Invasion of a Rebel Sympathizer Planet

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-02-14 01:52am

Your Imperial task force has been ordered to invade a Rebel planet that has supposedly been assisting the Rebel Alliance with man and ship power. The planet is 10 minutes away from your current position. The planet has been alerted to your pending invasion but they have too little time to evacuate, therefore they must attempt to shrug off the attack and then evacuate. The planet is very important to the Rebel so they will have a good defense there in terms of what the Rebellion can offer.

REBEL FORCES:

PLANET-Terris IV, 250 million inhabitants (most sympathizers), 2 shield generators (one that follows the orbit of the planet and the other that’s going in the opposite direction), 4 thousand Rebel soldiers (based in the capital city of Terris), 50 Attack tanks (based in the capital, the tanks are equal to 2 ATSTs), 20 Hover tanks (equal to 1 ATST), 1 ION cannon and 10 planetary turbolasers.

FLEET-MC80 Cruiser (3 A wing squadrons), 1 MC 40 light cruiser (2 X wing squadrons), 3 Nebulon B frigates (all equipped with 1 squadron of X wings and Y wings), and 3 Corellian Gunships.

STATIONS-1 Rebel Platform, 1 Shipyard (creates civilian crafts and Rebel, should be captured intact)

IMPERIAL FORCES:

FLEET-3 Star Destroyers (with all accompanying fighters/bombers), 2 Victory Star Destroyers (with all fighters/bombers, troops, and ground vehicles.), 1 Torpedo Sphere (no weapons except for the 500 proton torpedoes).

EDIT:Lets say that a group of 3 Star Destroyers, 1 Torpedoe Sphere, 2 Dreanoughts, and 4 lancer frigates will arrive in 20 minutes. Your forces need to do as much damage until the rest if the fleet can arrive.

Use whatever means you have to use in order to cause the most Rebel losses but keeping most of the population unharmed for interrogation.
For reference on the ships and stations: http://www.galacticempiredatabank.com/Main.html

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2004-02-14 04:51am

Interesting idea.

The problem is that although the Rebel fleet isn't superior to the Imperial fleet, its close enough that the Imperials are going to have a heck of a fight on their hands, if they try to just roll over the Rebels and assume orbit, especially if the Rebels keep together with the platform, backstopped by the planet.

My goal will be to draw them out and defeat them in detail.

1. Have astrogation teams plot the most used and most likely hyperspace routes in and out of the system. Routes connecting to other major Imperial worlds can be scrapped, the Rebels ain't fleeting to those. But assuming the major station is in orbit above the capital and the Rebels will muster their fleet at that location...

I'd jump, on the far side of the planet, one of the VSD's, one of the ISD's and the Torpedo Sphere and start pounding the crap out of the shield, trying to bring it down through brute force. Staying out of range of any surface to space weapons of course. But make it clear that the objective is to breach the shield. This should start all hell breaking loose. People on the planet will be getting ready to evacuate, the two Cruisers are probably going to be coming around the planet to engage the fleet while keeping the Frigates and Gunships back to hold open the exit route for the population and personnel as well as safeguard the Spacedock.

Have the ISD's deploy fighters and move as if the screen the Torpedo sphere from attack. All ships to hold back Tie Bombers unless absolutely necessary, they are going to be useful for the ground attack. When the Cruisers reach optimum range for the Destroyers, have the Torpedo sphere cease its attack and start volleying torpedoes at the Mon Cals. Though they are not that powerful against Starships, the number of torpedoes is going to be saturating. When confusion is optimum, have the second VSD jump in behind the Mon Cals and engage. WIth 80 concussion missile tubes, an Alpha Strike is gonna be rather bad for the two Cruisers, hopefully putting them down quickly with the other two Destroyers helping.

At the same time as the second VSD jumps in, the two ISD's will jump into the major escape corroder between the shipyard/capital and hyperspace. They will simply advance to inside the gravity well preventing hyperspace jumps, but not so close that planet based defences have a field day. Quickly kill the Frigates and gunship with coordinated HTL volleys, while their 12 fighter squadrons both kill the enemy snubs and disable fleeing freighters. Ion cannons can help disable freighters, then work over the shipyard and station in preparation for boarding. As soon as they are disabled, spacetroopers are dispatched to take over the facilities as staging points.

The ISD's and torpedo spheres will consolidate at the Base/Shipyard area, Transports to undertake boarding operations on all disabled ships. Rebels will be held for interrogation, civilians will be held for possible trial as traitors to the Empire. The two VSD's will take up positions one third of the way around the planet each so there is even coverage, fighters in 2 squadron sized formations will be on patrol around the planet at all times. At least 5 of these groups.

The Torpedo sphere will then do its work, blow the shields down. The Tie Bombers will then launch systematic attacks upon planetary defences, specifically the turbolasers and ion cannons. Once they are down and clearly down, the ISD's will disperse to orbital guard (one at the station/shipyard, the other two evenly dispersed), the VSD's will load up the ground troops and lead the attack on the planet. They will land and set up a base of operations outside the capital city. If feasible, from two sides. If necessary, land the troops and establish a base, then go back up to get more troops to land.

Each ISD carries a prefab garrison so two of these will serve as the staging points for the ground war. Once the troops are landed, with massive air and orbital support (if the Government does not bow to demands to surrender), have the Tie Bombers bound the crap out of defensive positions and vehicles, then march the floating fortresses and speeders followed by the AT-AT's into the city, take control of the Government and commence 'pacification' procedures as per usual.

GySgt. Hartman · Post by **GySgt. Hartman** » 2004-02-14 09:43am

Jump in with the TS and the ISDs, guns blazing, have the TS blast the platform, then go after the cruisers and frigates. If possible, use the TS to take out the MonCals quickly. Stay out of range of the planetary weapons. The Vics stand by to intercept transports and help wih the cleanup. Take out the planetary shield and weapons, then start blasting spaceports and transports.
Then kill the guy that was responsible for the intel failure. There should have been more ships assigned to this, maybe an Escort Carrier and a few Lancers, because the Rebel's fighter superiority (it's one shielded Rebel fighter against two unshielded Imperial fighters, including the bombers) is bound to give you trouble, and a few light cruisers or frigates to help you blockade the planet effectively.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-02-14 10:55am

Planetary assaults on developed planets always consist of at least a single Superiority Fleet.

A Superiority Fleet consists of four system forces, two force superiority and two force escort.

Each force superiority contains "six star destroyers and an average of 390 other combat starships." With two force superiority and two force escort (the force escort protects hyperlanes and the like, and probably will deploy to the reaches of the system to watch the hyperlanes and to head-off escape attempts)

Your force should contain six Imperator-class star destroyers. Since your Superiority Fleet has a Torpedo line, it will contain two Torpedo Spheres.

Realistic Assault Force (Minimum):

Six Imperator-class star destroyers, two Torpedo Spheres, six Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers, twelve Nebulon-B-class escort frigates, six Lancer-class frigates, and six Strike-class light cruisers, twenty-four Carrack-class light cruisers.

Its not hard to see why the Rebellion usually cut and run and was basically a terrorist group before the Empire.

nightmare · Post by **nightmare** » 2004-02-14 11:09am

I have a 3:1 strenght fleet advantage, not even counting the TS or the VSDs. Major overkill if you ask me. However, the planetary defences alone can wipe out my fleet without breaking a sweat. Minimum force I would meet is 5 PLTLS, of which just a single one can blow away my whole fleet while the TS is taking its time on the shields. (The w-165 planetary turbolaser have four times the power of the KDY v-150 ion cannon, and you know what that can do).

I would lure the rebel fleet out of range of the planetary defences if I could, but if they have a single brain cell, they won't fall for it.

So I would be forced to smuggle in some operatives to down the planetary defences. If that can be done, it's a cakewalk. The space battle will be over in minutes, not hours. Otherwise just call off the invasion, no chance.

Since I have total airsuperiority, orbital support, superior forces and superior numbers, victory is inevitable. Clear LZs, land prefab bases with fighter cover, and begin the advance.

The problem is all the guerilla warfare that will potentially emerge and sap my troops after the conquest. A few examples made out of some small cities might help. Then again, the planet is full of rebels, so why not just flatten the thing.

GySgt. Hartman · Post by **GySgt. Hartman** » 2004-02-14 11:14am

ISB states that "[a] full troop or battle squadron packs enough firepower to subjugate any system not protected by an equivalent fleet". I figured one force superiority (3 IDSs, ~90 ships) should be enough: two battle squadrons to engage the Rebel fleet, one battle squadron to take care of escaping transports, and one light squadron to secure escape lanes. Bringing in an additional torpedo line (2 TS) to take care of the shields and a troop line for planetary assault should pretty much round it off.
That is about a quarter of what IP suggested, but it should still be enough for the task at hand.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-02-14 12:11pm

Perhaps in a very ship-strapped world, but I don't see why the 24 ISD; 2,400 combat starship Sector Group would cut corners.

The EGtVV says that a Superiority Fleet is the standard assault force against developed worlds.

consequences · Post by **consequences** » 2004-02-14 12:54pm

The Imperial Forces need more of a screening element, there's no way 5 destroyers and a Torpedo Sphere would be sent on an attack without some frigate support.

For the Rebel side, if they have a shipyard in system, there is almost certain to be at least a few hulls there that can be turned against the Imps. The lack of ground based fighter support in the OrBat is also somewhat puzzling, as it leaves no escorts for evacuating transports without stripping fighter coverage from the fleet.

Without an Interdictor, the Imperial forces are going to be unable to intercept the vast majority of any fleeing ships. The threat of an 8 squadron Proton Torpedo equipped fighter strike absolutely requires the maintenance of a strong Combat Space Patrol around the ships, limiting the ability to run down rebels even further.

Given standard TIE deployment, the Imps are only going to have three squadrons of bombers, and nothing else they have will do neearly enough damage to capships.

As the Rebel commander, I would fight a delaying action, designed to allow as many ships to escape as possible. If the Imperial forces split up to go after them, it would be easy to defeat them in detail. As the Imperial commander, there is no effective way to take the planet, so efforts would concentrate on capturing the shipyard, and removing the Rebel fleet without coming in range of the ground based guns.

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-02-14 02:55pm

The task force was the cloesest to the planet when the Empire learned of the Rebel sympethizors, therfore you had to do it with whatever you had.
Lets say that a group of 3 Star Destroyers, 1 Torpedoe Sphere, 2 Dreanoughts, and 4 lancer frigates will arrive in 20 minutes. Your forces need to do as much damage until the rest if the fleet can arrive.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-02-14 02:57pm

Techno_Union wrote:The task force was the cloesest to the planet when the Empire learned of the Rebel sympethizors, therfore you had to do it with whatever you had.
Lets say that a group of 3 Star Destroyers, 1 Torpedoe Sphere, 2 Dreanoughts, and 4 lancer frigates will arrive in 20 minutes. Your forces need to do as much damage until the rest if the fleet can arrive.

Why couldn't they wait for the full Fleet Superiority to be assembled? Did the Rebels already find out they'd been discovered? Is the rest of the Sector Group occupied?

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-02-14 03:02pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:
Techno_Union wrote:The task force was the cloesest to the planet when the Empire learned of the Rebel sympethizors, therfore you had to do it with whatever you had.
Lets say that a group of 3 Star Destroyers, 1 Torpedoe Sphere, 2 Dreanoughts, and 4 lancer frigates will arrive in 20 minutes. Your forces need to do as much damage until the rest if the fleet can arrive.
Why couldn't they wait for the full Fleet Superiority to be assembled? Did the Rebels already find out they'd been discovered? Is the rest of the Sector Group occupied?

When the Rebels found out that the EMpire knew of the sympethizors, they started to evacuate. The task force which was closer had to keep them from escaping so the Rebels had to fight off the fleet and then evac.

Jaded Masses · Post by **Jaded Masses** » 2004-02-14 03:28pm

Techno_Union wrote:When the Rebels found out that the EMpire knew of the sympethizors, they started to evacuate. The task force which was closer had to keep them from escaping so the Rebels had to fight off the fleet and then evac.

Then I would ignore the planet and concentrate on stopping escapes, then wait for the fleet(s), then begin attacking the planet. Granted some will escape but I doubt I lose less then would attacking the planet.

Edit: fixed quote tag

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-02-14 03:30pm

Call some Interdictors, and when they arrive defend them until the real assault forces get there. As is, the Rebs just need to keep the Imps occupied while they pack up as much shit as possible and blow the yard.

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-02-14 04:04pm

Chris OFarrell wrote: The problem is that although the Rebel fleet isn't superior to the Imperial fleet, its close enough that the Imperials are going to have a heck of a fight on their hands, if they try to just roll over the Rebels and assume orbit, especially if the Rebels keep together with the platform, backstopped by the planet.

Well I tried to make this a chalenge for the Empire instead of the normal "Empire kicks ass."

Lord of the Farce · Post by **Lord of the Farce** » 2004-02-14 09:21pm

2 shield generators (one that follows the orbit of the planet and the other that’s going in the opposite direction)

Wouldn't that mean that depending on the time, at least half of the planet could be completely exposed? Or did you actually mean two shield generators following the orbit of the planet, one on the opposite side of the planet to the other?

Anyway, noting the concern of Star Destroyers falling victim to surprise Ion cannons and planetary turbolasers, and the fact that they need to bring down the shields to evacuate their ships, I would stay at a distance while I have all fighters and bombers deployed and spread out over a reasonable distance.

Then have all ships taking randomly timed pot-shots (energy weapons only), which actually works out to be a constant barrage down at the capital of Terris, at the shield over the capital of Terris. This should keep the Rebels bottled up until my reinforcements. Also, for the Star Destroyers, a constant barrage of Ion cannon shot at the Rebel Platform and Shipyard.

Eventually, the Rebel fleet has to do something to take the heat off the planet (either that, or flee and leave all their assets behind), at which point all my capital ship fire (excluding the Torp Spheres) is focused on the Rebel fleet (aimming for the biggest one first) with the planet as the poor shmuck who catches any missed shots (

).

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-02-14 10:35pm

Wouldn't that mean that depending on the time, at least half of the planet could be completely exposed? Or did you actually mean two shield generators following the orbit of the planet, one on the opposite side of the planet to the other?

The shield generators are on opposite sides of the planet. Basically this is set up so the planet's shields have as little gaps as possible.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-02-15 03:30am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:Planetary assaults on developed planets always consist of at least a single Superiority Fleet.

A Superiority Fleet consists of four system forces, two force superiority and two force escort.

Each force superiority contains "six star destroyers and an average of 390 other combat starships." With two force superiority and two force escort (the force escort protects hyperlanes and the like, and probably will deploy to the reaches of the system to watch the hyperlanes and to head-off escape attempts)

Your force should contain six Imperator-class star destroyers. Since your Superiority Fleet has a Torpedo line, it will contain two Torpedo Spheres.

Realistic Assault Force (Minimum):

Six Imperator-class star destroyers, two Torpedo Spheres, six Dreadnought-class heavy cruisers, twelve Nebulon-B-class escort frigates, six Lancer-class frigates, and six Strike-class light cruisers, twenty-four Carrack-class light cruisers.

Its not hard to see why the Rebellion usually cut and run and was basically a terrorist group before the Empire.

Yeah, but supposing that that's all the force they have on station and for some reason the world has to be taken right now. (Say, the Millennium Falcon's there and Vader wants it and its about to leave.) Changing the OP is bad form.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-02-15 03:37am

Rogue 9 wrote:Yeah, but supposing that that's all the force they have on station and for some reason the world has to be taken right now. (Say, the Millennium Falcon's there and Vader wants it and its about to leave.) Changing the OP is bad form.

Whatever.

Creating a dumb OP which unrealistically yanks the testicles of one of the contestants to even the odds is considered bad form.

Standard form against Trekkies is to pull the wool out from under contrived vs. situations.