Star Fleet: Fleets and Terrain

Here's everything I have so far completed for Star Fleet. Towards the month's end is my birthday, and I intend to acquire a few more bits and bobs. For now, though, this is everything, and it isn't too small a force, I'd say! The Federation has two Dreadnoughts, two Battlecruisers, a Command Cruiser, Heavy Cruiser, New Heavy Cruiser, Light Cruiser, New Light Cruiser, War Destroyer and Frigate, while the Klingons have C8 Dreadnought, D6 Heavy Cruiser, D7 Battlecruiser, C7 Heavy Cruiser and F5 Frigate. Half a dozen shuttles, a few home-made civilian freighters and a home-made Mobile Base round out the models. A single planet and a lot of asteroids and moons comprise the terrain. I need some more of those, though, and some Dust Clouds. Watch for a future update on how I decide to make them!

Star Fleet: Battle of Acheron VI

Dropping out of warp as they entered the mysterious Acheron system, the two Romulan vessels accelerated toward the sixth planet, then gradually faded away, no longer visible to sensors or even the naked eye. Throughout the three Federation vessels on patrol in the system, alarms harangued crews to battle stations. Aboard USS Enterprise, recently returned to duty following a stay in spacedock, Captain Kirk surged onto the bridge. Commander Spock's measured tones conveyed a cool summary of events: two refitted Klingon vessels, a dreadnought and a  with working cloaking devices had entered the system, accelerated toward the planet, then disappeared from sensors. Some slight traces enabled Spock to have a general idea of their location, but nothing precise. Commodore Ross aboard USS Lexington had ordered all ships to hold station, and to deploy all shuttles, fitted with anti-matter warheads.

If the Romulans wanted to know what the Federation were doing in this out-of-the-way system, they would have to decloak and scan the planet's surface from orbit. If they did that, a host of shuttles acting like ancient fireships would hit their shields, weakening them before the Federation warships attacked. The minutes ticked by as shuttle after shuttle launched from the Enterprise, the Lexington and the Drake. Suddenly sensors registered an explosion near the Drake. Was it the Romulans? Had they decloaked and opened fire? No, one of Drake's shuttles, remotely piloted, had crashed into an asteroid. Moments later the Drake did open fire, as the Romulan battleship decloaked to scan the planet.

The message came through from the Commodore, "Now!" Enterprise slingshot herself around the planet, heading right into the teeth of a Romulan KR Cruiser and her barrage of Plasma Torpedoes, but her Photon Torpedoes and Phaser batteries silenced the hostile cruiser, smashing her shields. At the same time, on the other side of the planet, the Lexington likewise catapulted herself around the planet, and strained her engines to effect a High Energy Turn, ending her move just outside the enemy battleship's forward arc. The refitted Klingon's shields were strongest in the forward arc, and Commodore Ross unleashed every weapon he had into the weaker area aft. Explosions tore through the warship as Photon Torpedoes and Phasers did more damage than anyone could have predicted.

Aboard the battleship, damage crews were helpless to effect repairs as fires surged out of control. Yet discipline was retained, and a heavy barrage of fire struck Lexington and Enterprise. The scanning of the planet was proceeding well, with more than 86% of the work complete. Boosting shields despite the damage, the KC9R Dreadnought lunged to starboard, holding the Lexington squarely in her sights. But her targeting systems had been damaged by Lexington's devastating attack, and her weapons officers proved incapable of hitting the target with more than some glancing blows. Her engineers did better work, boosting her shields to provide some respite from the Federation vessels. The KR cruiser was hit by fatal blasts, and her crew began to abandon ship, knowing she could not survive long.

On the two Federation cruisers feverish crews worked to reload Photon Torpedoes, and Mr Scott managed to squeeze a little more power to the Enterprise's shields, while on Ross' flagship the helmsman demonstrated once again his deftness, executing another seemingly impossible turn to follow the enemy battleship. Sensors indicated that the enemy's engines were powering up for warp, and as the hostile cruiser exploded, the blast damaging Enterprise's scant shields, all three Federation ships poured their firepower into the battleship, which finally exploded with a catastrophic fireball which crippled and almost destroyed Lexington. The Federation had been successful in stopping the Romulans obtaining information on the sinister alien ruins of Acheron VI, but at what cost?

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It was a bit of an odd one, this. We rolled randomly for sides, as usual, and I took the Federation. Since I had a planet I could orbit to zip out from behind, I hid two of my ships behind it. My smallest sat in an asteroid field, whence I didn't dare move it, so thick was the field. Mm, great planning! The Romulans were thus denied the effective use of their cloaks, since they had to uncloak right beside the planet to scan it and complete the mission. If there were no time-limit, they could have swept around behind me and really smashed me up, especially the KR Cruiser, since it's a modified D6, with all the agility that implies. I was surprised to see that the Romulans go straight from being cloaked to having shields up; I even had to re-read the rules to reassure myself of it. The lesson there is for me not to try to understand rules based on a TV show and some films, I think!


When the Romulans did decloak by the planet, I therefore had almost perfect placing. My heart was in my mouth in case Lexington didn't make that turn, but she did, and then I rolled an unfeasible number of 6s for her and Enterprise. By the end of the battle the KC9R Dreadnought had taken maximum damage to her Shields, Dilithium Chamber and Impulse Drive, Level 5 Critical Damage to her Crew, and Level 3 to her Weapons. It would have been worse, but I forgot the Damage Control part of Turn 7. Owing to the loose wording of the rules, since I only added the last two levels of Critical Damage to her Dilithium Chamber, she could still go to Warp in the final turn. It seemed more cinematic and sporting to allow at least the possibility, too. Also more cinematic was the final torrent of fire from the three Federation ships that blew her to smithereens and which saw Lexington crippled and nearly destroyed! Commodore Ross might need a bit of retraining.

Star Fleet: Ships not for the Line of Battle

As most of you are aware, the term battleship is derived from Line of Battle Ship, one of the heavy warships that would be engaged in fleet actions during the age of sail. Subsequently, of course, the term evolved, and as I write this is effectively obsolete except as part of historical terminology. Only the USN possesses such a "modern" battleship, as aircraft carriers have taken the place formerly occupied by such behemoths. But it is not small warships that I wish to exhibit for your delight and delectation today, but a few freighters and a space station. I knocked these up thinking that they will prove handy to have for scenarios. 40K players may recognise some bits and pieces of these ships, especially the engines, which are snaffled from the back end of the old IG HK Missile (the short, squat, Russian-themed one, not the older slender one). I have a load of these from my numerous IG vehicle purchases, and some more freighters in unfinished bits and pieces, so given a few days I could probably create a huge convoy to be harried across the table. I may add some decals to these some day, naming companies, but for now they're done.

As well as these, I finished some shuttles a few weeks ago, and I believe I never got round to putting them up here. So they're up first. I mean to have a few more battles of Star Fleet this week, and come the end of October, compel some friends to visit me for a big game of this and squeeze in some of that Artemis PC game I've mentioned before. Anyway, here's what I have been up to of late.

Star Fleet: Battle Report: Explore A Strange New World!

Mission Briefing (Federation):
Commodore Ross, you are to take your squadron, comprising USS Lexington, USS Enterprise and USS Drake, and reconnoitre the planet Gerontia in the Nova system. Intelligence and long-range scans have confirmed the presence of a Klingon C8 Dreadnought and a D6 Heavy Cruiser in the system, and it is possible that other hostile forces are in the area, so be on guard. However, it is most imperative that you determine the reason for the Klingons' interest in this planet, which is of little strategic interest. Advance swiftly toward Gerontia, and scan the surface, then break off and report your findings to Star Fleet Command.

Mission Briefing (Klingon):
Captain Craic, protect the new training facility on Gerontia from prying eyes. You are to destroy any unidentified vessel that enters the system. Do not fail the Empire.

Dropping out of warp at a considerable distance from Gerontia, scanners revealed a distant cloud of asteroids to port, and a dust cloud adjacent to the planet. All the Federation ships surged forward, Commodore Ross instructing every captain to have his Engineer extract every bit of speed from the Sublight Engines. Desultory long-range drone fire accomplished nothing, and the Klingons launched two suicide shuttles to render it perilous to orbit Gerontia. Then the Klingons seized the Initiative, the C8 ordering All Hands on Deck, and the D6 attempting Evasive Action. The helmsman was doubtless removed from his post for his incompetence in fulfilling this simple order. USS Drake and USS Lexington again ordered All Power to Engines! Aboard the Enterprise Kirk told Scotty to Boost Energy to Shields! The powerful C8 unleashed her main armament on the Drake, and crippled her. The Lexington opened up on the D6 with her main Phasers and Photons, and with her lighter weapons blasted one of the Suicide Shuttles. The D6 split her fire between Drake, which she destroyed, and Enterprise, which returned fire, destroying the D6 with some good rolls. The resultant explosion slightly damaged the Klingon Dreadnought. "Nice work, Mr Chekov!"

In Turn 3 the Federation ships concentrated on scanning the planet, their Labs and Probes making swift work. Captain Craic aboard the C8 bade his men Overload Weapons! Then he opened fire on Enterprise, smashing her Shields, lightly damaging her hull, and slightly damaging her Dilithium Chamber. Kirk's ship destroys the second Suicide Shuttle, and she and Lexington concentrate fire on the Dreadnought, failing to damage her Shields appreciably. This turn the Federation has compiled 111 of the required 120 Information Points about Gerontia

The Federation squadron now seized the Initiative, wrong-footing the Klingon commander, who is forced to either move and risk being out of arc or to allow the Federation ships to vanish around the planet. Captain Craic orders All Hands on Deck! Commodore Ross aboard the Lexington merely angles his ship to follow the Klingon vessel, while Enterprise stays still, allowing her for and aft batteries to target the Klingon warship. Lexington opens fire, damaging the C8's shields. Her return fire considerably damages Enterprise's hull, and the Critical Damage knocks out one of Enterprise's traits: her Labs! Aw, shucks, Spock!Luckily for the Federation, Lexington's Labs are able to correct the rest of the information they need. Retaining the Initiative, the Federation ships are able to outmanoeuvre the C8, and order Maximum Warp Now! The Klingon captain futilely orders Overload Weapons! But with the enemy obscured by the planet, he has no target, and they escape in the End Phase.

This battle went quite well. I obviously wasn't paying enough attention, as I gave the Klingons a tiny points advantage, which didn't help them at all. The Federation is probably at a significant advantage in these exploratory missions, as the only ship in the game with more Labs than Constitution-class Heavy Cruisers is the Kzinti Dreadnought. I mean to refight this scenario with my brother, and the Federation will defend that time, probably against some cloaked Romulan vessels (since several Klingon models can do double duty as surplus hulls sold to the Romulans and refitted) sneaking into the system. Since one can't use Labs or Probes when Cloaked, and the Romulans will be vulnerable to enemy fire in the turn they decloak, it should provide an interesting tactical exercise. Here are the photos from this first game.