DARKSTAR CAMPAIGN UPDATE: DUCHESS ANNABEL’S WAR IS OVER
Battle Report: Rasmus v. Oriskany (Japanese v. French)
This weekend @rasmus again stepped to the Darkstar table, where he may have caught a little of the retribution due to @damon instead. In summary, my French battlegroup of the New Roman Alliance (Capt. Rafael deChalemonde, commanding aboard the Foch-Hispaniola class light cruiser NRS Leclerc) has been getting the worst end of the stick lately from Damon’s Trafalgar battlegroup. I was beaten up so bad last week, in fact, that I lost a ship and a character for good. In an effort to realign my battlegroup for better success, I have a new Contessa class light carrier and a Drusus class torpedo corvette. I was planning on testing this new battlegroup on Damon, but Rasmus wanted to play this week so his Japanese Sendai Byo battlegroup faces off against my French instead.
DeChalemonde and his commanders have lost something like 4 games in a row, with only one draw breaking this streak, and even that draw was really a defeat. Now, stinging with wounded pride, they have one last chance to redeem themselves – at the ongoing Battle of Les Troie Filles.
The Battle of Les Troie Filles has been simmering for months now in the Psi Serpentis A system. A French-held gas giant has been beset by the British and Japanese, whose governments claim that the French lease on this planet has legally expired. Three valuable moons of this gas giant, dubbed “The Three Daughters” of the star system’s Marquis de Nouveau Châtillon, have been periodically invaded and counter-invaded by the three warring powers.
The situation on one such moon has settled into frustrating stalemate. In an effort to break the deadlock, a battalion of 600 French Foreign Legionnaires are being inserted on the far side of the moons, outflanking current Japanese Army and SNLF positions on the surface. However, the notorious and mysterious Japanese spy known only as “Red Kitsune” has alerted the Japanese high command of the French plan, and have a powerful cruiser battlegroup poised to intercept.
So here’s the mission: The French are entering from the right, the Japanese from the left. The target hex for the planetary invasion is marked by the red circle (180 kilometers across, remember). The French have three planetary assault ships (15 damage points, shields 4, speed 6, turns 1 / round, 30 VP to the Japanese for each one destroyed, 30 VP to the French for each one that makes it to the invasion hex). The French have the light cruiser Leclerc, the destroyer Corsica, the light carrier Priscilla, and the torpedo corvette Sica. The Japanese have the heavy cruiser Kama, the light cruiser Sendai Byo, and the two strike frigates Urakaze and Sakito. The French have seven additional land-based bombers to balance out the points at 265 each.
The fleets enter the battlespace in high orbit over the Troie Filles moon. Both sides launch torpedoes. The French have far more (thanks in part to the carrier Priscilla and torpedo corvette Sica), but the Japanese torpedoes are the deadly Ki-45 “Toryu” (Dragon Slayer). Perhaps even more ominously, the French are also launching fighters and bombers. The French approach vector has been quite fast, as deChalemonde is determined to get his warships between the Japanese and the troops transports that have started their assault run toward the moon’s surface.
Taking the moon’s gravity into account, the French and Japanese battlegroups close to the orbital invasion zone. The French, in particular, have dipped VERY close to the moon intent on staying out of the Kama’s full broadside of massive 18-teravolt electron particle cannons. Those Akashi class strike frigates, meanwhile, mount ALL their guns forward, making them vulnerable but allowing them to ‘stab” right at the enemy with full firepower to bear (i.e., no need to maneuver to broadside). 
Turn 3 and things get very serious. First the French zoom in with fighters and bombers, ready to launch an aerospace torpedo and missile strike on the Kama’s stern. Rasmus sees the move and opens fire with long-range mass driver fire from the Urakaze and Sakito, knocking down four bombers from the carrier Priscilla. The fighters launch as well, as well as French ground based bombers, but their torpedoes can’t quite reach the stern so they have to hit the starboard quarter. French warship torpedoes (Class IV gravitic) hammer into the stern, but the Kama and Sendai Byo shoot most these torpedoes down. In all, the whole aerospace / torpedo strike is very disappointing for the French. The only bright spot is the broadside of the light cruiser Leclerc manages to cripple the Urakaze straight away, and Leclerc’s heavy 12-megakelvin laser battery slash open the Sakito so the escorting destroyer Corsica can finish her off. Meanwhile, the Corsica is heavily hammered by Japanese gunfire and forced to break off. Japanese torpedoes hammer into one of the troop ships and leave it heavily damaged as well. 
The climax of the game on Turn 4. While the Urakaze and Sakito careen helplessly away from the moon, the French assault ships rush in. The damaged one takes a hit from a Dragon Slayer torpedo, exploding it. Two more Dragon Slayers hit the second troop ship, leaving it burning in space until Kama’s heavy forward batteries likewise tear it apart. Two drop ships are destroyed, and the third is heavily damaged, but WILL make it to the surface during the movement phase of Turn 5. The Kama has her own problems, however. As she struggles up out of the moon’s gravity well, the Leclerc and Corsica (technically heading off the table, remember), slash across her stern in a double broadside. The move is risky, and in fact leaves the Corsica even more badly damaged. But the Leclerc tears the Kama’s aft sections apart and cripples the heavier Japanese ship. Meanwhile, Leclerc’s mass driver guns also shoot down the six Japanese scouts! The carrier Priscilla is lost, however, as the Sendai Byo cuts across her stern (both ships’ hulls probably glowing red from friction with the moon’s upper atmosphere). 
Turn 5, and the warships have largely passed each other. The last French drop ship hits the surface, putting 200 Foreign Legionnaires on the moon’s surface. The badly-damaged Corsica accelerates as best she can to escape, but Japanese “Dragon Slayer” torpedoes from the Sendai Byo catch up with her and slam into her unshielded port bow. She is now crippled (in game terms, she’s worth full points to Rasmus now instead of half points for driving her off). Sendai’s accurate syglex and EPC fire, meanwhile, cripple the little Sica torpedo corvette. Only two ships remain! The damaged Sendai Byo and the undamaged Leclerc! 
Pointing up the battle’s score, deChalemonde realizes that he’s got the battle won. He’s actually done more damage to the Japanese than vice versa. Remember the Kama was a heavy cruiser, and of course virtually the whole French aerospace group remains on the table (7 bombers, 9 fighters, 6 scouts, 38 points worth, almost a destroyer’s worth of points). The bombers head down to support the legionnaires on the surface, while the Leclerc denies battle by accelerating and extending the range. Yes, she could probably beat the Sendai (Sendai is damaged and she is only a 93 point ship compared to 122 for the Leclerc), but why risk it? The French HAVE to break their losing streak. One bit of bad news, though, the crippled corvette Sica will NOT clear the moon’s surface when gravity is taken into account, the crew abandons ship before she skips into the moon’s atmosphere and burns up. 
The final situation on the end of Turn 7. The French have won 206 to 169. While only one troop ship made it and two did not, the French Navy (including aerospace craft, remember) is actually more powerful than the Japanese in this sector. The Sendai will be forced to withdrawal (and start rescue / recovery work for the Kama, Urakaze, and Sakito) while the French Navy will remain in control of this moon’s orbital zone. The ground battle is thus a foreground conclusion.
This game was supposed to be a “raid” in victory point calculation, but quickly turned into a toe-to-toe slugging match. We see where the damage on the Japanese heavy cruiser Kama (left) and French destroyer Corsica (right) reflect the ferocity of the battle. Notably, Corsica was hit straight through the bridge. That means her commander, Commander Daphne St. Croix, will have to make a survival check. She does so, but only with a “Commander’s Luck” point, probably indicating she was wounded by that torpedo hit that exploded into her bridge. In all, a great game! Congrats to Rasmus for really making me work for this one. 😀 And my poor French finally WON ONE! Maybe I’ll try my Russians next.
Meanwhile, if anyone is interested in trying this game, just ping me with a PM. We run Darkstar almost every weekend. All you need is an internet connection, some dice, and a bellyful of courage!
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