Battle of Gamble
The Conflict
Prelude
The battle was a result of Alliance efforts to strike a blow to Federal industrial capacity and ship-building capability. As the only major producer of naturally-occurring essene to Federal shipyards, Gamble was raided with the intention of slowing the production of Federal warships, allowing the Alliance to shrink the gap between the size of their respective starfleets.
Deployment
Essene production on Gamble was viewed as a single point of failure in Federal warship production. Additionally, Gamble was only lightly defended by a small Federal fleet. The planet was not located near Alliance territory, so it was assumed that any approaching Alliance fleet would be detected in time for the Federal Navy to intercept or build up a larger defense fleet. The Alliance fleet consisted strictly of HSD-6 ships using an unexpected hyperspace route to reach Gamble. The HSD-6 path was still several months long, meaning the Alliance had to keep the raid secret for months while the ships were in transit.
Battlefield
The battle occurred entirely in orbital space around Gamble. There was no invasion of the planet itself.
The Engagement
The Alliance fleet took the small Federal fleet by surprise, destroying all their ships. However, the Alliance still lost several ships in the battle. After defeating the Federal fleet, the remaining Alliance ships attacked the orbital transfer facilities at the poles of the planets and launched several EMP weapons to disrupt mining operations on the surface. Due to the loss of most of the Alliance missile ships during the battle as well as the unexpected arrival of a freighter convoy that was mistaken for Federal reinforcements, the Alliance fleet retreated without destroying as much of the planet's infrastructure as originally planned.
Outcome
The Alliance secured a tactical victory in the battle by defeating the Federal defense fleet and severely damaging the essene mining infrastructure on the planet. However, the raid was called off prematurely and the Alliance gains were short-lived.
Aftermath
The Alliance raid had little impact on Federal starship production. The Federation responded quickly to rebuild the planet's infrastructure and had essene production back to pre-battle levels within months. Federal stockpiles of essene on other worlds held out long enough to maintain starship production until Gamble's production was restored. In fact, with Federal investment in local infrastructure, Gamble's production of essene nearly doubled by one standard year after the battle.
While the battle was depicted as a bold and damaging raid by the Alliance, Federation propaganda was effective in painting the battle as an example of Alliance barbarism in using nuclear weapons to attack defenseless civilians.
Additionally, due to the long transit time of the attack route, the Federal Starfleet was able to intercept and destroy the returning Alliance fleet several standard months after the battle.
Historical Significance
Legacy
While a relatively minor space battle that had little impact on the overall progress of the war, the Battle of Gamble featured prominently in the propganda of both the Alliance and Federation. Alliance hops portrayed the battle as a daring and effective raid carried out by the underdogs. The Federation depicted the battle in popular media as an example of rebel barbarism, with Federal innovation and power eventually winning out. The destruction of the Alliance raiding fleet several standard months later was viewed as a fitting end to the battle.
This is no raid.
Included under Conflict
Conflict Type
Battle
Battlefield Type
Space
Conflict Result
Tactical Alliance victory
Location
Belligerents
Federal Government
Rebellion
Strength
3,000 personnel
6 ships
6 ships
9,000 personnel
15 ships
15 ships
Casualties
2,000 KIA
500 wounded
500 POWs
5,000 civilian casualties
6 ships lost
500 wounded
500 POWs
5,000 civilian casualties
6 ships lost
1,000 KIA
2,000 wounded
5 ships lost
2,000 wounded
5 ships lost
Objectives
Defense of Gamble
Destruction of essene production on Gamble
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