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[Bremen]

In my games I'm a big fan of defense bases because they're powerful, easy to build, and maintenance free.

So the readers will probably demand defense satellites. Thousands of them.

Wrong. If you're going to use fixed defences, do PDCs. Satellites are better used in JP defence.

Generally I build enough PDCs to cover the demanded protection rating. That way I can gather up my fleet without it causing unrest.

As for this game... we'll see! Particularly without missiles.

[Bremen]

Ok, I can see which way the wind is blowing 

So, pick one!

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Sparta class Assault Shuttle    400 tons     33 Crew     75 BP      TCS 8  TH 184  EM 0
23000 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.2 Years     MSP 12    AFR 12%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 3    5YR 50    Max Repair 46 MSP
Drop Capacity: 1 Company   

GB Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 184    Fuel Use 780%    Signature 184    Armour 0    Exp 36%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 5.8 billion km   (69 hours at full power)
Pros: Very fast, so it can board ships still in motion. Most likely to successfully board moving craft.
Cons: No armor, putting the marines at high risk if the enemy has even a PD gun.

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Warrior class Assault Shuttle    500 tons     39 Crew     96 BP      TCS 10  TH 184  EM 0
18400 km/s     Armour 4-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.22 Years     MSP 24    AFR 10%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 2    5YR 33    Max Repair 46 MSP
Drop Capacity: 1 Company   

GB Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 184    Fuel Use 780%    Signature 184    Armour 0    Exp 36%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 9.2 billion km   (5 days at full power)
Pros: Middle ground; has enough armor to withstand a few hits.
Cons: Slower and less capable against moving ships

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Phalanx class Dropship    1,000 tons     41 Crew     162 BP      TCS 20  TH 184  EM 0
9200 km/s     Armour 4-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.32 Years     MSP 61    AFR 13%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 5    5YR 79    Max Repair 60 MSP
Drop Capacity: 1 Battalion   

GB Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 184    Fuel Use 780%    Signature 184    Armour 0    Exp 36%
Fuel Capacity 30,000 Litres    Range 6.9 billion km   (8 days at full power)
Pros: Can deliver an entire Battalion for more firepower or planetary assaults.
Cons: Unlikely to successfully board anything going above 1,000 km/s.

[NRDL]

Meh, balanced is good.  As long as the Warrior gets to the ships.  And as long as the marines are well trained. 

[EuchreJack]

Perhaps a Warrior craft with half the fuel.  It's current fuel requirements seem overboard, and lowering fuel should increase speed.  Plus, doesn't fuel blow up if it's component is hit?  So, presumably two compartments of fuel would double the chances of a fatal component hit?

(Not an Aurora Combat Veteran is I)

[Flying Dice]

IIRC, fuel does not have a chance of secondary explosions. Magazines, engines, and reactors do. My vote is on the fast mover; the only stuff you're going to be successfully boarding will be commercial vessels and ships that are for all practical purposes wrecks, for the exact reason you described: it is nigh impossible for you to completely eliminate all of a ship's weapons, barring a lucky hit on FC or sensors, and nothing you can do to armor or shield an assault shuttle will be enough to actually keep it alive against a ship with hot weapons, while reducing velocity will make it much less effective (by which I mean more marines will be splatting on the hull or tumbling off into deep space) against targets that are practical.

If we really want to make a practice out of using assault shuttles against warships, we should invest research time in microwaves and design a model of gunship to use them, which would let us pop a given ship a few times to damage the engines, then use the MW to fry its sensors and FC, and then hit it with the assault shuttles.

[Delta Foxtrot]

Sparta class sounds good. The less time our shuttle spends travelling to the target the better.

[Sheb]

Plus, the Sparta fit in neatly with our 800 tons gunboat: we can just remove a FAC for two Sparta.

We should totally use other GB to cover them. IIRC, the AI will target larger vessels firsts, so a bunch of Sparta mixed in with other FACs should be safe and can dart at the last moment to board an enemy vessel. Once all enemy crafts are either infested with Marines or destroyed, the GB can move back and wait for the boarding to work.

[Bremen]

Sparta it is.

They all excel in different situations I think. The Sparta will be great at boarding undamaged civilian ships if we find any and decide to go space pirate; The Warrior would have been great for boarding more orbital bases like the ones in Alpha Centauri. The Phalanx could deliver non marine units like assault infantry to planets or asteroid bases. Eventually we might use them all.

As for reducing fuel, non-fighter units are measured in 50 ton "hull spaces". I was just filling up the remaining bits of the last 50 tons with fuel tanks.

[Sheb]

Well, as I said it SHOULD be safe as long as there is a larger target running along with it. The "Close in with all GB, disable the missiles (including AMM) ships, land marines on all non-destroyed ships and run away" tactic should work without problem.

[Bremen]

September 10, 2019: UHF engineers are quick to respond to Vice Admiral Hannah Avram's call for a ship capable of delivering boarding parties to crippled enemy craft

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Sparta class Assault Shuttle    400 tons     33 Crew     75 BP      TCS 8  TH 184  EM 0
23000 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.2 Years     MSP 12    AFR 12%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 3    5YR 50    Max Repair 46 MSP
Drop Capacity: 1 Company   

GB Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 184    Fuel Use 780%    Signature 184    Armour 0    Exp 36%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 5.8 billion km   (69 hours at full power)
The assault shuttle is the fastest craft ever designed by Humanity, which is estimated to be crucial when boarding an enemy vessel that maintains any maneuvering capability. Unfortunately it sacrifices armor, endurance, and just about everything that could be sacrificed to achieve this speed; doctrine calls for the assault shuttles to be used once gunboats have softened the enemy's defenses.

Ground force training academies will also begin training marine companies as soon as the current troops, two engineering brigades intended for the ruins on Alpha Centauri, graduate.

Asteroid mines in the Sol system are rapidly being exhausted and the UHF lacks shipping capacity to quickly move their mines to new deposits. Phoenix yards begins preparation to build a new version of the Liberty freighter equipped with the faster Magneto-Plasma drive.

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Liberty II class Freighter    34,600 tons     236 Crew     560 BP      TCS 692  TH 1400  EM 0
2023 km/s     Armour 1-94     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 10    Max Repair 50 MSP
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 5   

Civilian Magneto-plasma Drive (7)    Power 200    Fuel Use 6%    Signature 200    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 86.7 billion km   (496 days at full power)
November 8, 2019: Researchers on Earth develop a design that will make new starship engines much more fuel efficient. They start working on a way to trade that efficiency for better power.

December 23, 2019: Scientists develop improved electronic countermeasure systems. They begin a project to develop a smaller version more suitable to being used on gunboats.

January 4, 2020: While surveying the Lacaille 9352 system, a Semmes class detects active power systems coming from one of the system's asteroids. It appears to have similar characteristics to AC Automaton technology, though this is the first time a planetary (or in this case asteroidal) base has been observed. It appears the new troop transport will get a chance to prove itself once construction is completed.



January 15, 2020: A second AC base is detected on Asteroid #24, and a third base is later detected on Asteroid #28. For unknown reasons the AC Automatons seem to have heavily settled the Lacaille system.

February 16, 2020: Construction of a Jones class salvage ship finishes at Earth. The ship joins with a Liberty freighter and sets course for Alpha Centauri to begin salvaging the wrecks there.

February 18, 2020: The Outreach completes its work on jump gates in and out of Alpha Centauri. It begins work on gates to Lacaille so that the Jones will be able to salvage wrecks there.

April 22, 2020: Scientists complete work on miniaturized electronic countermeasures. The electronics specialists then begin work on improving the tracking speed of our fire control computers.

June 3, 2020: Earth develops improved terraforming techniques. The next goal will be to improve the technology of our research labs.

July 10, 2020: While salvaging a wreck, the Jones finds information on tier 2 Electronic Counter-countermeasures as well as 5 engines that appear to use confined nuclear fusion.



November 6, 2020: Scientists on Earth develop improved techniques for high power, low efficiency engines. The teams are reassigned to develop better capacitors for energy weapons.

November 26, 2020: The Jones drops off its first load of salvaged components at Earth. The Fusion drives are disassembled and analyzed, providing 6800 research points towards that technology. The remaining components are found to be at or below Humanity's current tech level and are scrapped for minerals.

January 1, 2021: The UHF releases a top secret summary on the current status of the human race.

Known Space

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Known habitable planets by colonization cost:

Alpha Centauri-A I (2.00)
Epsilon Eridani-A II (2.00)
Ross 128-A II (2.00)
Proxima Centauri-A II (2.00)
Lacaille 8760-A III (2.00)
Struve 2398-B II (2.46)
Luyten 726-8-A II (2.56)
EV Lacertae-A II (2.68)
Groombridge 34-A II (3)
Lacaille 8760-A IV (3.3)
Lacaille 9352-A III (3.55)

All systems adjacent to Earth have received full geological surveys, and systems within two jumps have received gravitational surveys. Near future exploration will probably take place down the Hope jump point chain.

Human Colonies

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Earth remains the primary industrial center of the human race. It maintains sufficient stockpiles of every mineral except corundium; Mercassium and Duranium stockpiles are also somewhat low. Earth's orbit is filled with a large number of shipyards, and its protection is the Navy's highest priority.

Mars has a large population but no noteworthy industry. Terraforming is in progress but slow; at the current rate it is estimated that it will be approximately one decade before the planet is completely habitable.

Hope Prime has a small population, but more heavy industry than Mars. It is used as a staging point for minerals from the system's mines, and has access to all minerals except Tritanium. It also has sufficient maintenance capability to indefinitely maintain a squadron of gunboats for system defense.

Alpha Centauri-A I is mostly known for its strange alien ruins. As soon as a troop transport is available engineers will be moved in to exploit the site. The planet is also suitable for domed colonies, and once early work is done on the ruins it is likely to become Humanity's fourth inhabited planet.

UHF Navy

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1st Fleet
CS Zeus
CVS Agincourt, Lexington, Marathon, Midway, Thermopylae, Waterloo
1 AEW Semmes II (TH)
1 AEW Semmes II(EM)
2 SC Scipio II
14 CC Rodney II
42 GB Brazwell III

2nd Fleet
CVL Alexander, Cornwallis, Cyrus, Hannibal, Lee, Nobunaga, Ramesses, Spartacus
1 SC Scipio II
4 CC Rodney II
20 GB Brazwell III
15 empty gunboat bays

Survey Squadrons 1, 2, 3, and 4
1 CVL
1 GE Opportunity
1 AEW Semmes
1 CC Rodney
3 GB Brazwell

Hope System Patrol
8 GB Brazwell II
3 CC Rodney
1 SC Scipio

Gunboat Reserves
1 AEW Semmes II (TH)
2 AEW Semmes II (EM)
1 SC Scipio II
1 GB Brazwell III
5 AST Sparta

Outdated Gunboats
10 GB Horo
5 CC Rodney
21 GB Brazwell

Opinion on what to do with older gunboats is current split between scrapping, garrisoning colonies, or use in attritional warfare (throw them at enemies till they get blown up)

In the last year, maintenance of existing ships consumed 3.8% of the UHF budget

[Korbac]

Sparta it is, then!

I'd scrap the old Gunboats - As garrisons, they will just be blown up unsupported, and sending them as cannon fodder is unlikely to make the public chuffed.

[Sheb]

Well, they can serve to calm colonists, but not much else. Scrap them if no one need policing.

We should start integrating the Sparta in our fleet doctrine. I take it each Strike Carrier carry one Scipio/Semmes/Rodney, 2 (more) Rodneys and 7 Brazwell? Let's switch 2 of the Rodneys for 4 Sparta. The Rodneys should go in the Second Fleet.

[Bremen]

Well, they can serve to calm colonists, but not much else. Scrap them if no one need policing.

We should start integrating the Sparta in our fleet doctrine. I take it each Strike Carrier carry one Scipio/Semmes/Rodney, 2 (more) Rodneys and 7 Brazwell? Let's switch 2 of the Rodneys for 4 Sparta. The Rodneys should go in the Second Fleet.

Well, the drop pods aren't long term berths for troops, so my plan was to fill a CVL with Spartas and have it in a fleet with an attached troop transport.

I will admit that I have never tried boarding before, I'm just hoping I can figure it out as I go along.

Edit: A CVL can hold 10 Spartas since they're small, which seems like enough for our purposes. A Troop transport should be able to hold 25 marine companies, but it will be awhile before we can train that many.

[Sheb]

I think it's possible to transfer troops between ships. If so, the Troop Transport should stay behind, troops should be loaded in the pods right before the strike into an hostile system.

Don't forget to put a lot of cargo handling system on the troop transport so that the transfer doesn't take 10 days.

If this doesn't work, we'll need a specialized Boarding Carrier (and a better name for it.)

[Flying Dice]

I'd recommend a specialized carrier/transport as well; easier to keep things straight that way.