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

[blue emu]

The cowards flee!

The force of four Jerx ships has left our map, and the Lucan group (two Jerx ships) is headed for deep space.

Our Fleet is still 4.2 hours from the jump point. It will not arrive in time.

 

[blue emu]

OK... let's talk about this. We've been raided twice... first Alpha Centauri, and now Luhman 16. What have we learned from it?

Lessons learned:

Local defenses (our heroic STO, for example) seem to work very well, but only within gun range... maybe 200,000 km. They are useless for commerce protection... for guarding the civvie ships. To do that, we need either (a) Orbital Air Bases and Fighters (which must be paired with Orbital Sentry RADARs and with Gadgets), or (b) a small fleet of warships. Or both.

We cannot count on reaction forces to deal with the raiders, since even with the most favorable arrangement of jump points (and the Sol => Luhman jump is very close to exactly that) the reaction force arrives too late to intervene. We would need to base the reaction force right ON the jump point, as a Deep Space Population, so that they could appear in either star system immediately when raiders appear.

This can, in fact, be done.

The loss of the civvie ships is annoying, and in theory it hurts our income (in practice, we've been pinned against our maximum bank balance cap for several years).

We are going to want some moderately solid defenses in every star system that has any relevance to us. Not as bad as it sounds, since only a few are really relevant, either from mining, or colonization, or to keep free passage open for our civvies.

 

[Blaaat]

Yeah the orbital defence and STO are good at defending planets but lousy at protecting any thing in between. Fighters would require lots of missiles not sure if our ordinance factories can handle it (are laser fighters a thing or are they useless?) I guess a fleet of Gauss PD ships, Laser PD ships and a spinal laser ship would be the answer against the Jerks. Of course this also means that every colony now needs maintenance and repair facilities to handle the fleets hopefully the colonies have enough population to handle it.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Having a smaller defense squadron in each system seems a good idea.
Something like 5 ships or something.
Just enough to handle a small raid.

Will we be picking up the remaining life pods?

 

[blue emu]

Yeah the orbital defence and STO are good at defending planets but lousy at protecting any thing in between. Fighters would require lots of missiles not sure if our ordinance factories can handle it (are laser fighters a thing or are they useless?) I guess a fleet of Gauss PD ships, Laser PD ships and a spinal laser ship would be the answer against the Jerks. Of course this also means that every colony now needs maintenance and repair facilities to handle the fleets hopefully the colonies have enough population to handle it.

I was considering protecting the destinations with STO (on planets and moons) or stations (in orbits), and placing a Deep Space Pop supporting a small fleet in free space along the trade route between the jump point and the destination.

I don't think missiles for the Fighters are anything more than a logistical issue. We've got crap-loads of Gallicite... more than a sixth of a million tons already mined and stockpiled, with lots more still in the ground elsewhere. We should have no problem keeping hundreds of Fighters supplied with missiles.

Having a smaller defense squadron in each system seems a good idea.
Something like 5 ships or something.
Just enough to handle a small raid. - That's what I was thinking.

Will we be picking up the remaining life pods? - Yes.

 

[blue emu]

Here is the Luhman 16 system.

Jump point in at top left. The B-star is at bottom center. All of our current investments (the populated planet, the refineries at the gas giant) are at far right.

I was thinking of setting up a DSP (Deep Space Population) at the yellow dot, or perhaps somewhat to the left and above (where the cyan civvies are). Then setting up a fleet base at that DSP. One limitation... since there's no actual solar system body there, there is nowhere to put STO.

 

[Wagonlitz]

was considering protecting the destinations with STO (on planets and moons) or stations (in orbits)

sound like a good idea.
J thought we already were placing STO wheee needed, though.

What do you mean by stations? I thought all destinations were planets, etc.

One limitation... since there's no actual solar system body there, there is nowhere to put STO.

Couldn't you just have one of the Military bases? Like the laser space station.

 

[blue emu]

Another point:

It's pretty clear that our fleet elements (Carriers, AWACS, etc) were designed for pitched battles, not for patrolling odd corners of the empire or chasing bandits.

Why don't we design some ships that ARE intended for Bandit-chasing?

What characteristics should they have? What characteristics would they NOT need to have?

I feel that they would NOT need to have much endurance; neither an interstellar cruising range (since they will just be guarding their own system), nor a multi-month life-support endurance (they will only be in space for a few days at a time, not for months), nor will they need deep magazines for prolonged combat.

What they DO need is speed and firepower. Since the Bandits tend to scatter and flee as soon as we start hurting them, a long firing range and a high alpha strike (first strike capability) are very desirable.

So far, we haven't seen the Bandits fire a single missile. It has all been energy weapons.

So as a counter-measure, a small fast attack craft armed with missiles in box launchers naturally suggests itself.

 

[blue emu]

sound like a good idea.
J thought we already were placing STO wheee needed, though. - Correct, that's what I'm talking about. I'm just trying to consolidate the improvised steps that we've already taken into an actual Doctrine (with a capital D) governing defense. Both strategic and tactical planning are greatly assisted by having an established overall Doctrine to follow.

What do you mean by stations? I thought all destinations were planets, etc. - Only solid bodies (rocky planets, moons, comets etc) can support ground units like STO. Gas giants cannot. So we can only guard our Refineries with stations, not with STO.

Couldn't you just have one of the Military bases? Like the laser space station. - That's the plan, yes.

 

[blue emu]

Here is a small fast attack craft, designed as a pirate chaser. They are faster than any Jerx ship we've seen, and are intended to operate together with a fast AWACS.

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Cutlass class Fast Attack Craft (P) 1,942 tons 24 Crew 330.9 BP TCS 39 TH 320 EM 0
8239 km/s Armour 1-13 Shields 0-0 HTK 10 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 9
Maint Life 2.16 Years MSP 178 AFR 60% IFR 0.8% 1YR 51 5YR 767 Max Repair 160 MSP
Magazine 60 / 0
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Morale Check Required

1985 Magneto-plasma Drive EP320.00 HS 20 (1) Power 320 Fuel Use 42.43% Signature 320 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 21.8 billion km (30 days at full power)

Size 6.00 Box Launcher 1973 (10) Missile Size: 6 Hangar Reload 122 minutes MF Reload 20 hours
Missile Fire Control FC80-R20 (1) Range 80.6m km Resolution 20
Broadsord ASM 4-22k-73m-25th 1978 (10) Speed: 22,000 km/s End: 55.3m Range: 73m km WH: 4 Size: 6 TH: 73/44/22

CIV Search Sensor AS39-R100 1976 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100

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 Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Warship for auto-assignment purposes

---

Designed specifically for superiority over a Jerkmobile gunship.

A mass of 2,000 tons. Speed over 8,000 kps (the fastest Jerx we've seen is under 7,000 kps). Enough fuel for a month, and the same life-support endurance. Raids are short. No armor, since it's never supposed to come close enough to get shot at by energy weapons (paper beats rock!). Box launchers.

Built to operate in a small pack of similar vessels, directed by a fast AWACS.

 

[Wagonlitz]

So as a counter-measure, a small fast attack craft armed with missiles in box launchers naturally suggests itself.

Missiles due to their lo ger range?
Do we plan to stay out of range of their energy weapons?

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

The percentages seems cut off.



Why would civvies have a destinafion of a gas giant?
Like, you can't build colonies rheee.

 

[blue emu]

... and you wouldn't freaking BELIEVE how tight THIS design was. I actually had to design a new prototype engine specifically for this ONE fast attack craft, since the design simply wasn't possible (under 2,000 tons) with off-the-shelf components. It couldn't be done.

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Sabre class Fast Attack Craft (P) 1,997 tons 48 Crew 472.7 BP TCS 40 TH 325 EM 0
8134 km/s Armour 3-14 Shields 0-0 HTK 12 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 8
Maint Life 1.36 Years MSP 186 AFR 128% IFR 1.8% 1YR 108 5YR 1,622 Max Repair 162.40 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Morale Check Required

Magneto-plasma Drive EP324.80 (1) Power 324.8 Fuel Use 128.38% Signature 324.80 Explosion 14%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 17.6 billion km (24 days at full power)

Spinal 25.00cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser 1981 (1) Range 256,000km TS: 8,134 km/s Power 16-4 RM 40,000 km ROF 20
1984 Beam Fire Control R256-TS10000 (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s ECCM-0 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Stellarator Fusion Reactor R4 (1) Total Power Output 4.1 Exp 5%

CIV PD Search Sensor AS8-R1 (1) GPS 21 Range 8.6m km MCR 771.7k km Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Warship for auto-assignment purposes

---

Spinal 25cm boom-boom. Three layers of armor. Over 8,000 kps. One month endurance. Our best anti-ship Fire Control. Enough spares to repair any component once. All under 2,000 tons.

 

[blue emu]

Missiles due to their lo ger range?
Do we plan to stay out of range of their energy weapons? - That ship will, yes. Our ship is both faster and longer ranged than the Jerkmobile. The plan is to stay out of his gun range, dump all of the box launchers at ONE target (the Bandits tend to break and run as soon as you kill one ship) and then run back to the base, still staying out of their gun range. If the Bandits follow you back, the STO or Orbital Stations kill them. If they don't follow you, you reload your missiles and do it again.

The percentages seems cut off. - TH: 73/44/22 - to Hit : 73% vs 3,000 speed, 44% vs 5,000 speed, 22% vs 10,000 speed.

Why would civvies have a destinafion of a gas giant? - The Refineries are ALWAYS in low orbit of a gas giant. Civvies build Harvesters and refine and sell the fuel.
Like, you can't build colonies rheee.

 

[blue emu]

... and the Pirate Chaser AWACS. Again, it requires purpose-built components in order to squeeze the design down to 2,000 tons.

---

Eyeball class Fast Attack Craft (P) 1,991 tons 42 Crew 557.8 BP TCS 40 TH 325 EM 0
8158 km/s Armour 1-14 Shields 0-0 HTK 7 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 0
Maint Life 1.98 Years MSP 337 AFR 63% IFR 0.9% 1YR 114 5YR 1,705 Max Repair 336 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Morale Check Required

Magneto-plasma Drive EP324.80 (1) Power 324.8 Fuel Use 128.38% Signature 324.80 Explosion 14%
Fuel Capacity 255,000 Litres Range 18 billion km (25 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor AS84-R15 (1) GPS 5040 Range 84.6m km Resolution 15

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Scout for auto-assignment purposes

---

Over 8,000 kps. No armor or weapons. It's just a high-speed, small-target sensor platform. Enough spares to repair the RADAR once.

 

[blue emu]

So what do you people think?

The overall "Empire Security" Doctrine... still evolving and being updated, of course... will be roughly as follows:

(1) The main fleet will be based at Earth, with perhaps detachments at major bases such as Luyten's Star and Tau Ceti (both only in the planning stage).

(2) Important passenger destinations such as colonies will be guarded by STO and the "Fighter Base / AWACS Base / Gadget" combination.

(3) Important mines can be guarded by STO, since mines always involve a solid body.

(4) Refineries at gas giants can be guarded by Stations of various sorts, from the "Fighter Base / AWACS Base / Gadget" combination, to Saurons.

(5) Like Refineries, our DSPs (Deep Space Populations) cannot support STO and must be guarded in the same way as the Refineries.

(6) The freedom of navigation patrols and commerce protection will be entrusted to 2,000 ton patrol craft, specifically the Cutlass, Sabre and Eyeball classes.

---

Naturally, we don't have any of these patrol craft built. We don't have any of the prototype components (there are about four) actually researched yet. We don't have any specifically 2000-ton shipyards. So our Fleet must carry the burden for a few years more.

But is the above Doctrine worth gradually implimenting, over the next few years?

 

[Blaaat]

Looks good!

Meanwhile in my game millions of people died on Luna because the Oxygen percentage got above 30% due to dropping water vapour levels that's a bit of an oops.

 

[blue emu]

Looks good!

Meanwhile in my game millions of people died on Luna because the Oxygen percentage got above 30% due to dropping water vapour levels that's a bit of an oops.

Yeah... I make a deliberate effort NOT to optimize, sometimes, because in this game optimizing can be dangerous if conditions change.

For example... those 2,000 ton designs given above are specifically optimized to fight Jerkmobiles. Oppose them with superior missile boats, and they wouldn't stand a chance. Fighters, also, could kill them easily.

 

[blue emu]

You may have noticed that there is a trade-off between research efficiency and combat efficiency.

Example:

By only designing a few types of ship's engines, we save research time and can now switch to studying some OTHER technology. Science advances rapidly, on a broad front. But the drawback is that all ships must use one of those standard engine designs, even if that makes the ship less efficient in its designed combat role.

The alternative is to design sets of specific components for particular ship classes, even though this requires devoting scientists and labs to what is really engineering work rather than pure research. Science advances somewhat more slowly, but our Navy is a bit more effective at the same technology level.

It's a trade-off.

 

[blue emu]

With the arrival of our fleet in the Luhman 16 system we've re-started our Tug transfers of more refineries to the Luhman 16-A-1 Complex.

After dropping off the refinery the Tug will pick up all the life-pods with several days to spare on their endurance.

---

I'm going to try setting up a base in deep space, right on the Sol => Luhman 16 trade route... at the yellow dot in the above screenshot (post #646).

That way I'll at least find out whether I understand the machanics of DSPs.

 

[blue emu]

So far, I've created the DSP waypoint and parked our fleet on that spot as Overwatch. Then a Tug started transferring Gadget class Maintenance Tenders out to the DSP location, in preparation for the installation of Fighter Base, Sentry (RADAR) and Sauron (Beam) Stations. Three of the tenders (total 37,500 maintenance points) are enough to support one of each station type (total 35,000 maintenance load).