Detailed Frontier Timeline – FY61.326 to FY61.356

This is only a week later than I had planned. I’ve gotten behind on updating the timeline entries and am still trying to catch up. I’ve had some big battles to play through and I just haven’t had the time to do so. There will be another battle coming in a few days as soon as I get it played out.

The timeline this month, like last, focuses almost exclusively on the maneuvering, battles, and logistics of the Second Sathar War. There are a few entries on the HSS History’s Hope but that is really the only not war related thread I’m tracking right now. This month saw a couple of battles. There was originally going to be one more but the UPF withdrew seeing as they faced almost certain destruction.

This month also sees the fast-track completion of pilots in the current class in the Gollwin Academy to service as pilots for all the new fighters coming out of the starship construction centers for the newly formed Frontier Fighter Corps. This is a process that will continue of the next several months until all the pilots are graduated or the class completes their current training.

There might be a bit of other, non-war stuff next month but not much. The next two posts after this one will be battle reports that I’ll get up as soon as I can. Depending on how those play out, there might not be much in the way of ships left to fight for a while so things will probably quiet down.

Date (FY)	Events
61.326	– Sathar SCC#4 (OFS111) completes 5 fighters. – The K’aken-Kar assault scout jumps into its home system and begins decelerating toward Ken’zah-Kit. – RG One settles into orbit around Zik-kit and joins up with the rest of PG Meteor already in orbit.
61.327	SG Alpha jumps into the Fromeltar system and begins calculations for the jump to the Kizk-Kar system. The pilot of the recently completed fighter takes on extra life support and begins boosting to join SG Alpha as it transits the system.
61.328	– SBF-J1 arrives at SCC#3 (OFS138). After a rapid reprovisioning, during which orders are issued to all existing sathar vessels, SBF-J1 departs the SCC and begins accelerating for a jump to the OFS137 system. – Sathar EG-1 jumps out of the Liberty system but does not end up in the Waller Nexus system as expected. Rather it overshoots and arrives in the Padda (FS11) system instead. The astrogators begin working out where they are at.
61.329	– SBF-J3 jumps into the OFS168 system and begins calculations for a jump to the OFS167 system. – SBF-E3 arrives at Stenmar (Kazak) and merges with SBF-E2. – The fighter in the Fromeltar system joins up with RG Alpha as it crosses the system for its jump to Kizk-Kar.
61.330	– The HSS History’s Hope makes the jump and ends up in a binary system but it is not the two stars of YS07. While the engineers start to work on the engine overhauls, the astrogators try to figure out where they are. – The lone K’aken-Kar militia assault scout arrives back in its home system and the crew stands down for some leave but remain on alert for rapid recall if needed.
61.331	– SG Alpha jumps into the Kizk-Kar system and begins deceleration toward Zik-Kit and PG Meteor. – SBF-J3 jumps into the OFS167 system and begins calculations for a jump to OFS166. – 2 UPF fighters are completed at both the Minotaur (Theseus) and Hentz (Arak) SCC and 2 more go into production in each location. The fighters are temporarily manned by the local militias until UPF pilots and be dispatched to the system.
61.332	Realizing that they need pilots for all the new fighters being produced, the current cadets at Gollwin academy are polled for volunteers for the Frontier Fighter Corps. Those that volunteer are put on a fast completion track to get their Pilot and Rocket Weapons certifications.
61.333	– SBF-J1 jumps into the OFS137 system and begins calculations for a jump to the OFS136 system. – SBF-J3 jumps into the OFS166 system and begins calculations for the jump to FS33 to join up with SBF-B2. – 11 UPF fighters are completed at the CDC shipyards (Triad, Cassidine). With no pilots ready, they are put into storage and Spacefleet temporarily gives the space over for commercial ship maintenance.
61.334	– A fighter and assault carrier are completed at SCC#10 (OFS174). Instead of starting another AC and fighter, construction begins on 2 destroyers and a frigate. – The new sathar assault carrier at SCC#10 (OFS174) collects the 3 fighters in the system and begins a transit to SCC#4 (OFS111). The ships are designated Transit Group (TG) 1. – Astrogators aboard the HSS History’s Hope work out their position and discover that they went nearly twice as far as they intended. The system is designated YS09 and they decide to take two smaller jumps to get back to YS07 to reduce the chance of error. They begin working on jump calculations for an 8 ly jump to the next system. – 3 more fighters are completed at the Hentz (Araks) SCC for the Frontier Fighter Corps, 2 more go into production, the other slot being given over to commercial ship maintenance for now.
61.335	Initial calculations complete, the HSS History’s Hope begins accelerating for a jump to the first system on their way back to YS07, another binary system 8 lightyears away.
61.336	– SBF-J1 jumps into the OFS136 system and begins calculations for a jump to the FS56 system. – SG Alpha arrives at Zit-Kit (Kizk-Kar). The fighters are stationed on the planet’s surface while the assault carrier begins preparations for a trip back to Prenglar to pick up more fighters. – SBF-J3 jumps into the FS33 system and begins decelerating to join up with SBF-B2. – 8 fighters are complete for the Frontier Fighter Corps at the PGC shipyard (Gran Quivera, Prenglar). They are shuttled over to Gollwin academy to serve as trainers for the accelerated pilot classes. Construction begins on 8 more.
61.337	– The astrogators in sathar EG-1 are able to localize their position. Being only a single jump from Theseus, they begin calculating a jump to that system first. – SBF-E2 leaves orbit around Stenmar (Kazak) and begins accelerating for a jump to the Zebulon system and Strike Force Nova. – SBF-B2 leaves orbit in the inner FS33 system and begins accelerating for a jump to the K’sta-Kar and Task Force Cassidine. SBF-J3 changes course to meet them enroute.
61.338	– After another 100 days of exploiting their secret jump route between Truane’s Star and Cassidine, Obar Enterprises has grossed another 1.47 million credits. In the year since charting the route they have grossed over 6.8 million and paid off the loan on their new freighter. Given the current crisis, they turn over the details of the jump route to Spacefleet. – Initial jump calculations complete, sathar EG-1 starts accelerating for a jump to the Theseus system.
61.339	– SBF-J1 jumps into the FS56 system and begins calculations for a jump to the Kizk-Kar system. – SBF-J3 meets up with SBF-B2 enroute to K’sta-Kar and merges into that battle group. – Another UPF fighter is completed at the Hentz (Araks) shipyard. The extra capacity in the shipyard will be used for the next six days to accelerate construction on two of the other fighters to get all four fighters on the same schedule.
61.340	– The HSS History’s Hope successfully jumps into their target system which they designate YS10. They immediately begin working on engine overhauls and calculations for the 6 ly jump to return to YS07. – The initial group of more advanced students at the Gollwin Academy (Morgaine’s World, Prenglar) complete their fast-track certification for the Frontier Fighter Corps. The ten of them are dispatched to Triad to take command of some of the fighters there.
61.341	SG Alpha jumps back into the Fromeltar system and begins calculations for a jump to Dramune.
61.342	– SBF-J1 jumps into the Kisk-Kar system and begins decelerating to engage PG Meteor. – SBF-E2 jumps into the Zebulon system and begins decelerating to engage Strike Force Nova. – SBF-B2 jumps into the K’sta-Kar system and begins decelerating to engage Task Force Cassidine. – The sathar battle fleets are detected within hours of their arrival in their respective systems and alerts go out across the Frontier. Spacefleet is out gunned in nearly every case but is determined to stop the worms. – Sathar EG-1 jumps into the Theseus system. They immediately begin decelerating to stay in the outer system and begin working on calculations for a jump back to the Padda system.
61.343	– Construction of the Spacefleet battleship, Admiral Dooltan, at the Pan Galactic starship construction center orbiting Gran Quivera (Prenglar) complete. With the new sathar offensive, Spacefleet starts construction of a light cruiser, frigate, and assault scout. – 2 assault scouts of the Theseus militia detect the sathar frigate of EG-1 and immediately begin boosting to intercept the ship. An alert goes out and the other ships of the militia boost to intercept as well although they will be two days behind. – Suspecting FS33 to be the origin of the sathar fleets jumping into the K’sta-Kar system, the K’aken-Kar militia assault scout starts working on calculations to chart a jump route to that system.
61.344	– Construction of the Spacefleet battleship, the Admiral R’kazk’tar, at the Cassidine Development Corporation starship construction center orbiting Triad (Cassidine) completed. The crew takes command of the ship and begins a short shakedown cruise in the system as they await the arrival of the fighter pilots and SG Alpha. – With the completion of the Admiral R’kazk’tar, Spacefleet uses the space in the shipyard to begin construction of two destroyers and two assault scouts. – With plans to send the Admiral R’kazk’tar to Truane’s Star, the Admiral Dooltan is ordered to the Fromeltar system and then on to Kisk-Kar to take command of Task Force Meteor if the patrol group survives the coming attack. – Detecting the incoming militia assault scouts, sathar EG-1 change their deceleration profile to try to avoid the ships while they change direction for the return jump to Padda. – Realizing that they have an opportunity to exploit the new jump route provided by Obar Enterprises, Spacefleet HQ orders Strike Force Nova and supporting militia ships to fall back to the Truane’s Star system and expect reinforcements.
61.345	– The HSS History’s Hope successfully jumps back into the YS07 system. They begin working on engine overhauls and calculations for a jump to return to YS08. – SG Alpha jumps into the Dramune system and begins calculations for a jump to the Cassidine system. – SBF-E2, detecting the departure of SF Nova, vector to follow them to the Truane’s Star system.
61.346	– Unable to avoid intercept by the 2 Theseus assault scouts, the sathar frigate turns to engage them. They transmit all their jump data back to SBF-J2 before engaging. – Battle of Theseus – In a short, 20-minute battle, the sathar frigate managed to damage one of the assault scouts before being destroyed by a single volley of assault rockets and laser batteries from the 2 militia ships. The damaged assault scout heads to Minotaur for repairs. – Calculations complete, the K’aken-Kar assault scout begins accelerating for a jump to FS33. – Three more fighters for the Frontier Fighter Corp are completed in Theseus. Construction begins on 3 more.
61.347	– Second Battle of Kwadl-Kit – Though outgunned by the sathar, Task Force Cassidine put up an amazing defense and over the course of 1.5 hours completely destroys the sathar fleet. While almost no ship goes unscathed, they only lose 3 fighters and 3 assault scouts. – SG Alpha jumps into the Cassidine system and begins vectoring for a jump to the Truane’s Star system using coordinates provided by battleship Admiral R’kazk’tar. – After a detailed assessment of the strength of SFB-J1, PG Meteor and Spacefleet command decided that they cannot hold the Kizk-Kar system and the jump capable ships start accelerating for a jump to the Fromeltar system. The fighters go into hiding on the planet’s surface. – Seeing PG Meteor departing, the sathar forces vector to intercept but the acceleration of the UPF ships is such that only the smaller sathar vessels could intercept which would give the advantage to Spacefleet. After a few hours of pursuit, they reverse course and settle into orbit once again around Zit-Kit.
61.348	– Sathar SCC#1 (OFS203) completes construction of a light cruiser. – Arriving back at Minotaur (Theseus), the damaged militia assault scout is immediately put into the shipyard. A HS:7 ship under construction is moved out to make room. – 5 fighters are completed at the CDC shipyards (Triad, Cassidine). Work begins on five more. These fighters are put in storage until crews can be obtained for them.
61.349	– SF Nova and its supporting militia ships jump into the Truane’s Star system and begin decelerating toward Pale. – The group of 10 FFC pilots arrive at Triad (Cassidine) and take command of their fighters. They immediately take on extra life support and begin a high-g boost, together with the battleship Admiral R’kazk’tar, to join SG Alpha. – After a day rearming, Task Force Cassidine begins acceleration for a jump to the K’aken-Kar system and then on to Kizk-Kar to engage the sathar forces there. – The Theseus militia assault scout completes its repairs and the HS:7 ship is moved back in to resume work. – The battleship Admiral Dooltan jumps into the Cassidine system, it remains at high speed to transit to Dramune.
61.350	– Joining up with SG Alpha, the fighters are quickly taken aboard the carrier and stowed for jump. The battleship, assault carrier, and fighters are designated Task Force Relief and prepare for level 2 risk jump to the Truane’s Star system. – SBF-E2 jumps into the Truane’s Star system and begins decelerating toward New Pale. SF Nova and the local militia begin maneuvering to intercept. – SBF-J1 departs orbit around Zit-Kit (Kisk-Kar) and begins accelerating for a jump to the K’aken-Kar system to intercept TF Cassidine. – Detecting the departure of SBF-J1, PG Meteor puts its jump on hold and drifts in the outer system to observe. – The UPF minelayer, currently in the Fromeltar system, begins accelerating for a jump to the Kisk-Kar system. It will join up with the Admiral Dooltan as it transits the Fromeltar system before making the jump.
61.351	– TF Relief jumps into the Truane’s Star system and begins a hard deceleration toward New Pale. – The K’aken-Kar militia assault scout misjumps and instead of reaching FS33 ends up in an unknown star system (OFS169). They begin working on determining their location. – With a HS:12 ship completing maintenance in the CDC (Triad, Cassidine) shipyards, Spacefleet starts work on 3 new assault scouts to replace those lost by Task Force Cassidine. The remaining space is used for civilian ship maintenance. – The battleship Admiral Dooltan jumps into the Fromeltar system. It begins vectoring and performing jump calculations to take it to Kisk-Kar.
61.352	– The HSS History’s Hope makes the return jump to YS08 and begin decelerating toward the inner system as they once again overhaul engines and try to plot the route back to YS07. – Seeing that SBF-J1 seems to be committed to jumping out of the Kisk-Kar system, PG Meteor changes course and starts to decelerate back toward Zit-Kit. – A fighter is completed at the PGC shipyards (Gran Quivera, Prenglar). It is transferred to Gollwin Academy (Morgaine’s World, Prenglar) for use in training the accelerated cadets. – Detecting TF Relief, the sathar reassess their position and despite being out gunned nearly two to one, press on toward New Pale and the UPF forces.
61.353	– Strike Force Nova and the Truane’s Star militia ships arrive back at the armed station orbiting New Pale (Truane’s Star). Just hours later, they are joined by TF Relief. The incoming sathar ships are only a day away. – The UPF minelayer in the Fromeltar system joins up with the Admiral Dooltan and then continue on their way to the Kisk-Kar system to join with PG Meteor.
61.354	– Second Battle of New Pale – The UPF destroy or drive off most of SBF-E2 but both battleships, including the newly constructed Admiral R’kazk’tar, are destroyed in the fighting. – The fleeing sathar ships accelerate for a jump back to the Zebulon system. – The UPF destroyer damaged in the Second Battle of New Pale heads to the starship construction center on Pale for repairs. – TF Cassidine jumps into the K’aken-Kar system. Alerted that SBF-J1 is headed their way, they begin decelerating toward the inner system instead of continuing on the Kisk-Kar. – Another UPF fighter is completed at the Terledrom (Fromeltar) shipyard. It is temporarily manned by militia forces until Spacefleet can get fighter pilots to the system.
61.355	– SBF-J1 jumps into the K’aken-Kar system and begins decelerating to intercept TF Cassidine. – The UPF battleship and minelayer jump into the Kisk-Kar system and start decelerating toward Zit-kit. – The damaged UPF destroyer arrives at the Streel shipyard (Pale, Truane’s Star). A HS:6 ship under construction but nearly complete is temporarily moved out to provide priority access for the Spacefleet vessel.
61.356	– PG Meteor arrives back in orbit around Zit-Kit (Kisk-Kar). – A HS:5 ships complete maintenance in the CDC shipyard (Triad, Cassidine). Spacefleet holds the space in anticipation of more ships finishing and beginning construction on a new battleship.

Full timeline file:

DetailedFrontierTimeline Download

Second Battle of New Pale (Truane’s Star) – FY61.354

In a short, high-speed battle around New Pale today, the invading sathar forces were destroyed or driven off by the militia and the augmented Strike Force Nova.
The victory was not with out cost, however, as both UPF battleships were destroyed in the fighting, along with one of the UPF fighters. While the sathar losses were much higher, we mourn the loss of the crews of those ships
Goolar Nadd, New Pale News

Background

With the arrival of Task Force Relief (battleship, assault carrier, and 10 fighters) and its merger with Strike Force Nova, the UPF and Truane’s Star militia outgun the invading sathar fleet nearly two to one. Despite these odds, the sathar continue on to engage the UPF forces although they aim for New Pale instead of Pale to avoid the UPF Fortress at that world.

Order of Battle

Pale Militia

Armed Station
1 Assault Scout
1 Frigate

Strike Force Nova

17 Fighters
3 Assault Scouts
3 Frigates
1 Destroyer
3 Light Cruisers
2 Assault Carriers
2 Battleships

Sathar

8 Fighters
1 Cutter
2 Frigates
2 Destroyers
1 Light Cruiser
1 Assault Carrier
2 Heavy Cruisers

The Battle

Setup

Expecting the sathar to make a run at the station as they have in other systems (and in the battle here over a month ago), the UPF position the battleships on either side of the planet, one supported by a destroyer and the other a light cruiser. Out from the battleships is a pair of frigates on each side with a pair of assault scouts out and slightly back from the frigates. There are two wings of fighters beyond and a bit back from each pair of assault scouts. The assault carriers, each escorted by a light cruiser, are far back from the planet. The capital ships and assault scouts are all moving at speed 15, the assault scouts are at speed 20, and the fighters are at speed 30. The eight seeker missiles from the two battleships are arrayed in an arc around the planet.

The sathar, recognizing that they are not going to win this fight, are planning a high speed pass hoping to take out the UPF battleships and assault carriers and then escaping the system. They line up in two groups directly opposite the battleships. The upper group is comprised of a heavy and light cruiser, a destroyer, and a frigate while the lower group is composed of a heavy cruiser, the assault carrier and cutter, and a destroyer and frigate. The fighters are divided into two flights of four, one on each wing. All of the sathar vessels come in much faster than the UPF expected and are moving at speed 35.

Positions of ships and seeker missiles at the beginning of the battle. The two main groups of sathar ships are represented by a single marker with the actual ships displayed at the top and bottom of the map. Click for full size image.

Turn 1

The sathar capital ships accelerate to speed 37 and fly straight at and past the UPF battleships. The fighters accelerate to speed 40 turning in to fire at the battleships as well.

Defensively the assault scouts and frigates fire their laser batteries at the fighters and the frigates fire their rocket batteries at their sathar counterparts in each group. The battleship and destroyer in the upper group, along with the station, fire at the sathar destroyer, while the battleship and light cruiser in the lower group fire at the assault carrier.

The defensive fire at the sathar fighters is fairly ineffective, slightly damaging the engines on three fighters and knocking the hull integrity down to 38% on two others. However, none are destroyed and all are able to fire their assault rockets at the battleships.

The sathar frigate in the upper group is hit by a rocket battery knocking out 30% of its hull while the sathar frigate in the lower group is hit by two rocket batteries knocking out its laser battery and slightly damaging its maneuvering.

The destroyer in the upper group is pummeled by the UPF destroyer and battleship being hit with 2 laser batteries, 3 electron batteries, a proton battery, a rocket battery and the cannons from both ships. In the end, it has it defenses knocked off-line, its electron battery and engines knocked out, a hit to its combat controls system, its hull integrity reduced by 68%, and a fire breaks out on-board.

The assault carrier in the lower group doesn’t fare much better. It is hit by 2 laser batteries, an electron battery, 2 proton batteries, a disruptor cannon and a rocket battery. It loses its laser battery and 65% of its hull integrity.

The sathar unload all of their weapons at the battleship they fly over with the battleships firing 3 ICMs at each incoming torpedo.

The Admiral Clinton (upper battleship) is hammered. All 4 assault rockets from the fighters hit knocking out its engines and maneuvering capability and reducing its hull integrity by 22%. The sathar frigate hits it with its laser cannon knocking out the battleship’s disruptor cannon. The sathar destroyer hits with its laser cannon, rocket battery, and a torpedo that slipped through the ICM screen knocking out the battleship’s torpedo and ICM launchers and knocking the hull integrity down another 16%. The sathar light cruiser lands a series of hull hits with its disruptor cannon and electron and rocket batteries reducing the battleships hull by another 28%. Finally, the sathar heavy cruiser hits with its laser, electron, and proton batteries as well as its disruptor cannon knocking out the battleship’s proton screen, damaging its combat control system and reduces its hull integrity by another 28%. In the end, the Admiral Clinton has only 6% of its hull integrity left.

The sathar is the lower group were not as effective firing on the new UPF battleship, the Admiral R’kazk’tar. Only one of the four assault rockets connect knocking out the battleship’s disruptor cannon while the cutter misses completely. The sathar frigate hits with everything but its torpedo knocking out the battleship’s torpedo and ICM launcher and knocking half of its engines off-line. The sathar destroyer hits will everything expect its torpedo inducing an on-board fire and knocking out 35% of the battleship’s hull integrity. The sathar assault carrier scores a minor (<2%) hull hit with its laser battery while the sathar heavy cruiser only hits with it’s laser battery and disruptor cannon cutting the battleship’s maneuvering in half and knocking the hull integrity down another 13%.

Each sathar heavy cruiser deploys a single seeker missile, about 40,000 km behind their final positions where they expect the UPF to end the movement to fire their torpedoes at maximum range.

The seriously wounded battleship drifts away from the fight and two frigates join it as escorts. The other battleship, its MR reduced by half, turns and uses the gravity of New Pale to gain an extra turn. The other ships also loop around the planet, accelerating as much as possible to come around and bring all their weapons to bear on the various sathar vessels. The fighters split their fire between the heavy cruiser and frigate in the upper group, and the heavy cruiser and assault carrier in the lower group, assisted by the assault scouts firing on the heavy cruisers as well. The other ships focus their fire on the smaller more maneuverable ships. The assault carriers and their escorts accelerate and cross the sathar battle line hoping to get out of the maneuvering arc of the larger ships. They fire what weapons they can at the sathar fighters. The fire on the sathar destroyer knocks out its laser cannon.

Defensively, the upper flight of sathar ships focus their particle battery weapons at the damaged battleship, hoping to finish it off but they all miss. They use their laser batteries defensively against the fighters destroying one, nearly destroying another, lightly damaging the engines on a third. They fire their rocket batteries at the light cruiser but they all miss.

In the lower group of sathar ships, all the beam weapons are focused on the fighters but only one hits damaging the fighter’s combat control system while the rocket batteries are fired at the UPF destroyer but they all miss as well.

The upper UPF assault carrier connected with its laser and proton battery destroying one fighter and knocking out the assault rocket launcher on the other. The lower assault carrier hits with it’s proton battery and almost takes out a figher but it manages to hold togheter. The carrier’s light cruiser escort hits the same fighter with its laser battery, damaging the fighter’s engines, and a different fighter with it’s proton battery damaging its maneuverability.

The sathar heavy cruiser in the upper group is hit by 5 assault rockets and a laser battery from the fighters and assault scouts which damage its combat control system, short circuits its defenses, and reduces its hull integrity by 98% nearly destroying it.

The sathar heavy cruiser in the lower group gets away fairly unscathed as it is only hit by 3 assault rockets from the fighters and assault scouts knocking out its ICM launcher and maneuvering and reducing its hull integrity by 16%.

The sathar frigate in the upper group is hit by 2 assault rockets from the fighters as well as an electron batter, disruptor cannon, and torpedo from the light cruiser which knock out its defenses before the torpedo destroyers the ship.

The final fighter flight hits the upper sathar assault carrier with four assault rockets destroying it. while the sathar destroyer is destroyed by its UPF counterpart which hit with its laser and rocket batteries as well as torpedo that got through the ICM screen.

The sathar frigate in the lower group is hit by its UPF counterpart with a laser battery that damages its maneuvering and a torpedo that slips through the ICM screen but only manages to take out the frigate’s laser battery.

Maneuvering and final positions after the first ten minutes of battle. Click for full size image.

Turn 2

With the assault carrier destroyed, the sathar fighters are stranded and so continue the attack on the battleships. The flight that lost a fighter loops around to go after the heavily wounded battleship (Admiral Clinton) while the other group goes after the less damaged one. The heavily damaged heavy cruiser just drifts away from the battle while the light cruiser from the upper group turns to make a pass at the less damaged battleship (Admiral R’kazk’tar) as it accelerates away from the battle. The lower group, minus the destroyed assault carrier, just accelerate straight away from the battle at the heavy cruiser’s max acceleration (it has 0 MR), staying in formation. They fire on the UPF destroyer as they fly away. The fire on the Admiral R’kazk’tar induces a navigation control hit.

The sathar also activate the two seeker missiles they deployed the previous round. Unfortunately for the sathar, the UPF did not react as expected and the only ships nearby are the assault scouts. Each seeker missile goes after one of the assault scouts but they both miss.

Defensively, the battleships fire at the incoming fighters as do the assault scouts and the frigates escorting the heavily damaged battleship. They are assisted by the station and the lower assault carrier and it’s escort. Together the UPF ships manage to destroy two of the three fighters headed for the Admiral Clinton and two of the four headed for the Admiral R’kazk’tar, inducing a fire on a third.

The upper light cruiser and assault carrier fire at the light cruiser as it passes. It is hit by 2 laser, an electron, and 2 rocket batteries damaging its combat control system and engines, knocking out its ICM launcher and reducing its hull integrity by 23%.

The lone light cruiser fires at the drifting heavy cruiser connecting with a rocket battery and its disruptor cannon destroying the heavily damaged sathar vessel.

Finally, the group of frigates and destroyer focus their fire on the fleeing heavy cruiser from the lower group connecting with 3 laser batteries, a rocket battery and a laser cannon damaging the heavy cruiser’s combat control system and reducing its hull integrity by 46%.

Offensively, the surviving figher manages to hit the Admiral Clinton with its assault rocket destroying the battleship. The Admiral R’kazk’tar is hit by an assault rocket from the two fighers and a torpededo from the light cruiser reducing its hull integrity by another 36%.

The fire from the remaining ships are focused on the UPF destroyer. It is hit by 4 laser batteries and an electron battery which knock out its masking screen launcher, short circuit its defensive systems, and reduces its hull integrity by 46%.

The surviving battleship, with its navigation control damage and seriously damaged hull, pulls to starboard but manages to hold together. Given the speed differentials, and despite the greater acceleration of the smaller UPF ships, Spacefleet decides to not purse the main surviving group of sathar vessels but the upper two flight of fighters do go after the lone light cruiser. The assault scouts and the frigate and destroyer group go after the surviving sathar fighters. The fire on the sathar fighter induces a navigation control hit. The fire on the light cruiser cause 9 HP of damage.

Defensively, the sathar light cruiser fires at the incoming fighters but only manages to hit one with a proton battery lightly damaging its hull.

Offensively, the UPF fighters hit the light cruiser with all eight assault rockets destroying it while the frigates and destroyer destroy two of the three surviving fighters with the remaining fighter having its combat control system damaged, its assault rocket launcher knocked out, its hull integrity reduced by 38% and a fire started onboard.

Final positions after the second round of combat, the destroyed sathar light cruiser, damaged UPF battleship and UPF fighters are off the top of the map while the fleeing sathar ships are off the left side. Click for full size image.

Turn 3

The fire on the battleship burns through the hull reducing its hull integrity by another 10%. Its navigation control damage causes the large ship to pull to port and the strain on its severely damaged hull causes it to break apart destroying the vessel after only 10 days of active duty. The remaining sathar fighter is obliterated by the combined fire of the destroyer and frigates.

Repair Turn 1

The lightly damaged fighters manage to repair their systems almost immediately and the destroyer manages to repair some of its hull. The sathar heavy cruiser manages to repair some of its hull as well.

Final Repairs

After another hour and a half the damaged UPF destroyer manages to fix as much as it can in space. All of its systems are fixed but the hull is stuck at 66% integrity and it will need to get into the starship construction center at Pale to complete repairs.

After another hour the sathar heavy cruiser has repaired enough of its hull that the surviving ships resume their acceleration out of the system. Another 2.5 hours later, it has repaired as much as it can outside of a shipyard. All of the internals systems are back online but it’s hull is stuck at 75% integrity until it gets back to SSC#5 for final repairs.

Lessons Learned

I knew the sathar were going to lose this one but I expected them to do a little better than they did. They managed to take out the two battleships, part of their primary objective, but didn’t do as much collateral damage as I was expecting/hoping they would. Part of that was the dice were just not cooperative, especially on the defensive fire round of the UPF move in turn one. I rolled a bunch of 80’s on the sathar’s to hit rolls and nothing really connected. Although the same thing happened to the UPF at another point so I guess it evens out.

The sathar misjudged the positions on the first round and were unable to make pass at the assault carriers like they wanted. They managed to get some ships out of the battle but not as many as I was hoping they would. The UPF really cleaned up.

The loss of the battleships will be significant, those won’t be replaced anytime soon. It will be interesting to see how that affects the fights going forward.

What are your thoughts on the battle? Share in the comments below.

Spacefleet Naming Conventions

As I’ve been working/playing through the Second Sathar War in the Detailed Frontier Timeline, I’ve used a bunch of designations for the various groups of ships that the UPF has created. It thought I’d give a quick overview of how I’m using them and what each name represents. This may evolve in the future, but it’s what I’m using at the moment.

Some Background

In the setting material, there are two designations explicitly given, namely Task Force (Prenglar and Cassidine) and Strike Force (Nova). It then goes on to say there are other patrol groups and strike forces exist. The exact quote from the rules is:

Each of these battleships is the flagship of a fleet task force.
Task Force Cassidine (flagship: Admiral Harsevoort) is centered
at Triad; Task Force Prenglar (flagship: Admiral Morgaine)
is based at the UPF base orbiting Morgaine’s World; and
Strike Force NOVA (flagship: Admiral Clinton) has a home
base at Gran Ouivera, but spends much time patrolling the
travel lanes of the Frontier.

Many smaller strike forces and patrol groups are active
throughout the Frontier. The composition of these task forces
does not remain constant, as ships are often reassigned from
one group to the other. The patrol groups usually consist of one
or two assault scouts and a frigate. Small strike forces often
contain several frigates, a destroyer and a light cruiser.
p48 -Knight Hawks Campaign Book

From there, I’ve expanded things out a bit. Here’s what I’m currently doing.

Designations

Task Force (TF)

A task force is a large group of ships, centered on a battleship or heavy cruiser, that is organized for a specific purpose. In the case of Task Force Prenglar and Cassidine, I see that purpose as the defense of the two core worlds of the Frontier, which is why these task forces include the UPF minelayers and are named for the systems they defend.

Strike Force (SF)

Similar to a task force, a strike force is a larger group of ships that is centered on a light cruiser or larger vessel (but not an assault carrier, these are always ancillary vessels). The main purpose of a strike force is rapid deployment and offensive action.

The main difference between a task force and a strike force (other than the light cruiser requirement) is speed. In a strike force, no ship can have an ADF of less then two and thus the strike force is capable of risk jumps. The inclusion of a minelayer, with its ion drives and ADF of one, precludes this designation. For example, in the Detailed Frontier Timeline, the group that was going to be Strike Force Meteor initially has a minelayer added to it when the battleship arrives (in a few days from now in the timeline as I post this) so it gets the Task Force Designation instead of the Strike Force as originally intended. When the minelayer leaves, it will probably be reverted to the Strike Force designation.

As I’m writing this, I thought of a related designation that I have never used. That would be Rapid Strike Force (RSF) and would be a group that is all light cruisers or smaller and have a minimum ADF of 3. There would be no fighters or assault carriers in this group. But maybe that’s being a bit to specific.

Patrol Group (PG)

This is the generic designation for any group of Spacefleet vessels but typically carries the connotation of a traveling group that is moving around the Frontier. These groups could be organized for any reason, from pirate deterrence, to exploration, to local militia support, to just showing force around the Frontier.

A notable example of this from the Detailed Frontier Timeline was Patrol Group Virgo. Originally constructed to be a show of force in the Dixon’s Star system to help cool the corporate war heating up between PGC and Streel, it was augmented by some Streel vessels and the Truane’s Star militia to deploy to the Zebulon system to counter the imminent sathar threat there. (Had these ideas been more crystalized in my mind back then, I probably would have changed the designation at that point to Strike Force.) After that fight, and with the events surrounding the militia/civilian Discovery Squadron, they were deployed into the Rim to support the Flight. Thus they took on a number of different roles before finally being dissolved.

Repair Group (RG)

This is one I made up for the timeline. I needed a designation that allowed me to refer to a small group of ships that were currently non-combatants that were traveling to a shipyard for repairs and so the repair group was born. I don’t know that this one would get used much outside of wartime but I’m still thinking through its use.

Shuttle Group (SG)

This is another one I made up for the timeline but imagine that it could be used regularly. The specific use I invented it for was a designation to give an assault carrier that was transporting fighters between the shipyards and the systems (that don’t contain shipyards) where those fighters were going to be stationed.

The thought was that this was primarily for a non-combat role but if an assault carrier with 8-12 fighters showed up, pirates might very well think twice as they are definitely combat capable, especially against small numbers of vessels. But I can also see it being used in other contexts. For example, if you use the Jump Tug (Star Frontiersman issue 9, also a write-up on the starfrontiers.us website) in your setting, I can see Spacefleet having a few of these to move assault scouts and fighters over long distances to save on having to do overhauls every jump. In any case, this designation would be used for any group of ships, military or civilian, used by Spacefleet to rearrange their assets in the Frontier.

A Note on Sathar Designations

If you’re following the Detailed Frontier Timeline, you will have noticed that I’m referring to all the sathar fleets using SBF designations. SBF is short for “sathar battle fleet.” The SBF designation is then followed by a letter-number combination, i.e. SBF-E1 or SBF-J3. The letter designation simply represents the sathar starship construction center the fleet originated from and the number is just incremented for each fleet.

This was just a shorthand to help me keep track of the sathar ships. It doesn’t even reflect how Spacefleet would refer to them. They would probably either refer to them by the system they first appeared in or just give them incrementing some index for them.

Your Thoughts

Those are the designations that I’m currently using. Beyond the three main fleets (TF Prenglar, TF Cassidine, & SF Nova) I see most of the Spacefleet ships grouped into Patrol Groups as this is the generic designation. The others have more specific uses.

What designations (if any) do you use in your game? What other ones do you imagine Spacefleet using? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Second Battle of Kawdl-Kit (K’tsa-Kar) – FY61.347

Earlier today, in the space around Kawdl-Kit, Task Force Cassidine engaged the invading sathar forces. After nearly an hour and a half of fighting, the last of sathar forces were destroyed.
While almost all of the Spacefleet vessels sustained serious damage, battle losses were light with the Task Force only losing three fighters and three assault scouts.
Hours after the battle, repair work for the heavily damaged assault carrier and battleship are still ongoing.
Vah’zen’rk – Kawdl-Kit Global Reporting

This one was a doozie. This was the longest lasting battle as far as number of turns of play go. Although that’s partially because the combination of speeds, damage, and lack of maneuverability caused everything to get spread out. You’ll notice the maps shift around a bit, especially toward the end as I shifted the view to keep the main part of the battle in view. I might have to shift to a larger map grid. As always this fight held a few surprises, not the least of which was the final outcome.

Background

Reinforced with some additional ships from SCC#10, veterans of campaign against the saurians, SBF-B2 reenters the K’tsa-Kar system with the intent to wipe out Task Force Cassidine. The UPF forces, while somewhat outgunned, are determined to hold the line here.

Order of Battle