Elessar2590’s Darkstar Campaign
Recommendations: 168
About the Project
With @oriskany s announcement that he's going to be publishing Darkstar (https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1185947/) and after seeing @bloodstrike s project (https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1305447/) I decided to star designing some ship's of my own. Basically I designed some ships for Darkstar a few weeks ago and I've decided to give them some names and a few fluffy extras. All of the ships are standard, the fluff is just for fun not for in game effects. With the fleet built and the basics of the game under my belt it was time to start a campaign.
Related Genre: Science Fiction
This Project is Cancelled
Finally Painted my Fleet
HMS Swedish Knight
HMS June
HMS Pellew
HMS Burke
HMS Wills
HMS BurnabyHopefully @oriskany and I can work something out where I can take some of his sketches and turn them into 3D Models for everyone out there to make their own fleets. No pressure Jim just an offer.
Aftermath
With the Prussian's gone the British are left to Salvage what they can from their Fleet. The Taskforce was Raised and has Dispatched Two Ships to Escort Battle Group Nassau back to Command for a Full Briefing.
HMS Swedish Knight Rolls a 1 and was only Temporarily Disabled. The Swedish Knight then Begins Recovering the Other Vessels
HMS Burnaby Rolls a 4 and Manages to Limp out of the Anomalies. Commander Baker Breathes a Sigh of Relief since this is his Third Ship.
HMS Burke Rolls a 2 and is Towed to Safety by the HMS Swedish Knight.
HMS Wills Rolls an 8 and is Sucked Further in to the Anomaly. With enough time to Evacuate the Essentials the remaining Crew are taken aboard the HMS Swedish Knight. The Surviving Ships Gathered on the Outskirts of the Anomaly and Watched the HMS Wills be Consumed.
As the Various Crews Formally Saluted the dying Ship the First Lieutenant of the Wills Approached Captain MacDonald.
He had Tears in his Eyes as he Spoke.
Commander Clark, Facing the Loss of his Third Ship, Disgrace and a Life of Failure Behind a Desk Elected to Remain at the Helm and was Incinerated along with the HMS Wills.
The Last Image Transmitted from the HMS Wills
"A Captain Says Farewell" was Painted by the HMS Swedish Knight's Third Lieutenant The Painting became Famous Among the Men of Task Force TrafalgarA Fiery Engagment
Battle Group Nassau has Finally Cornered the Prussians after they have Traversed an Anomolous Part of Space. With the British Trusting to their Skill and the Prussian's relying on their Guns the Stage is set for Battle Group Nassau's First Real Fight
The Fiery Astrological Bodies were treated as a Syglex Emitter with a strength of D6 that hits a random eligible facing.
Basically you can move through them with no penalty but they will damage you. This represents the flames boiling off a part of the ship that either got too close or was hit by a stray flare.
There was no penalty for being disabled in a hex that wasn’t entirely covered in an anomaly, the Ship’s crew can muster just enough thrust to get to the fringes of the danger zone.
HMS Swedish Knight in White, HMS Burnaby in Red, HMS Burke in Yellow and HMS Wills in Orange
KMS Von Hipper Class in Black, KMS Fischer's in Purple, KMS Aldabert in Green and U-134 and U-133 in Blue
The Table Set Up. The Anomalies Don't Move
The Prussians use the Anomalies to Guard their Flanks while the British try to Cut off Potential Options
The British Roll Terribly and get Ambushed by the Prussians who Pound the HMS Burnaby into Submission
HMS Burnaby After Two Hits from the KMS Fischer Class Ships, Two U-Boats and the KMS Aldabert
This Skips a Few Turns. Everyone is Disabled Except the KMS Von Henk, KMS Aldabert and HMS Swedish Knight. The HMS Wills Ended it's Turn in the Broadside Position and Gambled on Rolling Low. It Paid off and the Second Fischer was Disabled but at the Start of the Next Turn HMS Wills rolled a 6 for the Anomaly and was Knocked Out.
The HMS Swedish Knight was Disabled by the Two Prussian's. The Prussian's Decide to Flee, Battle Group Nassau isn't the only One Hunting them. Apologies for the lack of Pictures. Apparently as I was saving them a few replaced some earlier pics.
Battle Group Nassau lies in Ruins. Can the Crews pull themselves back into Shape? Will Captain MacDonald Survive this Blunder Physically and Politically?
The Prussian Fleet Revealed
The Prussian Fleet has Been Sighted. Captain MacDonald has been Presented this Report of their Strength
One Von Henk Class Heavy Cruiser Leads the Fleet. It's Name is Unknown. While it's a slightly older build it is no less fearsome with Six Massive Guns mounted on a sliding Central Block that can shift away from the direction of travel for an instant and allows the ships targeting computers to get a more precises readout before the salvo is unleashed. It's Officially Retired but it Seems some of them are Still Active.
With Four 14 GW Rail Guns and No Less than Eight 5 GW Rail Guns that Started Life as 6GW but Have been Dialed Back to Extend their Lifespan.
An Adalbert Class Ship has been Spotted. This New Class of Ship which was Previously Misnamed the Von Zieten Class by the British (the Turret is the Von Zieten Turret). The Adalbert's are Little More than Gun Platforms with Life Support Systems. They are Quickly Built in the Shipyards until the bare Minimum Requirements for Space Travel have been Completed at which Time it is loaded into a Carriage Device and Dispatched to it's Posting.
No Name is Yet Known for this Particular Ship
While it Lacks the Broadside Ability of Other Prussian Ships It's Turret Configuration Allows it to Fire in All Directions Meaning it can Never be Sneaked up on.
Two Older Test Ships of the "Fischer" Class were also Sighted. The Turret Sports Four Shortened Six Gigawatt Railguns that Fire independently but Rotate as a Single Piece. The System is Designed to Fire Each Gun Individually then Quickly Rotate the Turret to Align the Next Gun and so on. The Turret was Retroactively Named the Von Zieten Pattern Turret and after Proving itself was Hurriedly Added to General Service Aboard the New Von Zieten Class Light Cruisers.
Two U-Boats have Also been Sighted. These were most Likely an Escort for the Adalbert Class Ship.
The 3D Ships Arrive
I had my ships 3D Printed and I'm happy with the results
The Ships are about 20mm wide and 50mm Long (Just less than an inch and about two inches) 
From Left to Right. HMS Wills, HMS Burke, HMS June, HMS Swedish Knight, HMS Pellew and HMS Burnaby
I'm not sure if I'll paint them or not
Battle Group Nassau as it now standsThe Campaign is on Hold Until I do up some Profiles for the New Prussian Ships. We already Played a Game but it Felt Fitting to use the New Ships so it Will be a Week or Two Until I can get Together with Oriskany and Write up the Ships
The Mythical Von Zeiten Class Light Cruiser
Although it is a Newer Model of Ship the Von Zieten Class Light Cruiser has been Dispatched to so many Prussian Fleets it's not Surprising to see them Alongside Older Ships.
The Von Zieten Sports Not One, Not Two but Three of the Scharnhorst Pattern Turrets and is Truly a Marvel of Prussian Engineering. The Von Zietens's are Little More than Gun Platforms with Life Support Systems. They are Quickly Built in the Shipyards until the bare Minimum Requirements for Space Travel have been Completed at which Time it is loaded into a Carriage Device and Dispatched to it's Posting.
While En-Route to it's Posting the Rest of the Ship is Constructed. Luxuries like Permanent Bedding, Weapon Systems and The Engines are Built One by One Until the Ship is Finished and Ready for Duty.
In a Desperate Attempt to get their New Ship out to as Many Battle Groups as Possible the Prussians Modified a Standard Docking Port to be both a Method of Transportation and a Construction Depot. All the Resources Required to Finish the Ship are Placed in the "Cradle" and while not ideal it is not Impossible to Finish Almost all the Ship's interior in Space.
The Ship's Design is Little More than a Rectangle with Two Docking Slots and a Safety Wedge Cut into the Hull. The Only Concession made to Self Defence aboard the Von Zieten's is the Hanger located at the Front of the Ship from Which a Variety of Small Ships can be Launched.Once Construction is Finished the Safety Wedge is Disconnected and Allowed to Float Away Before the Engines are Fired and the Ship Slides out of the Cradle. The Von Zieten is Ready for Duty.
The Older Model U-Boats have a Curious new Feature. They have a Large Electro Magnetic Plate that can be Activated in the Case of a Dud Torpedo. If an Older Torpedo is Launched and Fails to Self Propel then the Magnet is Activated and the Torpedo Harmlessly Attaches itself via it's Rear Fins and is Harmlessly Detonated with an Electrical Pulse.Vorwarts Prussians
As Battlge Group Nassau Nears the Rendezvous with the Enemy Fleet who has been Sponsoring these Attacks they Attempt to Match Energy Signals with Known Enemy Variants
A large Signature has been picked up and after much analysis it has been deduced that this ship is a variant of the Leopold Class Heavy Destroyer. While it's a slightly older build it is no less fearsome with Six Massive Guns mounted on a sliding Central Block that can shift away from the direction of travel for an instant and allows the ships targeting computers to get a more precises readout before the salvo is unleashed. 
While Officially Retired it Seems at Least One Older Variant is Stalking the Skies
The Engine Thrusters being Placed Above the Reactors is Indicative of this Variant of Leopold
Two Scharnhorst Class Frigates were also Detected which Further adds to the Idea that the Prussian's have Deployed Older Models of Ship to this Area. Initially Designed to Trial the New Turret Configuration of Four Guns Mounted in a Central Turret that pivots on a Central Cylinder. 
Fearing the failure of One of the New Turrets The Scharnhorst Class Frigates were also Outfitted with Several Ancient Railguns that Started Life as 6 Gigawatts but have been Dialed down to Only Four to get Extra Life out of them.
The Turret Sports Four Shortened Six Gigawatt Railguns that Fire independently but Rotate as a Single Piece. The System is Designed to Fire Each Gun Individually then Quickly Rotate the Turret to Align the Next Gun and so on. The Turret was Retroactively Named the Scharnhorst Pattern Turret and after Proving itself was Hurriedly Added to General Service Aboard the New Von Zieten Class Light Cruisers.
Among the Frigates and Cruisers Lurk the Menacing Signals of a handful of U-Boats
Fitted with Additional Side Armour the U-Boats of the Prussian Battle Group Seem to have been sent as "Escorts" for the Von Zeiten's
The iron Cross Motif's are Indicative of the Older Models of Prussian Ships in this SectorThis is Part One of Two
A Way to Play Dark Star
I’ll put up the next battle report tomorrow but in the meantime I thought I should share this for anyone wanting to play some Dark Star but who doesn’t have the tools.
So far 25 people have downloaded the mod so hopefully there’s 25 people out there playing Dark Star.
The Steam Page Where you can Download the Free "Mod" and Start Playing Right Away. You still need to buy the base game "Tabletop Simulator".Using the Steam “game” Tabletop Simulator I created a very quick and basic way to play Dark Star. If you’re interested in giving the awesome game a try you can get the mod here https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1636316528 .
The game has all the dice, tokens and boards you need to play and even has a copy of the Dark Star Rulebook so you don’t have to constantly switch between the game and the rulebook.
The Mod. A Roughly 40 x 40 Board, Dice with a Board, PDF on the "Tablet" and Some Generic Ship Tokens
The Backgrounds can all be Changed to Play Planet Games or Just Change it up a Bit.
