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[Aseaheru]

Pit about that dockyard though. You know that they are going to do their damnedest to blow it up.

[Nirur Torir]

It might not be as bad as it looks, since swarmling attack is equal to the shipyard's armor, and we should be able to deal with the bigger ships before they get close.
It's safe to say that we've killed 9 of 24 swarmlings.
If the Defenders spread their fire out, that front Defender should -barely- be able to survive disengaging. I expect this will also keep those two swarmling groups from hitting our shipyard this turn (if swarmlings even can).

If we retreat our ships, and swarmlings can hit the shipyard, it will probably be hit by either 3+3+2 or 3+2+2 this next turn, before Wardens come into play. It has 30 Hull. Our Wardens can hit them after moving.  I think the biggest choice is between thinning the swarmers or trying to aim for bigger ships, since the ravagers might dodge. I'm tentatively thinking of retreating everybody, aiming two wardens each for the two swarmers at either end of the line, and trying to get the last two to hit ravagers if they come into range.
It might be better to aim the last two at the H-16 swarmers, for reduced repair costs later.

[escaped lurker]

It might not be as bad as it looks, since swarmling attack is equal to the shipyard's armor, and we should be able to deal with the bigger ships before they get close.
It's safe to say that we've killed 9 of 24 swarmlings.
If the Defenders spread their fire out, that front Defender should -barely- be able to survive disengaging. I expect this will also keep those two swarmling groups from hitting our shipyard this turn (if swarmlings even can).

If we retreat our ships, and swarmlings can hit the shipyard, it will probably be hit by either 3+3+2 or 3+2+2 this next turn, before Wardens come into play. It has 30 Hull. Our Wardens can hit them after moving.  I think the biggest choice is between thinning the swarmers or trying to aim for bigger ships, since the ravagers might dodge. I'm tentatively thinking of retreating everybody, aiming two wardens each for the two swarmers at either end of the line, and trying to get the last two to hit ravagers if they come into range.
It might be better to aim the last two at the H-16 swarmers, for reduced repair costs later.

Let me correct a few misconceptions, as I was not all that clear on some topics.

Our Wardens can attack this turn, even before our ships move. The reason they attacked last turn, was because they were on stand-by, and waiting for the enemy. Think of it as an attack of opportunity, for enemies entering their range.
With your current plan, they would attack H-12 and H-14, as to allow the flanked Defender to flee.

Entering the Atmosphere, costs your movement for the turn.

The Orbital Drydock is not finished yet, with the xeno scum seemingly not inclined on dealing with us based on our favoured end-of-quarter-circle system!
Err... the Drydock, because of that, is half-finished at best (the bulk of the work being planetside production, not space-construction). So... 20 Hull, 1 Plating, is really all it currently has.

[Askot Bokbondeler]

unload 4 wardens on swarmlings prioritizing H14, H12, H16, H10. reenter frontmost defender, retreat remaining defenders to K13 & K15, if big ships enter range, focus 2 wardens on 1 incoming ship

[Nirur Torir]

That's pretty unfortunate.

More GM questions:

Can a ship that makes no moves remain on standby to shoot approaching enemies?
If we have several wardens reserved to shoot an evasive ravager, how many attack phases can they take in one turn? I know each can only fire once, but can Warden B wait until Wardan A's accuracy is decided, then Warden C wait until B's accuracy is decided, then Warden D, etc?
About how many resources were spent on the shipyard parts currently in orbit? 75%? 50%? Are there civilians on it now?

[escaped lurker]

Can a ship that makes no moves remain on standby to shoot approaching enemies?

Nope. Because that would lead to more micromanagment than I want to put up with be difficult to execute, mainly because the enemy is charging. Or, well, should be. Ranged attacks, are a different story though.

If we have several wardens reserved to shoot an evasive ravager, how many attack phases can they take in one turn? I know each can only fire once, but can Warden B wait until Wardan A's accuracy is decided, then Warden C wait until B's accuracy is decided, then Warden D, etc?

Sure enough. Specify something as "Kill on Sight", and they'll do just that.

About how many resources were spent on the shipyard parts currently in orbit? 75%? 50%? Are there civilians on it now?

75%, sounds about right. Most of the more complicated stuff, that which needs rare materials and greater amounts of energy to be produced, is already up there. As for civilians, yes, a handfull of odd specialists. No worries, the bulk of the workers, are in the military already. (Yes, dear councilors, that last sentence is satirical. Or cynical? Choose as you like.)

[Nirur Torir]

Alrighty then. Assuming the battle has no other surprises, I've done the GM's work for the battle for him.

If we retreat now, we lose our shipyard, and they only lose swarmlings. We'd need to immediately research anti-swarm weaponry, then spend a few turns building those weapons, before we could get back in track for building larger ships. We likely won't have time to get defenses on a second planet before enemy reinforcements arrive.

If we refuse to just give up and let them kill the shipyard, while throwing the sacrifices already made in this battle away, we could try this: Move the ships up and fire at different swarms, fire one warden shot at each swarm.

Spoiler: My proposed next action (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: One way it could go down. (click to show/hide)

This is roughly how I'd expect them to respond. If they don't commit their carriers, things get easier for us, but our victory is less of a strategic-level win. (If they send all carriers, then we have three shots to kill the ravagers. 50% chance we kill both. If either survive, our shipyard is lost.)

Spoiler: Another outcome (click to show/hide)

If they commit all their carriers, and they have at least 7 attack, then we only have a 25% chance of keeping our shipyard intact, but we kill everything they've sent. If they commit 2 carriers, we have an even 50% odds. If they commit 1, 68.75% odds. If they commit none, 81.25% odds.

Things might work better if we reserve some Wardens for anti-ravager duties, but I don't feel like running through another one of those right now.

The above assume that partial swarmer stacks can merge with each other. If not, things get easier, as they have tiny swarmer groups getting in the way and not killing our Defenders.

I think three Defenders is an acceptable price to pay to kill this fleet and possibly save the shipyard. (If they don't send in their other ships, we can easily guard the shipyard, and will be in a much better position should they have replacement swarmers they can use again next turn) We can replace ships far more easily than they can right now, and being able to build dedicated space-faring vessels is critical if we want to do more than just bunker up on our home-world.

Edit: I like that idea, firing at ravagers. If they both die, we might only lose a single Defender this next round.
Action proposal is to move the Defenders up to a line along I-11, I-13, I-15. Each shoots the swarm to its upper right. As shown.
Four Wardens each fire at a swarm along H.
Two Wardens are on standby for Ravagers. If Ravagers don't enter their range, try for the carriers, or, failing that, the rear-most swarms.

[escaped lurker]

Solis System, Era of Vindication, Year Two, Later Half of Second Quartal

Battle Proceedings
As per council orders, and with broad agreement from the brass, we decided to pull back all fleets to the planet-side.
To not leave our surrounded Defender-Fleet vulnerable while doing so, our Wardens took care of the surrounding Swarmlings.
We have since successfully retrieved the three remaining fleets.

Enemy Movements
Just as our fleets passed the point of no return in their descent, the movements of the enemy fleet changed drastically.
Their two Ravager-Fleets, made a short excursion into our firing range, unloaded their weapons selectively on the floating debris, only to retreat before our Wardens could recharge.
One of the Swarmling-Fleets, has taken to hiding behind, and shooting at, our Orbital Drydock. Our Wardens won't be able to hit them, without hitting the Drydock first.
The other Swarmling fleets, have also taken to seemingly random destruction of space-debris.
As for the Defiler-Variant, they have spread out, with some of the brass asking to hold back some of our Wardens, as to be prepared for their possible advance towards naariv.

Should they plan on confusing us, they certainly have succeeded in doing so, though we assume more sinister meaning to their acts.

Current Situation

Orbital Drydock: 14 Hull, 1 Plating

Defenses

3 "Defender" Fleets - [12 Hull, 1 Plating, 4 Damage] - Planet-Side Refueling, 0/3 Turns

6 "Warden" PDS - [60 Hull, 5 Plating, 12 Damage] - Alert Standby

Enemies

2 "Ravager" Fleets - [8 Hull, 50% Evasion, 6 Damage]

3 "Defiler-Carriers" Fleets - [~20? Hull, ~3? Plating, Carries 2 "Swarmling"-Fleets each? Damage?, Bombs?]

4 "Swarmling" Fleets - [4? Hull, ??, ~10? Damage]

New Guideline
Any number of Wardens, can be set to Standby, and given priority targets.
Should said target not enter their range, their attack for that round is obviously forfeited.

Tactical Guidelines
Our ships can move 1 Tile each Turn, the enemy ships can move 2 Tiles each Turn due to technological advantages.
Conventional ships, can only open fire on adjacent ships.
Retreating from and adjacent enemy ship, incurs an attack of opportunity.

The teal-coloured area, is the reach of our Warden PDS.
Should enemy bombers reach the green-coloured area, they will be able to launch attacks on Naariv, and subsequently the Wardens.

The Ukron race has given the Council full authority. May your efforts protect them.

[Nirur Torir]

That's weird. They're weird. (I wonder if there was more tech hidden in the salvage that we missed on the first pass. Or maybe they just have some weird cultural thing against using the arms of dead warriors.)

Things would have gone so much better if we'd been willing to use the Defenders as shields, but at least it looks like we might be able to keep the drydock, especially if the swarmers need to refuel soon.

I'm now prioritizing keeping the salvagers from killing all the salvage and moving on to the shipyard, over trying to hit the ravagers.

Fire 3 wardens at the I-13 swarmers., and the others at the I-17 swarmers.

[Dragor23]

I bet this is done to deprive us from their technology and eliminate our chances to reverse-engineer their technology.

[GiglameshDespair]

It reduces the technology and sheer resources available to salvage, yes.

[Nirur Torir]

Xeno Debris - High Amounts: Able to be retrieved for salvage and research

Uh, oops. I missed that we hadn't already grabbed all the interesting tech. All that time playing X-Com was apparently wasted.

[Nirur Torir]

*Hopeful bump*

[Aseaheru]

Supporting Nirur Plan

[escaped lurker]

So... I decided to stop with the combat-gifs. While it made the "battle" very comprehensive, it also needed a good deal of effort. As in, making the whole turn take several multitudes longer.

Solis System, Era of Vindication, Year Two, Later Half of Second Quartal

Battle Proceedings
The two Swarmling-Fleets at I-14 and I-18 were destroyed without issue.
One of the Ravager-Fleets entered J-20, to take another few shots at debris, and left for K-21.
The Swarmling-Fleet which is now at L-12, also picked off a few ruined ships.
Our Orbital Drydock was, as expected, further damaged by the Swarmling-Fleet hiding behind of it.
No other ships entered into the reach of our wardens, though all of them travelled downwards.

Current Situation

Orbital Drydock: 8 Hull, 1 Plating

Defenses

3 "Defender" Fleets - [12 Hull, 1 Plating, 4 Damage] - Planet-Side Refueling, 1/3 Turns

6 "Warden" PDS - [60 Hull, 5 Plating, 12 Damage] - Alert Standby

Enemies

2 "Ravager" Fleets - [8 Hull, 50% Evasion, 6 Damage]

3 "Defiler-Carriers" Fleets - [~20? Hull, ~3? Plating, Carries 2 "Swarmling"-Fleets each? Damage?, Bombs?]

2 "Swarmling" Fleets - [4x4 Hull, Numerousx4, 4x3 Damage]

Tactical Guidelines
Our ships can move 1 Tile each Turn, the enemy ships can move 2 Tiles each Turn due to technological advantages.
Conventional ships, can only open fire on adjacent ships.
Retreating from and adjacent enemy ship, incurs an attack of opportunity.

The teal-coloured area, is the reach of our Warden PDS.
Any number of Wardens, can be set to Standby, and given priority targets.
Should said target not enter their range, their attack for that round is obviously forfeited.
Should enemy bombers reach the green-coloured area, they will be able to launch attacks on Naariv, and subsequently the Wardens.

The Ukron race has given the Council full authority. May your efforts protect them.