DARKSTAR CAMPAIGN UPDATE: DUCHESS ANNABEL’S WAR IS OVER
Darkstar "Championship" Game - Jenn's British vs. Oriskany's Japanese
Early September, 2519:
Okay, yesterday @gladesrunner (Jennifer) and I sat down for a “championship” game of Darkstar – veteran players playing two of their most elite, veteran, and upgraded task forces we’ve managed to build up over several years of campaign play (off and on).
We basically have the heavier ships of Jenn’s “Cruiser Squadron “K” – under the flag of Commodore Rhea Aubrey, flying her flag from her Iron Duke class heavy cruiser HMS Kraken:
HMS Kraken (three battle upgrades) – 182 points
HMS Indomitable (five battle upgrades) – 128 points
HMS Londonderry (two battle upgrades) – 66 points
Four double-elite fighters and four double-elite bombers (HMS Vigilant) – 32 points
408 points
Opposing them, I’m bringing by Cruiser Squadron “Storm Dragon” – lead by Captain Hiromi Ozawa aboard her flagship, the Katana class heavy cruiser IJN Naginata.
IJN Naginata (four battle upgrades) – 202 points
IJN Takakawa (five battle upgrades) – 128 points
IJN Kikasa (three battle upgrades) – 77 points
407 points
In all, these commanders have a total of 44 campaign stars (that’s 264 campaign points, which averages to about of 30 games for each of these commanders, assuming they won about half their games.
They’re not the best of the best, but they’re damned close. And now they’re closing to battle range, decelerating to attack speed, sounding general quarters and ready to engage in another furious battle in Duchess Annabel’s War.
We had spectators for this game from Puerto Rico, Canada, and even Australia. Thanks so much for everyone who tuned in to this epic wargame! And if anyone ever wants to drop in for a chat, to spectate, or even give these games a try, as always, just give me a PM ping and we’ll get you on the schedule!
The Japanese predominantly lose initiative, so their heaviest ships have to enter the table first. The Naginata makes her approach into the empty battle space, and not knowing where the British will be, try to use the asteroid batch to screen her position. The British make a much faster approach (36 km per second), making a last-minute turn to port to cross the Japanese "T" at a ranges of 1600 and 1800 kilometers.
Zooming in a little, we see the initial exchanges of fire. The firepower is terrifyingly accurate, so many of these ships have upgraded guns, upgraded targeting systems, elite gunnery crews, electronic warfare, but also enhanced ECM and gravitic shielding. Commanders, crews, and ships on this level play for keeps, and that is apparent right off the bat as on the fire phase of Turn 01, both task forces smash the other's destroyer out of the battle. HMS Londonderry and IJN Kikasa are both blow open, set afire, and now adrift and out of control in space. 
The Japanese seem to h ave the upper hand on Turn 2. This is because the Japanese do better on initiative this turn, and the faster British approach speeds means they now have a much harder time making turns and slowing down. It gave them an advantage on Turn 01, but one Turn 02 they are paying for it. HMS Inflictor also has hits on her maneuvering thrusters, which are further hampering her ability to make turns or roll over. This allows my forward batteries (IJN Naginata and Takakawa) to score hard hits on her stern, knocking her out of the battle. However, the big British equalizers here, the Model 41 torpedoes of HMS Kraken, plus a torpedo and missile strike launched by the Star Typhoon bombers and Supermaine Starfire fighters (of the "Royal Griffon" and "Mad Hatter" squadrons, respectively), manage to put enough firepower into the stern of the Takakawa to also leave her spinning helplessly adrift in space. On Turn 01, we traded destroyers. One Turn 02, we traded light cruisers ... 
It's now a hypertech, high speed, fusion-firepower cat-fight in space, with Commodore Rhea Aubrey and Captain Hiromi Ozawa, each with a gigantic 175,000 ton heavy cruiser, determined to leave the other adrift aboard a derelict, burning, and crippled warship. Again, the Japanese seem to have the upper hand. Ozawa narrowly beats Aubrey on initiative, and the HMS Kraken has to move first, turning while still desperately trying to slow down. Conversely, the Naginata goes to flank speed, powering up her enhanced engines to but a broadside across Kraken's starboard quarter. Meanwhile, the Royal Griffon bombers, having expended their ordinance, try to get clear of the battle area, but are two are shot down by Japanese "Hien" (Swallow) scouts. 
Zooming in a little, we see what I HOPE will be the decisive fire phase, my broadside (almost all guns) against only the Kraken's stern guns. Unfortunately, Ozawa also has to contend with British torpedoes and fighters. Two of the fighters score gunnery hits at extended range, and then two torpedoes slam into her stern. Damage is minimal ... but as fate would have it the one system that was damaged ... was the aft shields. Still, things seem to be going Ozawa's way, as the Kraken has taken enough damage to where she HAS TO BREAK OFF THE ENGAGEMENT! (Jennifer gets a very bad roll after I score two hits into her cruiser's core compartments).
Even though HMS Kraken is now compelled to head off t he lower right corner of the map, the shoe is decidedly on the other foot when it comes to maneuvering speed. I have to turn away from Jenn so she doesn't have a free shot on my unshielded stern, but I'm moving so fast after my acceleration last turn, turning is very difficult. I can't fly off the map or I lose the game. Turning hard to port and slamming on the breaks, I try to put as much distance between myself and her fighters, scouts, and torpedoes as I can. Turns out Ozawa and her cruiser ALMOST escape ... but not quite. Jenn gets just lucky enough that the HMS Kraken and those fighters, despite being forced to leave the table, WHILE THEY ARE WITHDRAWING, put a last salvo into my unshielded stern to barely cripple the Naginata. End result, NEITHER side has any capital ships left operational in the area. 
Damage charts from the light cruiser Takakawa and destroyer Kikasa.
Damage charts from the light cruiser Inflictor and the destroyer Londonderry.So there we have it. The game comes down to a razor-thin British win.
The Japanese have five scouts left on the board = 5 points, plus they were outnumbered by the British by 1 points = 1 “balance” point = 6.
The British have 2 double elite bombers (8 points) + 4 double elite fighters (16 points)+ 6 scouts (6 points) = 30 points.
So the British won by 24 points.
Per the rules, you have to win any game by a margin of at least 5% to claim a victory. Well, 5% of 408 total points = 21 points.
So with exactly 3 points to spare (21 required, 24 attained) . . . out of an initial point total of 408, the British ba-a-a-a-a-a-arely scrape out the ugliest, narrowest, and slimmest of wins.
But a win all the same. After all, HMS Kraken is operational in this star system, the Naginata is not.
Congrats to Jenn on the win!
Uhhhm I appreciate being declared the “winner”, but 3 points out of 408 is the definition of a narrow margin of victory. I had a blast though! I was laying out ships like kitchen tile!! Of Course, for every ship of yours I took out I lost the exact same ship…but I might leave that part out when I talk about it.
All decks, three cheers for Madame Commodore
*Huzzah*
*Huzzah*
*Huzzah*
A descendant of ‘Lucky Jack’ Aubrey I wonder?
Those clever boffins back at port will soon have those tubs of yours knocked back into shape and you’ll be off for another innings lickety split, what? Goodo.
Maybe the Bally Hun will be out and about for a good thrashing next time, eh?
Why thank you @damon ! Yes she is a direct descendant of Jack Aubrey, mostly because I had just watched the movie when we were making up captains.
As to the rest…My captains are of the UK, I am not. I am afraid your (I’m assuming) supportive comments are a little to British to be understood 🙂
Sorry @gladesrunner, I often get a bit too ‘British’ when I see the flag flying high, lampooning of our own British stereotypes doesn’t translate easily ?
It’s all about men in sheds, Cricket and fighting with Germans….?
I never would have guessed you liked to lampoon British stereotypes, @damon , based on your UserID icon. 😀
“Wibble”
Great game, well played Jennifer. Rule Britannia!
But of course @gremlin , there can be no other option when playing task force K. Though Aubrey is having a little chat with the crew about that breaking off stunt they pulled. The torpedo team and fighters saved our reputation by taking out @oriskany ‘s heavy cruiser before leaving, but let’s just say, tea was withheld in the mess hall that day!
That was as fast and brutal of a fight as I expected. One of my favorite parts of this game is the narrative of the battles; seeing the damage inflicted not as an abstract amount of “hull points.” The variety of ways that ships were knocked out of this fight, from having the engines smashed to bits, reactor rooms obliterated, to being outright cored like an apple.
@oriskany, slight bit of nitpicking: in the damage reports at the end, you identify one ship as the light cruiser Naginata; presumably this is the chart from the Takakawa.
Congrats Jennifer on the win!
True @sigmundr you really can make this game as cinematic as you like. My fighters are named the Head Hunters because they have sniped the bridge on many capital ships. In fact, it was quite uncharacteristic of them to go for the engines. If I was as dedicated as @oriskany I might even have to work up a little story as to why the sudden change in tactics. Though my favorite damage has to be when you can take out engines from the bow or take out the bridge from the stern. Talk about “Poor it on boys!”
Thanks @sigmundr – update has been made.
@gladesrunner @oriskany Congrats on the bloodbath – a few more engagements like that and both sides will beg for peace
AH, but who will beg FIRST? Mwa-ha-ha-ha!