A Legitimate Salvage: Battle of XL-387-G. Turn 6

 

 'J'Kon mulled over his tactical options. Both the Dilgar and Centauri had suffered significant losses in ships and crew, with the Centauri so far getting the worst of it. The peacocks still refused to accept the impossibility of their position, their ships had retreated 'above' the plane of the ecliptic and were using the position to threaten various objectives. It had been about a week since the last armed encounter in the system, but the various forces had not been idle. Their lighter forces advanced and retreated like waves along a shoreline, sometimes almost coming to blows, but the Narn never quite managing to catch their adversaries. He had less information currently than he would have liked. The Shor'Li-Ka which had been doggedly shadowing the Centauri forces had depleted its fuel and food reserves to dangerous levels and so had been forced to abandon its position. He didn't have the specialist ship to replace it, and so was relying on less capable and more vulnerable ships to track their movements. He had positioned a strong force near the Gas Giant. He was hoping that the Centauri would try to recover their flagship and they could finish the job. His communications officer, T'Neth, snapped him out of his contemplations. "Warleader, the trade station reports strong Dilgar forces approaching" He grimaced slightly, he hadn't expected this, the Dilgar were still reeling from their encounter with the Centauri, but perhaps they saw an opportunity, all 4 of the expeditions G'Quans were sat patiently waiting in the radiation field. He gave the orders to charge the jump engines and get underway. he wouldn't be gone long, and despite his hopes, he doubted the Centauri had the stomach for another fight. His picket forces could hold the position for a short time....'

 Overview So far

    Turn 5 had seen the Centauri Defeated in a pitched battle, leaving them in a terribly weak position. With the Narn and Dilgar now possessing 4 objectives each, the Centauri none, the Narn would have to try to bring the Dilgar to battle, and the sooner the better. I have a material advantage, and so can afford to lose ships if the exchange rate is not too bad. I have also been receiving some reinforcements, and this turn a G'Vrahn joined my roster. The Dilgar and Centauri were both still trying to replace losses, the Narn Roster was expanding to be roughly equal, in numbers if not actual combat power, to both enemy forces combined.

Turn 6

    The Centauri had their eyes set on recovering their Octurion, currently in a more or less stable orbit around Planet 5, the gas giant. And, since they won the initiative roll, they elected to go for broke. The Dilgar meanwhile decided to launch an attack on the Trade Station, if the mission was of a suitable priority level, i wouldn't be able to leverage my advantage in heavier ships, and that left the Narn to make a move. I really wanted to take Ptarlack off the Dilgar, but that would mean I would be facing the prospect of 3 battles in the same turn, and while my fleet roster has expanded, it can in no way stretch to 3 potentially large encounters this turn, so I elected to seize the trade route instead. If I could cause the Dilgar attrition damage, even if I lost against them, I would be happy, and any damage I could cause to the Centauri, whether they won or not, would put them in a weaker position.

The Rescue

Narn V Centauri
Rescue. Patrol 6 points

Light Narn picket forces

The picket forces I deployed were the Thentur Torpedo Frigates Tol'Nar'Eth and Vel'Nar'Eth together with the Sho'Kov Torpedo Cutters G'Koran, T'Koran, Shu'Vas and Shu'Nar-Esh.

Attempting to recover the Octurion were 3 Centauri Ships, A Maximus, Morgrath and a Vorchan Demos.

There were quite a lot of phenomena on the board for this game, together with the table wide dust cloud which provided numerous potential opportunities for some ambushes.

Both forces maneuver for an advantageous position

The Octurion had been placed by the Narn in orbit of one of the inner moons of the gas giant. The area was dense with small asteroids and dense dust clouds that made up the Gas Giants planetary rings. These were used by both sides as cover. The Narn had brought more ships, but the majority were small cutters normally used for commerce protection, so the sight of 3 comparatively large warships, including a Vorchan Demos was somewhat unexpected. On the plus side, there was a pair of Thenturs available. and with the exception of a pair of Sho'Kovs to the left of the main force, who were hanging out of immediate danger but attempting to be a tempting target, the Narn force used a dense asteroid patch to shield themselves from attack.

The Centauri move to attack a pair of Sho'Kovs while a Narn Thentur outflanks them

The bait of the Sho'Kovs proved to be too good to pass up, and the Centauri force moved to engage them. This bunching up of their forces, and the position of the asteroid fields allowed a pair of Narn ships, The Vel'Nar'Eth and Shu'Nar-Esh to maneuver into their rear. the shooting that did occur was innefective. the Centauri ships shooting down the sporadic Ion Torpedo fire with their interceptors, while at the same time being out of their own weapons range. Things took a positive turn for the Centauri as they moved even further, and a Sho'Kov was torn to pieces by weapons fire from the Morgrath and Maximus. This maneuver was anticipated and baited by the Narn, although the loss of a cutter was not, the Centauri now found themselves in a comparitively short ranged fight with the Narn Forces closing in from multiple angles, and their forward guns were pointing in the wrong direction. The Maximus was the ship in the worst position, and it attracted the bulk of the Narn fire, it's tough armour and intercepted blunted the worst of the Narn shooting, but it did suffer some damage. The Centauri force at this point decided to try to break through the narn fleet, and this was achieved very quickly, the Deoms managing to outpace everything, but the Narn ships turned as fast as they could, with the flanking Thentur managing to get into action. Fire poured now into the Morgrath, damaging the engines.

The Narn Fleet outmaneuvers the Centauri and the Vel'Nar'Eth clears the asterod belt to hammer shots into the Morgrath.

The next couple of turns saw the barrage continue, with the Morgrath facing the bulk of the fire. the Maximus' Guardian array doing little to stop the deluge of shots coming in. The Demos meanwhile raced ahead and started to maneuver round the same asteroid belt the Narn had used. If the Narn could use it to outmaneuver the Centauri, then the Centauri could do the same to the Narn. This left 2 Centauri ships in a treacherous position, and the Narn maneuvered to take as many shots as possible.

The Narn Close in

Ion Cannons, Pulse cannons and torpedoes slammed into the Morgrath like hail. The interceptors did what the could, but the volume of shots was just too substantial for the small ship to weather for long. bulkheads collapsed, compartments vented into space, and the Gravity propulsion was knocked offline, leaving the ship barely able to maneuver. The Maximus did not escape unscathed, but it had not been the primary focus. The Demos was still making its way round the asteroids. if it could make it in time, the Centauri might just be able to swing things in their favour.

The pursuit continues, and the Vel'Nar'Eth orders assault shuttles to be launched to board the crippled Morgrath.

The Thentur Vel'Nar'Eth switched its fire to the Maximus, and launched assault shuttles to board and seize the Crippled and skeleton crewed Morgrath, while the second Thentur, its sister ship the Tol'Nar'Eth started to swing round to face the Vorchan. It would be very painful if the Vorchan were to get behind the Narn ships. The Majority of the Narn force was not hammering into the Maximus, and it was a tougher ship for sure, but the weight of fire, combined with the damage it had sustained earlier, meant that the damage was accumulated alarmingly fast, crippling the ship and leaving it unable to escape. Boarding parties found the resistance on the Morgrath to be non existent, and the ship was taken as a prize.

The Vorchan re-enters the fray.

Leaving a pair of cutters to try to finish the maximus, it's interceptors now silent, the Vel'Nar'Eth started to wheel around to get into position to engage the Vorchan. Arguably this maneuver should have been made a turn earlier, the Narn ships had become too focused on the Maximus, and it was almost too late to head of the Demos. Fate smiled on the Narn this day though. They won the Initiative for this turn, so as the Vorchan rounded the asteroid belt it found itself face to face with the Tol'Nar'Eth directly in front. Narn have depressingly short ranged weapons, but they have an impressive number of them. The Tol'Nar'Eth had, following the initial recon encounter with the Centauri on Turn 1, received an upgrade to its Ion cannons. Now boasting 7 shots from them, combined with 4 from the pulse cannons, and the Ion Torpedoes, and being in knife fighting range... the Thentur unleashed a hail of fire. The Vorchan Demos' interceptors stopped a few of the shots, but many many more got through, an improbably large number, and then the critical hits happened. The Demos lost its engines (twice), had its forward guns shot away, and finally...exploded.
With the Sho'Kovs hounding the crippled Maximus, The Narn had fought off the Rescue attempt, and eliminated all enemy forces. 

Losses:
Centauri: 1x Vorchan Demos, 1x Maximus, 1x Morgrath (Captured)
Narn. 1x Sho'Kov

95-10 Narn Victory.

The Second battle was a major anti-climax. The Dilgar attack was a feint. we didn't even play the battle, a single Jashakar turned up, and then left the field, handing the Narn a 6-0 victory.
The Dilgar still had a lot of ships withdrawn for repairs and they would be returning next turn, so in threatening an attack, the Dilgar had prevented a Narn attack on Ptarlack. Very annoying.
Nect turn I will force the issue, regardless of Dilgar actions. The Centauri are effectively beaten now, so its a 2 horse race, and I now have a massive material advantage, receiving additional reinforcements, and with only a few ships being away for full repairs.

'J'Kon was very frustrated. the Dilgar had offered, and then avoided action, and in doing so had prevented a move on Ptarlack. The two fleets had maneuvered, and then the Dilgar had retreated with no shots being exchanged. He had been tempted to pursue aggressively, but with pickets stationed throughout the system, and his scouts being overstretched, he would be inviting an ambush and an unfavourable exchange of resources. No, he would keep an eye on the Dilgar, and then move on Ptarlack when his reinforcements arrived. with any luck, the Dilgar would see sense and just abandon the system.'