Persei-Aries War Resumes
New Arab League Warship Class - TWO Darkstar Games today!
We’ll be playing not one but two Darkstar wargames today, with players on four continents. Meanwhile, we’re also ramping up the Arab League for play this evening, so a new light carrier class has been designed into their fleet.
The Khalifa class light carrier is a newer design for the star caliphates Arab League, in fact the first dedicated carrier class ever developed for this navy. Until the lead ship of this class was commissioned in 2508, the Arab League had always relied on their "hybrid" cruiser fleet, such as Almanzor class light cruisers and Damascus class heavy cruisers, even the Sayf al Qadr (Sword of the Most Powerful) class battleships. These ships traditionally carried a lighter main armament suite in exchange for a partial aerospace fighter and strike complement, allowing each ship to act as a multi-mission platform or a task force as a dedicated carrier strike force. Through the 2480s, 90s, and early 2500s, this unusual doctrine brought Arab task forces startling successes on more than one occasion, so the decision was undertaken to "double down" on the aerospace arm and build a dedicated carrier. The move was not unopposed among some of the League's military leaders, who cited that the hybrid cruisers had been winning with aerospace because the enemy cruiser squadrons they faced simply had no aerospace support, and relatively weak gunnery of Arab cruisers meant that aerospace had to win these encounters by default. Nevertheless, the capabilities of the "Mylekinir" (Fire Angel) fighter and "Demkikham" (Vengeance) bomber are the match of any in Known Space, especially after fleet-wide modernization and refit programs undertaken through the 2510s. The Khalifa class carries plenty of them, surprassing most light carriers and matched only by the American Buford class and Japanese Shimada class. The Khalifa also packs plenty of warhead delivery support, namely the advanced "Ahrasyfa" (Storm) gravitic torpedo in two quadruple racks on the expanded bow, one ventral and one dorsal. Note the unusual layout of these torpedoes, most ships of this type mount them in an "assault configuration" balanced along the port and starboard bows. This, combined with the powerful forward shields, belies the offensive-minded doctrine envisioned for these ships. Like most Arab League ships, the Khalifa's superluminal speeds also outmatch most rivals, all ships capable of at least 11th-magnitude Darkstar waves.
As a participant in 1 game and observer in the other – I am impressed with how the game scale between the full on Taskforce Agamemnon of @damon taking on a big Russian-American taskforce to the cruisers with escorts in the 2nd battle
Thanks, @rasmus – indeed the second game had a very different feel and flavor.
Honestly thinking of bumping up the point cost on corvettes from 10 to 15.
This would mean “advanced” corvettes like the Mako, K-56, and Type XIIs would be 18 instead of 12.
(every upgrade is calculated at +20%).
This would be a relatively simple fix without redesigning / publishing a lot of WRS.
@oriskany that should curtail the Corvette spam a little, fleet need to be little more than a light cruiser and 10 Corvettes
I don’t know if it’s “spam,” I mean one light cruiser and ten corvettes SHOULD be a viable fleet. It is “canon,” all the write-ups for frigates, corvettes, and gunboats have them described as often using “wolfpack” tactics. I’m just hoping the to get the balance right.
Honestly, one cruiser and ten corvettes … would be legal for a 250-300 point fleet … I would just make the person who TOOK that fleet … RUN that battle. 😀
@oriskany it should be viable, but the corvettes seem a little under priced at which point it might be come TOO viable, and the tournament player mindset I also have start to see it a spamable
Agree, @rasmus . There are also some pretty good tactics that can be used against large numbers of small ships, as we saw with @elessar2590 ‘s torpedo strike against those Shabbak-201 class gunboats. They’re also subject to the same 3-in-a-hex limit for stacking. So if they bunch up for mass driver protection against a decent-size torpedo strike, there is a limit to how many they can shoot down, and those torpedoes that survive can legally be targeted individually. Experience in previous games also shows they’re pretty vulnerable to fighters. All that said, I was starting to worry they were just… Read more »
I 100% support the idea of Corvettes being up costed.
I would also be in favour of only giving them one layer of armour just so those long range laser shots have more of a chance.
Playtesting is now underway @elessar2590 and @rasmus . USS Oriskany is taking on successive waves of 5 and 6 K-56s and Type XIIs. The Oriskany is getting the hell kicked out of her. But she is squeaking out a few “raid” victories. I think we’re close. The “bug in the math” is that not all corvettes are created equal, even if they have the same point value. USS Oriskany is losing over and over vs. 6 Type XIIs. One very lucky and narrow win on a raid. USS Oriskany is wiping the floor with 6 K-56s, even though they cost… Read more »
Thanks for running two long games in one day. I had a lot of fun. I think that part of what had make the corvettes effective in Elessar’s fleet was the simple but ugly bruiser of a short range light cruiser. The long range guns and close up torps complemented each other perfectly.
How do non-torpedo corvettes fare so far? They have to get closer and lose some of that protection from range and shields that the U-boat types enjoy.
Always happy to see more new ships too!
I just saw I put long range guns and close up torps instead of the other way round…
@muakhah – how do non-torpedo corvettes fare so far? Not sure. Only one class really has been tested, the Ashur class for the Arab League. I’ve had a few. They die quick but do well in small ship actions. As I mention above, I’ve been testing the USS Oriskany against wolfpacks of six Type XIIs (108 points). The Oriskany is usually losing, or if she’s winning, she’s been lucky. The best tactic seems to be to stand off, outdistance the torpedoes as best you can, and positively SHOWER them with gunfire to thin the torpedo spread. Use of asteroids and… Read more »