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[Khang36]

Nanostructured Streamlined Spacesuit "Michelangelo" (1): Detoxicated
EAF-X4 Enhanced mobility unit (2): joha4270, Happerry
Triplet-class weapon system (3): Andrea, Chiefwaffles,khang
Pulse Repeater (1): Chiefwaffles
Targeting Computer (0):

[Urist Mc Dwarf]

Nanostructured Streamlined Spacesuit "Michelangelo" (1): Detoxicated
EAF-X4 Enhanced mobility unit (2): joha4270, Happerry
Triplet-class weapon system (3): Andrea, Chiefwaffles,khang Urist Mc Dwarf
Pulse Repeater (1): Chiefwaffles
Targeting Computer (0):

[Happerry]

Personally I think that weapon strength will probably be more important then accuracy in the first rounds, it's not like it's likely anyone has made a radar jammer or stealth armor or anything yet, and we don't have any big long ranged lasers to take advantage of extreme range sensors anyway.

Nanostructured Streamlined Spacesuit "Michelangelo" (1): Detoxicated
EAF-X4 Enhanced mobility unit (2): joha4270, Happerry
Triplet-class weapon system (3): Andrea, Chiefwaffles, khang, Urist Mc Dwarf
Pulse Repeater (1): Chiefwaffles, Happerry
Targeting Computer (0):

[Chiefwaffles]

Revision: Cerberus-class Weapon System

We've greatly enhanced our general technology surrounding lasers, but we still aren't taking advantage of it. The three AX3 spears utilized by the Cuttlefish are practically glorified Raiders glued onto the hull. They're underpowered and just generally not a good weapon for a ship; they've been improved by general-use laser tech upgrades, but the fact that they were designed as an afterthought in a design with much bigger problems still shows.

By linking all three weapons to the ship computer, we create what we call the Cerberus-class Weapons System. Named for the three-headed hound of greek mythology, Cerberus is a small list of basic yet impactful improvements:
1.) We have firing data go straight from radar (w/ IFF which we already have) -> Cerberus instead of humans, easily cutting out a middle step and allowing our turrets to acquire targets and fire much faster as they don't have to constantly wait for human input.

2.) Cerberus does some basic calculations to make optimal usage of the cannons - basic flight paths are predicted and fire from as many cannons as possible is focused on single targets.

3.) We add multiple Picasso Emitters to the AX3 Spears - calling them AX4 Spears with this improvement - and stagger the firing, as we experimented with in the Picasso design. Taking up more space was the only problem then (and perhaps power) but space isn't much of an issue when dealing with space in this way (and we have a greatly underutilized fusion power plant). The AX4 Spear should be able to fire consistent beams that do a lot of damage thanks to the greatly increased rate of fire for pulses, and the fact that pulsed beams are simply the best way to deal with armor using lasers. This is the most important (and hopefully easiest - as according to the last design report, "Of course, it is possible to stagger Picasso Emitters such that their emissions overlap, but that does take up more space." Meaning that space - not a problem here - is the only issue with doing so; there shouldn't even really be any engineering or technological challenge!) part of the revision.


TL;DR: Feed targeting data directly to turrets, have them automatically focus fire + predict basic flight paths, and implement multiple staggered Picasso emitters in the AX3 Spear (now called AX4 Spear) as detailed in the Picasso design result. Basically Andrea's revision but with the staggered Picasso emitters instead of upgraded laser and sensor range.

Nanostructured Streamlined Spacesuit "Michelangelo" (1): Detoxicated
EAF-X4 Enhanced mobility unit (2): joha4270, Happerry
Triplet-class weapon system (3): Andrea, khang, Urist Mc Dwarf
Pulse Repeater (2): Chiefwaffles, Happerry
Targeting Computer (0):
Cerberus-class Weapon System (1): Chiefwaffles

Switching my vote from Triplet-class to Cerberus-class. I think we should focus on making our spaceship weaponry more than glorified rifles glued to mounts on the hull.

[Khang36]

Nanostructured Streamlined Spacesuit "Michelangelo" (1): Detoxicated
EAF-X4 Enhanced mobility unit (2): joha4270, Happerry
Triplet-class weapon system (2): Andrea, Urist Mc Dwarf
Pulse Repeater (2): Chiefwaffles, Happerry
Targeting Computer (0):
Cerberus-class Weapon System (2): Chiefwaffles,khang

[joha4270]

Nanostructured Streamlined Spacesuit "Michelangelo" (1): Detoxicated
EAF-X4 Enhanced mobility unit (1): Happerry
Triplet-class weapon system (3): Andrea, Urist Mc Dwarf, joha4270
Pulse Repeater (2): Chiefwaffles, Happerry
Targeting Computer (0):
Cerberus-class Weapon System (2): Chiefwaffles,khang

[andrea]

I made a modification to my proposal. in the laser drilling industry, it seems that the standard is pulses separated by 20-200 nanoseconds, while our laser fires every nanosecond. Given the same power, our laser has less powerful pulses which is not an optimal situation. While waffles wants more but weaker pulses per second, I instead propose we get less but more powerful pulses per second,  increasing the interval to 50 nanoseconds between pulses.

The only concern here is that on a moving target subsequent pulses may not overlap perfectly. However, if we consider a target moving sideways at 100 km/s (which is extremely high, twice the solar system escape velocity from Earth, and we can assume they will not move eprfectly sideways all the time), then 2 pulses will hit at 5 mm from each other. If you think it is a lot because lasers are thin, consider diffraction. At space batte ranges, our lasers would be significantly wider than that, meaning they still overlap well.

[NUKE9.13]

while our laser fires every nanosecond

If I said that, it was in error. What I meant was, the time between pulses is measured in nanoseconds (as opposed to micro or milli).
...also, I may not've done enough research/thinking. If the standard is 20-200 nanoseconds, I probably should've said microseconds.
...I might have to retcon that.

E: In fact, I have retconned that. Sorry for the confusion. I really don't like doing this, but the alternative is me spending several hours researching every design before posting the roll results. It shouldn't happen very often.

[andrea]

Well, with the new information it seems we have to boost the frequency of the pulses. So, Waffle's revision it is.

Nanostructured Streamlined Spacesuit "Michelangelo" (1): Detoxicated
EAF-X4 Enhanced mobility unit (1): Happerry
Triplet-class weapon system (2): Urist Mc Dwarf, joha4270
Pulse Repeater (2): Chiefwaffles, Happerry
Targeting Computer (0):
Cerberus-class Weapon System (3): Chiefwaffles,khang, Andrea

[Detoxicated]

Nanostructured Streamlined Spacesuit "Michelangelo" (0):
EAF-X4 Enhanced mobility unit (1): Happerry
Triplet-class weapon system (2): Urist Mc Dwarf, joha4270
Pulse Repeater (2): Chiefwaffles, Happerry
Targeting Computer (0):
Cerberus-class Weapon System (3): Chiefwaffles,khang, Andrea, Detoxicated

I think we should go down a mobility road rather than a heavy armor. We should probably invest more into space ships.
For design!
"Nautilus" Space Frigate
This spaceship is larger than the "Cuttlefish" It is more heavily plated and instead of only having three turrets this ship has twelve laser turrets. Three turrets are at the front snout of the Nautilus. The 6 of the turrets are placed on the top of the spaceship with 360° mobility. The remaining three are placed at the side and the back. The interiour is equipped with state of the art computer and reactor technology. There is three reactors on seperate locations of the ship. They can produce more nergy than the ship requires  so they are meant as auxillary energy devices, though the possibility to add more weapon systems is also given without adding further reactors.

[Blood_Librarian]

A new ship should be rebuilt, as it is we are pushing limits with our old designs.

Nanostructured Streamlined Spacesuit "Michelangelo" (0):
EAF-X4 Enhanced mobility unit (1): Happerry
Triplet-class weapon system (2): Urist Mc Dwarf, joha4270
Pulse Repeater (2): Chiefwaffles, Happerry
Targeting Computer (0):
Cerberus-class Weapon System (4): Chiefwaffles,khang, Andrea, Detoxicated, Blood Librarian

[Detoxicated]

Yea I know, i posted it to think about until design phase!

[NUKE9.13]

Revision: Cerberus-class Weapon System

We've greatly enhanced our general technology surrounding lasers, but we still aren't taking advantage of it. The three AX3 spears utilized by the Cuttlefish are practically glorified Raiders glued onto the hull. They're underpowered and just generally not a good weapon for a ship; they've been improved by general-use laser tech upgrades, but the fact that they were designed as an afterthought in a design with much bigger problems still shows.

By linking all three weapons to the ship computer, we create what we call the Cerberus-class Weapons System. Named for the three-headed hound of greek mythology, Cerberus is a small list of basic yet impactful improvements:
1.) We have firing data go straight from radar (w/ IFF which we already have) -> Cerberus instead of humans, easily cutting out a middle step and allowing our turrets to acquire targets and fire much faster as they don't have to constantly wait for human input.

2.) Cerberus does some basic calculations to make optimal usage of the cannons - basic flight paths are predicted and fire from as many cannons as possible is focused on single targets.

3.) We add multiple Picasso Emitters to the AX3 Spears - calling them AX4 Spears with this improvement - and stagger the firing, as we experimented with in the Picasso design. Taking up more space was the only problem then (and perhaps power) but space isn't much of an issue when dealing with space in this way (and we have a greatly underutilized fusion power plant). The AX4 Spear should be able to fire consistent beams that do a lot of damage thanks to the greatly increased rate of fire for pulses, and the fact that pulsed beams are simply the best way to deal with armor using lasers. This is the most important (and hopefully easiest - as according to the last design report, "Of course, it is possible to stagger Picasso Emitters such that their emissions overlap, but that does take up more space." Meaning that space - not a problem here - is the only issue with doing so; there shouldn't even really be any engineering or technological challenge!) part of the revision.


TL;DR: Feed targeting data directly to turrets, have them automatically focus fire + predict basic flight paths, and implement multiple staggered Picasso emitters in the AX3 Spear (now called AX4 Spear) as detailed in the Picasso design result. Basically Andrea's revision but with the staggered Picasso emitters instead of upgraded laser and sensor range.

Cerberus-class Weapon System (Normal): (3+1)=4: Below Average
As requested, we worked on the last item first; the newly christened AX4 Spear is a more powerful weapon, something we are not embarrassed to put on a spaceship. With all three turrets firing at max rate and the thrusters on full blast, the reactor struggles a little, but even then capacitor banks ensure the ship keeps going.
As for the Cerberus system... *cough*
Had it been the focus, it could've been a reasonable piece of kit. As it is, we kind of threw it together at the last minute. As a result, whilst it is capable of autonomous target acquisition, a human must confirm the target is a hostile every time. And it, uh, thinks a lot of things are potential targets. It requires several crewmembers working full time to deal with all the false positives. We completely skipped the flight path prediction, since that isn't really as relevant to speed-of-light weapons. The actual aiming and firing of the weapons is... slightly better than human.

The Cuttlefish is now no longer undergunned, and slightly more accurate up to Medium range (the radar doesn't really work at Long range).


It is now the Tactics Phase of SY100. Please list all the ships you want to build and what you want those ships to do.
Units are automagically equipped with all Cheap and weightless equipment, and will use them sensibly (so will not use the X100 on worlds with an atmosphere, even though they have them available).

Spoiler: Tech List (click to show/hide)

Ships
ITC (Interplanetary Transport Craft): The ships that carried colonists to your homeworld, now repurposed as military transports. They use rocket shuttles to ferry things to and from the surface. These shuttles have a limited capacity, meaning that with the exception of troops, the ITC cannot carry any equipment of a size greater than 1TC. It has 4TC. It uses chemical engines for propulsion. It has no armour or armaments. It is Very Slow, and quite large.
Cost: 2SPP

ESC-FS 1 'Cuttlefish' laser corvette: A medium-sized spaceship. The Cuttlefish's hull vaguely resembles its namesake. The 'beak' is a "Hermes" variable-water-injected fusion thruster, which draws plasma from the Helios-S reactor. It has very light armour, and has three AX4-Spear turrets, which are automatically (albeit poorly) aimed. Its speed is Moderate, though it can inject extra water into the thruster for a temporary speed boost.
Cost: 2SPP


Equipment
Printed Pistol: Issued to security guards before the war, the only real weapon both colonies started with. They are 3D-printed out of plastic, a process which is not entirely reliable, meaning the gun has a tendency to break after prolonged use... or any use, really.
Cost: Cheap

X100 Space Suit: A civilian space suit, totally unarmoured and cumbersome to walk in. At least it works well enough, and has a self-sealing lining meaning a single shot isn't an immediate death sentence... most of the time. Necessary for deployment to worlds without breathable atmospheres.
Cost: Cheap

EAF-X1 "Ranger" Laser Rifle: A big, bulky firearm, weighing in at 15kg- just barely wieldable whilst standing. Works best against stationary targets. Can fire 30 shots in pulse mode before reloading, or 15 seconds in beam mode. Beam mode has pretty good armour penetration against conventional armour. Comes with basic scope and bipod. With the scope it is accurate at Long range.
Cost: Cheap
  EAF-PX3 Raider: A variant of the Ranger, using the new Picasso Pattern. Weighs a 'mere' 7.5kg. Fires shorter pulses, and deals more damage against moving targets. Does not have a beam mode.

Interplanetary Radio: Essentially just a very big radio set, capable of reliable communication between planets. Too big to fit on an ITC. Currently only useful for taunting Quillus.
Cost: 2GPP
Weight: 2TC


Infrastructure
Colony Defence Grid: The reason you can't instantly invade the enemy homeworld. A series of surface-to-orbit missile launchers, the only real concession to self defence the planners of the colony made. How they work is a mystery, and no one wants to risk taking them apart to find out.

"Helios" Fusion Reactor: A large, Tokamak style reactor. Performs He3-He3 fusion, though it does not take full advantage of this. Provides 2SPP and 2GPP.
  Helios-S: A variety specifically designed for use in spaceships. A 'twisted' plasma flow allows for plasma to be siphoned off without disrupting the reaction.


Misc Tech
Nanoquantum Capacitor Cells, Escher Pattern Mk2: AKA NQ Cells. About 15 times better than chemical batteries. Palm-sized, weigh about a kilo each. Despite their apparent complexity, manufacture and usage is simple.

Libum-265K: A near-room temperature superconductor. Manufacture is complicated.

Spoiler: Production (click to show/hide)

Ship Production Points: 16+2
  18 points: Unassigned.

Ground Production Points: 16+2
  18 points: Unassigned
 
Units: 5
  All unassigned.

Spoiler: The Map (click to show/hide)

Don't even worry about this looking nothing like a solar system. Its, uh, optimal transfers or something. Look, it's dumb, but what do you want from me?

Key:
A: A volcanic world. Constant eruptions and earthquakes result in a thoroughly unpleasant environment. 4SPP, 2GPP
B&F: Rocky worlds. (Almost) no atmosphere, no major tectonic activity, these planets are... boring. The most notable terrain features are the craters that litter the surface. 2SPP, 2GPP
C: An ocean world. Covered in 94% water, with a breathable atmosphere, and a few inhabitable islands. Prepare for lots of island-hopping. 2SPP, 4GPP
D: An earthlike world. Covered in 69% water, with a breathable atmosphere, most of the surface being inhabitable. Terrain varies wildly, from open plains to thick jungles- and of course vast seas. 5SPP, 5GPP
E: A frozen world. Almost entirely covered in ice, with an atmosphere too thin to breathe. Ice sheets make for treacherous terrain, with snow-covered mountains being not much better. 2SPP, 4GPP
G: A desert world. With a few salty 'seas' covering a mere 12% of the surface, the majority of this planet is dry as a bone. Vast sandscapes dominate, punctured by low, rocky hills, and the ocassional oasis. The atmosphere is breathable. 2SPP, 4GPP.
Ertex&Quillus: Earthlike worlds. Capturing the enemy homeworld results in victory. Yield no Production Points. I mean, they do, but those are already accounted for in your basic industry.

[Blood_Librarian]

Plan A- Orbital Domince

Produce 3 ITC's, 6 Cuttle FIshes.

Deployment of Cuttle fishes are as follows.

3 to D
1 to A,B,E.
We abandon G for now, and we only deploy  ITC"s as follows

1 ITC's to A
2 ITC's to D.
 
Each ITC holds the maximum number of soldiers. (Aparently 2)

THis years groud production is dedicated towards produce all the infantry equipment we can produce:
Each man will be equipped with a laser file and as much ammo they would prefer, with the option of holding a pistol, or two extra cells. Space suits will be produced for every man even if they are not gonna be going to space borne conflicts for the option of using it.

EDIT in light of the fact that ITC's can apparently hold twice as many men  then the original tactician had originally considered, ITC deployment has been modified (!) since the original posting. My original thought was that  if we took A, we would be on a stepping stone to C, which would let us potentially strike at there home world, and cause them to waste resources fighting off a false front. with the fact that ITCs hold two gorund units, I have adjusted it so that more transport head to D since that is the more lucrative resource, but considering that D is gonna be a constant warzone, A will let us strike at one what may potentially be a choke point in our favor.

[Detoxicated]

Plan-A- orbital Dominance (1): Detoxicated