Skirmish in the TV Sector!

“Report!” shouted Captain John Russell over the general quarters siren as he floated onto the bridge of the EAS Bellingham, closing the hatch behind him quickly.

Commander Mike Pinto, his XO, turned to face him. “Sir, we received a distress call from the freighter Oreck. They reported being under attack by two Centauri ships. We are only 15 minutes from the last known position of the freighter. Course has been plotted, and GQ is set throughout the ship.”

“Ok Mike, take us there, maximum burn.” John turned to his comms officer as he strapped into his seat, “Relay all info and our eta to fleet command.” Moments later, the engines on the Hyperion-class heavy cruiser flared to life, pushing the ship towards battle.

15 minutes later.

“Captain!” The sensor tech shouted towards the command chair, “Sensors are picking up 2 vessels, heading this way! Sensor profiles match Centauri Vorchan-class attack cruisers. Also picking up a debris cloud, possibly wreckage. The Centauri ships are charging weapons!”

“Acknowledged!” Replied Captain Russell, “Weapons, charge all guns. Comms, hail the Centauri and order them to stand down.” After a few short minutes, the weapons officer reported all weapons fully charged, and the comms tech was unable to reach the Centauri vessels. John knew that this was going to be one hell of a battle.

The battle begins

08162009-1.jpg

EAS Bellingham and 2 Vorchan attack cruisers face off

“Helm, keep us bore sighted on the starboard cruiser. Weapons, stand-by all forward batteries and laser.” They bow of the heavy cruiser swung around and followed the targeted attack cruiser, the CRS Hawkbat, as it attempted to juke to its right. Watching the range close, John called out “Batteries released!” and watched as pulse cannon shots, plasma cannon shots, and heavy laser beams shot out into the Hawkbat, doing heavy damage. The two Centauri ships returned fire; the Hawkbats shots being stopped by the Bellingham’s interceptor gird, but the other ship, the CRS Talonclaw, was able to punch through and rip into the Earth ship, doing moderate damage.

08172009.jpg

Centauri cruisers attack the EAS Bellingham

John ordered his ship between the two Vorchans, with a hard turn to port as they passed. The two attack cruisers, finished with their first pass, attempted to get out of range to set up for a second attack. The Talonclaw succeeded, but the Hawkbat was just in range of the port side pulse cannons on the Bellingham, which managed to hit it twice more, crippling the Hawkbat and nearly destroying it.

08172009-3.jpg

EAS Bellingham cripples the CRS Hawkbat

The Bellingham continued its port turn, chasing the Centauri with its fearsome bow guns, until they were finally able to bore sight the Hawkbat again, destroying it with another heavy laser cannon strike and turning it into a burned out hulk that hung motionless in space. The Talonclaw was also in range of the port pulse cannons, but they were only able to score 1 hit on the attack ship. Captain Russell orders the Bellingham to come about, but the ship is able to bring the Vorchan into range. However, the Bellingham was in range of the Centauri weapons, most of which were stopped by the interceptors, but 1 hit managed to damage the power relays, reducing the ships speed for a moment before power could be rerouted.

08172009-7.jpg

EAS Bellingham destroys the Hawkbat, while interceptors protect her from the CRS Talonclaw

The Bellingham continues to chase the Talonclaw in a port spiral, finally managing to bore sight the Centauri. Captain Russell orders the weapons to concentrate all firepower on it, watching as heavy laser beams and pulse cannon shots rip into the ship, secondary explosions from ruptured fuel systems and targeting equipment are reported, and the Talonclaw is crippled! Return fire nearly cripples the Bellingham, but the sturdy old ship hangs on.

08172009-11.jpg

CRS Talonclaw makes its final attack run on the Bellingham

The Talonclaw dumps all power to her engines attempting to outrun the Hyperion’s laser cannon, but the Bellingham was able to come about and keep the lasers on the Centauri while closing into plasma cannon range. Once in range, the Bellingham unloaded everything into the Talonclaw to ensure the kill. Plasma cannon shots rupture more fuel systems, pulse cannon shots damage power relays, and the heavy laser beams cut deep into the ship, causing a catastrophic explosion that destroys the Talonclaw and causing the rest of the ship to explode as well.

08172009-12.jpg

EAS Bellingham destroys the Talonclaw!

Onboard the bridge of the Bellingham, blood bubbling up from a cut to his forehead, Captain Russell quiets the cheers coming from his crew. He orders all available hands to damage control. Next, pushing aside the corpse of the comms officer, he radios for help. “Fleet Command, this is EAS Bellingham, requesting assistance, Over!”


This was my second game with myself. Took 10 turns, and about 2 hours, and was the first time I tried any Special Actions. I had forgotten to bring my starfuries though, oops! The Bellingham limped home with 7 damage remaining, 1 above being crippled. EA won initiative quite a lot, and was able to use it to deadly effect.

Lessons learned, I need to remember defensive special actions, as I was all about attacking. A close blast doors might have saved a few shots from getting through. Also, finding another player would be nice.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

08172009-1.jpg

EAS Bellingham bore sights the CRS Hawkbat with her heavy laser cannons[/i]
 
Thanks for the report. Pics are always a wecome addition.

Getting initiative is critical for the Hyperion in this matchup, as without the Heavy Laser it will never win. I'm suprised, though, that the ship got more than one opportunity to fire as the nimble Vorchans should be able to stay out of the forward bore arc even with a Come About! order.

Kudos to the human captain for a job well done!
 
Excellent report, very characterful!

If the Hyperion passes its Come About! special action then it should be able to boresight the Vorchan that's already moved some of the time but once you get better on your manoeuvring the Vorchans should be able to evade all fire from the laser cannon once they've passed the Hyperion. This isn't a great matchup for experienced players but for newer players it's actually pretty balanced as the beam rules allow the Hyperion to make a mess of the enemy if it can get a shot.

What other ships do you own/have access to?

For your next battle you might care to try out a couple more ships/slightly bigger ships. Maybe an Omega, a Hyperion and an Olympus vs a Primus, Centurion and Vorchan. Both sides have advantages and will show off a lot more of the special actions (particularly defensive ones) whilst trying to keep the big ships alive. Also, fighters come into the equation and the balance between getting the EA ships to fire their boresights against the Centauri trying to get their better guns to face their preferred targets.

Best of luck!
 
The Great White Hyperion strikes again.

sigh
I remember back in the day playing with ships with only a coat of primer.

ah nastalgia
 
The lonely player of WA....one day, he will have a live opponent. Until then, he plays with himself....a LOT!

Good job though :)

BTW, what region of space was that? There were alot of brown and white lines and stuff. And those leathery planets in the background--they are HUGE!

--humor from AZ--
 
Back
Top