Raid on the Blücher

After having placed the asteroids and secretly determined the location of the Blucher and the jump-in point of the Romanov ships the defending NSL squadrons were deployed.

The NSL admiral intended to have a relatively conservative deployment with the close protection squadron in proximity to the hidden battleship at low velocity and the two patrolling squadrons moving at a moderate pace back towards the same zone.

'A' Patrol Squadron moves back towards asteroids.



'B' Patrol Squadron makes contact with the close protection squadron.



Close Protection Squadron threads its way through asteroids.



Close Support Squadron.



Romanov squadron jumps in right on top of them. This threw the cat amongst the pigeons. With the opening Romanov salvo destroying a frigate and a light cruiser outright, and crippling the other two vessels in the close protection squadron with little effective reply, there seemed to be little hope for the NSL battleship to hold out before relief would arrive.



Despite the slow crawl of the asteroid the Blucher is anchored to away from the Romanov squadron their sensor sweep reveals its position. Bringing on its systems online as quickly as possible doesn't seem quick enough. Only a single '3' Battery, FTL and the engines response to the feverish attentions of the damage control parties.



Romanov squadron swarms as Blucher gets engines online. The Blucher pulls away at a snail's pace from the asteroid to bear its weapons on its attackers. Their fire severely damages its armour and super-structure.



Despite the urgency of the situation the patrolling squadrons keep their steady pace through the asteroid field, and the heavy cruisers' concerted fire on the Romanov battleship "Sevastopol" tears it apart before she can open up again on the Blucher. Fire from the accompanying destroyers knocks two of the Romanov cruisers out of action. The remainder flee.



A short, sharp battle. It's difficult to assess exactly how the scenario might be balanced better, given the deployment rules give an awful lot of scope for hugely different plays. We both felt that maybe downgrading the heavy cruisers with escort cruisers and swapping them with the light cruisers would go a long way to evening things out.