Second Battle of Kopt Dara: Difference between revisions
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The Imperial vessels entered orbit around Kopt Dara at 442/811.M30 with the Osroene hot on their heels and began to move towards the dark side of the planet. Once over the horizon and out of sensor contact with the enemy ships, Vivianus ordered a short burn to boost his vessels back out of the gas giant's gravity well. This maneuver wrong-footed the Xenos fleet as they entered orbit, but vessels in their rear picked up Hektor's fleet moving promptly away from Kopt Dara and relayed instructions for the escorts in the front to accelerate to escape velocity. Unfortunately for the Xenos vanguard, this sent them crashing into a minefield laid at Hektor's order by the Rogue Trader cruiser ''Black Joke''. Four vessels took critical damage and deorbited, while three others suffered less severely but still had to check their pursuit to implement damage control procedures. Although Osroene attack craft quickly fanned out to find ''Black Joke'', Adela Exard's ship was an old Saturnyne design purpose-built for deft maneuvering in the gravity well of a gas giant and her complement had spent weeks familiarising themselves with the conditions around Kopt Dara. The Rogue Trader vessel slipped the Xenos net and darted away to join Hektor's vessels as they vectored out of system. The Osroene fleet reformed at Kopt Dara but resumed pursuit at 443/811.M30. | The Imperial vessels entered orbit around Kopt Dara at 442/811.M30 with the Osroene hot on their heels and began to move towards the dark side of the planet. Once over the horizon and out of sensor contact with the enemy ships, Vivianus ordered a short burn to boost his vessels back out of the gas giant's gravity well. This maneuver wrong-footed the Xenos fleet as they entered orbit, but vessels in their rear picked up Hektor's fleet moving promptly away from Kopt Dara and relayed instructions for the escorts in the front to accelerate to escape velocity. Unfortunately for the Xenos vanguard, this sent them crashing into a minefield laid at Hektor's order by the Rogue Trader cruiser ''Black Joke''. Four vessels took critical damage and deorbited, while three others suffered less severely but still had to check their pursuit to implement damage control procedures. Although Osroene attack craft quickly fanned out to find ''Black Joke'', Adela Exard's ship was an old Saturnyne design purpose-built for deft maneuvering in the gravity well of a gas giant and her complement had spent weeks familiarising themselves with the conditions around Kopt Dara. The Rogue Trader vessel slipped the Xenos net and darted away to join Hektor's vessels as they vectored out of system. The Osroene fleet reformed at Kopt Dara but resumed pursuit at 443/811.M30. | ||
Not long after the Xenos got underway, the balance of forces was decisively changed. Archmagos Prime [[Zorr Yenser]]'s flagship '' | Not long after the Xenos got underway, the balance of forces was decisively changed. Archmagos Prime [[Zorr Yenser]]'s flagship ''Capitalis Juventas'' broke warp at 445/811.M30, leading a powerful Martian taskforce. Hektor immediately contacted the Mechanicum commander and quickly began issuing orders to his much-strengthened fleet. Thanks to the arrival of Yenser's heavy ships and the ''Black Joke'''s mine attack, the Imperials had only a slight numerical disadvantage and near-parity in megatonnage. Their problem was now combining and bringing the Osroene to battle before the enemy could escape. Yenser began to move in-system immediately, but Navarch Vivianus and the Xenos ships chasing him remained on course at first. However, by 447/811.M30 it was clear to all three forces that the Osroene's loss of fast ships to ''Black Joke'' meant that they lacked the ability to engage Vivianus while their main body caught up. More striking to the Xenos was that the big Mechanicum warships were surprisingly quick through the void. In a flare of plasma contrails, the alien vessels began to come about. But the efficiency of First Legion's signals allowed Vivianus to have his ships turned about and moving to attack the Osroene before the aliens had completed their course change. This prompt maneuver caused confusion and led to the Osroene adopting a sub-optimal escape vector. Yenser's fleet, though still distant, made a course correction and projections showed that the tech priests would bring their enemies into gunnery range days before the Osroene had reached a safe jump point. For the second time in the battle, a commander determined that their last remaining option was to head to Kopt Dara. | ||
==The Battle== | ==The Battle== | ||
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Unlike in many of the Imperial confrontations with the Osroene, there is some data about their intentions during the Second Battle of Kopt Dara. Signal intercepts from ''Black Joke'''s satellites indicate that the Osroene were aware of the difficulties of their position. The Xenos commander, identified as Provost Marshal Lerijo, had set attack craft to patrol the area around his fleet's orbit and issued repeated calls for vigilance to his subcommanders. However, there is little evidence that Lerijo considered taking the initiative. Confronted with a superior force, the Osroene doctrine called for escape or at least taking up a defensive position, and the Provost Marshal remained true to his training. | Unlike in many of the Imperial confrontations with the Osroene, there is some data about their intentions during the Second Battle of Kopt Dara. Signal intercepts from ''Black Joke'''s satellites indicate that the Osroene were aware of the difficulties of their position. The Xenos commander, identified as Provost Marshal Lerijo, had set attack craft to patrol the area around his fleet's orbit and issued repeated calls for vigilance to his subcommanders. However, there is little evidence that Lerijo considered taking the initiative. Confronted with a superior force, the Osroene doctrine called for escape or at least taking up a defensive position, and the Provost Marshal remained true to his training. | ||
The Imperial approach to Kopt Dara went precisely as planned. The plasma trails from Hektor's vanguard would have been visible to observers on the Osroene ships as a bright flare in the sky before they dipped below the horizon. Once out of contact, Hektor's ships came about sharply for their attack over the north of the gas giant, while ''Black Joke'' was once again called on to serve as a scout ship. Markos Priscus manoeuvred the Rogue Trader vessel into an orbit trailing the Osroene and set the ship's astropath to work relaying data from passive scans to the operations centres aboard ''Monarch of the Void'' and '' | The Imperial approach to Kopt Dara went precisely as planned. The plasma trails from Hektor's vanguard would have been visible to observers on the Osroene ships as a bright flare in the sky before they dipped below the horizon. Once out of contact, Hektor's ships came about sharply for their attack over the north of the gas giant, while ''Black Joke'' was once again called on to serve as a scout ship. Markos Priscus manoeuvred the Rogue Trader vessel into an orbit trailing the Osroene and set the ship's astropath to work relaying data from passive scans to the operations centres aboard ''Monarch of the Void'' and ''Capitalis Juventas''. A second, larger flare marked the course of Yenser's Mechanicum warships as they swept into Kopt Dara's orbit. Then, for agonising hours, both sides moved around the gas giant. The Osroene watched all around them, not knowing which vectors their opponents would choose. Hektor and Yenser had the advantage of constant updates from ''Black Joke'', allowing for minute corrections to be made. | ||
==Order of Battle== | ==Order of Battle== | ||
Revision as of 22:15, 19 May 2016
 This article is about a battle in the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe. |
| Second Battle of Kopt Dara | |
| |
| Date | 418/811.M30 |
| Scale | planetary system |
| Theatre | Kopt Dara, Destoona System |
| Status | Decisive Imperial Victory |
| Belligerents | |
| Imperium of Mankind | Osroene Empire |
| Commanders and Leaders | |
| Hektor Cincinnatus Zorr Yenser Isokratos Vivianus |
Provost Marshal Lerijo |
| Strength | |
| 3rd Expedition Fleet Void Conclave Yenser |
Osroene "Combined Fleet" |
| Losses | |
| Outcome | |
| Osroene void power broken | |
The Second Battle of Kopt Dara was a major void battle fought during the Parthorum Xenocide in the Destoona System. Although initially outnumbered, the Imperial fleet managed to outmaneuver their Osroene foes until reinforcements arrived, then entrapped and destroyed the Xenos ships at the gas giant Kopt Dara.
Background
After the victory at the First Battle of Kopt Dara the 3rd Expedition Fleet had begun occupying worlds in the Southern Theater of the Parthorum Sector. First Phalanx under Erasmus Sergius had seized the Hucrov subsector, while Lysimachos Fabius led the battle brothers of the Second Phalanx to victory in the Scomia subsector. From the operations center deep within the Monarch of the Void, Hektor Cincinnatus monitored the progress of his forces. While pleased with the valour of his gene-sons, the Primarch was concerned that much of the time won at Kopt Dara had been expended securing just a handful of worlds. To speed up his Expeditionary Fleet, Hektor had his Astropaths signal Mars and request more warships from Kalkas Tygian, securing an agreement from the Fabricator-General to dispatch a squadron to the Destoona System. Hektor then directed his reserve forces to secure Destoona ahead of the Martian reinforcements.
The Osroene, reliant on courier ships for their communications, only received news of the First Kopt Dara weeks after the event. Factions within the Imperial Court divided on a response. Some argued for evacuating the Osroene population to the homeworld, Sevoold, and using the remaining fleet to guarantee their defence. Hawks recommended that the full strength of the Imperial fleet be ordered to Destoona to avenge the defeat. Empress Etuili Sevoold forged a compromise, sending her fleets at Sevoold and Udoya to Destoona while recalling those at the northern stations of Kuniat and Sulas to the homeworld.
The fall of Jeglora
The Primarch's bodyguard and warships signaled their safe arrival through the warp at 331/811.M30 and began to move towards the inner system and the fortress world Jeglora. Black Joke remained in hiding behind Kopt Dara. While en-route, the Primarch received signals from First and Second Phalanx announcing the arrival of forces in the Asturus and Ublade subsectors. Hektor bade his Phalangiarchs to carry out their operations with all haste, even as the men under his direct command prepared for battle.
The limited voidship support available to the Chrysaspides made a gunnery duel with Jeglora's orbital stations a suicidal prospect. Rather than throw his voidships into a battle they could not win, Hektor relied on his finest warriors to carry the day themselves. At 370/811.M30, the Monarch of the Void launched a wave of boarding torpedoes to carry the Primarch and a few handfuls of his bodyguard to a station they knew only as Jeglora Orbital B. The station's primary hull was breached, but the torpedoes struck far from the small pressurised section. Although their position allowed the Chrysaspides to disembark peacefully, it also gave the Osroene security teams time to mobilise. Cassandor Honorius psychically signaled the Monarch of the Void that the situation was less than ideal but instructed the flagship to remain out of range and trust in Hektor. Such trust was well-placed. Disdaining the use of explosive charges, Hektor Cincinnatus tore open the first airlock the boarders sighted and led his men into the orbital's secondary hull. Many of the defenders died convulsing as their environment depressurised. Others, already wearing sealed encounter suits, held on to face the wrath of a Primarch and his chosen men. The skirmishes were never in doubt and within an hour of landing the First Legion teams had slaughtered the whole complement of the station. Such was the speed and fury of their assault that self-destruct protocols were not enacted.
Seizing Jeglora Orbital B had opened up a safe approach vector for the Imperial ships. Jeglora Orbitals A and C scrambled assault shuttles and hastily dispatched boarding teams to reclaim the fallen station, but Hektor was confident enough in his Chrysaspides to order the advance of the fleet. While the Primarch and his men held off Osroene warriors, Navarch Isokratos Vivianus slipped his ships into planetary orbit. Superior torpedo designs allowed the Imperials to fire their munitions over the horizon and safely cripple Jeglora Orbital A, while the commander of the C station struck his colours before taking serious damage. Unaware of the slight Imperial forces above, the planetary government surrendered to Hektor without an Imperial soldier setting foot on Jeglora.
The Chase
While the First Expeditionary Front of the Kondrus Aeroguard landed on Jeglora to carry out compliance actions, Hektor's squadron in orbit scuttled the planet's defence stations. The Primarch himself was busy in the operations center of the Monarch of the Void, taking in reports from the rest of the 3rd Expedition Fleet and issuing directives to the Legion headquarters on Luna. Confident that his offensive was gaining momentum, Hektor ordered the dispatch of additional Compliance Groups to provide garrisons in the wake of his Space Marines. The governors of Carlisar and Kondrus both signaled that fresh regiments would embark immediately, but were told that the transports should wait at jump points until provided with destination coordinates. Whether Hektor gave this order out of uncharacteristic caution or his trademark boldness was a subject of lengthy debate among analysts until the Parthorum Xenocide's campaign records were sealed to all but the most trusted Imperial agents. It is certain, however, that Hektor was correct to urge his men to make all haste. Fifty Osroene warships broke warp at Destoona at 418/811.M30. According to the legends of the First Legion, Logis Blessrad Dirz reported to Hektor that the Imperial squadron was now out-numbered six to one in ships and conceded even more in megatonnage. Dirz calculated a 0.68% chance of survival against the newly-arrived Osroene forces. The Primarch's famous response - "Calculate the odds of victory instead!"
Logis Dirz's rejoineder went unrecorded, but it is unlikely that the tech priest shared his master's optimism. Regardless, the Master of the Void and her escorts got underway promptly, taking a vector away from the enemy fleet. Hektor and Navarch Isokratos Vivianus considered their options as the chase began. Attempting to change course and go cold was ruled out almost immediately. The Xenos warships were numerous and long-range scans had detected launch bays for attack craft capable of scouring the void for drifting vessels. Nor were there good prospects for escape. Despite the Osroene's primitiveness in interstellar travel and communications, their ships were handy in the void and the Xenos front-runners would run down the Imperials before a jump could be safely made. Settling on the least bad of their options, the Navarch issued orders to his squadron to make for Kopt Dara while Hektor studied the gravity fluctuations around the gas giant in preparation for a battle.
The Imperial vessels entered orbit around Kopt Dara at 442/811.M30 with the Osroene hot on their heels and began to move towards the dark side of the planet. Once over the horizon and out of sensor contact with the enemy ships, Vivianus ordered a short burn to boost his vessels back out of the gas giant's gravity well. This maneuver wrong-footed the Xenos fleet as they entered orbit, but vessels in their rear picked up Hektor's fleet moving promptly away from Kopt Dara and relayed instructions for the escorts in the front to accelerate to escape velocity. Unfortunately for the Xenos vanguard, this sent them crashing into a minefield laid at Hektor's order by the Rogue Trader cruiser Black Joke. Four vessels took critical damage and deorbited, while three others suffered less severely but still had to check their pursuit to implement damage control procedures. Although Osroene attack craft quickly fanned out to find Black Joke, Adela Exard's ship was an old Saturnyne design purpose-built for deft maneuvering in the gravity well of a gas giant and her complement had spent weeks familiarising themselves with the conditions around Kopt Dara. The Rogue Trader vessel slipped the Xenos net and darted away to join Hektor's vessels as they vectored out of system. The Osroene fleet reformed at Kopt Dara but resumed pursuit at 443/811.M30.
Not long after the Xenos got underway, the balance of forces was decisively changed. Archmagos Prime Zorr Yenser's flagship Capitalis Juventas broke warp at 445/811.M30, leading a powerful Martian taskforce. Hektor immediately contacted the Mechanicum commander and quickly began issuing orders to his much-strengthened fleet. Thanks to the arrival of Yenser's heavy ships and the Black Joke's mine attack, the Imperials had only a slight numerical disadvantage and near-parity in megatonnage. Their problem was now combining and bringing the Osroene to battle before the enemy could escape. Yenser began to move in-system immediately, but Navarch Vivianus and the Xenos ships chasing him remained on course at first. However, by 447/811.M30 it was clear to all three forces that the Osroene's loss of fast ships to Black Joke meant that they lacked the ability to engage Vivianus while their main body caught up. More striking to the Xenos was that the big Mechanicum warships were surprisingly quick through the void. In a flare of plasma contrails, the alien vessels began to come about. But the efficiency of First Legion's signals allowed Vivianus to have his ships turned about and moving to attack the Osroene before the aliens had completed their course change. This prompt maneuver caused confusion and led to the Osroene adopting a sub-optimal escape vector. Yenser's fleet, though still distant, made a course correction and projections showed that the tech priests would bring their enemies into gunnery range days before the Osroene had reached a safe jump point. For the second time in the battle, a commander determined that their last remaining option was to head to Kopt Dara.
The Battle
Hektor Cincinnatus did not hesitate to order his scattered fleet to change course. While the great ships of the Imperial squadrons came about, the Primarch held a holo-conference from the Monarch of the Void to discuss strategy. Archmagos Yenser was not optimistic. His squadron, though powerful, had been relying on their Void Shields to compensate for a high velocity trip into the Destoona System, and would now struggle to decelerate for an engagement at Kopt Dara. Yenser reluctantly suggested that his void ships could come off their warp axis and use their main plasma drive to slow down, but nobody in the conference was enthusiastic about stranding so many powerful warships for the sake of one battle. Instead, Hektor put forward a complicated plan relying on the Imperial's astropathic communications. The fleet would form up on an approach course towards Kopt Dara's equator and drop into an orbit running opposite to the Osroene. The Imperials would then use the bulk of the planet to shield them from their alien enemies while they took up their battle position. Yenser's squadron would simply use the gas giant's gravity well to bleed off their surplus velocity. By the time their orbit intersected that of the Osroene ships, the Mechanicum warships should be down to a safe combat speed. Meanwhile, Hektor's cruisers would sharply change course and come up over Kopt Dara's polar regions to take the Osroene in the flank.
Unlike in many of the Imperial confrontations with the Osroene, there is some data about their intentions during the Second Battle of Kopt Dara. Signal intercepts from Black Joke's satellites indicate that the Osroene were aware of the difficulties of their position. The Xenos commander, identified as Provost Marshal Lerijo, had set attack craft to patrol the area around his fleet's orbit and issued repeated calls for vigilance to his subcommanders. However, there is little evidence that Lerijo considered taking the initiative. Confronted with a superior force, the Osroene doctrine called for escape or at least taking up a defensive position, and the Provost Marshal remained true to his training.
The Imperial approach to Kopt Dara went precisely as planned. The plasma trails from Hektor's vanguard would have been visible to observers on the Osroene ships as a bright flare in the sky before they dipped below the horizon. Once out of contact, Hektor's ships came about sharply for their attack over the north of the gas giant, while Black Joke was once again called on to serve as a scout ship. Markos Priscus manoeuvred the Rogue Trader vessel into an orbit trailing the Osroene and set the ship's astropath to work relaying data from passive scans to the operations centres aboard Monarch of the Void and Capitalis Juventas. A second, larger flare marked the course of Yenser's Mechanicum warships as they swept into Kopt Dara's orbit. Then, for agonising hours, both sides moved around the gas giant. The Osroene watched all around them, not knowing which vectors their opponents would choose. Hektor and Yenser had the advantage of constant updates from Black Joke, allowing for minute corrections to be made.
Order of Battle
The great bulk of the Imperial Fleet was a composite squadron dispatched from Mars by the Fabricator-General. At this stage, each Forge Temple retained considerable independence - including their own warships. Aside from the complications of coalition warfare that this imposed upon Zorr Yenser, this situation creates confusion for the adept of history. Ship names such as Nostra Machinae (Our Machine) or Mars Aeterna (Mars Eternal) were extremely popular in this period, and it seems that every Forge of any standing christened ships by such names.
| The Imperial Fleet at Kopt Dara | |||||
| Name | Class | Commander | Casualties | Damage | Notes |
| First Legion Ships | |||||
| Monarch of the Void | Repulsive Class Grand Cruiser | Hektor Cincinnatus' flagship | |||
| Monarch of Luna | Repulsive Class Grand Cruiser | Isokratos Vivianus' flagship | |||
| Hoplon | Boundless Class Cruiser | ||||
| Pilum | Boundless Class Cruiser | ||||
| Eclipse | Luna Class Cruiser | ||||
| Scion of Mercury | Inferno Class Cruiser | ||||
| Brother Meliton | Havoc Class Frigate | ||||
| Brother Solon | Havoc Class Frigate | ||||
| Brother Demokritos | Havoc Class Frigate | ||||
| Mechanicum Ships | |||||
| Nostra Machinae of Urbis Juventas | |||||
| Capitalis Occulum | |||||
| Mars Aeterna of Mondus Occulum | |||||
| Capitalis Olympus | |||||
| Capitalis Juventas | Archmagos Prime Zorr Yenser's flagship | ||||
| Nostra Machinae of Olympus Mons | |||||
| Capitalis Tyrrhena | |||||
| Mars Aeterna of Olympus Mons | |||||
| Planum Australe | |||||
| Machinae Vult of Olympus Mons | |||||
| Solis Planum | |||||
| Mars Aeterna of Deimos | |||||
| Nostra Machinae of Urbis Tyrrhena | |||||
| Bellona | |||||
| Ancile | |||||
| Machinae Vult of Deimos | |||||
| Support Ships | |||||
| Black Joke | modified Saturnyne Cruiser | Ouragos Markos Priscus | Owned by Adela Exard. | ||
| The Osroene Fleet at Kopt Dara | |||||
| Name | Class | Commander | Casualties | Damage | Notes |