Persei-Aries War Resumes
One Faction Blown Clean Out Of The War!
FROM: UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
09:10 SOL GMT, 18 JANUARY 2521
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: SECRET (NATIONAL)
**UNITED NATIONS COMMUNIQUE**
Developments from the Third Hercules War continue at an ever-faster pace. Just over a week ago, the so-called “Black Dragon” rebels of the self-proclaimed Khitan-Tunguska Free State entered the war from their remove base at Khaizan’s Haven (14 Hercules). They raided the US Navy Base at Port Halsey in the Vega Colony (Alpha Lyra), where their small corvette force was interdicted by the destroyer USS Oriskany. Even while this Black Dragon corvette force was en route, however, a second Black Dragon battlegroup, centered around the Kutusov class light cruiser KTS Chelvnya, had already jumped into a Darkstar wave en route the United Nations mandate in the Redemption (99 Hercules) star system.
There are no American colonies to attack in the Redemption system (in fact this is one of the bones of contention for the Americans in this war), but the Black Dragons were instead targeting potential American allies, the Republic of India and its colony at Svarbageecha (Garden of Heaven), a roughly Venus-sized planet 2.5 AU out from the 99 Her A, the primary F-series main sequence star in this binary system.
India has, on paper, joined the “Coalition of Eagles” with the Americans and Holy Russian Empire against the British and Japanese. However, no military actions have yet been taken by the Indian Navy. That’s about to change as the Black Dragon battlegroup drops out of its Darkstar wave and vectors toward Svarbageecha. Indian naval presence in this system isn’t very powerful, but the two Surat class destroyers and two Asura class frigates available come to general quarters and accelerate into high-speed parabolic orbit of Svarbageecha to intercept the foe.
Why the Black Dragons are attacking the Indians can’t be known for sure. But clearly their campaign against the Americans and Indians (or their entry into the Third Hercules War in general) seems to be designs on the main Indian holding in the region, the Bhogavati Colonies at the HD 176051 system. If India is forced out of the war by the British and the Japanese, and the Black Dragons find themselves on the winning side of the broader conflict, perhaps this “stateless faction” can push for a planet or two in Bhogavati in the peace settlement, thus earning more “bedrock real estate” along the outer Second Band and Frontier regions of Known Space.
Destroyer Interdiction of Cruiser Raid – Svarbageecha Colony, Redemption (99 Hercules) System
The current state of the Third Hercules War. Again, the Black Dragons, launching sorties out of the “Khaizan’s Haven” holdings at 14 Hercules (“1”) have already failed in a long-range raid against the Americans at the Alpha Lyra colony (Vega, far left). Now, just eight days later, another light cruiser battlegroup has engaged against the Indian Republic at the Redemption UN Mandate (99 Hercules, “2”). It is doubtful whether this second Black Dragon battlegroup even knows what happened at Vega, given the distance between the two systems (28 light-years) and the fact that this second group just spent 21 days in a Darkstar wave en route from 14 Hercules. 
Here is the matchup. We have two Indian Surat-class destroyers and two Asura-class frigates up against a Kutusov-class light cruiser, a Sovnya class destroyer, and a K-56 class torpedo corvette. These three ex-Russian ships and their combat capabilities will be well-known to those who follow Darkstar, but these Indian Republic ships haven’t been on the table since late 2012 (IK Pegasi War). Let’s see how they do! This is a 126-point battle, classified as a “Small Engagement” on the Darkstar Campaign Tables.
Both battlegroups make their approach. Everyone’s ships are drifting toward he planet slightly (normal terrestrial gravity rules apply). The laser-heavy Indian Navy ships are setting up for a port broadside, while the Black Dragons hope to knock the odds one step in their favor with a wave of 28 P-500 “Plamya” (Flame) Class III torpedoes. Hence they make sure to point directly at the enemy, so both port and starboard bow torpedo racks (and associated targeting systems) can come to bear. The Indians open fire and score no hits (range is still 4500 kilometers at this point), whereas the Black Dragons have no weapons that can reach at all.
Still being pulled toward the upper atmosphere of Svarbageecha, the Black Dragons turn to port, maintaining torpedo arcs on the Indian warships as they turn lard to starboard, vectoring out of the planet’s immediate gravity well. Their destroyers have lost their broadsides, while the swifter Asura-class frigates maneuver to maintain full gunnery batteries on the approaching foe. Much closer now, the two sides finally start landing blows on each other (Black Dragon rail guns and EPCs and longer-ranged Indian lasers), the destroyers Nakul and Dalakhai taking the worst of it. 
At last the Black Dragon torpedo wave hits, heavily damaged but failing to cripple the Indian destroyer Nakul. This is due in no small part to excellent Indian mass driver point-defense guns, which shot down the vast majority of the Black Dragon torpedoes. The Black Dragons have become perhaps a little too aggressive here, with the cruiser Chelvnya lunging at the Indians too soon, the Indians maneuvering clear, then the destroyer Dalakhai pivoting to put a close-range broadside against the Indians. All the while, the torpedo corvette KT-234 maneuvers to a safe distance to continue showering the Indians with torpedo volleys. The problem is that the Black Dragons are now badly divided, and while the Dalakhai indeed as a broadside on Nakul, every Indian warship also has a broadside on her. The Nakul and Dalakhai are both hideously damaged, yet again ... neither warship is crippled. 
In view of heavy damage to the Dalakhai, the Black Dragons ELECT to get her clear of the battle area. She accelerates on a 150 heading off the table. She is still operational and not forced to “break off” – so there are no victory points for this to the Indian player. However, it does mean that the Dalakhai’s torpedoes, rail guns, and plasma projectors are now off the table as well. The Chelvnya dives at the Indians, who try to form something of a hedgehog against the incoming second wave of Black Dragon torpedoes. The Nakul, with badly-damaged maneuvering thrusters, struggles to make the required turns. A small Indian torpedo wave heads toward the KT-234. There are only a few torpedoes there, but even one hit is enough to heavily damage this small torpedo corvette. Meanwhile, the rapidly-imploding dogfight positively erupts in a series of point-blank broadsides. The slower Chelvnya has been outmaneuvered, and slashing Indian laser hits soon have her stern torn open and her engines and reactors powered down. Crippled and afire, she careens off the table, dead in space. Point-blank Black Dragon rail guns and EPCs, however, have burned open the Nakul to such an extent that the captain of this valiant destroyer is finally compelled to break off the action.
The Black Dragons are obviously, losing this battle. At the moment they are losing by 48 points, just enough to keep this as a “minor Indian victory” on the campaign tables (minor vs. major victory is determined by a 40% victory margin based off the beginning point levels of the game). Once the Indian victory margin goes to +50 points, that’s 40% of the 126 beginning total. The KT-234, the last Black Dragon ship on the table, pivots hard to escape. HOWEVER, she’s been damaged by Indian fire last turn, and as fate would have it, one of the systems hit on the tiny corvette is the maneuvering thrusters. KT-234 can turn to get off the table, she can accelerate to get off the table, but right now she can’t do BOTH. She throws her grav rudder hard to starboard and makes best speed out of the battle area, but she is ONE HEX shy of actually getting off the table. The Indians thus get one more crack at her. The KT-234 also throws a last spread of torpedoes at the Nakul ... if they can CRIPPLE her rather than DRIVE HER OFF, they get “full points” for the destroyer and will keep this a minor victory even if the KT-234 is crippled. As it turns out, both Black Dragon hopes fail. The Nakul and Katar shoot down ALL the Black Dragon torpedoes (even with the Nakul’s sensor damage), while the Ratha and Shalya land long-range laser fire through KT-234’s shields. The KT-234 is crippled, the Nakul is not (only half points for forcing a break-off), so the final score is 88 to 23, a +65 Indian win that now counts as a Major Victory.
And that’s it. Indeed that maneuvering thruster aboard KT-234 has become a literal "horseshoe nail" that brought down a nation, at least in regards to the Third Hercules War. A MAJOR VICTORY on a Small Engagement is worth +4 campaign points. This, combined with the +2 campaign point victory won by the Americans last week, puts the Black Dragons at -6. Note that this EXCEEDS their “political commitment” (bottom row) for this war, limited to +/- 5. Therefore, the Black Dragons DROP OUT OF THE WAR. And the British and Japanese have LOST this unlikely, apparently unreliable, ally in the Third Hercules War. The Indians, meanwhile, may dropout of the war for al altogether different reason, they have tied their +/-4 political commitment (yes, different factions have different “levels of commitment” to any given conflict). With this one battle, have they met their government’s political and diplomatic goals for involvement in this war? They have it TIED, not EXCEEDED, so we may let them stay in for now (also, Damon might want to keep “working” on these new warships / captains / crews of his). But suffice it to say that the Indian Republic has landed a very heavy blow here, won huge prestige in the UN Mandate of 99 Hercules, knocked one enemy faction clean out of the war, and may be on the brink of receiving “ceasefire orders” as their government wins concessions from either the UN, their British foes, or their American allies.So will another faction join the war in place of the Black Dragons? We have interest from other players, perhaps the Arab League may swoop in and join the British and Japanese of the Renkei Alliance, depending on what the British and Japanese offer them for their help. As Spock says in Star Trek VI … “In that case, Mister Chekov, it resides in the purview of the diplomats.”
Suffice it to say a major shakeup is in the works for the Third Hercules War.
This was a fun little game, I really enjoyed it.
Commander Satvir Legan of the destroyer Shalya is living up to her reputation as the ‘Smiling Cobra’.
Epic, @damon . She sounds like a badass! 😀 We have @muakhah and the Arab League up tomorrow morning (later today, actually). 😀 Between the Political Shift that was rolled for the last big battle at 72 Hercules (Krasnaya Nadhezda) and the Black Dragons getting booted out of the war, we’re bringing in the ARAB LEAGUE as a new faction to support the Renkei Alliance (British and Japanese). So your British and @rasmus ‘ Japanese aren’t standing alone! As the Indians kick the Black Dragons out of the war, their Americans and Russians allies would LOVE to get a foothold… Read more »
Have to put a break on the Indians … Might have to send Task Force Kama over that way …
@damon might actually thank you for that, @rasmus . As it stands the Indian Republic “should” really be cashing out of the war as a winning faction. Great for the diplomats, but bad for the players (Damon) who are trying to build up their new Indian Navy commanders. 😀