Tanker Hunt:

While during the 1000 yahren war the Colonials sought to destroy every tanker they found, the Galactica sought to capture them, so that the fleet could replenish it is fuel. This scenario attempts to recreate a typical mission - the tankers have been spotted, and now the Vipers are sent in to destroy their escorts and then disable them so that they can be boarded and piloted back to the fleet.

Initial Setup:

• Terrain:
  Use a standard floating map.
• Cylons:
  2x unarmed tankers (hex 2215 and 2316), facing any direction and at any speed. The ships are at WS I, but no fighters are launched.
• Colonials:
  4x fighter flights, on any outside edge of the map (altogether, and may not be split amongst multiple map edges), approaching at any speed. 2x shuttles with 4x boarding parties each arrive on turn 2 on the same map edge as the Vipers.
• Special Rules:
  There are no special rules in this game.

The Scenario:

• Objectives:
  Cylons: The Cylons wish to keep the tankers so that it can be used for their war effect. As such they are trying to destroy the tankers.
  Colonials: The Colonials are attempting to capture the tankers, not neccassarily destroy them. As such, their aim is to destroy the defending fighters and disable the tankers.
• Length of Scenario:
  The scenario continues until the freighters are captured or the attackers escape or are destroyed.
• Special Rules:
  The object here is to capture the two tankers, not destroy them. To this end (D6.4) should be used for any Viper attacks on the tankers, although players are not compelled to use this rule (although the shuttles will probably have trouble catching up other wise).

Victory Conditions

If the tankers are captured, then this is a Colonial victory, else it is a Cylon victory.

Balance

If the scenario is too easy, make the tankers the armed variety, they will then be a lot more difficult too disable. Or, by increasing the amount of Viper flights, consider throwing in a TKR-V fighter carrier, or TKR-Q Tanker. The extra firepower and Raiders will make the scenario a lot more challenging.

Alternately, the map could be made fixed, with the tankers starting at one end of the map, and the Colonials attacking from the other. A tanker leaving from the opposite map edge has escaped.

Tactics

Cylons: The odds are stacked against you in this. The Raiders will not (shouldn't) last long, so the trick will be to stay away from the approaching shuttles so that the Vipers have to attack you and hope they hit the fuel! Convert the deck crews to boarding parties as soon as possible, after all your Raiders will not be coming back, and you will have to be boarded at some point.

Colonials: The Cylon fighters are not really that much of a threat to four Viper flights, although they might go after the shuttles with boarding parties, so you will have to destroy them quickly. The trick here to is to disable the tankers without destroying them, which will not be an easy thing. you will have to use non violent combat to stand any chance of the shuttles catching up, although landing your Vipers in the tankers and converting the pilots to boarding parties is certainly a risky option.

Historical Outcome

Usually the Colonials managed to capture the freighters, failure was mainly due to bad luck when trying to knock out the tankers engines. Against armed tankers was a different matter, and almost all cases resulted in a lost tanker or lost shuttle trying to board. Luckily armed tankers were rare.