BFG: Star Wars - Batrep Battle at Cam'Co

 Chiss campaign Turn 8 finally sees some action:

• The Vaagari 1st and 2nd Fleets perform a combined assault on the Imperial occupied world of Csilla, defended by the Imperial 1st Fleet
• The Chiss 1st Fleet assaults the Vaagari Hombase system of Cormit
• The Chiss 2nd Fleet assaults the now poorly defended Imperial Cam'co system.
• The Rebels liberate Oyokol
• The Imperials occupy Kinoss

 This is the report of the cowardly Chiss assault on the lightly defended observation and medical station at Cam'Co. With the reduced points (no banners) I had a small battle-group focused around the ISD Monitor, light ISDs Vengeance and Vindictive and the Venator A Relentless. I also ordered the work crews to convert two damaged Nebulon B frigates into Fire-ships, ready to send into any attacking fleets. Group-Captain Pallaeon was muttering something about a "Four Kingdoms Strategy" and it was clear that if an attack fell here there would be no reinforcements.

 And fall it did. The Chiss made a sudden surprise attack, with half again as many forces as the defenders. They emerged from hyperspace dangerously close to the gravity well of Cam'Co. These were the same ships that led the abortive raid on Norporar. Imperial crews rushed back from leave (playing some local game called 'baseball' as Chiss fighters roared overhead) and quickly took shuttles back to man their stations. So close were they in fact that the Chiss battleship was able to launch a massive wave of Proton Torpedoes at Vindictive and Vengeance before they could even get underway. The strike managed to cripple both the Vindictive and the Vengeance.

 As my ships began to get underway, I issued orders to the Captains of both Light ISDs to withdraw. The Captain of the Vengeance was able to do so but the Vindictive was still too occupied with damage control and we could only hope they could endure Chiss fire for a little longer and attempt to place the rest of the fleet between them and our crippled ship. I ordered volleys of turbo-laser fire at the Chiss fleet, in an effort to disrup their fire and sent both Fire-ships on a collision course with their Battleship, with a TIE Screen to hold off enemy bomber runs on them. 

 Turn 2: The Chiss sweep forward, their Battleship screening the fleet carriers. Chiss Admiral Than decides to eliminate the fire-ships but is forced to devote a surprising amount of fire to do so. He attempts to send some fire in the direction of the limping light ISD Vindictive but the looming silhouette of the ISD Monitor occupies their targeting solutions and the shots harmlessly hit the bigger ship's shields. Than then orders Chiss fighter crews to engage and destroy the Imperial TIE Fighter screen. 

 Meanwhile, the Captain of the Vindictive manages to get the situation under control, clear the gravity well, and jump to Hyperspace. Now that this emergency is past, I note that the Chiss Admiral has come perilously close to Monitor, the fool. ISD monitor and Relentless rake his decks with fire, managing to drop his shields and score some hits. Then relentless sends forth TIE Squadrons to eliminate the fighters on CAP... and I embark my Stormtroopers on Assault Shuttles and conduct a series of raids on the Chiss Battleship. 

Turn 3: The raids are a stunning success, between damage from Turbo-laser fire and the Storm-trooper raids, Chiss Admiral Than's nerve breaks and he abandons his fleet in order to preserve the flagship. That will teach those Chiss scum to trifle with the might of the Empire. However, the remaining Chiss Captains posses more steel in their spines and focus fire on the Monitor. They do significant damage, including some hits on critical systems. The Chiss then put up even heavier CAP on their remaining shifts and turn to 'cross the T' behind my fleet.

 In my turn, I attempt to concentrate fire on the nearest Chiss carrier and succeed in crippling it. However, three of their ships remain and I am badly damaged and have pulled out of range to conduct more Storm-trooper assaults. I attempt to withdraw Relentless, so that Monitor too might make an honourable withdrawal, but Relentless' Captain is derelict of duty so with weary heart I keep Monitor in the battle to preserve the smaller Venator.

 Turn 4: The ISD Monitor would be a great prize indeed so the Chiss withdraw the crippled carrier and throw everything that four cruisers have at the retreating Star Destroyer. They cripple her but Monitor survives another turn.
And survives to fight again, as first the Venator Relentless and then the Star Destroyer slip past the asteroid field, into Hyperspace.
Curse the negligent Captain of Relentless, his hide is saved again but I lost some of my most experienced command crew when the bridge collapsed due to enemy fire!


Battle Aftermath:+7 Renown to Chiss Admiral Than, +0 to the Imperial Navy.
Chiss losses: cruiser CES Tethys 4 damage (crippled), battleship CES Typhon 2 damage Imperial losses: ISD Monitor 7 damage (crippled), light cruiser Vengeance 4 damage (crippled), light cruiser Vindictive 3 damage (crippled) Chiss claim control of Cam'co.

Commentary: Despite this loss fitting with my overall strategy, a loss rankles!  That is not least because after driving off the Chiss Flag I had hopes I could actually inflict more damage and withdraw in good order. Relentless failed me there but them's the breaks'. Chiss Admiral Than has good fleet discipline and works his ships together well. His only failing in an otherwise flawless surprise attack was to fail to adequately protect the ships closest to me with CAP. We both do not rate bombers against Battleships but Assault shuttles are another matter. Well done John and that was lots of fun.

Now, as to this 'Four Kingdoms' thing. I noticed last turns that Jason's Rebels were getting an easy ride out of the strategic situation and prospering despite sustaining heavy losses. That happened because I had initially expanded without consideration (because I was not aware) of the Vagaari and Chiss. It took me a while to 'click' but I realised (and playing a Romance of the Three Kingdom's video game jogged my memory) that in situations like this strategic balance is important. So the aim is to have the Imperials as the center of a disc. Then the other three players will control regions surrounding the central hub and have borders with each other and with me in the center. That is why I needed to let Cam'Co go and why I snuck a fleet banner around the top of the map to help consolidate what I see as my core space. It remains to be seen what the others do but now the Chiss have the option of free expansion around the rim and that will take them to the Rebels in a few turns. At the same time, the Vagaari can foll the gap left by Rebel retreat into that empty space to the 'left' of the map. Of course, if they want to keep fighting me, there is nothing I can do to stop them, I am just not forcing them to do so anymore!

Thanks for reading.