Planetside - Scenarios

During the early days of Starfleet, relations with the Klingons were outright hostile. Starfleet and Klingon vessels would often exchange fire, usually when the Klingons attempted to encroach on their territory. As regularly occurred, in 2158 a small Klingon taskforce decided to take an old Terran supply freighter in unclaimed space. Starfleet detects the distress call and dispatches several vessels to assist, including their new flagship the USS Daedalus.

Terran Forces
1 x Daedalus Cruiser (USS Daedalus) w/ Spatial (light) Missiles (full load)
1 x NX War Cruiser w/ Spatial (Light) Missiles (full load)
1 x NX Experimental Cruiser C-model w/ Spatial (Light) Missiles (full load)
1 x Civilian Freighter (standard model from B5Wars)

Klingon Forces
4 x Early Birds of Prey
1 x Raptor Heavy Scout

Setup
Civilian Freighter in centre of map moving left to right speed 2. Klingon forces in formation of choice to the left of freighter, no vessels closer than 15 hexes speed 4. Starfleet vessels start on the far right row speed 7. All vessels have weapons and defensive systems fully charged.

Special Rules
The Civilian freighter will not accelerate or manoeuvre as it knows that they cannot escape the Klingons alone. They can however fire weapons.
The freighter is considered disabled if it is unable to accelerate.

Victory Conditions
Terran
Drive off or destroy the Klingon vessels whilst keeping the freighter intact.

Klingon
Drive off the Starfleet vessels, disable the freighter whilst leaving at least two cargo holds intact.

Historical Outcome
This was the battle that finally convinced Starfleet of the worth of Shielding as opposed to the Polarised Hull. After some fierce fighting, the Klingons (short two Birds of Prey and some Raptor bits) retreated. Of the victorious Starfleet forces remaining, only the Daedalus escaped serious damage. This battle also reminded Starfleet that they lagged behind in weapons technologies. The Klingon Torpedoes were far superior to their own Spacial Missiles, and even the Photonic Missiles that had not been loaded due to their relative expense. Following this engagement, the Spatial Missile was finally phased out, and serious research begun into both torpedo and shield technologies.