Heavy Cruisers Collide at Kayashenko Four

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
02:10 SOL GMT, 08 MAY 2521
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

Reports have now been confirmed of another major naval action in the Third Hercules War.  In response to their recent setback in the UN-Mandated “Redemption” colonies (99 Hercules system), the United States Navy has sent a high-speed task force into orbit of the Russian-owned “Kayashenko” gas giant, scene of a bloody defeat suffered at the lands of the Arab League last month.

Sources close to American naval command and colonial administration at Port Halsey in the Vega Colonies (Alpha Lyra) suggest that the plan was originally to send a somewhat smaller force much further.  Specifically this would have been Task Force Oriskany under Captain Matthew A. Spencer, a small hunter-killer group of destroyers, a light carrier, and a torpedo corvette with greatly enhanced Darkstar drives.  The original target was the Arab League base of operations at Khaizan’s Haven (14 Hercules), a full sixty light-years from Port Halsey.  While Task Force Oriskany could cover this distance in about two weeks, any other naval units proposed to support the strike would take upwards of two months to cover the same distance.

Alternatively, US Naval Command wanted to make this a much larger operation, determined to mount a definitive response in the wake of the Battle of Kayashenko 17 and the loss of the destroyer USS Vincennes.  Commodore Virginia Saunders was placed in command, aboard her newly-arrived flagship, the Gettysburg class heavy cruiser USS Shiloh.

With such a heavy warship in the task force, any question of striking 14 Hercules was out.  Instead, the Americans chose to hit the Arab League at the Kayashenko gas giant (pressure from their Russian allies at Krasnaya Nadhezda may have also influenced the American decision).  Orders were simple, return to the Kayashenko gas giant in 99 Hercules, engage any Arab League warships lingering among the planet’s 63 moons, and destroy them.

Clearly this new mission profile was drawn up as much for political reasons as military.  The Americans want to win a battle against the league at Kayashenko, symbolically balancing the scales after the loss of the Vincennes (lost with 110 souls including Commander Yvonne Alliston).  They also need to secure Kayashenko for their Russian allies before they start looking to cut a separate peace.  Lastly, a primary reason the Americans joined this war was to win shipping  and colonization rights along the Hercules Rim, and the UN-mandated “open system” of Hercules 99 is a natural place to plant the flag.

As fate would have it, however, this American response at Kayashenko would have tremendous military impact as well, since the Arab League was also building up a very heavy naval presence hidden among the Kayashenko moons.  Clearly they hoped to build on their earlier success, shoving heavy naval units into the 99 Hercules system while the Americans and Russians remained off-balance.  Starships of the League tend to have much faster Darkstar drives than similar warships in other navies, giving them a great advantage in operational flexibility and making such a forward deployment that much easier.

So when the USS Shiloh, flanked and screened by Task Force Oriskany, made its appearance at Kayashenko, it found not the small cruiser-carrier that had been here last month … but a far more powerful force of heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers.  This engagement, in orbit of the larger “Galilean” moon of Saint Yegor (Kayashenko 4) will pit 1.1 million tons of warships into a pitched battle, fought between full battle fleets of “outside powers” both hoping to stake a claim in 99 Hercules and the Hercules Rim in general.

Game Terms:  Solitaire game to test two NEW ship designs, the Arab League Damascus class heavy cruiser, and the long-awaited American Gettysburg class heavy cruiser.  Also, I sometimes feel a little bad putting the FULL order of battle of Task Force Oriskany (heavily upgraded, very experienced) up against newer battlegroups and task forces of other players.  Lastly, I wanted a chance to dust off my old Arab League commanders, who haven’t seen action since the Aegean Path War (played in 2014).

508 points per side
ASSAULT victory rules

Been building a few more ships for Star Trek’s conversion into Darkstar – expanding a little into the films and the TNG-era ships.

First up with have the Miranda-Soyuz class.  This is the ship made most famous in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as the unfortunate USS Reliant, which Khan took over and used to fight Enterprise.

Now this class is all over the place in both Alpha and Beta canon, and is seen as late as the TNG episodes which take place 80 years after the Star Trek films I-VI (these poor things were still fighting the Borg Cube at the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2366, 95 years after the first ships of the class were commissioned).

So I picked a few sites that had stats for them in FASA’s Star Trek Starship Tactical Combat Simulator game, looked at some of the earlier marks in the mid 2270s (roughly, the time of Wrath of Khan) and sort of “aimed for the middle” of what several sources were quoting.

I also rolled out the famous Galaxy class, of course the class we see in The Next Generation, embodied with Jon-Luc Picard’s USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D.

Of course, new weapons and systems tables have to be worked out for these Next Generation era ships.  Calculations of power requirements, weight, and crew complement – which are usually based on damage, game effect, and other capabilities – go way off the scale if I used the same formulas and gradients as with TOS-era ships.  Basically, if a 10-point TOS phaser in 2270 costs “X” in power, mass, and crew, then a 100-point TNG phaser  was costing “X times 10” – meaning that TNG ships were actually coming out critically UNDERPOWERED.

Obviously, technology advances in 100 years, and systems become much more efficient.  What a TOS-era ship can do with 10 points a power, a TNG ship can do with 5 or even less.  Also, TNG ships generate 5-10 times more power to start with.  End result, these ships are freakin’ powerful … and thus in Darkstar … they’re freakin’ expensive.

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
19:55 SOL GMT, 15 APRIL 2521
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

Even as major naval engagements continue to unfold along the spinward shoulder of the Hercules Rim (specifically at the embattled Hawking’s Star colonies in the HR6806 system), simultaneous engagements are reported along the Hercules Rim’s coreward shoulder as well.  Although perhaps smaller in scope, these skirmishes are perhaps even more ferocious in intensity – proof that while the Americans, Japanese, Russians, and British throw the bulk of their firepower into the Hawking’s Star maelstrom, other powers are taking the opportunity to strike at the “back door” of the Hercules Rim warzone.

Recently, the “Black Dragon” rebels of the self-proclaimed Khitan-Tunguska Free State sought to take advantage of American and Indian preoccupation in the Hercules Rim.  Accordingly, the Black Dragons launched a number of long-range raids out of the remote Khaizan’s Haven colony (14 Hercules system), striking at American outposts at the Port Halsey at Vega (Alpha Lyra system) and the Indian Bhogavati colonies (HD176051 system).  Both of these raids came to ruinous failure, one at the hands of Battlegroup Shalya of the Indian Republic, the other thanks to the American destroyer USS Oriskany.

Forced not only to make an ignominious exit from the war, the Black Dragons had to vacate the 14 Hercules system entirely under threat of American or Indian reprisal.  Due to the vast distance from Port Halsey or Bhogavati, however, the Americans and Indians were not the first power to reach 14 Hercules … it was their allies, the Holy Russian Empire, with a cruiser sortie from their colonies at Krasnaya Nadhezda (72 Hercules).

However, even the Russians found they were not the first to lay a new claim on Khaizan’s Haven. A new player had joined the war, the Arab League, their Al Fihri battlegroup dealing the Russians a sharp defeat and chasing them out of the 14 Hercules system.  Running up their flag at the Khaizan’s Haven colony and formally joining the “Renkei Alliance” with the British and Japanese, the Arab League’s successes were a welcome respite from the recent setbacks suffered by the Alliance.

Not content to rest on their laurels, the Arab League has struck again at the Russians, determined to help the Renkei Alliance win the Third Hercules War and, in the bargain, win a stable and recognized mandate for their new 14 Hercules colony.

Wary of overconfidence, the Arab League’s strike does not come directly at the major Russian colony and naval base at 72 Hercules.  Rather, it strikes at a smaller outpost in the United Nations “open system” of Redemption (99 Hercules), specifically at the 17^th moon of the massive Russian-owned “Kayashenko” gas supergiant.

The Holy Russian Navy naturally has a presence here, but they aren’t alone.  With them are a pair of US Navy destroyers, USS Valley Forge and Vincennes, part of a battlegroup originally tasked with showing an American presence in Khaizan’s Haven, now tasked with lending weight to American claims for a share of the UN mandate in Redemption / 99 Hercules.

Americans and Russians: Jim (Oriskany)
Arab League: @muakhah
214 points: RAID

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
13:10 SOL GMT, 06 APRIL 2521
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

Reports continue to come in from the spinward shoulder of the Hercules Rim, where another major battle has taken place in the Hawking’s Star (HR6806) planetary system.  These British colonies have been the epicenter of intense naval action for over a month, ever since a spectacularly successful raid by a combined carrier-cruiser task force of the United States and the Holy Russian Empire all but shattered the Royal Navy in the system.

Commanded by Captain Zachary Irons aboard the Endeavor class light fleet carrier USS Liberty, this “raid” might’ve taken the Hawking’s Star system outright and ended the Third Hercules War in a single bloody afternoon.  However, this strike had been planned and executed as a raid only, and neither the US or Russian navies had the planetary assault ships in position to capitalize on the success.  In short, the degree of Task Force Liberty’s success in the First Battle of Hawking’s Star was as much a shock to the American and Russian commanders as it had been to the unfortunate British.

As it was, the closest US Marine assault ship was 13 light-years away at Alpha Lyra (Vega), while the closest Russian base capable of supporting any such “take and hold” invasion was well over twice that distance.

[Game Terms:  When setting up a Darkstar game, players agree to assess victory points as either a RAID or an ASSAULT.  A MAJOR VICTORY (+40% VP margin) in a game of sufficient size (at least 300+ points = “Large Engagement”) determines ownership of the star system.  In our last game, Damon and I agreed to a 497-point RAID, which I was then fortunate enough to win by well over a 40% margin.  Had this been an ASSAULT, the campaign rules would have given my Americans and Russians possession of the Hawking’s Star colonies.  But since the game had been conducted as a RAID, with different victory point priorities driving different game strategies for myself and Damon as players, it wouldn’t be fair to have the Americans and Russians retroactively TAKE the system, despite the victory margin.]

However, once the extent of Task Force Liberty’s success became clear, US Naval Command at Alpha Lyra were quick to act.  Immediate orders were dispatched to the Saipan-class planetary assault ships USS Belleau Wood and Iwo Jima, carrying 2^nd and 3^rd Battalions / 5^th Marine Regiment.  At a ninth-magnitude Darkstar Wave, they reached the Hawking’s Star system in 22 days.  In that time, the USS Liberty had been pulled back to Vega, while the light carrier USS Tarawa was sent in her place along with the newly repaired San Antonio class light cruiser USS Spokane (Captain David Cheatham).  Their Russian allies were also able to get a Kutusov class light carrier (CPK Gavrilov) to Hawking’s Star, determined to participate in what was hoped would be a war-winning victory.

Russo-American optimism was not unfounded.  Things hadn’t gone well for the Royal Navy in the Third Hercules War, already there were calls for a change of government in the House of Commons or at the very least, an immediate end to British involvement in the war.  Now, with the Belleau Wood and Iwo Jima carrying 2000 Marines, grav tanks, APCs, orbital assault boats, and “Avenger” ground attack bombers in the protoplanetary belt of Hawking’s Star, and a combined Russo-Amerian cruiser-carrier force again poised to strike to the heart of the system, it seemed as if British fortunes in the Hercules Rim were about to come to an abrupt end.

However, the British had also used the previous three weeks to maximum effect.  While the heavy cruiser HMS Agamemnon and light cruiser Retribution would still be under repair at the nearby Outer Hebrides (Mu Hercules) system, the light fleet carrier HMS Vindictive and destroyer HMS Sheffield would be ready to re-sortie again into the core orbital zones of Hawking’s Star.  More good news arrived in early April when the advanced Japanese heavy cruiser IJN Kama and strike frigate IJN Urakaze arrived from the Kyokko Bijin (Zeta Hercules) system.  Together, this Anglo-Japanese force just might be able to stop the Russo-American task group determined to end the war (at least for the British) once and for all.

The question came to a head on 6 April, 2521 … when the two forces collided at Eastman’s Manor, outermost terrestrial planet in the Hawking’s Star core orbital zones.

Americans and Russians: Jim (Oriskany)
British: Damon
Japanese: Rasmus
339 points: ASSAULT

Development continues for crossover warships and rules between Darkstar and Star Trek.  I’ve now designed system rules and “available components” for cloaking devices, because it’s time to bring in the third great faction in Star Trek, the Romulans.

This is the classic Romulan Bird of Prey from the original series.  Not the hijacked lore-screw-up “Klingon” Bird of Prey (technically there was no such thing before bungled script re-writes in Star Trek III).

I was surprised by how small the ship is in the FASA records.  Only a class VI, barely a “large destroyer” in Star Trek (counts as a frigate in Darkstar).  Then again, it has a cloaking device, and the powerful Romulan plasma torpedo we see in the episode: Balance of Terror (Season 3, TOS).

Rules for the Romulan plasma torpedo were easy.  FASA had perfectly designed tables for these weapons, cost-balanced and meticulously play-tested, and of course Darkstar players are no strangers to plasmsa weapons.

The cloaking devices were a little tougher.  We know they’re very small (Kirk practically carries one in his arms in the TOS episode: The Enterprise Incident.  Crew is not an issue, so POWER has to be the real “cost” of the system.

I originally took a short cut, simply “demanding” that a ship equipped with cloaking carry shields one class bracket higher (i.e., a Class V-VI destroyer with level 6 shielding would have to carry Class VII-VIII “Frigate” shielding).

But this was cheap, manual, and would prove problematic when I wanted to build the very largest Romulan ships, like the D’deridex class warbirds seen in TNG (i.e., they are already the “highest” class bracket, there IS no higher class bracket for them to pay for their cloaking).

So I finally bit the bullet and built two more weapons categories for the two weapons tables (TOS, TNG).  Now a ship that wants to carry cloak simply buys this as another “weapon.”

Power is the killer.  Cloaking devises in the lore are described as drawing tremendous energy from the quantum singularity power plants that drive most Romulan warships.

So like I said, this is the classic V-8 Bird of Prey, commanded by “Mark Leonard” in Balance of Terror.  It’s smaller than the Enterprise, but can cloak and is overgunned for its size.  It’s not faster (which balances against how we see it in the episode, it could never simply run away from the Enterprise, and jives with the general concept that this ship was analogous to a large submarine (the episode drawn from the classic movie: The Enemy Below).

The usual cloaking rules apply.  The ship is NOT placed on the table.  The owning player must track his hex number and facing per turn.  While the cloak is up, no weapons fire is allowed (the experiment in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country seems to have never been repeated – it’s also lore-breaking and game-breaking).

So in game terms is breaks down to a simple modification to the usual power allocation rules.  You can spend thrust and operate shielding while cloaked.  Weapons will not fire while cloaked.  A player must decloak during power allocation phase before he can use weapons.  And of course, all weapons fire in Darkstar is simultaneous.

This still makes cloaked vessels (and Romulans in general) very dangerous.  They can literally sneak up behind you and blast away at full broadside, slowing to a crawl so they can double-allocate to weapons when their cloaks drop (no thrust points).  So the turn sequence would allow for:

• Turn 1:
• Vector toward an enemy
• Slow down.
• Turn 2:
• No power to Thrust or Cloak
• Decloak
• Fire all weapons twice
• Take fire in return (you shields are still up)
• Turn 3
• Power away next turn.

We’ll see how it works probably next week.  This weekend is getting v ery busy with “conventional” Darkstar and Sitrep / HK Ops.

Over the last three days I’ve been working to pull the universe of Star Trek into the Darkstar tactical starship combat system.

The “data basis” for this effort was the FASA Star Trek Starship Tactical Simulator game of the 1980s.  Although not officially “canon,” the writing, warships, and history presented in under this FASA license is still kept alive on many fan websites and has clearly influenced Star Trek development through the Enterprise series, Prelude to Axanar film, countless novels, the Star Trek Online game, Discovery series, and other parts of the Star Trek verse.

As a FASA game (the same company that developed classics like Battletech, Renegade Legions, Shadowrun, etc), STSTCS was beautiful, detailed, balanced, customizable, and encouraged players to design and modify their own starships.  Through a meticulously-calculated, cross-referenced, and balanced point system, anything players would design in this system would automatically be “tournament legal” and playable in any STSTCS game.

This old game was also one of many inspirations for Darkstar back in 2012.  So converting starships from STSTCS into Darkstar so warships from these two universes could interact in a formal Darkstar wargame has naturally been a long-time item on the Oriskany wish list.

Finally, it’s been done.  Finding huge spreadsheets on these FASA fan sites, and applying some hard “Darkstar design-style” crunching, I’ve created a conversion system that will support a wide range of Star Trek factions, eras, and designs into Darkstar.

So far I have weapons and systems tables for Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian, and Gorn.  Future expansions might include the Dominion and Orion pirates.

The tables will cover anything from the TOS era through the Dominion War.  So from the Four Years War before the original series through the end of DS9 / Voyager will be able to be constructed and “reliably” portrayed in Darkstar.

A few things will be left “off the table” for the moment.  At present I cannot recreate Romulan War / Archer era warships (22nd Century), nor many things from Star Trek Online (2409 – 25th Century).

I will not be handling transporters.  They are a “broken” plot device, and would rarely be able to be used on a Darkstar table anyway when warships have shields up.

I will not be handling Saucer Separation capabilities.  The vast majority of ships in the Star Trek universe cannot do this anyway.

I will not be handling uber-races like the Borg or Udeen (Species 8742).

Things I will be bringing in will be Romulan cloaking devices, DS-9/VOY-era quantum torpedoes, etc (yes, they’ll be very expensive).  There will also be a rudimentary power allocation system that will allow players to prioritize propulsion, weapons, and shields during a battle (a ubiquitous staple of Star Trek stories and combat).

So far I have about 10 warships designed in the new system, from the Class II Pulsar class warp shuttles to the Marklin class destroyers made famous by Garth or Izar during the Four Years War, the classic Enterprise 1701 and Enterprise 1701-A refit, the Excelsior class “battlecruiser”, and the Galaxy-class flagships of the 24th Century Federation.

I have also prepared D-7 battlecruisers (M-class “K’tinga” variant – “Bringer of Destruction”) of the Klingon Empire.

The images below show a small sample of what is prepared so far.

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
21:45 SOL GMT, 14 MARCH 2521
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

A major shift seems to be in the making in the ongoing Third Hercules War. Reports continue to come in from the far-flung systems of the Hercules Rim, and the full impact of recent events presently remains unclear. However, observers agree that the United States had undertaken a significant shift in strategy, and made a much more aggressive move in the conflict.

Until recently, the “Coalition of Eagles” (United States, Holy Russian Empire, and supporting factions) have pursued a “siege” approach to the Third Hercules War. With Russian colonies along the coreward shoulder of the Hercules Rim at Kransaya Nadhezda (“Red Hope” at 72 Hercules), and American and Indian Republic colonies along the spinward edge at Vega and Bhogavati (Alpha Lyra and HD 176051), the idea was to squeeze the British and Japanese in their more central colonies until their governments ceded at the peace table.

When the American and Indian Navies more or less smashed the “Black Dragons” (Khitan-Tunguska Free State) out of the war and forced them to abandon their colonies at Khaizan’s Haven (14 Hercules), the moment seemed perfect to expand on this strategy. Seizing this abandoned system would all but surround the British and Japanese with American, Indian, and Russian holdings. However, the Holy Russian Empire suffered a sharp defeat at 14 Hercules when the Arab League abruptly entered the war and signed an alliance with the Renkei Alliance (United Kingdom, Japan).

Acknowledging at last that this “siege strategy” will not work, the Americans have now embarked on a much more direct approach. The newly-arrived “Task Force Liberty” carrier-cruiser group, under the command of Captains Zachary Irons and David Cheatham, is sent directly into the British colonies at Hawking’s Star (HR 6806). To support this effort, a Russian Slava-class heavy cruiser, CPK Rotislav, attacks from the other direction, vectoring in from Krasnaya Nadhezda. The attack takes quite a while to put together (some of these ships have to cover upwards of 18 light-years), and doesn’t actually commence until the middle of March, 2521. Even at this late date, the strike is in fact somewhat rushed. Originally planned as an assault (supported by two Saipan-class USMC planetary assault ships), the time scales were projected out into the beginning of May, by which time any chance at surprise would sure be lost. Instead this operation is to be conducted as a strike, directly it the heart of the Hawking’s Star colony.

As the Americans and Russians converge on the HR6806 system and emerge from their 10th magnitude Darkstar waves (easily detectable well in advance, especially with ships this large), the British mobilize a powerful defense force. The entirety of Cruiser Squadron “A” (Agamemnon) is mobilized against the threat. Of particular note will be the elite aerospace strike group of the large Valiant-class light fleet carrier HMS Vindictive pitted against the elite (some would say nigh-legendary) aerospace squadrons of the Endeavor-class USS Liberty, including Fighter Squadron VSF-221 (“The Dead Rabbits”) and Attack Squadron VSA-193 (“The Eight Ball Express”).

US/Russians: @Oriskany
UK: @Damon
497-point raid

So what does this shattering result mean?  Well, a major defeat in a 400+ point battle means +/-6 campaign points for the factions involved.  The Americans win +4, the Russians +2, and the British lose -6.  The British campaign tracker now has them at -10, the absolute limit of their government’s commitment to this war.  Suffice it to say that debate rages in the Parliament over whether to sue for peace, and the Prime Minister has been subjected to a Vote of No Confidence, which for the moment he has survived … barely.

Along the Hercules Rim, and specifically at Hawking’s Star … while a MAJOR victory of this scale normally gives the star system to the winner outright, please remember that this game was played as RAID, not an ASSAULT.  In campaign rules, the attacker has to declare they’re launching an assault – where victory points are calculated differently and thus tabletop strategy is decidedly different – THEN win a battle of sufficient size (although it doesn’t necessarily  have to be a MAJOR victory).  This represents operational and logistic planning and support for an actual colonial invasion, like the two Saipan class planetary assault ships mentioned previously (these are basically Endeavor class light fleet carriers, outfitted to carry assault boats, troops, and grav tanks instead of fighters and bombers).  So while the Royal Navy has been decisively crippled at Hawking’s Star, the Americans just don’t have the Marines, engineers, and logistic support to mount an immediate invasion, at least not closer than 12 light-years.

So we’re settling on a compromise.  The Americans now have a FOOTHOLD in the Hawking Star (HR6806 system), not at the terrestrial planet itself, but among the moons of the outer gas giants.  In narrative terms, we could have the Marine assault ship USS Tarawa (part of Task Force Oriskany, upgraded with 12-mag Darkstar Waves) get to HR6806 in less than five days, and put a company or two down on these perimeter outposts.  But a destroyer-sized carrier / assault ship like the Tarawa could never boot enough boots on the ground to take Hawking’s Star colony itself, at least not all in one go.

That said, the Americans are dominating in the Third Hercules War, and the British are clinging to survival by the slenderest of threads.  After victories in the Psi Serpentis War, the Second Hercules War, and most recently in Duchess Annabel’s War, are they finally about to lose one?  One more decent American or Russian victory in the Hawking’s Star colonies will lose the system for the Crown, and force the British to sue for peace.

Our friend @muakhah has written up backgrounds for the commanders of his Arab League battlegroup, a set of commanders that have definitely been through the “school of hard knocks” when it comes to Darkstar, but has come through with flying colors on their first big victory at the Battle of Khaizan’s Haven (14 Hercules) – February 2521.

I put the slides together, but the writing is his.  😀

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
18:50 SOL GMT, 02 FEBRUARY 2521
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

The Third Hercules War continues to expand as a new faction joins the conflict, cutting into a star system recently abandoned by the defeated Black Dragons of the Khitan-Tunguska Free State and staking a claim along the frontier boundaries of the Hercules Rim.

After two disastrous raids against naval forces and colonies of the United States and Indian Republic, the Black Dragons have effectively been driven out of the war. Fearing retaliation by strong “Coalition of Eagle” forces (United States, Holy Russian Empire, Indian Republic, Corporate Consortium), the Black Dragons abandoned their Khaizan’s Haven colonies at the remote 14 Hercules star system.

This opened a tremendous opportunity for the Coalition of Eagles. Note that two of their major factions (the United States and the Indian Republic) are on the far spinward (“west”) arc of the Hercules Rim warzone, along the border regions with the neighboring Lyra constellation. Having a foothold at 14 Hercules, however (as remote as this might be) would allow the Coalition to apply pressure from both spinward and coreward sides of the Hercules Rim, squeezing the British and Japanese of the “Renkei Alliance” between them. Until now, the only real coreward foothold the Coalition has had in the Hercules Rim has been the Russian Krasnaya Nadhezda colony at 72 Hercules, which is probably why the British and Japanese have hit it three times.

Needless to say, when Indian and American naval forces drive the Black Dragons out of the conflict, they leap immediately to occupy the abandoned Black Dragon colonies at 14 Hercules. But the American Navy stands 60 light-years away at Vega (Alpha Lyra). Only their “Battlegroup Oriskany” can cover that distance fast enough and after two hard-fought battles their ships remain under repair. Indian Navy forces in the Bhogavati colonies at HD 176051 lack the sheer weight for that kind of power projection as of yet. So it falls to the Russians to exploit this opportunity, sending a heavy cruiser battlegroup out of Krasnaya Nadhezda up to 14 Hercules, built around the Slava class heavy cruiser Bagration.

This is a bold move, to say the least. The 14 Hercules system lies at least 10 light-years deep into the “Third Band,” the sparsely-colonized frontier of Known Space. Navies often have warships out this far, but almost never as heavy as the Bagration. This is one of the largest warships to venture this far from Sol, a clear indication of how much the Holy Russian Empire wants this 14 Hercules system.

They are not alone, however. A new faction has been lurking in the wings – with hidden sensors ships, fighter sweeps, and listening posts scattered across the outer systems of the Hercules Rim. This is the Arab League, and they already have a battlegroup in 14 Hercules as well. Last of the Ten Powers to make the leap into interstellar space, the League was forced to set up most of its initial colonies much further out from Sol than the other powers. Naturally, the league remains ever-keen to cut “a homeward path,” establishing new colonies closer to the Earth to mitigate shipping, transit, and tariff costs from their rich frontier colonies back to their terrestrial home nations. The 14 Hercules system presents just such an opportunity.

In early February 2521, an Arab League battlegroup under Captain Rashid al-Maghrebi meets the Bagration and her escorts in the harsh glare of Hercules 14 Beta, second planet of the system, just 0.3 AU from the orange dwarf star. This is not a raid, but an assault in the heart of the system. The “last men standing” here will raise their flag in 14 Hercules, and claim the system for the foreseeable future.

Holy Russian Empire: @Oriskany
Arab League: @Muakhah

So that’s it.  The score is 90 to 70,  an Arab League victory, and enough to claim the 14 Hercules system as a new colony for the League.  This is the first defeat the Russians have suffered in the Third Hercules War, and means the Coalition of Eagles will not be able to strike easily from both sides of the Hercules Rim.  While the Coalition of Eagles are, on the balance, still winning this war (especially the Russians), the British and Japanese now have a new partner in the Renkei Alliance.  The Bagration is gone forever, and so is the Zarqa (judged a total loss and scuttled after the battle).  Her skipper, Commander Yasminah al-Qadiri, has survived however, and will take command of a new vessel.

Congrats to @Muakhah on his first Darkstar win!

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
09:10 SOL GMT, 18 JANUARY 2521
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

Developments from the Third Hercules War continue at an ever-faster pace. Just over a week ago, the so-called “Black Dragon” rebels of the self-proclaimed Khitan-Tunguska Free State entered the war from their remove base at Khaizan’s Haven (14 Hercules). They raided the US Navy Base at Port Halsey in the Vega Colony (Alpha Lyra), where their small corvette force was interdicted by the destroyer USS Oriskany. Even while this Black Dragon corvette force was en route, however, a second Black Dragon battlegroup, centered around the Kutusov class light cruiser KTS Chelvnya, had already jumped into a Darkstar wave en route the United Nations mandate in the Redemption (99 Hercules) star system.

There are no American colonies to attack in the Redemption system (in fact this is one of the bones of contention for the Americans in this war), but the Black Dragons were instead targeting potential American allies, the Republic of India and its colony at Svarbageecha (Garden of Heaven), a roughly Venus-sized planet 2.5 AU out from the 99 Her A, the primary F-series main sequence star in this binary system.

India has, on paper, joined the “Coalition of Eagles” with the Americans and Holy Russian Empire against the British and Japanese. However, no military actions have yet been taken by the Indian Navy. That’s about to change as the Black Dragon battlegroup drops out of its Darkstar wave and vectors toward Svarbageecha. Indian naval presence in this system isn’t very powerful, but the two Surat class destroyers and two Asura class frigates available come to general quarters and accelerate into high-speed parabolic orbit of Svarbageecha to intercept the foe.

Why the Black Dragons are attacking the Indians can’t be known for sure. But clearly their campaign against the Americans and Indians (or their entry into the Third Hercules War in general) seems to be designs on the main Indian holding in the region, the Bhogavati Colonies at the HD 176051 system. If India is forced out of the war by the British and the Japanese, and the Black Dragons find themselves on the winning side of the broader conflict, perhaps this “stateless faction” can push for a planet or two in Bhogavati in the peace settlement, thus earning more “bedrock real estate” along the outer Second Band and Frontier regions of Known Space.

Black Dragons: @Oriskany
Indian Republic: @Damon

So will another faction join the war in place of the Black Dragons?  We have interest from other players, perhaps the Arab League may swoop in and join the British and Japanese of the Renkei Alliance, depending on what the British and Japanese offer them for their help.  As Spock says in Star Trek VI … “In that case, Mister Chekov, it resides in the purview of the diplomats.”

Suffice it to say a major shakeup is in the works for the Third Hercules War.

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
15:45 SOL GMT, 10 JANUARY 2521
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

Reports continue to come in from the expanding Third Hercules War, where a new faction seems to have joined the rapidly-worsening conflict. On January 10, a light raiding force of the so-called “Black Dragons” of the self-proclaimed Khitan-Tunguska Free State engaged American forces in the extreme outer reaches of the Vega (Alpha Lyra) star system. Vega is the seat of the Jamison Colonies, a major United States holding in the neighboring Lyra constellation. As the Hercules War continues to heat up, American involvement in the conflict has been based solely out the Jamison Colonies, particularly the Port Halsey naval base.

The Americans have been moderately engaged in several confirmed battles thus far, both in the Russian-held Kransaya Nadhezda (Red Hope) colonies in the 72 Hercules system. The Americans are allied with the Holy Russian Empire in this conflict, having signed the so-called “Coalition of Eagles” accords at the Kayashenko Colony in the UN-chartered “Redemption” system last fall. The most recent of these battles saw the successful repulse of a British invasion effort at Krasnaya Nadhezda. One American warship, the destroyer USS Oriskany, was moderately damaged in this exchange, and set a fast magnitude 12 Darkstar wave back to Port Halsey after the engagement.

The Oriskany required six days of repair after returning (covering the 30 light-years from 72 Hercules in just 10 days). Repairs were completed on January 6, at which time Oriskany joined arriving units of “Task Force Liberty” carrier group, now building up at Alpha Lyra for several weeks.

On January 10, however, American aerospace patrols detected a force of Khitan-Tunguska torpedo corvettes in the extreme outer reaches of Alpha Lyra’s protoplanetary debris disk (Kuiper Belt). These “Black Dragon” rebels have been fighting an extremely brutal war against the Panasian Union and Holy Russian Empire for almost nine years now, and most analysts agree that the Black Dragons see any allies of the Holy Russian Empire as enemies. The Americans also fought two bitter campaigns against the Black Dragons in the recent Xi Scorpio and Scorpion’s Tail Wars, so this torpedo corvette squadron was immediately regarded as a threat.

The USS Oriskany (DSGN-797) was dispatched with orders to find and eliminate this squadron. With her enhanced electronic warfare, ion engine thrust, and Darkstar FTL drives, the Oriskany seemed to be the Navy’s best chance of finding these small, elusive ships as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, the rest of Task Force Oriskany (destroyers USS Valley Forge, Princeton, light carrier Tarawa, and corvette Daggerfish) were still at 72 Hercules, so the Oriskany would have to tackle this mission alone.

A week ago we had a great game of Darkstar between @muakhah  and @elessar2590 , where we had a Prussian force that included a wolf pack of five Type XII Umfangangriffboote (U-boats, or perimeter attack boats).  The game was a Prussian victory and a pretty handy one at that.  The Prussian player was more experienced and the Arab League player had some very bad dice rolls, but despite this I started to worry that these torpedo corvettes were overpowered, especially in large numbers.

Well, I did NOT want to change the “large numbers” or the “wolf pack” tactics.  With the American Mako class, the Russian K-56 class, and the Prussian Type XII U-boats, we’re clearly going for a “submarine” motif here.  Moreover, I WANT them to be a very dangerous threat, especially in large wolfpacks.

So if they’re not overpowered, are they underpriced?

Counting the amount of armor boxes a corvette has compared to a frigate (the next larger ship type), the number of internal component boxes, I started to feel that the base cost for a corvette of 10 was too low.  This disparity becomes more pronounced when one considers the curves in the power-weight ratios (smaller ships average more power per ton), making them much better at carrying energy-based weapons like lasers, syglex emitters, and EPCs rather than weight-heavy systems like rail guns and plasma projectors.  It also allows much better shielding (shielding arrays weigh about the same regardless of their power, but cost much more power for better systems), to say nothing of targeting systems and CICs (combat information centers).

Long story short, corvettes seem to have “hacked the math” by mounting +2 CICs, very high shielding for their hull size, and deadly-accurate and long-ranged weapons.  They punch far above their weight of just 10 points, +20% for an “advanced” design (additional bonus to starting available power).

I went ahead and cranked their cost up to 15.  The +20% for advanced power plants thus takes them to 18.  With a cost of 18 rather than 12, the Prussians could have only afforded four Type XIIs in that wolf pack instead of five.

Would that have made a difference?  To test the new pricing model, I put six re-priced Type XIIs (18 x 6 = 108) up against the USS Oriskany (106 points), +2 additional scouts = 108 points.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the bump in price is not quite enough.  I think corvettes as a class are smidge too cheap, hence the increase to base 15 rather then 10, but also the +2 CICs those Type XIIs were carrying were another critical factor.  But for now I’ll just test the Type XIIs at 18 points each and see where that takes us.

So these Type XIIs are still underpriced.  HOWEVER, I don’t think it’s the corvette ship type in general.  For instance, Russians K-56s are also 18 points and I am almost sure the Oriskany will wipe the floor with six K-56s, which six Type XIIs (same point cost) will wipe the floor with the Oriskany.  The difference is in those CICs.  So again, I think I will add a “CIC surcharge” to any ship class that carries an abnormally high CIC (+2 or +3).  This will effect many Japanese ships, almost all New Roman ships, Corporate / Pirate ships, and select American and Prussian ships (most notably, the corvette “submarine” classes).  The cost of a Type XII will now be 21 (15 base, +3 for advanced, +3 for the advanced CIC).  This is a 20% cost adjustment for +2 CICs, 40% adjustment for +3 CICs.  This percentage will drop off for larger ship types.

The last test of this theory will come when I test Oriskany against six K-56s.  If Oriskany beats the six K-56s at 108 points, even though she couldn’t really beat the six Type XIIs at 108 points, it will be proof that the remaining gap in the math lies in the +2 CIC (which the K-56s do not have).

Last weekend we actually had two community games of Darkstar.  After our “campaign game” with players in the US and UK (reviewed earlier in this thread), we then had a supplementary non-campaign game with players in Shanghai and Australia.

So this game isn’t part of the Third Hercules War, but somewhere else deeper into the void, a smaller battle with smaller, faster ships, somewhere along the “Third Band” frontier of Known Space.

A small Prussian battlegroup, built around the Hipper class light cruiser Hohenfreiburg (named for one of Frederick the Great’s victories) and three Emden-class frigates is entering a new star system, somewhere in the Cassiopeia Constellation.  Perhaps this is Beta Cassiopeiae, a yellow-white variable giant 54 light-years out, just on the fringe of the Third Band.  Their forward screen, made up of a wolfpack of five Type XII umfangangriffboote (perimeter attack boats, or “U-Boats”) has detected potential “claim jumpers,” a battlegroup of the Arab League who believes they already have a claim on this system by a previous treaty.

These Prussians have been in a Darkstar wave for over two months to get here.  Since even the fastest courier will take no less than 19 days to return to Earth.  Therefore, both battlegroup commanders resolve to settle the issue themselves.  The Prussians and Arabs decelerate to attack speeds, vector toward each other, depressurize torpedo tubes, open outer doors, retract bridges, and begin fixing telemetry approaches and firing solutions.

There are no diplomats this far out.

Action stations!  We are now “weapons hot!”

Prussians: @elessar2590

Arab League:  @muakhah 

The battle is over.  It’s a major Prussian victory (they’ve destroyed / crippled 174 points of Arab League shipping while sustaining 84 points of losses, giving them a +90 lead, or 46% of the original battle’s points).  However, it hasn’t been cheap.  Two frigates are crippled and a third is gone forever.  Two more U-boats are crippled, U-305 will be recovered but U-309 will in fact be captured by the Arab League while she is adrift.  That said, it looks like the Prussians will be calling the shots in Beta Cassiopeiae for the foreseeable future.

There’s some playtesting going on to determine whether these “wolfpacks” of U-boats (or similar classes like the Russian K-56 or American Mako class) are OP.  I don’t think they are, but they may be under-priced.  So this game might have been slightly unbalanced, I’m thinking with adjusted pricing there should have been only four U-boats, perhaps only three.  Still testing.

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
02:30 SOL GMT, 20 DECEMBER 2520
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

The Third Hercules War continues – with British, American, and Japanese task forces recommitting to the struggle to control the embattled 72 Hercules star system. These Russian “Krasnaya Nadhezda” (Red Hope) colonies were the subject of a joint Anglo-Japanese raid launched out of the Outer Hebrides (Mu Hercules) and Kyokko Bijin (Zeta Hercules) systems last month, a raid interdicted by the US Navy’s “Oriskany” rapid response task force. Task Force Oriskany was defeated by the raiders, but the British task force (under the flag of Lord Edward Cavendish, HMS Agamemnon) was unable to remain in the Russian system when their Japanese compatriots received orders to return to 72 Hercules to deal with the Russian Admiral Lazarev battlegroup threatening the Japanese Kyokko Bijin colonies in Zeta Hercules. Of course, the Japanese could not know at the time that the Lazarev and her escorts had already pulled out of Zeta Hercules – ironically in response to the same Japanese threat that was now pulling out of 72 Hercules to respond to the Lazarev herself. The end result would almost be comical if not for the gravity of the situation.

Now the British are resolved to break the stalemate. The Lazarev battlegroup, now back at Krasnaya Nadhezda, is still under repair. The Japanese have secured Kyokko Bijin. The American Liberty carrier task force remains en route to their base at Vega (Alpha Lyra). Even if the Oriskany battlegroup can intercept again, there’s no way this small American destroyer force will be at full strength.

Thus, the decision is taken to launch not a raid, but a full-scale assault once again on Krasnaya Nadhezda. HMS Foxhound, a Fearless-class planetary assault cruiser, is loaded with Marines, ground attack aerospace craft, and tanks, and sent in a 10th magnitude Darkstar wave toward the Russian star system. Orders are to take the Russian base at Zyevnaya 21, one many moons orbiting the outer Zyevnaya gas giant.

Yet once again, the next generation transluminal drives of the American Oriskany battlegroup manage to beat the British to 72 Hercules (this small American force has nearly four times the normal FTL speeds of typical warships), and again these troublesome Yanks are in position to intercept. However, British intelligence has correctly surmised that they are nowhere near full strength. With the Lazarev task force still under repair, the Americans’ only help in defending this Russian star system is a brand-new battlegroup built around a Gagarin-class light fleet carrier.

British: Damon
Russians: Rasmus
Americans: Oriskany

We’ll be playing not one but two Darkstar wargames today, with players on four continents.  Meanwhile, we’re also ramping up the Arab League for play this evening, so a new light carrier class has been designed into their fleet.

We’ve had some interest in the Indian Republic, and while reviewing their fleet and preparing them for play, I’m finding that the fleet was in need of a refresh and reorganization.  So some ship classes have been renamed, designs tweaked, and new warship classes added.

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
02:30 SOL GMT, 15 NOVEMBER 2520
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

A second battle has been reported in the rapidly-developing Hercules Crisis.  It seems the United States has now entered the war, honoring new treaties with the Holy Russian Empire, which opened hostilities with the United Kingdom and Japan last month in the Zeta Hercules system (Kyokko Bijin – “Beauty of Dawn”)  We can now confirm that TASK FORCE ORISKANY has engaged in open combat in the 72 Hercules system (Krasnaya Nadezhda – “Red Hope”), apparently to intercept a British and Japanese raiding force against the Russians in retaliation for their incursion in Kyokko Bijin.

The American intervention was a startling one, given the distance of their closest base at Vega (Alpha Lyra) some thirty light-years away.  But during the recent Xi Scorpio and Scorpion’s Tail Wars, Task Force Oriskany has built a record of incredibly fast superluminal jumps, their ships apparently fitted with heavily-upgraded Darkstar drives.  Thus, when the British heavy cruiser HMS Agamemnon (escorted by the destroyer HMS Sheffield), alongside the Japanese light cruiser Sendai Byo (escorted by the frigates Urakaze and Sakito) emerged from their Darkstar waves in the outer protoplanetary debris field of the Russian-held 72 Hercules system, they found the much smaller American force just arriving as well, along with a Russian K-56 class torpedo corvette.  The two forces will meet at Molodoy Burunduk (Baby Chipmunk), a Mars-sized planet far out on the outer fringe of the 72 Hercules system.

Given that the British and Japanese (known as the “Renkei Alliance”) launched this operation as a raid, and that the Japanese cannot fully commit to a “hit and stay” assault with Russian cruiser somewhere in their own Kyokko Bijin system, and that the Americans are clearly defending someone else’s star system, this wasn’t a terribly hard-fought action by either side.  While we are informed that losses on both sides were relatively light, and that fighting was generally cautious, reserved, and measured, it was a major action nonetheless, especially since it heralds the entry of the United States into the war.

The Hercules Crisis is over.  The Third Hercules War has begun.

Americans and Russians: @oriskany
British: @damon
Japanese: @rasmus
Played: Saturday, October 26, 2019

There are written up by community member @rasmus.  I added some quick graphics in the back, but these are his writings for the officers and warships in the task force he’s been playing in the Duchess Annabel’s War and the Third Hercules War.

Clicking on each slide might help with the text, depending on your screen size.

There are written up by community member @damon.  I added some quick graphics in the back, but these are his writings for the officers and warships in the task force he’s been playing in the Duchess Annabel’s War and the Third Hercules War.

Clicking on each slide might help with the text, depending on your screen size.

FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
02:30 SOL GMT, 22 OCTOBER 2520
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)

**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**

This advisory communique is hereby issued from the United Nations Communications and Liaisons Administration (UNCLA), Hercules Strategic Command Sector (SCS), to the offices of all colonial and regional governors, senior ambassadors, and national-level adjutants (level NG-21 and above) as previously specified as CLEARANCE level contacts by the secretaries and ministers listed as AUTHORIZED for such communication materials, as recorded on file by this office.

A shipping and superluminal courier advisory is now in effect for star systems within the Hercules SCS, ranging in radial Sol distance of 7-20 parsecs (22.82 to 65.2 light years).  BE ADVISED A STATE OF CRISIS now exists for planetary systems, colonies, automated shipping lanes, and interstellar medium for the space prescribed and enclosed by parameters outlined above.

Eight days ago, an incident occurred in the outer protoplanetary debris disc of the Zeta Hercules star system involving naval and aerospace units of the Navies of the HOLY RUSSIAN EMPIRE, the EMPIRE OF JAPAN, and the CONSORTIUM OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE AND DEVELOPMENT (Corporate Consortium).  Reports of this incident, which took place some 7.4 parsecs from this office, is only now being reported, and details are far from complete.  At this hour, all this office can confirm with certainty is that heavy weapons fire was exchanged between these forces, resulting in significant loss of life and damage to property.

Negotiations between the parties involved are presently underway here at the Almacor Colonial Offices for the United Nations, Hercules SCS Regional Branch, at Redemption Colony (99 Hercules).  Updates will be passed to authorized national-level offices as events develop.

In the meantime, the United Nations urges and advises with all gravity that military commanders under each nation’s respective naval commands be contacted with all possible speed.  The value of caution and forbearance at this critical juncture cannot be overstated if a general STATE OF WAR is to be avoided.

>>>>

Such was the communique sent by automated FTL drone to all the governments and military command centers in the Hercules Strategic Command Sector, dated 22 October 2520.  Of course, even with 12-magnitude Darkstar waves, some colonies wouldn’t get this message for 10-12 days.  Such is the travel times across these distances even at x1000c.  In any event, by then it was too late.  News of the initial battle had already spread, and decisions had already been made.  The THIRD HERCULES WAR was on.

The .pdf attached to this project thread in a previous post already outlines the background and recent history of this region, describing the steadily building tension between the United States, the Holy Russian Empire, and the Indian Republic on one side, and the United Kingdom, Japan, the Corporate Consortium on the other.  The powder keg was set.  Saturday’s battle between myself, @gladesrunner, and @rasmus is the spark that blew it up.

In short, this is the beginning of a new Darkstar campaign, which we hope you will enjoy looking through, perhaps following, or even joining in!

Well, it’s official.  Today is the “soft launch” of the new Darkstar Campaign.  So far we have four players, but more are always welcome!

We’re also starting a new thread, after the old one hit 127 entries, 3500+ recommendations, and 600+ comments, and was honestly getting a little unwieldy.

So here are the first campaign maps and background write up for the new Third Hercules War campaign.  I hope you’ll enjoy following our progress, and as always, ping the thread if you feel like joining in sometime!