@RC: I'm pretty sure those shuttles you're talking about are the same piecewise suggested, just in case there is a misunderstanding:
Sure, you want a drop like the second team in the Cultist mission?
Maybe, checking our options for the moment. Would this help protect us from attacks coming from the base entry point?
Well, if you were attacked from the base, a fast hotdrop like that would certainly help. Or we could just use the drop pods again, those might work.
How does a drop pod compare to one of those shuttles they used in the dam mission (the one with the grav chutes), in terms of speed of drop and survival rate of passengers?
Mission 1 hotdrop:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=106279.msg3155846#msg3155846China-9 hotdrop:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=106279.msg3382753#msg3382753Cultist hotdrop:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=138807.msg5490638#msg5490638Also of note is the fact that hotdrop shuttles can move horizontally as well as vertically, meaning they can stay close to the ground while approaching the base and maybe even do it much better than a shuttle, since they don't care about surviving.
Yes, using the drop pods sounds like the fastest way down, though it'll kinda limit our option of sending an empty shuttle in first to test the water.
Not really. Drop pods are larger, armoured versions of hot drop shuttles that can be launched from further away by using the Sword's cannons. Each contains an individual. All the pods are launched out of the cannon together as a cluster and then break apart during atmospheric entry. Their advantages are that they are armoured and there are more of them falling at the same time, thus making a TP(Kill/Injury) less likely. The disadvantages are that it is probably not as fast as a hotdrop pod, can be hit during the approach to the planet if the enemy has interplanetary weapons or spaceships, the pod doors can fail and that it is unknown if they have a grav-chute in case its thrusters get damaged, although they might have one or a regular parachute. So I don't see why you couldn't send one loaded with scout eyes or automated mapping drones with cameyes, for example, kinda like the kill droid pods the UWM used during the Hephaestus defence but for scouting.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=150112.0If you want the team to have a choice of going or not going down to the planet, then using drop pods is a bad idea if maintaining the element of surprise is important. You'd have to launch the first drop pod cluster, wait for it to reach the planet and land and then give the go ahead to launch the second drop pod cluster (presumably along with the return shuttle/shuttles which will either stay in orbit, land when they can or some combination of the two). But this has the advantage of keeping the Sword away from the planet and any danger that might be there, which can turn into a disadvantage if you need the sword to nuke something immediately (without the interplanetary travel delay, which in my opinion is not that likely) or need to return to it quickly. (Unless of course, you're just dropping drop pod clusters from orbit, in which case this is similar to using hotdrop shuttles but trading their disadvantages for those of the drop pod.)
However, if the mission is going ahead either way and you are not worried about interplanetary weapons, then you can always launch the first drop pod cluster and then launch the second one a short while later. The first pod cluster can clear the area while the second pod cluster can use its thrusters to remain in orbit for a while longer if the first team needs time to clean up or they can land immediately after it.
Then again, there's no reason to not combine the above options. For example, you could launch the recon team in a drop pod cluster while still approaching the planet, then once the all clear is given and you've reached the planet with the Sword launch the second team with a hotdrop shuttle and then send a regular shuttle to land for quick extraction and keep a second shuttle in extremely low orbit in case something happens to the first one. Or some other combination, like two hotdrops.
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Topic: Einsteinian Roulette: OOC and NEW PLAYER INFO (Read 2542375 times)