Preamble
This is a campaign I started quite a bit ago, it has been going for almost 200 years with a conventional start at 10% research speed, 3 NPRs at the start and 200% difficulty. I’m also limiting myself to no shields, no direct fire weapons besides Lances, Railguns, and Gauss. I will be writing AARs about some of the interesting stuff that happens instead of doing long term campaign reports, and in general the idea is to write these campaign reports as if they were a summary of a historical report from the future instead of a novelization of events.
Bear with me as I won’t have many screenshots for this start, only for things to come.
I’ve been doing a lot of solo RP and would love to hear of ideas of how I can expand the RP to members of this board, if there is interest of course. I’m new to writing AAR so let met know if there are any topics I could improve on!
An Introduction to the post-post-collapse state of Humanity
The series of war fought in the 21st century made all other wars pale in comparison. What is now apocryphally known as World War II is sometimes considered to be the first nuclear war, though it could scarcely be compared to the Great Wars fought just a century afterwards. Few nation states remained after the Conflagration, and the few that did spent decades recovering. The struggle of the rebuilding left what remained of humanity in a new state, one that was anti-war, fervor grew amidst a religious revival, and a sense of shared brotherhood festered the lands of man. Most nations signed in the late 2060s the final declaration of confederation, uniting into the United Terran Confederation. The sign chosen to represent humanity was that of an ascendant phoenix, humanity had proven that it had the might to destroy itself, and that with this power it should now turn first inwards to reconstruct, then outwards to expand to inherit the stars.
This new government inherited a world in ruins, but also much of the technological expansion that came from the war. At the turn of the century a new promise was made alongside that of no more brother wars between humans - that of the exploration of the stars and the creation of new humans worlds. This had been considered possible due to the new set of technologies that had been developed. At this point all nations of the old earth governments had either joined or become too irrelevant to matter. At the year 2100 Man’s true exploration of space began, with the now United Terran Empire having 2 billion citizens. At first space exploration was slow and steady, but soon mankind had colonized most of the Solar system and dozens of other systems.
Under the Wing of the Rising Phoenix
“Humanitas manet et resurgit”
The flag and motto of the United Terran Empire. The Phoenix is the official Imperial symbol and symbolizes the rebirth of humanity’s spirit. In the flag the phoenix extends it’s wing to cover all of the visible universe to defend all men under it. To contrast the Phoenix the universe is represented as pure black, making it appear desolate. Only those under the Phoenix’s wing can know peace and prosperity.
Soon mankind had discovered alien life, and the ideals of peace it took to space no longer held precedent. Humans promised not to have brother wars anymore - not wars against external threats. If one were to compare humans from the 21st century to those of the 23rd one would find that religiosity is much higher, seeing humans as being made in the image of God and worthy of inheriting the stars after weathering the Great Wars. Another trend was the development of a martial pride, as humans were so warlike that they nearly wiped themselves out. This was something the Imperial War Directory fostered after the discovery of alien worlds. The average citizen enjoys a life of extreme richs incomparable to previous eras of humanity. Universal basic income is granted to all, and work is often considered optional. What is not considered optional is expansion. Culture made the humans of this age seek growth in population to man the frontiers, with medals for motherhood, and free waivers with subsidies and plenty of land to faraway colonies. Many marry just to receive these bonuses.
Excerpt of the United Human Empire’s Fatherland Anthem (Formerly known as Bethoven’s 9th Symphony):
Joy, thou beauteous godly lightning, Daughter of Elysium, Fire drunken we are ent’ring Heavenly, thy holy home! Thy enchantments bind together, What did custom stern divide, Every man becomes a brother, Where thy gentle wings abide.
Be embrac’d, ye millions yonder! Take this kiss throughout the world! Brothers—o’er the stars unfurl’d Must reside a loving Father.
Who the noble prize achieveth, Good friend of a friend to be; Who a lovely wife attaineth, Join us in his jubilee! Yes—he too who but one being On this earth can call his own! He who ne’er was able, weeping retreat from this league alone!
He who in the great ring dwelleth, Homage pays to sympathy! To the stars above leads she, Where on high the Unknown reigneth.
Joy is drunk by every being From kind nature’s flowing breasts, Every evil, every good thing For her rosy footprint quests. Gave she us both vines and kisses, In the face of death a friend, To the worm were given blisses And the Cherubs God attend.
Fall before him, all ye millions? Know’st thou the Creator, world? Seek above the stars unfurl’d, Yonder dwells He in the heavens.
The Sigma Tucanae Incident
In the 25th of February of 2292 the UTES Turin was attacked by an unknown assailant from the world dubbed Valkyrie at the Sigma Tucanae system five Standard Gravitational Jumps away from Sol towards the galactic West. The Turin Scarborough class Tug was carrying automated mining equipment as part of the Space Industrial Command campaign of exploration and colonization of the region dubbed as the Obscuris Expanse. Surface elements from a hitherto unknown alien race ambushed the Tug ship, releasing a mighty volley of what was later discovered to be advanced shortwave laser and plasma fire. Over 800 individual hits were registered. Mercifully, the entire volley was aimed at the module the Turin was tugging, the Buffalo class Logistics Module code 002. Plasma fire melted away the outer hull, while the stronger lasers bisected the ship from aft to forward within a minute of the start of the ambush. The Buffalo 002 had a crew of 175 coming from many different colonies of the Sol System, with 11 technicians from Mars onboard to ensure the correct setup of the automated mining equipment. Only 88 crew members and 7 technicians managed to make it to life pods before a catastrophic explosion destroyed the remains of the ship. This was considered an optimal result, as if the shot was directed at the smaller tug carrying the module it’s crew of 3820 would easily have been lost instead. Many lament the continued use of these old ships that are practically blind in the void, they had been designed and constructed in a time before mankind knew of the existence of alien races. Still, humanity needs it’s logistical arm.
Quick action by the crew of the Turin ensured that the tug decoupled from the module before what remained of it could enter a decaying orbit. UTEMM directive commands that any Merchant Marine ship found in a system with hostile elements should make an effort to return to any system with a known element of Space Military Command, but the commanding officer of the Turin, Lieutenant Commander Jake Talbot, ordered his ship to rescue the lifepods after detecting their distress signal before leaving orbit to return to Sol. Despite endangering his crew, the Turin managed to save the lifepods before retreating out of the system. For this Lieutenant Commander Jake Talbot was awarded the Merchant Marine Medal for Gallantry. After only five minutes the Turin had made off from Valkyrie’s orbit, and in the tense following moments no further weapon’s fire was detected. The Turin managed to make it back to Sol at the 11th of March 2292.
First Battle of Valkyrie
After analyzing the report, the admiralty decided to immediately dispatch a force to investigate Sigma Tucanae. Though the system did not fall within the three jump sovereignty exclusion zone, any xenos found to be attacking mankind’s ships and colonies was to be considered a combatant. The closest forward elements of Battlefleet Dunedain, comprising the five light cruisers of Cruiser Squadron Alpha were dispatched; the Prince of Provence, Arizona, Freistata, Murmansk, and Kagoshima. What followed was the first battle of Valkyrie. On the 4th of March Squadron Alpha arrived at Valkyrie, taking position within it’s L1 Lagrange Point. Radar aboard the Prince of Provence detected an estimated 15.000 metric tonnes of surface defensive facilities, including the ones that must have been used to attack the Turin. Squadron Alpha was ordered to approach until it’s Lance class particle beam weapons were in range. Before the light cruisers could fire, Surface-to-Orbit weapons from Valkyrie engaged the ships. It was as some analysts of the Space Force expected, the alien weapons at Valkyrie have more advanced specifications than their human counterparts.
The Kagoshima cruiser
Kagoshima class Cruiser 39,898 tons 870 Crew 19,519.9 BP TCS 798 TH 25,600 EM 0
32082 km/s Armour 24-104 Shields 0-0 HTK 99 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 15-3 PPV 78
Maint Life 0.08 Years MSP 4,816 AFR 809% IFR 11.2% 1YR 62,816 5YR 942,240 Max Repair 12,800 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 2,000 tons
Captain Control Rating 4 BRG AUX ENG CIC
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Flight Crew Berths 40 CDE 68% Morale Check Required
ENG G4-N-S20k-P25.6k/200-PH0.224 "Blue Project" (1) Power 25600 Fuel Use 22.36% Signature 25600 Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 4,253,000 Litres Range 85.8 billion km (30 days at full power)
LNC G1-S900-STR36-RoF95/6-P110-MR400kKm "Lance" (1) Range 384,000km TS 32,082 km/s Power 110-6 ROF 95
LNC G1-S600-STR18-RoF50/6-P55-MR320k "Halberd" (2) Range 320,000km TS 32,082 km/s Power 55-6 ROF 50
RAIL G1-S150-STR1/4-RoF5/3-P3-MR70k "Sword" (12x4) Range 70,000km TS 32,082 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
BFC 1G-S400-MR384k/4-TS25k/4 (1) Range 384,000 km TS 25,000 km/s ECCM-0
BFC 1G-S145-MR140k/1.46-TS25k/4 (3) Range 140,160 km TS 25,000 km/s ECCM-0
POW G1-S130-O67/25.8 (1) Total Power Output 67.1 Exp 5%
ASS G2-S125-R9k/148m-180 (1) GPS 21600 Range 148.1m km RES 180
ASS G2-S100-R50/23.4/2.1m-180 (1) GPS 96 Range 23.5m km MCR 2.1m km RES 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Warship for auto-assignment purposes
Cruiser Squadron Alpha withstood the first salvo of powerful long range lasers while remaining off the range of the plasma bombards. At a distance of 500.000 KMs the cruisers exchanged long range fire. The outdated lances had difficulty hitting the fortified STO positions, and after two minutes of fire the outer layers of the Kagoshima’s armor had been melted off, until the forward keel compartments began to leak into the void. Captain Jimmy Lockmiller ordered the ship to withdraw from the conflict, acting now as reserve at the jump point away from Sigma Tucanae while the crew repaired the damage it sustained. Fire from the Valkyrie turned to the Prince of Provence, but at this point the thirteen installations returning fire had been reduced to nine, and soon all planetside guns had been silenced. Humanity had won the First Battle of Valkyrie. At least thirteen orbital weapon installations from the unknown race had been destroyed, at the human side the Prince of Provence had suffered light damage and the Kagoshima had to undergo extensive repairs with zero casualties. Enemy forces at Valkyrie were determined to have been outnumbered 20 to 1 in the gunnery engagement. No further survivors were found in the wreck of Buffalo 002, so the Cruiser Squadron was ordered to return.
Operation Brynhildr
Military Ship classes levied for Operation Brynhildr
Commercial ship classes levied for Operation Brynhildr
What came next was planning for Operation Brynhildr. Battlefleet Nidhogg commanded by Rear Admiral Timo Glücklich was chosen to complete the operation, then mobilized after receiving reinforcements from the Solar Naval Reserve. The force was separated into a vanguard force denominated Taskforce Phoenix commanded by Commodore Carolina Gallegos, a main force called Taskforce Tyr commanded by Commodore Regina Ragazzo, and a third auxiliary taskforce commanded by Captain Floor Simon. Taskforce Phoenix carried three modern light cruisers, including the Phoenix Command Light Cruiser and the Danzig and Valles Marineris Light cruisers. To bolster the vanguard’s punch, the Hellas Heavy Cruiser was ordered to follow it in it’s first combat operation. The goal of the vanguard was to perform a patrol around Sigma Tucanae’s perimeter, then investigate Valkyrie with it’s more powerful onboard radars. Taskforce Tyr meanwhile was the heavy punch, it had the Britannia Assault Carrier equipped with six atmospheric assault squadrons and a special operations marine fast boarding craft. It was being escorted by four modern Cologne class Frigates, the Cologne, Plovdiv, Copernicus, and Neo Naples, while three more ships of the same class formed Frigate Wolfpack Wotan; the Tochter aus Elysium, Tycho, and Mankind Remains. The auxiliary force carried a the Sydney class Tug, who in turn tractored the Wagon Class Military Logistical Station to be positioned in orbit around Beachhead. This was also the force that coordinated the two Orbital Dropships that carried the main human surface element: The Scipio and the Valhalla. Each carried an entire Mobile Infantry Regiment for a total force 6200 men strong. Their tonnage together was 50000, while they expected to fight an enemy force weighing an estimated 8900 tons. Surely it would be an easy victory, especially given the successes in orbit.
Each Mobile Infantry regiment was organized by two mechanized infantry battalions and an infantry battalion, Mechanized Infantry doctrine relied on the shock-and-awe of atmospheric fighters, orbital bombardment, and aggressive IFV assaults coordinated with APCs, though even after the infantrymen were dropped from their vehicles their large powered suits guaranteed extensive survivability, mobility, and firepower. Heavy Infantry was embedded into each squad, and included tank-hunter suits and assault suits. Each Battalion had a specialist Ranger forward fire direction and scouting squad, these could direct fire from the atmospheric assault fighters and ships providing orbital bombardment. The Hellas heavy cruiser was chosen to be the main orbital bombardment ship, bringing it’s 10 fast firing 400mm Railguns and Joyeuse class Lance down upon the world of Valkyrie. Each Regiment also had a mechanized artillery battalion to support it’s forward elements, an anti-air company, and four companies of logistics.
The Admiralty decided to create a forward logistical base at the world Sigma Tucanae I, now called Beachhead. At the 27th of May Taskforce Phoenix arrived at Sigma Tucanae and completed it’s mission, though it detected a much higher volume of enemy forces than before. It was unclear if the garrison was bolstered in the 23 days since the First Battle of Valkyrie. Only now with the deployment of a logistical hub the Space Force could deny resupply to the world with it’s Frigate Wolfpacks. Before this the closest logistic hub was 19 billion KMs and four Gravitational Jumps away. At the detection of new surface forces Taskforce Phoenix was ordered to approach and engage, something that it excelled in as the heavy Hellas Cruiser approached within 500.000 KMs. New STOs began to exchange fire with Taskforce Phoenix, but the Hellas Heavy Cruiser excelled at such combat, it’s extensive heavy railguns peppered Valkyrie and silenced it’s STO weapons, while ground forces retreated into bunkers. The Mobile Infantry would need to move in to clear them out. The Valles Marineris suffered minor armor damage in the exchange, but remained combat-effective and in orbit around the world.
The next step of the operation was the hell-drop. Valkyrie had a much higher gravity than human forces were used to fighting in, 1.46 that of Terra, and it had a dangerous atmosphere with double the density of Terra’s. The Falcon class Atmospheric Gunships of CVS Britannia had to be modified to fight in this world. The surface was a layer of frozen water with black mountains jutting out like bones. Ammonia fell in hails, before the day made it rise back to the atmosphere to rain in the next night. Those were the conditions for the Orbital Assault of Valkyrie.
The ground was set for the Struggle for Valkyrie…
(To be continued)
(I’ve been doing a lot of solo RP and would love to hear of ideas of how I can expand the RP to members of this board, if there is interest of course. I’m new to writing AAR so let met know if there are any topics I could improve on!)
