1st Battle of Draconis 2154
Turn 18
Background:
Unconfirmed intelligence from the Neu Swabian League and unsubstantiated rumours circulating amongst Merchant captains has lead the Naval High Command of the Oceanic Colonies to suspect that the Draconis System harbours either an Eurasian Solar Union forward base, or a possible alien settlement. Admiral Anton Zapata has been ordered to make a reconnaissance in strength with 7th Fleet into the Draconis System to confirm the situation.
Upon FTLing into the Draconis System, Zapata discovers a colony world orbited by seven Planetary Defence Units and active hostile fleet elements.
Draconis System contains nine planets. Draconis V is a Terran world on which the Kra’Vak Warclan, Kra’Fas’Kon (Warhost of the People of the New Mountain), maintains a major base and colony. Seven Planetary Defence Units (equivalent to a BattleDreadnought, though without FTL or Thrust manoeuvre) are in orbit around the planet. Draconis VI, VII, and VIII are large gas giants. All other planets in the system are small, uninhabitable, rocky worlds.
Oceanic Colonies/UNSC Situation:
Admiral Anton Zapata’s orders are to reconnoitre the Draconis System and, if possible, secure it for the Oceanic Colonies.
7th Fleet consists of:
| Comet class Escort Carrier Halley, with one flight of Heavy Fighters and one flight of 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 |
The Helios is serving as Flagship.
Admiral Zapata is a Good Officer, as are the captains of the Halley and the Kahurangi. The captains of the Helios and the Mount Taranaki are Average officers.
Kra’Vak Situation:
Huntleader Ti’uk has returned to Draconis to find his status at an all-time low. Defeats and losses during his cruise have barely enabled him to repair damage to the 1st Host, and he has not been able to replace the fighters lost from the Kia’Zes at the 1st Battle of Cephei. The arrival of hostile ships in the Draconis System is his last opportunity to salvage his lost status.
1st Host consists of:
| Yu'Kas class Superdreadnought Kia’Zes, with only two fighters left of its flight |
| Va'Dok class Heavy Cruiser Va’Lak |
The Kia’Zes is serving as flag ship.
Huntleader Ti’uk is an average Officer, as is the captain of the Kia’Zes. The captain of the Va’Lak is a Good Officer.
Ti’uk, as the Defender, automatically chooses the location of battle, which can be in Free Space, at a gas giant, or near a Dense world. Unless the battle takes place around Draconis V, Ti’uk cannot the use the seven orbital Planetary Defence Units for fire support, nor use their fighter flights.
Planetary Defence Units are equivalent to Battledreadnought class ships, except that they lack FTL drives and cannot manoeuvre. They do carry a fighter flight each. As they are in orbit around the planet they protect, they follow the orbiting rules for ‘Planets and Other Large Bodies’ from Pg 13 of More Thrust.
Points/Mass:
| Kra'Vak: | 1230 Points | 313 Mass | ||
| " | (5738 incl. PDUs) | (1496 incl. PDUs) | ||
| " | (1356 incl. PDU ftrs only) | (376 incl. PDU ftrs only) | Oceanic Colonies:2021 Points | 514 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 Carrier, which was 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.
Ships designed by Antony Spalding.
Historical Result:
Huntleader Ti’uk decided to engage the interlopers near Draconis V, where he could call upon the support of the orbital Planetary Defence Units.
Accordingly, as the Oceanic Colonies units appeared on Long Scan, Huntleader Ti’uk broke orbit with the Superdreadnought Kia’Zes and the Heavy Cruiser Va’Lak, while ordering the Planetary Defence Fighter flights forward to form the first wave of his attack.
Admiral Zapata adopted a cautious, low velocity approach. The Light Cruiser Mount Taranaki was on the starboard wing, with the Battlecruiser Kahurangi just to port of it. In a second division, the Escort Carrier Halley and the Superdreadnought Helios formed the port wing of the attack.
As the range fell, Ti’uk ordered Kia’Zes’s weak fighter flight launched to join the two divisions of the Planetary Defence Flights. All fighters were now ordered to concentrate their attack upon the Taranaki and Kahurangi as the Kia’Zes and Va’Lak began moving to port to outflank the starboard end of the Oceanic Colonies line.
As the Kra’Vak fighter wave came screaming in, Admiral Zapata brought the Oceanic Colonies ships to a halt. Halley’s two fighter flights were thrown in against the enemy fighters as they swarmed around Taranaki and Kahurangi. As the damage on Taranaki began to mount, Zapata began to manoeuvre Halley and Helios into ADFC range, while laying the firing arcs of his Grazers on the approaching Kra’Vak Superdreadnought and Heavy Cruiser.
The Kra’Vak fighters were not having things their own way. Accurate Point Defence fire from the Taranaki and Kahurangi chopped away at the engaged flights while the Halley’s fighters accounted for more of the incoming groups.
Nearly three hours after Huntleader Ti’uk broke orbit, the Kahurangi opened fire with her Grazer on the Va’Lok, and missed.
During the next thirty minutes, the Va’Lok was hit repeatedly by the Oceanic Colonies’ Grazers, before her power core failed and she was ripped apart. By this stage, the Taranaki’s own power core had gone unstable, and the ship was only saved from destruction by the quick actions of the engineering crew who jettisoned the core into space.
The Kra’Vak fighters had moved on to engage the Kahurangi, but the Halley had moved up close enough to envelope the battlecruiser in her ADFC envelope. As the Kra’Vak flights flickered and died, they landed enough damage on the Kahurangi to force her to jettison her power core as well.
As the Kia’Zes finally got into range to start hammering the Halley, the Helios came around Halley’s stern and brought her huge Grazer-3’s to bear.
Ti’uk’s gunners could not find their mark, but the Oceanic Colonies gunners could, and the enormous Kra’vak warship abruptly ceased to exist.
After securing Taranaki and Kahurangi, Admiral Zapata was able to bring Helios’s huge Grazers to bear on the Planetary Defence Units orbiting Draconis V. Out ranged and out gunned, these were systematically pounded into rubble, before the planet surrendered.
Admiral Zapata became a hero of the Oceanic Colonies for his careful action, while the Kra’Vak were dealt a major body blow with the loss of their prime Lairworld.