GEV, etc.) and GDW SciFigames based on their Traveler Universe (Imperium, Mayday, Snapshot, etc.). I was also into the bread and butter games of the time from AH and SPI - but SciFi Movies/books/games were/continue to be a major focus of mine. The Starfire system has evolved over time - Task Force Games published a boxed 2nd Edition updating the Tactical and Strategic/Campaign systems before they went out of business. The game was picked up by the Starfire Design Studio (SDS) which continues to evolve the system - initially with Galactic then Ultra Starfire. The latest version called Solar Starfire came out in 2012. It is a very deta...