Persei-Aries War – Oriskany v. Rasmus

More fiery combat burns across the stars with a three-player game of Darkstar, a “ménage à trois” of rail guns, plasma projectors, torpedoes, and electron particle cannons.  This time it was Rasmus and his Japanese “Nobunaga” battlecruiser squadron up against Hegemongary’s Arab Leage carrier strike group and two cruisers from my own “Khar Khilizh” (Black Sabre) strike squadron.  This was also a rather big one, a 497-point game involving 9 ships, including aerospace carriers loaded with missile and torpedoes.

It’s happened again, folks.  The cruel, fickle mistress that is Darkstar (Starship Tactical Combat in the 26^th Century) has claimed another wargamer into her capricious claws.  Yesterday my friend @Yavasa played his first game, taking out his new Prussian battlegroup in a maiden voyage to square off against a Russian cruiser group.

It was furious, fun, and fast … a straight-up gun fight with beginning rules, leaving out carriers, aerospace groups, planetary assaults, orbital installations, and so on.  Old school Darkstar at it best.

Late last week, my friend Rasmus and I sat down for another game of Darkstar … which saw his Japanese battlecruiser IJN Nobunaga (Sengoku class) and her escort ships sortie forth in search of redemption.  The last time this task force headed out to the stars … they were, frankly speaking, roundly defeated by a raiding American battleship and heavy cruiser at the Farukon Kosuto colonies (99 Herculis).

Can Rasmus’ Japanese redeem themselves and restore the honor of the Imperial chrysanthemum?

Earlier this week, my friend Elessar2590 and I sat down for a long-overdue game of Darkstar … and a pretty big one as well.  With eleven total warships (not including 30+ aerospace craft) and 438 points, this game wound up taking about 5 ½ hours to play out, but it had a great finish.

It’s true, it’s true … after eight months (I think) since our last game, and I think about a year since the official end of the Third Hercules War, we’ve dusted off the Darkstar rules and played another game!  It takes place vaguely in the Third Hercules War timeline (we don’t really have a full campaign going yet), but of course that war is already over and decided so this won’t affect the conclusion of that war in the Darkstar timeline.

The basic background of this engagement has to have the two forces CLOSE, because both players wanted to try out a battleship, and such star-dreadnaughts don’t exactly lend themselves to fast, long-range strikes … especially when under-escorted (as they will be here).  Also, both sides have to make MAJOR operational and strategic assets nearby and under threat, or else a battleship wouldn’t be committed to combat in its defense.

So I used the old “Redemption” star system (99 Herculis), a UN Mandate along the Hercules Rim where several regional naval powers have colonies and installations orbiting terrestrial worlds or gas giant moons.  We can imagine the US Navy (despite their loss to the British Navy earlier in the war’s timeline, scraped out a new lease here in Redemption thanks to another campaign against the Spanish, French, and Italians of the New Roman Alliance) setting up their new base on one of the dozen or so moons of an outer ice giant’s moon, only to find the Japanese have a moon here as well (Farukon Kosuto, or “Falcon’s Coast”).  As so often happens here in the colonial world of Darkstar, misunderstanding compounds distance-delayed communication compounds old grudges compounds corporate greed compounds, compounds, compounds …

Long story short, an American destroyer-frigate battlegroup strayed too close to Faukon Kosuto, Japanese corvettes slung out a salvo of torpedoes.  The Americans turned hard about and withdrew, vowing a response to this “militant act of war, blatantly violating the guarantees of (insert half a dozen out-of-date treaties here).  Perhaps flush with overconfidence after their recent thrashing of the New Romans, the US Navy sends out a full battleship with heavy cruiser escort.  There’s no hiding such a deployment, so the Japanese have plenty of time to respond in kind … and the match is on!

I should note that this week’s warships were designed by the community during a “Warship Workshop” held on our Discord Channel last Saturday. Now the community members have made their decisions, set their priorities, and made their tradeoffs, we’re ready to try these new warships in live Darkstar games in the weeks ahead!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Azadistan class light fleet carriers are a new class of aerospace strike ships being built for the Arab League Navy.  They are named for breakaway Arab caliphates that waged a stunning and bloody (if brief) war against the Holy Russian Empire, Indian Republic, and United States during the Water Wars of the 2190s.  In some ways they are the “purest” carrier class yet built, little more than flying hangars (albeit with advanced engines and Darkstar FTL drives).  All they can do is carry and launch aerospace strike aircraft, and this they do very well.

Note the greatly expanded hangar and launch bays, housing a startling total of forty-four craft, easily more than any other light fleet carrier class, challenging even the aerospace strike groups of much larger fleet carriers like the American Obama and British Windsor classes.  Also note the disproportionate number of bombers, with two full squadrons of “Demkikham” (Vengeance) bombers carried along with just one reinforced squadron of “Mylekinir” (Fire Angel) fighters.  This clearly indicates the Azadistan’s true purpose as a dedicated strike platform, hurling out a wave of bombers to devastate enemy capital ships, orbital platforms, or ground targets.  There are practically no comparable ship classes that even have a hope of withstanding such a strike, statistically speaking an Azadistan commander could theoretically play “finger of God” and simply point at the enemy warship he wants erased from existence.

The problem, however, is that the Azadistan carries such a devastating weapon at the cost of some crippling weaknesses that enemy commanders may be able to exploit.  One, the ship carries no ship-to-ship weaponry, period.  Even other “pure” light fleet carriers like the Gagarin, Endeavor, Valiant, and Kagoshima classes at least carry a battery of gravitic torpedoes.  Two, the Azadistan carries ECM and shielding suites that most analysts consider mediocre at best, as well as mass driver protection.  Note these systems aren’t bad, but they aren’t great, either.  Three, even the Azadistan’s aerospace group may need protection, with such a high number of vulnerable bombers compared to escorting fighters.  Fourth, and perhaps most dangerous, the Azadistan is still a light cruiser, and can thus only launch so many aerospace craft at a time.  Estimates indicate that an Azadistan will require a full three minutes to launch their entire aerospace group, an eternity in a high-speed naval engagement.  Bombers typically need a further 60-90 seconds to reach engagement ranges to their targets, meaning that an Azadistan may require four-five minutes to actually hit with a full strike, but which time many battles are already over.   By that time enemy fighters, bombers, and warships are likely upon the Azadistan, which would now be at risk of destruction perhaps with aerospace strike craft still in the hangars.

Used correctly, however, and well-supported by other ships in a fleet action, the Azadistan has potential as a truly fearsome weapon.  They may be demanding ships to command, but properly managed and coordinated, the damage they can inflict as a raider or strike platform (perhaps as part of a planetary invasion) is truly impressive.  As the first units of this class take their place in the battle lines of select Arab League task forces, the verdict will soon be in on whether this bold new concept pays off in combat.

I should note that this week’s warships were designed by the community during a “Warship Workshop” held on our Discord Channel last  Saturday.  Now the community members have made their decisions, set their priorities, and made their tradeoffs, we’re ready to try these new warships in live Darkstar games in the weeks ahead!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Sengoku-class battlecruisers, named for the leading daimyō who unified Japan during the Sengoku period of the 16th Century, are the end product of hard lessons learned by the Japanese Navy in the recent Xi Scorpio War.  Together with two smaller American task forces, a larger Japanese task force under the flag of Commodore Hiromi Ozawa fought for fourteen incredibly violent months to reclaim the “Flower of Hokkaido” colony of the Kurakawa system (Xi Scorpio D), one of the closest Earth-analogs yet found in Known Space.  In the final battle of that war, however, the Japanese flagship, the Taiho class light cruiser Sendai, exploded, Commodore Ozawa barely escaping with her life.  In the end the Americans (Task Force Liberty, Task Force Oriskany) had to finish that battle and win the war, along with the smaller Scorpion’s Tail War that immediately followed.

In the wake of these events, the message was clear.  Too many warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy fell into two divergent categories.  First, there were the fast, sleep, ultra-tech, (and ultra-expensive) but tragically vulnerable “glass cannons.”  Second, there were the proud old icons of the fleet, storied, reliable, tough … but just plain old. After so many modernizations and upgrades, they barely had an original part in their hulls and orbital shipyards could barely maintain or repair them.  Besides, they couldn’t keep up with the faster elements of the fleet, especially when the Japanese Navy had to cover a long distance fast (like they had to with Xi Scorpio, 92 light-years from Sol).

In the wake of the Xi Scorpio War, the new Katana class heavy cruiser was designed, embracing the EPC as her main weapon type with three triple turrets, small se.  The first one, Naginata was assigned to Commodore Ozawa, who smashed a British heavy cruiser task force with the new ship in less than four minutes.  The Naginata also performed very well in the subsequent Duchess Annabel’s War and Third Hercules War, where a second shop of the class, IJN Kama, also performed very well, particularly against heavier Russian warships.

With the success of the Katana class, talk quickly started in Naval command circles of taking the next logical step, expanding the general concepts of the Katana class into the battleship range.  Thus we see the Sengoku-class battlecruiser, armed with a similar layout of main armament, protection and defensive systems priorities, and curious omissions in the design (considering the norms of Japanese naval design).

First up, the Sengoku carries three triple turrets of heavy EPCs, but much larger 25-teravolt weapons, a single shot easily capable scorching through the armor of a light cruiser even at ranges beyond 5,000 kilometers.  Closer in, a single bolt from these weapons can all but saw a frigate in half.  These turrets are laid out in the classic Pacific configuration, with two triple mounts forward (one ventral, one dorsal) and one aft, along with two triple turrets of 30-kilogram plasma projectors.  Note these two secondary batteries are mounted aft (clearly to meant to ward off close-range stern-rakes by smaller warships), but not on the port and starboard quarters, but along the ventral centerline of the ship so they can add to the battlecruiser’s broadside firepower as well.  This weapons arrangement is admittedly risky, since the capacitors and relays for all aft weapons must pass through only a few compartments along the Sengoku’s stern, but designers note these conduits are behind the main reactors … if enemy fire ever got this deep in the ship’s hindquarters, she’s probably been crippled already.

One must note, however, that the Sengoku is not a battleship.  She is a battlecruiser.  At only 364,000 tons, she is light for her size, and so maintains a fast acceleration curve.  She easily outpaces Japanese battleship classes like the Haruna and the Yamato, keeping up with other battlecruisers like the Cross class and battleships like the American Colorado and the New Roman Constantine.  Protection is also solid with powerful ECM and gravitic shielding emitters, together with an expanded and up-scaled version of the advanced “Seiku” (Clear Sky) targeting and fire control system.  But all this speed, accuracy, and protection comes at a cost, and that cost is paid in the simple weight of the firepower.  Although impressive, those nine 25-teravolt EPCs are hardly war-winners compared to weapons mounted on other full battleships.  Further, the Sengoku’s secondary weapons, while formidable up close, are far less effective at longer ranges.  And of course, being a “small battleship,” she can only push a ninth-magnitude Darkstar wave, meaning she will go nowhere very fast in the interstellar sense, and she will almost never achieve any kind of operational or strategic surprise.

The Sengoku is a brand new class, the first units just having finished their fitting out and shakedown cruises.  While fearsome, and based on a very successful design, it remains to be seen whether these “big sisters” to the Katana class cruisers will really stand up to the crucible of combat.

The Windsor class fleet carriers, named for royal families in the history and myth of terrestrial England, are built to form the nulceus of most of the Royal Navy’s more powerful aerospace strike squadrons or planetary assault task forces.  Usually escorted by a heavy cruiser like a Titan or Iron Duke, or alternately by two Relentless class light cruisers, a Winsdor class can usually establish aerospace superiority over a recently-colonized world, if not a whole star system.  Her hangars carry no less than three reinforced strike squadrons, two of Supermarine Starfire fighters and another “heavy” squadron of Nebulon Star Typhoon bombers (more like a squadron and a half, when fully loaded), a well as a section of De Havilland Buccaneer scouts.   In all, this aerospace wing can potentially put over 140 warheads into a single strike, enough to destroy most warships under a battleship, most orbital installations, and certainly any ground target in support of a planetary invasion.  Indeed, Windsor class fleet carriers are often called “baby Ark Royals,” sometimes expected to do a supercarrier’s job in a star system or contested sector where the fleet can’t afford to send one of its precious few Ark Royal flagships.

The comparison to Ark Royal class supercarriers goes further than simple size of the aerospace wing or hangar bays.  Like the Ark Royal, the Windors carry curiously heavy ship-to-ship weapons for an aerospace carrier class.  They mount two double turrets of Harland and Wolff “Nebula” 8-megakelvin laser emitters, the same as were mounted in the Maecenas class expedition cruisers and Falklands-Commonwealth destroyers.  Rumors abound that these lasers were mounted on the Windor because the arms manufacturer building these other classes (Johnston-McAuley Aerospace at New Glasgow Colony – Psi Serpentis-E) “padded” the contract and over-delivered the weapons – leaving the Royal Navy with a surplus that had to be used somewhere.  Such rumors are unconfirmed, those who believe the story point to the lack of Hawkinge Electronics 01A system that is mounted in the Trafalgar and Iron Duke class heavy cruisers, “proof” that the Windsors were not originally built for these weapons.  Those who discount the rumor point to the Ark Royal class and it’s 8-gigawatt rail gun turrets, citing that mounting relatively large ship-to-ship weapons on carriers is a long-standing facet of Royal Navy carrier doctrine. While too small and too few to really make a difference in an actual gunnery duel, the idea is for these British carriers to be able to close with target vessels or installations long enough to rapidly recover, re-arm, and re-launch successive waves of bombers.

While this sounds good in theory, please note the somewhat lackluster mass driver defense system installed, electronic warfare suite, and gravitic shielding.  While such defensive systems are not exactly poor, they aren’t very formidable either, especially for the hull profile and high-value target that a Windsor class carrier presents.  Similar aerospace carrier types like like the American Obama class have tougher shielding, stronger mass drivers, and  better electronic warfare and targeting systems, but lack the laser firepower of the Windsor.  As the Windsor is still a very new class, it remains to be seen whether these design features will pay off in combat.

In parallel with the Windsor class, a sub-class of planetary assualt carriers has also been developed.  These are the Waterloo class, named for victorious land battles won by the British Army through the centuries.  In this configuation, the ship trades in all its fighters for twelve Griffon Hoverwork Conqueror class assault boats, six of which carry twelve Excelsior battle tanks (two in each assualt boat), four of which carry twelve Rapier class APCs (three in each assualt boat), and two of which carry a total of 48 Royal Marine Commandos.  Bomber complement remains the same, their payloads usually configured with missiles for maximum effectiveness against enemy planetary surface targets.