DARKSTAR CAMPAIGN UPDATE: DUCHESS ANNABEL’S WAR IS OVER
Darkstar Battle Report - Four-Way Cruiser Clash!
All right, it’s that time, everyone … Yesterday I had a great game of Darkstar with @damon and @rasmus. Damon had his Bellerophon task force with one of my American ships in support (Valcour-class destroyer USS Princeton) and Rasmus had his Japanese task force with one of my Russian ships in support (Sovnya class destroyer CPK Syekyra).
Just for fun, and just because we were playing this on the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, I put Earth’s moon on the table, along with three orbiting cities named for the Apollo 11 astronauts. Of course, in Darkstar canon this would be absolutely prohibited, anyone who so much as uses harsh language in what is called “the Lunar Sphere” – a sphere described by the orbit of the moon – is dealt with (i.e., exterminated) by UN and their fleet Jerusalem class super-battleships. Trust me, ONE of those can sink a fleet, four or five of them can crush a navy. This was written into the lore just so nations of Earth have to engage in interplanetary or interstellar combat, and not settle their grudges on the battlefields of Earth (it’s a SPACE game, after all).
Anyway, the Japanese have the Katana class heavy cruiser Kama, a real beast. Sleek, fast, high-tech and fragile, the Sendai-Byo (the original Sendai lost in the Xi Scorpio War of 2516-18). Two Akashi class strike frigates round out the Japanese force, along with the aforementioned Russian allies.
The British have the high-tech “raider” Trafalgar-class heavy cruiser HMS Bellerophon – fast, nimble (for a heavy cruiser) but less punchy than the Kama. The venerable Indomitable class light cruiser HMS Indefatigable runs alongside (old and creaky, but her crew are some of the best gunners in the fleet), along with the high-tech Falklands class destroyer HMS Terpsichore. Hoping to help out are the Americans in the aforementioned USS Princeton.
Simple smash-em-up game, with “assault” victory conditions (points left ON the table at the end Turn 8).
So here’s the initial approach. In the “age of sail” they had the weather gauge or the wind gauge … here in Darkstar you have the “gravity gauge” … which Damon seems to have seized right off the bat by cutting a course toward the moon (which is to scale with the hex grid, 180 km per hex – the ships are of course oversized, but they are moving at 3 kilometers per second per hex per turn). Note that as Rasmus turns to engage, he will have to point his ships TOWARD the moon, never a good thing in this game (bad time to be hit and lose power). Damon will also be able to pull up away from the moon, using the planet’s gravity to help decelerate to acceptable attack speeds once he’s made a higher-speed closing approach. 
Damon doesn’t get lucky with initiative, however. Even as he turns away from the moon, the Japanese are able to avoid the worst of his broadsides. Rasmus divides his force into two battle groups, the cruisers handing back to provide long-range gunfire support (Japanese warships are ridiculously accurate with high-grade CIC / targeting systems), while the smaller, plasma-accelerator heavy Russian destroyer and Akashi strike frigates dive in close for shorter-range fire. HMS Terpsichore takes the worst of it at first, while the Akashi class strike frigate IJN Sakito is hammered in turn. Both sides have also launched formidable torpedo spreads, although the Japanese and Russian torpedoes are far scarier than the handful launched by the Princeton (none of the British ship carry torpedoes). 
Things get crazy. Whereas many Darkstar games are borderline Napoleonic with linear fleet tactics and well-ordered task forces keeping tight formation … this one devolves into a dogfight, a brawl, a knife-fight across 5400 kilometers of open space. The only attempt at order is by Damon, with Bellerophon, Princeton, and Indefatigable managing to cross the stern of IJN Kama and Sendai (white arrows). This is the fire phase that should have won the British the game, but Damon’s dive roll for the broadside of the Bellerophon was literally all misses. We calculated the odds on camera, we figured a roll THAT bad was at least 60-1 against (10 dice, 60% chance to hit, ALL MISSES). Indefatigable did a little better but note these hits are hitting the Kama’s starboard QUARTER, not the STERN. Meanwhile, the Sakito has been hammered (forward shields down) and is trying to stay out of harms way, but is being chased down by American and British scout planes. Princeton’s torpedoes are headed for the Urakaze, the Terpsichore is now trying to limp off the board, and the Indefatigable is hammered by the aft batteries of the Kama and Sendai (forward guns broadsiding the Terpsichore). 
The Kama and Sendai finally turn straight toward the British (now that the Japanese have more or less passed BENEATH the moon), only to find that the British are my and large BEHIND them. The Bellerophon is admittedly faster and more nimble than her rival. However, now “Billy Ruffian” and the Kama are exchanging broadsides, a matchup the Kama will win every time (bigger bun battery, more EPCs, bigger gauge, and better shielding on the aft quarters than the Trafalgar class).
Exchanging broadsides with a Japanese Katana-class heavy cruiser is never a good idea, as the Bellopheron has learned to her cost. With her starboard quarter ripped open, she’s trying to maneuver clear, but with no starboard quarter shields and maneuvering thruster damage, she has a hard time making the required turns at her present velocity. Indefatigable has been drilled straight through the core, and with significant crew losses has been forces to break off the action. The Princeton tries to cover the British withdrawal, and parks right alongside the Kama. I’m gambling that Rasmus will want to put most of his big guns against the British as poor little Princeton is hardly a threat, but JUST MAYBE a point-blank broadside will cause some core damage or knock out and engine. Well, I wasn’t wrong ... Rasmus saves all his big guns for the British. Only two 12-megakelvin lasers (the temperatures at which the lasers burn) hit the Princeton, BUT RIGHT ON THE BRIDGE. I swear I think this is one of the most surgical ship-kills I’ve seen in Darkstar. Full long-range broadsides unload on the Belleropheron, which is crippled. The Russian destroyer Syrkeyra has been forced to break off the action while the frigates Urakaze and Sakito have also been crippled. But two Japanese cruisers remain, and only lightly damaged ... so clearly this game is going to the Japanese. 
Here are some of the ship sheets after the battle. The Terpsichore is to the left. Good God, what a mess. Struck fight on the bow by no less than FIVE Ki-45 Toryu class (Dragon Slayer) torpedoes, plus all kinds of gunfire. The frigate Urakaze is at right.
The heavy cruiser Bellopheron is at at left, the Russian destroyer Syekyra at right. One magazine hit wasn’t enough to cripple her, but the crew had decided they’d had enough as I failed the breakoff check. Just as well, I’d lost my port bow torpedoes, and torpedoes are arguably some of the most powerful weapons any destroyer has. Meanwhile, the “Billy Ruffian” is in worse shape. You can see that devastating barrage that hit the starboard quarter. Great game on both sides! The dice were definitely against the British and Americans on this one, but they put up a good show and left three of the enemy ships as wrecks or fleeing. Augh! Better luck next time!
More good fun.
Anybody want to buy some dice? Good at rolling high numbers, only thrown at the wall a couple of times…
@damon – I feel your pain. Wait until the highlight reels of the recent AirWar C21: Vietnam game go up. I swear one MiG-17 pilot failed maneuver checks five consecutive times. All six SA-2 “Gainful” SAMs missed. 🙁