Beta 16

Dates: January - February 2005

Winners: Ajaxians

Best-Known Boraxian LC: Scartissue

Best-Known Ajaxian LC: Cassidy

Best-Known Tibran LCs: VoxDei, Darth

Best-Known Krilgorian LC: Scubasteve

Base regeneration was re-instituted for game 16, in order to make legions bolder about leaving their own base. In addition, scan towers were removed altogether, with scans being gained for sectors in which there was a friendly ship, and lost when the base was reduced to one-third health.

The game started with the again-customary four-way dogfight in the Roids. This continued for some time, but the Ajax were flung out first, and then attacked Canopus West which caused the Tibs to withdraw from the Roids. The Bors, who had in any case been gaining the upper hand in the Roids, were eventually able to overcome the Krils and were left in possession of the Roids.

From there the legions paired off. The Tibs made an abortive attack on the Jax in T3S, but when the Jax followed to Garen the Tibs (despite being outnumbered and outlevelled) opted to stand and fight, and after a protracted battle were eventually able to force the Jax to flee. They followed this up with an attack on T3S which seriously damaged the demoralised Ajax, setting the tone for the Jax for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Bors were stomping all over the Krils in the southern section of the map.

This period left the Bors in the lead, with the Tibs a little way behind them, and the Ajax and Krils both sitting in their home sectors. The Tibs and Bors both withdrew homewards to repair, and the Tibs then cut a deal with the Krils to take on the Bors jointly. Accordingly, the Tibs jumped through to Dreadlar and then their combined forces surprised a significant Boraxian squadron in Orbital. Despite this, the Bors took only one casualty in Orbital, and the Tibs proceeded to engage the full Bor fleet in RSC while the Krils went through NSA to engage the Ajaxians. The Tibs and Krils both convincingly won their respective battles, leaving the Tibs with a significant points lead.

Deciding their NAP had served its purpose, the Tibs ended the alliance with the Krils and moved to level their bombers up on Ajaxus. They managed a few turns bombing, but then Tibrar was attacked by the three other legions combined (although the still-demoralised Ajax sent only a few representatives). The Tibs moved home, but the tri-NAP left Tibrar without engaging, and in an attempt to close with some portion of the enemy the Tibs scattered their fleet across three or four sectors. This proved disastrous as when the Bors and Krils stood and fought in Aquarious, the Tibs were (despite initial optimism) unable to mount a successful assault and were beaten back to MoK. The tri-NAP then attacked MoK, and the Tibs were again heavily defeated, falling back to Tibrar having lost their lead.

With the Tibs beaten into third place, the object of the tri-NAP was achieved, and it was ended. The Bors and Krils both moved to attack Ajaxus, perceived as an easy target. However, their fleets encountered each other there and a battle ensued, with the Bors eventually defeating the Krils and settling in to bomb Ajaxus. The Krils moved back towards Tibrar and they and the Tibs spent some time stepping carefully around each other without really coming to grips. The Tibs weren't really sure what the Bors were doing, and aborted a couple of attacks on the Krils at the last minute when they were worried that the Bors were moving in behind them. The one attack they did manage got a very poor jump to Acrador and jumped out again at t+5 having lost a level 3 repairer and not fired a shot. When the Bors eventually did move out of Ajaxus (having done little damage due to having few bombers), they combined with the Krils again to hit the Tibs in MoK, resulting in another defeat for the Tibs who went home to sulk.

While the Tibs were licking their wounds, the Bors moved to attack the Krils. They were having some success in engaging the Kril fleet when the Krils made a surprise jump through a special gate from MoK to Dragor. The Tibs executed a flawless double-jump to Durius Highlands using a carrier, and took the Bors completely by surprise, destroying a near-cruiser in DH and a level 5 repairship in Boraxus before the Bors managed to return. The Tibran withdrawal wasn't quite as successful as their attack, and they took a couple of mid-level casualties, but in general the attack was considered a success and they returned home through Mattas Head.

Apparently bored with targets that fought back, the Bors moved back to Ajaxus to get some more points. The Tibs engaged the Krils a few times in the south-western portion of the map, coming out on top and starting to close the Bor lead. Eventually, the Ajax managed to get their act together and were finally having some successes against the attacking Bors, who still hadn't done any significant damage to Ajaxus - their lack of bombers had persuaded them not to make a serious attempt to kill the planet. The Bors decided to take a breather and return home to pick up a couple of cruisers, but in the meantime the Tibs and Krils independantly and more or less simultaneously decided that there was likely to be a NAP formed soon somewhere, and that they were better off NAPping with each other rather than risking the other NAPping with the Bors. They moved to attack Boraxus mostly just to get points, but did so at a bad time for the Bors who had just jumped to the other side of the map. This combination meant that Boraxus was badly damaged before the Bors got home, and the Tibs and Krils decided they had a good chance to finish the Bors. The Bors decided to focus their fire on the Krils in an attempt to drive them out, but the Krils proved resilient and left Boraxus only as they were damaged, rather than all at once. The Tibs and Krils withdrew briefly from Boraxus for repairs, but then returned and finished the job, although the Bors' continued policy of targetting the Krils left them decimated by the time Boraxus was eventually destroyed.

The Tibs and Krils both withdrew to repair, before the Tibs went back into Boraxus and destroyed most of the remaining Boraxians. Following this, the Tibs and Krils both moved home, and the Tibs attacked the Krils in Aquarious. The battle was evenly matched, but the Tibs eventually won it and attacked the Krils again in SS. The Tibs superior firepower told quickly without the restriction of the low damage sector in Aquarious, and the Krils returned to PK. The Tibs were preparing to attack PK, but decided to try and trick the Krils into leaving PK long enough to give them a few ticks' free bombing before they engaged. They returned to Tibrar and engaged a few Ajax who had attacked Tibrar. The Krils moved to TMC, and the Tibs moved to Garen in preparation for a special gate jump to Dreadlar. However, the Tibs rushed their jump to Dreadlar and managed only a poor jump, with the rest of their fleet straggling into Dreadlar and then PK over the following five ticks. This delay allowed the Krils to invade Tibrar in force, and a game of chicken started over who would destroy their opponents' homeworld first. Unfortunately, by the time each side realised that the other wasn't going to blink it was too late for both - neither side could have returned home in time to save their homeworld. The Tibs' superior firepower took down PK first, with Tibrar following two ticks later. Despite having been a far last all game, the Ajax had won.

Submitted by VoxDei on 06/03/05