Sirius Business - a C# Aurora forum game. v2.5

[randakar]

And still going strong, no doubt.

 

[randakar]

What are you using for GU designs? Did anything change since the last time around?

What is your plan once the GU research finishes? Are you going to replace all the old troops or leave them around? I suspect the existing STO units guarding mining colonies and whatnot are perfectly adequate where they are, but ..

 

[blue emu]

What are you using for GU designs? Did anything change since the last time around?

What is your plan once the GU research finishes? Are you going to replace all the old troops or leave them around? I suspect the existing STO units guarding mining colonies and whatnot are perfectly adequate where they are, but ..

Our STO might be 30 years out of date, but it hasn't lost an engagement yet. It's like the American M2 .50 cal HMG. It remains relevant forever.

Changes to our GU designs?

Now that I've learned a bit more about ground units, I'm going to seperate the HQs from the support units and attach them instead.

So a typical Brigade will be four Battalions each just under 5,000 tons (as before), plus a rather small HQ unit and some support units (ART, AA, TD etc) bringing the total up to somewhat under 5,000 tons so that there is room left in the troop transport ship for a Divisional HQ. I will also want to design a Supply unit of the same mass as a Divisional HQ, to even out the loading of the Troop Transports.

A Division will have four Brigades plus support, each Brigade composed of four Battalions plus support.

When packing it into Troop ships, we will need four (optionally, five) Troop Transports to lift a Division.

One ship will contain the Divisional HQ, plus the 4th Brigade HQ and its support, plus the four line Battalions.

The other three Troop Ships will each contain one Supply Convoy of exactly the same mass as the Divisional HQ it substitutes for, plus the (1st, 2nd or 3rd) Brigade HQ and its support, plus the four line Battalions.

Optionally, a fifth Troop Ship will carry STO and any Divisional-level support assets that I want to attach.

 

[blue emu]

Don't know if I mentioned it at the time, but in that battle against the Goon planet I actually PARA-DROPPED my STO.

The turrets didn't actually fire until they were on the ground and set up, mind you.

 

[blue emu]

It appears to be possible to upgrade ground units by changing that specific ground unit's template and then waiting for it to reinforce.

Not sure how it works. I'll test it out later.

 

[Wagonlitz]

ELINT Module (2) Sensitivity 16 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 31.6m km

Two years crew endurance but only 48 days fuel... because it will creep into signal intercept range at low thrust, and then turn off its engines and lie silent for months, just listening and analyzing the signals.

Does the intelligence point gathering depend on how close you are to the target, or can you be right at the edge and get just as much as if you were right next to the target?

Scientist Wagonlitz is 76 and very ill, but he has completed his 20th research project... improved refueling equipment.

Woo!

Notice the hull number... FAC-131.

My working definition of FAC is "between 501 and 2,000 tons", rather than the accepted formal "between 501 and 1,000 tons" definition.

So we've already built over a hundred and thirty vessels in that size range... larger than a Fighter, but smaller than 2,001 tons.

Are you manually naming them FAC, or does the game automatically name any ship from 501 to 2000 tonnes FAC?

Not sure if it counts as Jeune Ecole… I mean, unless the destroyers out pace you, they are hardly a counter.

Destroyers? Why would we necessarily meet destroyers?

Good point... Jackie Fischer would be pleased.

Who's that?

Two stars in an eccentric orbit that takes them as close as 20 billion km apart, or as far as nearly 40 billion km apart. Each star has its own family of planets.

That's way bigger than Alpha Centrauri, right?

There is no Lagrange access to the B star... although an artificial Lagrange point could easily be constructed there, if a construction ship could REACH the site.

Sounds like long range ships are needed, then.

 

[blue emu]

One of our scientists has completed research on a Fighter engine that produces exactly the same thrust as our current engine but is only 80% as bulky.

That will allow us to improve our Fighters somewhat...

---

Current Fighter model:

X-Wing III-B class Strikefighter 305 tons 1 Crew 98.2 BP TCS 6 TH 120 EM 0
19684 km/s Armour 1-4 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 2.7
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 60% IFR 0.8% 1YR 10 5YR 157 Max Repair 60 MSP
Magazine 18 / 0
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1.2 days Morale Check Required

1998 FTR Magnetic Fusion Drive EP120.00 HS-2 (1) Power 120 Fuel Use 1742.84% Signature 120 Explosion 30%
Fuel Capacity 11,000 Litres Range 0.37 billion km (5 hours at full power)

Size 6.00 Box Launcher 1973 (3) Missile Size: 6 Hangar Reload 122 minutes MF Reload 20 hours
1992 FTR Missile Fire Control FC92-R100 HS-0.8 (1) Range 92.7m km Resolution 100
Penetrator 2008 (3) Speed: 17,500 km/s End: 81.4m Range: 86.2m km WH: 0 Size: 6 TH: 58/35/17

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposes

---

Possible new Fighter model:

X-Wing IV class Strikefighter (P) 269 tons 1 Crew 173.9 BP TCS 5 TH 19 EM 0
22350 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 2.7
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 53% IFR 0.7% 1YR 18 5YR 273 Max Repair 135 MSP
Magazine 18 / 0
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1.2 days Morale Check Required

2010 FTR Inertial Fusion Drive EP120.00 HS-1.6 (1) Power 120 Fuel Use 1558.85% Signature 19.20 Explosion 30%
Fuel Capacity 11,000 Litres Range 0.47 billion km (5 hours at full power)

Size 6.00 Box Launcher 1973 (3) Missile Size: 6 Hangar Reload 122 minutes MF Reload 20 hours
Missile Fire Control FC94-R100 (1) Range 94.3m km Resolution 100 ECCM-3
Penetrator 2008 (3) Speed: 17,500 km/s End: 81.4m Range: 86.2m km WH: 0 Size: 6 TH: 58/35/17

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposes

---

Same armament. Longer cruising range (+30%).

One target-size smaller = harder to spot and hit. More than 2,600 kps faster. Packs 29 per carrier-load instead of 26 per carrier-load.

 

[blue emu]

Does the intelligence point gathering depend on how close you are to the target, or can you be right at the edge and get just as much as if you were right next to the target? - You just need to be close enough to monitor their signals. There is no additional bonus for being closer than that. Remember that planets MOVE, though.

Woo!

Are you manually naming them FAC, or does the game automatically name any ship from 501 to 2000 tonnes FAC? - Manually. I tend to name designs by their roles.

Destroyers? Why would we necessarily meet destroyers? - Here on Earth, Destroyers were the classical counter to the Jeune Ecole's torpedo boats and gunboats.

Who's that? - Originator (or at least, the promoter) of the Battlecruiser-oriented Naval Doctrine that we are actually using in-game.

That's way bigger than Alpha Centrauri, right? - Yup.

Sounds like long range ships are needed, then. - Our capabilities are steadily increasing. We've already got a ship part-way to Planet X in the Sol system. That's... like... 120 billion km away.

 

[RobbieAB]

Destroyers? Why would we necessarily meet destroyers?

According to Wikipedia, Destroyers were developed as a counter to Jeune Ecole doctrine. Given the Sabres would outpace destroyers, that makes the argument Sabres are a functional demonstration of Jeune Ecole dubious.

The Sabres, to me, seem to epitomise the “out-range or out-run” doctrine that lead to Battle Cruisers. Jackie Fisher was a Royal Navy proponent of this approach before WWI.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Their range is close to infinite (over 12,500 days fuel on-board) because I configured them as a Tanker as well as a Stabilization Ship.

What's a stabilisation ship?

- Then focus on getting your techs to have freighters. colony ships and troop transports up and running.

Why would you get troop transports that early?

Just research it what you need and accept that your plans get delayed a little bit it's not the end of the world*.

Won't old research also be cheaper to do, if you do it late?

This design is classed as a None for auto-assignment purposes

A class of None? What?

The prototypical Sabre Squadron is now one Eyeball AWACS FAC, one Whetstone Resupply FAC and six Sabre Gunships. The Sabres will be Sabre VI.

Won't we lack AWACS, or why was there two Eyeballs in a squadron previously?

And I may not be a Shepherd, but could we name my ship "Normandy"?

Why would you need to be a shepherd to have a ship named Normandy?

... I'm still annoyed at those Pirates for Rifting in at zero km range and opening fire.

A dirty bit of cheating, in my opinion. Or at least, sharp practice.

Just shows how important GTO is.

 

[blue emu]

In our game, it's the Pirates who are using Jeune Ecole or Sealanes Interdiction (focusing on attacking our trade routes).

We're using some sort of Battlecruiser doctrine.

What's a stabilisation ship? - A Gate construction ship.

Why would you get troop transports that early? - Garrisons. To guard your colonies and repress unruly population.

Won't old research also be cheaper to do, if you do it late? - No.

A class of None? What? - "Do not auto-assign any Leaders to this ship".

Won't we lack AWACS, or why was there two Eyeballs in a squadron previously? - A spare. I had lots.

Why would you need to be a shepherd to have a ship named Normandy?

Just shows how important GTO is.

 

[Wagonlitz]

So it's entirely possible that some moron has set off the Swarm.

No, it won't. Assuming that the above rules haven't beeen changed.

Luckily we are MUCH better placed to handle them now than we were twenty years ago.

Would we have a real chance against them now?
(Would be hilarious if we actually have met them since where I am, which is early 2008. Another 25 pages to go, but only 21 to catch up to where it was yesterday.

We haven't explored a lot yet though, this could still easily be 3-4 jumps away

As in that would be far away. Or as in, it could be just around the corner?

People can always switch from one ship to another as new construction comes off the ways.

You can switch around characters. Or would it just be renaming a new one to the players name and retiring the old one/naming the old one its old name?

 

[Wagonlitz]

This should get us to Planet X in the Sol system, and to a few other difficult-to-reach localities as well.

Alpha Centrauri had its second star be unrecheable so far as weoll, rigth?

Nikolai II-B

Boo!
Nikolai-II-II would have been the obvious.

I should just pause ship construction for a few months and build up a decent stockpile of spares.

Why not produce grinders or similar to not waste construciton time?

We'll test one out against the Rakhas. I'll use a Carrier to transport it there.

The spy ships can't fly that far on their own?

It might be a gradual process requiring centuries to run its course.

Just how long does aurora games last? By the sounds of it, a millennium or more.

Only RobbieAB in the ESN Mata Hari Spy class Scout Ship will actually enter the Rakhas system.. unless things turn ugly. The rest of the squadron will stand by.

What could possibly happen that'd require the fleet. The rakkhas has no fleet. And even if they had, if they can be outrun then they're no problm. If they can't, then better they dont' find out jump point.

RobbieAB:

What's promotion points?

A RADAR target cross section even smaller than a Fighter, top speed of 9,000 kps but uses thermally suppressed engines (ie: reduced thermal signature) so it's likely to creep around at reduced speed anyway, trying to be completely invisible. Powerful EM and Thermal passive sensors.

What speeds can be expected without creating too high thermal signature?

 

[Nikolai II]

Btw, Emu, just realised you had 20 years anniversary a couple months back.
Grats!

Blue Emu is such a n00b youngster on these forums. (But an anniversary can well be a reason for felicitation)

 

[blue emu]

No, it won't. Assuming that the above rules haven't beeen changed. - Well, I stand corrected on that point.

Would we have a real chance against them now? - The Swarm? Yes... it might go either way depending on how BIG the Swarm infestation is. I've seen up to three Motherships in the same star system, each with its own brood of swarmlings. Nasty.
(Would be hilarious if we actually have met them since where I am, which is early 2008. Another 25 pages to go, but only 21 to catch up to where it was yesterday.

As in that would be far away. Or as in, it could be just around the corner? - There's no way to tell. We have 750 star systems in the game. How many jumps to reach half of that? Depends on the connectivity.

You can switch around characters. Or would it just be renaming a new one to the players name and retiring the old one/naming the old one its old name? - Both can be done.

 

[blue emu]

Alpha Centrauri had its second star be unrecheable so far as weoll, rigth? - No, it's 61 Cygni where we cannot reach most of the planets yet.

Boo!
Nikolai-II-II would have been the obvious.

Why not produce grinders or similar to not waste construciton time? - Retooling. Also, Naval yards cannot produce Civilian vessels.

The spy ships can't fly that far on their own? - They have lots of life support but limited fuel. They are intended to sneak into position and lurk.

Just how long does aurora games last? By the sounds of it, a millennium or more. - Until we get tired of it, or we hit a bad bug, or Steve releases a new version.

What could possibly happen that'd require the fleet. The rakkhas has no fleet. And even if they had, if they can be outrun then they're no problm. If they can't, then better they dont' find out jump point. - Pirates.

What's promotion points? - When a higher rank is needed (eg: to run a new Battleship) the game decides who to promote. People who distinguish themselves are more likely to receive that promotion. Medals can be awarded that give bonus promotion points, so a decorated officer is more likely to get that promotion.

What speeds can be expected without creating too high thermal signature? - It varies with the ship mass. Larger ships require more thrust. It also varies with what sort of detection equipment the enemy has. If he's nearly blind, you don't have to be too stealthy. Usually, you'll just have to guess.

 

[Wagonlitz]

I'm not even going to launch the Sabres in 25 Ursae Minoris.

Every comet is guarded by a full suite of defenders... the sort of thing you would usually see guarding a Naval Base.

The comet that the Jerx are approaching is guarded by the usual assortment...

View attachment 1131545

That's two quad-barreled 20cm Laser anti-ship turrets, four quad-barreled 10cm Laser PD turrets, three quad-barreled Gauss PD turrets, and eight single 25cm Spinal Laser mounts.

On each comet.

Good luck with THAT.

It's only because we're currently expanding there's GTO on all comets, right, or do we do that for all important mining sites?

The scrappers at least are kept busy this way

Does Jerx ships really give much of value, thoguh?
I thoguht they for instance didn't give any valuable tech.

... so my Troop Transport ships are designed to carry 25,000 tons of units in a single lift. That's a HQ + four subordinates, or up to five units of STO.

The HQ units, are those STO themselves too?

I like to include some security troops organic to the STO unit itself... a few MG teams, a few Mortars, a few AA-Missile teams, a few AT-missile teams, a few squads of Infantry... so that I'm not required to provide escort for every deployed turret. The asset being protected by the inclusion of security troops in the STO design is not so much the money and mineral cost of the turret manufacture as it is the opportunity cost involved in transporting replacement units out from Earth.

What ground threats can happen? Like, if the enemy reaches the surface, isn't the planet lost anyway and the GTO destroyed?

I've set up a waypoint about 11 million km from the enemy ship. Let's see if he can spot us (assuning that the Achernar isn't actually immobilized).

If it was immobilised, wouldn't it then be much closer to the rhakkhas planed?

 

[Wagonlitz]

even 1-HS Civilian sensors can detect a ship at that range

What does 1-HS mean?

We see nothing on the surface of the innermost planet from this distance, and can't really close in too much further without being spotted. But we didn't expect to find anything on the innermost planet. Even the Achernar was a surprise. It's the second planet that shot down our scout ship back in 1990.

I wouldn't be surprised if the innermost planet was a Rakha planet too.
Like, does anything prevent multiple Rakha planets in teh same system? Also, fi there is, given they lack space crafts, then those two planets would effectively be fully cut off, right?

5) In addition to the theory techs already listed, you now need to design and research a specific model of Laser such as 15cm Infra-Red Laser. (Only needed for STO).

What do you mean by only needed for STO? Only STO can ue that laser?

7) That's the main ingredient for your STO sections. Limit them to 5,000 tons or less if you want them to fit in a Troop Transport's hold.

What do you do if you can't fit into troop transports? Split the unit in two and transport it in multiple goes?

Sounds like a job for missiles with laser warheads.

So missiles which fire powerful laders upon impact with the target?

 

[blue emu]

It's only because we're currently expanding there's GTO on all comets, right, or do we do that for all important mining sites? - I'm guarding EVERYTHING. Seriously. If we land a team on a moon to look at some rocks, there will be STO turrets deployed around them.

Does Jerx ships really give much of value, thoguh? - No.
I thoguht they for instance didn't give any valuable tech. - And not very much minerals, either. The Pirates are there to spice up the game and to force us to guard stuff.

The HQ units, are those STO themselves too? - No. They just give an extra layer of Leader bonus. Now the Division commander, the Brigade commander and the Battalion commander can all influence the ranfom roll... but not to the same degree.

What ground threats can happen? Like, if the enemy reaches the surface, isn't the planet lost anyway and the GTO destroyed? - If he reaches the surfacve there's a battle. We can try to win that battle.

If it was immobilised, wouldn't it then be much closer to the rhakkhas planed? - Yeah, I'm not sure what happened to it. But the planet MOVES remember. The Achernar might have been very close to the planet, but two or three orbits ago.

 

[blue emu]

What does 1-HS mean? - One Hull Square. Fifty tons of displacement. Sensors any larger than that MUST be Military, not Civilian.

I wouldn't be surprised if the innermost planet was a Rakha planet too. - I was half expecting that, too... but we didn't detect any thermal signature.
Like, does anything prevent multiple Rakha planets in teh same system? Also, fi there is, given they lack space crafts, then those two planets would effectively be fully cut off, right? - Correct. Multiple planets in the same star system, each at a different tech level, are completely possible.

What do you mean by only needed for STO? Only STO can ue that laser? - No. I mean it's not needed for any of your other ground units - Infantry, Artillery, AA, ATGM, Tanks - none of them need it. That article is about ground units. STO and space ships (or space stations) can use it.

What do you do if you can't fit into troop transports? Split the unit in two and transport it in multiple goes? - You mean a unit is too big for the transport? It goes nowhere.

So missiles which fire powerful laders upon impact with the target? - Missiles that self-destruct and fire one-shot lasers when they get near the target. It's like a close-range Laser shot. But we solved that problem with two-stage missiles instead of with Laser missiles.