On Patrol 2

An Imperial Tyrant cruiser intercepts the Chaos Murder cruiser lurking near outer system shipping lanes. The Chaos cruiser had been severely damaged in a previous engagement by an Imperial Lunar cruiser and was thought to still be in the system. This gives the Imperial forces a second chance to destroy the Chaos ship but it might be the Chaos Captain's chance to exact some revenge.

Turn 1

The Chaos ship, always ready for a fight, closes. The Imperial ship launches its prow torpedo batteries.

Turn 2

The Chaos ship fires it prow lances at close range, unable to score a hit. The Imperial ship does superficial shield damage.

Turn 3

The Chaos ship moves to the Imperial ship's stern and lowers its shields with a barrage from its starboard weapons batteries. The Imperial ship Reloads Ordnance and returns fire in turn lowering the Chaos ship's shields.

Turn 4

With both ships now abeam of each other and in range of their broadsides, the Chaos ship does not score any hits. The Imperial ship continues to do shield damage.

Turn 5

Both ships maneuver right along side one another and unleash the full might of their weapons batteries at point blank range.

Turn 6

The Chaos ship comes about catching the Imperial ship closing and lowers its shields. The Imperial Captain, seeing an opportunity, orders Burn Retros and fires torpedoes at point blank range. The Chaos ship fails its Brace For Impact test, and despite the defense turrets blowing up several, the torpedoes bypass the shields and hit the Chaos ship's hull damage.

Turn 7

The Chaos ship maneuvers to stay in the battles and the Imperial ship Reloads Ordnance.

Turn 8

The Chaos Captain curses his subordinates and tries to issue Special Orders to no avail. The Chaos ship limps away from the Imperial ship, unable to bring guns to bear. The Imperial ship fires its formidable weapons batteries at close range scoring a flurry of hits. The Chaos ship attempts to Brace For Impact but fails. The Chaos ship's shields fail and the ship takes 6 hull hits and causing critical damage! Thruster Damage causes another point of hull damage right away and the Bridge is permanently smashed making issuing Special Orders almost impossible. The Chaos ship is crippled.

Turn 9

The Chaos ship attempts to issue Special Orders but the Bridge is uselessly smashed. The Imperial ship continues to wheel around, moving in for the kill, and blasts the Chaos ship as it moves away. The Chaos ship takes its last point of hull damage. and is reduced to a Blazing Hulk hurtling through space.

Results

The Chaos Murder cruiser had taken Catastrophic Damage and had been turned into a Blazing Hulk with uncontrolled fires blazing on every deck. The Imperial Tyrant cruiser moves off to a safe distance in case the Chaos ship explodes and looks on as it witnesses the fiery death of the traitor ship's captain and crew.

On Patrol

A Lunar Class Imperial Cruiser on patrol spots a Murder Class Chaos Cruiser in Imperial space. The two ships immediately close in and assume attack positions. The Chaos captain, realizing that they must destroy the Imperial ship before it can break off and alert other Imperial forces to their presence in this sector, seizes the initiative and makes the first move.

Turn 1

 

The Chaos ship Locks On! and fires its prow lance weapons, scoring a hit on shields. The Imperial Ship launches its prow torpedoes.

 

Turn 2

 

The Chaos ship is forced to move through the Imperial ship's deadly torpedo salvo, taking shield damage. The Imperial ship turns to the starboard side and unleashes a close range lance and weapons battery salvo on the Chaos ship, damaging the hull.

Turn 3

The Chaos ships turns to the port side and begins to come about as the Imperial ship peppers its shields.

Turn 4

The Chaos ship is unable to score any hits shooting through blast debris. The Imperial ship does superficial shield damage.

Turn 5

The Chaos ship turns to port again and lines up the Imperial ship for a ramming action as the Imperial ship turns to the starboard side unleashing a devastating closing rake.

Turn 6

The ramming action causes 3 hull points to the Imperial ship while taking no damage itself. The Chaos ship's Boarding Action fails and the attacking Chaos ship suffers hull damage. Neither ship, however, suffers any critical damage from the fighting. Several hull points have already been taken on both sides but the Chaos ships is the closest to being crippled!

Turn 7

The Chaos ship turns to port to get some distance between it and the Imperial ship but the crew fails to respond to the Chaos captain's commands to go on Special Orders. The Imperial ship is forced to Come To A New Heading to avoid leaving the battle but even with reduced firepower still manages to score a couple hits.

Turn 8

 

The distance between the two ships increases as the Chaos ship moves All Ahead Full in the attempt to clear the Imperial ship's guns and reposition itself. The Imperial ship's crew is momentarily elated about its surviving the boarding action and scoring several hits in the process of battle, so becomes unresponsive when the Imperial Captain attempts to issue Special Orders.

Turn 9

The Chaos ship, still maneuvering itself for another pass, Comes To New Heading and comes abeam of the Imperial ship on its port side at long range. Perhaps there will be some cover from a stubborn field of blast debris that refuses to dissipate. The Imperial ship's crew still proves unresponsive to Special Orders and must follow the Chaos ship for now.

Turn 10

 

As the Chaos ship continues to Come To New Heading, the Imperial Captain, bolstered by success in the battle so far, sees an opportunity and decides to launch his prow torpedoes at the Chaos ship dead ahead.

Turn 11

The Chaos ship is able to outmaneuver the deadly torpedo salvo and Comes To New Heading to close on the Imperial ship once again, but the reduced effectiveness caused by the Special Order makes its lance batteries ineffective. The Imperial ship's torpedoes had been dodged, but the Chaos ship had been forced into effective range of its starboard lance and weapons batteries. The Imperial ship scores several hits, knocking the shields down, scoring another point of hull damage, and crippling the Chaos ship.

Turn 12

The Chaos ship, now crippled, moves All Ahead Full in the direction it had come from to avoid being completely destroyed by the Imperial ship. In time, the Chaos ship would be able to repair the damage to its hull and fight another day. The Imperial ship comes about on its starboard side in the hopes of finishing the job, but the long range and the inability of the crew to execute Special Orders secured the Chaos ship's retreat.

Results

The Imperial Lunar Class Cruiser had won, but it was going to need to do better at executing Special Orders to destroy its enemies. The Imperial ship was lucky that Boarding Actions favor the defender. Otherwise, the game could have easily went to the Chaos side. Lance weapons to the starboard and port sides proved useful in taking down the enemy's shields but torpedoes, or the threat of torpedoes, were still more powerful.