The Battle for Ancona: League vs Narn

Turn/ Time: Turn 6/May 2261

Scenario: Space Superiority

Terrain: 4 dust clouds and 3 asteroid fields

Situation: As the Narn Regime assaults the League staging point in Ope’diar, a mixed force of Vree and Brakiri raiders slips into the Narn-controlled Ancona system to disrupt local trade routes and cut off supplies to the Narn attack force.

League of Nonaligned Worlds:

Brakiri Syndicracy:

• 2x Takata (B.S.S. Trebuchet, Siege)
• 1x Brivoki (B.S.S. Alien Nation)

Vree Collective:

• 3x Z’Takk (V.S.S. Truth, Mercy, Regret)
• 2x Xaak (V.S.S. Fact, Law)

• 1x Xill(V.S.S. Sorrow)
• 3x Xixx(V.S.S. Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey)
• 2x Xorr(V.S.S. Xorr, Sacrifice)

• 1x Xill (V.S.S. Faith)
• 3x Xixx (V.S.S. Doc, Happy, Bashful)
• 2x Xorr (V.S.S. Ritual, Altar)

• 1x Xarr (V.S.S. Vibrant)
• 1x Xixx (V.S.S. Grumpy)

Narn Regime:

• 1x G’Tal
• 1x G’Quonth

• 1x G’Tal
• 1x G’Quonth

• 3x G’Quan
• 1x Var’Nic
  

Turn 1: The Vree command squadron concentrates its fire on the lead G’Tal. The Var’Nic opens a jump point directly ahead of its squadron.

Concentrated Narn mines do some damage to the Siege and Fact, while the Alien Nation’s heavy armor shrugs off the bombardment. Multiple beam and torpedo strikes directed against Siege by the first G’Tal turn her into a drifting hulk before she can even fire a shot. A vital systems critical finished her off, but wasn’t enough to crack her engine core. In response to this affront the Vree Command squadron shows off its new torpedoes, and unleashes a deadly wave of fire that utterly destroyed the Narn vessel before the last missle could impact. As her engines died (no movement crit), a simultaneous blow from Mercy caused her containment to fail (vital system crit) and she exploded damaging the G’Quonth in her squadron. Only light damage was sustained as more mines erupted among the ships of the Vree command squadron. The Alien Nation fired her main gun and crippled the already damaged G’Quonth of the first squadron. The League and Narn launch fighters.

Turn 2: Having expended their mines the Narn 3^rd squadron jumps to hyperspace and safety (being outnumbered by about 40% at the beginning, Bob decided to preserve at least some of his force). The three remaining ships hold the line as a Frazi flight from the G’Tal withdraws from the battle. Fire from the remaining G’Quonth cripples and skeleton crews the Fact. The Trebuchet gets a little revenge by finishing the crippled G’Quonth. The remaining G’Tal took a bridge hit that prevented any hope of its escape.

Turn 3: Directing the second turn of mines into the Vree 4^th Squadron, hoping for a light hull kill, spares the Fact’s life in the end. While damage was inflicted on the entire 4^th, no kills, cripples, or skeleton crews were obtained. V.S.S. Fact was only three hull and one crew from annihilation. Gun crews aboard the Narn squadron destroyed just one of the Tzymms sent to harass them. Mercy supplied a crippling blow to the G’Tal and Law followed this up by laying it down, causing another explosive fireball in the Narn ranks. This ship explosion also killed 2 Falcosi flights and 2 Tzymm flights in addition to damaging the last G’Quonth. Finally the Truth’s torpedoes found their mark, turning the last of the Narn defenders into a star for one brief moment and destroying another of the harassing Tzymms.

Aftermath: With the Narn fleet dispersed, the League ships spent several days in the area waylaying convoys and disrupting supply lines.

The Narn admiral was praised for his quick reaction in the face of superior force, allowing him to preserve at least a third of his fleet elements. With news of the disaster at Ope’diar running rampant through the fleet, the Kha’ri needed all the heroes it could find.

Analysis: Quick thinking by Bob saved a third of his fleet – a clear case of  “What use is it to win a battle and lose the war?”

Thanks to Marc for the pics and battle report!

4E Update: Project Old School

I’ve had 4e for about three weeks now, and I’m still coming to grips with many of the changes. Unfortunately, unlike a book, you can’t really decide conclusively how you feel about a game until you’ve actually played it, and that requires a little more effort than just reading it through a few times.

To this end, I have initiated Project: Old School. Its mission: to convert six old-school flavored, older-edition modules to 4e to determine if the essential “feel” of D&D is preserved. The candidates selected are:

• Forest of Doom (Myriador, 2004)
• Warlock of Firetop Mountain (Myriador, 2003)
• T1-T4: Temple of Elemental Evil (TSR, 1987)

The Fighting Fantasy adaptations had several attributes that made them prime candidates for conversion. Firstly, I played both of them in gamebook form, and have a pretty good idea as to how they should “feel”. Secondly, Myriador’s 3e adaptations have listed Encounter Levels, which make them easier to translate to 4e. Thirdly, both the gamebooks and modules incorporated a “Luck” point mechanic which can easily be modified to correspond with 4e’s Action Point system. And finally, Titan, the official Fighting Fantasy world, was a deliberately all-encompassing and vague setting, thus making the inclusion of 4e newness like Dragonborn and Tieflings simple.

Temple of Elemental Evil, of course, is the ultimate test. If that adventure can be translated into a satisfying 4e game, then it rightfully deserves to be called the rightful heir to the Dungeons & Dragons name.

The process of conversion is certainly demonstrating one thing conclusively: 4e is considerably more DM-friendly than its predecessors. NPCs no longer take an hour to build without software assistance, and level-adjusting monsters, which used to be a major pain in 3.5e, is very quick and simple. The payoff, of course is that the stats are much less flavorful and NPCs will need a lot more improvisational work by the DM to avoid being cookie-cutter.

Compared to the work I did on Ruins of Adventure for 3.5e, this is a lot like being handed a new, smaller box of tools with multiple settings. I can’t search through the box and find the right tool (I needed a Locathah. 4e has no Locathah stats), but I can change the settings on the tool that I have and make it do the same job (reduce a Sahuagin Raider by three levels, and voila! ersatz Locathah). Of course companies have to make money, and eventually I’ll have a toolbox of similar size after I’ve been sold a few more books. It may be there that 4e will really begin to shine.

 

Battletech: The Black Cavalry Episode 2 Teaser

SCENE: A Newsroom. Two immaculately coiffed ANCHORS are seated behind a large desk. Behind them is a wall of monitors and a large plaque with a stylized supernova and the words STARLIGHT NEWS NETWORK.

FIRST ANCHOR: …denied rumours of an additional set of economic proposals aimed at the Periphery. Violence continues sporadically on New Vandenburg, Ishtar, and several other Taurian worlds. Magestrix Vanura Centrella of the Magistracy of Canopus, President Beatrice Avellar of the Outworlds Alliance, and Lord Stefan Amaris of the Rim Worlds Republic have all pleaded with their people to remain calm, and all Star League Defense Force garrisons in the Periphery remain on high alert tonight. Jen?

SECOND ANCHOR:  Thanks Zach. We now move to Cirebon, in the Free Worlds League, where Kuritan MechWarrior Takeda Tsunetomo, often described as the “last of the old-time ronin,” dueled Major Tariq Lyman of the SLDF’s 75th Light Horse Regiment at 15:00 Terran Standard Time. Here’s the climax of that fight.

CUT TO

SCENE: A pearl-grey Ostroc and a Lancelot in SDLF drab face off in a sparsely wooded area. The SLDF pilot is clearly skilled, but the Ostroc moves like flowing water. After peppering the Lancelot with SRM volleys, the Ostroc pilot scores a clean cockpit shot with a heavy laser. The Lancelot crumples, head smoking.

CUT TO:

SCENE: Back in the newsroom.

SECOND ANCHOR: With this victory Takeda brings his total to 26, and can now boast that he has defeated representatives of four of the five SLDF Regimental Combat Teams.

FIRST ANCHOR: Is it true that he killed each of his opponents during the RCT fights?

SECOND ANCHOR: Yes, unfortunately it is.  

FIRST ANCHOR: And what unit does he plan to challenge next? 

SECOND ANCHOR: He’s indicated he wants to move into Davion space next…smart money is on the 4th Regimental Combat Team. 

FIRST ANCHOR: Defeating all five RCTs would certainly be a feather in his cap. We’ll be right back after this…

CUT TO:

STARLIGHT NEWS NETWORK LOGO   

A Tabletop Trip into Phlan VI: Beneath Kuto’s Well

In the morning, MacTavish, Aeryn, Phillipe, and Wolf decided to venture down into the well a second time. Bidding farewell to the other adventuring party, they tied a rope to Wolf and lowered him into Kuto’s Well. Wolf managed to work his way into the crawlspace, and found that it was about 7′ wide…easily able to accommodate humans or humanoids moving in single file. A flickering orange light was visible some 20′ in. One by one, Phillipe, Aeryn, and Mac descended into the Well and entered the crawlspace as Wolf moved forward to investigate the light source. As he approached it, he found his way blocked by a large silk curtain.

Peeking around the curtain, Wolf found himself looking at a central chamber with several curtained exits. Two kobolds were keeping a not-so-vigilant watch on the curtain Wolf was hiding behind. After waiting for the rest of the party to move up behind him, Wolf burst from the crawlspace with Phillipe right behind him, cutting down both kobolds in a matter of seconds. As Aeryn and Mac emerged, four goblins appeared from behind the curtain of the southern exit and loosed a mostly ineffectual volley of javelins before retreating the way they came. Enraged, Phillipe rushed after them, only to plunge ten feet into a pit trap.

The goblins continued to run, leaving one of their number behind to harass the party as they negotiated the pit. Just as the last adventurer was on the other side, four orcs and another party of goblins rushed through the northern exit to the room they had just left. This group was led by a menacing armored half-orc…clearly the bandits’ leader. Reaching the edge of the pit, the orcs began to snipe at the party with their own javelins while the intrepid adventurers figured out what to do next.

Wisely, the party decided to pursue the fleeing goblins. Unfortunately Phillipe, punchy to the end, lagged behind to take a final potshot at the orcs with his sling. He was struck simultaneously with three javelins and killed instantly. The rest of the group cut down a single goblin who had remained behind, and pursued the rest down a north-leading hallway.

Meanwhile, the orcs had crossed the pit and were pursuing the party in turn. Wolf turned to deal with them while Mac cast Doom and Bless and Aeryn held off the goblins. After bringing up his spells, Mac scored a mighty critical hit on one of them, destroying his little helmet and raising huge bumps on his little goblin head. Wolf closed with the approaching orcs and slew them, then moved to finish the goblins while the half-orc leader moved to engage Mac.

Mac proved no match for the half-orc, who took him down in three strokes despite heavy interference from the cleric’s spells. As Wolf stepped back in to continue the fight, Aeryn slew the final goblin and then rushed to revive Mac with a healing potion. With the cleric revived, it was now the three of them against the bandit leader.

Now the party seemed to find its rhythm, with Wolf dealing and taking damage, Aeryn moving in from behind to deliver backstabbing attacks, and MacTavish providing spell and healing support. Between them, they wore the half-orc down, and he finally fell with Aeryn’s rapier thrust between his ribs and into his heart.

With the battle at an end, the party explored the remainder of the chambers beneath the well. They also counted up the bandits’ ill-gotten gains and discovered that they were more than three thousand gold pieces richer in coins and gems. In addition, the bandit leader’s armor and sword were clearly magical.

The party had, in essence, recouped its fortunes, but at the price of losing Phillipe. Only time will tell what they’ll do with it…and who they’ll find to fill his slot.

Line of the Night:

MARC: Do the bonuses for Doom and Prayer stack? Because if they don’t I might as well just go after him with my mace.

BOB: If they do not stack, then you must attack.

D&D 4th Edition: First Impressions

Since my post on the Forgotten Realms consistently gets the most traffic, there are at least some of you who might be interested in what I think now that I’ve had 4e in my hands for a few days. I was prepared to talk about this at length, and then discovered that someone (Bill Coffin, no less) had already said what I would have, and about ten times more succinctly.

As far as the Forgotten Realms goes, well, at this time I need to wait and see what the new setting book looks like. One thing that becomes abundantly clear once you read the 4e rules is how absolutely necessary it was for Wizards to apply a broad-reaching deus ex machina like the Spellplague to the setting. The Realms was, from its outset, a creature bound by the “physics” of the D&D rules…wizard spell memorization, deity-granted cleric spells, class and level advancement…all of these were accounted for and adapted to by the setting fluff over multiple editions. Many of these tropes no longer apply under the new rules, and I’m unsure if the setting’s “flavor” will remain without them now that the “physics” have been both literally and figuratively rewritten.

That’s not to say, of course, that I don’t like the new rules themselves at all; far from it. They have a nice Record of Lodoss War feel to them…that kind of basic, satisfying, high fantasy, candylike, bonecrunching feel. And I’m no stranger to that…you have only to check out the writeups for my current 3.5e Realms campaign to discover that I save my pretensions at narrative for Battletech.

In a setting specifically designed around around their own tropes (healing surges, dragonborn, ritual magic, per day/per encounter power limitations, etc.), the 4e rules would be more than acceptable. I simply remain skeptical that the 4e Realms can do this and retain their flavor.  

Where Did The Recipes Go?

They went here.

Geeks, foodies, break and go to your corners.

Battletech: The Black Cavalry. Episode 1 Cutscene

Andover, Lindsay, Federated Suns, November 24, 2759

SCENE: Police HQ in Andover. One CONSTABLE is seated at the front desk…he is watching a wall-mounted holoscreen where a blonde anchorwoman is giving a report. The volume is too low for us to hear but the headline behind her clearly reads “15 DEAD IN LAST FORTRESS STANDOFF. NEW AVALON “DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED” WITH SLDF RESPONSE.”

CONSTABLE: (shaking his head) Bloody cowboys. (something off-camera catches his eye -he looks towards us) Help you, Sir?

CUT TO: an immaculately groomed and dressed man standing in front of the desk.

MAN: Good evening, Constable. My name is Koji Imura, and I am a legate from the Draconis Combine’s embassy on New Avalon. I must speak to your Superintendent at once.

CUT TO:

SCENE: SUPERINTENDENT PRITCHARD’s office. IMURA is seated across from PRITCHARD, who is clearly very uncomfortable.

PRITCHARD: So what can I do for you, Mr. Imura?

IMURA: It is my understanding that you are holding one James Ozuka, a citizen of the Draconis Combine. He is wanted in the Combine on several criminal charges. I must insist that he be released into my custody so that he may be returned to Kurita space for trial.

PRITCHARD: Insist – where the hell d’you think you are, Snake? This isn’t bloody Luthien, it’s the Federated Suns. Mr. Ozuka is a material witness, and by God he’s staying where he is.

IMURA: (quietly) Has Mr. Ozuka been charged with a crime?

PRTICHARD: Well…no…but..

IMURA: Then I must invoke the Star League Charter to which both of our governments are signatory. It states clearly that without such criminal charges, a Member-State retains the authority to try its own citizens for crimes committed within its borders.

(PRITCHARD is slowly turning red)

IMURA: (his voice softening) The girls in question were very young. Would you not wish to see justice done if it were your own family?

(IMURA hands PRITCHARD a datadisk. PRITCHARD accesses the files and nods tensely)

PRITCHARD: You’ll have him in the morning.

IMURA: Excellent, Superintendent…I am most apologetic for the inconvenience.

CUT AWAY

SCENE: IMURA’s car. IMURA and OZUKA are in the backseat, being driven to some unknown location.

OZUKA: (standing) Mr. Imura…I want to thank you for -

IMURA: (slaps him in the face. Loud and rapid Japanese)

SUBTITLE: “You are a dog. A worthless sniveling toad.”

OZUKA: I’m…I’m sorry…how could I have known that…no one told me he was insane enough to challenge the Star League Defense Force…

IMURA: Your failure does not concern our employer. What does concern him are the rumors that you were willing to sell us out in return for your miserable life.

OZUKA: I would never…not for anything!

IMURA: We shall see. I have been instructed to take you…home. Meridian will obtain the truth from you himself. Driver – the spaceport!

END CREDITS

Battletech: The Black Cavalry. Episode 1: Jesus Walks

Teaser

Opening Credits

Andover, Lindsay, Federated Suns, November 22, 2759

Having recieved reports that the Church of the Last Fortress (an unsanctioned offshoot of the Church of the Saints Cameron), led by Reverend Heinz Mann, are stockpiling illegal weapons, the Andover Police Department arrives to execute a search warrant. They are met with gunfire from Church “security” and the Lindsay Planetary militia is called in. The militia attempts to force the gates of the compound with two modified Armored Personnel Carriers, but are dumbfounded when a BattleMaster emerges from the nearby woods and crushes the APCs with contemptuous ease. Reverend Mann contacts Militia Colonel Timothy Golden and demands to speak to a Star League Defense Force representative. Colonel Golden immediately contacts the SLDF 4th Regimental Combat Team’s HQ at Fort Chard for assistance.

Help arrives in the form of Lieutenant Philip Van Valkenburg (Rich), an impetuous Terran noble, his lance of Zephyr hovertanks from the 1270th Tank Battalion, and two platoons of jump troops from the 640th Infantry. Van Valkenburg establishes a perimeter around the compound while a helicopter scout surveys the area. He speaks to Mann via comm and agrees to meet with him. As he prepares to enter the Last Fortress’ compound, Colonel Golden suggests that BattleMech support might be useful. Van Valkenburg agrees and makes the call before setting off for his meeting.

A Heavy Demi-Lance (MechWarrior Sergeants Bob DelToro (Bob) and Alexander Kohl (Dave) from the 111th Dragoons under the command of Master Sergeant Scott Xavier (Scott) arrives in response. The SLDF MechWarriors discover that their nominal CO has already entered the compound, and are reduced to tense waiting and listening. As they wait, a deputation from Harrison Malkiel, Duke of Lindsay’s personal troops appear on the scene. Their leader, Lt. Travis, informs Xavier that the SLDF troops must use caution – Duke Malkiel’s nephew Paul is a member of the cult and must be retrieved alive (indeed the Duke’s attempts to keep track of his nephew were what alerted the planetary government to the fact that the Church of the Last Fortress was stockpiling weapons in the first place).

Van Valkenburg talks to Mann and his “Director of Security” David Harpnell. While giving the Lieutenant a tour of his compound, Mann reveals that he has seen the fall of the Star League and the destruction of the Cameron family in a vision, and that he knows that the League’s fall will signal the Second Coming. His purpose is to create a godly place for Jesus to begin his work, and to this end he is indeed stockpiling weapons. He is deferential to Van Valkenburg as an SLDF soldier, but considers the Federated Suns and House Davion to be agents of Satan and will not allow himself or his followers to be taken into custody by their representatives in the Lindsay militia. Indeed, he is prepared to order the deaths of everyone in the Church to stop them from being taken by the forces of Darkness. Van Valkenburg expresses some sympathy, and agrees to provide an SLDF hostage while negotiations continue. But when he attempts to leave the compound before the hostage arrives, Mann orders him taken prisoner.

Acting on his final communications with Van Valkenburg, Xavier decides to order an assault on the compound, hoping the SLDF troops can overcome the cultist militia before they carry out their final grisly task. Meanwhile, Van Valkenburg finds himself imprisoned in a storage room with Jimmy Ozuka, a hapless “weapons merchant” caught up in the situation. Ozuka offers to turn evidence on the Church if released, and Van Valkenburg immediately begins to search for a means of escape.

The SLDF assault on the Church begins, heralded by a Stun Shell bursting over the Last Fortress compound. The armed cultists are disoriented, and their hastily converted trucks are no match for hovertanks. The BattleMaster emerges from the woods to take a few potshots, but then retreats, leading the Dragoon BattleMechs straight into a series of defensive autocannon emplacements. Meanwhile Van Valkenburg, having created a makeshift tool from the slats of a metal weapons crate, manages to open the door -only to run into a guard outside. A brief fight ensues, and Van Valkenburg emerges triumphant and carrying the guard’s rifle. He emerges into the chaos of the compound as the SLDF jump infantry make their final assault.

The SLDF ‘Mech lance makes short work of the cult’s BattleMaster and the defensive emplacements, though Sergeant Kohl’s Atlas does take a lucky AC10 hit to the head. Van Valkenburg finds Mann and Harpnell in the wreckage of the compound with the Duke’s Nephew, who seems ready to shoot himself to avoid being taken from the cult. Van Valkenburg aims his captured rifle carefully and shoots the pistol out of the boy’s hand -destroying it, but leaving young Malkiel alive. Deprived of their last advantage, Mann and Harpnell attack Van Valkenburg and a brief firefight ensues. The SLDF Lieutenant manages to bring Harpnell down with a well placed burst, and the ‘Mech lance returns to the compound and decisively ends the fight as Kohl picks Mann up with his Atlas‘ hands.

In the end, fifteen cultists lie dead along with two SLDF infantrymen – both killed while preventing the cultists from poisoning their own noncombatants. As the SLDF jump troops and Lindsay Militia clean up the compound, round up prisoners, and share their rations with the cultist spouses and children they have rescued, Van Valkenburg, Xavier, Kohl, and DelToro prepare to face the gathering Davion holonews reporters.

Cutscene

End Credits

The Battle for Ope’Diar: Narn vs League

Turn/Time: Turn 6/May, 2261

Scenario: A Call to Arms

Terrain: Jumpgate in League deployment area.

Situation: Hoping to disrupt the concentration of the Non-Aligned fleet before it can begin a new drive into Minbari space, a large Narn force attempts to take the League staging point at Ope’Diar. Unfortunately, the Bin’Tak slated for the assault is drawn off by a daring Vree diversionary raid, and the rest of the Narn fleet jumps in-system into the teeth of the League’s fixed defences.

TO&E

Narn Regime:

• 1x G’tal
• 8x G’Quonth

League of Non-Aligned Worlds:

• 1x Brostilli Warbase
• 2x Shodrama sattelites
• 1x Varl (VCS Ghost)
• 1x Brokados (BSS Brokados) -2 falkosi cap
• 2x Brivoki (BSS Street Justice, Desire) -2 falkosi cap/ea
• 1x Convoy Guardian (Fearless)
• 2x Urik’hal (Rich, Powerful)
• 3x Strike Carrier (v1s) (Pelosi, Heinlein, Crusade)
• 1x Patrol Ship (Officer)
• 2x Ikorta (BSS Ikorta II, Regard)
• 2x Tiraca (BSS Peace, Calm)
• 1x Takata (BSS Catapult)
• 2x Falkosi flight
• 2x Sky Serpent flight
• 6x Delta V1 flight

Turn 1: Alarms howled aboard the League ships and base as the Narn fleet roared out of the jumpgate. The Narn admiral immediately split his command into two divisions, one with the G’tal as its flagship to assault the Warbase, and four G’quonths to deal with the sattelites. The Warbase assault group immediately ran into strong opposition from the League defenders. While their Frazi screen downed any Sky Serpents foolish enough to attempt a torpedo run, heavy fire from the Brivokis Street Justice and Desire reduced the G’tal to a burning hulk before it even had a chance to fire a single mine. Meanwhile, the Warbase and its defense satellites concentrated their fire on the second division, causing heavy engine damage to the lead G’quonth.

Turn 2:  The Brakiri defense sattelites were no match for the firepower of a single Narn G’quonth, much less four, and were soon transformed into so much floating debris. With the G’tal no longer a threat, the Brivokis began to concentrate on the G’quonths, and Desire burned one out and left it to drift. The Narn fighter defenses, however, remained highly effective and 4 Sky Serpent flights and a Star Snake were destroyed or scattered by Frazis or accurate gunfire from the G’quonths. 

Turn 3: With the satellites destroyed, the Narn desperately tried to recombine their cruiser divisions while under heavy fire from both the base and the enemy fleet. A G’quonth wrecked Ikorta II, but one of its division mates took a grav lance through its fire control center, knocking out all its weapons. Damage control teams rushed to get the fire control system back on line, but as they arrived a secondary explosion roared through that section of the ship, incinerating them instantly (that ship failed every repair roll it made…and never got to fire again for the rest of the game). As if in vengeance for the dead Narn engineers, another G’qonth sent a heavy laser slicing though the Warbase, neatly carving off an entire section (48 damage in one beam shot!).

Turn 4: A Narn heavy laser sliced VCS Ghost in half,and the Vree warship was soon joined in death by the hapless Patrol Ship. At the same time, the Narn fleet was dying. Their reinforced hulls had held up well against the almost constant stream of energy and and flight after flight of missiles being poured into them, but they could only withstand so much. One after another, three G’qonths rolled over and began to burn as their crews ran for the lifepods. Only four Narn ships remained, and half of those had been reduced to frantic skeleton crews.

Turn 5: With half of his fleet adrift and burning, the Narn admiral gave the order to disengage. As the ponderous G’quonths tried to come about, the League fleet went on the offensive. The Tiracas and Urik’hals destroyed two Narn cruisers, and Catapult  finished another. The remaining pair of Narn ships continued to make a run for open space.

Turn 6: The League continued to pour fire into the retreating Narn. One G’quonth blew apart under the continuous salvoes, damaging Catapult in the process. The Takata emerged from the cloud of burning metal and floating Narn casualties and fired a crippling shot into the last G’quonth, which was finished off moments later by Fearless. All that remained of the Narn attack force was drifting wreckage and the constant wail of the homing beacons on the Narn lifepods.

Aftermath: When it became clear that the Narn fleet was no more, the League admiral ordered an intensive search of the area. This was met with enthusiasm by all the races represented in the fleet: the Brakiri and Vree sought prisoners to ransom back to their families and potential salvage, and the Pak’mara viewed the vast number of drifting corpses strewn throughout the battlefield as a gigantic frozen meat locker.  The League fighter pilots, who had performed poorly throughout the battle, were harshly disciplined (the Brakiri were fined, the Vree shunned from their groupmind, and the Pak’mara sent to bed without supper).

Among the survivors repatriated was the Narn admiral, whom a court-martial completely exonerated. Narn captives without financial resources were either allowed to join the Tza’sol Narn fleet or imprisoned.

Having secured their Ope’Diar base, the League launched a wave of retributive raids on Centauri commercial shipping. Some raiders even reached Earth Alliance space.

Analysis: This was a tough one for Bob. Between the fleet and fixed defenses, he was completely outnumbered and outclassed, especially after the loss of his Bin’tak to the diversionary raid. Under the circumstances he acquitted himself well, causing heavy damage to the Warbase and destroying two ships. 

His one arguable mistake was dividing his fleet. The defense satellites really didn’t need 4 G’quonths to take care of them, and that additional firepower might have meant that Marc would have to spend his cash on an entirely new base rather than just repairing damage.

Thanks to Marc for the pics for this battle report!