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Made in gb
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Campaign Introduction.
Welcome to a blast from the past, a campaign for Mongoose’s A Call to Arms – Babylon 5 version 2. I hope to try and keep this updated as the campaign progresses and show the trials and tribulations of the players as they attempt system wide domination. This campaign is being played by players in four countries (NZ, OZ, UK and USA) over a tabletop emulator, where photos are shown they are of my models and are posed in situ but may not exactly fit the actual events that took place (nor even the actual ships that took part...).

Fluff introduction.
Note: if you are a fluff purist don’t read! If you really must complain then please write out your issues and hit the x at the top right of the window.

In the year 2259 the Dark Angel of Drafa, a plague that the intensely religious Markab believed was caused by immorality, swept through the Markab civilization. Due to its negative connotations of impurity and degeneration people infected by the plague sought to conceal the fact and the Markab species as a whole fought to hide their shame. This religious intolerance caused the extinction of the entire Markab species, over two billion souls on four worlds died.

The year is now 2260 and four races are moving in on the Markab sector for their own different reasons.

The Anla’shok, what humans would come to know as the rangers feared that the plague was a weapon of the great enemy, the shadows, and moved into the system to monitor it in case the ancient foe returned. Untested so far in battle and unknown to the lesser races the Whitestar fleet was about to get its baptism in fire and blood.

The Narn regime had been largely destroyed by the Centauri, their fleets had been scattered or annihilated and homeworld itself had been subjected to a mass orbital bombardment until the Kha’Ri were forced to surrender. Not all Narn accepted the surrender however and a fleet under the command of G’Stis sought refuge amongst the bones of the Markab species in order to regain their strength and plunder new technologies to use against their hated foes.

The year 2260 marked a resurgence in the fortunes of the so-called ‘Lion of the Galaxy’, the Centauri Republic had gone from strength to strength, destroying its foes on every front and subjecting the barbarian Narn to slavery again. Several houses in the Centaurum sent their house fleets to see what resources they could scavenge from the extinct Markab, finding a Narn fleet already in system blood would surely follow.

In the early days of Human interstellar travel when new challenges and foes appeared at every turn only one race sought to deal honorably and fairly with them, the Markab were an intensely religious and moral people and ferocious fighters. During the Dilgar War it was due to the felines’ invasion of Markab that Humanity engaged in their first interstellar war, driving the Dilgar back to their home and keeping them pinned there until their sun went nova. Now the Markab had died and the Earth Alliance was ruled by a tyrant who had assassinated his predecessor and anti-alien hysteria was rife. However seeing the bones of their oldest allies being picked over by scavengers and grave robbers the EA felt the last stirrings of honour and sent a fleet to guard the system, the fact that it was comprised of crews of dubious loyalty was merely a bonus…



Before starting the players made several rules to keep us on the same page;
Spoiler:

1. Initiative sinking is not allowed.
2. Stations are not allowed above Battle Level.
3. Players would use 2x 5pt Battle fleets rather than 1x 10pt (mostly to save me money…)
4. No Ancients would be used except for narrative reasons.
5. No free ships from R&R are allowed.
6. No games would be played below 5pt Skirmish and none above 5pt Battle.
7. No in service dates will be used.
8. Rules are from ACTA v2 with some fixes from P&P and Burgers beams.


The fleets selected for the campaign are in spoiler below;
Spoiler:

EA- Start of the third age.
1x Omega. 1 Battle
2x Hyperions. 1 Battle.
1x Omega. 1 Battle.
1x Nova, 1x Hyperion. 1 Battle.
1x Oracle, 2x Olympus. 1 Battle.
15x Fighter flights.


ISA.
1x Tara’lin. 2 Battle.
2x Whitestar. 1 Battle.
2x Whitestar 2. 1 Battle.
2x Whitestar. 1 Battle.
1x Flyer. 6x Nial.


Narn.
1x G’Quan. 1 Battle.
1x Dag’Kar, 2x T’Rakk. 1 Battle.
1x G’Quan. 1 Battle.
1x G’Karith, 1x Thentus, 1x Sho’Kar. 1 Battle.
2x Var’Nic.. 1 Battle.
10x Frazi flights.


Centauri.
1x Primus. 1 Battle.
1x Dargan. 1 Battle.
1x Sullust, 2x Vorchan. 1 Battle.
1x Alatarian, 2x Vorchan. 1 Battle.
2x Maximus, 1x Balvarin. 1 Battle.
10x Sentri, 2 x Rutarian.



It is to be noted that the models are in the process of being painted and based bear with me as I paint slow!

So the pre campaign is done join me for part two when stuff starts exploding;

This message was edited 33 times. Last update was at 2019/07/03 04:43:54


On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
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Nice.
   
Made in gb
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England

Can't wait to see those fleets painted. I really should get around to painting more of my acta stuff.

it's the quiet ones you have to look out for. Their the ones that change the world, the loud ones just take the credit for it. 
   
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On an Express Elevator to Hell!!

This is immensely cool!

Look forward to seeing some ships painted and progress with the campaign, battle reports etc.

Epic 30K&40K! A new players guide, contributors welcome https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/751316.page
Small but perfectly formed! A Great Crusade Epic 6mm project: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/694411.page

 
   
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n815e wrote:Nice.


Lets hope so!

Tamereth wrote:Can't wait to see those fleets painted. I really should get around to painting more of my acta stuff.


You obviously havent seen my painting before! And yes you really should, your gallery is quite empty, what have you got?

Pacific wrote:This is immensely cool!

Look forward to seeing some ships painted and progress with the campaign, battle reports etc.


Chur, progress is progressing! We have played upto campaign turn three so far. Just waiting on some paint and a better camera to flesh out the reports.

Which leads me to a question for people, would you prefer to read a battle report from an in universe narrative perspective or not? I thought not initially but it seems rather dull.

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
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SoCal

At least some description in-universe would be nice for flavor.

Will there be rules for a Bonehead Maneuver?

   
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You had me at B5... everything else is just gravy. Tasty gravy.
   
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The Battle Barge Buffet Line

Cool and subscribed. I used to play B5 FA with a close friend back in the day and miss it.

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
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Mississippi

I’m not familiar with this system, but intrugued to hear more.

Are there two scales to the system? I’m confused why the star fury fighters seem so large.

It never ends well 
   
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BobtheInquisitor wrote:At least some description in-universe would be nice for flavor.

Will there be rules for a Bonehead Maneuver?


Sort of like how GW used to do reports? Fluff bookending the report?
No to bonehead, would serve no purpose. I do have a surprise for anyone who gets to big for their boots though.

Ctaylor wrote:You had me at B5... everything else is just gravy. Tasty gravy.


I have no idea what this means, but I presume its good!

warboss wrote:Cool and subscribed. I used to play B5 FA with a close friend back in the day and miss it.


Good stuff, hope you dont overload on nostalgia.

Stormonu wrote:I’m not familiar with this system, but intrugued to hear more.

Are there two scales to the system? I’m confused why the star fury fighters seem so large.


There are indeed mate (left overs from the B5 Wars game and the smaller fleet Action game), the closer inscale fighters (pic below) are far too small for my old eyes to make out. As with most space games the scale of the tokens is pretty irrelevant and it is only base/stems that matter. In this instance I am using one larger fighter to represent an entire squadron. If you have any questions feel free to ask!


Should have camera by tomorrow so will get the first couple of turns reports up by the weekend hopefully.

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in us
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The Battle Barge Buffet Line

 Stormonu wrote:
I’m not familiar with this system, but intrugued to hear more.

Are there two scales to the system? I’m confused why the star fury fighters seem so large.


Yeah, in the old minis lines (first Agents of Gaming then Mongoose iirc) there were two scales, the larger original B5 wars scale (which I think ACTA used later) and the smaller fleet action scale. I personally preferred the fighters from the latter regardless of which scale the ships were. They just looked more impressive to me although the painting options were quite limited (generally one base color and then a few tiny edges picked up with other colors) due to the size.


https://agents-of-gaming.myshopify.com/collections/fleet-action-earth-alliance-miniatures/products/fleet-action-earth-alliance-thunderbolt-attack-fighter-6

These are the same fighters as in the middle rows on the OP's pic. I liked the tiny size enough that I planned to use them with my Halo Fleet battles ships before that product line and company imploded.




We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
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Finally after much delay, trials and tribulations (okay getting a new camera and bashing my head against it until it nearly works) I can update this! I know you have all been eagerly checking in daily hoping for some shaky photos and badly written prose and now the time has come! I will note here that we decided before the campaign began that all players would secretly note down their chosen targets each turn and we would all reveal them at the same time to prevent anyone trying to gain the system.

Bookkeeping
Spoiler:

Before writing up this update I contacted the other three playes to get hold of their rosters so I could post them here thinking that they would have gone all out coming up with some really cool names for their fleets, maybe some fluff pieces, well that didnt happen... Though Kudos to the EA player as they actually put some real thought into naming stuff. Below are the fleet lists with the crew quality of the ship next to it;
ISA.
Tara’lin - Dogato, 6.
Ashan’Ta. 6.
Whitestar 1 - 4. 5.
5. 6.
6. 4.
7. 4.
8. 5.
9. 6.
10. 6.
11. 4.
Whitestar 2 - 12. 4.
13. 6.
14. 6.
15. 6.

Narn.
G’Quan 11, 5.
12, 5.
21, 5.
22. 6.
Dag”kar 11, 4.
21. 4.
T’Rakk 11, 4.
12, 4.
21, 3.
22. 4.
G’Karith 11, 5.
21. 3.
Thentus 11, 3.
21. 4.
Sho’Kar 11, 4.
21. 5.
Var’Nic 11, 5.
12, 4.
21, 4.
22. 4.

Centauri.
Primus A1, 4.
B1. 4.
Dargan A1, 6.
B1. 4.
Sullust A1, 5.
B1. 3.
Alatarian A1, 3.
B1. 4.
Balvarin A1, 5.
B1. 5.
Maximus A1, 3.
A2, 5.
B1, 4.
B2. 6.
Vorchan A1. 4.
A2, 4.
A3, 6.
A4, 6.
B1, 4.
B2, 5.
B3, 5.
B4. 4.

EA.
Omega – Larissa, 5.
Lindus, 4.
Tanais, 4.
Tyras. 6.
Nova – Charon, 4.
Cronos. 5.
Hyperion - Cherokee rose, 4.
Calendula, 3.
Godetia, 5.
Gilia, 4.
Shasta, 4.
Saponaria. 4.
Oracle – Pythia, 6.
Dodona. 4.
Olympus – Ilias, 3.
Enipeas, 4.
Litochoro, 4.
Ziliana. 3.

That wasnt at all tedious to type out, cheers again guys for those awesome names!


Turn 1

The year is 2260, the place is the Markab sector.
Throughout the system the shimmering blue vortices of hyperspace exit points opened and closed, each funnel disgorging its complement of warships as the four fleets raced to gain the initiative and seize the most vital assets for themselves.


The first turn of the campaign was over as quickly as it had begun as each player placed a different target as their main priority. The first to arrive in system was the Whitestar fleet who quickly seized the Jump Gate in an attempt to stop anyother race or raiders fleet from entering the system, swiftly following them the Earth Alliance's fleet jumped directly into orbit of the former Markab Homeworld of Septis, whilst the Narn began their campaign by acquiring the Theocratic Shipyards and the Centauri occupied the Industrial world of Septis II.

So at the end of a very quick and dull first turn the campaign looked like this;
ISA- Jumpgate. 23RR
Narn- Shipyard. 20RR
Centauri- Septis II. 26RR
EA- Septis. 23RR

Next we have turn 2, where stuff actually blows up?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/02/10 10:30:12


On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
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Turn 2
After the pure unadulterated boredom of the first turn everyone was hoping for rather better this turn, luckily boredom wasn't going to be a problem.
The players all revealed their chosen targets, Earth decided they were going to occupy the molten world of Septis I, the Narn and Centauri both chose to attack Septis IV and the Anla'Shok stunned everyone by declaring they were going to attack Septis itself where the EA had made their base.


Game 1, ISA vs EA

So the very first game of the campaign would be the ISA vs EA! The ISA as the attacking player rolled on the mission and priority tables and it was decided that the game would be a 3pt Battle level Assassination.

Selecting forces and deployment.
Earth Alliance. As the defender in the scenario the EA fleet would be deploying first and its highest priority level ship would be the target of the Assassination. The EA player chose as their flagship the Omega Class destroyer 'Larissa', accompanied by the First Fleet's, First Cruiser Squadron 'Cherokee Rose', 'Godetia' and 'Shasta', all Hyperion Class Cruisers and in order to provide more fighter cover as well as brutal close range firepower the Nova Class Dreadnought 'Charon'. The fleet was arrayed in the centre of their deployment zone with the Hyperions in line abreast and the 'Charon' and 'Larissa' echeloned covering the planetside flank.


ISA - The ISA player made a very controversial choice in selecting his fleet, all players were expecting a fleet of six Whitestars to take to space but instead only two and the mighty Tara'Lin Dogato were used. The ISA player's reasoning was that he needed the extra fighters, command bonus and range of the Dogato more than he needed the speed of the Whitestars. This tiny fleet was deployed crammed into the bottom edge of their deployment zone with the planet between them and the EA fleet, the Tara'Lin closest to the planet and Whitestars 4 and 5 nearer the board edge.



Turn 1
"This is the EAS Larissa to approaching unknown vessels, the Markab System is under quarantine and no vessels may approach. Turn around and leave before your ships are boarded and confiscated". Captain Jessup's voice was calm and steady as he watched the pair of unknown craft approach on the main tactical display. He had never heard of anything like them and the computers did not recognise them, small like cutters, but sleek and so fast! Behind the gravity well of Septis the battle tracking system was identifying something else. Something a lot bigger, but the computers couldn't even get a silhouette of it.
"Jessup to all ships, power up and take stations above Septis, launch all fighters. Deny these invaders and turn them back, no more shall vultures pick over the bones of our Markab friends!" With the order given the five capital ships turned in towards the gravity well with fighters spitting from their launch bays. Suddenly a vast actinic yellow flash blazed across space and just as suddenly the 'Charon' was burning from stem to stern...

The ISA player won the roll off for the initiative and Whitestars 4 and 5 were sent hurtling down the board edge aiming to outflank the human fleet, the Dogato meanwhile moved slowly toward the planet whilst issuing Scramble orders to launch two flights of Shials.
The EA player moved his fleet as fast as possible towards the planet with the 'Charon' heading directly towards it and the 'Larissa' angling off a little more in order to bring the Whitestars into boresight arc, both ships also issued Scramble orders to get a couple of squadrons each of thunderbolts in the air.
The only firing this turn came from the Dogato who fired their Neutron Laser at extreme range at the 'Charon', the speculative shot slammed into the Earth built Dreadnought and ripped savage holes into its engineering compartment, rupturing fuel lines and decompressing several decks. This single long range attack caused a total of 24 damage (3 critical hits) and 20 crew!


Turn 2
There was nothing but stunned silence on the bridge as they watched the 'Charon' burn, though no one present had fought in the last great war but everyone knew the only race that could perform an attack like that. Finally the Conn Officer breathed the one word that caused terror in any human spacers heart, "Minbari.."
The ISA player retained the initiative with both Whitestars continuing to head towards the opposite board edge in order to get behind the EA whilst the Tara'Lin sedately moved towards Septis and launched the last of her fighters.
The EA played continued to move the Hyperions towards the gravity well, 'Larissa' still tracked the same Whitestar whilst 'Charon' attempted to withdraw from the fighting, though with -4 speed and no action allowed that would be a long job.
After the spectacular shooting of last turn this turn proved lackluster with only minimal damage being inflicted. The Dogato fired on the 'Larissa' and caused minor damage to her thrusters whilst her secondary batteries took out two squadrons of StarFurys. The 'Larissa' in return opened up with her boresighted heavy laser cannons on Whitestar 4 who dodged most of the incoming fire but suffered some damage.


Turn 3
"Sir," the XO's voice quavered "The enemy are coming around and all of their ships are accelerating to attack". Jessup glanced at the plot and saw that despite the spectacular damage that had been inflicted on the 'Charon' his fleet was actually in a very good position. The 'Cherokee Rose' and her sister ships had achieved orbit of Septis and had fanned out in order to ensure that the warcruiser would find itself under the guns of at least one ship and his own vessel now had two prime targets sat in his sights, he couldn't assess who was winning the massive furball of fighters but he felt a sudden surge of confidence in not just surviving but of winning...
Once more the ISA retains the initiative. The 'Charon' limped its way further from the fight whilst the Hyperion squadron assumed orbit over the planet and fanned out their front arcs so that at least one of them one would be able to catch the Dogato with their heavy laser cannons, the 'Larissa' continued closing with the Whitestars. The ISA player surprised everyone once again by suddenly throwing the Tara'lin's engines into Full Ahead and powering forward into close range of the entire EA fleet! Not to be out done the Whitestars came around and charged at the closing Omega Destroyer. This turn could be prove to be decisive.

The firing is opened by the Dogato who, thanks to her madcap dash through the middle of the EA fleet, opened up with neutron lasers and fusion cannons in her front and both side arcs. The 'Larissa' suffered some minor damage and had her thrusters damaged again. A couple of fighter squadrons died under massed beam fighter, the 'Shasta' had her targeting systems shot out and finally the 'Charon' was blasted to pieces with an extra five hits and two criticals that blew the ship to pieces when her ammo stores catastrophically exploded!
In revenge the 'Larissa' finally got to show why Earth Force spent so much money designing and building the Omega class, her main guns ripped into Whitestar 4 whilst her port broadside smashed into the Dogato causing eight solid hits and three crits, damaging her thrusters twice over and also her capacitors (3x -2 her speed and -1 attack dice per gun).
The Whitestars between them caused a little further damage on the 'Larissa' and also shot down three squadrons of fighters, the rest of the EA fleet concentrates their firepower on the Dogato but cause little real damage and their fighters were cut to ribbons by the faster, more advanced ISA designs.


Turn 4
The Larissa lurched again, her damage report boards were in the red for her nearly ever department only her weapons were at full efficiency. The Charon was now nothing but glowing scrap, spiralling down to join the dead Markab, the Earth fighters were scattered, burned and dead. The few remaining birds being hunted by faster and better craft, but the Hyperion squadron was intact and if their scanners could be believed the enemy Warcruiser was badly damaged. Every person on the bridge felt a tingle of excitement as they realised that they could beat a Minbari fleet, not from ambush but in a straight up, stand up battle.
For the first time in the game the EA won the initiative. The two Whitestars performed high energy turns, skidding in space to line their guns up with where they expect the 'Larissa' to drift that turn whilst the Dagota limped further into Septis' gravity well. The EA ships maneuvered to attain firing solutions where possible but with the 'Larissa' having taken so much damage all EA ships opened Jump Points just in case things went bad...
'Larissa' opened the firing on the Dagota further killing crew and setting fires with her rear facing heavy laser cannons, her port weapons blew Whitestar 5s thrusters to pieces and the starboard guns annhilated a squadron of Shials. The Dagota returned the favour by blowing apart the 'Larissa's engines and port weapons which fianlly crippled her, at the same time the Dagota's starboard guns smash into the 'Cherokee Rose' killing half the crew and knocking out her interceptors whilst the 'Rose' caused a major hull breach in return! For the first time in the game the 'Godetia' opened up with her guns in anger, a massive time on target barrage smashing the Dagota's bridge and knocking out her targeting system.
Finally Whitestar 5 opened fire, her main beam weapon slicing deep into the 'Larissa' finding the reactor and ending the ship once and for all.


Conclusion
At the begining of turn 5 the remaing EA ships fled through the jump points that they had formed last turn. The game had been decisivly won by the ISA player who had not only performed his mission to assassinate the Omega Destroyer but had also killed the Nova and caused well over half damage to one of the Hyperions, in return the ISA player had taken damage to all of their ships and the Tara'Lin had been especially badly mauled, ending the game with five critical hits on it. Most importantly though the Earth Alliance had lost a strategic objective which could prove decicive int he campaign.

Hope that was fun for people, Next time we will see how the other battle played out!

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2018/03/08 09:12:39


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WARNING THIS POST CONTAINS NUDITY, IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY UNPAINTED MODELS LOOK AWAY NOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!



After a long enforced delay i am finally updating this thread with the second game of the second turn of the campaign.

Game 2, Narn vs Centauri

The mission was rolled up as a 6pt skirmish A Call to Arms with the Narn defending.

Selecting forces and deployment;
The Narn player decided to go with a fleet of small ships hoping to use multiple activations in order to out maneuver the Centauri fleet or match the Centauri in numbers if they chose to use the expected fleet of Vorchans. The Narn fleet was chosen to have a mix of capabilities, from the long range energy mines of the Dag'Kar to the close in brawling of the T'Rakk. As the Narn were defending they opted to deploy their fleet as far forward as possible in the center of their deployment zone

From left to right; Dag'Kar, Frazi fighter squadron, T'Rakk, Thentus, Frazi fighter squadron and a Var'Nic.

The Centauri player opted against selecting a fleet of Vorchans much to the surprise of every body and instead opted for a Primus battlecruiser and a Balvarian fleet carrier. He thought that even though he would be loosing the maneuvering war the sheer firepower of the Primus combined with the eight squadrons of Sentri fighters that the Balvarian carries would enable him to cripple the smaller Narn ships or stack criticals on the G'Quan he was expecting to face. As had happened with the smaller fleet in the last game the Centauri deployed crammed into the farthest corner of their deployment zone, the Primus in front whilst the carrier lurked behind.

(please note the opposed deployment photo was eaten by the camera).

Turn 1
Lord Tavari swallowed another mouthful of brivari as he stared out of the view ports of his newest Primus class battlecruiser the 'Dunseny', the product of his families shipyards that he was supposed to deliver to the Lord in charge of the fleet that was 'protecting' the Markab system. Joy was spreading through him even faster than the brivari was, his boring delivery was about to get very interesting, a Narn fleet had just been detected on a closing vector. Though he only had a single Balvarian cruiser in company, the 'Surkla', she was filled to the bulkheads with brand new Sentri fighters and against the barbarians that would be enough he decided.

The Centauri gained the initiative in the first turn and lost no time in forming up for an attack, the Primus closed on the Narn's position whilst the Balvarian slowed edged forward whilst half her fighter compliment scrambled into action and formed up in the cold void of space, four more squadrons joining the two from the 'Dunseny' to form a single massive wing. The Narn fleet responded in kind as whilst the Dag'Kar drifted forward as slow as inertia allowed the rest of the fleet threw power into their engines and raced to close the gap with their hated foe.


The only firing in the first turn came from the Dag'kar which launched an energy mine at long range at the shoal of Sentri fighters, the huge burst of energy annihilated every single stand!


Turn 2
A blinding flash of light jerked Lord Tavari half out of his seat, spilling his drink all down his neatly pressed uniform. That had been an energy mine! He couldn't believe that such a small ship carried such a potent weapon, he thought they were reserved for the massive G'Quan heavy cruisers. He pondered the fact that maybe he should have done some research before committing himself and his ships to their first ever battle but in the end decided that the barbarians were too stupid to really care about and his mistress would be most impressed with his first victory.

The Narn gained the imitative in the second turn. Once again the Dag'kar drifted forward as slowly as she could whilst the rest of the fleet sped forward lining themselves up on the Primus and issuing Concentrate all Firepower orders with only the Var'nic failing her command check. The Centauri fleet carrier angled away from the onrushing Narn whilst launching the last of her fighter squadrons, the Primus however felt no need for such discretion and charged forward. The Narn Var'nic opened the firing by slamming an ion torpedo into the 'Dunseny' destroying some power relays and killing a handful of crew. The 'Dunseny' in her turn fired her laser cannons at the T'Rakk with the heavy beams slicing deep and knocking out the port side weapons as well as crushing bulkheads and killing crew.


Turn 3
The glow from the alcohol was now gone. For the first time in his life Lord Tavari knew real fear, the barbarians had not only destroyed most of his fighters but now were shooting at him! What was worse was they were doing damage, the status board next to his command throne was showing damage to many forward sectors and power relays shot out across many decks. He had had the pleasure of watching the massive cannons on the 'Dunseny' hitting back at the spot headed scum racing toward him but they had not annihilated their target like he expected. Trying to compose himself he ordered his ship forward in to closer range. He smiled to himself at last, thinking that at that close range his gunners couldn't miss. He did not consider that held true for his enemy as well...

The Narn fleet retained the initiative and pressed forward once more, the Dag'kar still held back whilst the Var'nic flanked the Centauri. The Centauri for their part carried on as before with the 'Dunseny' charging forward whilst the 'Surkla' maneuvered to avoid the battle. This turn every ship on the mat failed their orders checks except for the Var'nic which concentrated firepower on the Primus. The two fleets' remaining fighter squadrons sped forward to engage in a furball aiming to gain space superiority in the most direct fashion (short of lobbing an e-mine anyway!).

At such close range every ship of both fleets had a target and the firework show began. The Var’Nic opened the firing on the Primus, her main laser cannon missed completely! Whilst her ion torpedo made up for it by causing a catastrophic ammo explosion knocking out all guns in the port arc and blasting chunks out of the enemy hull, her other guns stacked up more damage and destroyed the fighter flight that was covering the Primus.
The 'Dunseny' continued to pound the T'Rakk in her turn with massed laser cannon and ion turret fire savaging the improvised Narn frigate and damaging her thrusters, in her turn the T'Rakk ruptured the fuel systems of the 'Dunseny'. A bright thicket of light lit up space as the remaining ships battered each other but caused no significant damage. The contest between the fighters of both races was ended in brutal fashion as the vastly more maneuverable Sentri fighters ripped apart the heavier Narn machines each brief new star marking another kill.
In the end phase the 'Dunseny' repaired her power relays which had been damaged last turn.

Turn 4
Lord Tavari was getting more and more agitated as his ship rang with the impact of enemy weapons fire. Despite all the firepower he had thrown at the Narn amazingly their ships will still there! Not only that but they still seemed to be firing at full intensity. He decided that he didn't like battle in the least and if he survived he was going to do his best to never go near one again, the trick though was going to be to survive. He ordered both his ships to flee as fast as possible and calculated that he only had to weather a couple of minutes firing whilst his jump engines warmed up and he could escape into the void of hyperspace.

Turn 4 looked like it would prove to be decisive as both fleets were now intermingled and at the closest of ranges. The Centauri gained the initiative but made their intention instantly clear as both ships moved as fast as possible away from the Narn and opened jump points to flee the field next turn. The Narn sensing that the battle was theirs charged forward once more, with the Var'nic swinging into the Primus' rear arc whilst the T'Rakk and Thentus tried to close with the Balvarian on the fringes of the conflict.


Fearing that it would be destroyed if he waited the Centauri played ordered the 'Dunseny' to open the firing. He need not of worried though as his now practiced forward gunners picked up the Dag'kar in the black of space (probably due to the lack of a paint job) and in one massed barrage totally destroyed the up until then untouched ship! The main cannons themselves caused four critical hits through massed beam fire. Whilst the Dag'kar died in her forward arc the Primus'fired her rear weapons at the T'Rakk she had been shooting at all game, this time with telling execution as a massive hull breach was caused before a massive catastrophic explosion ripped the frigate apart from the inside. In all the 'Dunseny' caused enough damage to kill the T'Rakk twice over. The Narn's return fire was desultory and whilst it wracked up ore damage it was by now too little, too late.


The game was all but over now as over the next two turns the Narn turned tail and fled the battle as fast as their engines allowed!



Conclusion
No one could have anticipated that when the Centauri ships opened their jump points to flee that they would win the battle on the very next turn! A very swingy kind of game that the Narn played could still have won as his Var'nic was so far untouched and behind the very badly damaged Primus battlecruiser, however he lost his nerve after half his fleet was destroyed in one turns shooting! This game also showed that with the very basic weapons available on the Narn ships they really struggled to deal with the good armour and huge damage pool of the Primus and that maybe closing to point blank range might not have been the best of ideas.

So after the campaigns second turn we have a very clear separation between the players with both the Centauri and ISA in command of two valuable strategic targets and the Narn and EA each having one less worthwhile one. What will happen in campaign turn 3?

Hope that was fun, please feel free to leave comments and critique (unless its about the lack of paint, or the poor photography, or the...)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/03/08 09:12:14


On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Wow, that turned quickly.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in gb
[MOD]
Villanous Scum







Just goes to show how important keeping your nerve is! Also that its worth rereading your rules as the Narn player was blissfully unaware that the Dag'kar has only an armour of 4 (most Narn are 6) and so it dies very easily. In retrospect he should have just kept it at maximum range chucking e-mines at the Centauri...

Hope to get turn three up by the end of the weekend where we determine once and for all who has the biggest and scariest ship.

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in gb
[MOD]
Villanous Scum







Sorry for the long delay, I was endeavouring to get some paint splashed on or at least near some models! Managed to get both G'Quans to a reasonable standard and my last Omega and two of three Hyperions done to a passable level.



Turn 3 will be up by the end of day tomorrow so stay tuned.

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

Nice Narn paint job!

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
Made in gb
[MOD]
Villanous Scum








So finally the update that no one has been waiting for, game three of the War for the Markab System. I have decided to forgo the fluff text due to the nature of this game.

Campaign turn 3, Cruiser clash.

At the start of the turn the players assign their fleet a target. In turn 3 first the Narn, then the Centauri and finally the EA all decided to attack the ISA held Markab homeworld! Rather than play the games out sequentially we decided instead to play a four way game where every player takes only their biggest ships (the game was 2pt battle In order to allow the ISA to have a ship at all.)
So in the pink corner we have the ISA Tara’lin class Ashan’ta. In the red corner the Narn bought along 2 G’Quan Heavy cruisers the Karith and G’lann. In the orange corner the EA Omega class destroyers Lindus and Tyrus, and finally in the green corner the Centauri fleet consisted of the Primus Maruelia and Dargan Senna.

Deployment.
The Centauri deployed in the 2 O'clock position with the Dargan closer to the planet and both a squadron of sentris and of Rutarian flying CAP, the ISA deployed at the four O'clock with the minbari flyer along side the Tara'lin, the Narn had two squadrons of Frazis accompying their G'Quans at the eight O'clock and finally the Earth Alliance deployed in the 10 oclock position with a couple of starfury squadrons launched.


Turn 1.
With much metaphorical nudging and winking the Centauri fleet thinking it had allies on its flanks increased power to its engines and burned towards Septis, eager to get to grips with the Narn fleet it had detected on the far side, both ships launched their remaining fighters. The Earth Alliance fleet eager to preserve what remained of the Markab civilization from despoilment turned towards their nearest enemy, the Narn fleet! Both Omega destroyers spewed more fighters from their launch bays and tracked their enemy, lining up for boresight firing. Finally the Anla'shok's Tara'Lin maneuvered towards the Centauri and launched two squadrons of Shial fighters.
Space lit up bright as the firing got underway. The Ashan’ta’s scanners easily broke through the primitive stealth of the Centauri Dargan but only caused light damage whilst the mighty Minbari warcruiser remained out of range.

On the far side of the planet the EA fleets heavy laser cannons fired on the G’Quans. The Lindus’ fire ruptured the fuel lines on the Karith whilst the Tyrus’ massive beam fire ripped into the G’lann, knocking out her forward guns and in a huge explosion a massive hull breach tore apart the Narns prow.
In revenge the G’Lann returned fire with her heavy laser cannon on the Tyrus, the Narns fire sliced into the Omega, passing through deck after deck, ripping apart the interceptors and close in anti-fighter guns. When the glare of red light faded it became apparent that the Tyrus had been crippled in one shot! The G’lann added to the carnage by launching a high yield energy mine right into the close packs of Earth fighters, wiping out all but one squadron.


Turn 2.
As turn 2 started the Narn ships limped closed toward the EA fleet whilst the crews on both ships attempted to affect repairs, meanwhile the Tyrus turned away from the oncoming Narn whilst launching her fighters and opening a jump point. The Lindus also launched her remaining fighters but powered toward the Narn determined to save her companion. Both the ISA and Centauri fleets turned toward each other and prepared to fire with two Shial squadrons attempting to outmaneuver their foe by going planet side.
On the rimward battle front the fire from the ISA and Centauri proved ineffective. However the widdershins front proved as deadly as the last. The firing was opened by the Lindus on the G’lann causing wicked execution and knocking out the Narns engineering. This was, however, overshadowed by the Karith’s beam finding the Lindus’ reactor and causing a major implosion which took out her anti fighter guns. Both of the Narn ships succeeded in repairing the critical damage that they had suffered in the last turn.



Turn 3.
As turn 3 started the Centauri fleet desperately sought to close the range to the Tara’lin who responded by turning so she had a Centauri ship in both her front and starboard arcs whilst her fighters jumped the crude Centauri models. On the far side of the planet the entire Earth force fleet decided that discretion was the better part of valor and fled through the jump point that the Tyrus had created, the bright gold light marking another human defeat above the sphere of Septis. The Narn fleet suddenly deprived of enemies came about and headed to Septis at full burn with the almost crippled G’lann lagging to the rear.


The Anla’shok again opened the shooting, proving once again the inferiority of younger races the Minbari scanners locked on to the Senna and between her Neutron lasers and fusion cannons blasted her to tiny scraps whilst her starboard guns damaged the capacitors on the Primus battlecruiser. Spewing fire from every turret the Primus entered the fight and actually beat the stealth of the Tara’lin and damaged her thrusters, to add insult to injury the crisscrossing ion cannons shredded a Shial squadron. The turn got even worse for the Rangers as their fighters shoot down only one Rutarian squadron whilst they lost two squadrons of Shials.


Turn 4.
The Narn fleet continued to burn as fast as possible towards the fight on the far side of the planet whilst the ISA and Centauri fleets closed to point blank range.
The Ashan’ta poured fire into the Primus, scores of beams lashing all over the ship severing fuel lines and knocking out the starboard weapons whilst in one massive hit the Maruelia’s return blew a huge hull breach into the Anla’shok flagship! The fighter furball saw more casualties as the Minbari flyer squadron was shot to pieces and the last Rutarian squadron suffered a similar fate.



Turn 5.
All three fleets continue to close the range with the ISA and Centauri ships now broadside onto each other.

As the two ships continue to pound on each other the Primus in quick succession had her reactor explode, her bridge destroyed, and her targeting systems knocked out. Thoroughly crippled now the Maruela inflicted as much damage as possible on her foe and miraculously even managed to get her starboard guns back on line just in time for the Narn fleet that was rapidly closing. Announcing their presence to the two battered fleets the Karith fired her energy mine which hit every single ship and squadron still on the board, in the conflagration every remaining fighter squadron was immolated and the Ashan’ta took some further damage.

Turn 6.
At the start of turn 6 it seemed the Narn had a decisive advantage and they continued to rush forward to make the kill. The Centauri Primus limped forward and turned to keep arc on both enemy fleets and the Tara'lin for her part moved as quickly as she could to clear the boresight arc of the Narn ships.

Once more the ISA opened the firing with more beam weapons slicing into the Primus, finally the Maruela could withstand no more and was sliced to pieces her dead crew drifting in the wreckage of their once proud ship. Not finished the Ashan'ta welcomed the Narn to the battle by smashing some more holes in the G'lann whilst the shorter range fusion cannons blew apart two Frazi squadrons.

Turn 7.
With the Centauri now out of the battle the Narn and ISA squared off, all three capital ships had suffered grievous damage and this turn should prove decisive.
The Narn fleet had now reached far orbit of Septis and spread their arcs out to make sure that at least one of them had boresight no matter what move the ISA made. In return the Ashan’ta moved across the front of the Narn ships in order to have a G’Quan in a separate arc, the Frazi flights pelted forward with their scanners at full in order to try and gain target locks for their parent ships.


Despite the damage she had suffered so far in the battle the guns on the Tara'lin were unaffected which they proved by igniting multiple fires on the Karith in her front arc. Her side port guns fired on the G'lann with her neutron lasers blasting apart the sturdy Narn ship as in rapid succession her thrusters were damaged, her capacitors knocked out and finally a catastrophic explosion tore her to pieces. Finally the fusion cannons shredded both the Frazi fighter squadrons.

The Karith wisely decided to flee the battle.

So at the end of the game the ISA retained possession of Septis. Humanities finest showed once again just how rubbish they were and whilst the Narn performed well they didn't gain any thing to show for it.

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in gb
[MOD]
Villanous Scum







Update showing painting progress, a whole squadron of Frazis!

Not sure yet whether I am going to put decals on them, any opinions?

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

Don't they have yellow or red markings on the white area at the corners of the "wings"? What size are the decals?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/04/17 23:58:22


   
Made in gb
[MOD]
Villanous Scum







yeah;


The decals are about three mm by 1.

Or I have a few different sized Narn faction symbols;

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

I guess it's up to you on the decals. I misread your post as asking where you should put decals.

What season of the show does this battle take place during? Anything after season 2, and you would be justified using no marking so that the Centauri would not know which house to punish in reprisal, or it was never added back after Narn independence.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/04/18 02:17:19


   
Made in gb
[MOD]
Villanous Scum







Some more painting progress to show, a pair of Thentus frigates and a Dag'kar.


Hoping to have the next game up by next week.

Bobtheinquisitor, sorry for the delayed response I decided in the end to go without the decals at any reasonable range it just looked like squiggles so looks tidier without. As for the fluff setting, well going by canon their is a really small window between the Markab dying and Sheridan blowing their jumpgate, all of which is before a lot of the ships I am using came into full production so I am not overly concerned!

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in gb
[MOD]
Villanous Scum







Well the game update post didn't happen but here is another paint update.
A pair of Narn Var'Nic long range destroyers join the fleet.


On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in us
Inexperienced VF-1A Valkyrie Brownie






This is great stuff.
   
Made in es
Skink Salamander Handler




Bilbao

This is the best thing I've read in a long time, I just registered to comment on this.

How I wish I could find someone around here to play, I own 5 complete fleets (Vorlons, Shadows, EA 3rd Age and Early, Brakiri and Minbari) but no one wants to give the game a go.

If you ever want a new player I will jump right in.
   
Made in gb
[MOD]
Villanous Scum







Cheers you two!

Elguardian; I am flattered and glad you have enjoyed it. I really must stop slacking off and get the next update done!
If you are on the Vassal module for B5 ACTA then look me up (same username) and I will gladly give you a game. If you are not on it/ didn't know it existed then it is worth the download as there are frequently people about. They mostly appear to be US and UK based so that should be quite friendly for the timezones.

Oh and welcome to dakka!

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in es
Skink Salamander Handler




Bilbao

 ingtaer wrote:
Cheers you two!

Elguardian; I am flattered and glad you have enjoyed it. I really must stop slacking off and get the next update done!
If you are on the Vassal module for B5 ACTA then look me up (same username) and I will gladly give you a game. If you are not on it/ didn't know it existed then it is worth the download as there are frequently people about. They mostly appear to be US and UK based so that should be quite friendly for the timezones.

Oh and welcome to dakka!


I know Vassal, I just didn't knew there was an ACTA module. I will look it up. Thanks!!
   
 
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