Battle Report
Battlefleet Gothic
A Gathering Of Arms - Part One
Turn Two
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Turn One Turn Two |
Turn Four Conclusion |
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With the Imperial fleet closing in, the Legion attempted to go on Lock On orders, in order to maximise on its long range weapons. After failing the command check I decide to use a valuable reroll. When this also failed, Tim allowed me to use my second reroll (under normal circumstances you are not able to use more than a single reroll for a dice result). His generosity paid off when this also failed. After a brief pause for me to use every colourful word that I know, and to invent a couple of extras for good measures, I got on with my turn. Again the Chaos fleet eased forwards, taking their maximum movement without throwing any vessels out of the formation. The Iconoclasts also closed the ranks a little in order to intercept the approaching Cobra squadron.
With most of my ships in weapons range, I had high hopes for the firing phase. The Sariel managed a single lance hit against the Lord Warden, and the Legion also targeted this ship with all the firepower it could muster. If I could remove this vessel then I would be facing the enemy on a single flank, and I would be able to move ships around and choose which were in the firing line. This would allow me to perform a tactic which Blood Bowl players will recognise as the cage, with ships in a mutually protecting square formation. The Legion rolled a total of thirteen dice for its weapons batteries, but needing sixes it only managed two hits, and then missed with its lances as well!
The Abigor, being in the centre of the conflict, had targets to all sides and managed to inflict a further hit on the Lord Warden on one side, while also hitting the Renown once with its weapons batteries and a second time with its lances. The Iblis made up for the unimpressive showing by the Chaos fleet by hitting the Renown three times with its weapons batteries, causing a Plasma overload critical hit which destroyed the light cruiser and took out a shield on a nearby Cobra. To finish the phase, the Iconoclast squadron targeted the Cobras which were directly in their path. After a storm of firepower, fully three of the escorts had disappeared when the dust settled.
All that was left was for the Chaos fighters to move eastwards to protect the fleets flank, and the torpedoes to continue their path, taking them off the table. The final act of the turn was to remove four blast markers.
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As a highlight to my misserable command checks, Tim managed to place the Sovereign of Stars on All Ahead Full orders, the Lord Warden on Lock On, Reload Cobra J squadron (although he used a reroll to do it) and set the Pallas on All Ahead Full. This was only brought to an end when the Michael Paleoglas failed its Come To New Heading command check. I fumed quietly in the corner.
Most of the Imperial fleet moved east in order to close the gap, and only the Lord Warden moved forwards, as it was in the thick of the fighting. Then it was time for the Imperial fleet to hit back, which it did in style. The Lord Warden opened up, scoring a lance hit against the Sariel and fully four hits on the Legion. The resulting critical hit caused a hull breach, and another three damage points. Cobra J squadron set torpedoes and fired its weapons at the Iconoclast squadron, but failed to damage. The Repulse also set torpedoes, and also fired its weapons batteries at the Iconoclasts, destroying the Ornias. The Michael Paleoglas tried to strike the Iblis, but failed to find its mark. Once more, Cobra H squadron released torpedoes, and opened up with their weapons against the Iconoclasts, hitting and destroying the Apaosa. With that done, the Iconoclasts braced for impact (a little late!), as did the Iblis and Abigor. The rest of the Chaos fleet was working its way far enough forward that the the Imperial ships were behind their fire arcs, and so they could not be targeted.
In the ordnance phase, the strength ten salvo from the Cobras of H squadron sped towards the Iconoclast. One was taken down by turret fire and four of the remaing nine hit the Buta, destroying it. This left five torpedoes, and again one was detonated by turret fire before two struck the Klathon. One was saved by the Iconoclast being braced, but it was not enough as the other blew the ship apart spectacularly. The final two missiles headed on towards the final Iconoclast, but one was intercepted by turret fire and the other missed its mark.
With this over, we moved on to the torpedo salvo from the Repulse. These hit the Iblis, but four were torn apart by the vessels defensive turrets and the last two were unable to lock on to the cruiser. I realised that I had been holding my breath, and relaxed a little. The final salvo had originated from Cobra J squadron, and slammed into the Legion. One was taken out by turrets, but three found their way through the defensive web, impacting with the ship and causing a Plasma overload which destroyed it in an expanding fireball. As the shockwave of this event spread outwards, the Lord Warden was caught in the tumult, causing three damage points which even bracing for the impact could not save.
In the closing moments of only the second turn, the Chaos fighters moved again east, and another four blast markers were removed.
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The Imperial fleet seemed to surge onward and into the Chaos lines. The Chaos fleet kept in formation, each ship
working forward to get behind the Imperial lines. A lance stabbed out from the Sariel, connecting with the enemy
cruiser standing in the path of the fleet. Shields flared as the energy dissipated across the surface of the
protective field, before the Legion opened up. Thousands of heavy shells were sent towards the ship, saturating
the area of space, but the Chaos vessels were only rewarded by a few explosions and a section of the cruiser
detatched and spun out into space. Khan held up his left hand, softly telling the gun crews to wait while the Abigor targeted the light cruiser before them. Judging the time well, Khan made a chopping motion and screamed to open fire and the gunnery crews needed little encouragement. The Iblis registered several direct hits on the now weakened Imperial cruiser. There was a pause and complete silence, an expectant hush across the entire void. Small flares vented from sections of the cruiser before the bridge was engulfed in an explosion which was echoed along the length of the vessel. The explosions merged into a single fireball which expanded and blew superheated gases in all directions. The Imperial fleet continued onwards, firing as it came. Bright beams of lances shot out from both sides of an enemy cruiser, connecting it with two Chaos ships simulataneously. The previous elation turned to dread and war shouts were frozen in the throats of the crew of the Iblis as the flagship of the fleet was ruptured across its prow by huge explosions and clouds of gas and oxygen leaked from numerous points on the vessel. Khan implored his patron god to hold the flagship together, and the gases diminished and exhausted. On the fleets flank, the squadron of escorts took a pounding from weapon batteries and torpedoes which ripped through the formation and descimated the squadron, leaving only a single ship remaining. Off to the side, and almost behind the Iblis, an Imperial cruiser fired weapon batteries. The area between the cruisers was filled with high explosive shells, but the enemy had misjudged the distance and they detonated prematurely causing no damage. Khan ordered the ship to brace for coming fire, and across the ship bulkheads slammed down and the crew fastened themselves into their positions. The display indictate a swarm of torpedoes heading towards the Iblis and on the bridge the entire crew held their breath. Turret laser beams created a web of lights and several missiles were hit and exploded in the net. The few remaining torpedoes passed the Iblis and were not able to lock on to the heat signature of the vessel. But, the relief was short-lived as a second swarm of the missiles hammered the Legion. The comm units were overrun as messages and status reports were dispatched from the grand cruiser. The messages grew in urgency as the crews fought and failed to keep the mounting chain reactions in check before the vessel was ripped apart by horrendous explosions from deep within. Khan forced himself to relax. The Imperial dogs would pay for that action ten times over. |
Date: 11/05/2002
Written by: CyberShadow