Re: Nearly Simplest Campaign
Well, the Battle of Ryleh 3 has ended in another loss for the Republic. After a bunch of cat and mouse/duck and weave around the planet, all 3 Republic CLs were destroyed. In Return they killed 2 of the ship-killing Gorlev Frigates, and a Destroyer-Escort. This doesn't tell the whole story though...as has been the case with so many of our games, the victor was so badly mauled that he will be hard pressed to actually fight the next battle. In addition to the ships the Gorlev lost, they also suffered severe damage to the powerful CAX Paladin (whose Big Guns accounted for 2 "one-shot-kills" in this battle) with her hull reduced from 10 to 2, the a CL that was reduced from 7 to 3 and a DDE that was reduced from 4 to 2. In fact, the only two ships undamaged in the battle were the Gorlev and Republic light carriers, which stayed out of the fight.
The worm turned for the Republic when the Gorlev commander decided not to jump out Paladin and the CVE. Had he chosen to do so the lost points and the lost firepower still available to the battered CAX would have allowed the Republic to eek out a victory (I think). So after three fights and one declined game, the Republic is reduced to just its CVL, and the Gorlev force consists of the undamaged CVL, and a heavily damaged BC (5/13), CAX (2/10), CA (2/10), CL (3/7), and DDE (2/4), and the Gorlev have just 5 RPs to try and fix all the dents.
Of course, the Gorlev just have to win one more fight to win the campaign, and with only one loss, they have some room to breathe...stay tuned...
Erik