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James Lowry
United States
Sunnyvale
California
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The Kzinti economy has stabilized at 60 EP. I seriously contemplated going for a DN this year, but 16 EP was just too much to sink into one ship. Instead I built a new CV group, a BC, 3 CMs, and repaired a full CV group as well as 4xBC, CC, CM and FF.
Economically, things have continued to go from bad to worse for the Hydrans. With my failure to be able to hit all of the blockading line, the Old Colonies were cut off from the capital. Total income was about the same as turn 5, but it was split between the capital and the off-map. This limited Hydran builds to RN, HR, CU (off-map) and a PDU on the capital. On the other hand, it meant I had a free hand to repair all the cripples that were piled up in the Old Colonies, and convert a captured D7 to Hydran technology.
For the Hydrans, the plan was simple: Hit as many targets of opportunity as possible, send the fleet in to 0416, and see if I could kill a tug or base before running out of fighters. The Kzinti contemplated something similar, but like last turn, ended up pinning a reserve on 1504 and hit another pair of Klingon border BATS.
Kzinti front.
Hydran front.
Combat:
1701: Klingon: dest D7
1307: Klingon: dest BATS, dest cripD5, cripF5, cripE4A captured
1302: SSC - Klingon retreat
1703: SSC - Klingon retreat
1602: SSC - Klingon retreat
1707: Klingon: dest BATS, F5
1504: Klingon: crip 3xD5; Lyran: crip CW; Kzinti: crip MEC, Z-D5
0117: Lyran: dest CW, DW
0118: Klingon: dest E4
0319: SSC - Hydran retreat
0416: Lyran: crip DN, BC; Klingon: crip 2xC8; Hydran: dest PAL
0417: Klingon: crip E4; Hydran: dest PAL
Things continue to go poorly for the Hydrans. Many of my attempts at 'gaming' Small Scale Combat on that front went awry, the worst case being ambushing a couple Lyran cripples in open space with a Paladin DN, and forgetting that he had plenty of spare Reserves to hit it with.
Worse than that gaffe, the Hydrans push at 0416 again had two rounds of bad rolls and ran out of fighters without getting past the approach battle. Not only that, but he killed the other PAL (a battle tug was in formation), leaving battle tugs as the only CR-10 ships in the Hydran navy. That is going to come back to haunt me.
The Kzinti did much better, with no dead ships and minimal cripples. In exchange they took down another two Klingon BATS, delayed repairs on a crippled D6V (driven off one of the BATS), and captured... an E4A.
That last will get turned in for EPs. If there's anything the Kzinti don't need, it's another 2-4 escort frigate. Now an F5E, on the other hand... that would be worth something. (In fact, if I ever manage to capture an F5, or Lyran DW it'll be converted to an escort; the Kzinti just don't get any good light escorts in the base game.)
The Hydrans have pulled back to protect the capital again, but the Kzinit have put a chunk of the navy on the starbase in 1704. It controls the on-map connection between the Kzinti and the Federation, and it is for the first time a legal target. He might force it, but with a Federation Reserve in range, I can make it hurt. On the other hand, a major push against the Hydrans may see the capital fall.
This is the end of Turn 6, and the end of the initial scenario, "The Wind". I believe Belirahc is going to do a review of the full six turns, but in the mean time, this is how the Victory Conditions break down (by my count, which is... mostly accurate.  ):
For any level of victory, the Coaliation must:
A) have more total ships than the Alliance: 333 vs 191. Check.
B) have more total attack factors on those ships: 1909 vs 1223. Check.
For a Tactical victory:
A) the Alliance must have a total economy of 90 or less: 99 EP. X
B) the Coalition must destroy 20 Alliance Battle stations (SBs count as 3, and subtract out any Coalition ones destroyed): 17 BATS + 6 SB - 4 BATS + 1 BATS built in Kzinti space = 29. Check.
So he managed the overall check quite well, and killed enough bases (and qualified for a major victory there, which wants 25 BATS). The problem is the economy, which is a really tough one to manage. The Kzinti are currently managing 60 income on their own, and the Hydrans are already down to about their minimum without actually taking the capital. If he had managed his turn 4 push on the Kzinti capital better, I think he could have devastated more planets, but he really needed to devastate everything other than the capital itself (like he did in the Hydran capital). That would have barely gotten him the tactical victory.
A major victory requires getting the Alliance economy down to 75, which would seem to require actually taking one of the capitals. Possible, but not easy. "Historically", I believe the Hydran capital actually fell on Turn 7. ...which could still happen here. 
And yes, we are continuing. Belirahc and I agreed to go as long as we can take it on this game, so keep watching for Coalition Turn 7 to show up soon. I'm pretty sure we won't see an invasion of the Federation, but it will be able to send the 4th Fleet in to help the Kzintis.
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Hydran front.
