Spring Y169: The Zursk Campaign

 I've decided to put this one together as a full mini-campaign report, as opposed to individual battles. I hope this will help it make more sense as a narrative of the Klingon campaign to take an important neutral planet.

The ageing Klingon Admiral Or'ok leads a major expedition to secure the independent planet of Zursk as a major stepping stone against Kzinti territory. This is one of six Klingon attacks that are taking place in this period; the others are against the Kzinti themselves. Is is fair to say that at this point the Klingon offensive is seeing mixed success. However, Or'ok has quite an impressive list of assets to deploy, including marine transports and commando vessels, as you can see from the force list above. He leads from his favourite C8 Dreadnought and makes his initial attack with a CV Tug plus escorts; a single D6V Carrier, fronted by an F5J Penal Cruiser; a D7 Battlecruiser; a D6M Mauler Cruiser; a D6D Drone/Scout Cruiser; and a squadron of D5 War Cruisers.

He is facing the Kzin Commodore S'Murrus, who has been ordered to support Zursk by the Marquis on the join between the Klingon, Federation and Kzinti borders. The Marquis' Fleet is required to maintain a substantial presence at its Starbase, but even so the Marquis is able to send a decent force to assist the neutrals. He does not expect S'Murrus to defeat the Klingons entirely, but it seems sensible to supplement the considerable defence force of six planetary ground bases and two full fighter squadrons. This accords with overall Kzinti strategy: use fixed positions and fighter superiority to degrade the invading fleets.

The combination is quite powerful, with S'Murrus having a total of 42 fighters at his disposal, in addition to his own vessels. Zursk has 24 fighters of its own, conveniently enough supplied generously by the Kzinti government prior to the war breaking out, which means they are fully compatible with their own 18 fighters. S'Murrus leads from a CVS Strike Cruiser Group, seconded by a CVE Escort Carrier and its Escort Frigate. He also has three Battlecruisers; a Light Cruiser; an FFK refitted Frigate Leader; and, finally, a Scout Frigate. 

This should play out as another of those battles which are becoming very common on this front. The Klingons have superiority in ships, but this is more than compensated for by the local defences and all of those fighters. Or'ok has given orders for the Klingons to make a swift pass and then pull out quickly. He is a wily old fighter, and nobody doubts his courage and leadership in battle, but he is losing track of administrative details nowadays. He is well aware from previous encounters with the Kzinti that they will have plenty of fighters, and is expecting this to be a grinding series of attritional engagements.

And indeed, everything transpires pretty much as expected. The Klingons lead with the CV Tug's fighters and the D5 squadron. They cripple the FFK and Escort Frigate accompanying the CVE, but then lose all of the Tug's fighters to a massive wave of Kzinti attack fighters, which then go on to cripple the entire D5 squadron. The Klingons gracefully decline to continue the battle.

The next pass by the Klingons will see a very similar fleet composition. The lost fighters have mostly been replenished by forwarding the contingent from an F5V Light Carrier in the reserves, and the now defunct War Cruisers have been replaced in the line by an F5 Frigate Squadron. The Kzinti still have their massive fighter force, but are now down two of their lightest ships. S'Murrus has been expecting something like this.

Part Two

The second battle takes place and sees an escalation in intensity. The Klingon ships concentrate their firepower on helping their fighters, using tactics pioneered by their famous Admiral Ulorf. However, Or'ok is no longer a commander of that calibre, and makes the mistake of keeping his C8 Dreadnought on its own. S'Murrus spots this tempting target from the flag bridge of his strike carrier. A wave of drones takes out the front shield of Or'ok's flagship, and then a combined wave from the CVS and its fighters goes through the downed shield before the larger Klingon vessel can turn to present a fresh shield. There is an unfeasibly large bang as the C8 blows, the first loss of a capital ship in the war. In addition, the Kzinti cruisers cripple the Klingon fleet's D7 Battlecruiser. The Klingons leave, shrug their shoulders and get ready for another pass.

This time the fleet will be led by Commodore Uklik on the D7C Dawnslayer. Amazingly, the Klingons lost only three fighters in the second engagement, but wiped out an entire squadron of planetary defence fighters and much of the second. Uklik's ship takes the place of the C8, and the crippled D7 is replaced by another from the second line. The F5J Penal Frigate performed well, absorbing quite a lot of damage that otherwise could have been applied to the D6V Carrier, including salvoes from the planetary ground bases. It will not be able to continue due to heavy internal damage, and will be replaced next time around by an E4. The Klingon strategy is to trade ships for Kzinti fighters, using their superior numbers to wear down the defenders to the point where the initiative passes to the invaders. They have reserves; the Kzinti do not. Unfortunately for Or'ok, his ship has paid the price, which makes a change from it being the lighter vessels. There is no sign of Or'ok himself; the Klingons will have to wait until after the battle is resolved (one way or the other) before sweeping the area for any signs of his C8's boom escape section.

Part Three

Uklik suffers a tactical defeat at the hands of the defending forces, with his D6 Mauler, D7 Battlecruiser and F5C Frigate Leader all crippled. However, this results in a strategic victory for the Klingons, because in return they destroy the planet's remaining fighters; the entire wing from the Kzinti CVE; and an Escort Frigate. This means that the Kzinti have no remaining light ships to soak up the attrition, and as per orders from his lord the Marquis, Commodore S'Murrus orders a reluctant withdrawal. His last words to the inhabitants of Zursk are, "I shall return". 

The Birdfolk who are the native sentient species wave the Kzinti goodbye and prepare to welcome the Klingons. They start by destroying their planetary defence facilities to deny the conquerors anything of military value, and then the surviving fighter pilots and base personnel form an honour guard to remind the Klingons of their spirited defence. These are the people who helped destroy a C8 Dreadnought, killing Klingon Admiral Or'ok in the process - his body has been found in the wreckage of his vessel in the aftermath of the campaign mop-up exercises.