16-07-3017
My squadron had been dispatched to the Chrisobel star system to counter an incursion by The Domain. Tensions between The Domain and The Federation have increased recently with The Domain attempting to gain control of neutral systems on the border between The Federation and Domain. Our squadron has two president class missile ships. I command the Ethan Tavernier and our sister ship is the Louis Rosen.
The Chrisobel system has five planets and an asteroid belt. Three of the planets are gas giants, one is a rock ball, and the innermost planet, Abbadon, is a terrestrial world. We had passed the FTL gravitational limit for the Chrisobel system some time ago, had received a radio message that the system was now under the control of The Domain. As we advanced in system towards Abbadon we had detected two bogeys heading towards us. We were now approaching engagement range.
"Captain, the bogeys are now within one light minute"
"Bring our squadron up five light seconds above the elliptic and have both ships launch a sensor drone"
"Aye, Sir"
"The bogeys have altered course to our port side and have launched what appear to be two drones."
"Light up the drones and lets see what we have"
"Drones have activated sensors and we have identification, Sir. The bogeys are two Domain Planet class missile ships and the two smaller objects are sensor drones. Separation is now less than 45 light seconds"
"Launch missiles'
"Missiles launched. Approximately 20 minutes to intercept... Sensors indicate that they have launched missiles also, sir. There are eight of them headed our way. They will arrive in 20 minutes"
"Move us to starboard and prepare point defenses"
"The enemy is now at thirty light seconds. Missiles at engagement range"
As the enemy missiles approached our point defense batteries opened fire taking out two of them, but the other six targeted the Rosen ripping her to shreds. Our missiles were just as effective leaving one of the Domain ships a shattered hulk.
"Bring us around to port and launch the second drone, activate its sensors and use it as a screen to hide us from their sensors."
The enemy launched another drone also sir and is now at 20 light seconds."
"Launch another flight of missiles and target their drones"
"Missiles launched and will engage drones in ten minutes" "Drones destroyed. We have a lock on the enemy."
"Launch another flight of missiles and continue to screen us with the drone."
"Enemy ship has been hit and looks like it has lost its sensors, Sir. It is heading out system"
"Hold fire. We may need our remaining missiles. Lets pick up the drones and survivors from the Rosen."
Below is a picture that Mike took of the game. The star field is from JoAnn fabrics. They carry several different fabrics with star patterns. I found this one and another to be what I wanted and at $20 for enough material to cover a five foot by six foot table the fabric is a lot better price than the space mats that are available. The picture shows the "flight stands that are used to designate unidentified ships. ship models were placed on them when identified. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the game. Fortunately Mike did take this one at the meeting.
The following diagram shows the relative positions of the two fleets during the game. The federation is black and the Domain is brown. It is not to scale. The battle lasted for 80 minutes of game time before the remaining Domain ship fled.
Photo below is from the end of the game
The ships were the Kennedy class cruiser from the game for the Federation and the Hamburg missile cruiser for the Domain. their statistics are as follows
Federation Domain
Tonnage 7213 12223
Movement 9 3
Power Plant 150Mw Fusion 65Mw Fission
Shields none 2
Armor 1 3
Active Sensors 30 light seconds 6 light seconds
Passive Sensors 20 light seconds 14 light seconds
Missiles 20 (20 damage) 24 (12 damage)
radiated signature 4(7) 6
reflected signature 7 7
point defense 5 6
As can be seen the Domain ship is slower, but better protected by armor, screens, and point defense. The Federation ship also has stealth material incorporated into its hull to cut down on its radiated signature. The values for reflected and radiated are doubled to give the additional range that is added to the active and passive sensor ranges respectively for targeting. There are no Romulan cloaking devices or similar items at this point so the presence of other ships is known, but it is necessary to use sensors to identify and precisely target opposing ships. Previous blog posts have covered the modifications to the original board game and can be found by clicking on the StarCruiser label.
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