TJOTMS, Ep.3: Death of the #2 Picket

Location
Rosary Nebula, 3rd Quadrant
KCS Mary Shelley and Escort Group

While still within range of Colores installations, the KCS Shelley has an ample escort and regular replenishment intervals.

Location
Outer Sensor Watch
Frigate KCS Daphne

Able Spacer 2nd Class Vaar
Captain, the whole net just lit up!
3 contacts, inbound at high speed. Fighter class.

Captain Nashoa
Shields up, contact the fighter patrol, and let the Shelley know we have company.
Can you ID the intruders?

Spacer Vaar
They're not being quiet, sir. 3 ships coming hard and broadcasting death threats and insults about my mother. It's the Pirates of Jeaux.

Captain Nashoa
Arm the guns...
Where are our fighters? How far out?

Flt Ldr Harrod
Captain, we're at full burn, 10 seconds

Spacer Vaar
Visual contact, here they come

Flt Ldr Harrod
Right into them, boys, break up their run

Flt Ldr Harrod
Dammit, the Growler is through...
She's got a clear pass

The defense turrets of the Daphne bark, but the massive guns of the Growler tear holes into the Frigate as she screams by

Flt Ldr Harrod
Splash one of the Orkwings

Unfortunately, the Growler turns inside the pursuit and makes a pass on the starboard side of the Daphne

Flt Ldr Hammond
Leader Hammond to Shelley Flight Ops.
The Daphne is gone. She's burning, and we have detected life pods.

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Hi Readers!
This was a fun dogfight where I started incorporating larger ships into the game and testing those rules. It had missiles, a gunship and even defensive gun turrets, but still lasted less than 30 minutes.

The Pirates of Jeaux won a clear victory losing one of their own vs. the destruction of the target.

...and yes, I built a model of a model, and for scenic purposes I now have a small scratchbuilt version of the Shelley (When assembling elements for a picture, it's easier to use a small foam ball for a planet for the model shown below, than a giant yoga ball for the 6 foot original)

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Comments

  1. That is awesome! But I shed a tear for the Daphne. :(

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    Replies
    1. Don't shed too many, the carnage is just beginning!

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  2. The first thing I thought when I seen the first picture was has he built a smaller Shelly & low & behold you have, that's a fab idea Will & it'll give you so much scope going forward, I'd a wonderful Christmas thanks & hope yours was like wise :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the well wishes. Still at my parent's house visiting in New Orleans, so a great Christmas.

      I realized I had to build a smaller Shelley when i started thinking about scenic shots and didn't a have a Lucasfilm type of budget.

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  3. I cant remember but how makes the fleet scale figs you have? Also you are insane for making all of those ships. But in a mad genus sort of way.
    On a somber note, sad to see the Daphne getting scraped. The Kingdom of colors need to improve its knife fighting capabilities for gun ship run's like this.

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    Replies
    1. I should do a post on the current ship list. It's getting to be ridiculous.

      Truly, the dice rolling for the Daphne was abysmal. I think out of 40 or 50 d6's rolled shooting at her attackers, 3 rolled 6's for hits.

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    2. Ouch! Those rolls seem to match my last outing in a game of boltaction. Couldn't hit the broad side of the barn.

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  4. I'm sure the Daphne can be towed in for repair...if not her sister ship (the same model) can replace her....) Nice brief and bloody fight!

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    Replies
    1. Probably,
      90% of the military equipment in Sector Six is salvage.

      It was quick. I cannot imagine a dogfight game being anything else (although I've come across several examples)

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  5. I hope the crew made it to the pods quickly enough. The hit on the bridge looks ugly. Those pirates mean business. Looks like you need the local versions of Preble, Decatur, and Bainbridge to go in and do some high velocity negotiating. Love the mini-Shelly! Fantastic stuff!

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    Replies
    1. (I'm also quite curious about that large vessel just off Shelly's starboard beam.)

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    2. "High velocity negotiating"
      I am so stealing that...lol!

      The ship is a freighter from the "Cold Navy" line now owned by Ravenstar Studios. It's a nifty model, and only has loading doors on one side. Here , i am using it replenishment vessel of the fleet train.

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    3. I think I at least half stole the line from Lucasfilm, actually. One of Anakin's jokes in the second movie is something about negotiating with light sabers. And they probably stole it from someone else before them. There's probably a million variations on that joke, perhaps most famously Clausewitz's "War is a continuation of diplomacy by other means." (Which always struck me as darkly funny in that German way.) Anyway . . .

      Cold Navy, eh? I've looked at those a few times and always thought they looked neat, but maybe over large, rather like some of the Firestorm Armada ships. I may have been fooled by a false assumption about the size of the basses. That looks like a perfectly nice size model for a space ship, and it works out well with the rest of your fleet. (Much of which might also be Cold Navy from the looks of it?) I might have to give that line another good look. You've managed to collect some interesting models and fit them together well.

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    4. The ships themselves that i picked from Cold Navy, even the freighter are smaller than BFG cruisers. When you get to the Battleships of the Cold Navy line, I feel like the range loses its appeal, so all of my ships are destroyer/cruiser size.

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  6. That fleet sized Shelley is great! And the big ships with dogfights just expands the options, so very interesting.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Lasgunpacker.
      So, for extra stupid obsessive detail, can you see the micro planes on the deck of the mini-Shelley? They are not glued down. Each setup will have them change in number and configuration...

      This cannot be healthy

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    2. You just need to have a fleet ops scale game to use the detail that you have wisely included! You know, where you track the squadron deployment, and the pilots...

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    3. We have discussed that as a way to do remote games. Basically, provide each side with a air controller board in an underground bunker like you always see in movies about the London Blitz. Then provide each side with limited info about radar contacts, and then let it all unfold.

      We'll see

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