DARKSTAR CAMPAIGN UPDATE: DUCHESS ANNABEL’S WAR IS OVER

Good afternoon, OTT / BoW:

Okay, so here’s the continuation of the Darkstar battle recently played on-line between myself and @davehawes.  In summary, we have my force  – an older cruiser battlegroup of the Holy Russian Empire (flagship CPK Basilov) pitted against @davehawes’ smaller, faster, lighter … more advanced but less “punchy-powerful” aerospace carrier battlegroup (flagship HMS Raven).

So here’s the general situation midway through Turn 02.  The two battlegroups have closed to within 1400 km or so, about the distance between London and Warsaw, and are now exchanging heavy fire.  My Russian ships continue to set a high speed, hoping to close with the British as quickly as possible.  My guns hit much harder close up, and the last thing you ever want to do with “gun heavy” ships is engage enemy carriers at a distance where their fighters and bombers can simply assail you with missiles and torpedoes.  I’ve started to hedge toward the Mars-sized planet in an attempt to cover at least some of the armor and shielding, if I take heavy damage on one side I can always roll my ship and use the planet’s bulk and atmosphere to protect such wounds.

Dave, meanwhile, has been a little accommodating in closing the distance.  He’s not moving nearly as fast as I am, and so is not quite as eager to close to any kind of “slugging distance” (perfectly understandable) but I’m a little surprised he’s closing at all.  No worries, we’re ready to engage.

The bad news for me will come in the aerospace attack phase, shown in progress below.  His four bombers (two counters of “B2”) are at standoff range, the maximum allowed to sling out their torpedoes past the cruiser Basilov, then fishhook around to hit the Basilov in the stern, by far the most vulnerable part of the ship.  To give the torpedoes sufficient reach to execute this maneuver, he has to come JUST close enough to be engaged by Basilov’s mass driver arrays.  We open fire with half our guns (keeping half ready to shoot down actual torpedoes) and manage to shoot down one bomber.  Then my one and only scout from CPK Volkhov zips in and shoots down another.  Aerospace combat is simultaneous, however, so Bomber #2’s ordinance is still launched (each bomber carries 2 torpedoes, so four bombers = 8 torpedoes, one bomber shot down by my mass driver fire BEFORE launch = 6 torpedoes, another bomber shot down by my scouts AS it was launching, so still 6 torpedoes, even though only 4 bombers are left).  None of these aerospace craft can shoot at my scout as they used their fire phase to launch aerospace ordinance at my cruiser.

Incidentally, HMS Singapore,  Raven, or Fergusson could have shot down my scout, but instead they are reserving ALL mass drivers to try and shoot down the swarm of P-500 Class III torpedoes (green counters) streaking in toward the engines of the destroyer HMS Singapore.  Dave also brings in his five scouts, who will take a try at shooting down these torpedoes.

So here’s the Russian battlegroup being hit by the British ordinance package.  This is an extremely important phase of the turnand the overall game, it’s really the best single opportunity that Dave will have to knock out or at least badly damage this heaviest Russian ship.  I have already thrown half my mass drivers at his bombers, hoping to knock them out even before they launch, plus earn victory points for destroyed enemy combat assets.  That worked … partially, but now I only have half of the cruiser mass drivers left to engage the warships torpedoes (blue) the “6T” six aerospace torpedoes launched from those Star Typhoons, or the “8T” lighter eight aerospace missiles launched from the Supermarine Starfire fighters.  I also have the mass drivers from the destroyer Kortik and the frigate Volkhov.

I decide to put everything on the warship torpedoes.  These are by far the most dangerous, with the highest change to hit and largest damage profile.  Even more specifically, I start with those launched from the Singapore, as that destroyer has a +1 CIC / targeting electronics, making her torpedoes in particular even more dangerous.

Meanwhile, the British are doing much the same against my torpedo spread. I have more warship torpedoes, but these are only Class IIIs, meaning they have a lower chance to hit and inflict less damage if they do hit.  Still, 17 warheads are nothing to sneeze at.  In addition, British scouts are able to attack, subtracting their the class of the torpedoes (3) from the scouts’ Base Intercept Number of 6 (essentially their aerospace attack number).  So 6-3=3, giving Dave x5d10 (five scouts) v. 3 … He scores two hits!  So whatever the British mass drivers manage to knock down, these scouts then knock down two more P-500 warheads with their light guns.

My Russian mass driver gunners manage to shoot down all but two of the big Class IV warship torpedoes.  Their chance to hit is an 8, minus my shields of 4 = ≤4 v d10.  One hits, one misses.  Two aerospace missiles hit from the Starfires, three torpedoes hit from the Star Typhoons.  A typical tactic in Darkstar is to hit with your smaller ordinance first, shaving down enemy armor before really hammering home with your bigger weapons that may exploded inside the enemy ship.  So aerospace missiles hit in columns 3 and 4 (two boxes each).  The three Typhoon torpedoes hit in Colum 3 (three boxes), then TWO hit in the same column 4 where that Starfire missile just strike.  So six boxes are marked off INSIDE the Balisov, wiping out one whole engine (starboard), then drilling into the core of the ship (gray boxes up by the aft hangars).  The last big weapon is the that one Class IV torpedo, but its hit location is a little disappointing, a four-point strike that hits column 5.  You can see where the fourth box of damage doesn’t even take place in the ship, exploding harmlessly out into space as this warhead basically “clips the tail light” off the cruiser.

So this is nasty.  But the Basilov isn’t in real trouble yet.  She’s a light cruiser, so her Ship Crippled roll is a 10+ on a d6, -1 off that target number for each critical (red) box marked off.  She’s lost three engine boxes, giving her a new Cripple chance of 7+ on a d6.  Closer, but still not in immediate danger.  She’s also suffered -1 box of gray “core damage.”  Light cruisers have a “break off” chance of 15% per box.  I roll a 93 on 2d10 percentile, so Basilov’s crew isn’t running yet.  However, she has lost one complete engine (starboard), so she’s down -1 in Thrust (this affects her ability to turn and change velocity, as well as initiative).  She’s also lost one sensor box, meaning she’s at a -1 to hit with any and all weapons the rest of the game.  And let’s face it, her weapons weren’t that accurate to begin with.

The HMS Singapore, meanwhile, fares a little better.  Only five of my torpedoes survive British mass driver defensive fire and scout interception.  And of those, only two penetrate the Singapore’s shields.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that the Singapore is a destroyer and thus a smaller ship.  I only have four columns to hit (d4 hit location instead of d5).

However, the Singapore gets very lucky, and the two torpedoes hit outboard (I roll 1 and 4 on hit locations).  While this knocks out one battery of mass drivers and a sensor suite (note the reduction of Mass driver number and the -1 to hit for the rest of the game), it COMPLETELY MISSES her engines.  If I had rolled 2 and 3 instead of 1 and 4, HMS Singapore would already be in real trouble and well into making critical compartment rolls to maintain power.

Meanwhile, along Singapore’s port bow, the Russian guns of the Kortik and Volkhov have already opened fire.  I knock out the port cargo bay, no effect on game play (the captain just lost the prized tea set and box of Cuban cigars he had in storage, he’s a little irate but otherwise undamaged).

Gunnery now opens up, and suddenly the picture starts to get a lot rosier for the Russians.  Although the Balisov (Konstantine class light cruiser) wasn’t able to get a broadside against the approaching British warships, it almost doesn’t matter.  With three of her four turrets (each a triple mount of 7-GW rail guns) mounted forward, she’s able to blast out a withering fusillade at the hapless little frigate Fergusson.   At this rather extended gunnery range, each 7-GW rail gun hit only causes two boxes of damage, and out of the nine guns I can bring to bear, four of them hit (base to hit at this range is 8, -4 for Fergusson’s shields, note the -1 sensor damage doesn’t actually take effect yet since all combat in a given round is considered simultaneous).  So that’s four 2-point hits, THREE of which hit in sector 3 (1d6 / 2).  Port bow shields are down, two compartments of crew quarters are gone … but the worst is the 7-GW rail gun bolt that smashes completely through the bridge.  No roll, no save, the ship is crippled.

Now after the battle, HMS Fergusson will have a chance to be recovered, towed back to the nearest Royal Navy shipyard for repair and refit, to be brought back into service.  Looking at her damage here, just 6 days (1.5 days per internal component box hit if ship is crippled) … plus whatever tow time it requires to get her back to said dry dock.  But for now, she’s out.

Not to be out done, the HMS Fergusson simultaneously fires back at the frigate Volkhov.  She misses.  The Singapore, however, scores a hard series of broadside hits (remember her +1 CIC / targeting electronics) with her heavy-gauge lasers and Syglex emitters (synchronized, gravitic-lensed X-rays … basically wide-beam, short-burn X-ray “lasers”).  Three of Singapore’s lasers hit, inflicting two boxes of damage (based on Dave’s rolls) in columns 1, 2, and 3.  So the lasers perfectly score off all the armor from Volkhov’s starboard quarter.  Two syglex emitters hit next, punching into the ship and then “dragging” backward like a blowtorch.  The first one hits in Column 2, the second one hist in column 3.  As the damage “drags” backward off the back of the ship (syglex emitters are often not terribly effective against smaller ships, at least on the aft quarters), Dave nevertheless hits one reactor box, as shown.

Okay, Resolution Phase.  Already the Volkhov is down one complete reactor, knocking down available thrust by -1, as well as her starboard quarter mass driver array.

But could it be worse?  Frigates are smaller ships (35,000 tons,180 crew or so), and it doesn’t take much to knock them out.  A frigate’s Ship Crippled roll is a 6+ on a d6, -1 off that target number for each critical (red) box marked off.  This reduces the -6+ to 5+, giving Dave what works out to a 1/3 chance that this ship will power down right now.

He rolls a 5.  So the Novgorod class frigate CPK Volkhov is also crippled, without power, dead in space and out of power.

In effect, the British and Russians have traded frigates.  I’ve slightly damaged the destroyer Singapore,  while he’s badly damaged the larger light cruiser Basilov.  At the moment, the British seem to have the upper hand.

However . . . the aerospace group of the HMS Raven has thrown it’s “Sunday punch.”  Half her bombers are now shot down, and the two that are left are too far from the carrier to land quickly to re-arm.  Yes, they have eight fighters, but these are now only armed with light cannon, not terribly frightening against full-sized ships.  The Russians, by contrast, can fire off those 7-GW rail guns and heavy 40-KG plasma projectors all day …

The advantage may very easily shift back on Turn 3.  This battle isn’t even close to over yet …

Well, as some of you may remember, I was challenged on an episode of XLBS a while back to run a game of Darkstar on-line.

Never challenge Oriskany. 😀

In all seriousness … this first on-line game has now been run.  It took place on December 1, 2018 between myself here in Fort Lauderdale and @davehawes in the UK, with spectators from the US, UK, and Canada.

The platform proved very smooth and outside of a few lag issues when remote players were trying to move their pieces on the shared desktop, delivered a pretty epic Darkstar experience.

So here we have the opening positions at the end of Turn 01 movement phase.  We have a Mars-sized planet and a small moon to upper right.  The moon is rich in a valuable resource, and has been mined so heavily by city-sized automated facilities that industrial debris is now presenting a navigational hazard (note the asteroid counters strung out the moon’s gravitational eddy).

Apparently the powers-that-be feel this moon is still valuable enough to fight over, as the Holy Russian Empire and the United Kingdom  have decided to have a bit of a dust-up over disputed expiration dates on the mining leases of this facility.

The Russians are approaching from upper left.  They have an old Konstantin class light cruiser, a Sonvya class destroyer, and a Novgorod class frigate.  All 7-gigawatt rail guns and heavy plasma projectors.  A direct, simple, sledgehammer kind of a force.  They are approaching at high speed, pushing 36 kilometers a second.

The British (at @davehawes’ request) have a much smaller, more agile, and high-tech force.  Notably, the British flagship is the Osprey class light carrier HMS Raven, carrying a complement of Supermarine Starfire aerospace fighters and Hawker Star Typhoon bombers.  You can see where the British (approaching from lower right) have set a much slower course, wary of keeping a distance from those big-punch Russian guns, and instead are trying their best to scramble their aerospace group as quickly as possible.

Initial volleys are exchanged at a distance of 3420 kilometers (19 hexes).  That’s the distance from London to Cairo.  All of Europe would easily fit into the space between these two battlegroups, but they are closing at a combined rate of about 50 kilometers a second (180,000 km an hour).

Spreading things out just a bit for the same of clarity (and just in this screen pic), we see the Russian task force making its approach.  Flagship is the light cruiser CPK (Holy Russian Ship) Basilov, a Konstantin class light cruiser.  Older, cheaper, loaded with simple rail guns and old P-500 “Plamya” (flame) Class III torpedoes, named for Russian Orthodox saints, these ships have a direct purpose and despite their age, still pose a very serious threat to anyone who gets too close, as the British are about to learn.

Slightly more advanced (although by no means state of the art) are the Sovnya class destroyer Kortik (traditional Russian naval dagger) and the Novgorod class frigate Volkhov (named for mid-sized cities of terrestrial Russia).

To balance the game at 117 points, the Basilov and the Kortik are entering this game without their scouts.  So the only aerospace the Russians have is the one lonely scout from the little frigate Volkhov.

Russian ships have also launched torpedoes. The decision was made by the Basilov’s captain to slow slightly and lake a turn in an attempt to present a broadside.  This doesn’t work anyway (she lost initiative) but the idea was to present more guns in exchange for firing a full spread of torpedoes from both port bow and starboard bow arrays.

The Royal Navy launches aerospace craft to engage.  These ships are the HMS Raven, the aforementioned Osprey class light carrier, and her two escorts.  These are the Falklands class fleet destroyer HMS Singapore – actually a pretty advanced design and the most advanced ship on this table.  On the other end is the humble HMS Fergusson, a small Cornwallis class escort frigate.  Specifically designed not to be an independent vessel (she doesn’t even have the full speed of a frigate), she is a true escort ship, designed to hang close to a flagship and provide torpedo, gunnery, and especially mass driver (anti-aerospace craft) support.

Meanwhile, the forward, port, starboard launch bays of the Raven have already launched the maximum amount of fighters and bombers she can this turn.  These are racing out to engage the Russians with aerospace missiles from the fighters and much heavier aerospace torpedoes from the bombers.

The most challenging part of the on-line play solution was figuring out how to work the Warships Record Sheets (WRS).  But I think we’re getting it.  Here is a partial view of HMS Osprey’s WRS, showing the torpedoes she’s launches so far, her aerospace group, her mass driver defenses, her initiative for Turn 1, her initial velocity recorded for Turn 1, and the final speed for the turn (which of course becomes her initial velocity for Turn 2).

End of movement on Round 2.  The two sides have closed to about 1440 kilometers (about the distance from London to Warsaw).  The British are about to  hit the Russians with a devastating aerospace and torpedo strike.  But the Russians are no slouches when it comes to ship-launched torpedoes, and what this battlegroup lacks in aerospace craft they make up for in guns . . .

Lots of guns.

And the two sides are a lot closer now.  And those British ships suddenly look very small and frail . . .

Stay tuned!

Wow, everyone.  Seriously, what else can I say but … thank you.

Suffice it to say that the results of this pool have absolutely blown away any and all expectations.  The response in just twelve hours … it’s absolutely incredible.  I’m surprised, thrilled, humbled, excited, and deeply moved.

I can’t connect everyone’s OTT/BoW screen name to the names that appear in the support / donation pool.  But just a quick list …

Damon – Consider the Trafalgar class heavy cruiser “under construction” in the shipyards.  If you want, we can come up with some distinguishing features from the Iron Duke and Titan classes so it’s not redundant in the canon.

Nick – Absolutely no worries on a warship Quin.  UK?  US?  Any other preference?  We’ll make sure she’s a famous ship of her class.

Stu Shaw – Absolutely great idea re: adding pictures of the the warships card construction / playing pieces into the book somewhere.  Maybe their own suggestion as an appendix at the back, like some books have painting guides for inspiration, etc.

Howard – “A UK ship,” you say?  For that donation and level of support, you deserve a fleet!  A ship indeed, that’s going to be at least a battlecruiser, or really any class you want.

Jennifer – thanks so much for all your support, in the pool, at the playtesting table, and everywhere else on the “battlefield of life.”  Long live the HMS Kraken!

Andrew – Dude, you didn’t even ask for anything!  That’s not going to fly, not in my universe.  Do they name warships after engineers?  Hell, they do now.  😀

Dennis – my God, man.  Are you kidding me?  You can’t choose between “hero of the lore” or “warship class?”  Have no fear, sir, they name warship classes after historical heroes.  So you’re getting both.

Rasmus – Thanks so much!   I think there may be some “space Vikings” in the making!

Good afternoon, OnTableTop / Beasts of War;

As you may have heard or read, repeated requests from dozens of community members have finally pushed me into writing down an official, codified set of rules for Darkstar, my sci fi wargame of tactical starship combat in humanity’s far future.

Work has begun on this project, which is every bit as large and complex and I thought it would be. I’m anticipating the base rules to be at least 40 illustrated pages, plus 40+ more pages of starship designs, background, write ups, etc.

All of this is addition to the 30+ pages already published of history, factions, tech, “known space” setting, and so on.

While I’m writing and publishing this rulebook simply strictly at community request, I’ve also opened a PayPal Pool if anyone is interested in contributing to this project.  It’s turning into a month of 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM nights, but the goal is to produce a professional-grade .pdf that anyone can download and play a game of Darkstar with a minimum of questions or ambiguity.

If you are so inclined (I thank you very much in advance), just hit the link below and contribute in whatever amount you feel comfortable.

>>Darkstar Optional Donation Pool<<

What you get:

Those who contribute will be included in the rule set or Darkstar “canon” universe  somehow.  Just some possible examples:

$1 USD or more:  A warship named after you (you pick the faction)

$5 USD or more:  A warship or colony named after you, perhaps with some of the write up of that warship class mentioning your ship as “the most notable vessel of the class.”  Perhaps you can be included somewhere in the background as a prominent starship captain or naval commander in the Darkstar universe, with a short note about how your namesake became famous enough to have a warship named after him or her.  You’re also at “the front of the line” if you ever choose to play Darkstar online with our growing “Starships Commander’s Club.”

$10 USD or more: An entire warship class named after you, with your name probably being used as a starship naval “hero” of Darkstar history.  Who knows?

Anyway, I’m writing the rule set anyway as a passion project, and as a way to encourage the amazing the humbling amount of interest the Darkstar project has already been generating.  Thanks so much, everyone, and I hope to see you “out there among the stars.”

Jim “Oriskany” Johnson

So as you may have seen in another project thread:

https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1303724/

… we’ve been having great success with playing tactical wargames via web conference with OTT / BoW community members all around the world.  So far we’ve been doing great with Panzer Leader and Arab Israeli Wars, but on Saturday December 1st we’re expanding this idea to Darkstar.

Myself and @davehawes will be playing online Darkstar on a virtual game board using MS Excel, pitting a British light carrier force against a larger, but slower and less-agile cruiser battlegroup of the Holy Russian Empire.  We may even have a couple of spectators!

Meanwhile, work continues on an official, codified rule book.  As previously reported, all summary concepts, initiative, and movement rules are written and illustrated, both for warships and aerospace craft.  I’ve now completed aerospace combat, including dogfights, aerospace torpedo and missile attacks, recover and rearming rules, strafing attacks, etc.  I’ve also written and illustrated how mass drivers work, and warships torpedo strikes.

I’m now working on warships combat (main guns blasting away at each other).  So that’s range calculation, base to hit, adjusted hit targets, weapons arcs, and target facing rules.

Next step, applying damage.

This is up to 27 pages and counting.  The good news is I’d say I was at least halfway done at this point.

Good afternoon, BoW / OTT:

Responded to a request from @bloodstrike for a list of all the major weapons types (and associated weapons / equipment systems) available for design / installation in a Darkstar  warship.

Which reminds me, if anyone hasn’t checked this out yet, please take a moment to review his great project thread, here, where he’s taking information presented ion the text and design tables and 3D printing his own ships.

https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1305447/

Also, @elessar2590 has also been developing a fleet of 3D models for use with Darkstar.

https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1305519/

I’s so exciting and humbling to see other people take the idea of Darkstar and plug into their own skill sets, tech, tools, and hobby, producing what is in fact “new content” to expand the Darkstar universe even further.

Good afternoon, OTT / BOW!

Okay, just to keep everyone informed, I’m happy to report that after a short break for US Thanksgiving holiday weekend, work on the Darkstar tactical rules is making very solid progress.

Two chapters are written –

1) Fundamentals – to include scales, components, warship types, and turn sequence, astrophysical bodies, gravity, the warship record sheet, etc.

2) All Rules for Initiative and Movement – to include warships and aerospace and torpedoes and astrophysical bodies.

3) Starting actual combat rules tonight.

Might be taking a slight slowdown later this week to start preparing documents / game boards for our first on-line play of Darkstar (Saturday 1 December, 2018).

A few low-res sample pages below.

Just so no one is in any doubt that this IS coming!

More updates to come!

So here is the chart that lists the things that players can buy with campaign points, basically “xp” you get for fighting or winning battles.

Typically you get 1 point for being in a battle.

That is increased for 2 points if you come out on the winning side.

Sometimes players will agree that one ship per game gets some insane award for great rolls, bravery, kickass events, etc.  Then you’d get 3.

For every 6 points accrued, you get to select one thing off this list.

Almost universally, the first thing selected is “Commander’s Luck.”  This is the advantage that usually lets commanders survive long enough to get other advantages.  ECM / Shielding is another popular choice.  Save your own ass before you start plotting the ruin of others.

Like any game I design (or enjoy) … Darkstar is an unforgiving mistress.  You can lose your ass very quickly in this game.  So it pays to have a little bit of “grace” when it comes to those all-important post-game survival checks (is your crippled ship recovered, scuttled, captured, or lost forever in the icy tomb of space)?

Good morning, all ~

Okay, first update:

Rules started.  Seven pages written, formatted, illustrated.  This is going to be a long journey.

Meanwhile, I’ve had some requests for the Warship Record Sheets on a few classes.  Namely, “medium carriers” and frigates for the US and Japan.  So I chose light fleet carriers (built in the weight class of light cruisers), and frigates.  These are attached below, not only in .jpg format for immediate view, but also as downloadable .pdf files below.

The Kagoshima class aerospace carriers are named for cities in the Kagoshima Prefecture of terrestrial Japan, southernmost of all prefectures in the home islands. Since its baptism of fire in the Sino-Japanese Iota Pegasus War of 2502, the class has proven its worth and there is talk of expanding the class to include ships named after another prefecture as well.

The design is fairly standard, with two bays for the A9M “Kataka” (Fire Hawk) naval aerospace fighters mounted port and starboard and a larger one installed centerline in the fo’c’sle. Port and starboard launch bays also carry the B7N “Tenrai” (Heavenly Thunder) bomber, while Ki-202 “Hien” (Flying Swallow) scouts are carried forward. Aft bays also carry the cutters and yacht.

What sets the Kagoshima class apart is its torpedo capacity, with two quadruple bays of Ki-45 “Toryu” (Dragon Slayers) mounted on port and starboard bows. While detractors point out that these cut back slightly on the aerospace craft the Kagoshima can carry (indeed, they carry less than the American Endeavor class), the Kagoshima still carries a bigger strike group than the comparable Russian Gagarin or British Invincible classes.

Furthermore, it cannot be denied that these torpedoes add a devastating element to the carrier’s overall strike capability. Sent in with the strike group against the same target on the same vector, these torpedoes almost guarantee that enemy defenses will be so occupied shooting down the Dragon Slayers that the strike group will have practically an open door. The Kagoshima also carries powerful mass driver defenses to keep the ship safe from enemy strike groups, and expanded cargo bays to support long-ranged operations deep into enemy-controlled space.

Like all carriers, however, the Kagoshima remains desperately vulnerable without her aerospace group, and is never deployed near potential enemies without a generous screen of destroyers and frigates.

Built and commissioned at:
Akagi Prime, Gamma Leporis
Shogun Station, Callisto
New Kyoto Shipyards, Earth

Ships in Class    

CCE 77 – IJN Kagoshima – On Duty
CCE 78 – IJN Izumi – On Duty
CCE 79 – IJN Kanoya – On Duty, Annabel’s Star
CCE 80 – IJN Hioki – Torpedoed and exploded, 2511
CCE 81 – IJN Ajune – On Duty
CCE 82 – IJN Amagi – On Duty
CCE 83 – IJN Nakatane – On Duty
CCE 84 – IJN Kimotsuki – On Duty
CCE 85 – IJN Nagashima – On Duty, Xi Scorpio
CCE 86 – IJN Satsuma – On Duty
CCE 87 – IJN Osaki – Exploded, Battle of Santa Catalina
CCE 88 – IJN Yakushima – On Duty
CCE 89 – IJN Kikai – On Duty
CCE 90 – IJN Tatsugo – Destroyed in collision, Andromeda Arc
CCE 91 – IJN Toshima – On Duty

The Endeavor class light fleet carrier is another example of classic United States naval doctrine: the forward deployment of expeditionary fleets, task forces, and battlegroups based around the large, fast, and heavily-loaded aerospace carrier.

Of course, since Lexington class supercarriers are too large and expensive to be deployed everywhere, intermediate classes like the Endeavor serve as a bridge between these “war-enders” and smaller carrier classes like the Buford and the Chosin.

In parallel with these “light fleet carriers,” a secondary Saipan class has also been developed for use by the United States Marine Corps.  Basically, these are Endeavor class carriers whose cargo bays have undergone slight modifications to carry “Harrier” class assault boats, tasked with the assault of planetary colonies and orbital installations.

Like all American ships, the Endeavors carry names steeped in national history.  The first five units of the class are named for the original space shuttles constructed by NASA during the 1970s and 1980s.  Even now, five centuries later, service aboard the Challenger and Columbia is seen as a special honor among officers and men.  Many of the other ships are named for famous American carriers of World War II.

The service records for the Endeavor class carriers so far has been exemplary, although it bears noting that these ships are never sent anywhere without substantial escort.  Like most American carriers, they are “pure” aerospace platforms, almost helpless in any engagement without their strike group.  But that strike group is a fearsome factor in any battle.  With a reinforced squadron of Vought “Corsair” fighters-bombers and another of Grumman “Avenger” torpedo bombers, plus two pair of “Hawkeye” scouts,  (32 aerospace craft in all), and Endeavor class carrier can establish aerospace superiority many Second-Band moons or planets, or even a lightly-held star system.

** In the planetary assault configuration, the Saipan class carries 4 fighters and 4 bombers for ground support, 12 “Harrier” class assault boats, 196 Marines, 4 tanks, and 4 support vehicles.  Cutters, launches, and yachts remain unchanged.

Built and commissioned at:
New Virginia Orbital Yards, Earth
Triton Shipyards, Neptune Navy Yard
Fort Dyron, Proxima Centauri

CSCV-441 – USS Endeavor – On Duty
CSCV-442 – USS Columbia – On Duty
CSCV-443 – USS Challenger – On Duty
CSCV-444 – USS Discovery – On Duty
CSCV-445 – USS Enterprise – On Duty
CSCV-446 – USS Liberty – On Duty, Xi Scorpio
CSCV-447 – USS Freedom – On Duty
CSCV-448 – USS Independence – On Duty
CSCV-449 – USS Intrepid – On Duty
CSCV-450 – USS Hornet – Under Construction
CSCV-451 – USS Essex – n/a

Saipan Class
LHCA-471 – USS Saipan – On Duty
LHCA-472 – USS Belleau Wood – On Duty, Xi Scorpio
LHCA-473 – USS Iwo Jima – On Duty
LHCA-474 – USS Guadalcanal – On Duty
LHCA-475 – USS Inchon – On Duty
LHCA-476 – USS Khe San – On Duty
LHCA-477 – USS Peleliu – On Duty

When it was originally built, the Akashi class assault frigate was something of a throwback to an earlier age of Japanese naval tactics.  A hyper-aggressive design, the ship mounted virtually all its weapons, ECM protection, and gravitic shielding up front, with only an afterthought of defense to its aft quarters.  Clearly, the Akashi was meant to “slash” at the enemy in bold strikes, using its superior thrust to speed into enemy formations, inflict maximum damage, and speed back out again.

Of course, such attacks are typically best made along the bow or stern of the target, denying the enemy a full retaliatory broadside and maximizing the Akashi’s chance of survival.

In practice, however, this didn’t work.  No matter how skillfully the captain placed his ship, the Akashi’s stern remained vulnerable to weapons like torpedoes and aerospace fighters.  Losses were absolutely hideous, and a horrified Japanese Naval Review board took the ships off-line to reconfigure their defenses to a more conventional layout.

Even now, the Akashis are spare, lean, and spartan ships, even by Japanese standards, and  there are unconfirmed reports that they are crewed strictly by men with no families.  Some Americans enlisted men have been heard to call them “kamikaze karts,” while British press has listed them as “banzai boats.”  Such dismissal, however, is a dangerous understimation of the Akashi’s potential.  After all, very few ships of their class can match the sheer firepower of their frontal barrage.  In the end, it’s up to the crew to make the most of the  Akashi’s strengths, and keep its weaknesses hidden.

FE-12 – IJN Akashi – On Duty
FE-13 – IJN Wutazashi – Exploded, defense of Akagi Prime
FE-14 – IJN Narushima – Exploded, Psi Serpentis
FE-15 – IJN Sakaimura – Exploded, 19 Draconis
FE-16 – IJN Karajima – Destroyed, Canis Minoris
FE-17 – IJN Kanoate – On Duty
FE-18 – IJN Yurakazu – On Duty, Annabel’s Star
FE-19 – IJN Tanakasha – Exploded, Kapteyn’s Star
FE-20 – IJN Kikukawa – On Duty
FE-21 – IJN Kitamura – On Duty
FE-22 – IJN Takarada – On Duty, Annabel’s Star
FE-23 – IJN Wutazashi II – On Duty, Annabel’s Star

The Shepard class frigate is a workhorse of the United States Navy, perhaps one of the most ubiquitous symbols of American maritime power in Known Space.  After all, while mammoth dreadnoughts like the Colorado class battleships or Lexington class supercarriers are certainly impressive, few people will actually see one.  Shepards, by contrast, are everywhere.

The class was first launched in the late 2480s, after the disastrous failure of the Kearsarge class frigate.  These older craft  were stubbornly mounted with 5- and 4- gigawatt rail guns, which were just to heavy for ships this small.  The guns were too short in range to allow effective reach, forcing the Kearsarge to close to dangerous proximity with larger opponents.  They didn’t pack enough punch, and their weight robbed the frigates of what’s supposed to be a frigate’s trump card: speed.

Only when the US Navy finally turned their back on small-hulled rail gun-armed ships and embraced the new technology of the electron particle cannon did the fleet get the frigate class it so desperately needed.

Named for astronauts of the long-ago Mercury and Apollo programs, the Shepard class has since become a mainstay of the fleet, with no fewer than thirty-five units built and an updated redesign currently on the drawing boards.   At less than 25,000 tons, the Shepard is somewhat light for a frigate, while its array of 9-teravolt EPCs give it a tremendous punch, especially against smaller ships.  Standard tactics call for these weapons to be fired in broadside, carving deep swaths in enemy armor before the the Mark 48 gravitic torpedo (retrofitted from the older Mark 36) slams home to break the enemy ship.

Mass driver protection is also formidable, built around standard American 20mm Oerkilon and 40mm Bofors mounts.  One possible weakness is the design’s age and lack of a more sophisticated electronics, targeting, and CIC suite.  But so many of these ships have been built and that it’s unlikely that the US Navy will seriously consider scrapping them any time soon.

FSGN-611 – USS Alan Shepard – On Duty
FSGN-612 – USS Buzz Aldrin – On Duty
FSGN-613 – USS Neil Armstrong – On Duty
FSGN-614 – USS Scott Carpenter – On Duty
FSGN-615 – USS Michael Collins – On Duty
FSGN-616 – USS Scott Glenn – Captured, Andromeda Arc
FSGN-617 – USS Gus Grissom – On Duty
FSGN-618 – USS John Young – On Duty, Xi Scorpio
FSGN-619 – USS Walter Schirra – On Duty
FSGN-620 – USS Gordon Cooper – On Duty
FSGN-621 – USS Donald Slayton – On Duty
FSGN-622 – USS Edward H. White – Scuttled, 2499
FSGN-623 – USS Roger B. Chaffee – Scuttled, Andromeda Arc
FSGN-624 – USS Pete Conrad – On Duty
FSGN-625 – USS Edgar Mitchell – On Duty
FSGN-626 – USS David Scott – Lost in combat, 2511
FSGN-627 – USS James Irwin – Destroyed, Andromeda Arc
FSGN-628 – USS Charles Duke – On Duty
FSGN-629 – USS Eugene Cernan – Lost in combat, 2508
FSGN-630 – USS Harrison Schmitt – On Duty
FSGN-631 – USS James Lovell – On Duty
FSGN-632 – USS Fred Haise – Destroyed, IK Pegasi
FSGN-633 – USS Frank Borman – On Duty
FSGN-634 – USS William Anders – On Duty
FSGN-635 – USS Tom Stafford – On Duty
FSGN-636 – USS Dick Gordon – On Duty
FSGN-637 – USS Jack Swigert – On Duty
FSGN-638 – USS Stuart Roosa – Lost in combat, 2505
FSGN-639 – USS Al Worden – On Duty
FSGN-640 – USS Ken Mattingly – On Duty
FSGN-641 – USS Ronald Evans – On Station, Xi Scorpio
FSGN-642 – USS Don Eisele – On Duty
FSGN-643 – USS James McDivitt – On Duty
FSGN-644 – USS Walter Cunningham – On Duty
FSGN-645 – USS Rusty Schweickart – On Duty

Okay, Beast of War community … you win!  I am officially running up the white flag!  Your Soviet-style “human-wave” tactics have finally overcome my hesitation, reluctance, fear, and cynicism.  I will bend to your will.

I will write the Darkstar rules – as in actually down on paper.

*… God help me … *

Please understand, I am positively thrilled that this project has had so much support over the preceding year, and continues to draw so much attention and positive feedback from the community.  It really has touched a nerve it seems, in bringing detailed, tactical, “crunchy” wargame play to the sci-fi genre in a way that we really haven’t seen since the 1980s glory days of BattleTech, Traveler, and Renegade Legions.

But as someone who has written wargame rule books before (and I mean written rulebooks, 1980s style, not the glossy, fabulously illustrated, but ultimately vague and badly organized material we so often get today)  …

… I have no illusions what I am in for.

So, a few things:

1. This rule book will be written over the next month or so.  It will take at least that long.
2. This rule book will contain no fluff.  All of that has already been presented in the .pdfs available in this project thread.
3. This will be a bare-bones “legal document” that will emphasize clarity, organization, cross-referencing, examples, and the actual “nutz-n’-boltz” mechanics of actual tabletop play.
4. The Turn Sequence included in this project thread below will serve as a general “table of contents,” with four additional small sections:
   • Setting up scenarios
   • Determining victory
   • Upgrading your ship / commander / crew
   • A sample of warships
5. The book will not include all factions for all ship classes.  I’m sorry, I just can’t.  Not for a first try at a rule book.  That would be 200 additional pages right there.
6. The book will not include the MS Excel tables for building / designing your own ships from scratch.  If anyone is interested in trying that, we can work together online via Discord or GoToMeeting or Google Hangouts or some other medium.
7. The book will not include the full campaign rules for determining how these interstellar wars start, progress, and end.  Again, it’s just too much.
8. The book will not include planetary invasions, ground installations, boarding, etc.  Again, this is all to much, and to be honest, it only transpires in about 5% of Darkstar games anyway.
9. All of these these elements not included may be included in smaller future books, depending on how the first book goes and how well it is received.
10. At the moment I have no plans for monetizing this or anything.  All I will be producing is a series of .pdfs, which honestly can be copied and spread around after the first one is sent out anyway.  There will be no maps, components, miniatures, etc., nothing from which I will be trying to derive revenue.
11. I will be accepting donations through PayPal if anyone wants to support me or my work.  Rewards for such donations may be anything from your name being included in the book, a starship in the official canon being named after you, a colony, or a “legendary general” in the historical background of one of the factions.
12. I will certainly “be around” to answer questions, clarify rules, or even help run online Darkstar games and/or tutorials via a web platform to be determined.

So there it is.  I am officially doing this.

Apologies in advance, I will be more or less vanishing from Beasts of War / OTT for at least the next month or so as this project gets started.

And again, we’ll be running online games in the next couple of weeks.  There’s already a “bit of a line” so to speak.  And I’ll be a little backed up with these written rules.

But stay tuned to this project thread!  Every recommendation and comment is a little more encouragement!  Updates and progress will be posted!

Take care, and thanks as always for everyone’s support.

James “Oriskany”

Historical Editor, Beasts of War

Some people have been requesting more information on the ships, rules, and charts used in the recent “Let’s Play Video” for Darkstar.

Accordingly, I have attached here the Turn Sequence, master chart reference sheet, and the ship record sheets for the six ships used in this game.

Good afternoon, all ~

After the challenge was put out last week on XLBS, and more talk is starting to circulate regarding online play for Darkstar, I thought I would dust off the electronic maps and start getting this ready for potential use.

Two two factions pictured here are the US Navy and the “Black Dragons” of the Khitan-Tunguska Free State.  Also available are the Royal Navy for the UK, the Holy Russian Empire, Japan, Imperial Prussia, and the Panasian Union (basically, China and her allies / vassal states).

There are also more factions, the Arab League, the New Roman Alliance (France, Italy, Spain, and other predominantly Catholic countries), the Corporate Consortium (loose collection of high-tech private “navies” to include “security consultants,” privateers, and outright pirates.  These are technically available, but would  take just a little work to bring them out of 1st Edition and update to the new 2nd Edition model.

In this “e-gaming model,” players share access to a file in a shared web space, switching keyboard and mouse controls as they both view the same desktop / gameboard in a video teleconferencing format.

Filmed some great Darkstar content in the Beasts of War “Cage” last night, hopefully we’ll see it rolled out front stage before too long.  😀

In some of the comments, some readers have expressed interest in starting a British Royal Navy battlegroup built around an aerospace carrier.

Here are two of the initial prospects.  Osprey class is probably what’s recommended for a new player, simply because carrier play requires some of the more detailed rules, and a lot more finesse with the tactics.  Ergo, smaller carriers (with smaller aerospace strike groups) are probably better to start out.

As usual, opening the image in a new tab is best to read this text. 😀

Scratch-built miniatures for Darkstar starship tactical wargame.

So the largest miniatures here are for heavy cruiser.  Just under two inches long.

The smallest ones are the destroyers, about 1.5 inches.

This makes the minis about 1:9000 scale (destroyers in this game mass about 45000-52000 tons, about 850 feet long).

Smaller ships (not built yet) would include frigates, then corvettes, and finally gunboats (about the side of the Millenium Falcon).

Larger ships would include pocket battleships, battlecruiser, battleships, supercarriers, and superdreadnoughts (600-650,000 tons, about 3-4 kilometers in length).

Okay, everyone.  The new scratch-built miniatures are complete and being packed up for shipment across the ocean for the visit to Ireland.

Again, the idea is for a “fleet” of 20-30 ships or so (10 have been built so far today since about 4:00 AM), and have them detachable for use with different bases for different factions.

Three ship classes represented here – Destroyer (DD), Light Cruiser (CL), Heavy Cruiser (CA).

For now, attached to Royal Navy / United Kingdom bases, and IJN / Japan bases.

Built from light cardboard, balsa dowels, and small bits from my girlfriend’s jewelry hobby box.

Primed in Krylon medium gray.

Dry-brushed in lighter gray craft store acrylic.

Weapons mounts painted lighter gray, along with white and blue running lights, red and green port / starboard maritime navigation lights, and light blue engine glow.

It’s certainly been a while since this project has been active.  A big reason has been the upcoming Boot Camp.  However, some people who’ll be at the boot camp have expressed interest in trying this out at the BoW Studios, so I thought now would be the best time to start making up some enhanced 3D playing pieces.

I’ve talked about this before.  Right now, with 11 active factions and almost 100 starship classes in fourteen different category types, the total “fleet” of playing pieces is well over 300 ships.  Needless to say, I can’t do 300 ships like this, so what I’m starting is to build a smaller fleet of say … 20-30 ships then using some kind of magnetized attachment feature where I can switch out the actual “miniatures” with the base (where the faction, ship class, and ship number are displayed).

After all, there are almost never more than 10-12 ships on the table at once, even in the biggest game.

So here I have two heavy cruiser, four light cruisers, and four destroyers, ranging from just under 2″ to 1.5″ long.  Cut from cardboard, balsa dowels, and small jewelry hobby bits.   These will be painted later today, then made “magnetized attachable” to a wide array of bases so I can accommodate whatever players may want to try during the upcoming trip to BoW studios.

And if it doesn’t work out at BoW Studios, no worries.  This was something I’ve been wanting to get started on for quite some time, and it feels good to take a brief break from the desert.

More to come, hopefully later tonight!

Okay, maybe not quite “new” factions – but factions for nations and navies in Darkstar that haven’t got a lot of focus so far in these posts.

Entries include the Basra class destroyer of the Arab League, and the Gujarat class destroyer for the Indian Republic.

Okay, I don’t pretend to be Steven Spielberg … much less a Justin, Lance, or Lloyd … but here is my attempt at a PROMO VIDEO for Darkstar the Wargame!

I should include the source for this music:

Two Steps from Hell, an L.A. based production company that started out creating  music not so much for movies, but movie trailers.  I can almost guarantee that everyone on Beasts of War has heard TSFH music at least once, be it in a movie trailer, TV promo, internet ad, or some such.

For my money they also make the best wargaming music ever.

I have linked their YouTube channel below, as well as the specific track used in this slideshow (Red Omen, from their Halloween).  After finding them on YouTube I purchased just about all their albums on iTunes, no matter what your gaming genre … they’ve got something you might like!

YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3swwxiALG5c0Tvom83tPGg

Red Omen (Halloween album):