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[Vivalas]

New Mars Conglomerate

Nestled safely in the Valles Marineris canyon range, the capital city of Eden was the second city colonized on Mars and the most populous urban center that currently exists. Housing 80 million, albeit smaller than Axiom, the capital of Earth, Mars has a larger total population than Earth. Home to 600 million people, the New Mars Conglomerate is the cradle of freedom and liberty for those who wish to escape the tyranny of the United Human Empire. This toasty planet has been terraformed for human life, with average temperatures of 34 degrees Celsius in its temperate zones. Its atmosphere is a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The Conglomerate is really a Confederation of hundreds of smaller factions and colonies spread across the martian wastes, with the Federal capital in Eden.

Anthem: https://soundcloud.com/jfranklincomposer/symphony-of-the-kerbals-overture

SIC SEMPER IN LIBERO


In the downtown district of Eden lies the simple and utilitarian NMC Hall of Government. Inside the NMC Federal Congress convenes each month to discuss the future of their newborn confederacy. Composed of delegates from all the member states, the congress is a noisy chamber of yelling and dissonance. But the real decisions happen upstairs in the Central Council. A smaller assembly of 10 Provisional Ministers, elected from the Federal Congress. These men and women form the Executive branch of the NMC government.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

System Map:

Overview:

Mineral Overview:

Fleet Organization (none in fleets yet):

Prosperity Class Frigate

This cruiser is the first military ship launched by the UHE. It is a basic all-round fighting ship that is outdated and lacks proper technology, and has had a dubious legacy ever since the destruction of 2 in the Washington system after being destroyed by unknown aliens. Sporting one twin Steadfast Laser Cannon turret by Watkins & Rhodes Industries, it isn't a hard hitter, but it still serves as a useful vessel for anti-piracy and interdiction / territory patrol, as well as escorts for the larger Peace cruiser. It's shields and armor aren't that great, and it isn't very fast either. 3 were commandeered after the civil war by NMC rebel forces.

Prosperity class Frigate    4 950 tons     116 Crew     657.4 BP      TCS 99  TH 480  EM 120
4848 km/s     Armour 3-25     Shields 4-600     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 14.08
Maint Life 4.88 Years     MSP 332    AFR 49%    IFR 0.7%    1YR 23    5YR 345    Max Repair 68 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 1   

Cataclysm Drive Company 120 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 120    Fuel Use 81%    Signature 120    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500 000 Litres    Range 22.4 billion km   (53 days at full power)
Wilson Engineering Company Defender-1 (2)   Total Fuel Cost  36 Litres per hour  (864 per day)

Twin Watkins & Rhodes Heavy Industries Steadfast Laser Cannon Turret (1x2)    Range 80 000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 8-2     RM 2    ROF 20        4 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0
Watkins & Rhodes Heavy Industries Fire Control S04 64-6000 (1)    Max Range: 128 000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Cataclysm Drive Company Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 22.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Freedom Class Destroyer

The only ship that the NMC has that is not one of the UHE designs is the Freedom Class Destroyer. Wanting an alternative to the large Peace cruisers of the UHE navy, the scientific minds of the NMC designed this fast and nimble craft. While not sturdy, having even less armor than the Prosperity and no shields, it outperforms all UHE ships due to its ability to hit targets and get out fast. It is due entirely to this ship that the UHE chose to sign a cease fire or risk its navy being crippled by this fearsome devil. Like the prosperity it features a twin Steadfast Laser Cannon.

Freedom class Destroyer    5 600 tons     124 Crew     727.4 BP      TCS 112  TH 720  EM 0
6428 km/s     Armour 2-28     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 14.08
Maint Life 1.79 Years     MSP 162    AFR 125%    IFR 1.7%    1YR 63    5YR 945    Max Repair 68 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   

Cataclysm Drive Company 120 EP Ion Drive (6)    Power 120    Fuel Use 81%    Signature 120    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500 000 Litres    Range 19.8 billion km   (35 days at full power)

Twin Watkins & Rhodes Heavy Industries Steadfast Laser Cannon Turret (1x2)    Range 80 000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 8-2     RM 2    ROF 20        4 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0
Watkins & Rhodes Heavy Industries Fire Control S04 64-6000 (1)    Max Range: 128 000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Cataclysm Drive Company Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 22.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes



Hamlet Class Exporation Ship

A staple in popular culture and loved by children and space enthusiasts, this outdated but trusty vessel formed the backbone of the early UHF Exploration and Survey Corps, which employed thousands of intrepid explorers to go where no man had gone before. Despite having maintenance issues due to its unwieldy military design that didn't favor deep space exploration, and which made it hard for civilian conscript crews to operate it, its role in mapping the solar system brought fame and glory to it and its commanders alike. 1 was commandeered after the civil war by NMC rebel forces.

Hamlet class Exploration Ship    3 550 tons     75 Crew     655 BP      TCS 71  TH 240  EM 0
3380 km/s     Armour 1-20     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/2     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.95 Years     MSP 231    AFR 50%    IFR 0.7%    1YR 39    5YR 592    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 1   

Cataclysm Drive Company 120 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 120    Fuel Use 81%    Signature 120    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 000 000 Litres    Range 62.6 billion km   (214 days at full power)

Wilson Engineering Company Raven 1 (1)     GPS 14400     Range 65.7m km    Resolution 120
Geological Survey Sensors (2)   2 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Alabaster Class Freighter

This trusty vessel is the backbone of the now defunct UHF Colonial Logistics Corps. Designed to be a cheap and efficient cargo vessel, this large ship is currently the largest ever built. Able to carry a modest 25 000 tons of cargo, this ship ferried equipment and supplies across the void to Mars for the colonists that would soon follow. 2 was commandeered after the civil war by NMC rebel forces.

Alabaster class Freighter    34 600 tons     107 Crew     549.8 BP      TCS 692  TH 900  EM 0
1300 km/s     Armour 1-94     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 10    Max Repair 37.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 2   
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

Cataclysm Drive Company 150 EP Commercial Ion Drive (6)    Power 150    Fuel Use 11.93%    Signature 150    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 750 000 Litres    Range 32.7 billion km   (291 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

Agray Class Colony Ship

This vessel was the first ship to carry colonists across space to Mars for the UHF Colonial Logistics Corps. After many companies failed to deliver what the UHF CLC wanted in terms of efficiency and capacity, one design stood out. Affectionately known as the "tin can" by its crew and passengers, this ship ferried colonists across space in the comfort of thousands of cryogenic sleep pods. 5 of these large vessels operated nonstop back and forth to and fro from Earth to Mars. None of them carried colonists back, however. Those who found Mars unfavorable were either stuck on the red planet, or forced to pay exorbitantly high prices to the various passenger lines for a ticket back to the beloved planet they always took for granted. 1 was commandeered after the civil war by NMC rebel forces.

Agray class Colony Ship    21 750 tons     152 Crew     964.6 BP      TCS 435  TH 900  EM 0
2068 km/s     Armour 1-69     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 28    Max Repair 37.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   
Cryogenic Berths 50000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

Cataclysm Drive Company 150 EP Commercial Ion Drive (6)    Power 150    Fuel Use 11.93%    Signature 150    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500 000 Litres    Range 34.7 billion km   (194 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

Feel free to ask for more information relating to the game and more screenshots if needed. Please remember not to start discussions until 12:00 AM CST on 7/11/16.

Edit:  Research and Racial Designs (currently the same for both factions)

Racial Designs:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(Wilson Engineering Company) Guardian 1 - 2 450 tons
This advanced sensor is a massive missile search sensor. Able to detect even the smallest missiles at 36m km
this behemoth is currently only used on PDCs due to logistical reasons.

(Wilson Engineering Company) Raven 1 - 500 tons
This sensor is a basic run of the mill sensor designed for general purpose use. If it needs eyes, is needs a Raven 1.
It can detect 6000 ton ships up to 65m km away.

(Wilson Engineering Company) Missile Fire Control - 1000 tons
This completely average fire control is a complement to the Guardian 1 sensors used by PDCs.

(Watkins & Rhodes Heavy Industries) Fire Control S04 64-6000 - 200 tons
This basic fire control system is capable of locking onto targets moving up to 6000 km/s at 64 0000 km with 50% accuracy.

(Cataclysm Drive Company) Lancer 1 Ion Drive - 500 tons
This small and compact military engine is the cornerstone of all military designs.
Not very powerful, and not very fuel efficient either. Sports a power rating of 120 EP.

(Cataclysm Drive Company) Chevron 1 Heavy Ion Drive - 1250 tons
This larger heavy ion drive is only slightly more powerful than the Lancer 1, but much more fuel efficient.
Used by most if not all commerical shipbuilding companies. Sports a power rating of 150 EP.

(Watkins & Rhodes Heavy Industries) Steadfast Laser Cannon - 200 tons
This low power / low range laser cannon is a staple among all early military designs.
It doesn't have much in the way of firepower or range, but it's really the only thing out there.
Most laser weapons projects were doomed to failure in the early days of space travel by over ambitious companies
that ran over budget and didn't even get closed to a working platform. Watkins & Rhodes chose to go with a simple and
cheap design that won over the UHF Navy and recieved extra grant funding. Rated at 4 MW and has a maximum range of 80 000 km,
plus a slow recharge rate that takes 20 seconds for the capacitors to recharge.

(Watkins & Rhodes Heavy Industries) Twin Steadfast Laser Cannon Turret. - 700 tons
This twin turret is the main armament on pretty much all current military vessels. With two laser cannons mounted, this modest
turret can deliver firepower with a maximum tracking speed rated at 10 000 km / s.

(Stokes Systems) Capacity 100 Magazine - 350 tons
Leading the industry in missile delivery and fire control systems, this solid 100 capacity magazine by Stokes Systems
allows decent capacity with a small amount of internal armoring and a 70% chance of ejecting the ordanance if it takes
a fatal blow.

(Jones Thrust) 0.15 EP Ion Drive
This small missile engine by Jones Thrust is the main engine used by the Sparrow AMM used for point defense. Known as the
"whistler" due to the distinctive start-up noises made by the drive as the missile is armed before launch. Jones Thrust LLC
assures its clients that the whistling noise is in no way dangerous, and that their design team is working very hard
to locate and remove the source of the distinctive noise.

(Stokes Systems) PDC Size 1 Missile Silo - 50 tons
This large missile silo designed for use on massive Planetary Defense Centers is a decent launcher with a modest
reload rate of 10 seconds per warhead.

(Stokes Systems) Sparrow AMM Mk1
This small Anti-Missile Missile designed by Stokes Systems is designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles.
With a top speed of 15000 km/s, and a rated accuracy of 25.5% against targets going over 10 000 km/s, this missile isn't much,
but in numbers it gets the job done.

(Catalcysm Drive Company) PB-1 - 250 tons
This gas-cooled nuclear reactor by Cataclysm Drive Company Inc. is the most widely used reactor currently in service. Rated at
22.5 MW, this reactor has a dubious reputation as the "widowmaker" due to the incidents revolving around the Peace class Cruisers
that were blown to pieces by reactor meltdowns. CDC has declined to comment on the incidents, stating only that "the early PX-1 reactors
used on the Peace class cruisers were experimental, and were not able to withstand the constant vibrations of the ship's drives".

(Wilson Engineering Company) Defender 1
This shield projector is not much, but it provides some cushioning against incoming attacks that can mean the difference
between a scratch on the armor, and a hole in the No. 1 Reactor Coolant Pump. Critics simply call it a waste of space. This
shield system uses experimental new "Gamma" shield matrices that pack more protection into a smaller package. WEC assures its
customers that the Gamma shield does not emit deadly Gamma rays, and that its PR department was not all fired after deciding to
name it that.

Research:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Asteroid Mining Module
Construction Rate 14 BP
Fighter Produciton Rate 12 BP
Fuel Production 48 000 liters
Mining Production 12 tons
Research Rate 240 RP
Shipbuilding Rate 750 BP
Shipyard Operations: 10% Time/Cost Saving
Sorium Havester

Gamma Shields
Damage Control
High Density Duranium Armour

12cm Laser Focal Size
Visible Light Laser

Boat Bay
Boat Bay - Small
Combat Drop Module - Company
Fuel Storage - Large
Fuel Storage - Tiny
Fuel Storage - Very Large
Hangar Deck

Levitated-Pit Implosion Warhead
Missile Agility 32 per MSP
Missile Launcher Reload Rate 2
Reduced-size Launcher 0.33 Size / 20x Reload

Fuel Consumption 0.9 liters per engine hour
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology
Ion Drive Technology
Jump Drive Efficiency 5
Jump Point Theory
Max Jum Squadron Size - 3 (Size x 1.0)
Max Engine Power Mod x1.25
Min Engine Power Mod x0.4

Active Sensor Strength 12
Beam Fire Control Range 16 000 km
Fire Control Speed Rating 3000 km/s
Gravitational Survey Sensors

[Vivalas]

Here are some general pointers (these are the same for both teams)
1. Your starting ships are bad.
2. Ion engines are bad.
3. The scenario I set up is focused around a strong economy and weak military, so there is room to improve militarily for both factions. The idea is so you can focus on the combat and military strategy part of the game without worrying too much about economy and industry. You might want to look into aquiring sources of more minerals though

[3_14159]

Two questions:
1) What are our current shipyards?
2) What are our current techs? Since you mentioned Ion engines being bad, I assume we're at Magneto-Plasma or even ICF? Speaking of which, scientists and expertises would be nice to know, too.

[3_14159]

Since - assuming I'm reading the discussion time limit correctly - we are also allowed to discuss things, I wanted to get an overview of the opinions on our research and therefore design focus.

There are, in general, a few areas in which one might specialize. The offensive ones are:

• Beam weapons. Their biggest advantage is that they do not consume resources. This makes them strategically nice. On the other hand, their range is significantly limited (less than 1.5mkm, usually much less). They also fire regularly, and usually feature a much better armour penetration (missiles left; lasers right).
  Beam weapons require researching the weapons, power plants, beam fire control, and turrets. Beam ships have to be as fast as possible, while being well-armoured. Sensors are of secondary concern: If it's in weapons range, you can nearly always see it.
• Missiles. Their biggest advantage is range, usually reaching 50 to 100mkm. This makes them tactically superior, and easily able to destroy anything they outrange. When using box launchers (or miniaturized launchers in general), you trade a lower continuous for a higher initial throw weight, overwhelming their defenses. The cost is high, though: A full missile load might cost 50% of the vessel firing them. On the other hand, that is usually sufficient for killing several enemy spacecraft, recovering their cost.
  Missiles require researching engines, missile fire control, sensors, and either fire rate or miniaturized launchers. Missile-armed combattants are usually slower and lighter-armoured, but feature vulnerable magazines. Due to their range, giant sensors are common.
• Fighters. Fighters, one might say, are taking everything about missiles and exaggerating it: Much higher range, but also logistically even more expensive. They allow carriers to stay far, far back - someting like 500-1000mkm is possible. Fighters mount box launchers, and are reloaded on-board their carriers, meaning you can execute multiple alpha strikes. Fighters usually come closer than bigger missile-armed ships, and rely on their small size to avoid being targeted by missiles. There is a risk of interception, though. Oh, and there are beam-armed fighters, but you will almost never be able to survive closing with enemy ships.
  Fighters require researching everything of missiles, plus the fighters themselves. They are less useful without box launchers. Fighters are as small as possible - they mount life support for a few days, an engine, box launchers and a fire control. Variants mount sensors, or fuel tanks. Carriers themselves are even less armoured than missile-armed ships, and usually mount no weapons.

Then, there's thinking about defensive weaponry, i.e. to intercept enemy missiles. There are, ultimately, only two variants here:

• Beam weapons. Beam weapons cannot be run out of ammunition, and usually kill x missiles every five or ten seconds. They are good for a prolonged engagement, but can easily be overwhelmed.
• Anti-missiles. They have a longer engagement range, and fire off missile after missile to intercept the enemy's. This means they are less vulnerable against large strikes (but can still be overwhelmed). They are, on the other hand, far more vulnerable against magazine exhausted.

From my experience, I'd definively recommend getting either missiles or fighters as primary strike platforms. Beam spacecraft rely on having a higher speed and/or range; if both is denied, you're getting ripped to shreds by everything. Even if you are faster, you're going to take a beating from enemy missiles until closing - followed by taking more damage during beam engagement. There is one area where beam weapons excel, though: Jump point assaults. On the other hand, you can also use specialized jump fighters.
Generally, I'd suggest to concentrate on fighters; they share basically the same research focus as missiles (so it doesn't matter during the beginning), and are more flexible, since you can just yoink out an old strike group out of their hangars and add a new one. They also allow us to defend colonies using hangar planetary defense centres.
This also means we should focus on AMMs as primary missile defense. I'd still suggest developing some beam-based missile defense; those are pretty good for small-scale attacks and leakers. By developing a gauss-based beam-weapon defense system, we also upgrade the CIWS we can build. That's pretty useful.

Another thing we should think about is whether we want a fleet that's jump-capable (better mobility, requires tonnage, research and costs more) or bound by jump gates (no restriction on size, even worse at jump point assaults, more tonnage).

Lastly, home defense. Right now, there is the possibility of them building large-ish missiles, which can then be used to target our planet. A defense against that would be useful; or generally a defense against both invasions and missile/beam strikes. For this, I personally like meson-based PDCs. No beam weapon except mesons can penetrate an atmosphere. By building some meson PDCs (something like 30 turreted meson beams and 5 beam fire controls), we can ensure that any missile-based attack they launch is shot down. They can only challenge these PDCs by using missiles (which they defend against) and mesons (of which they mount more). This should make assaults onto our planets nearly impossible.

So, all in all:
1. Offensive weapons
    a) Beams
    b) Missiles
    c) Fighters

2. Defensive weapons
     a) Beams
     b) AMMs

3. Jump capable?
    a) Everything - including civilians
    b) Everything but civilians
    c) Specialized ships
    d) Nope

4. Home defense?

For me, I'm thinking 1c (Fighters), mostly 2b (AMMs), 3c (the large carriers aren't jump capable), 4 meson PDCs, later on hangar PDCs.

[Vivalas]

Added research and design information and will add the shipyard screenshots as well shortly as I do the same for the UHE who requested the same thing.

Edit: Here they are.

Also, I forgot to mention that you guys took over two PDCs during the rebellion. One is a missile defense base, and the other is a military command center. Here are their details.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(Fort Reliance)

Alpha class Point Defence Base    88 950 tons     425 Crew     11033 BP      TCS 1779  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 54-177     Sensors 1/588     Damage Control Rating 50     PPV 50
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 2050   

Stokes Systems PDC Size 1 Missile Launcher (50)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Wilson Engineering Company Missile Fire Control FC36-R1 (1)     Range 36.0m km    Resolution 1

Wilson Engineering Company Guardian 1 (1)     GPS 588     Range 29.4m km    MCR 3.2m km    Resolution 1


This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 36 sections

(Fort Liberty)
Bravo class Planetary Defence Centre    178 350 tons     247 Crew     18417 BP      TCS 3567  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 64-282     Sensors 1/0     Damage Control Rating 50     PPV 0
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Flight Crew Berths 41   
Hangar Deck Capacity 10000 tons     Troop Capacity: 10 Battalions   


This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 72 sections

[3_14159]

Thank you.
Could you also post our scientists?

[RAM]

Getting some specifics out for discussion purposes...

Research:
(labs)
(2)fuel efficiency
(2)Active sensors
(1)Missile warheads
(1)smaller fuel tanks
(1)armour
(1)research rate
(2)shipyard efficiency
(10)theoretical engine technology.
No specific designs from me, I would like to try to skip an engine technology if we can get away with it...

Ship Design: Berg-class exploration. Hamlet with Grav sensors instead of geo...

Fleet: Umm, maintain an EM-exclusion-zone around Mars? Would 20 million work?
It'd be nice to get a task-force for protecting civilians... We could split the fleet command into a strategic division that holds specific locations and a response division that escorts vulnerable convoys, makes sure that there is always someone listening if a distress call goes out, and responds to hostile developments away from secured locations?

Oh, and we need to build up some military to stop our peoples from going crazy, unless Mars is immune to unrest because Homeworld?

Economics:
 Imma ask for 1000 total construction factories, maybe even 1200... So double them!

I want another Hamlet and a Berg. Also shipyard expansion...

P.S.
 Ummm, I would like to try some missile-defence beam fighters... But basically, fighters to attack, to defend, gate-based jumping with a small fleet of brute-force jump-ferries that get dispatched to whatever theatre has the greatest need...

[3_14159]

So, a few more things I noticed:
1) Military Training Level: Set it to 5. Fewer graduates, but of a higher quality.

Questions for Vivalas:
1) Which scientists do we have?
2) Have you posted the shipyards? I can't find them.
3) We do have jump point knowledge and jump points discovered, right?
4) What is our current geo and grav-survey status of Sol?
5) Do we have Max Squadron Jump Radius researched?

Getting some specifics out for discussion purposes...

Research:
(labs)
(2)fuel efficiency
(2)Active sensors
(1)Missile warheads
(1)smaller fuel tanks
(1)armour
(1)research rate
(2)shipyard efficiency
(10)theoretical engine technology.
No specific designs from me, I would like to try to skip an engine technology if we can get away with it...

Agreed on trying to skip an engine level. On the other hand, I'd like to concentrate our labs on relevant tech (depending on the scientists we get).

Interesting (or nice-to-have) tech, in my opinion, is the following:

Point Defense
    1) Turret Tracking Speed 2000 - 1kRP
    2) Turret Tracking Speed 3000 - 2kRP
    3k RP

Gauss Cannon PD
    1) Gauss Cannon RoF 2 - 3k RP
    2) Gauss Cannon RoF 3 - 8k RP
    Total: 11k RP


Meson PD
    1) Capacitor Recharge Rate 2 - 2k RP
    2) Capacitor Recharge Rate 3 - 4k RP
    Total: 6k RP

Fighters
    1) Engineering Section (Small) - 2k RP
    2) Engineering Section (Tiny) - 4k RP
    3) Reduced-Size Launchers 0.25 size - 6k RP
    4) Box Launchers - 10k RP
    Total: 22k RP

Engine
    1) Fuel Consumption 0.8 - 2k RP
    2) Fuel Consumption 0.7 - 4k RP
    3) Fuel Consumption 0.6 - 8k RP
    4) maximum engine power mod 1.5 - 2k RP
    5) maximum engine power mod 1.75 - 4 RP
    6) maximum engine power mod 2 - 8 RP
    7) Stellarator Fusion Reactor - 12k RP
    8 ) Magneto-Plasma Engine - 20k
    Total: 60k RP

Sensors:
    1) EM Sensitivity 6 - 2k RP
    2) EM Sensitivity 8 - 4k RP
    3) Active Grav 16 - 4k RP
    Total: 10k RP

Edit: Also, we can think about researching jump gates.

We get 4800 RP per year without scientist boni. So, I guess our research priorities depend on the scientists. That being said, the Magneto-Plasma Engine, at a total of 32k RP, looks very tempting. It will, however, not be finished in the next five-year turn.
In the meantime, we can continue to rely on our PDCs, or we can design a stopgap fighter and put it into the Beta PDC. An example design I've whipped up has a speed of 4.5kkm/s, three size-4 missile launchers, and a firing range of 12.7mkm. It costs 76BP, and we'd need to design about 400RP worth of components. A complementary sensor fighter would cost 102BP, and 360RP to design.

Ship Design: Berg-class exploration. Hamlet with Grav sensors instead of geo...

I'd definitely like to refit the Hamlet into a Grav survey vessel. Grav survey's military anyways. Refitting would cost 250BP. On the other hand, a fair amount of the cost is made up by the giant sensor array the Hamlet has. We can design a cheaper and longer-ranged grav and geo-survey vessel.
A civilian geo-survey vessel (3.5kton, civilian engine, one geo sensors, 212bkm range, 10 years deployment time, jump capable) costs only 365 BP. That's cheaper than a refitted Hamlet, and requires much less fuel and no maintenance.
A military geo-survey vessel built along the same lines (though with less fuel and only 90 months deployment time) costs 380.5  BP. They can even use the same jump engine - as I noticed, a military jump engine doesn't make them military.
And, besides - in ten years we'll scrap them anyway.

An alternative would be to use jump ships and survey fighters.

Fleet: Umm, maintain an EM-exclusion-zone around Mars? Would 20 million work?

Sounds good. We should probably announce that.

It'd be nice to get a task-force for protecting civilians... We could split the fleet command into a strategic division that holds specific locations and a response division that escorts vulnerable convoys, makes sure that there is always someone listening if a distress call goes out, and responds to hostile developments away from secured locations?

Agreed. Well, later, once we actually have multiple locations :-)

Oh, and we need to build up some military to stop our peoples from going crazy, unless Mars is immune to unrest because Homeworld?

A homeworld always is.

Economics:
 Imma ask for 1000 total construction factories, maybe even 1200... So double them!

And more research labs.

I want another Hamlet and a Berg. Also shipyard expansion...

I'd rather use the cheaper ships mentioned above.

P.S.
 Ummm, I would like to try some missile-defence beam fighters... But basically, fighters to attack, to defend, gate-based jumping with a small fleet of brute-force jump-ferries that get dispatched to whatever theatre has the greatest need...

Assuming we build large-ish carriers for our fighters, this'll probably mean light carriers which are jump capable. Should work, though.

[Vivalas]

So, a few more things I noticed:
1) Military Training Level: Set it to 5. Fewer graduates, but of a higher quality.

Questions for Vivalas:
1) Which scientists do we have?
2) Have you posted the shipyards? I can't find them.
3) We do have jump point knowledge and jump points discovered, right?
4) What is our current geo and grav-survey status of Sol?
5) Do we have Max Squadron Jump Radius researched?

1 and 2. See below..
3.We have 1 jump point that we know of that leads to the washington system, where the hostile aliens were found at.
4.You have a full geo survey, but no grav survey. I need to see how I can create one JP that links to the hostile alien system while also making
other JPs a secret that need to be surveyed. I might just give both teams full grav knowledge too.
5.Yes, refer to the bottom of the OP.


Some things: I haven't posted shipyards, and forgot about scientists. Note that you don't directly control ship design. You can specify a certain set of parameters and general "class" or "type" of vessel you want designed, and 3 designs will be produced that you can vote on.

Also I can post the ground forces screen if you want, but you have plenty of ground troops to suppress unrest.

Spoiler: Scientists (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Shipyards (click to show/hide)

EDIT: Diplomacy Thread has been made: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=159378.0

[RAM]

I have nothing against random trash-talk but I figure that it is easier to start with a unified diplomatic front and then all jump in at random than it is to all jump in at random and then try to establish a single authoritative voice...
Diplomatic message:
"The Martian Congress wishes to express its respect for Earth, ancient home of humanity, and its current government, but fears that the many troubles accrued in becoming the mighty nation that it needed to be has left all those involved weary and their tensions strained. In the interests of comforting our people we must ensure that they not feel threatened. For the security of our nation we must ensure that it's space be respected. For these reasons, we, The Representatives of The Martian People, require that only civilian vessels approach Mars itself. Any non-Martian traffic emitting military signals within twenty million kilometres of Mars itself will, regretfully, need to be detained or destroyed by Martian Forces."

Needs more fire and brimstone, a load more patriotisms and a few pot-shots over having beaten them, but it works as an early draft...


I basically agree with everything that The Pie said. Except... I might sort of prefer deicated jump-ships rather than including jump in the fighter-carriers themselves.

I would definitely like to develop mesons for missile-defense fighters and P.D.C.s.

Meh, I am basically fine with 3_1 having the final word on the orders at the present time.

Should we be trying to roleplay?

[3_14159]

3.We have 1 jump point that we know of that leads to the washington system, where the hostile aliens were found at.

Aside from them curb-stomping the Prosperity, is anything else known?

4.You have a full geo survey, but no grav survey. I need to see how I can create one JP that links to the hostile alien system while also making
other JPs a secret that need to be surveyed. I might just give both teams full grav knowledge too.

Any especially interesting minerals on the bodies?
Specifically, how much Sorium do the Gas Giants have?

Some things: I haven't posted shipyards, and forgot about scientists. Note that you don't directly control ship design. You can specify a certain set of parameters and general "class" or "type" of vessel you want designed, and 3 designs will be produced that you can vote on.

Ah, good to know.

Also I can post the ground forces screen if you want, but you have plenty of ground troops to suppress unrest.

Nah, planetary invasions will be preceded by orbital bombardment anyway.

Spoiler: Scientists (click to show/hide)

So, good news: SF at 25%/20, PP at 10%/15, MK at 10%/5. Bad news: No CP. That's bad.
Looking at the available tech, I had a few ideas on "tech packages":

Spoiler: Tech Packages (click to show/hide)

Research Packages
    - Basic Gauss Point Defense (6k RP)
        - Turret Tracking Speed 2000 - 1k RP
        - Turret Tracking Speed 3000 - 2k RP
        - Gauss Cannon RoF 2 - 3k RP

    - Advanced Gauss Point Defense (8k RP)
        requires Basic Gauss PD, 6k RP total
        - Gauss Cannon RoF 3 - 8k RP

    - Inefficient Missile Fighters (8k RP)
        - Engineering Section (Small) - 2k RP
        - Reduced-Size Launchers 0.25 - 6k RP

    - Basic Missile Fighters (14k RP)
        requires Inefficient Missile Fighters, 8k RP total
        - Engineering Section (tiny) - 4k RP
        - Box Launchers - 10k RP

    - Next-Gen Engines (32k RP)
        - Stellerator Fusion Reactor - 12k RP
        - Magneto-Plasma Engine - 20k RP

    - Basic Missile/Fighter Engines (6k RP)
        - Maximum Engine Power Mod 1.5 - 2k RP
        - Maximum Engine Power Mod 1.75 - 4k RP

    - More Efficient Engines I (6k RP)
        - Fuel Consumption 0.8 - 2k RP
        - Fuel Consumption 0.7 - 4k RP

    - Basic Sensors (10k RP)
        - EM Sensitivity 6 - 2k RP
        - EM Sensitivity 8 - 4k RP
        - Active Grav 16 - 4k RP

    Next-Gen Missile Fighter
        Total Prerequisites: 66k RP - 14y without bonus
        requires Next-Gen Engines (32k RP)
        requires Basic Missile/Fighter Engines (6k RP)
        requires More Efficient Engines I (6k RP)
        requires Inefficient Missile Fighters (8k RP)
        requires Basic Missile Fighter (14k RP)

Let's say we assign each of the unused scientists one lab to ensure they can level up. Those are Logistics and Defensive Systems, with an effective RP per year of 432 and 336 respectively.
For the rest, let's assume we assign five labs each to Missiles and sensors. This gives us 1200 basic RPs per year - effectively 1,680 for missiles, and 2,400 for sensors. Assigning the eight remaining labs to PP gives us 2,688RP per year. This would mean we'd require twelve years for the next-gen engine tech.

Five-Year Plan Research:
- Eve Perkins (SF, 25%/20): 5 labs (2,400RP/year). Research EM Sensitivity 6 (10 months), EM Sensitivity 8 (20 months), active Grav 16 (20 months); reduce labs to 1 (assign remainder to PP); EM Sensitivity 10 (1.6 years)
- Lucas Ball (LG, 20%/1): 1 lab (432RP/year). Research Engineering Section Small (4.6y), Engineering Section Tiny (double that time)
- Jamie Preston (DF, 10%/1): 1 lab (336/year). Research Composite Armour (15y)
- Victoria Berry (PP, 10%/15): 8 labs (2,688RP/year). Research Stellerator Fusion Reactor (4.6y). Get 4 additional labs assigned. Research MP Engine (5y)
- Sam George (MK, 10%/5): 5 labs (1,680/year). Research Reduced-Size launchers (3.5y). Research Box Launchers (6y)

With all of those ongoing, we're going to be able to design our first serious fighter in ten years. It will sport box launchers, MP engines, and pretty good sensors.

Spoiler: Shipyards (click to show/hide)

I'd use the Tomlinson-Law yard for the grav explorer (three slipways) and the Mason & Armstrong for the Geo explorer. Other than that:

Five-year naval plan:
Morley-Holden Navy: Rename to Carrier Shipyard. Expand capacity by 10,000t. (2 years)
Chadwick Shipyard: Expand by 2,000t (0.5y)
Tomlinson-Law: Retool to new grav explorer class; Expand by 2,000t (1.5y)
Rice International: Add slipway (1.5y)

Phillips Shipbuilding: Expand by 4,000t (0.5y)
French & O'Neill: Expand by 12,000t (<1y)
Mason & Armstrong: Retool to new geo survey.

I've got to think a bit more about ship designs (but I'd want at least the geo and grav survey done, and a retool-able design for a cargo/colony ship). Another idea would be a railgun fighter: It'd be able to do point defense against missiles, and act as a stopgap measure.
Edit: Also, we should probably design a size-1 thermal and em sensor, which we can add to all of our civilian designs. Nice to know by what they were destroyed.

I have nothing against random trash-talk but I figure that it is easier to start with a unified diplomatic front and then all jump in at random than it is to all jump in at random and then try to establish a single authoritative voice...
Diplomatic message:
"The Martian Congress wishes to express its respect for Earth, ancient home of humanity, and its current government, but fears that the many troubles accrued in becoming the mighty nation that it needed to be has left all those involved weary and their tensions strained. In the interests of comforting our people we must ensure that they not feel threatened. For the security of our nation we must ensure that it's space be respected. For these reasons, we, The Representatives of The Martian People, require that only civilian vessels approach Mars itself. Any non-Martian traffic emitting military signals within twenty million kilometres of Mars itself will, regretfully, need to be detained or destroyed by Martian Forces."

Needs more fire and brimstone, a load more patriotisms and a few pot-shots over having beaten them, but it works as an early draft...

Actually, I really like it.
Do you think we should ask for some treaties (like no arbitrary orbital bombardment; once the system is cleaned of enemy forces, you give up or we are allowed to bombard you)?

I basically agree with everything that The Pie said. Except... I might sort of prefer deicated jump-ships rather than including jump in the fighter-carriers themselves.

A very good point, yes. Allows them to have even more space for fighters.

Should we be trying to roleplay?

In this thread, or in the diplomatic thread?

(Apologies for throwing out those large posts)

[Vivalas]

Should we be trying to roleplay?

I'm not going to enforce roleplay, but roleplay tends to make things more fun. Aurora is just a glorified spreadsheet anyways, and I don't personally find the game that interesting to play unless I'm roleplaying and being imaginative the whole time.

To answer 3_9's question as well, you should remain IC in the diplomacy thread, but it is up to you how much you want to roleplay there.

3.We have 1 jump point that we know of that leads to the washington system, where the hostile aliens were found at.

Aside from them curb-stomping the Prosperity, is anything else known?

Not really. They used missiles to destroy the frigates.

4.You have a full geo survey, but no grav survey. I need to see how I can create one JP that links to the hostile alien system while also making
other JPs a secret that need to be surveyed. I might just give both teams full grav knowledge too.

Any especially interesting minerals on the bodies?
Specifically, how much Sorium do the Gas Giants have?

When asking for mineral information, you're going to need to specify some parameters of what you want to see, or the kinds of minerals you are looking for in general. But for the Sorium...

Spoiler: Sorium Supplies (click to show/hide)

[RAM]

Urgh, Uranus isn't terrible, Jupiter is sort of meh though...

With the development of the company drop module I should like to have a request submitted to the design division for a heavy shuttle designed for range and speed. It would hopefully grant our forces a limited capacity to recover escape pods and seize crippled or surrendered vessels.

[3_14159]

Urgh, Uranus isn't terrible, Jupiter is sort of meh though...

Agreed. Well, there'll be more gas giants. Exploration ho!

With the development of the company drop module I should like to have a request submitted to the design division for a heavy shuttle designed for range and speed. It would hopefully grant our forces a limited capacity to recover escape pods and seize crippled or surrendered vessels.

Definitely agree on designing a recovery shuttle. However, we won't be able to seize any enemy vessels until we have researched Marines, which I personally don't find that important.

Now, for a few ideas on what to design:
1) Survey Ships
    Two survey ships (one geo, one grav), built on the same general principles. They use as many already available designs as possible: The commercial Chevron 1 Heavy Ion Drive, one grav or geo survey sensor, and a deployment time of ten years. Both should mount the same (military) jump drive and a standard sensor package (1HS thermal and EM sensors).
    Required to develop: Jump Drive, 1HS thermal, 1HS EM

2) Commercial Ships
    This tender goes out to design a total of two different ships sharing the same basic structure: A colony ship and a freighter. The freighter is to have at least 25,000t of cargo space. The maximum size for both ships is dictated by the available shipyard size, and is not to be more than 60,000t. Small increases to weight are acceptable.
    Both are supposed to use our existing commercial Chevron 1 drive and mount a standard sensor package but no jump drive. Both are to be buildable from the same shipyard [1].
    Required to develop: 1HS thermal, 1HS EM (as in survey ships)

[1] To do so, design the colony ship first, with a multiple of 100,000 cryo berths. Then, copy the design, tick "Keep Excess Q", and replace the cryo berths with standard cargo holds. Check whether it's buildable in the DAC tab, then retool a shipyard to the colony ship design.

I am also thinking about the size of our ASMs. Personally, I'm a great believer in standardization, i.e. use size-1 for AMMs and another size for all ASMs. Currently, I have a preference for using armoured size-6 ASMs. They can fit a large, strength-9 warhead and 0.3 armour (for a 25% chance to ignore a hit by an AMM). What are your thoughts?

Edit: Also, we have 8400CP per year. Personally, I'd like to one or two more military academy (+10/+20 leaders per year, i.e. a higher chance to get a CP scientist) and research labs. You mentioned wanting to build another 400 CFs. We should also expand the maintenance facilities in time to handle a 20kton carrier.
Building a research lab takes about 4.5 months, as does a military academy. The maintenance facilities will  take another 0.75 years, and we can build about 400 CFs every five years - all at maximum industry.
I'd therefore propose we task half of our industry with industrial expansion. The other 50% build two military academies (finished in about 1.2y) and 5 research labs (finished after about four years), then build maintenance facilities until reaching 20ktons. That should be in time for any carrier.

[RAM]

I have no complaints.