I've just looked back through the thread and found our earlier encounter with the Rakhas.
This was back in February of 1990... eighteen years ago.
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At 12.6 million km from the Achernar, we got a turn interrupt.
I do not in fact believe it. He can't really see us at this distance, surely.
Twelve million km is of course already VERY close range for sensors... even 1-HS Civilian sensors can detect a ship at that range, and our AWACS battle-management vessels can pick up a suitably-sized ship at a quarter of a billion km... but I expect to get closer still.
I do not in fact believe it. He can't really see us at this distance, surely.
Twelve million km is of course already VERY close range for sensors... even 1-HS Civilian sensors can detect a ship at that range, and our AWACS battle-management vessels can pick up a suitably-sized ship at a quarter of a billion km... but I expect to get closer still.
We are now at 11.5 m-km from the Achernar and there has been no reaction at all. No further turn interrupts.
Interesting.
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.
Why don't we set up a few waypoints to create a path that circles around the Achernar, and go take a closer look at that second planet... the one that shot down our scout back in the 90s?
Interesting.
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.
Why don't we set up a few waypoints to create a path that circles around the Achernar, and go take a closer look at that second planet... the one that shot down our scout back in the 90s?
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Wow, that’s an awful lot of information to work through, but thank you for providing it! This will definitely help me in my game and also help me understand what’s happening in THIS game.
I had no idea you could design ground troops right down to squad-level gear… that sounds both tedious and spectacular at the same time!
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I wonder why that raider is there. There must be something to raid on that planet. And something shot down the other raider..
Yeah, the research path would go something like this:
1) [Energy Weapons] Research Lasers aperture and frequency to whatever level you feel is OK for now. Aperture improves damage. Frequency improves range.
2) [Power and Propulsion] Research Capacitors to whatever level is OK for now. Bigger capacitors equals faster recharge between shots, better rate of fire.
Those techs will be needed for both STO (Surface to Orbit weapons, ie: Turrets) and for Ground units such as Garrisons or Space Marines.
For STO you will also need
3) [Sensors] Research Grav (Active) Sensors, EM and Thermal Sensors. Each STO turret will have on-mount sensors of whatever tech level you built it at.
4) Decent ship's armor, since the STO Turrets will use it for their own armor.
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).
6) Design and research a Turret, which holds from one to four of the researched model of Lasers.
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.
For your ordinary ground troops, you'll need the research listed in 1) and 2) above (Lasers and Capacitors), plus lots of research off the Ground Forces list. Unit types, power armor, ground unit build speed... lots of useful techs there.
Then you design and research each sub-unit type... 1980 Space Marine Machine Gun, for example, or 1970 Garrison Rifleman, or 1985 Brigade HQ... and then design the 5,000-ton unit (Battalion-sized, in my experience) from all the newly-researched components. That new unit design does not have to be researched, it can be built immediately.
As mentioned above, I like to include a company-sized infantry security force organically in my STO design, so naturally I don't design any STO until I've got my Infantry designs working. At least that allows me to use the latest Lasers available for the Turrets.
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Yeah, it CAN'T really be immobilized... can it?
Who would attack it? The Rakhas have no ships, and that's WAY out of range of the second planet.
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We can wait until the planet's orbit carries it away from the Achernar, and then look it over.
In the meantime, let's have a look at that second planet, with all the wrecks.
In the meantime, let's have a look at that second planet, with all the wrecks.
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Following the chain of waypoints, to detour around the Achernar and creep up on the second planet:
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As RobbieAB in Mata Hari closes in to less than five million km, details begin to emerge.
We detect RADAR emissions from the small on-mount RADARs of the Goon's STO.
We detect RADAR emissions from the small on-mount RADARs of the Goon's STO.
Three and a half million km from the planet. End-game tech could hit us with Lasers or Particle Beams at one-and-a-half million km.
I would expect to be able to get somewhat closer than that to the planet before actually coming under fire, though.
Now at 1.1 million km from the planet.
No additional contacts... just that weak on-mount STO RADAR already reported.
We probably can't get too much closer than this without coming under fire.
And since the last ship that came under fire here was hit 150 times in the first five seconds, I'm a bit reluctant to find out their firing range the hard way.
No additional contacts... just that weak on-mount STO RADAR already reported.
We probably can't get too much closer than this without coming under fire.
And since the last ship that came under fire here was hit 150 times in the first five seconds, I'm a bit reluctant to find out their firing range the hard way.
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Adding all of our data together...
We've only detected one unit on the surface of Lalande 21185 A-II. It masses 200 tons, has a Thermal signature of 5, a RADAR-based EM signature of 2, and when we got too close it hit our scout (back in 1990) with 60 9-factor hits and 90 1-factor hits all in the first five seconds of battle.
Sounds like a job for missiles with laser warheads.
We've only detected one unit on the surface of Lalande 21185 A-II. It masses 200 tons, has a Thermal signature of 5, a RADAR-based EM signature of 2, and when we got too close it hit our scout (back in 1990) with 60 9-factor hits and 90 1-factor hits all in the first five seconds of battle.
Sounds like a job for missiles with laser warheads.
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So far our Snooper seems quite effective... although of course if that Achernar is really immobilized then we might have been spotted immediately but the opponent simply lacks the ability to do anything about it.
... and of course, just spotting our snooper won't be enough. He can't punish our snooper unless he can CATCH it. At 9,000 kps, easier said than done.
We shouldn't get too confident about our "invisibility" until we can test it against a mobile opponent.
... and of course, just spotting our snooper won't be enough. He can't punish our snooper unless he can CATCH it. At 9,000 kps, easier said than done.
We shouldn't get too confident about our "invisibility" until we can test it against a mobile opponent.
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So, shall we send it to a system that has more challenging opponents? We should have at least one if I recall...
Yeah, I'd like to knock that out from OUTSIDE its own range, if possible.
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We should check out the innermost planet first, which requires waiting until its orbit takes it a little further from that Achernar.
While we're waiting, I'm debating sneaking in a bit closer to the planet with the wrecks... to about 520,000 km.
We still haven't picked that STO unit up on Thermal...we've just pinpointed it by its own on-mount RADAR emissions.
It SHOULD be 5 Thermal, and I'd like to see if we can actually spot something that dim (a Fighter is 120 Thermal, for comparison).
... of course, there are drawbacks to creeping up TOO close to a hostile STO position, when you have no idea what its range is...
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