Hotter than Blazes

In Y164 the Galactic Survey Cruiser Discovery was conducting scientific research in a heat zone located in the Klingon-Federation Neutral Zone near the edge of Kzinti space (the Federation would, of course, never use this as an espionage opportunity) when something unexpected happened.

The Discovery picked up a Kzinti distress call which reported a small convoy in the Neutral Zone being shadowed by a powerful Orion group. The Discovery's Commander answered the Kzinti convoy's call, and advised them that if they could make it into the heat zone, he would assist.

The Kzinti convoy commander accepted Discovery's offer as there were no Kzinti ships nearby and it was that or risk the entire convoy falling to the Orions.

(SP1551.1) NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3; the Federation player, the Kzinti player, and the Orion player. Alternatively, one player could play both the Federation and Kzinti forces.

(SP1551.2) INITIAL SET-UP TERRAIN: Set up two maps initially, the border between the two maps marks the edge of a Heat Zone (P10.0). The 42xx edge of Map #1 is adjacent to the 01xx edge of Map #2.

FEDERATION: GSC Discovery in 2415 on map #2, heading E, speed max, WS-III. KZINTI: Pol POL63 in 1619 on map #1, heading B, speed 12, WS-III.
Large freighter in 1823, small freighters in 1925 and 1623, all on map #1, heading B, speed 12, WS-III.

ORION: CR Los Insurgentes in 0403, CR Warbride in 0402, both on map #1, heading C, speed max, WS-III.

(SP1551.3) LENGTH OF SCENARIO: The scenario contin-ues until all forces belonging to one side have been destroyed, captured, or have disengaged.

(SP1551.4) SPECIAL RULES
(SP1551.41) MAP: Use a floating map. The "border" of the Heat Zone will need to be tracked in case any ship moves back into the clear, but ships moving in directions B or C will only get deeper in the zone. Ships moving in direction E or F may eventually move back into the clear. The Federation units can only disengage in direction B or C. The Kzinti units can only disengage in directions A or F. The Orion units can only disengage in directions D or E. Units which disengage in unauthorized directions or areas are considered destroyed.

(SP1551.42) SHUTTLES AND PFs: No shuttles or PFs have warp booster packs.
(SP1551.421) MRS shuttles may be purchased [up to the limits in (J8.5)] under (SP1551.431).
(SP1551.422) There are no fighters in this scenario. In a variant in which fighters are present, use the standard deployment patterns (one EWF for each squadron of eight or more fighters) for EW fighters if desired.
(SP1551.423) There are no PFs in this scenario.

(SP1551.43) COMMANDER'S OPTION ITEMS
(SP1551.431) Each ship can purchase additional or special equipment as Commander's Option Items (e.g., T- bombs, extra marines, etc.) up to 20% of its Combat BPV. Civilian freighters cannot purchase Commander's Option Items. See (S3.2) for details and exceptions. Note that whatever is spent here counts in the Modified Victory Conditions (S2.2) [Orions (S2.22)] as victory points for the enemy.

(SP1551.432) All drones are "slow," i.e., speed-8. Type-II and type-V drones (speed 12) are available for purchase as special drones.
Each drone-armed ship can purchase special drones up to the historical racial percentages as part of the Commander's Option Items. Note that (S3.2) allows drone ships extra points for this purpose.

(SP1551.44) REFITS: At the time of this incident, none of the units involved had been refitted in any way.

(SP1551.45) OPTION MOUNTS: Orion Option mounts must be filled with weapons that are available to the Hamilcar Cartel (R8.1).

(SP1551.46) FEDERATION: The Federation ship is not required to remain in the nebula, but it must disengage if it receives more than twenty internals.

(SP1551.5) VICTORY CONDITIONS: Use the Modified Victory Conditions (S2.201). If the Federation and Kzintis are played by two different players, then points are scored separately for each one, but their combined score is compared to the Orions to determine if the Orions won. The Orions gain no points (and the Federation/Kzinti lose no points) for freighters which successfully disengage.

(SP1551.6) VARIATIONS: The scenario can be played again under different conditions by making one or more of the following changes:

(SP1551.61) Move the action to the Federation/Gorn border, replacing the Kzinti police ship with a Gorn police FF.
(SP1551.62) Change the Heat Zone (P10.0) to a Radiation Zone (P15.0).
(SP1551.63) For a smaller and faster battle, replace the GSC with an FFS, delete the Kzinti Pol and reduce the two CRs to a single LR.

(SP1551.7) BALANCE: The scenario can be balanced between players of different skill levels by one or more of the following:

(SP1551.71) Change the Pol to a CL.
(SP1551.72) Replace one of the CRs with an LR.
(SP1551.73) Add a refit to one or more ships of one side.
(SP1551.74) Replace one or more of the freighters with phaser armed versions.

(SP1551.8) TACTICS:

ORION: Double the engines and deal with the escort before the Federation ship can help the convoy. Capture as many freighters as you can, then head them off the board. Attack the Federation ship from two sides to split his fire.

KZINTI: Head for the Federation ship as fast as possible. Use T-bombs and drones and a scatter pack to try to damage the Orions.

FEDERATION: Head for the convoy at maximum speed. As soon as you are close enough, jam the Orions with offensive EW to try to make their weapons less effective. Use scatter packs and an MRS shuttle (if you have one) to have maximum drones on the board. Loan the Kzinti police ship EW if it is still alive.

(SP1551.9) PLAYTESTER COMMENTS:

HISTORICAL OUTCOME: The Kzinti police ship was destroyed, but the Federation ship managed to deny the Orions their sought after prize. After dueling with the Federation ship briefly, the Orions broke off to search for easier game.