Stellar Rats Recon – Part 2 – Armchair Dragoons

Hethwill, 1 March 2026

The following report follows the operations of the ‘Stellar Rats’ in advance of the main assault on planet Kraken, as possible to be enjoyed through the tabletop wargame Raider Drop Zone, designed by Keith Tracton.

Recap

As seen in Part 1:

The Stellar Rats deployed in good order to the surface and immediately started scouting for Kraken. A skirmish happened in PS-8-9 with a fearsome legion of Drones.

Kraken forces converging on the Terran positions from all directions.

Near Space combat goes unabated and the Terran Navy is probably doing the best they know.

The 12th Raider Regiment, ‘Stellar Rats’, is a crack unit selected from the 7th Raider Division of the elite 5th Raider Corps. Their mission is to conduct reconnaissance in force (…)

Turn 2

Terran forces are now Fatigued after the encounter with the Drones. They were weak, yes, they were legion, also yes, the Terrans won, certainly, still after every combat the Terrans will feel the weariness post battle.

Kraken forces aren’t going to wait around. Being a hive breed, and controlled by Hive Mind, the knowledge is shared.

As such there’s an immediate offensive as Drones use their Tunnel ability and the forces Climb to the surface.

The Raiders and Support in PS-8-9 come under heavy attack.

“Sir, incoming report on PS-8-9 of a counter-attack by extremely large numbers…”

“Command…this is a losing battle. Dragoons and heavy weaponry…”

“Raiders, do you want to live forever? Hang tough!”

Krakens always attack. Terrans might think twice after an initial phase of AWE checks.

Local command decision falls to the Company commander, which orders the Engineers and SPA-C to stay back as a Thin on the ground last line if it comes to that.

Dragoons and Plasma Heavy platforms battle it out with a fierce precision. The fatigued Raiders couldn’t hold for long and were reported lost soon after.

Hindsight is problematic. Command reviewed the battle assessment report and judged that by not committing the Support options, the Raider leadership in location lost the opportunity to force early casualties on the Kraken Dragoons that possibly caused a major defeat.

It is of note that a mistake occurred as it should be a roll of 4 dice for the Raiders. Nonetheless even with a positive modifier the result would be obliteration at +5 or more.

Kraken Hive Mind planning and execution can be described as scary efficient at this point.

This is the latest episode in a running playthrough of Raider Drop Zone from Blue Panther Games; you can find the links to all published episodes at the end of article, with new installments each Sunday

Their forces Breached, Climbed, defeated the Raider forces in location, took prisoners and re-entered their tunnels before a counter attack could be mounted.

It is worth mentioning that while Kraken do not have stacking limits on the Planetary Surface map they do on the Tunnel map, making the Breach and Re-Entry not a win all situation. Far from it.

This ability to hit and disappear makes it very hard for the Terrans to provoke a set piece battle, especially this early in the campaign. Nonetheless Raiders do what they must.

“The communications channels, especially at company level, were hot with messages – Attack! Attack! – but where? There’s a vital component of understanding that the higher echelons forget – We are in their courtyard and they carve the landscape..”
– Lt. Thomas Bombadiel, Comms Officer, Raider Company 53

Regimental HQ orders a focus towards PS-8-9 and surrounding areas, believing it to be one of the focal points of the Kraken defense.

Specialist teams are put on task with an increased chance of forcing the Kraken to fight. Given the Kraken act before the Terrans, this gives the latter a fair opportunity to force them to the surface through means of the Engineers and Recon teams as they can detect troops, as opposed to Sonars which excel in pinpointing built up locations.

There’s still a margin of error and it may well happen that any traces are lost after the Tunnel Re-entry but the Engineers make a wonderful job. Kraken must Climb with a Shock unit. In this case the only possibility was the Dragoons that fought before and had the Prisoners. The Recon team also tried for further detections but were unconvincing.

Immediately the Terran Raiders engaged the enemy.

This time around the Company wasn’t going to hold back any Support. All in. Full fireworks effect.

A spectacular wave of destruction engulfed the sector as the Dragoons force was eliminated at the cost of casualties to the Raider Company that led the attack.

As a major morale boost, the Prisoners were also freed and the Local Complex erased from the map.

Combat happens in multiple phases, using the Shock units and the Supports available. It revolves around erosion of Awe values and delivering Shock force.

Battles in Near Space continue.

Some sectors won, especially NS-8, while others fell to Kraken control or became Contested.

Space Superiority in NS-8 must now be maintained at all costs so the reinforcements can be deployed fast and safe and any casualties recovery can be done without any further disasters.

Turns 3 & 4

“Sir, it is with regret that we must inform you that either the equipment we have been issued is faulty or we are too dumb to operate it. Apart from the Sonar crews, everyone else is struggling. Sure, we do find structures. Sure, we do destroy them. But bringing down these Local Complexes doesn’t reduce the Kraken capabilities.

I don’t mind taking the fall for incompetence in operating the provided equipment but the Navy better have the logistics provide Raiders’ fool proof and assured quality-controlled assets.

Sorry sir.

Just want to report that for the last two cycles, no Engineer nor Recon teams have managed to find any enemy forces.
More complexes found.”

– Col. Dan Dellion, EWO XO, 12th Raider Regiment

“PS-8-9” is quickly becoming a staple name for a battle to be catalogued into the annals of military history.

The continuous engagements in that zone all become fused into one single major battle, when seen from the high operational viewpoint.

Kraken forces erupt from below and engage the Terrans while they were bivouacking. Gladly one Raider Company was on duty and Fresh.

It is a fairly equal contest, with Terrans being more disciplined but facing the numbers. The initial contact escalates quickly with both sides pushing forward as many guns as possible. At best it is a negligible Terran victory in the first phase but at the cost of extremely high losses.

Illustrated above, with the flame markers, the full modifier scores. Five for Terrans and four for Kraken, which gives a differential of plus one.

The combat ends with the Kraken having no more Shock forces to throw into the Attack. The Raiders losses amount to two Raider companies against one full Dragoon swarm.

On the positive side the Sonar is secure.

Casualties are collected easily, thanks to the Navy efforts in keeping NS-8 under Terran superiority and going under reorganization Cadres.

Eventually a new Company will be formed and hopefully deployed right into the fight.

Terran Navy regulations indicate the correct logistical method for Reforming a new Company is to use two Cadres and form one Company of the lowest grade of the two where applicable, scratching the other to Casualties statistics.

In the absence of a second, the recovered survivors must hope some more will become casualties so they may be Reformed and deployed again.

Remember that casualties are not a tragedy, but a necessity.

The Regiment Command orders an all-out move to provide space for the surveyors to work.

More and more locations are found but the Kraken combatant formations are nowhere.

Frustration starts to erode the confidence, and with this in mind, Command also requests reinforcements.

Boats and Capsules are seen landing in quick succession in both PS-8-5 and the bloody fields of PS-8-9, bringing Armour and Raider companies.

Extreme praise must be given to the crews above in Near Space. Especially to the Logistics that prepare, recover and overall keep those Capsules and Boats operating nonstop.

From a Medium grade availability and FOUR successful drops, the availability level dropped to Low after the very last one.

In essence, an operation is a sum of successes superseded by whatever mistakes aren’t forgotten.

And this little miracle of the Navy transport crews will surely be forgotten in the fog of battle reports.

After the heroic performance of the ‘Uber’ jockeys, the Near Space got heavily contested again. It is like there was this small window of opportunity and for some miracle the High Command actually took advantage of it at the right time. Veterans of the 79th Armoured are kept in orbit for later deployment. Let’s hope it is not to cover a desperate retreat…

For those that like stats and all that stuff about points, the Casualties so far are as shown. Still early to count the eggs, as veteran Raiders that fought the Kraken before would say. Apart from the two Companies, having lost the Veteran Engineers is a harsh setback.

more to come . . .

Raider Drop Zone AAR – Stellar Rats Recon
PART 1 ~ PART 2 ~ PART 3 ~ PART 4

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