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[NUKE9.13]

It is the start of SY103
Link to Battle Report for SY102

[Note to self: remember to replace this with start-of-year spiel]

It is now the Design Phase of SY103

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
  QS-RAS-00 'Dove': A heavier shuttle for the ITC, powered by a Loki-class Stardust reactor and fitted with Apollo thrusters. It has light armour and two 30mm Hayks. Can carry 3TC. Adds 1SPP to the cost of an ITC.

QS-CA-99 'Odin': A heavily armoured medium-sized spaceship. Her hull is all slope, the front being a point, from which slopes lead up to the widest point, then slopes lead down at the same angle, before being cut off, leaving a large flat area in the back, where the main thrusters are. Aforementioned main thrusters are three Apollos. She has five smaller thrusters mounted pointing in other directions, providing excellent manoeuvrability. Her powerplant is a Stardust reactor. She is armed with four Mjolnir turrets providing excellent coverage, and a single spinal-mount extra-long Mjolnir. Her weapons are aimed by the Huginn System, which automatically collects data from her improved radar. Her armour consists of a layer of Heavy titanium with faraday insulation, with a layer of Light ceramics mounted a full three meters away from the main hull. Despite her bulk, she moves at a Moderate pace.
Cost: 3SPP

QS-SF-00 'Loki': A small-ish fighter, capable of independent operation for a few days before needing to resupply. A substantially downsized Stardust reactor provides power to the Apollo thrusters, as well as the singular Mjolnir coilgun. Has light armour, and a radio capable of same-orbit communication. Requires a transport to act as 'mothership'- two Lokis take up 1TC
Cost: 1SPP for two.

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

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 Ertex.
Cost: 2GPP
Weight: 2TC

QS-IRW-99 'Hayk': The Hayk is a micromissile-firing rifle. It is magazine fed, has a reasonable rate of fire, and is accurate at a surprising distance- theoretically out to Long range, although few are capable of such superhuman feats. There is an ammo variant which explodes on contact, though it is less accurate and in shorter supply.
Cost: Cheap

QS-GL-02 'Fog Machine': The Fog Machine is a simple grenade launcher, basically nothing more than an oversized Hayk with a shortened barrel. It fires either smoke/chaff or explosives. Range/accuracy is a bit of an issue.
Cost: Cheap


Vehicles
QS-MBT-02 'Hrungnir': The Hrungnir is a big tank, with fairly heavy armour in the form of a layer of ceramics atop a layer of titanium (all sloped). It is powered by a Stardust reactor, basically the same one used by the Loki. The energy is used to drive electric motors which in turn drive the treads upon which the Hrungnir sits. It is equipped with a 50mm stabilized auto-loading Mjolnir coilgun, the barrel of which can also be used to fire upsized explosive Hayk rockets. It has an electronics package that handles fire control and sensors. It also has smoke/chaff dispensers, which automatically cloud the vehicle in smoke/chaff (for atmosphereless planets) when sensors detect unusual heating.
Cost: 4GPP
Weight: 3TC


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.

QS-CPP-96 'Stardust': A fusion reactor, copies of which can be found across Quillus, powering industry. Utilises powerful niobium-tin superconductors, cooled by liquid helium, to contain plasma in a Tokamak-style. The "Brokkr's Forge" improvements have made it slightly more effective, to the point where it reaches ignition. Grants 2GPP and 2SPP. A smaller version designed for use in spaceships also exists.


Loose Parts
QS-MAC-97 'Mjolnir': A coilgun (and definitely not a railgun) capable of firing 150mm slugs at considerable speeds. Requires a substantial power supply. Ground installations cost 1GPP for four. Ship mountings cost 1SPP for  eight.

QS-MHD-98 'Apollo': A magneto-plasma-dynamic thruster of exceptional efficiency. Uses hydrogen plasma by default; heavier elements can be injected into the mix for a boost in thrust.


Misc Tech

QS-PMP-96 'Auto-Forge': A 3D-printer that prints using metal. Not astonishingly accurate, but QC weeds out any pieces that aren't of acceptable standards.

Spoiler: Observed enemy tech (click to show/hide)

Ships
ITC (Interplanetary Transport Craft): No differences noticed.

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 laser turrets, which are automatically aimed by the Athena RL System, which also handles evasive manoeuvres. The more ships in the fleet, the better Athena performs, due to her distributed computing. Its speed is Moderate, though it can inject extra water into the thruster for a temporary speed boost.
Cost: 2SPP
  Island-Alloy Armour: A few plates of Island-Alloy, formed into a basic armour covering for the Cuttlefish. Despite being thin, they increase survivability by as much as 100%.
  Cost: +1SPP


Equipment
Printed Pistol: No differences noticed.

X100 Space Suit: No differences noticed.

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: No differences noticed.


Infrastructure
Colony Defence Grid: No differences noticed.

"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
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.

Hephaestus Synthesis: A complicated process that produces small amounts of Insulanium- an isotope of a certain element that resides in the "Island of Stability"; it is very heavy, yet relatively stable. Produced in too small amounts to make anything practical out of it, it is instead alloyed with more common metals, which substantially increases their strength even with only 0.25% Insulanium added.

Spoiler: Production (click to show/hide)

Ship Production Points: 16+2+2(C)
  6 points: 3xITC
  9 points: 2xOdin (Heavily Damaged), 1xOdin
  2 points: 2xLoki (Destroyed), 2xLoki
  1 point: 1xDove
  2 points: -

Ground Production Points: 16+2+4(C)
  5 points: 1xHrungnir
  17 points: -
 
Units: 5
  2 Units on planet A (No extra equipment)
  1 Unit on planet C (No extra equipment)
  1 Unit on planet D (Hrungnir MBT, Fog Machines)
  1 Unit on planet F (No extra equipment)

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
  E:1/6, Q:1/6
B: Rocky world. (Almost) no atmosphere, no major tectonic activity, this planets is... 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
  Q:6/6
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:4/6, Q:0/6
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
  E:6/6
F: Rocky world. (Almost) no atmosphere, no major tectonic activity, this planets is... boring. The most notable terrain features are the craters that litter the surface. 2SPP, 2GPP
  Q:4/6
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.

[evilcherry]

No, no it's not.

The 17lb gun made the turret very, VERY cramped and made it hard to operate. It had a terrible rate of fire because of those conditions.


In addition, the British DID use that gun, but A. It wasn't an American gun and so the Americans didn't make tanks with it and B. THEY DIDN'T NEED IT. The Allies left the long-barrel 75/76mm Shermans back in Britain because they didn't need them on the Western Front. As far as I remember, there was a grand total of 5 or 6 Tiger kills on the Western Front in the whole of the war, and maybe, maybe a handful of Panthers. All the heavy German armor was in the East, so Britain, the US, Canada, etc. all deployed the easier-to-maintain and more plentiful short-barrel 75 Shermans.

But likewise the 76mm M1 was not readily accepted. Clearly US tankers would have preferred flexibility than outright penetration...



I'm thinking of smart munitions, micromissiles, or something similar at this point. Thoughts?

[Strongpoint]

At this point I want more SSP.
Surface to orbit mass driver "Thunder"
Thunder is a further development of Mjolnir. It is powered but not one, not two, not five, but ten stardust reactors. Such a powerful gun isn't meant to be ever installed on any space ship and, in fact, it traverses to slowly to be real surface to orbit weapon. It's purpose is different. It is made to deliver bulk materials to orbit in more efficient way than any Apollo powered shuttle or rocket can achieve. Its purpose is to deliver tons and tons of materials both to build new ships and expand orbital infrastructure. Even concrete blocks will become a viable option for orbital construction


It is purely economic design that both uses our military experience and gives more experience we can use later.

[Madman198237]

Well, concrete's not strong enough to survive railgun accelerations, but you COULD fire solid chunks of metal into orbital forges. Speaking of which, we might want to spend a design on orbital forges/construction yards, in order to use the materials we fire up there.

OR we might want to develop, as Maximum Spin has suggested, optical metamaterials, something that, rather like high-temperature superconductors, are in a sort of really basic stage IRL, right now. Basically, an optical metamaterial is capable of making light flow around it rather than interact with it. Basically, they'd be capable of doing fun things like entirely diverting laser energy around every vehicle and soldier we equip with this stuff, or even just flat-out reflecting the laser energy back at whatever fired it at you in the first place.

So, how about this for a general plan:
Design Visible-Light Metamaterials (asked the GM, their ground lasers fire at visible wavelengths and their spacecraft lasers at smaller ones)
Revise Odin to BE STEALTHY

Design Infantry Armor Spacesuits (with metamaterials for increased invisibility)
Revise Hrungnir to be ULTIMATE STEALTHTANK

[Thanatos Russ]

Can we PLEASE get a fricking infantry counter? I am pretty sure having ak-47s would have won us the land battles by now.
Or what about something that counters their ai?
More armour and maneuverability on our ships?
What about making sure to always set aside a fighter to interdict enemy transports?

Floki Infantry Package A complete revamp of the entire standard gear. While no individual piece is revolutionary, the entire bundle will be a massive step forward and give our infantry the gear they need to stomp the Ertex enemy.

Light Ceramic armoured suit, designed to be comfortable and reasonably flexible but still able to take a lazer rifle hit. Has camouflage (trivial to do, the tech's been around for millennia) patterns on it to help with stealth.
A standard infantry small arm, similar to the AK74U that is ideal for the medium and close ranges that our hrungir gives us shelter enough to get into (our tank is great for long range dissuading right?).
The final piece to the Floki I.P would be reconnaissance gear and personal radios to communicate plans and attacks easily.


I rate this as at most "Average" difficulty

[Maximum Spin]

Optical Metamaterials
Using the latest advancements in materials science, our engineers have developed the ability to produce complex, intricately-constructed materials structured to bend light in ways natural substances cannot. Depending on how the microscopic structure is designed, it's possible to select a range of wavelengths that will simply skim along the surface of an object, transmitting to the other side with minimal absorption of energy – effectively making the object invisible or causing lasers to pass harmlessly through, for example – or, with a slightly different design, reflect back to the source as if striking a perfect mirror. Quillus' metamaterials research has primarily centred on materials that operate across and a little outside the visible spectrum, to take advantage of the wavelengths used by Ertex's laser weapons while also allowing effective visual cloaking.

[Thanatos Russ]

Optical Metamaterials:(2) Thanatos Russ, Maximum Spin

[Madman198237]

Optical Metamaterials:(3) Thanatos Russ, Maximum Spin, Madman

List of advantages of metamaterials:
Literally indestructible to lasers
Make our troops *completely invisible*
Entirely plausible, being researched IRL right now
Troops will be completely invisible
Have no real downsides
Literally indestructible to lasers

[Jilladilla]

Let's do this. Plan Stealth Everything is a go.

Optical Metamaterials:(4) Thanatos Russ, Maximum Spin, Madman, Jilladilla

[Thanatos Russ]

I mean, it's probably going to be Very Hard, or even Experimental, since there isn't a real counter.

[Madman198237]

They could adapt their laser wavelengths, but that should (?) make their stuff more complex and power-hungry, since dropping wavelengths will be easily countered by us and/or every atmosphere ever. Shorter wavelengths (i.e., blue light) are more prone to getting scattered.

As for the visual stealth, they can always switch to UV or infrared detection, since we have to emit infrared somehow (Otherwise our guys would overheat). However, that can't entirely negate the advantages of stealth tech, so until they copy us we'll have a permanent infantry advantage.

[NUKE9.13]

Optical Metamaterials
Using the latest advancements in materials science, our engineers have developed the ability to produce complex, intricately-constructed materials structured to bend light in ways natural substances cannot. Depending on how the microscopic structure is designed, it's possible to select a range of wavelengths that will simply skim along the surface of an object, transmitting to the other side with minimal absorption of energy – effectively making the object invisible or causing lasers to pass harmlessly through, for example – or, with a slightly different design, reflect back to the source as if striking a perfect mirror. Quillus' metamaterials research has primarily centred on materials that operate across and a little outside the visible spectrum, to take advantage of the wavelengths used by Ertex's laser weapons while also allowing effective visual cloaking.

Optical Metamaterials (Hard): (3+1)-1=3: Buggy Mess
Eureka! Our extensive efforts have paid off, and we have managed to create true optical metamaterials, capable of redirecting light in seemingly arbitrary ways!
There are only a few problems.
First, the process of producing these metamaterials is exceptionally complex. We have no real way of reliably mass-producing them.
Second, whilst they are capable of redirecting light, they require (for complicated technical reasons*) a small amount of power to do so. Which would be fine, except small amounts of power really add up quite quickly. Without power, they revert to very expensive synthetic slabs.
Third, due to small inconsistencies introduced during manufacture, it doesn't redirect 100% of light. More like... 80%. Which is still pretty good, right?
Fourth, the material only works on fairly narrow bands of wavelengths, so it has to be finely tailored to block out a specific kind of light. And not all wavelengths are possible; we can manage from barely-IR to sort-of-UV. 
Other than that, great success!


It is now the Revision Phase of SY103.

[Madman198237]

Optical Metamaterials 2: Electric Completely Not Reliant On Anything To Let The Laws Of Physics Work
Following the debacle that was "powered" metamaterials, we've started another research effort, directed at making metamaterials practical for combat applications. Starting by reworking the metamaterials' structure to be mass-producible, then proceeding to fix, well, everything else, but with priority on the percentage of light redirected and the wavelengths that it redirects.

----By Standardized Arms Race Logic (The same logic that brought you Powered Metamaterials!), fixing this should be Hard as a revision, since it was Hard and we made technical progress from the design.

[Thanatos Russ]

I support Madman. I completely expected something as major as this to take an invention and a revision at least, so not disappointed much

[Jilladilla]

So, time to assemble the Votebox, yes? Adding Madman (due to creator) and Thanatos (due to supporting Madman) to it now.

Optical Metamaterials 2: (3) Madman, Thanatos, Jilladilla