Space battle: Sathar invasion!

I started a space campaign using the old Star Frontiers campaign game for the Sathar war (an invasion of evil worm-like aliens of the known frontier) for the strategic aspects and Red Alert: Space Warfare (Commands & Colors in space).

I'm using the strategic map and have simplified several aspects, including ditching the various militia ships and rosters from Star Frontiers. Planets that had the various space stations get the space platform from the Red Alert game instead. In lieu of the ships in Star Frontiers, each faction gets 12 fleets -- one each of the 12 task force cards (pre-made fleets) from Red Alert plus 40 points of support for each one. Sathar support is drawn randomly, after I pick the support for the UPF. Once the fleets are used for the first time, any surviving ships are recorded (so no random draws or support buys the next time they go into action). There are no new ships built for the duration of the campaign. What you have is what you have. For convenience, I redrew the paper Star Frontiers map onto a whiteboard so I can use small magnets to mark fleet locations and move it out of the way when not in use.

The Sathar arrived at one of five invasion routes on the first day. I rolled a D6. Each number corresponded to a fleet appearing at an invasion point. Re-rolling the same number or rolling a 6 meant no more fleets arrived that day. Because I am playing solo, this gave a random arrival, but the limited invasion points made their objectives clear once they arrived.

The first battle happened at a planet called Kisa-Kar. Two Sathar fleets were invading here, one day apart. There was only a single UPF fleet defending, so they would have to hope for the best as no reinforcements were anywhere nearby. Here's a photo log of the action.

UPF forces on the left in white, Sathar in green on the right. Kisa-Kar is in the center with various asteroid fields scattered about.

UPF Battleships escorted by cruisers, destroyers, fighters and the flagship shelter behind the planet.

Sathar cruisers move up .

Sathar cruisers and fighters attack the UPF ships on the far side of the planet.

The Sathar initial attack is foiled.

The UPF carrier (far left) protected by heavy destroyers (actually I have cruiser models here for some reason - oops) and an extra heavy fighter squadron turn back another Sathar attack. The carrier would prove to be a major problem for the Sathar all day.

Cruisers and fighters make another push. The worms couldn't roll anything good and suffered heavy losses throughout the day.

Sathar fighters make another run at the UPF forces. I don't remember the exact details here, but I'm sure it ended badly.

The carrier has battered or pushed back much of the Sathar center, while the UPF destroyers were pushed back with critical damage (red alert marker).

The carrier's supports have all been pushed back, leaving it vulnerable.

Sathar cruisers move in to attack the carrier!

Meanwhile, Sathar battleships whittle down the UPF forces near the planet with some long range fire and fighter attacks.

The UPF counterattack the Sathar cruisers to try to protect the carrier as surviving fighters move back up to the front line.

Near the planet, Sathar cruiser tries to flank the destroyers as they feel victory starting to slip away.

The UPF fend off the attack and between the counter-attack and the carrier's fighters, clear out the attackers. The battered Sathar fleet retreats, leaving the conquest of Kisa-Kar to the second fleet enroute. 

The UPF forces were battered, but mostly intact. All units return to full strength for the next battle, so not having a unit eliminated is important. There was enough of a core to give the UPF commanders hope they might be able to fend off the second fleet.

I now present: The Second Battle of Kisa-Kar.

The outnumbered UPF fleet hopes to defend the planet - or at least exact a heavy toll on the invader.

The Sathar push hard on their left flank and do heavy damage from the fire from their cruisers and battleships.

The UPF takes the initiative on their left to try to soften up the worms.

As seen by the empty map, the UPF has taken heavy losses and the flagship is now threatened.

The left flank attack has pretty much just traded losses with the Sathar, which isn't helping.

The Sathar move in for a final attack, trading broadsides with the UPF, hoping to destroy the carrier.

For a brief minute, the UPF commander thinks he might hang on.

The Sathar attack is pushed back, with the ships either destroyed or retreating for repairs.

I didn't take a final photo, but shortly after this, another attack by the Sathar vaporized the UPF destroyers and their battleships finally took down the carrier. That gave them enough points for the win and the UPF survivors turned tail and retreated, hoping to contribute to the defense of the next system.

Strategically, the Sathar paid a pretty heavy price to capture a relatively unimportant system. With only 12 fleets, having one fleet wrecked and another damaged was more than they hoped. However, the UPF opted to retreat to a system caught between multiple invading fleets. If the Sathar win the next two systems, they'll have a major foothold in UPF territory with all help weeks away.

There are several other battles I need to play out from the day's action in the campaign. The next matchup should be interesting, as it's heavy on big capital ships and light on destroyers and fighters. The Sathar have a dreadnought, which I have not fielded before, so that will be interesting to see how that plays out.