Scenario Background:
It was late spring, early summer of the year 2260. The Narn-Centauri War was essentially over (had been for months, except for pockets of resistance here and there). And there were unusual things going on in the galaxy. Strange ships were being sighted, strange things were going on. EarthGov had been leaning ever more and more towards an anti-alien enviroment (read: racist). The President was being implicated of a possible assassination conspiracy against his predecessor. Psi-Corps was getting to be a force that sent shivers down the spines of even mundanes. And Nightwatch! Oh, if there ever was a group more horrifying to the normal populace, they hadn't been around in a few centuries.
President Clarke has issued a Martial Law mandate. General Hague has now been forced to act, and he called upon anyone and everyone who will join him against Clarke to come forth now! Just hours ago there was a conflict of Earth Alliance vessels near the Io Jump Point. Hague managed to escape, but for how long will he be free? How large a force will he be able to muster to bring against Clarke?? Would he even succeed??
In the system of Groombridge 1618 (spec=K8, Mv=9) a taskforce of EA ships has been working on tactical wargame practices when the Omega-class destroyer (SD) THESEUS and the EA heavy cruiser STACKPOLE jumped in-system, calling for whomever would assist General Hague in this hour of need.
Not everyone participating in the wargame practices thought like Hague did. While some agreed with Hague and would side with him, others were very much by-the-book. Some were even Nightwatch...but...who was who? And who will fire on their own comrades??
This scenario takes place in the Babylon 5 Universe, during the 'Severed Dreams' episode. You DON'T need to be familiar with Babylon 5 to play! This is just the background enviroment.
Set-up/Forces:
The bulk of the ships are practicing wargame maneuvers. Most weapons are
powered up (ie, 'live') but are not being used. Heavy Beam Weapons are
not powered up and will have to be charged in accordance to the rules
if someone desires to use them. There will be a 1 turn delay to warm the
capacitors up to accept a charge.
In the middle of wargames practice 2 ships (one SD, one CA or BC) jump in-system, announcing that they are Hague-allied ships and are putting out a call to arms for other Hague-sympathizers. In this scenario the ships in question are the EAS THESEUS and the EAS STACKPOLE.
Everyone else's loyalties are pre-determined randomly. On a 1-3 they are EA Loyalist, on a 4-6 they are Hague-sympathizers.
Ships/Names - Location:
Spd/Head
EAS Omega-class destroyer (SD) Dionysus 26.0,36.0 4 3
EAS Omega-class destroyer (SD) Theseus 38.0,42.0 6 4
EAS Omega-class destroyer (SD) Coeus 23.0,35.0 4 3
EAS Omega-class destroyer (SD) Bellerophon 43.0,47.0 3 6
EAS Omega-class destroyer (SD) Hecate 45.0,32.0 5 2
EAS Omega-class destroyer (SD) Jason 56.0,35.0 8 9
EAS Battlecruiser Anshar 28.0,37.0 4 3
EAS Battlecruiser Ishtar 57.5,37.0 8 9
EAS Battlecruiser Nergal 57.5,33.0 8 9
EAS Heavy Cruiser Pournelle 59.0,35.0 8 9
EAS Heavy Cruiser Bradley 43.0,49.0 3 6
EAS Heavy Cruiser Weber 44.0,48.0 3 6
EAS Heavy Cruiser Stackpole 36.0,40.0 6 4
EAS Heavy Cruiser Norton 43.0,23.0 6 10
EAS Heavy Cruiser Harrison 42.0,48.0 3 6
EAS Medium Cruiser Seneca 27.0,33.0 4 3
EAS Medium Cruiser Appalachia 44.0,32.0 5 2
EAS Medium Cruiser Shoshone 21.0,36.0 4 3
EAS Escort/'Aegis' Cruiser Pingora 22.0,37.0 4 3
EAS Light Cruiser Montana 45.0,31.0 5 2
EAS Light Cruiser Queensland 45.0,30.0 5 2
EAS Super Destroyer Boulder 44.0,23.0 6 10
EAS Super Destroyer Windsor 43.0,22.0 6 10
EAS Fast-Attack Destroyer Bloodguard 45.0,23.0 6 10
EAS Fast-Attack Destroyer Quicksilver 43.0,21.0 6 10
EAS Battle Frigate J.Greek 32.0,29.0 10 3
EAS Battle Frigate D.Eagle 32.0,28.0 10 3
EAS Battle Frigate M.DiLeo 32.0,27.0 10 3
EAS Battle Frigate J.Johnston 32.0,26.0 10 3
The map is a rectangular area 100x70 units across/high ('units' is equivalent to 'inches' in Full Thrust; it just sounds funny to call a grid unit an 'inch'). The corners of this map are:
Length of Scenario and Victory Conditions:
The scenario continues until one side destroys or drives off the other.
Whichever side 'holds the field' at the end wins. This is a Big Event in the
opening days of the Insurrection. If the Loyalist win it is very likely the
rebellion will be squashed in short order. If the Insurrectionists win it is
likely they will be able to then draw others onto their side, and potentially
succeed in pulling off a military coup.
Full Thrust/More Thrust Rules that will be likely used:
Fighters: All EA fighters are standard Starfuries. The Omega-class 'Destroyers' also hold a squadron of heavy fighters called 'Thunderbolts' (a derivative of the standard Starfury design). All Starfury models are considered to be standard fighters with the Agile ability (ie, Starfuries can fire in any direction, irregardless of facing or heading). Thunderbolts cannot do this; they are not and can not be Agile. They're already Heavy; be happy.
Additionally, all fighters, except those on the THESEUS and STACKPOLE, are in a 'stand-by' state of readiness (these are simple fleet maneuvers, no fighter combat or manuevers was to take place). Only the THESEUS and STACKPOLE fighters are ready to launch, and may launch on Turn 1. No other ships' fighters can launch until Turn 6. Optionally, to the individual ship commanders, captains can attempt to launch their fighter squadrons under the 'scrambling fighter groups' rule given in More Thrust (pg 11). However, they may not implement the 'scrambling' option until Turn 2.
Loyalist vs Insurrectionist: All sides have been chosen at random, and all knowledge of what side who is on has been kept to the referee. Each individual player knows where he stands in the EA Military. It is up to each player to determine who is a Friend, and who is Not. I ain't tellin' ya. Two ships which jumped in-system do make the announcement that they are Hague-allied ships; after that it's up to you to do what you think is best for your side. And you can't switch sides, sorry. You were chosen for the side you're on by your superiors (and a die roll ;-). You may communicate with anyone in the game; just make sure you know what it is you're saying to someone in case they turn out to be someone you don't want to talk to about tactics...
Weapon Systems: All A/B/C-batteries are considered online from the word 'go'. PDAF/ADAF systems likewise. HOWEVER, all HBW systems are offline and capacitors for these weapons are EMPTY! And cold. It will take a full turn just to warm up the HBW capacitors; they may not be charged during that turn. The turn following a capacitor warm-up they may begin to be charged. NOTE: the first turn charge to an HBW capacitor after it has been warmed-up may NOT be from the Jump Engine capacitors! So, basically, this means anyone with an HBW system cannot hope to fire until Turn 2 at the earliest. And quite possibly not until later.
Note #2: the HBWs on the THESEUS are ready to fire (after all, they just got out of one firefight, and are expecting trouble).
Jumpgates: The local jumpgate is way far away. It'll take a few hours of normal space travel just to get to it. It is in direction '3' from the map.
Shadows: For most of you, if you need to know and don't already, it may be too late...
The Bonehead Maneuver: The Bonehead Manuever cannot be used in this scenario.
Heavy Beam Weapons: These are covered in detail at:
kochte@stsci.edu