A what if scenario (Severed Dreams)

[TheUser]

Me and a couple of friends were thinking about running a 'what if' scenario - what if the 2nd EA fleet decided -not- to heed Deleen's warning...

We were figuring an Identical EA force (as best as we could tell from the episode). B5 would have 3 Sharlins and the White Star at full strength - Sharlins CQ 4, White Star CQ6, Fliers only on the Sharlins (religious/worker castes). B5 w/ at least 400 points of damage & 20 Troops, Chruchill @ 20/25 - maybe 1 or 2 criticals rolled to determine system damage (ignoring anything that would knock out forward/boresight weapons), two Thunderbold flights and maybe 8 SF flights.

Any thought?

Thanks.

 

[Triggy]

This sounds like quite a bit of fun but you'll need to have very specific and achievable victory conditions for the EA as two Omegas and one Hyperion (those are the forces that appear) will have no chance at all against three fully functioning Sharlins, let alone fighters, a White Star and the remains of the Churchill and B5.

This is precisely why they actually did retreat.

Perhaps if the scenario involved them having to hit B5 down to 0 hit points to bring it off-line for a while (weeks) and have at least one ship escape would be a viable target for the game...

 

[night owl]

Even with scenario conditions. it's going to be a tough game for the EA. 2 Omegas vs 3 Sharlins is a 3:1 points deficit. That's tough to overcome. The EA fleet could get torn to shreds very quickly.

 

[Alexb83]

It's true - the objectives are the key thing to consider. The EA are there to retake the station, not destroy it (and at that point in the story remember that they hadn't yet started blowing up civilian targets aside from the bombing of mars). You'd struggle to set B5 to the appropriate state - she'd taken a few critical hits (bridge) but her hull was essentially undamaged. But then Corwin says they'd 'almost had it'... so what's appropriate?

I think even one Sharlin would've been enough to turn them away, considering that B5 and the Alexander, and about 2/3 of their combined fighters were still there.

 

[Reaverman]

[Shameless plug]Why not write the scenario, and submit it to http://www.b5acta.com

There is even a section, for writing scenarios [/shameless plug]

 

[Silvereye]

Interesting idea, and one certainly worth playing with.

OK, Delen brought 3 (I thought it was 2, don't have the DVDs handy) Sharlins and Delen's White Star. There is no reason that the Sharlins would have just Fliers in their hangers. So give them their normal auxillary craft loadout.
There is also the Omeaga Destroyer Alexander (CQ 6), damaged but still functioning and the remnants of the Churchil's fighters (probably 1x Thunderbolts, 1x Starfury). Again, this would have suffered further damage but not enough to cripple it. (35 damage 45 crew -2D6 (any 6s roll as a crit).
B5 would have taken a pounding, say 3/4 damage (victory conditions for the first game was first threshold), no minefields left.

Clarks forces would need to be strengthened to take these on somewhat.
Survivors of the first raid would be some of the fighters, say 1 flight of Thunderbolts and 2 of Starfury. + 2 more Omega's, two Hyperions (make them Assault Cruisers).
Now, I think the first task force was diverted from elsewhere to try and take B5 by surprise. So Clark was likely to send a superior force to take and hold B5 anyway. The elements that enter through the jump gate could just be a diversion, and more ships could be arriving from a Jump Point behind Epsilon Eridani. And the fun part is what else would Clark's forces have sent for the captains to beleive they might have a chance and not run?

 

[emperorpenguin]

Me and a couple of friends were thinking about running a 'what if' scenario - what if the 2nd EA fleet decided -not- to heed Deleen's warning...

We were figuring an Identical EA force (as best as we could tell from the episode). B5 would have 3 Sharlins and the White Star at full strength - Sharlins CQ 4, White Star CQ6, Fliers only on the Sharlins (religious/worker castes). B5 w/ at least 400 points of damage & 20 Troops, Chruchill @ 20/25 - maybe 1 or 2 criticals rolled to determine system damage (ignoring anything that would knock out forward/boresight weapons), two Thunderbold flights and maybe 8 SF flights.

Any thought?

Thanks.

The EA destroyer is the Alexander not the Churchill. The Churchill was destroyed in the earlier battle

 

[TheUser]

Now, I think the first task force was diverted from elsewhere to try and take B5 by surprise.

Actually <plugs in DVD> The first wave was already on it's way to B5 to seize control - the Alexander (curse my quick reading skills) was just a bonus. Also watching, I forgot about all the Nightwatch personel that they relieved of duty. Maybe 10 to 15 troops remaining for B5.

Maybe an Omega Command variant (4 TB), regular Omega (2 TB, 2 SF), and the Hyperion Assault cruiser, and another 6 or 8 breaching pods. EA victory conditions of capturing B5/reducing it to 0 damage (crippled, it won't be able to put up much of a fight; or driving off the Sharlins (see below). B5 forces, as normal, defend itself.

In response to the comment about not turning away, what about a third squadron waiting in hyperspace? Maybe another Omega CC, another Hyperion AC, a squad of Novas... After all, B5 was a major military asset, and with the other races too tied up with their own wars/issues, a retaliation against Earth would have been unlikely at that time. Get in there, secure B5 at any cost, deal with the other races later.

Special, history altering rules - if the White Star is destroyed (explodes), B5 immediately surrenders (Sheridan is devistated with the loss of Deleen, unable to command after her loss). The Sharlins immediately jump to CQ7 (think Earth-Minbari war rage) and will savage any Earth vessel it can. Once done, they will retreat, leaving B5 to fend for itself while they blindly go on to avenge Deleen... Also, the Anla'shok do not gather their forces as they should, B5 doesn't become the focal point in the Shadow War, and, likely, the EA and the Centauri will end up allowing the Shadows to win this time around.

 

[Slightly Norse John]

Then stat it up as a fight of nearly equal PL. That's enough force to match 3 Sharlins and a White Star; I'd say, for plot purposes,
Command Omega, three Omegas, two Hyperions, two Assault Hyperions, two independent Starfury wings and two wings of Breaching Pods.
It's probably still going to be a very small battle of the line rerun- a shooting gallery for the Minbari.

 

[Silvereye]

Following on the 'what if thinking I submitted earlier, what if the ships jumping in behind Epislon Eridani were a pair of Shadow Omega's? Clark desperate for control of B5 trys out a couple of the protoypes of his new toys (the SFoS versions) in a field test.