Persei-Aries War Resumes
Last Battle of the Third Hercules War
FROM: ADVISORY OFFICE, UN HERCULES SCS REGIONAL COLONIAL CENTER
17:10 SOL GMT, 13 JUNE 2522
BREAKAUTH: 181072.18J
CLEARANCE: NATIONAL COMMAND AUTHORITY
SUBJ: BATTLE OF MISHA’S WINDFALL (72 Hercules-A, 119 Delta)
The climactic campaign of the Third Hercules War continues, with a joint British, Arab League, and Japanese invasion of the Holy Russian Empire “Krasnaya Nadhezda” (Red Hope) colonies in the 72 Hercules system. The Russians are the last major power holding out against the “Renkei Alliance” between the British, Arab League, and Japanese, and 72 Hercules is their last major stronghold here along the Hercules Rim. Finally, after months of preparation, buildup, and coordination, often disrupted by Russian spoiling attacks, counter-invasions, and political maneuver, the Renkei invasion of 72 Hercules is underway.
The 72 Hercules system is a trinary system, with a yellow main sequence star (72 Hercules A), an orange dwarf and a red dwarf (72 Hercules B and C) orbiting around a common gravimetric barycenter. Although defense and industrial installations exist in 72 Hercules B and C, the main center of the Krasnaya Nadhezda colonies are rooted in 72 Hercules A.
Just over 24 hours ago, the British spearheaded the initial thrust of this invasion, with the Agamemnon cruiser-carrier fleet cracking Russian defenses along the outermost orbital belts of 72 Hercules A. The assault was a bloody one, with heavy damage inflicted on the Agamemnon squadron, while the defending Russian Admiral Lazarev cruiser task force was effectively destroyed. What remained of Russian defenses here was the massive “Goryzhont Stanstsiya” (Horizon Station), a naval support and defense facility the British hoped to use as a beachhead for expanded deployments deeper into the inner orbital zones of the 72 Hercules system.
But the British never subdued or took Horizon Station, only destroying its protective cruiser task force and than “laying siege” to the installation. The British outgun Horizon Station, and the installation’s eventual fall is assured … assuming no reinforcements reach the station.
The only problem is, reinforcements are now on the way – and the Russians are not kidding around, either. With an enemy foothold now in their primary Hercules colony, their allies long gone, the Duma screaming for an end to this war, and even the Holy Patriarch of Muscovy petitioning the Czar to end hostilities … their time has run out. The Holy Russian Navy has one last chance to redress the situation, and the time is now.
Fortunately for the Russians, they believe they finally have the tools to mount an effective frontal counterstrike. Escorted by the veteran heavy cruiser Tatiana Mikhailevna and strike carrier Novorossysk, the Russian task force is built around the Kirov-class battlecruiser CPK Potemkin. With upgraded Darkstar drives, this “light” battleship has covered the distance from the larger Russian colony group at Psi Serpentis C – a high-speed voyage from the Psi Serpentis Strategic Command Sector of about 45 light-years covered by the Potempkin covered in just under two months. Accordingly, Potemkin has made it here long before the larger, full-dreadnought Peter the Great class battleship from the core colonies of the Holy Russian Empire. Originally she was intended to spearhead a more concerted Russian counter-invasion of the Outer Hebrides or Khaizan’s Haven, but the Russians have clearly run out of time.
The Russian task force sorties from the Red Hope colony at the heart of 72 Hercules A, their mission to engage the British cruisers at Horizon Station and lift the siege. One of their navigational waypoints is the moon of an outer ice giant, 72 Hercules 119 Delta. More colorfully nicknamed “Misha’s Windfall,” this tiny moon is being bombarded with debris torn by gravitational tidal forces off an asteroid that Russian industrialists have tugged into a fatally-close orbit. As shards of asteroids the size of small countries smash into the surface of Misha’s Haven, the moon’s rotation pulls the impact zones an orbital industrial station, which has an easy time mining through the metals, silicates, and even glacial ice hurled up as impact ejecta.
This leads to a very curious battlespace, with two small moons in terribly close (and very unstable) proximity and cascading sheets of debris. The Russians though the hazardous nature of Misha’s Windfall would make it the last place intercepting ships would look for the Potemkin battlegroup.
They were wrong. For the Potemkin has indeed been located, and has now been intercepted by converging vectors of two smaller task forces. These are Task Force Mutamid (Captain Rashid abd-al Maghrebi) of the Arab League Navy, and Task Force Kama under Captain Seizo Yamamoto. The Mutamid task force in particular has been heavily upgraded after their recent victories at Khaizan’s Haven, and now includes no less than three Almanzor class light hybrid cruisers. The largest allied ship is of course the heavy cruiser Kama, her massive 18-teravolt EPCs suddenly overshadowed by the Potempkin’s 25-teravolt mass drivers . . . and 12-gigawatt rail guns. At 347,000 tons, Potempkin outweighs any other ship engaged by 2:1, but the Japanese and Arab League in turn outnumber the Russians by the same factor. The League also brings a powerful aerospace group from their three Almanzor class cruisers . . . fighters and bombers that will be hardpressed to make a dent in Potempkin’s gigantic point-defense systems or double rack of torpedo tubes . . . of twenty tubes each.
The Battle at Misha’s Windfall will be one for the ages. For the Russians, this is their last chance. If they lose here, they are out of the war and as the last power of the Coalition of Eagles . . . that’s the end of the Third Hercules War in general. The Japanese and Arab League also want a win here, hoping for vindication after some stinging defeats, even their victories have been overshadowed by the British.
Can the Japanese and Arab League score the win that finally ends the Third Hercules War?
JAPANESE: Rasmus
ARAB LEAGUE: Muakhah
HOLY RUSSIAN EMPIRE: Oriskany
RAID VICTORY CONDITIONS (568 points)
The current disposition of the Third Hercules War. Not only is 72 Hercules (Krasnaya Nadhezda) being assault from three sides, but the British now have a lodgment in 72 Hercules A’s outer debris belt and have a major Russian installation there under siege. A massive relief force, built around a newly-arrived Kirov-class battlecruiser, is on its way to lift the siege and eject the British. But that relief force has now been intercepted by two converging task forces of Arab and Japanese warships. If the Russians win, they buy some time and this war continues. If they lose, it’s over.
Here we see Misha’s Windfall, where Russian industrialists have tugged an asteroid so close to this small moon of an outer ice giant (72 Hercules A-119) that gravity is tearing the asteroid apart, the impact collisions allowing the Russian station to bring a whole new meaning to the term “colonial strip mining.” The Russians were hoping this hazardous, out-of-the-way station would make for a good waypoint for the Potemkin task force, but the Japanese and Arab League have caught wind of the ruse and made the intercept. Both sides use the disintegrating asteroid to mask their initial approach, even if it means setting course straight FOR the debris at a relatively high speed. 
The Russians make a standard turn to port, hoping to set up a broadside against the Arabs and Japanese who will ... sooner rather than later ... have to emerge from behind that rubble. The Renkei Alliance ships prolong that inevitable moment as long as possible, making crash turns to starboard only at the last possible instant before destruction. The Arab cruisers even accelerate while making this move, but the safety it offers is momentary at best. Even as both sides avoid the asteroid and its surrounding debris, they’re only diving towards the methane glaciers of Misha’s Windfall itself. Both fleets are also keeping a close formation in order to offer best mass driver defense, either against swarms of Arab League aerospace strikes, or clouds of Russian P-500 torpedoes. 
There are times in Darkstar where the battle is a chess game, a careful and well-coordinated match of ploy vs. counter-ploy, the killing advantage delivered through subtle, crucial factors rarely evident until it’s just too late. This is not one of those times. This damned near turns into a full-on demolition derby. The Russian cruiser Tatiana Mikhailevna loses initiative and has to move first, so she pulls a wide bend to starboard to open the range and cross the enemy’s T as they emerge from behind the asteroid debris. The Kama is next, which moves to perfect broadside range and position against the Tatiana. The battlecruiser Potemkin, seeing the largest enemy ship on the table, lunges forward to deliver what should be a killing counterstroke against the much-smaller Kama, a POINT-BLANK BATTLESHIP broadside. Yet even with the gunfire support from the Tatiana, AMAZINGLY the Kama survives. Sure, the whole bow of a 150,000 ton heavy cruiser is basically blown OFF, but the Russians don’t hit the bridge and she’s technically still operational. Meanwhile the light cruisers Sendai Byo and Taliq ibn Zayid stomp the gas and cut straight across the Potemkin’s stern, a VERY risky move since they are closing with a battleship at point blank range while pointing DIRECTLY at a moon (lose power = collision and total loss of ship). The little strike frigate Urakaze won’t be undone, cutting behind the Potemkin and turning straight toward her stern (Akashi-class strike frigates have ALL their weapons mounted forward), rather like a terrier biting the ass of a bear. But even with these three point-blank, full-size volleys delivered directly aft (not to mention the outmatched but still devastating point-blank broadside from the Kama against Potemkin’s starboard bow), Potempkin still remains operational, releasing a hideous swarm of torpedoes to hit next turn. Fighters and bombers from the Novorossysk don’t do very well, nor to the mass fighter and bomber strike from the hybrid cruisers Mutamid, Sulayman, and Zayid. The Mutamid and Sulayman do score a significant success, however, as they slash behind the stern of the Tatiana and in a single combined broadside, blow her engine and reactors clean out of her hull. Indeed, no only to they cripple the Slava-class cruiser, they damned near blow her up. 
The Potemkin heaves away from the Misha’s Windfall, unable to do much more than that with her current speed and limited maneuverability (she’s a “fast” battleship, but still a “battleship”). The Kama also raises maximum steam to disengage, she’s still “operational” but positively mangled in her brief, unpleasant encounter with the Potemkin. But she doesn’t get very far, mounded by a massive wave of Russian torpedoes targeting her collapsed starboard bow shielding. Despite waves of these P-500 warheads being shot down by Arab League “Mylekinir” (Fire Angel) fighters and the Kama’s own mass drivers, two torpedoes hit the bridge and cripple the ship AT LAST. It should be noted that Kama took most of the Russian firepower for two complete turns, when really one turn should have been enough to leave her crippled. That one extra turn free of MOST Russian firepower (bought at such a dear price) is what allows the rest of the Arab-Japanese forcer to maneuver behind the Potempkin. The Urakaze is positively blown inside out (crew losses would approach 100%, except for her “Resilient Crew” upgrade) but the rest of the fleet hemmers into the engines and reactors of the Potempkin, finally knocking down the gigantic Russian battlecruiser.
The Novorossysk, last Russian ship on the table, has recovered the surviving Russian fighters and bombers, and now raises maximum steam to escape the table. The Russians and Arab League let her go, their victory here is clearly decisive and instead turn to rescue and recovery efforts. Although a stunning victory, crew losses aboard the Kama and Urakaze have been extreme. Both ships will be repaired and EVENTUALLY see service again, but especially for the Kama, the road to recovery will be a long one. But she’ll have time to be repaired in peace ... because with this Russian defeat, Red Hope colonial administrators put out a call for a cease fire. The Third Hercules War is over.
Here is the Warship Record Sheet (WRS) for the CPK Potemkin. You can see where the cruisers Sendai Byo, Mutamid, Sulayman, and Zayid (along with the last fusillade from the valiant little Urakaze) have completely burned out her engineering sections. Exactly nineteen “red boxes” have been checked off, leaving Rasmus and Muakhah with a “0+” chance to cripple on a d6. That’s a pretty easy roll to make. In fact, one more and Potemkin could have exploded, and an exploding battleship is something you want no part of. Meanwhile, only one gray “core box” has been hit (where most of the crew actually are while at “general quarters” action stations in a battle). So Potemkin’s crew losses are probably something like 3.33% (say 13 killed and 40 wounded). In some ways, this makes the crippling of Potemkin ... nearly “perfect.” 
Not so much with the Kama and especially Urakaze. Kama’s taken 10 out of 18 crew boxes hit, putting her losses closer to 55%. Out of a crew of 684 officer and men, that’s 94 killed and 284 wounded. Urazake would be even worse (the little 27,400-ton frigate carrying only 121 officers and men). In fact casualties would be total, except she has the “Resolute Crew” battle upgrade, allowing crew casualties (and % break off chance) to be halved. So figure 15 killed and 45 wounded. Suffice it to say that Japan has earned herself a slice of the winnings in 72 Hercules and 99 Hercules (Redemption UN Mandate). By contrast, the Arab League ships were not even FIRED UPON. But they knocked out the Tatiana Mikhailevna singlehandedly and delivered MOST of the killing fusillade into the stern of the Potemkin.
So that’s it, folks. THE THIRD HERCULES WAR IS OVER. The proof is in the chart above. I might put out a short retrospective later this week, where we talk about the aftermath who gets what (put your comments below!), what happens with the key commanders (medals, titles, promotions). Many already shiny have new ships under their command or in their fleets. MEANWHILE – the Third Hercules War has gone on since mid-October (just over nine months of gaming), creating another year and a half of Darkstar “history” (late 2520 to mid 2522). GIGANTIC CONGRATULATIONS to all players who stuck with it, all of them pushed all the way through. Great effort, everyone. Great campaign, and great games! 
Great game, a straight up knock out punch to finish off the bear. Congratulations to @rasmus and @muakhah, well done chaps!
This is the first time in years that I’ve played a campaign to completion, thanks Jim and everyone else involved for keeping it so lively and entertaining.
Thanks, @damon – and now worries about the campaign. Not every Darkstar campaign reaches the end (most, but not all), so it’s always great to put another campaign in the books. With the updated commanders, ships, and battle reports, it’s all now part of Darkstar “canon.” Of course this also doesn’t mean the end of Darkstar here on OTT, we may even have some new players interested. But we’ll run solo, pick-up games for a while for any players who are interested. Might also get back to that Star Trek conversions … See how the Americans do against the Romulans,… Read more »
2 battle ships in 2 battles – I might have to look at upgrading Kama soon, any “light” Japanese Battleships/Battlecruisers @oriskany ? of the Taiho/Katana ilk with out going for a full blown Yamato 🙂
Nothing yet, @rasmus . Yamato of course and then the old-school “Haruna” class – modeled one the old Kongo / Kirishima class of WW2. We can always add another tab to the spreadsheet, though! 🙂
The moden Iliand known as the Third Herculese War has finally come to and end. Rule Britania!
Japanese and Arab League came out as winners as well. Americans a draw. Russians and especially New Romans big losers. The Consortium is just being very quiet right now, hoping no one notices them or remembers they were in this thing. 😐
Urakaze will 110% claim the crippling in all official IJN records of the battle – just to rub it the face of the bear
I’ll echo @damon that it been great, my only regret is that I not been able to get enough games in (and got side tracked by the Russians for a bit), but at least I where there for the opening shoots and for the closing
No worries, @rasmus – we’ll still be running pick up games, one-off games, scrimmage games, stuff like that. 🙂
And finally let me thank @oriskany , @gladesrunner , @damon and @muakhah for some great games during the campaign
No worries at all, @rasmus – thanks for all the continuing support of the project. 🙂
Just got to reading this and I feel doubly lucky. Once for the game itself, where my fragile light cruisers were overlooked and able to do their thing. But mainly because it’s been a great campaign to be part of. Reading and playing epic battles and sharing good and bad luck (I think I averaged more good luck) along with fun banter.
It would have been awesome any time. But was especially appreciated over the last 6 months.
Here’s hoping for many more great games with you all.