Friday, November 18, 2016

Firestorm Armada After Action Report

Ok ... so this is a few weeks old now ... took me this long to get the post finished.  While I was busy I found it easy to play some easier to setup/tear down games.  One of those such games is Firestorm Armada by Spartan Games.

I've been slowly building up my fleets for this game.  I have my Sorylian Collective fleet that I've painted myself, a large Dindrenzi Federation fleet, a Ryushi fleet, and a Rense System Navy (RSN) fleet that I picked up off Ebay.

Anyways, I got together with Roy Scaife and we played a game using all 4 fleets ... with essentially the "patrol fleet" boxed sets for each ... with a little support to even up the points.

I actually had a lot of fun playing the game.  We were both a little rusty, but my rules reference sheets helped out a lot (along with my fleet rosters).  I played the Sorylians and Ryushi while Roy played the Dindrenzi and RSN.  Each of us started with our secondary fleets (Ryushi and RSN) off table and arriving using the reserves rules.  This favored me just a little as some of my squadrons arrived before Roys.  Mind you, those RSN squadrons are tough as nails ... when they did show up --- late thank god --- they started putting the smack down.  But, by then it was too late.  I focused by fire early on against the Dindrenzi battleship and it finally went down on turn three ... and my battleship was still functional.  My cruisers paid the price for that strategic decision, but it carried the game for me in the end as loosing a capital ship is a big points swing (I gain points while at the same time he looses points).

Pictures below of the action.






























Alright ... back to historical stuff now :-)

6 comments:

  1. Looks great, Jay. What can you tell us about these rules, which I've heard of but never seen played.

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    1. Thanks! The rules, I'd say they are of medium complexity. The basic system isn't all that hard to play, but there is a wide range of tactical options for you to take. Each fleet has a play style that will leverage a number of rules "areas" --- e.g. boarding, shooting at range, and so on. I think the rules are well written ... in fact, I've had no real questions come up over several games that I couldn't get resolve by looking in the rule book. There is a full and broad range of factions and ships ... and they are clean and well sculpted. I really recommend it if you are looking for something that is a little more "wargamey" than say Star Wars Armada or X-Wing.

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  2. That is an Epic table, Jay! Looks like a blast. I also loved your earlier discussion about Napoleonics and how to treat a charge. Very thought provoking!

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    1. Thanks Monty!! Glad someone read it ;-) More to come ... doing a Bolt Action game tomorrow and Pickett's Charge test scenario in a couple weeks :-)

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  3. Gorgeous ships - love the hull designs and painting schemes! Jumping over to Spartan to check this out.

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    1. Highly recommend it. I started by getting drawn into the models, then found the rules to be very enjoyable as well :-)

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