Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Madman198237]

I had a lengthy reply typed up and I lost it to an internet crash. One of these days I'll remember to actually use Notepad for this instead.

Ah well. Suffice to say I believe a mech has too many problems to be immediately as effective as the Hrungnir, and that I believe the best use of next turn's design is making the Odin invisible (Mostly invisible) to radar. Now, this DOES mean that it would have to make use of passive detection methods as well, which means it's probably going to be reliant on their own radar devices to detect them, which means we're going to have to install some means of alternative detection. Their trails of superheated steam ought to be detectable, though, in infrared.

[NUKE9.13]

It is the start of SY104
Link to Battle Report for SY103

Whose design shall be chosen? A spartan product of Brave? A luxurious design of New Dawn? Or something smuggled out of the armoury of Ark?

It is now the Design Phase of SY104

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.

Optical Metamaterial 2: A miracle substance that defies what were once considered laws of physics. OM2 consists of complicated (yet not impractically so for production purposes) layers of materials that together can redirect light in essentially arbitrary ways. It is not perfect, and can only affect 89% of light, and requires a small amount of power to function. OM2 must be created to affect a specific wavelength of light, and only works on light in a narrow-ish band around that wavelength. So far only near-IR to near-UV is possible.

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.


Vehicles
EAC-TML1 Sarissa Missile Launcher: A nuclear-missile launcher consisting of three shuttle-loads worth of stuff: a small electric truck, a launch trailer, and the missiles themselves. The launch trailer loads 8 missiles, tipped with extremely small nuclear warheads for maximum 'tactical' performance. The missiles are controlled by Athena, who is now capable of flying missiles and identifying ground targets. Their range isn't great, and the launcher misfires (harmlessly) about 25% of the time, the guidance system is a bit wonky even under Athena's capable control, and the truck+trailer is slow and unwieldy, but still, nuclear-missile launcher!
Cost: 2GPP
Weight 2TC/1TC in shuttle.


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: 3xOdin
  2 points: 4xLoki
  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:3/6
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:5/6, 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, E:0/6
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.

[Strongpoint]

It was a good decision to pull Odins out, right? Also, we got a proof that they can't counter our tank.

[SamSpeeds]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we can upgrade our ships with OM2 this turn without spending a design? If so, we should consider doing so. There's obviously the downside of letting the enemy know our new tech whilst it's not exactly perfect, but I think we should take this turns RnD to address more pressing issues. First off, we need to deal with those trucks of theirs. We could do so perhaps by designing a more ambitious and powerful ground radar, or make some planetside bombers and gain planetside air superiority as well.
Strongpoint had a design that was pretty swell, but the requirement for ground infrastructure could make it hard to deploy on D, since we are just getting ground into the dirt there. Also, our long range combat deficiency is a bit annoying. We could fix it by making a better, aim assisting Hayk variant, a dedicated long range laser rifle, or...

QS-JP-04 'Leaper'

The Leaper is an infantry jetpack. It can be strapped to the figure with steel mounts over the shoulders and around the midsection, or bolted onto a X100 series space suit. It has 2 booster thrusters (larger) and 8 maneuvering thrusters (much smaller, positioned in pairs facing diagonally outward), all downsized and appropriately powered so as to not annihilate the wearer during acceleration. It carries a fuel supply enough for about 5 minutes of sustained flight (the Apollo is super efficient, right?). For shape, think them Mandalorian jetpacks, but bulkier and with more thrusters. The pack itself is equipped with an electronics system built into the metal. Flight is activated and controlled by a electronic woven metal gauntlet. The rockets fire when the user runs his/her thumb across the tips of their digits from pinky to index. Once the rockets are online and the user is in the air, the direction of travel is determined by the orientation and distance from the pack of the gauntlet. For example, a user would travel in a forward direction by facing his gauntleted arm forward, and extend or retract it to increase or decrease speed. The main thrusters will shut off when the activation ritual is repeated or the user touches the ground (determined automatically by built in sensors).

I think improving our mobility will help us close the distance to the enemy so our weapons are more effective, plus make capturing difficult terrain planets all around easier! Yeehaw!

[NUKE9.13]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we can upgrade our ships with OM2 this turn without spending a design?

You are corrected. You could use a revision to put OM2 on your ships, and that may be trivial, but it ain't free. You can't just bolt it on, after all.

[Maximum Spin]

QS-QDF-04 Quantum Damping Field
After Ertex took the unthinkable step and brought back nuclear combat, we started digging around in old historical documents pertaining to the nuclear disarmament treaties of the 22^nd and 23^rd centuries Earth Reckoning. One of the more interesting items our search turned up was a plan for a defensive implementation of certain consequences of the then-in-development Unified Quantum Field Theory, which, had it been completed, would have rendered nuclear weapons moot – but its development stalled and it was eventually rendered moot itself when nuclear warfare was abandoned. Now, though, our understanding of physics has advanced enough that we can fill in the gaps and perfect the Quantum Damping Field, a device which manipulates the strong and weak nuclear forces within a certain radius such that high-level harmonics in the bound gluon standing wave equation decay exponentially due to destructive interference, making both nuclear fission and fusion (as well as, theoretically, antimatter annihilation) forbidden transitions in the quantum state matrix. As a result, any nuclear device that enters the damping field will simply fall harmlessly dead, permanently unable to enter a critical state and so unable to detonate.

[Jilladilla]

Right. Design. I think, we need to finish up the Optical Metamaterials, it's more than a laser defense, it's a stealth system as well! I've explicitly added in adapting it for use on our current equipment in this proposal (as we'd need to revise our current equipment to utilize it anyway, and if we're spending a design on this, why not?)

And besides, their nukes aren't that great in area of effect; they can't just fire them blindly and hope to hit us.
Please note: Design Goals are to 1) Expand the range of things we can be invisible to, and 2) Let us equip our vehicles and ships with it.

QS-OM3-04 'Mirage Plating'
The OM2, a technology that holds a lot of potential in our endeavors against the ecological desecration of Ertex; namely as a way to get equipment into position to take out Ertexan artillery undetected as well as shielding us from their lasers.

Of course, further development is needed to field this, the technology just needs one final push. And with this, the OM3 'Mirage Plating', we believe we've done it. Most of the effort is to be put into increasing the range of wavelengths the OM3 can be 'invisible' to, while the power costs are annoying, we've decided that they are manageable. The rest of the effort is made to come up with a material that can be easily plated onto our current equipment: The Hrungnir, Loki and Odin, as well as any future equipment we come up with.

With the OM3, Ertex will never know what hit them.

[Strongpoint]

QS-FF-04 Vedrfolnir
Vedrfolnrnr is an aerodynamic aircraft that looks like slick Hrungnir with wings. It is powered by a Stardust reactor. It is coated by a state of the art coating that gives it stealth both against radars and against naked eye. Additionally if offer some anti-laser protection. It is propulsed by Apollo thruster It comes with an onboard radar and targeting computer. It is armed with a 50mm Mjolnir (Same as ones used on Hrungnirs), two 30mm Hayks (same as ones used on Doves) and has an internal bay that can house different munitions, currently only basic unguided bombs and rockets. They can be used both from ITCs and ground bases. (Has mixed SPP\GPP cost when produced. Has additional(maintenance) GPP cost when deployed to a planet, has additional SSP cost when deployed on ITC or another carrier)

[Madman198237]

Desperation. Wish I had thought of nuclear weapons. Kinda surprised they can bust a tank open, RIP us I guess. Especially at those ranges. Nothing to do now but deploy the metamaterials and make them cry.

QS-OMC-04 'Aesir'
A modification of the Odin to incorporate a radar metamaterial stealth layer (Painted black for visual stealth as well). The Huginn FC system is slightly reconfigured to extrapolate target locations from their own radar pings. The radar system is likewise slightly modified to report the locations of a radar-wave source. The biggest change is another upgrade to the metamaterial itself, which makes it a true metamaterial capable of redirecting 100% of light, hopefully across a wide band of commonly-used (for radar) radio frequencies.

And then we can follow up with either a revision to the Loki, or a revision to the tanks, or an infantry revision.

[Strongpoint]

We have an option of abandoning D. What will happen with the unit there should we lose the planet? We'll get it back with one turn delay?

[Strongpoint]

Civilian design #1
Ship. When you hear the word you imagine one of glorious vessels of our glorious space navy. We, in our company, think about an actual seagoing ship. Meet our new line of ships that will revolutionize travel on both Quillus and (C)inarus. Powered by our new trademarketed fusion reactor Starlight (which is far superior to stardust), made with efficient large scale 3d printing using many new materials including a revolutionary lighter than water alloy, controlled by an automated system that need only few crewmen for supervision.


Civilian design #2
Do you need to deliver bulk cargo to the orbit? We offer you a solution that is better than ancient chemical rockets, low power shuttles or expensive Apollo powered vessels. We will shoot whatever you need into the lower orbit using a modified, enlarged Mjolnir. Put your material in our container, tell where your space tug will pick up it, and we'll deliver it there faster than a blink of eye. If you want to build an artificial moon on orbit of Quillus, we are the guys who will bring the rocks there!

I ask everyone to not comment how bad\inefficient\unnecessary are those. After all, those are not for voting.

[Madman198237]

Except if we DO tell you the errors present, you might be able to submit better design suggestions. That's a self-defeating request.


Alright, let's do this. Overkilling the Odin metamaterials revision with a design ensures success, and also allows us some more material-improvement wiggle room.

QS-OMC-04 'Aesir': (1) Madman

[Jilladilla]

Overall agree with you Madman, but well, I have my reasons.

QS-OMC-04 'Aesir': (1) Madman
QS-OM3-03 'Mirage Plating': (1) Jilladilla

[Madman198237]

It's probably the lateness of the time, but does your proposal actually attempt to mount the proposed plating onto anything? Cause if not, that's going to be an issue if, I dunno, we get a bad roll for the revision for a change (Looking at you, Orion/Artemis/Hayk) and then have to send the Odins back out (Or worse, not send them out) without the plating.

[Thanatos Russ]

voting for jilladilla's design for once, i can't always vote for madman's