Battle of Lacaille 2157
Turn 21
Background:
After winning the Battle of Draconis in 2154, Oceanic Colonies Admiral Anton Zapata quickly seized the main Kra'Vak Lair World of Draconis V. In 2156 overwhelming Kra’Vak forces re-entered the Draconis System, forcing Admiral Zapata to withdraw his 7th Fleet to Lacaille. There, fresh Oceanic Colonies units in the shape of 2nd Fleet and the Lyrae Task Force joined him, bringing him much needed fighter cover as the Escort Carrier Halley's flights were still under strength.
As Zapata reorganises his expanded force, the System Defence buoys detect the Tachyon shear of an incoming hostile fleet. Four Capital Class, a Cruiser Class, and ten Escort Class vessels of Kra’Vak origin are detected.
Lacaille System contains ten planets. Lacaille III is a Sub-Terran world, while the fourth and fifth orbitals are planetoid belts. Lacaille VI, VII and IX are Large Gas Giants, while Lacaille VIII is a Small Gas Giant. The other planets in the system are small rocky worlds.
Oceanic Colonies/UNSC Situation:
With the additional ships now at his disposal, Admiral Zapata believes he has the strength to defeat the incoming Kra’Vak and prevent them threatening the Oceanic Colonies' base in the Lyrae System. As there are no Oceanic Colonies settlements in the Lacaille System, however, Zapata has complete freedom to withdraw before the Kra'Vak if he should so wish.
7th Fleet consists of:
| Comet class Escort Carrier Halley, with one flight of three Heavy Fighters and one flight of four Standard Fighters |
| Sol II class Superdreadnought Helios (which, due to modifications, does not mount a fighter flight) |
| Point II class Battlecruiser Kahurangi |
| Mountain II class Light Cruiser Mount Taranaki |
2nd Fleet consists of:
| Comet Class Escort Carrier Kohoutek, with one flight of Heavy Fighters and one flight of Standard Fighters |
| Point Class Battlecruiser Larrey Point |
| Point Class Battlecruiser Marak Point |
| Point II class Battlecruiser Montauk Point |
| Point II class Battlecruiser Pahia Point |
| Modified Bay Class Escort Cruiser Hudson Bayt |
The Lyrae Task Force consists of:
| Modified Star Class Light Carrier Sirius with four flights of Heavy Fighters |
Admiral Zapata is a Good Officer, as are the captains of the Halley, Sirius, Pahia Point, Larrey Point and Kahurangi. The captains of the Helios, Kohoutek, Montauk Point, Marak Point, Hudson Bay and Mount Taranaki are Average officers.
As the Defender, Admiral Zapata automatically chooses the location of battle, which can be in Free Space, at a gas giant, or near a Dense world.
Kra’Vak Situation:
Having driven the Hu’Mans from the lands of the Kra’Fas’Kon, Huntleader Da’Tah has led the pursuit. Jumping into the Lacaille System, Da’Tah and his 2nd Host find the Hu’Mans cowering before the might of the Kra’Fas’Kon.
2nd Host consists of:
| Ko’San Class Heavy Carrier Kia’Dan with six Flights of Va’San Heavy Fighters |
| Ko’San Class Heavy Carrier K-101 with six Flights of Va’San Heavy Fighters |
| Ko’Vol Class Battleship K-203 |
| Va’Dok Class Heavy Cruiser K-303 |
| Di’Tok Class Heavy Destroyer Doa’Tat |
| Di’Tok Class Heavy Destroyer K-406 |
| Di’Tok Class Heavy Destroyer K-407 |
| Di’Tok Class Heavy Destroyer K-408 |
| Di’Tok Class Heavy Destroyer K-409 |
| Di’Tok Class Heavy Destroyer K-410 |
| Da’Kak Class Heavy Frigate K-506 |
| Da’Kak Class Heavy Frigate K-507 |
| Ka’Tak Class Corvette K-602 | Lu’Dak Class Scoutship K-729 |
The Kia’Dan is serving as flagship.
Huntleader Da’Tah is a Good Officer, as are the Captains of the Kia’Dan, K-203, and K-409. The Captains of the Doa’Tat, K-101, K-303, K-406, K-407, K-410, K-506, K-507, K-602 and K-729 are Average Officers. The Captain of the K-408 is a Poor Officer.
Points/Mass:
| Kra’Vak: | 4305 Points | 1124 Mass |
| Oceanic Colonies: | 5143 Points | 1358 Mass |
Ships Used: All Kra’Vak ships in this engagement were Fleet Book 2 standard.
All Oceanic Colonies/UNSC ships were variants on Beta Fleet Standard except the Comet Class Escort Carriers and the Point Class Battlecruisers, which were Beta Fleet Standard:
POINT II Class BC: Mass 111, Hull (12/12/11), Thrust-4, FTL, 1xLevel-1 Screen, 3xFireCons, 4xPDS, 2 xClass-1 Beams, 2x Class-2 Beams (AP/FP/F, F/FS/AS), 1 Class-3 Grazer (F); 438 pts.
MOUNTAIN II Class CL: Mass 56, Hull (7/6/6), Thrust-4, FTL, 2xFireCons, 3xPDS, 2x Class-1 Beams, 2x Class-2 Beams (AP/FP/F, F/FS/AS), 1 Class-2 Grazer (F); 218 pts.
SOL II Class SDN: Mass 260, Hull (27/27/26), Thrust-4, FTL, 1 xLevel-1 Screens, 4xFireCons, 6xPDS, 6x Class-1 Beams, 2x Class-1 Grazers (F), 2x Class-2 Grazers (F), 2 x Class-3 Grazers (F); 1039 pts.
STAR-B Class CVL: Mass 166, Hull (17/17/16), Thrust-4, FTL, 2xFireCons, 6xPDS, 1xADFC, 1xLevel-1 Screen, 2x Salvo Missile Racks, 1x Pulse Torpedo, 4xFighter Bays; 618 pts.
Ships designed by Antony Spalding.
Historic Result:
Admiral Zapata opted to give battle near Lacaille III, a dense world, and deployed his fleet in two divisions. The starboard division consisted of the Helios, Halley, Taranaki, Hudson Bay and Montauk Point; and the port division of the Kahurangi, Larrey Point, Marak Point, Pahia Point, Kohoutek and Sirius. Advancing slowly, with fighters launched but in escort mode, the Oceanic Colonies Fleet approached the planet Lacaille III.
Huntleader Da’Tah deployed his Kon in a wedge formation – the carriers Kia’Dan and K-101 formed the base of a triangle with the battleship K-203 at the apex. The cruiser, destroyers, frigates and smaller craft formed the outer rim around the heavy core with the Heavy Cruiser K-303 leading the formation, the destroyers along each wing and the frigates and the corvette and scout forming the tails of each wing.
The Kra’Vak came in at 9 MU/turn and accelerated. Approaching Lacaille III, the starboard wing of the formation moved to port to avoid the planet, and the entire formation flashed through the gravity well at 15 MU/turn. The starboard wing accelerated again to get back into formation as the Kon cleared the planet.
Meanwhile, Admiral Zapata’s fleet, moving at a stately 4 MU/turn, was steadily edging to port and slowly stringing out into two lines.
On Turn 8 the two Kra’Vak carriers began launching fighters and long range firing between the fleets commenced. Zapata ordered half of his flights forward to engage as the Va’San’s came screaming in. The Oceanic Colonies fighters were quickly overwhelmed and the Pahia Point and Larrey Point came under heavy fighter attack.
It was now that Huntleader Da’Tah realised his error. His smaller craft were moving at too high a velocity to turn in upon the Hu’Man fleet easily. As he desperately ordered his fleet to turn, a Grazer from the Helios ripped the Cruiser K-303 apart (15 dice doing 53 points of damage).
The larger Kra’Vak ships pulled up the soonest, and were the soonest engaged by the Oceanic Union. The Destroyers K-406 and K-408, the Scout K-729, and the Battleship K-203 were destroyed in quick succession, as the Kra’Vak fleet arced around the Oceanic Colonies' ships. But damage was piling up rapidly on the Helios and the two damaged Point Class Battlecruisers.
The Kra’Vak light ships reached the perihelion of their turns and began falling back towards the Oceanic Colonies fleet as the carrier Kia’Dan and the Battlecruisers Pahia Point and Larrey Point were destroyed. At about this time, the Kra’Vak fighters were forced to break off their attacks as they were low on fuel. Then the carrier K-101, the last of the Kra’Vak capital ships, was ripped apart, as the destroyer Doa-Tat disappeared in a ball of plasma.
At this point, the Kra’Vak began to break off, the surviving fighter crews matching velocities with, and transferring to, the remaining small ships. The destroyer K-407 and the frigate K-506 covered the retreat but were both destroyed by the Oceanic Colonies.
Admiral Zapata was well satisfied with the outcome of the battle. For the loss of two Battlecruisers, he had stopped the Kra’Vak dead in their tracks, destroying three capital ships and eight lesser vessels. It was probably fortunate that Huntleder Da’Tah did not survive the battle, as he probably would not have survived the aftermath.