Gratuitous Federation & Empire

 I see my first actions as Captain of the Battle Destroyer Bonecrusher  at one of our Battle Stations on the border with the Romulans. Our force is depleted, but nevertheless we will do our best - of course; our local base commander has engaged the services of several Orion mercenaries to try to even the odds. The relative deployments work well for our squadron as we make short work of several smaller Romulan vessels, from the looks of them a Seahawk Frigate and a couple of older Snipes. The damage across their fleet drives the Romulans off for the moment, but at heavy cost to us; our flagship, an Early Dreadnought model, is destroyed by the Romulan main force, a Superhawk carrier group. The most significant enemy loss is a KR Mauler cruiser crippled. However, they will return. And they do. The attrition is really not in our favor, and we do the best we can, but the enemy is still too strong for us in this part of space. Our little flotilla performs well enough, crippling a Se...

 A Skyhawk Destroyer is of relatively little importance in a theatre of war such as ours against the Federation, so it is a full year before our crippled vessel is repaired. This is not to say that I have been idle, however; as a combat veteran I am fully employed at our Starbase in training replacement crews for our various ships. Eventually, however, logistics works their way down to our own ship, just in time for us to join the fleet in a resurgence of hostilities on the offensive. This time we are paired off with another Skyhawk in conjunction with a Skyhawk-B light carrier, as part of a major attack towards the Federation planet of Sibellia IV.  Shapeways version of the Skyhawk The Federation still does not have many ships of their own to stop us completely, although the ones they do have are extremely powerful. They field a full CVA group, which is countered by our own Superhawk-B Heavy Carrier. Fortunately for us, we are stationed on the port wing of the overall formati...

 "We are coming for your Starbase, and this time we mean it!" - message from Klingon High Command to the Federation, Spring Y175. Both sides have been preparing for this major encounter, and the relative fleet strengths tell their own story: This is the Federation 3rd Fleet, led by the CVA Napoleon (underneath the admiral counter). And this is the Klingon Eastern Fleet. You can make out the CVA group Vindicator , but that isn't all there is. Underneath there Admiral's counter is a very large surprise - the newly completed B10 Battleship Invincible . I am really looking forward to the campaign for this Starbase; I've never seen a B10 on the tabletop before.

 This is the current situation, after the Coalition attacks in the spring: The Federation has committed substantial forces to this front in order to keep communications open with the Kzinti capital. The CVA Zhukhov  is constantly engaged with Klingon forces, the idea being for the Federation to bear the brunt of it all. The Klingons have just recaptured Lumien, while the Lyrans are consolidating their hold on the remainder of what used top Kzinti space.

 It is now Spring Y175 and there are some glimmerings of hope - or at least, no sense of impending disaster. The Federation has committed substantial forces, including a CVA group, to our mutual front against the Klingons, and it seems as though the Coalition has reached high tide point in their offensive. They are still dangerous, of course, and continue to occupy the majority of our pre-war territories, and the Lyrans decide to press the point by mounting another attack on our homeworld region. They are doing so without any aid from the Klingons this time, since the Boneheads are preoccupied with the combined forces of the Federation Fleet and our Marquis Fleet, but this is a typical instance of Lyran aggression. On their own they will not be able to conquer Kzintai, but they probably still have enough power to devastate the military infrastructure on several of our man planets before they are fully recovered - basically, this is an economic strike. Count R'rorash is placed in ch...

 The Klingons are pressing deeper into our space now that our forces are stretched by the Romulan invasion. Basically, High Command has three choices for reinforcements: to help the Kzinti stave off the capture of their capital; to shore up the defences against the Klingons; or to stem the Romulan tide. I know from my studies as a cadet in training - oh how long ago it now seems - that we will probably rely on the internal strength of the Federation economy to outlast the Coalition. This means that new builds will be sent in batches at different times to different sectors. It certainly seems as though we need some help in the Rimward marches of our territory. The Orions have declared neutrality, and we are being forced back in this region away from our frontier stations and planets, leaving them ripe for the picking. This is a necessary calculation, because we cannot allow the superior numbers of Klingon vessels to get behind us, but it is heart-wrenching. In a typical engagement f...

 I am Haashaastaak, graduate of the Gorn Confederation Academy in the group with highest praise. Assigned to the newly constructed Battle Destroyer Bonecrusher as First Officer, I arrive with other reinforcements for the 2nd Fleet at the junction of our territory with Federation space and that of our longstanding enemies, the Romulans. Alarmed by the Romans' destruction of a second Federation Starbse, the Gorn Confederation declares war on the Romulans and the Second Fleet moves on a strategically-located Romulan Battle Station. In the first engagement, our fleet's Light Cruiser squadron bears the brunt of enemy fire, with all three of our vessels crippled. They do, though, wipe out the fighters from the Battle Station, degrading Romulan defences significantly. Our squadron acquires itself well, crippling a Scout vessel in return for one of our own crippled. Our fleet warps out to get ready for a second attempt. Analyzing the vidfeeds afterwards, it becomes apparent that not o...