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

[blue emu]

So:

We ran this test twice. Once until we hit a procedural snag (no jump or fire delay when shooting at waypoints) and once all the way to completion.

On the first test, one group of Partystarters landed barely within PD range (actually, DP range) and the other two groups were hundreds of thousands of km away.

On the second test, all three groups appeared hundreds of thousands of km away from the jump point.

So the "stand-off" aspect of the assault method seems to work. Only a fraction of the platforms will jump in close enough to be destroyed by PD fire.

So he'll have to either use missiles (and be reload-locked for eight minutes and forty seconds) or split up his PD ships and Gunships and send them away from the jump point, out hunting Partystarters. Either decision invites our invasion force in (Fighters first!) and in any case, he doesn't have enough Fire Controls to destroy hundreds of Partystarters in less time than it takes them to recover and open fire.

The bottom line: Give us two or three hundred Partystarters and we can break this blockade. Even a hundred might do it.

 

[blue emu]

With the test run successfully completed, the Tender and its load of Partystarters are returning to Earth.

 

[blue emu]

According to my rough calculation, it will take almost exactly a year to build a hundred Partystarters.

Which means we can have LOTS of them ready by the time all of our ground troops are built.

---

April 24th, 2031.

Another polite suggestion from the Bork. Diplo +77.7

More troops. Gunships finish overhaul. The half of the Carrier fleet that was under overhaul is also done.

 

[randakar]

According to my rough calculation, it will take almost exactly a year to build a hundred Partystarters.

Which means we can have LOTS of them ready by the time all of our ground troops are built.

Yeah. It was about 3 years, I think. So 300 partystarters or so.
Of course we can start sooner, we will still have to clear the rest of that system before we can bring in the ground forces.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Because they have tactical uses, and most of the things you could be researching instead will take YEARS anyway.

I take it rhe laser warheads tech was really cheap go research then?

Now back to researching the next level of jump drives

What do the new jump drives do?

Trap Door Spider

Whys it called that?

 

[Wagonlitz]

Which means we can have LOTS of them ready by the time all of our ground troops are built.

Shouldn't we break the blockade as soon as we can, instead of waiting until we're ready to invade?

 

[blue emu]

I take it rhe laser warheads tech was really cheap go research then?

Compared to a tech that takes 7+ years?

Yes.

What do the new jump drives do?

Jump.

They just occupy less of your ship's displacement to do it. More compact.

Whys it called that?

You mean... why is hiding completely out of sight and suddenly pouncing on the unsuspecting prey called a "Trap Door Spider" maneuver?

 

[blue emu]

Shouldn't we break the blockade as soon as we can, instead of waiting until we're ready to invade?

Why?

Then we'd have to patrol their star system for years, while our ground troops are building.

What about overhauls and shore leave? Aren't logistics easier if we try to coordinate the timing?

 

[blue emu]

A very reasonable possibility is to kill their blockading fleet and destroy their shipyards as soon as it's practical, but to then pull our forces back to Harmony where our logistics are solid while building up our ground troops for the invasion.

 

[randakar]

It would be nice to have eyes on their system, know what they're up to.

 

[blue emu]

It would be nice to have eyes on their system, know what they're up to.

Certainly.

But our main Naval presence should remain within one jump of a place that has a high fleet cap.

---

One possibility:

The enemy home planet Mechanus is deep in the inner star system, on the second planet out from the sun. Unfortunately that brings all of the inner star system... the innermost four planets... within missile range of Mechanus.

So to be safe, after breaking the blockade, wiping out his fleet and destroying the shipyards, we would want to build our "siege camp" on a moon of the gas giant A-V, the fifth planet out from the sun. We can stack maintenance bases there.

 

[randakar]

Sounds like a good intermediate step in this whole endeavour.

Of course I'm not sure we want to make that last very long. It's also a long way from sol, so if we need them elsewhere it will be that much further.
Plus the fact that on that planet we won't be able to do any jump point shenanigans, trap door spider style or otherwise.

 

[blue emu]

Sounds like a good intermediate step in this whole endeavour.

Of course I'm not sure we want to make that last very long. It's also a long way from sol, so if we need them elsewhere it will be that much further.
Plus the fact that on that planet we won't be able to do any jump point shenanigans, trap door spider style or otherwise.

Once we knock out the STO and are fully ready to invade, We'll transfer all the ground troops to the moon of Mechanus, only 32,000 km from the planet (within PD range!). Then invade from there, since the round-trip time for a drop-ship will only be minutes and our new drop-ships load up in an hour or two.

We can have millions of troops on the ground in time for the first combat round.

 

[Wagonlitz]

You mean... why is hiding completely out of sight and suddenly pouncing on the unsuspecting prey called a "Trap Door Spider" maneuver?

Yes, meant that.
Didn't know those spiders.

 

[Flockingbird]

Why am I researching laser warheads?

Because of your intense intellectual and engineering curiosity? Not to mention thoroughness. Everything will be researched in time! You will carry on the family tradition!

 

[blue emu]

 

[blue emu]

Bork scouts are no big deal.

In their place, we would be scouting too.

 

[Flockingbird]

Bork scouts are no big deal.

In their place, we would be scouting too.

Any chance seeing the size of our empire will help deter them from getting aggressive about ze neutral zone (sp), or is the opposite effect likely?

 

[blue emu]

April 29th, 2031.

The usual polite suggestion from the Bork. Diplo +78.9

As long as they remain polite, and as long as it remains just a suggestion, we can hope that our relations are actually going up, not down.

Other than that... just the usual. Troops built, Lizard Drop-ships refitted.

 

[blue emu]

I've been taking turns resting our ships at Harmony; hot-berthing them since there isn't enough maintenance support for all the warships present.

While doing this, I've scraped up a more modern Fighter squadron for the ESN Orion.

More lightly armed than previous models - with two box launchers instead of three - but twice the strike range and nearly +50% more speed than previous models. Also more compact and packs 38 to a hangar instead of 30. ECCM-5 fire control instead of ECCM-3. Fires Equalizers.