|
This was a wargame session, with a system largely lifted from the rather excellent Five Parsecs From Home Tactics supplement, to depict and resolve the naval attack on the Collace system by the Trexalon navy. The description here is rather brief as I took few notes; there were gains and reverses galore and several Special Operations which should hopefully form later RP sessions. No Pete this week though, which is a pity as he knows his strategy!
 |
For weeks the squadrons of the Collace Navy fleet had been manuvering into position to defend against the incoming attack from Trexalon. A thin screen defended the outer system, with SDBs and mines gathered around the gas giant Karthas and the bulk of the fleet in the midsystem around the military base on Bastion. A heavy presence remained in the outer orbits of Collace itself, with SDBs, mines and the trump card of the deep meson gun looming behind them.
There was no way to predict exactly when or where the Trex fleet would Jump in, but the High Command under Admiral Kundrak were pretty sure it would be in the Outer system rather than close in to Collace itself. Consolidating post-Jump while being bombarded by the deep meson site was not a viable prospect.
Sure enough, the Trexalonian fleet dropped out of jump in the outer, between Karthas and Kitono, and consolidated into two battlegroups heading insystem. The Collace squadrons in the outer system moved to intercept the slightly larger of the two - containing the Texalonian Command flagship - and allowed the other to pass by. Perhaps strangely, the Texalonians did not attempt to secure the gas giant and its’ unlimited fuel, but drove straight for the mainworld. Considering this, the Collaceans left SDBs and mines around the military base on Bastion and fell back to the mainworld. The smaller Texalonian fleet moved into the midsystem, and then on to within striking distance of Collace itself, where it paused, waiting for the other half of the fleet to win through and join them in the final assault.
The battle in the outer system settled down into a grinder, with ship after ship and squadron after squadron riddled with beams or blown apart by missiles. For a while it seemed the invaders had the upper hand, but then a small fleet of naval mercenaries jumped unexpectedly in, reinforcing the Collacaeans and turning the tide. Slowly and relentlessly the Texalonian fleet was ground down.
The Collace fleet threw in reinforcements of their own - including their own Command squadron. In the end, the reinforcements told, and the Texalonian fleet dwindled. Finally the Heavy Cruiser squadron containing the flagship was all that remained. As battle raged around it, a boarding party was launched against the command vessel and hand-to-hand combat joined aboard the huge ship. [guess who this will involve!]
Eventually the last of the Command Squadron were destroyed or captured and the battle in the outer system was over.
In the Inner System, the other half of the Texalonian had watched their comrades try and fail to join them, and as command passed to the next in the chain, the decision was taken to withdraw. Fleeing the Home Fleet far enough to gain the time for a plot, they Jumped out of Collace - presumably for Pavabid, as their fuel was going to be low.
The Battle of Collace was over.