From: Jeff Lyon <jefflyon@m...>
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 16:28:55 -0500
Subject: Imperium/Full Thrust Campaign game (long)
This weekend we started (and finished) our first war of the Imperium/Full Thrust campaign we've been working on. We took Don Hawthorne's excellent "Integration Pack 001" (which can be found at:) <http://www.wizard.net/~caw/intpackets.htm> as our starting point and used Fleet Book FSE and NSL designs for the Vilani Imperium and the Terran Confederation, respectively. Our order of battle for the first war can be found at: <http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~jwlyon/FT/imperium/1stwarOB.txt> Since we still haven't quite worked out the details of integrating planetary defenses and ground combat yet, we had to revert to the Imperium game mechanics whenever these issues came up. In general, this was rather unsatisfactory but got the job done. The Terrans began hostilities by launching a probing mission at the Vilani outpost of Agidda (please see map at:) <http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~jwlyon/FT/imperium/1stwar.jpg> They also sent an expedition to Mirablis, established a picket at Procyon and placed an outpost at Ember. The Vilani picket at Agidda got close enough to obtain sensor readings of the Terran fleet and then withdrew to the Nusku/Dushaam binary system. (Note: we are using "bogey" movement on the strategic level) The Terrans chose not to risk their handful of warships against even the meager defenses of an outpost. Having received confirmation that all of the Terran's larger warships (such as they are; ie, a Kronprinz Wilhelm light cruiser, a Waldberg/M missile destroyer and two Ehrenhold frigates) were at Agidda, the Vilani Admiral sent almost his entire fleet against the Terran picket at Procyon, which identified the number and classes of the enemy and withdrew to Junction. In a desperate move to re-establish his supply lines to the new outpost at Mirablis, the Terran Admiral threw his entire fleet against the Vilani force at Procyon. Each fleet had two commanders; the Terran Admiral commanded the KP Wilhelm, the Waldberg/M and one or two of the scouts. The Terran vice admiral commanded both frigates and the remainder of the scout fleet. The Vilani Admiral commanded a Jerez heavy cruiser and two Suffren light cruisers. The Vilani vice admiral commanded the four Ibiza frigates. Both fleets came in at high speeds (18 & 24 respectively) and there was effectively only one round of firing. The Terrans executed an curious maneuver described by their admiral after the battle as "a mad scramble." The glorious Vilani fleet executed their maneuvers perfectly; the frigate squadron moved into close range and launched a tremendous volley of submunitions packs which destroyed and crippled several smaller Terran ships. The cruiser wing launched their salvo missiles and then executed a high thrust maneuver to keep the range open, deftly avoiding a salvo of Terran missiles. (This led to loud protests by the vice admiral that he and his ships had been sacrificed without support; clearly a sign that he failed to grasp the greater strategic necessities of the Imperium. <g>) Unfortunately, the cruiser squadron's brilliance in maneuvering was not matching by similar competence in fire control. Of the 24 salvo missiles hurled at the Terran barbarians, only 2 came in range of the Terran flagship (or anything else for that matter) and those were casually swatted aside by the marginally competent Terran point defense gunners. (Which led to a well deserved, "I told you so" from the Vilani vice admiral regarding the placement of the salvoes. <g>) Overall, the outcome of the battle was indecisive in material terms; the Imperium lost two frigates, the Terrans lost a frigate, a scout. In strategic terms, the battle was a decisive victory for the Imperium. They continued to hold the nodal system of Procyon and had so severely damaged the surviving Terran ships that they did not dare engage in combat again until after their next maintenance phase. The Imperium then began their strategic turn. No significant events occurred within the Imperium. The district governor sent the vice admiral (who rolls better) to appeal to the central government. His mission was a brilliant success, leading to a 4 RU (100 FT points) per turn budget increase for the district. The governor wisely chose to invest the funds in outposts and fighter squadrons. Deciding to play it cautious, the Vilani decided to retain the bulk of their forces on-station at Procyon. A frigate was dispatched to chase the Terran picket out of Agidda. The Terrans responded with their entire fleet, forcing the destroyer to withdraw and regaining space superiority once more. The Vilani governor then chose to attempt no further adventures against the Terrans at this time; he redistributed his pickets, kept the fleet on station at Procyon and recalled the frigate from the Agidda front. It was, of course, at this point that the Imperium lost the initiative to the Terrans. During their next turn, the Terrans maintained and repaired all of their ships and began production of a Mothership class Light Carrier (ie, a crate with engines; makes the NAC Inflexible class look butch). They then threw everything they had in a "full court press" against the Nusku/Dushaam binary system (bypassing the garrison at Agidda). This is where we became aware of the less-than-satisfactory nature of the ground combat system in Imperium and the need to come up with an alternative. The Terrans jump troops effortlessly slipped past the planetary defense network of Nusku and once on the ground proceded to acheive an automatic +4 kill against the defenses. (Amusing fact: in the ground combat system for Imperium at a +3 combat factor differential there is a 6/6 chance of acheiving a kill against the target. The chart very helpfully provides the combat results all the way up to +7 which is, unsuprisingly, also a 6/6 chance of acheiving a kill. <g>) It was at this point that the Vilani governors glory index plummeted to zero. It was also at this point that he realized there wasn't jack he could do about it during his reaction movement phase. The Terran fleet then moved on to Apishal (to gain a buffer zone) and sent his division of jump troops (the "John Wayne Clones") and some regulars to try and dislodge the garrison at Agidda. Apparently, that little outpost had some REALLY good planetary defense gunners, because both units (and the transport carrying the regulars) were blown to flaming debris. During the next Vilani phase, the governor HAD to recapture Nusku or lose the war. Leaving a frigate behind to discourage any casual probes which might interfere with construction of outposts in the Procyon system and at Markhashi, the Vilani admiral led everything else in a drive to recapture Nusku. The Terran fleet fled before him (grudgingly) and the Vilani achieved space superiority over Nusku. The Vilani sent their jump troops and two units of regulars against Nusku. In a stunning "instant replay" of the battle of Agidda, the jump troops and one of the regulars were vaporized by the emplaced Terran outpost on Nusku. The last unit of regulars, however, should have been able to destroy the undefended outpost with ease. At a +2/-2 differential, the Vilani troops would kill the Terrans on anything but a "6" and would survive any die roll but a "1" by the Terrans. To make a long, sad, comedy of errors complete: the improbable, of course occurred; the valiant clerks of the Nusku outpost utterly destroyed the Vilani division (whose name and number will be stricken in disgrace from the annals of the Imperium). Thus the first Terran/Vilani war ended. The district governor was recalled in disgrace and a hasty truce was negotiated. The besieged Terran division at Mirablis was disbanded and its personnel allowed passage home. Their ill-fated based was abandoned. Because the Terrans had failed to secure Agidda and because the Imperium failed to destroy the outpost on Nusku, BOTH outposts were ruled untenable and abandoned. Thus Nusku was freed of the Terran occupation forces and returned to the Imperium. A short peace ensued, characterized by a scramble to rearm for the inevitable coming conflict. New bases were established by both sides. Agidda was ceded to the victorious Terrans. The Imperium built new planetary defense networks at both Nusku and Procyon. Both sides lost a planetary defense to peacetime budget cuts (Alpha Centauri A and Gashidda, respectively). Budget cuts also forced the district governor to scrap the old "Roma" class monitor which was based at Gashidda. (Although commentators remarked that he did not seem particularly heartbroken over the money to be saved in maintenance costs.) The Imperium also had a squadron of newly-built fighters cancelled by the central government's bureaucrats due to the "peace dividend." The Terran Ministry of Defense spent the short peace building up its in-system defenses at Junction and the new base of Midway with the production of two new "Richtofen" class monitors. The Terrans also began recruiting a new division of regular troops to replace those lost in the war. The latest intelligence on enemy forces and dispositions can be found at: <http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~jwlyon/FT/imperium/2ndwar.jpg> <http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~jwlyon/FT/imperium/2ndwarOB.txt> With the breakdown of negotiations on both sides, it is predicted that the next war will begin before the end of the week. It is also predicted that new tactics will change the way in which ground combat is conducted. Observers feel that the new style of ground combat may be characterized by smaller, more independent formations of armor and infantry, which tactical fire support from aerospace fighters and orbital weapons fire.