Sunday Starships: On patrol with Beta Squadron

Sunday I decided to take the role of the namesake faction in 5150: Star Navy.  I wanted to play some capital ships, so I chose a Beta Squadron from the Star Navy fleet list, a Class 5 battleship commanding the patrol and two Class 4 heavy cruisers.  The flagship I christened the Breaker, and the two escorts were the Berg and the Bolt.  I decided to play out a patrol mission, and I determined that the enemy for this campaign was the Hishen.  Getting out the campaign map, I generated PEFs that were way too close to the planet Madraz II, so I set out to investigate.

This first contact was a big one--five bogeys, including two Class 5 Capital Ships, a Class 4 Overseer and a Class 4 Slaver, and a Class 3 Monitor.  My Long Range Scan successes put me at an angle on an intercept course, but outside optimal gun range. 

Although it might have been prudent to break off the fight before those Capital Ships could open up on me, I wanted to teach the Hishen not to come snooping around Gaea Prime worlds.  The Breaker unleashed its guns on one of the Capital Ships, but it inflicted only superficial damage, and the Hishen craft remained in the fight. 

Then the Berg shot at the smaller Monitor.  The Star Navy vessel's barrage tore through the hull of the unlucky Hishen, destroying the vessel before it could respond.  The remaining Hishen craft ignored the destruction of their little brother, and replied with their own guns.

One Capital Ship hit the Gaea Prime battleship with half its guns, but the Star Navy's shields held.  The Slaver's guns couldn't breach any opponents' shields, and it had to wait to get into missile range.  The second Capital Ship missed the Breaker entirely, but the Hishen Overseer scored a hit against the cruiser Berg, knocking out one of its shields.  The Star Navy then decided to break off the fight.

Unfortunately, the same Hishen patrol immediately caught them!  The first Capital Ship missed the Breaker, while the second damaged its hull and guns, but didn't scare it off.  Meanwhile, the Overseer scored two more hits on the Berg, further damaging its hull, but failing to drive it away, until on its activation the Star Navy once again fled.  At this time, another PEF appears on the map.  More work for the Star Navy.

Resolving the next Possible Enemy Force, Beta Squadron encounters a lone Hishen Patroller.  Three shots from the Berg land on target, vaporizing the Class 3 interloper.

 More maneuvering on the campaign map, as the first Hishen contact chases Beta Squadron. 

The Star Navy patrol finally contacts the next Possible Enemy Force, and it's a valid contact--and a huge one: The Hishen have sent a Planetary Conquest Ship!  Escorted by a Slaver and a Monitor, the Class 6 vessel can do serious damage to the Breaker and its companions.  Luckily, the Gaea Prime ships are able to flee before the monstrosity can bring its weapons to bear.

More movement around the orbital map, as the patrol tries to resolve the final PEF while avoiding the Hishen squadrons.  However, in the middle of all this, another PEF appears on the screen!

The Star Navy is able to pin down that earlier contact: two Overseers and a Slaver (all Class 4s) and a single Patroller (Class 3).  Maybe this is where that single Patroller (the one the Berg shot down) came from earlier.  Once more deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, the flagship commander orders the squadron out before the Hishen can react.

With just one more PEF to resolve the Betas quickly caught up to it.  Luckily, the other fleets decided to stay in place for some reason (like not passing any dice on their movement tables).

Catching up to the final PEF, what do we find?  A pair of Hishen Mother Ships--Class 5 vessels capable of launching four fighter squadrons at a time!  With the last piece of intelligence gathered, Beta Squadron's mission is complete.  Scoring phenomenally on the Long Range Scan, the Star Navy is able to break off the fight before the Hishen can even launch their standby fighters.

Post mission wrapup: News of the enemy task force has rattled the Star Navy and made its crews unsure if they can protect Madraz II from the Hishen, while the aliens are elated to have chased off the elite forces of Gaea Prime (I rolled bad and they rolled good on the Campaign Morale table).  No reinforcements are arriving to bolster Beta Squadron, and their next mission will be a Hunt.