ZGMF Week 10 - Overview

Woot. Nice post Matthew. Good to see some activity on the officers forum. I hope to be back to a semi-active state the weekend after next. I'll know my school schedule then, and will have settled down into a new semester. Until then, I'll be content just to make a couple quick notes.

Regarding South America...

- Lorelay and Baekhesten could attack Chicken Little and Splizzun (you have it confused with Llud above) on Monday. Risky, given the SS fleet's damaged status, but it'd turn any paradrop attempt into a move -- regardless of victory or defeat.

- Federation PCs could buy Medeas on Monday and instantly paradrop us, if they're a day away or less, and have 270 or more RP. Medeas themselves aren't too worrisome, but if they're ferrying in healthy PCs...

- How impossible would it be to divide up the 9th Combined and attack both Woody and Matilda on Monday? If Liger stayed, Dragon and Stilva could each helm respective sub-fleets. Destroy Woody and Matilda Monday, and then jump back up into North America Tuesday.

- Might be fudging the numbers here a bit, but we could get an extra 9 x Dopps if we have Persephone, Noelle and Rhett move to SA Monday and leave their MS teams. They could purchase 3 x Dopps each (more or less, depending on their RP) and attack separately of our two sub-fleets.

Regarding Achangelisk...

- If we do have Yuji purchase defenses for Achangelisk, I suggest we purchase a ship + MS + fighters. That way, if no attack does take place against Archangelisk, we can always utilize the ship at Belfast. Ships are as good or better than defenses, and they can move.

- Judging from past runs, how effective do we consider Apsalus II? Aleksei seemed pretty fearful of its capabilities, in a recent post on the EF forums. If it can go into orbit, drop onto New Amsterdam, and destroy it in a single shot -- why not send Yuji after that base while the rest of the TAF is in SA? That means we can hightail it over to Europe post-haste, and descend on the Federation fleet if it does move to Archangelisk.


All I got for now, since I'm not more involved with the game at the moment. Like I said, hoping to settle into a normal routine here sooner or later. Good luck with whatever you all decide.

Thanks for the well-thought out response, Matthew. I think I agree with most of what you've proposed, but continue to have some comments.

- Jojo retreated to the West Arctic with Thursday's roster update, and Splizzun is no longer listed on the site. So paradrops from the Pacific (by existing ships) is no longer a threat.

Chris filled me in about Des/Odessa via text message. Guess I'm squatting on Lorelay until I return to real action.

- In addition to Chicken Little, basically the entire Earth Federation terresterial PC forces are in the West Arctic. Umm... wow. Did we just plain outmaneuver them, despite their access to our boards (which outright stated we were going into South America)?

Only Hirsch and Gano are in the Pacific, and both lack the RP to purchase a Medea for Monday. Scott Archer, however, is at Jaburo. He has 600 RP and could perform a paradrop. 600 - 270 leaves him with plenty of RP to purchase services, if he's active.

- With the Federation PCs out of paradrop range, I semi-agree with your points on not splitting the fleet, but am hesitant.

On the one hand...
* The EF fleet is in no position to attack us for at least two days.
* Scott Archer could (and probably will) be a problem on Monday, if we divide.
* Your points about the lack of Dodai/fighter support, and the Medeas' speed, seem sound.
* If we do the divide, our separated sub-fleets will be less prepared to face a paradrop on Tuesday.

On the other...
* That two day window gives the Federation time to maneuver against Archangelisk.
* Archer and Munchek and Gano, and RP transferred to them Monday, will be a problem on Tuesday.
* No good counter to the Medea speed problem. And the vulnerability of sub-fleets on Tuesday stands.

Overall, I think the bullets make a better case for the two day strategy. There are holes either way, but bigger ones if we divide, and we can more safely react to the Federation's movements as a large fleet.

With one big fleet, the first battle should be fairy cut-and-dry. Yes, the Medea have speed, but (a) we have more recon aircraft to outflank them, (b) any defensive maneuvers necessarily require them to slow down, (c) Rhett's team alone could wipe out the L1 Medeas, and (d) no matter how fast those Medea fly, they aren't faster than a Gaw's mega particle cannons.

- Since we own the ships, if people leave their MS teams aboard, at worst the fleet owner retains possession. Leaving us free to hand them back once we're done with the event.

I don't see getting ambushed as a problem. Since the MS will be attacking the same target as the fleet, they'll necessarily still be involved in the battle and capable of providing defense.

Two greater issues make me hesitant to follow-through with the idea. First, it violates the roleplaying done by Persephone and Rhett and Noelle. I think the NPCs would ultimately be written as less effective combatants because of this. Secondly, the plan isn't doable with a two day strategy. After the first day, damage will likely cause the pilots to reboard the fleet to be eligible for participation on day two. The Dopps from day one would become dead weight.

- New Point: Can we stick fighters into the fleet's six extra vehicle slots? We have a lone Luggun listed, so I assume yes. This would give us five more Dopps with one fleet, or eleven more Dopps with two fleets.

- New Point: What do you think about dividing into two sub-fleets, and attacking the same target from different angles? Same risks apply with the separation as listed above, but it'd give us three more MS slots, and six more aircraft slots. Not 100% confident in this idea, but putting it out there for review.

- New Point: If we're just attacking Matilda on Monday, could we break off two or three MS teams (including Ritter) to do a preliminary strike on Woody? Maybe see if we can't get Ritter to board the Medea Revised, take it over, and leave the remaining Medeas more vulnerable to attack the next day?

My only concern with this option would be that it might "spook" the NPC fleets. Not sure how reactive Ketara is going to treat the supply convoys. Without Woody, would they retreat to Jaburo? What's more, if one is attacked on Monday, would the other automatically flee to Jaburo Tuesday?

That does it for the South America stuff. Onto Europe/Archangelisk/Apsalus II...

- One ship can do only so much, so a team of Xamels might not be a bad idea. Xamels definitely would provide a new layer of fire support against the Federation's aquatic ships.

If we purchase suits for Archangelisk, is there any chance we retain ownership rights? If not, I think a ship might still be preferable, but suggest at least one Xamel purchase for Yuji's team.

- I have several scattered points on Apsalus II...

While I think your reservations might be applicable in this situation, I don't think we can afford to treat the Apsalus II so delicately in the long run. It is an autonomous fortress killer. Worrying about it to the point of underutilization takes away our single most powerful mobile weapon. At some point, we need to test Yuji against a fortress.

How does our orbital control work? Will the Federation face patrols if they attempt to move into orbit from 0 Days from Earth? If yes, it may be worth keeping Apsalus II up there another day, so it can react to the Federation's movements after Monday's update. If no, we should definitely get him down to Europe and reinforce Archangelisk.

New Amsterdam is scarier for the GM Sniper, than it is the possibility of AOM arrays. In fact, let's consider ourselves lucky if Jojo does spend 675 RP on one. That's 675 RP not going against Archangelisk or the 9th Combined. What's more, New Amsterdam lacks a targeting facility. The turret would be at 13 effective VP, versus Yuji's 70+.

Let's also not forget that we have New Amsterdam scouted. Not too shabby, for a long range MPC shot... Especially considering there are snowstorms in the region which would complicate a GM Sniper shot a lot more than it would a mobile armor firing on a stationary target from the stratosphere.

Speaking of bases we've scouted: Southeast Asia HQ. Why not? It has no orbital defenses and no GM Sniper. Not even SAMs.

Malta is another possibility. The Federation had to waste a ton of side RP to reinforce Malta the way it did...

And your remark about using Apsalus II against ruins piqued my curiosity. Des and Aisha are at RF-3. Yuji Takeshi is in orbit. Goodbye African Union?

Those are four different bases that appear incredibly vulnerable to the Apsalus II. Suggesting that we need to start using the thing how it's meant to be used, whether or not its pilot wants to roleplay and/or post on the Zeon forums...

If we go through with having Yuji simply drop on Archangelisk, how far along are we when it comes to organizing RP transfers to fund his purchases? From the scattered posts I've read on the regular Zeon forum, it seems like many people are more interested in purchasing personal stuff for now. If we can't get enough RP to Yuji for him to purchase worthwhile contributions to Archangelisk's defense, we shouldn't bother sending him to Archangelisk in the first place.

Think that should about do it!

I am going to post a little later today, but I have some points/plans on the Aspalus, as well as what I see happening with the SS members while y'all busy the main forces of the EFGF.

A few more quick things from me until I can get some dinner, at least:

- Like Zero said, the EFGF is currently discussing the option of sending Strikey against the fleet through a Paradrop maneuver. By himself, he shouldn't present too much of a problem. As I've illustrated above, there are a couple more people still in the Pacific that could contribute to a counterattack - notably, Hirsch Munchek and the Waterproof Gundam. I doubt they send Prince Namor against us while he's at half VP, though.

- We actually only have two aircraft slots open in the 9th's Fleet Support - Rhett Paruta is currently located at Fleet Support, and his MS team (mobile suits + Dodai) count towards both mobile suit and aircraft spots for storage purposes.

- Based on everyone's rage and anger at the AU, I believe Chris said he would like the Apsalus II to assist in their attempted destruction this week. Subsequently, I have updated the timeline to reflect this, and we will have to worry about Archangelisk later or after Chris has posted his thoughts.

- I had contemplated possibly trying to be cute, and splitting the fleet in two ( 2 Gaws + 1 Dobday, 2 Samsons + 1 Gallop). I had daydreamed about maybe doing this to prepare for Strikey's attack - we could have this second fleet perform a Patrol action, and hope to catch Scott Archer as he Paradrops from Jaburo. This would prevent him from participating in the defense of Matilda, although Chris has expressed displeasure at this idea and although I'm eager to do some tricky fleet maneuverings that the EF might not expect, the expected gain from such an action is circumstantial at best. So, I doubt I will push very hard for that.

- Based on the current state of the AU, it's probable (imo) that they will leave Ramba Ral and the Resupply Fleet of ours alone until they can retreat from the area and regroup. Still, I think it's important we apply a massive amount of pressure to them in acknowledgment of their "achievements" - they have done more damage to us than the EFGF has. I will refrain from posting any ideas on how to confront the AU as it would seem Chris is taking the leading role in that regard, although I will probably chip in later with some important Rogue rules to remember.

Maybe more later. PASTA FOR NOW. bwahaha

- Given the amount of damage Des Mielle has done to our mining operations, using Apsalus II against the RF-3 has my sound off.

It's also nice to see Yuji making posts on the regular Zeon forums. I don't know if you talked to him, or what, but it's a good start.

Hopefully, now, the rogues don't respond to his post by moving out of RF-3. If the African Union leaves RF-3, I suggest diverting Apsalus II to any of the other targets I've previously listed.

- I agree with the Dodai II idea, to fill support slots. It might also be worth purchasing L2 or L3 pilots for those Dodai II, just so they're not a bottleneck against PC experience.

- Hirsch and Gano won't be an issue until Day 2. Archer will certainly be hitting us Day 1, based on Zero's information. Chances are the Federation will paradrop Archer in with either fighters or snipers. Snipers could weaken our Gaws on Day 1, and leave us vulnerable to a more deadly encounter on Day 2.

- I also disagree with splitting the 9th Combined into an attack force and patrol fleet. Too risky, for too little chance at reward. If we're splitting up our forces, it needs to be for a larger benefit...

- Speaking of larger benefit. I am returning to the opinion that hitting both fleets, simultaneously, on Monday is the best of our options. Two fleets means at least one will not be engaged by Archer, and both could field a superior number of aircraft, without keeping us in South America another day.

This is going to require a lot of number crunching, but please bear with me.

Step 1) Rhett Paruta and Persephone Dawn and Noelle Everett (w/ MS Teams) leave the 9th Combined Operations Fleet.
- Persephone Dawn purchases 1 x L3 Dodai II and 1 x L2 Dodai II for MS team. (203 - 150 - 50 = 19 RP remaining.)
- Noelle Everett purchases 3 x L3 Dopp for MS Team. (450 - 300 - 54 = 96 RP remaining.)
- Rhett Paruta retains his team.
Effect: This gives us 2 more airborne MS, frees up 3 MS spots in fleet, gets Rhett out of support slots, and gives us 3 additional L3 Dopps.

Step 2) 9th Combined Operations Fleet splits into Fleet 1 and Fleet 2.
- Fleet 1 consists of Dragon + Schmerz + Swiss Miss.
- FLeet 2 consists of Stilva + Liger + Sammy.
Effect: Each fleet gets 6 vehicle support slots, and 3 MS support slots.

Step 3) Empty slots on fleets...
- Fleet 1 has Dragon (4 MS, 2 aircraft open), Schmerz (3 MS, 3 aircraft open), and Support (3 MS, 5 aircraft)
- Fleet 2 has Stilva (4 MS, 0 aircraft open), Liger (0 MS, 0 aircraft open), and Support (3 MS, 6 aircraft)

Step 4) Purchases for Fleet 1...
- Duncan Keystone purchases 1 x L3 Xamel (525 - 500 = 25 RP) and 1 x Dodai II (25 - 25 = 0 RP) for MS team on Schmerz.
- Ferusha Glavadeen purchases 2 x L3 Dodai II (875 - 250 = 625 RP) for MS team on Schmerz.
- Ando Shoji purchases 5 x Dopp (296 - 90 RP = 196 RP) for Fleet 1 Support.
- Ando Shoji purchases 2 x Dopp (196 - 36 = 160 RP) for Dragon.
- Schmerz has 1 MS slot open, Dragon has 4 MS slots open, Support has 3 MS slots open.

Step 5) Purchases for Fleet 2...
- Ando Shoji purchases 6 x Dopp (160 - 90 = 50 RP) for Fleet 2 Support.
- Stilva has 4 MS slots open, and Support has 3 MS slots open.

Step 6) Attack
- Fleet 1 attacks Matilda.
- Fleet 2 attacks Woody w/ Rhett and Noelle and Persephone.

This would be the makeup of both attack forces...





... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand... I think that's about that. Either force is more than capable of taking their respective targets. Even if one of them gets paradropped on Monday, numbers should still be on our side. Our aircraft are more numerous, and we've got a ton of airborne MS now to take care of interferences. Our ground forces are also beefed, and between Infantry and Tanks and MS, we should be able to provide fire support, as well as recon support to take down any MS they drop in, and take down snipers.

If we're concerned about their ground forces, it'd be nice if we could purchase a handful of L2 or L3 Doms for the respective fleets.

In terms of strategy, I think both fleets would follow the same basic premise: use tanks and infantry and Doms to scout for Federation ground MS, put larger MS like Hildolfr and Xamels and Rhinocerous on fire support, and send out aircraft and airborne MS and Gaws to engage the supply fleets. In the case of Fleet 1, the only difference will be that Ritter is going to board Matilda's Medea to capture. Simple, and should be able to respond to any forces Archer drops in.

After Monday, we could hightail it back to North America. Even if they send a large force against either fleet on Tuesday, we'll be on the run. It's easier to retreat against a large force, than it is to attempt to conduct a large strike against the second supply fleet while getting attacked by said large force.

The only drawback to this plan, in my opinion, is that it's more complicated. It'd require a communications effort on par with the Combined Operations Combat Korps. If we do this, it needs to be decided upon tonight, and communicated to the regular Zeon by tomorrow morning. Word of mouth and double checking to make sure emails are sent in will be important.

That's my long, long 2 cents.

Apsalus II

Can the Apsalus II enter orbit without assistance frome a spaceport? If so, the Zanzibar would slow it down. If not, I think the Zanzibar is a good idea.

Can Apsalus II attack targets instantaneously from orbit? I was under that impression, given its depiction in 08th MS Team. If so, why move it to Asia? To avoid the EF fleet? Guess that makes sense.

Schuzstaffel

Are we going into the Indian with just our Jukon IIs? Without flight support, we're going to have trouble. Donny and Hugo lack machineguns, meaning their only AA weaponry are bazookas. Aldo has a machinegun, but how effective will that be against 12 combat planes? 6 Dopps in the support slots are nice, and another 1 or 2 aboard the Jukons (better we get a Luggun in one of them) would give us 8 or 9 aircraft. Maybe we could spring for L2s instead of L1s. It'd make me more confident in the plan; especially with those L2 and L3 Tin Cods in the fleets.

Also, how do the supply fleets have 9 vehicles in support slots? Do NPC fleets get extra spaces?

Malta -- I'm not sure what the motivation is for this target. Mind elaborating? If we want Europe, it'll have to go eventually, but (imo) better to do it when we have support services at 1/2 cost.

Regarding the TAF fleet's schedule -- yes. We need to hit those supply fleets and get the hell out as soon as possible. One of the reasons I favor the two fleets approach. That'd get us up into North America after Tuesday's update.

- I believe Apsalus II is required to move to an installation with a spaceport to return to orbit:




- Furthermore, from my readings on the Zanzibar II I don't think it has an M-craft, so it is also limited to launching from spaceports to return to orbit.

~

- Okay, after checking over your ideas I love them, and I'm ready to agree to move forward with this philosophy and share them with the Zeon board. Would you like to make the post, or me? I'm fine either way, although I'll likely prepare a mass e-mail to get in touch with everybody to inform them of the situation if that's okay with you.