TJOTMS, EP 22: THE BATTLE OF TWO MOONS, ALL THE MARBLES

"THIS IS IT!"
-Red Leader, Garvin Dreis - Battle of Yavin

Ok, all of the last nine months has been building up to this battle. After going through all the pics and notes, I'm going to show/tell this in a different way than is usual on the blog. There aren't going to be a lot of effects, partly because the wide scope of the pics makes manipulations difficult, and secondly, the more I look at the pics, un-retouched, the more I think it conveys how huge the game really was.



Background
After a frantic 12 hours of repairs (see previous episodes Link: HERE, and airbornegrove's blog Link: HERE), the KCS Mary Shelly and the Lone Starr make the turn from deep space and back into combat.

None of the ships are unscathed. The Shelley, the Lone Starr, and the enemy RS Drache have portions of their main guns that are non-functional or destroyed. And due to the commando actions during the night, the Technodrome has been completely disabled, while the Shelley has no real boarding complement or security left. Even the Cerberus has minor propulsion damage.

Their fighter wings are also depleted. the Shelley can barely field just over half her complement.

Both sides have thrashed at each other for days. They are exhausted, both in the material and mental sense. But the heavy price exacted from the adversaries has hardened their resolve. This will be the final clash. The fate of Graveskul will be decided here.

SITREP



As the ships pull into detection range near Vivaron, all available craft are launched...


With no functional heavy guns on their starboard side, the Shelly and Lone Starr quickly maneuver to show their port side. Meanwhile, the Reich and Imperium fighters cast a wide net to envelop the Alliance craft.
Both the Dragon and the Cerberus concentrate their guns on the leading Shelley. Even at long range the main batteries score hits. 

But suddenly!


fighters from the Shelley and Lone Starr execute a crossing maneuver and the 2nd and 3rd Reich's Fighter Squadrons overcompensate leaving a huge gap in the CAP...



Flt. Lt. Barton
"Holy crap, look at that hole! Could it be a trap?"

Flt. Cpt. Lamarr
"Trap or not, we're going through!"

The Dragon and Cerberus turn into the fight and close the range.



The guns are blazing and space itself seems to burn. The guns of the Cerberus and the Dragon tear massive holes portside forward in the Shelley. One of Shelley's forward cannons actually splits from the hull and spins off.





...but the consequences of turning into the fight are far worse for the Dragon. Her AA guns are ineffective against the incoming Lone Starr and Shelley fighters. Their combined assault along with the main guns of the capital ships, rip into the forward turret. Scores of shots penetrate deep into her hull.






Both squadrons veer off while the guns continue to relentlessly blaze away.


The Dragon erupts in flame along her entire length.


She drifts off, uncontrolled...

Seeing the Dragon burning, the Cerberus recovers her fighters and transitions into warp.



The enemy is gone... and even though vacuum is already silent, space somehow seems quieter.

It will take hours before the fires on the Shelley are finally brought to heel, and the struggle to save the ship could be a whole other post.


But in the end, danger is held at bay, and the ship will survive. Barely.

All that matters is that the Allies hold the skies.

________________________________

It would be hard to overstate how great and rewarding this whole experience has been. I've made several new friends, because not only did I play against Grove and Lopez, but there was sort of an informal "working group" that we bounced ideas with, including Cheetor, Whiskey Priest, and Mr. SuperGalacticDreadnought himself.

Outside that group, Christopher Lynch from Ravenstar Studios, Papafakis and many others left comments and/or messaged with me about ideas that in some way or another made it into the climactic battles we fought here.

Yes, yes, I know that we never actually rammed and boarded. It was obvious why I stayed away, most of my boarders were already dead, but I did ask the other players and their response was basically nobody wanted to risk it. They thought they could win with guns and fighters.

No problem, always leave the crowd wanting more. We'll get there. 'Cause ask anyone who was there..
WE
ARE
DOING
THIS 
AGAIN!
It was an unmatchable experience: 
I built 2 new ships and learned a whole lot about the process. I collaborated to build a rule set, that while not commercially up to snuff, provided a great framework to fight with our toys. (Don't worry, we'll share) I visited a part of the U.S. I had not seen before, and my minis ventured into a new strange place on the galactic frontier.

...and unforgettably, I got to spend 5 great days with my son. That was priceless. 
(...and if you were on the farm roads of southern Illinois in early June. I apologize. I was teaching him to drive. and while a power slide may not be an essential skill,it seemed to be one he practiced over and over. Better done far away in an alien land than near home and scaring people we know.)

Special thanks to the Grove family. Papa and Mama Grove for buying the piano casters we used on day two. Wife and Daughter Grove for tolerating us. (...and Daughter Grove for being such a great dice roller :) )

The story isn't quite over. The whole point of the Shelley heading out to New Texas was to find Teleportium. We'll deal with that in the Epilogue.

Also, I'm going to do a post on building the Cerberus and the rules we used.

Thanks so much for following along.

Grove, Lopez-- You're the best. Have a blast at BOYL!

Comments

  1. What a finish! And what an awesome project. Must be very satisfying to have seen it all come together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was really fun to get to know with rising confidence that this was really going to work out. The more I got to know Grove and Lopez, the clearer it became that this was going to be great.

      ..and then Boom!

      Delete
  2. This was an exceptional project from beginning to end! I wonder how you top this....)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I cannot imagine what we could do that would be cooler.

      Delete
  3. Man what a post! Thanks so much for making this happen. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't make anything happen. We made it happen.
      Glorious!

      Delete
  4. So truly fantastic. Awesome. From the beginning to the epic end!! Bravo!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Suber, I'm glad it comes across so well

      Delete
  5. It's great that you made it happen. It's amazing that you (plural to include other blogs) are documenting and sharing it all so well. Many many thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I 'm enjoying looking at grove's blog as well. Seeing his perspective, and the stuff I forget brings back all kinds of other details.

      Delete
  6. Thanks for the shout-out, although my contributions were minimal. This was a fantastic batrep to cap an epic series of narrative games!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I disagree, I think your perspective on some key questions was important. At least, it lead the direction of our thinking in new ways.

      BTW- I 'm looking at coming to your neck of the woods twice. Milleniumcon and Wargamescon. We'll have to get together somehow.

      Delete
    2. Definitely! If you make MillCon, you've got a spot in my Monopolis game if you want, and I'm thinking about running a Galactic Knights game, too.

      Delete
  7. It was a great time..... I'm not building a ship

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a great time. Thanks for coming out, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you. Oh, and thanks for running two of the games. Your Rogue Ops game rocks.

      ...and yes, you are building a ship.

      Delete
    2. BTW- have the fighters you ordered for your "not ship" arrived yet?
      ;)

      Delete
  8. The scale of the thing . . . you can forget how big the fighters are. They look like epic scale miniatures. Until you see the furniture dollies under the ships they're attacking. Now THAT is floorhammer! Well done sirs, well done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll explain it more in a later post, but we ran the 1st ship battle on the tables, and while I think that would work if it was single ship vs. single ship, the 2 v 2 format was giving us trouble, and we thought, well we have all this space, let's use it. Thus the piano dollies.

      Thanks for all your input. You seem to have a grip on the details of what's going on with the meagre details in my posts. ;)

      Delete
  9. That was a nail biter tell the very end.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really was. The game ran 6 turns, and if we had gone one more, the Shelly was doomed.

      Delete
  10. When next you do this - I may want in. My Outer Rim Coalition (O.R.C) has many different vessels ready to fight. And that would be awesome to be involved in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, we'll be doing this again. The O.R.C. sounds intriguing.
      Your profile is held private, you can IM me through FB at Dubya Postell and we can do proper introductions.

      Delete
    2. Oh, I am Sinewgrab over on Lead Adventure - I just don't have a Blog profile yet.

      Delete
  11. Epic, cinematic, battle. I always have fun gaming with Grove and Lopez. I also ordered some fighters. We'll see about a ship. I'm more thinking about Warhammer Ahoy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Warhammer Ahoy has some great concepts. In the end, I think we went this way bc we couldn't square fighter vs. Ship movement.
      I'll have to take another peek at the WAY rules, it's been awhile.

      Delete
    2. WAY = Warhammer Ahoy
      Stupid auto correct

      Delete
  12. Stupendous! Looking forward to the further actions with torpedo boats and escorts ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks LP...
      This battle in particular really shows the potential of a Squadron/Fleet action

      Delete
  13. You guys always crank out amazing stuff. I can't wait to oggle the rules and see if I can make them work for my own mega-macro project.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cloudcaptain,
      I should have a rules post up within the next few days. Anything I can provide to help, just let me know.

      Delete
    2. Are the rules stand alone or do they depend on another system?

      Delete
    3. Apologies, your comment went into moderation and I forgot to check there unti Jan 2019.
      The rules are stand alone, BUT we are working toward a 2020 game and revising the rules completely. Stay tuned

      Delete

Post a Comment