INTERCEPTION EN ROUTE TO LUNA
BACKGROUND
September 2077: Months after the Battle for Neith, order has been restored in the colony. The Philadelphia is headed back to earth with Col. Sandra Milton, Hero of the Battle of Neith, in command.
As the small spacecraft approaches Luna, which is neutral territory, the Philadelphia detects another spacecraft. Unfortunately, it is not friendly. It is in fact the Jiujang, under the command of Col. Hong Wei, who has been ordered to destroy or capture the Philadelphia.
FORCES Photo"link
USA: Philadelphia. CO: Col. Sandra Milton, USAF
PRC: Jiujang. CO: Col. Hong Wei, PLAAF
TURN 1 Photo"link
The Jiujang moves to intercept the Philadelphia, which attempts to flank its opponent. The spacecraft are not yet in firing range.
TURN 2 Photo"link
The Jiujang sideslips, while the Philadelphia presses on. Both are within missile range, though just barely. The Jiujang's missiles strike true but are stopped by the Philadelphia's armor. On the other hand, the Philadelphia's warhead knocks out one of the Jiujang's missile launchers.
TURN 3 Photo"link
The Philadelphia attempts to close in to railgun range, while the Jiujang attempts to maintain its distance. TheJiujang fails in this, but it manages to flank the Philadelphia. The Jiujang's missiles damage the Philadelphia's hull and knock out a railgun, but its guns fail to damage the American spacecraft. The Philadelphia does some hull damage with its missile strike, but it misses its target with its railguns.
TURN 4 Photo"link
The Philadelphia attempts evasive maneuvers, but the Jiujang stays within missile range. The Jiujang's missiles knock out one of the Philadelphia's autocannons, but the Philadelphia's missile is stopped by the Jiujang's armor.
TURN 5 Photo"link
Both spacecraft attempt flanking maneuvers. Jiujang's missiles inflict more hull damage.
TURN 6 Photo"link
Seeing that escape is impossible, Col. Milton orders an all-out attack. Sensing blood, Col. Hong does the same. The armor plating on both spacecraft deflect all enemy missiles, but the Jiujang's railguns inflict terrible damage on the Philadelphia, killing Col. Milton in the process! With the spacecraft close to being destroyed and its commander dead, the Philadelphia surrenders.
AFTERMATH Photo"link
The Philadelphia is captured, and its crew taken prisoner. The crew members may be part of a prisoner exchange, but the spacecraft will be kept as a prize. Col. Milton's body will be sent to the USA for burial as a courtesy to a gallant foe.
Alas for Col. Sandra Milton! Her star was rising after the Battle of Neith, but the Wheel of Fortune has turned against her. She will now have a hero's funeral instead of a hero's welcome.
On the other hand, Col. Hong Wei is riding high. He has avenged his comrades who fell at Neith and restored the honor of the PLAAF.
CREW CASUALTY File
The results are only for the Philadelphia's crew. All key personnel aboard the Jiujang are all right, as it did not take any hull damage.
POST-GAME THOUGHTS
Unlike most of my previous games, the opposing forces didn't have exactly the same amount of points. However, the point totals were so close that the forces were considered equal by the Starmada Compendium rules. However, I failed to take into account the Jiujang's firepower. While it only had two weapon batteries to the Philadelphia's three, it had more long-range weapons that proved to be decisive in the game.
Armor plating proved to be quite useful in this game. The game would probably have been a much shorter and bloodier affair without it.
I was planning to include vector movement in the game, but I decided against it. Not using it made for a simpler and faster game.
I haven't played a one-on-one spaceship battle in a long time. Next time, I'll game with larger spaceships which can take more damage.
