Preliminaries
blockmonster: Once the Sh4rken leaves his cabin and joins the planning session, he immediately interrupts with "Dude! It just doesn't work that way. The Federal Database is like a special-purpose autonomous computer room that is necessary to decrypt the Secret Datacore. While you can access an unencrypted Datacore from the Ship's Computer, it can't do anything with the encrypted Datacore. If it could, we wouldn't even have to land this beast.""On the other hand," he continues "we could easily make a fake datacore that will seriously mess with any computer that isn't protected from such mischief. If you set up the regular Computer Room first when we land, we can have that ready in virtually no time. We can also tell them that a bunch of stuff from the regular Computer Room is all part of the Federal Database and rig it to blow up as soon as they power it on. Good thing I'm carrying around my own personal datacores to use though."
Note: As you'll observe below and throughout, per the pre-written rubrics, I am attempting to give every advantage to the grabber wherever possible (particularly where capabilities are unclear or under-specified). Despite this, there is still at least one unbeatable keeper strategy that I am aware of. If there are any unbeatable grabber selections/tactics (Akhen Cannon?), they will be squelched in a similar fashion.
Matches against keeper blockmonster's Hack Attack
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balticbadger
Captain balticbadger's grabber has the unique strategy of trying to sucker the keeper into accepting a visit from a friendly civilian party -- including a Programmed Transactor suicide bomber. His Amarasia hails blockmonster's base and does their spiel. Blockmonster's crew is, of course, not interested in the Brooklyn Bridge or snipe hunts. They warn the Amarasia off, stating that a close landing or any attempt to approach the base will be regarded as a hostile act and will be met with extreme prejudice.The Amarasia lands close to blockmonster's base but just far enough balticbadger's crew believes that they are safe from interference while assembling their prefabs. Blockmonster's crew radio their displeasure to the Amarasia and warn that not only will they not tolerate anyone or anything even headed in the direction of their base but that they will attack if they see any offensive prefabs being assembled. The Rebel General, Cornered Rebel Agent, and Scarlett Sarah are, of course, secretly tasked to infiltrate the Amarasia's landing area.
The Amarasia sends out the Nuclear Family to start assembling shelters from native materials and apparently a number of crew members to start assembling the computer room. In reality, however, they successfully use the hastily expanded shell of the computer room to shield the assembly of two Velvet Storms.
Blockmonster's crew is exceptionally unhappy and irate with the appearance of the Velvet Storms. They instruct the Amarasia to land and start disassembling them or blockmonster's Myrmidon will come and pay them a visit (actually not possible due to a lack of fuel -- but the Amarasia crew doesn't know that). The Amarasia's Mysterious AI quickly determines that it is badly over-matched by the keeper's SRT capabilities and warns that the Storm's ECM suites will not be anywhere as effective as usual. Not having enough forces to directly assault the base with it's visible defenses of the Myrmidon's missiles, a Defensive Bunker and a Vanguard (plus probably multiple KB-119 Kilbots -- this is a Pirate ship after all), the Amarasia crew lands the Storms just before nightfall while they figure out what to do.
The best plan that they can come up with is to have the Velvet Storms suddenly veer out of their patrol pattern and assault blockmonster's base with The Kumicho, Ayumi, the KB-119 Kilbot and the Programmed Transactor suicide bomber by landing right next to the Myrmidon. Assuming that both Storms are able to evade all of the defenses, they must then disable the Myrmidon by blowing a hole in its hull with the Transactor (unlikely given the Myrmidon's Extra Armor) and then take over the ship with the Kilbot and the two Syndicate members (probably facing multiple Kilbots). In addition, the Velvet Storms would obviously need to be rigged to explode to prevent their capture.
As they are discussing this, the Rebel General, Agent and Sarah arrive. The first sign the Amarasia crew gets that anything is wrong is when the Rebel General, wearing an Arena Powersuit and armed with a Judgment Day, takes out Amarasia's Kilbot. Ayumi and the Programmed Transactor move to attack when the Rebel Agent and Sarah appear with their guns trained on The Kumicho. Not wishing to endanger their leader, and already having decided that they really stood no chance of getting the Federal Database anyways, Ayumi and the Transactor stand down.
Over the next few minutes of taking prisoners, the Programmed Transactor manages to get into a good position near the Rebel General and Agent and far from The Kumicho and Ayumi.
Kaboom!!!
The Rebel Agent is killed immediately and the General badly injured. Ayumi and The Kumicho, expecting this turn of events, take down Sarah without The Kumicho getting shot (Ayumi doing the taking down, The Kumicho not getting shot). Of course, now without the Kilbot or the Programmed Transactor, the previous plan sounds even more hopeless.The Amarasia quickly radios the Myrmidon offering Scarlett Sarah and the General in return for mercy. Shen saves the General's life but he has a slow recovery due to the fact that neither crew thought to bring a Medical Bay. Without being disturbed, Sh4rken, the Mysterious AI and the Syndicate Hacker access the Secret Datacore in record time.
Score: Blockmonster 100%; Balticbadger 0%
blockmonster
The monstergrabber opted for a flexible but fairly standard assault strategy with a fully packed Drachian Mantis. It is quickly ascertained that monsterkeeper has fortified one hilltop location with a Defensive Bunker with a Myrmidon Assault Transport and a Vanguard parked right next to it. Even fully upgraded, the Mantis still doesn't have the personnel capacity of the Myrmidon, but it wins the cargo space battle hands down. There's also the question of whether Myrmidon was packed with humans or Kilbots. And, of course, the Myrmidon does have missiles.Surprised by the lack of visible Velvet Storms, the grabber still lands at a sufficient distance not to be interrupted while he assembles his prefabs. An AA/AT Automatic turret is rapidly assembled, quickly followed by a pair of Velvet Storms. Two Vanguards are next, followed a number of scouting and transport vehicles. With the military setup and patrols, it is obvious that the Rebel General's party is not going to be able to infiltrate the camp until a large part of the grabber's crew leaves.
The grabber moves in to test the defenses. The grabber has a Secret Agent and a Mysterious AI pitted against a Mysterious AI, Sh4rken and a Syndicate Hacker meaning that that the Storm's ECM suites will not be anywhere as effective as usual. Monstergrabber's orders included extensive instructions about constant patrolling and seeking "secret lairs". None are discovered and the forces appear to be two Velvet Storms, two Vanguards, four Kilbots and half a dozen personnel against a Defensive Bunker, a Vanguard and a Myrmidon plus an almost totally unknown crew contingent -- though at least one Kilbot has been spotted.
Monstergrabber's orders included the very specific "If the other team goes with an entrenched defense, then I will need to be ready for a siege situation. Surround/corner the opposition so that they can’t forage for food and water while I can. Wait till they leave their enclosure and fight on more agreeable terrain." The grabber crew gets antsy as time passes but losses will likely be equal on both sides if they attempt to weaken the defenses -- and that doesn't account for the Myrmidon's unknown personnel.
There are a number of feints from both sides and Monstergrabber's crew begins to ascertain the size of Monsterkeeper's actual fighting contingent and the fact that there might be only one Kilbot. Believing that it is likely that they would win -- but not wishing to take the losses probably entailed -- they offer terms of surrender to the keeper (the Federal Database with the Secret Datacore and we won't bother you further). The keeper attempts to negotiate for monetary compensation but the grabber starts getting antsy that this is a stall tactic to finish accessing the Datacore (and, of course, it certainly is) and the keeper agrees to give up the (fake) Federal Database.
Monstergrabber wisely insists on seeing the Secret Datacore first when the Monsterkeeper's crew explains that it likely would take some time to disassemble the Federal Database and he doesn't want to give them even more time to access the datacore. His real plan, of course, is just to take the Datacore and run. After a relatively short period of time, the fake datacore is produced and monstergrabber's crew moves back to the Mantis in force (necessary because of the constant feints made against any smaller party). They are exceptionally unhappy and irate when the Datacore corrupts their ship's main computer -- damage that the Mysterious AI quickly repairs.
Rapidly preparing for an assault, they return to the keeper's base to find a disassembled Federal Database (NOT!) and (another fake) Secret Datacore. Over the radio, Monsterkeeper's Eliza and Shen tag-team them with their charismatic "Sorry, sorry but we had to give it one last try. Please just take it and leave us alone."
Once again, it takes some time to inspect and move all the computer components back the Monstergrabber's camp. Monsterkeeper's crew had decided to remove the explosives in order to gain the most time. Monstergrabber's Military Engineer was only starting to get an inkling that they might have been conned when Monsterkeeper's Sh4rken, Mysterious AI and Syndicate Hacker access the Secret Datacore in near record time. Monstergrabber's crew was, once again, exceptionally unhappy and irate both that they had delayed and that they had then been fooled TWICE!
Score: Blockmonster keeper 100%; Blockmonster grabber 0%
digital-wisdom
Captain digital-wisdom has the strategy of keeping the defender moving wherever possible. He also has a fully packed Drachian Mantis. It is quickly ascertained that monsterkeeper has fortified one hilltop location with a Defensive Bunker with a Myrmidon Assault Transport and a Vanguard parked right next to it. Even fully upgraded, the Mantis still doesn't have the personnel capacity of the Myrmidon, but it wins the cargo space battle hands down. There's also the question of whether Myrmidon was packed with humans or Kilbots. And, of course, the Myrmidon does have missiles.Showing an overabundance of caution, digital-wisdom uses two Exploration Dropships to land 3 Velvet Storms in two different locations on the opposite side of the planet from blockmonster's base. Once the Velvet Storms are assembled, they are used to cover a second landing site reasonably close to blockmonster's base but at a sufficient distance not to be interrupted while the rest of the prefabs are assembled. In the second wave are 3 Vanguards, 3 Kilbots, an AA/AT turret, 600 energy and all personnel except for Admiral Valro and Tyron who remain upon the orbiting Mantis.
As digital-wisdom stupidly left his Mysterious AI at home, he will be operating at a substantial SRT disadvantage. The forces appear to be three Velvet Storms, three Vanguards, three Kilbots and half a dozen personnel (including red-shirted Clone Troopers) against against a Defensive Bunker, a Vanguard and a Myrmidon plus an almost totally unknown crew contingent -- though at least one Kilbot has been spotted. As the defenders apparently have no Storms, the grabber has the mobility advantage as long as they don't get too close to the keeper base.
Digital-wisdom's crew starts by mopping up all the parties roaming around outside the keeper's defenses. This quickly gives them a pretty good idea of what the Myrmidon's personnel make-up was like. Only two Triskan Fighters are killed and the Cornered Rebel Agent injured, but all of blockmonster's personnel are forced to fall back to the main defenses.
The Myrmidon is the biggest concern and is targeted by the three Vanguards, three Kilbots and half a dozen personnel. All are extremely careful to keep the Myrmidon between them and the Defensive Bunker. The three Velvet Storms are tasked with tracking the Vanguard and attacking it when convenient/necessary. Myrmidon missiles destroy two of the Vanguards but the three Kilbots quickly reach safe harbor right next to it. Despite it's extra armor, it doesn't take long for the relatively unopposed Kilbots to open it like a tin can.
Blockmonster's Vanguard was destroyed by by digital-wisdom's single remaining Vanguard and the three Storms when it attempted to assist the Myrmidon by circling around to where the Kilbots were. The Defensive Bunker was well on it's way to being destroyed when Blockmonster's crew surrendered. Digital-wisdom's crew then accessed the Secret Datacore and transmitted its contents about the hostile aliens to everyone within communications range.
Score: Blockmonster 0%; Digital-wisdom 100%
slabakbg
Captain slabakbg's strategy is pretty straight-forward relying upon synergies to advance a Stealthy and/or Hacker-y approach as appropriate. It is quickly ascertained that monsterkeeper has fortified one hilltop location with a Defensive Bunker with a Myrmidon Assault Transport and a Vanguard parked right next to it. Captain slabakbg's Quantum Class Supreme has far less personnel capacity than the Myrmidon with identical cargo space. There's also the question of whether Myrmidon was packed with humans or Kilbots. And, of course, the Myrmidon does have missiles.Looking over blockmonster's hilltop defenses, Slabak realizes that there is virtually no chance of successfully assaulting them. Landing his Quantum on top of the defenses with guns blazing is likely simply death by Myrmidon missiles. The Repentant Pirate decides that discretion is the better part of valor, orders more fuel from the interstellar market and heads on to greener pastures.
Without being harassed, blockmonster's crew has all the time in the world to use the Federal Database to access the Secret Core; however Sh4rken, Mysterious AI and Syndicate Hacker complete the task in near record time.
Score: Blockmonster 100%; Slabakbg 0%
Recap
Captain blockmonster's Hack Attack keeper leaps into a tie for first place with identical match-up results to Captain apshamilton. While their matches against three of the four keepers were similar (2 wins on good defense and a loss when overmatched), their battles agains blockmonster's Robot Army couldn't have been more different. While Apshamilton's defense was up to the task, blockmonster's was just a little bit shy of the mark. Fortunately for him, however, he had a strong alternate strategy in the form of stall tactics and an elite hacking team -- aided by the Robot Army's somewhat tentative/conservative orders.On the offensive side, Captain blockmonster neither gained nor lost ground relative to Captains balticadger and slabakbg.
Tomorrow we'll see another unique entry -- an offensive Snapping Turtle.
| balticbadger | blockmonster | digital-wisdom | slabakbg | KEEPER TOTAL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| apshamilton | 100/0 | 100/0 | 0/100 | 100/0 | 75% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| balticbadger | 100/0 | -50/40 | -50/50 | 100/0 | 25% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| blockmonster 1 | 100/0 | 0/100 | 50/50 | 100/0 | 62.5%
| blockmonster 2 |
100/0 |
100/0 |
0/100 |
100/0 |
75% |
digital-wisdom |
proto26 |
raudell |
slabakbg |
GRABBER TOTAL |
0% |
17.5% |
37.5% |
0% |
|