Wargame Wednesday – Power Projection: Fleet Scenario – Opening the Jar at Mason

–Based on “Decisive Battles – Disaster at Mason” in Travellers Aide #9: Fighting Ships of the Solomani (QLI-RPGRealms, 2009)–

Situation: During the Solomani Rim War, a Solomani Task Force under Commodore Tiajama opens Rear Admiral Wolfe’s famous Diaspora Sector offensive with a strike at Mason. Task Force Tiajama, comprised of a CarrierRon (7^th – The Hokkaido Samurai), a FleetRon (21^st – The Aoster Grenadier Guards) and a PatRon (2x SolSec picket ships) will approach Mason from rimward. The attack is an operational diversion designed to draw Imperial Navy elements rimward and away from Wolfe’s main axis of attack.

Location: Mason (Diaspora 2226), date 86-990

Solomani Operational Situation: Two picket ships enter the system first, followed by the 21^st FleetRon and 30 minutes later the CarrierRon. Upon arrival, Commodore Tiajama receives frantic communications from the Recon Frigates warning of heavy enemy activity in the outer system. Communications with the frigates is lost after reports they are under attack by fighters. System scans reveal an Imperial CruRon is nearby.

Solomani Tactical Situation: The Imperial CruRon is closing fast with lead elements just 5 light-seconds away (20 MU). Due to the short time since arrival in system, no fighters have been launched. Commodore Tiajama has a Fleet Tactics Skill of 2, making the maximumTask Force Size=4. Commodore Tiajama can arrange his ships as he sees fit. Lead elements of the Task Force start 20 MU from the lead elements of the Imperial Player. Each Task Force must have at least one ship within 10 MU of a ship of another Task Force.

Solomani Forces:

21^st FleetRon “The Aoster Grenadier Guards”

• 2x Zeus-class Battlecruisers, 1x Yamamoto-class Strike Cruiser (Fleet Flag), 1x Texas-class Light Cruiser, 5x Striker-class Destroyers.

7^th CarrierRon “The Hokkado Samuari”

• 1x Midway-class Fighter Carrier (“Hokkaido”), 1x Minsk-class Heavy Cruiser, 1x Madrid-class Light Cruiser, 4x Tau Ceti-class Destroyers

Solomani Victory Conditions: Destroy more points of enemy shipping than you lose and disengage successfully.

Imperial Operational Situation: War is coming. Your CruRon has finished refueling at Mason and was proceeding out-system to jump to next destination.  A light monitor stationed in the system is accompanying you for fleet maneuver familiarization training. System scans detected two SolSec recon frigates jumping into the system. Immediately, fighters from a nearby base were dispatched. A short time later, scans revealed jump arrival signatures of at least a dozen ships with more escorts.  It doesn’t take a jump scientist to figure out the Solomani’s have attacked.

Imperial Tactical Situation: The lead elements of the Solomani strike fleet are 5 light-seconds away (20 MU). The CruRon commander has a Fleet Tactics Skill of 1 making the Task Force size limit 3. Lead elements of the Task Force start 20 MU from the lead elements of the Solomani Player. Each Task Force must have at least one ship within 10 MU of a ship of another Task Force.

Imperial Forces:

Unnamed CruRon

• 8x Effendi-class Heavy Cruisers, 1x Seydlitz-class Light Monitor

Imperial Victory Conditions: Destroy more enemy points in combat that you lose before withdrawing from combat.

Historical Outcome: SolSec spies were unable to relay the presence of the Imperial CruRon to Solmani commanders in time. Faced with no chance to break off or jump, Tiajama quickly formed up his two squadrons. As the battle was joined, the Imperial cruisers concentrated their fire on Tiajama’s two Zeus-class Battlecruisers. A direct hit from a spinal mount vaporized one Zeus, while the other Zeus was pounded severely. With fuel tanks shattered, jump drive destroyed, dampers and meson screen disabled, spinal mount destroyed and heavy bay damage the Battlecruiser fell out of the battle line, trailing debris. Both Solomani Battlecruisers returned fire at the same time, both hitting with their heavy meson spinal mounts. One Effendi was hit amidships, shattering its fuel tanks, disabling its jump and maneuver drives and wiping out its computers. The other Zeus delivered a devastating strike on another Effendi, destroying its bridge and computer system, with explosions raging through the ship until it too fell out of the battle line. Tiajama’s flagship scored a spinal mount hit on another Effendi, disabling its jump drive and destroying its fuel tanks and maneuver drive. But another Effendi scored a direct spinal mount hit on Tiajama’s flagship which disabled the spinal mount. Multiple hits from the Effendi’s particle accelerator bays raked the Yamamoto’s surface, wiping out many bay weapons, rupturing its fuel tanks and disabling its maneuver drive. The flagship was a sitting duck. Tiajama’s Minsk-class Heavy Cruiser was hit by an Effendi, holing its fuel tanks and hitting its spinal mount, making it combat ineffective. The Madrid-class Light Cruiser was attacked by another Effendi, destroying its maneuver drives, its fuel tanks and much of its weaponry. A lowly Texas-class Light Cruiser managed to make 13 hits on another Imperial cruiser, slowing it but not stopping the slaughter. Within 50 minutes Tiajama retreated into deep space. Three Imperial cruisers out of 8 had been destroyed or abandoned due to massive damage, but the Solomani lost both Battlecruisers, Tiajama’s flagship, a Heavy Cruiser, a Light Cruiser and several destroyers. The Fighter Carrier had barely deployed its fighters when the order was given to retreat. The Imperial CruRon declined to pursue and rescued survivors from their battered ships. By the time they regrouped to hunt down the rest of the intruding ships they had jumped out of system back into Solomani territory. Despite heavy losses, Tiajama’s feint succeeded by diverting a powerful unit from the real battles yet to come deep in Imperial rear areas.

Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

System Reference Document, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

T20 – The Traveller’s Handbook Copyright 2002, QuikLink Interactive, Inc. Traveller is a trademark of Far Future Enterprises and is used under license

Traveller’s Aide #9 – Fighting Ships of the Solomani Confederation, Copyright ©2009 QuikLink Interactive, Inc.