Siege of Hesperus II - 2nd Succession War

This is probably the most ambitious project to date.  When I was compiling my collection of lore and spotted the duel scenarios of Tactics of Desperation from Battlecorp archives I knew I wanted to do this as a fleet project.  I always loved battlespace, even with all its flaws in game play, and the dynamic of fighting in orbit before you could start the mech battles.  And this is the biggest fleet engagement that appears in print so far.

This battle occurred in 2853 as House Kurita had laid siege to Hesperus II in an attempt to reduce the Lyran military industrial base located on that heavily fortified world.  While the forces fought it out on the ground the LCS Invincible - the last Tharkad Class Battlecruiser - jumped into system to attempt to relive the defenders.  Opposing the Tharkad and her transport fleet was an assortment of Kurita corvettes and frigates, a host of dropships all led by the DCS Galedon II, a Samarkand class carrier.  In tactics of desperation the LCS Invincible engaged the Kurita defenders at the Nadir, destroying several of the smaller corvettes and forcing the Galedon II to flee to a pre-plotted jump point.  Having cleared the defenders from the Nadir the Lyrans arrived with the troop transports and pressed in system.

With the DCS Galedon II jumping to a pirate point near the planet bleeding atmosphere the seriousness of the situation was clear.  The remaining corvettes were recalled to defend the planet as the LCS Invincible burned towards the planet with here remaining escort dropships and a bevy of troop transports.  During the engagement the LCS Invincible forced her way into orbit and, despite fighting continuing around her, delivered orbital fire against the Kuritan ground forces.  With there last warships mere debris in orbit the Kuritans were forced to withdraw from the planet.

The LCS Invincible misjumped on her return from the battle - and with her loss the Inner Sphere would be without warships until the clans invaded in the 3050s.  This was the last warship engagement of the Succession Wars and I thought it fitting to make it a project to remember.

The arrayed forces were (Copied from Sarna):

Lyran Fleet:

• Tharkad-class LCS Invincible
  • Two squadrons each of Thunderbird, Lucifer, and Chippewa fighters.
• Avenger-class DropShips: LCS Droner, LCS Hayes
• Intruder-class DropShips: LCS Martina, LCS Pitbull
  • Each Intruder had an attached squadron of Lucifer fighters.
  
• Leopard CV-class DropShips: LCS Ecol, LCS Stalker
  • Each Leopard CV had an attached squadron of Seydlitz fighters.

• Overlord-class DropShips: LCS Layar, LCS Sadaba
  • Each Overlord had an attached squadron of Lucifer fighters.
• Union-class DropShips: LCS Olsen, LCS Yirrell
  • Each Union had an attached squadron of Seydlitz fighters.
• Excalibur-class DropShip: LCS Muraya
• Triumph-class DropShips: LCS Albstrom, LCS Patalim
• Condor-class DropShips: LCS Syamala, LCS Uhl
• Mule-class DropShips: LCS Carafa, LCS Sowerby

Kurita Fleet:

• Samarkand-class carrier: DCS Galedon II (flagship)
• Aerospace Wing CO:Sho-sa David Dinh^[7] with twelve squadrons, consisting of Lightning, Sabre, Shilone, Sholagar, and Slayer fighters
• Baron-class destroyer: DCS Yedo
  • Attached squadron of Shilone fighters.
• Vigilant-class corvette: DCS Wyrm
  • Attached squadron of Shilone fighters
• Mammoth-class DropShip: DCS Sabeeh
• Achilles-class DropShips: DCS Broadsword, DCS Katana, DCS Rapier
  • Each Achilles carried a lance of Sabre fighters
• Seeker-class DropShips: DCS Cabeleira, DCS Kraan
• Fury-class DropShips: DCS Roberts, DCS Yama
• Olympus-class recharge station

• Bonaventure-class corvettes: DCS Tamura, DCS Georgia
• Vigilant-class corvette: DCS Pacheco
• Each of the three corvettes had an attached squadron of Shilone fighter

• Overlord-class DropShips: DCS Morrison, DCS Sasaki, DCS Solano
  • Each Overlord had an attached squadron of Slayer fighters
• Union-class DropShips: DCS Karlander, DCS Thoresson
  • Each Union had an attached lance of Sabre fighters
• Leopard-class DropShips: DCS Brezesinksi, DCS Santana, DCS Wen Goei
• Each Leopard had an attached lance of Sholagar fighters

I recreated this entire fleet in totality; with the fighter squadrons represented by 2 fighter models per base.  Amazingly this entire fleet was available at one time, in one order, from Aries Games and Minis... though I did buy him out of Shilone Aerospace Fighters I am pretty sure.  Highly recommend them for your mini needs.

Overall this has been months of work and I am pretty happy with how it came out.  I am not sure I will take on this size of a project again soon... but it does let me play any Battlespace game I could want to with all this painted and ready to go.