Jump Points

[Hypnotist]

Is there an in-universe explanation as to why jump points aren't secured? It would seem it would take a lot less resources to secure the jump point for each system rather than securing each planet surface individually. I understand about pirate points but also understand they are dangerous enough to be mostly desperation or secret jumps.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Limited resources is the greatest reason IMO.


In 3025, the time of Warships has passed so it would have to be Dropships and Aerospace fighters trying to hold down both the Nadir and Zenith Jump Points of a Star. This would require a System’s Defenders to split their forces to cover both points. The splitting of one’s forces in this manner of situation is rarely ever a good idea.

As I recall each Jump Point is rather large so depending on where the patrol of Dropships and fighters are, an intruder could jump in, detach Dropships and make a high speed burn toward your planet. This would place your Dropships and Fighters in the unenviable position of having to follow the invaders to their destination thereby surrendering a significant degree of initiative to them.

(And while some gamers I’ve enjoyed playing BattleTech with profess they’d have no problems attacking and destroying an opponent’s Jumpship... in the 3025 BattleTech I play, it just isn’t done.)



Defending at Jump Points is to me akin to a very expensive (in time and resources) Static Defence, that can be bypassed by a wily or lucky Enemy.

I would much prefer to have sensors at both points and any known pirate points, then make the decision to use my Dropships to reposition my Conventiknal and Mech Forces or to hazard some of those Dropships and Aerospace to Target my Enemy at the place and time of my choosing while he is burning in toward the planet.

 

[wundergoat]

Jump points are areas where gravity is low enough to form a KF field and jump into/out of. Most of the time this means jumping outside the star's proximity limit. If you are outside that distance, you can jump. For Sol, it is a little beyond Saturn's orbit and then it is one giant jump point.

The standard Zenith and Nadir points are the most commonly used and are easy to calculate jumps to, so most jumps (and most all legitimate civilian traffic) will be to the standard points. Pirate points are much smaller areas where various planetary bodies cancel each other's gravitational pull, but are still to big to practically mine, let alone defend with a station directly. They are harder to jump into, but the odds of a misjump are not that terrible.

Defense stations at jump points are basically there to defend the civilian traffic and act as listing posts and police stations. They don't really function as walls, since it is trivially easy to just jump somewhere else outside the proximity limit. Pirate points are best defended with listening posts.

 

[Spartakus]

To quote Sarna.net:

Beyond a proximity limit, all of space is a valid jump "point". It is quite possible for a JumpShip to jump into deep space light-years from any star system. Indeed, when imagining jump points, it might be best to consider most of space one giant, valid jump point but for tiny bubbles near stars and even more microscopic bubbles near planets.

 

[Spartakus]

A notable exception is the Taurus system, capital of the Taurian Concordat. The Hydes asteroid field, better known as Flannagan's Nebula, forms a natural barrier between the habitable worlds of the system and the jump "zone" outside of it. It is indeed possible to guard the passage ships have to use to get inside which is exactly what the Taurians are doing and why it is next to impossible to invade Taurus.

 

[Jade_Rook]

There was an attempt to guard the jump points by the Star League. They had large forces of drone warships and space stations around Terran Hegemony worlds. Those were destroyed in the Amaris Civil War.

Looks like the Word of Blake tried to recreate the system, but didn't have the resources to fully implement it.

 

[Hypnotist]

Thanks for all the answers.

 

[Kereminde]

Remember folks, space is really big. Like . . . really really big. No, bigger than that.

Yes, that too.

It also exists in three dimensions, which means it's really hard to blockade something at a far enough distance out where Jump points would exist. The best one could do is find the most popular coordinates and lay in wait, which would probably drive people to program in alternatives after a decade of that noise. And by "people" I mean "ComStar during a regular navigation system check".

 

[Havamal]

Remember folks, space is really big. Like . . . really really big. No, bigger than that.

Yes, that too.

It also exists in three dimensions, which means it's really hard to blockade something at a far enough distance out where Jump points would exist. The best one could do is find the most popular coordinates and lay in wait, which would probably drive people to program in alternatives after a decade of that noise. And by "people" I mean "ComStar during a regular navigation system check".

 

[Kereminde]

Not where I got the inspiration from. But no worries, don't panic, your copy will be in the post sometime before the construction crews.

 

[Havamal]

Not where I got the inspiration from. But no worries, don't panic, your copy will be in the post sometime before the construction crews.

Oh I know you didn't get it from there...
Funny though.

"The universe is like, humongous big... "

 

[The Shadowhawke]

For all the reasons stated here, guarding or blockading system zenith and nadir jumppoints is only going to be somewhere feasible if you have the resources of a Great House, a Clan, or Comstar, and even then, only a State capital or system with shipyards or mech production factories would be considered for it.

Even then, anyone capable and brassy enough to even consider the action is going pirate point in, and those by nature are logistically impossible to blockade.

Far more likely, you'll have orbital or ground defenses waiting at the planets, moons, or outposts considered strategically vital.

Combat jumping into the New Avalon or Luthien systems may not be so big of a thing...


...surviving the fighter and warship screen waiting at your intended target is another matter entirely.

 

[Kereminde]

...surviving the fighter and warship screen waiting at your intended target is another matter entirely.

I'd give the odds of that at about the same odds as being one of Odysseus' surviving crewmates leaving Troy.

 

[Havamal]

I'd give the odds of that at about the same odds as being one of Odysseus' surviving crewmates leaving Troy.

Spoiler alert: none really do.

 

[stjobe]

Remember folks, space is really big. Like . . . really really big. No, bigger than that.

Yes, that too.

You may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's peanuts to space.

 

[Havamal]

You may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's peanuts to space.

"It's a long way to the top [if you want to rock and roll]."

 

[The Shadowhawke]

Good point on the listening posts; many systems are likely to have them, but a strategically valuable system will be wired up, so even if a pirate point is used, the emergence signature of the jumpship will be detected.

Then, once the existence of inbound Dropships is confirmed, it won't be a complicated matter to determine trajectories and intended targets. Then an interception defense strategy can be prepared.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Strategically valuable systems? Systems like Luthien, New Avalon, Hesperus, etc will have dedicated aerospace defenders and a developed network of reporting and tracking sensors/manned outposts. But of the more than 2000 Inner Sphere Systems these systems represent the top 1 or 2 percent. Maybe the next 4-6 percent will have some marginal to minimum levels of aerospace defense and system reporting/sensing.

But the vast majority of 3025 BattleTech Inner Sphere Systems would not be capable of covering every corner of both the Apex and Nadir Jump Points, let alone any Pirate Jump Points. And one must remember even if a planet manages to cobble together a handful of Aerospace assets, for every Dropship or Aerospace Fighter send on a space intercept mission, unless overwhelming combat ratios can be established, those assets are likely to be lost. And for every Dropship lost that is a significant hit against the defender’s Planetary Strategic Mobility. Loss of aerospace fighters limits the defensive CAP and offensive strike power of the Defender.

Is it a smart move to try and strike an inbound attacker before he hits the atmosphere? From my 30+ years of BattleTech gameplay and reading of fiction, I would say that is rarely a smart, or even available option for the savvy defender. Unless you are in one of the top 1 or 2 percent of systems, best to husband those precious resources for the coming ground fight, a fight where the defender has most likely had the benefit of years, decades maybe even centuries worth of time to familiarize himself and prepare. : )

 

[Kereminde]

Easier for the defender to pay mercenaries to remain on garrison duty

 

[The Shadowhawke]

Obviously, someone read but didn't really read my last post, and decided to Ouija board their interpretation of it.


Strategically valuable could be a Successor State main or provincial capital. It could also be a system with production factories; mech and armor facities, or shipyards.

Or, a system with one or more resource heavy worlds.

Regardless, in space you're either under appreciable G thrust, en route from one place to another, or you're in orbit.

Interception of transit path would be a waste of fuel and resources, and you'd really only get one passing strafe .

Designing a defense strategy for incoming dropships is a simple matter of determining their destination (basic rocket science), and having forces there to catch them at their orbital burn.