So we missed a session last week and I think I was pining for it a bit so I decided to play out a scenario for the Fading Suns star ship battles game; "Noble Armada".
(Here I'm using the second edition of the rules, as published by Mongoose. I have both this and the 1st Edition from Holistic Design but I figured for a quick game I'd use the Mongoose system)
In an attempt to keep it aligned with current events in the campaign the concept (using a "rescue" scenario from the main rule book) was that the pirates on board Sir Hasimir's stolen ship ("The Questionable Intent"), a House Al Malik Rahimat class galliot, were attacking a pair of League transport vessels. The felons were using the standard "cripple with rockets from a distance & then board and take as prizes" pirate tactic. A nearby Hawkwood patrol responded to the guilders' distress signals (the word of pirate activity having increased patrols of the trade routes) and we had the outline for the game.
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| Above: After turn one, and the pirate galliot is already getting a bearing on the Hawkwood scout. The scout is adjacent to the two disabled League cargo transports. |
(I did have to restart the game after the original first turn one as I'd built the Hawkwood fleet solely from Wayfarer scouts and soon realised that they would never have got through the Galliot's shields. When I restarted I swapped out the ships for a Hornet frigate and a single scout)
The game scenario had a time limit of eight turns, but in this situation it didn't need it... By the first two turns the pirate galliot had swooped in on the scout, grappled it and sent over marines to board and successfully take control of the ship. Meanwhile the Hornet showed how versatile and dangerous it could be, pummelling the pirate vessel with laser and missile fire, even after being robbed of assistance from the scout ship's sensors. The galliot took two critical damage results; one to the reactor and another to crew but it was still very much in the fight.
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| Above: Turn three and the pirates move to board the Hornet while their captured Wayfarer approaches from eth Frigate's aft. |
With the aid of the freshly captured scout the pirates ran down the Hornet and secured grapples, holding it in a deathly embrace as marines poured aboard. The Frigate's own marine compliment held the attackers at bay for a turn, during which the galliot dragged it's prey with it. As the two ships were still locked together they couldn't bring weapons to bear on each other but there was nothing preventing the scout turning it's gun (ineffectually as it turned out) on it's former ally and the Hornet was able to return fire with a barrage of missiles.
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| Above: The final turn. While the captured scout keeps a watch on the cargo ships the pirates wrestle control of the Hornet from it's remaining marines. |
The second round of the boarding action saw an end to the Hawkwood resistance. It would appear that "Hasimir's crew" have captured two League transports with their crew & cargo, and a pair of Hawkwood vessels with their complement of householders, hired Guilders and any commanding nobility.
(The game ended after turn four with a pirate victory of 250 Victory points to zero...)
So I'm treating this as a "canonical" event in the campaign. "Hasimir's Pirates" are active and, it would seem, rather successful. However I can neither confirm nor deny if it has occurred already or may be a future event. The fact that Sir Bedevere Windsor Hawkwood commands a Wayfarer Scout vessel, the same as the one captured by the pirates, that his role is usually space patrol and that he appears to be an honourable knight who seeks restitution and punishment for a crime he was witness to, so is hardly likely to let a distress call go unheeded particularly if he want to see these particular pirates punished, is merely conjecture...
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