If our carrier fleet is now going to be purely ornamental, then I'll take a transfer please.
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We could transfer them to internal defense to cover our future colonies and trade lines. That way, they wouldn't be doing nothing on the battle line.
And, of course, they might have a chance of meeting something interesting themselves.
The Carriers played no role in our first battle for the following main reasons:
1) There were only three Carriers in the whole Navy at that time. With 20 Bombers per Carrier, that's a total of only 60 Bombers... not enough to punch through any respectable PD defense. We had 60 Bombers total in our Ad Astra game, and only 11 survived long enough to launch missiles. So an airstrike was not really a practical option IMO.
2) That first battle was intended as a proof-of-concept test of the Battlecruiser + Light Cruiser doctrine... and yes, there was no front-line role for Carriers in that doctrine. Sad but true.
Regarding #1, we have since expanded from three Carriers and 60 Bombers to nine Carriers and 180 Bombers; with three more Carriers and 60 more Bombers under construction. So we will have 240 Fighters available instead of 60, for the next major battle. That's enough for an alpha strike of 720 missiles.
Regarding #2, this is a more serious objection. Eventually, I want to transition the role of the Light Carriers to hosting light scout craft, planetary invasion shuttles, combat boarding shuttles, the space equivalent of Helicopter Gunships, Tenders for Box Launcher Cruisers up to 4,000 tons... perhaps other roles as well.
What about a hybrid doctrine where we use the bombers as a preparatory bombardment while the cruiser fleet charges in? This can be particularly effective against AMM spam opponents as 720 incoming missiles will eat up several waves of AMMs while the cruisers close in. Otherwise, we can take out the most threatening close-range combat ships with the missile strike and then the cruisers can wreak havoc among the rest of the enemy. Granted it is probably not as efficient as going all-in one way or the other but it is arguably more fun.
Now that our Carrier forces are getting large enough to actually make a difference, we could certainly try the hybrid doctrine that you suggest.
A test would have been worthless with only three Carriers, because they would have failed by lack of numbers rather than by any defect in the doctrine.
A test would have been worthless with only three Carriers, because they would have failed by lack of numbers rather than by any defect in the doctrine.
We've expanded enough that we really should spend a few years re-organizing.
We should have Deep Space Tracking Stations (long-range passive sensors) in every controlled star system. This won't require any supporting infrastructure at all.
We should have orbital fortresses, with weapons and long-range active sensors (RADAR) in every colonized star system. This will require enough maintenance facilities on the planet to support the fortress.
Our border systems should receive fuel dumps (and fuel distribution systems) and enough maintenance facilities to support a few scout ships.
We should greatly expand our mining industry, and identify key minerals that require extra focus (Neutronium and Corundium, at the moment).
Of course, this economic work isn't as interesting as space battles... but it might allow for MORE space battles.
Comments?
We should have Deep Space Tracking Stations (long-range passive sensors) in every controlled star system. This won't require any supporting infrastructure at all.
We should have orbital fortresses, with weapons and long-range active sensors (RADAR) in every colonized star system. This will require enough maintenance facilities on the planet to support the fortress.
Our border systems should receive fuel dumps (and fuel distribution systems) and enough maintenance facilities to support a few scout ships.
We should greatly expand our mining industry, and identify key minerals that require extra focus (Neutronium and Corundium, at the moment).
Of course, this economic work isn't as interesting as space battles... but it might allow for MORE space battles.
Comments?
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Brief pause for temporary realignment so we can have bigger flashier battles later.
Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics.
Plus we might be able to build EVEN BIGGER battleships when all this expanding is over
Plus we might be able to build EVEN BIGGER battleships when all this expanding is over
Absolutely this. The 'best' option for the game is no use at all if you aren't motivated to implement it.Whatever keeps you motivated the longest
Three of our yards are now retooling for the fleet modernization program.
Since we've got a few months before the retooling is done, I've switched our Power and Propulsion scientist to prototyping a new set of main engines for our spaceships, incorporating the latest research in fuel-efficiency techs. This small change to the designs will extend the ships' cruising range by more than 15%.
EDIT:
Thirty-three potential dig sites, at only TL-2.
Alien tech finds have been nerfed pretty hard in v2.1.x, but we still might find something useful.
Since we've got a few months before the retooling is done, I've switched our Power and Propulsion scientist to prototyping a new set of main engines for our spaceships, incorporating the latest research in fuel-efficiency techs. This small change to the designs will extend the ships' cruising range by more than 15%.
EDIT:
Thirty-three potential dig sites, at only TL-2.
Alien tech finds have been nerfed pretty hard in v2.1.x, but we still might find something useful.
Here's another new feature of v2.1.x
You can find Alien Artifacts. They function as a trade good.
EDIT:
We have finished retooling a yard for Animal III class Light Cruisers (fast Gauss PD vessels with that huge 37-point boomer spinally mounted) but we must wait for the slips to clear before we can lay any of the keels.
You can find Alien Artifacts. They function as a trade good.
EDIT:
We have finished retooling a yard for Animal III class Light Cruisers (fast Gauss PD vessels with that huge 37-point boomer spinally mounted) but we must wait for the slips to clear before we can lay any of the keels.
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Another ambush by the Jerx, this time three jumps away from Earth, in the Pi Librae star system.
Maybe we'll save this nest of Jerx and try out our monstrous 37-point spinal laser on them?
We're already retooling to build those new ships.
We're already retooling to build those new ships.
So there's a small fleet of them in the Pi Librae star system, as expected. The Precursors almost always show up in small packs.
Note that these four ships are just the ones using active sensors (and therefore conspicuous from far away). Any ships running silent will still be invisible to our scout ship's low-end sensors.
Three of the ships are orbiting the planet Pi Librae II (and they might be orbital defenses instead of ships), while the fourth is headed toward that planet... presumably, they've already launched a salvo of missiles at me and are waiting for it to run out to range.