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[Flying Dice]

So the ships are actual ships, but are infested with an alien organic thing, which uses the ship like a hermit crab uses a shell?

No, what it is is that they are entirely biological, but the game needs to have a class design for them to exist, and that class design for all intents and purposes appears to be an ordinary ship. Hence why it is supposed to be impossible to board them; they aren't ships in any sense except that the game needs to register them as ships for them to function properly, and there is nothing to distinguish organic components from artificial ones. Think of the aliens from Macross Frontier.

As for ship designs: again, I was proposing something that will work. If people want to take things into a much more RP-heavy direction, by all means, do so.

[Elfeater]

May I have another ship please, any kind... Hopefully with less (Your entire command has been wiped out) fun.

[Bremen]

September 2, 2021: Overall opinion in the UHF is that we cannot afford to forfeit the Ross 128 jump point chain to the enemy. Vice Admiral Hannah Avram agrees, and points out that this will enable us to gather better intelligence on our enemy without putting the Hope colony in immediate danger.

For now, the jump point is the best location to hold them. The 1st Fleet launches its gunboat complement and has them maintain a 24 hour picket of the location; the carriers will move to the Hope jump point while still supporting the gunboat squadron. For better or for worse the jump point to the Hope system is less than a billion kilometers from the jump point to WX Ursae Majoris.

With Humanity facing a war against a dangerous new opponent, it needs strong leadership. The UHF issues an immediate promotion of Hannah Avram to the rank of Sky Marshal. She immediately orders the 2nd Fleet to load all available armed gunboats and move forward to support the Ross system.

Two new craft designs are also commissioned.

Code: [Select]

Comet class Jump Scout    800 tons     77 Crew     142 BP      TCS 16  TH 184  EM 0
11500 km/s    JR 1-50     Armour 1-7     Shields 0-0     Sensors 11/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 17.16 Years     MSP 111    AFR 5%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 11    Max Repair 46 MSP

J1000(1-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 1000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 1
GB Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 184    Fuel Use 780%    Signature 184    Armour 0    Exp 36%
Fuel Capacity 140,000 Litres    Range 40.4 billion km   (40 days at full power)

Short Range Targeting Sensor (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.3m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
If the navy is to have any hope of assaulting the WX system, they must know if the enemy is picketing the far side. The Comet is designed to scout the far side of a jump point before the fleet risks itself by jumping through.

Code: [Select]

Pegasus class Tanker    5,800 tons     250 Crew     764 BP      TCS 116  TH 400  EM 0
3448 km/s     Armour 1-28     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 82    Max Repair 50 MSP

Civilian Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 200    Fuel Use 6%    Signature 200    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 3,000,000 Litres    Range 15516.0 billion km   (52083 days at full power)
For the navy to remain on long deployments, it will need to be refueled. The Pegasus is not a complicated ship, simply a very large fuel tank with engines.

September 14, 2021: Deploying all of the Navy's armed ships away from Sol is not popular with the home system.



In the short term, a brigade of mobile infantry will be stationed on Mars to make sure the protests don't spiral out of control. In the long term, however, it's believed that some form of fixed defenses should be developed so that the navy is free to deploy where needed. Inspiration comes from early studies to understand and replicate the alien meson weapons.

Code: [Select]

Watchman class Planetary Defence Centre    6,250 tons     794 Crew     1005 BP      TCS 125  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 5-30     Sensors 1/21     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 92.76

Quad Small Meson Cannon Turret (6x4)    Range 60,000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 6    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
PDC PD Fire Control (3)    Max Range: 120,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     92 83 75 67 58 50 42 33 25 17
Fusion Reactor (6)     Total Power Output 72    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Short Range Targeting Sensor (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.3m km    Resolution 1
The meson beams are capable of penetrating a planet's atmosphere (or even the planet itself) just as easily as they penetrate armor. By making use of this trait the Watchman bases can defend the planet they are stationed on from missile bombardment and troop landings. They should also serve as a highly visible sign that the population of a planet is being protected.

November 27, 2021: The 1st Engineering Brigade arrives on Alpha Centauri-A I and begins work excavating the ruins.

January 7, 2022: Scientists analyzing records of the WX Alien communications have come to the conclusion that communication will be impossible. In fact, they are of the opinion that the signals are not signs of intelligence at all, but rather communication at an animal-like level.

This news gives hope to the fleet; if the enemy encountered in WX is somehow not intelligent, it may not be guarding the jump point after all. Orders go out to bring up a Comet jump scout with the next wave of reinforcements.

March 24, 2022: Four new Lexington carriers arrive in Ross, carrying reinforcements for the blockade as well as 2 JSC Comets. Available ships line up at the jump point, ready to make a massive assault if the word is clear.

One of the Comets, crewed entirely by volunteers, approaches the jump point and transitions into the WX system. No enemy vessels are visible within range of the jump point, so the 1st and 2nd fleets jump through. As soon as they do, the active sensors of the enemy large craft are detected, but quite far away.

The combined fleets launch 106 Brazwell and 24 Rodney class gunboats, then the carriers jump back into Ross. The rest will be up to the gunboats.

The combined gunboat force begins to close on the large contact, and soon sensors detect the enemy small ships. This time there are 70 rather than 67, and it is noticed that the 3 wrecked Brazwells have disappeared. It appears that the enemy may be salvaging wreckage and using the parts to build new ships.

The gunboat squadron drives straight towards the enemy formation as they open fire. The goal will be to endure the enemy fire long enough to close to plasma range. They accomplish that, but only just; at a range of 55,000 km the enemy begins evasive maneuvers to prevent the gunboat squadron from closing the range. Plasma fire lances out, but it is weak and inaccurate at that range.

Plasma rounds continue to lance out, and one of the enemy ships breaks apart. Sensor evidence shows that it is venting fluid as it does so. This might possibly be evidence of an aquatic race, but analysts are beginning to suspect something even stranger.



Combat continues, but is not going well for the human forces. Unable to close the range to where their weapons are most effective, the enemy is destroying two ships for every one the navy is able to destroy.

Then, fortune strikes. One of the enemy vessels is struck hard by plasma cannon and stops moving, but is not destroyed. Rather than abandon it, the rest of the gunboats stop and hold position around it, allowing the human forces to close the distance.

The pilots are stunned by what they see; rather than technological vessels, the enemy is revealed to be an enormous number of strange, floating jellyfish like creatures. But the pilots of the the UHF are hardened veterans, and the strangeness of the sight doesn't stop them. Orders go out to spread fire and attempt to damage as many enemies as possible.

It quickly becomes a massacre; the creatures are poorly armored and clearly unsuited for a close in dogfight. Their tactics are also quite poor, focusing fire on individual human gunboats instead of spreading their fire and destroying large numbers. The entire swarm is destroyed even as they singly target only four gunboats, each with massive overkill. Then the gunboats set course for the larger sensor contact.

When they close into sensor range they see just how much larger it actually is; active sensors determine that the enemy vessel is approximately 60,000 tons; four times the size of a Lexington carrier.  5 6,000 ton craft escort it.



The smaller vessels exhibit no weapons, attempting to ram the gunboats and claiming one kill before they are destroyed. The larger vessel proves a different story; as the squadron approaches large number of meson weapons lance out, destroying Brazwell 033. The gunboats return fire, firing dozens of plasma and railgun rounds at the giant jellyfish only to have them all intercepted by some sort of force field. But the detection system of the Semmes reports that their energy strength has dropped by 70%

Return fire makes more gunboats explode, and then a second swarm of the enemy's small ships emerge from the larger creature; but this time there are only 20, at least. Rather than break off and let the enemy recharge what seems to be some sort of energy shield, orders go out for the gunboats to keep pounding. More gunboats explode, but the shields buckle and the large creature begins to stream liquid. The squadron continues firing and eventually the creature comes completely apart. The gunboats then turn finish off the smaller vessels.

The battle appears to be won, though a detailed survey of the system will be necessary to make sure. Total losses for the UHF are 18 Brazwell, 4 Rodney, and 1 Semmes.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I know I complain about the Aurora AI, but even I was expecting it to do better than this.

First off, obviously, was not picketing the jump point. Often the AI will do this, if only because they move to where they last saw enemy, but apparently not swarm; they all flew back to the queen. Second was the refusal to split fire; 70 meson cannons should have been killing at least 10 Brazwell at round at point blank. So before anyone says I over sold the enemy, I expected them to do *much* better.

[Bremen]

May I have another ship please, any kind... Hopefully with less (Your entire command has been wiped out) fun.

Welcome Rear Admiral Elfeater Jr. of the CS Zeus.

[Flying Dice]

Yeah, the AI occasionally does that thing where they concentrate fire, regardless of how little sense it makes. What's even funnier is if your ships can survive a single salvo, and the AI decides to shift targets instead of trying to finish it. If we're going for a disposable fleet strategy, FACs are the exact right route, as they don't cost anywhere near as much to replace as cap ships.

[Bremen]

Yeah, the AI occasionally does that thing where they concentrate fire, regardless of how little sense it makes. What's even funnier is if your ships can survive a single salvo, and the AI decides to shift targets instead of trying to finish it. If we're going for a disposable fleet strategy, FACs are the exact right route, as they don't cost anywhere near as much to replace as cap ships.

It was pretty hilarious overkill. At least once a FAC exploded after a single meson hit sent its engine critical, and 50+ meson shots got wasted.

[Sarganto]

So in terms of fighting the AI, it is better to have a lot of FAC instead of just a few huge battleships?

Ignoring the RP-fact that everyone loves huge battleships.

[Flying Dice]

So in terms of fighting the AI, it is better to have a lot of FAC instead of just a few huge battleships?

Ignoring the RP-fact that everyone loves huge battleships.

Not if you're not deliberately handicapping yourself like we are. If you're going to play normally, missiles are so massively overpowered that your best ship designs will always be fast carrier + missile fighter combos and long range missile platforms. Differences in what EW you use don't really matter when half a dozen of your lighter ships can throw a 200 missile salvo at anything that needs killing from 150m km.

If you're playing in such a way as to make close range slugging your only viable option, heavy ships are still better, as they can mount heavier weapons and take a hell of a lot more damage, especially if you have decent shield tech. The difference is that the Star Swarm use mesons, which in functional terms ignore matter and energy in their path (armor, shields, atmosphere, a planet, etc) and deal their damage to an internal component of their target. They only do 1 damage regardless of size, but most components have a HTK of 1. Basically, regardless of how heavy your armor and shields are, they'll still hit, so swarms of FACs are much more cost effective, as they don't bother with armor or shields because pretty much every larger ship can OHKO a FAC. The other EW option against Swarm is to build ships with heavy lasers that are just fast enough to keep ahead of the Queens, supported by something to wipe out the Soldiers. Against anything other than Swarm, FACs tend to be a very effective method of throwing away resources. Unlike fighters, they're too large to slip through enemy missile envelopes without being detected, and unlike larger ships, they can't absorb much damage, so battles between a FAC group and cap ships tends to come down to a slugging match where the FAC commander hopes they have more FACs than the enemy has missiles, or that they have enough FACs to close the range before they all die.

[Shades]

posting to follow

[Sheb]

What was that "evasive maneuver" stuff? Pure RP?

[Flying Dice]

It probably meant "they reversed course".

[Bremen]

What was that "evasive maneuver" stuff? Pure RP?

It probably meant "they reversed course".

Actually, it meant they had a better initiative than us; the gunboats would move on top of them, then they would fly away at full speed and get to 50 kkm out in the same round. The net result was that despite being faster, then gunboats couldn't get closer than 50kkm.

But I thought "the gunboats fly up before they suddenly dart away" would sound weird

Update is coming!

[Flying Dice]

Heh, that's even funnier. Get some commanders on there with decent stats!

Also, looking forward to the update.

[Bremen]

March 25, 2022: Flush with victory, the gunboats quickly check out the system's sole planet before returning to their carriers. The planet is clear, but the system possesses a second star in a distant orbit, far beyond the range of most ships. There may be other aliens there.

May 4, 2022: Scientists discover a breakthrough in capacitor technology, that promises to improve the fire rate of beam weapons. They begin work on a way to use the improved capacitors for smaller jump drives, hopeful of developing gunboats capable of jumping without their carriers.

May 18, 2022: Engineers on Alpha Centauri-A 1 manage to restore an alien research facility. Freighters are dispatched to move it to Earth.

August 2nd, 2022: The New York, escorted by a squadron of cruisers and carriers, loads the 1st Marine Brigade and sets course for the Lacaille 9352 system to deal with the asteroid colonies of the AC Automatons.

October 21, 2022: Marines assault an asteroid complex in Lacaille to find what appears to be automated sensor equipment. With a little tinkering it is set to report to the UHF navy.

November 17, 2022: Marines take two more listening posts in the Lacaille system, also finding what appears to be a stockpile of several hundred anti-ship missiles. The system is then declared clear.

November 23, 2022: Scientists develop an improved fire control design that should help track particularly fast targets. Since the Jones has just recently arrived from Alpha Centauri with samples of the laminate composite armor used by the AC Automatons, a new team is formed to backwards-engineer the technology.

January 23, 2023: Word comes in that the Martian atmosphere now contains enough oxygen to breathe. Of course, the pressure is still so low that a human's lungs would rupture, but the oxygen is there. Work will continue until the atmosphere is thick enough for humans to walk around unaided.

April 11, 2023: Economic analysts have examined Earth's mineral situation and urge caution. While nothing except Corundium is anywhere near critical, most stockpiles have dropped from where they were a year ago.



While not coming out and saying it, the undertone of the analysis is that military expansion is outstripping the economy. Currently there are two cruisers, 4 carriers, and 25 gunboats in production; once they finish it is likely production will be slowed.

Earth's factories are ordered to concentrate on the production of automated mines. In addition, the Outreach is currently working on a jump gate to Barnards Star which should open up the rich mineral deposits of that system.

April 16, 2023: Due to the greenhouse effect of its rapidly increasing atmosphere, the Martian Polar ice sheets begin to melt.

April 27, 2023: Researchers develop a 600 ton jump drive capable of bringing 5 gunboats through a jump point. It's still disappointingly bulky, but with further research in the area a gunboat assault force may be possible. For now, researchers begin work on an improved fusion reactor using the principles of the AC Automaton fusion drive.

January 14, 2024: Earth runs out of Corundium; a freighter sets out to retrieve the 8,000 tons currently stockpiled on Hope.

February 16, 2024: The 56th Engineer Brigade issues a report on the ruins at Alpha Centauri. So far they have been able to restore 2 Research Labs, 2 Genetic Modification Centers, 1 Fighter Factory, 2 Ordinance Factories, 5 maintenance facilities, and 400,000 liters of fuel. 11 sites still appear intact enough for restoration.

[EuchreJack]

Don't forget, your good buddy General EuchreJack wants to command a marine unit.  Semper Fi!