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

[blue emu]

The Spinal-equipped version has one slow-firing gun (45cm Spinal main armament, 45 second cycle time) and one "fast" firing gun (30cm Casemate secondary armament, 20 seconds cycle time). That allows it to sit WAY back and snipe, but also doesn't leave it helpless if it gets rushed.

Another possibility is to replace the 30cm secondary armament with a quick-firing (5 second cycle time) Dual-Purpose secondary armament that has both PD and anti-ship capability. Less damage per hit (only 15cm instead of 30cm) but fires every five seconds and shoots at both ships and missiles.

 

[RobbieAB]

The smaller dual purpose gun might make more sense. Better at the absolute limits of range (4x 1 damage beats 1x 1 damage), better point defence capability.

I was just reasoning from the pirate battles where the limit on your Sabre capability was the limit on the spare parts to repair breakdowns: if the slower firing bigger gun has the same repair cost as the faster firing smaller gun per breakdown, it would give a better “damage per unit repair cost”. In that scenario, ignoring the 1 damage absolute extreme range engagement, the bigger gun would presumably give better overall performance, and the smaller gun firing would actually reduce the overall performance of the ship by consuming spare parts better used for the main gun.

Your point about getting rushed is of course valid, but that undermines the axiom that the ship will be able to dictate range.

 

[blue emu]

OK, here are the hard figures for the spare parts consumption involved in fixing breakdowns.

Souped up engine: 1260 repair parts.
45cm Spinal Laser: 219 repair parts.
30cm Casemate Laser: 147 repair parts.

The General class Gunship with the Spinal Laser carries 3,812 repair parts on-board.

Enough to fix more than a dozen breakdowns. So it's not a major constraint.

 

[blue emu]

By reducing the armor thickness slightly (from six layers to five) we can replace the Casemated 30cm secondary armament (one shot per 20 seconds, tracking speed 10,000 kps) with a twin 15cm turret (two-barreled) firing one shot per barrel every five seconds with a tracking speed of 25,000 kps (so, much better against missiles).

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General V class Gunship (P) 5,995 tons 131 Crew 2,318.2 BP TCS 120 TH 302 EM 0
10508 km/s Armour 5-29 Shields 0-0 HTK 37 Sensors 8/14/0/0 DCR 2-3 PPV 29.75
Maint Life 2.64 Years MSP 3,808 AFR 144% IFR 2.0% 1YR 772 5YR 11,586 Max Repair 1260 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Morale Check Required

Magnetic Fusion Drive EP1260.00 (1) Power 1260 Fuel Use 53.79% Signature 302.40 Explosion 15%
Fuel Capacity 535,000 Litres Range 29.9 billion km (32 days at full power)

45.0cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser 2004 (1) Range 320,000km TS: 10,508 km/s Power 53-6 RM 50,000 km ROF 45
Twin 15.0cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser RoF 5 2000 Turret (1x2) Range 300,000km TS: 25000 km/s Power 12-12 RM 50,000 km ROF 5
1998 Beam Fire Control R320-TS10000 (SW) (1) Max Range: 320,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s ECCM-1 97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
1998 PD Beam Fire Control R160-TS20000 (1) Max Range: 160,000 km TS: 20,000 km/s ECCM-1 94 88 81 75 69 62 56 50 44 38
Tokamak Fusion Reactor R19 (1) Total Power Output 18.5 Exp 5%

1992 CIV PD Sensor AS11-R1 (1) GPS 28 Range 11.2m km MCR 1m km Resolution 1
1992 CIV Sensor AS51-R100 (1) GPS 2800 Range 51.8m km Resolution 100
1993 EM Sensor EM1.0-14.0 (1) Sensitivity 14 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 29.6m km
Thermal Sensor TH1.0-8.0 1969 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km

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

 

[randakar]

Now all we need is to build a few and find something to shoot at.

I'm particularly interested in how well this holds up against (spoiler race) using (spoiler ships)

 

[blue emu]

So does that look like our Gunship build?

45cm Spinal + DP Lasers for the Generals, and dedicated Gauss PD for the Qualitys?

 

[randakar]

That's my vote.

 

[RobbieAB]

I think that is my vote too

 

[blue emu]

We are up to fifty-seven Sabres completed (all of them Sabre V) and another eight under construction.

Half of them are deployed on station, in groups of 4+. The other half are in reserve at Earth.

I'm thinking of expanding the 2,000-ton Sabre shipyards and using them to build 6,000-ton Generals and Qualitys.

 

[blue emu]

Currently expanding five shipyards... two for 30,000-ton FAC Tenders, and three for 6,000-ton Gunships and their escorts.

 

[blue emu]

We are sending a Refueling Station (needed for refueling), a Shuttle Station (needed for transferring spare parts) and an ordinance station (needed for transferring missiles) out to the new Naval base we are building on Comet Yod in the Xi Bootes star system.

 

[blue emu]

The reason that we had to remove one layer of armor from the General class design (from an intended six layers down to five) was that the Dual Purpose secondary armament requires a Dual Purpose Fire Control in order to be fully effective.

A Point Defense weapon can use a Fire Control that is weak at long range, because the job of Point Defense is done at short range. Similarly, an anti-ship weapon isn't really expected to engage missile-speed targets, so it doesn't require missile-speed tracking.

But a Dual Purpose weapon does all of that and requires all of that. So its Fire Control will naturally be bulkier.

... so I replaced some of the design armor with some extra electronics.

 

[blue emu]

Those designs that I've been showing you are based on Prototypes, and they must be replaced by actual components before we can retool a shipyard for the design.

So we are researching the prototypes and converting them into actual ship components. Here's the DP Laser turret for the General class.

 

[blue emu]

Grinder class Orbital Mining Platforms are the foundation of our Empire's prosperity.

Our 222 deployed platforms each have the mining effectiveness of 21 auto-mines. That's 4,662 mine-equivalents in total.

And the fact that 21 auto-mines are "bundled" into each Grinder makes them much easier to redeploy to new mining sites.

 

[blue emu]

We now have more than three-and-a-half billion liters of space fuel refined and stockpiled at Earth... so our campaign to extract space fuel from gas giants seems to be going well. Earth's fuel refineries have been shut down for decades.

Our Earth-based supply of spare parts is also increasing, but much more slowly... even though all the old maintenance facilities have been brought back from "cold storage" on Luna and reactivated.

 

[blue emu]

Work continues on the new Naval base on Comet Yod in the Xi Bootes system.

The Garrison Brigade (HQ + 4 Battalions), the STO turrets, and the refueling / resupplying / re-arming gear have all been delivered. The approaching Fat Man tug is towing an Ark module loaded with 200,000 colonists. That will form the core of the Naval base, offering shore leave to visiting ships and providing a work-force for the Naval base. Once the Ark module is in place other Tugs will start bringing up Maintenance modules, so that when we start bringing in weaponized modules (airbase modules, beam weapon modules, AWACS modules) they can be supported and overhauled.

One reason that Comet Yod is a good spot for our Naval base... aside from the minerals... is that its orbit regularly carries it past the P Eridani jump point, and that's the NEXT place we're planning to set up a base.

 

[randakar]

So right now the plan is to finish this base, then do the same in P Eridani, and then explore further?

 

[blue emu]

So right now the plan is to finish this base, then do the same in P Eridani, and then explore further?

More or less.

I have two (very obsolescent) Gate Constructors. One is busy Gating towards Iota Ursae Majoris up at the top of the map. The other is busy Gating towards P Eridani at the bottom of the map. I can only build Naval bases within our jump-gate network, because the construction vessels (Tugs, Freighters, Troop Transports, Supply vessels) have no jump drives of their own.

So the plan is to establish Naval bases at the outer edges of Known Space (with P Eridani and Iota Ursae Majoris being the first two out of five or so). Then explore outward from there. In the mean-time, I am building minor bases (to support Sabres) in all the in-between star systems, to prevent Pirates from cutting off communications between the Capital and the Fringe.

That's why Xi Bootes. It is unavoidably in between the Capital and the intended base in the P Eridani star system.

 

[blue emu]

Part of my attempt to rationalize the increasingly complex imperial administration has been to create a "Colonial Administration" branch of government, with different departments for different star systems.

Grouping the fleets by home star system also tends to group them by purpose or by responsibility.

 

[blue emu]

The General class and the Quality class are now out of Prototype... all necessary components have been researched, and shipyard production can begin as soon as the yards have retooled.

---

General class Gunship 5,995 tons 131 Crew 2,318.2 BP TCS 120 TH 302 EM 0
10508 km/s Armour 5-29 Shields 0-0 HTK 37 Sensors 8/14/0/0 DCR 2-3 PPV 29.75
Maint Life 2.64 Years MSP 3,808 AFR 144% IFR 2.0% 1YR 772 5YR 11,586 Max Repair 1260 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Morale Check Required

Magnetic Fusion Drive EP1260.00 PWR-150 HS-42 (1) Power 1260 Fuel Use 53.79% Signature 302.40 Explosion 15%
Fuel Capacity 535,000 Litres Range 29.9 billion km (32 days at full power)

45.0cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser 2004 (1) Range 320,000km TS: 10,508 km/s Power 53-6 RM 50,000 km ROF 45
Twin 15.0cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser RoF 5 2000 Turret (1x2) Range 300,000km TS: 25000 km/s Power 12-12 RM 50,000 km ROF 5
1998 Beam Fire Control R320-TS10000 (SW) (1) Max Range: 320,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s ECCM-1 97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
1998 PD Beam Fire Control R160-TS20000 (1) Max Range: 160,000 km TS: 20,000 km/s ECCM-1 94 88 81 75 69 62 56 50 44 38
Tokamak Fusion Reactor R19 (1) Total Power Output 18.5 Exp 5%

1992 CIV PD Sensor AS11-R1 (1) GPS 28 Range 11.2m km MCR 1m km Resolution 1
1992 CIV Sensor AS51-R100 (1) GPS 2800 Range 51.8m km Resolution 100
1993 EM Sensor EM1.0-14.0 (1) Sensitivity 14 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 29.6m km
Thermal Sensor TH1.0-8.0 1969 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km

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

---

Quality class Light Cruiser 5,995 tons 99 Crew 2,054.2 BP TCS 120 TH 302 EM 0
10508 km/s Armour 6-29 Shields 0-0 HTK 37 Sensors 8/14/0/0 DCR 2-3 PPV 33.7
Maint Life 2.52 Years MSP 3,828 AFR 144% IFR 2.0% 1YR 840 5YR 12,607 Max Repair 1260 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Morale Check Required

Magnetic Fusion Drive EP1260.00 PWR-150 HS-42 (1) Power 1260 Fuel Use 53.79% Signature 302.40 Explosion 15%
Fuel Capacity 440,000 Litres Range 24.6 billion km (27 days at full power)

Quad Gauss Cannon R400-100 2001 Turret (1x16) Range 40,000km TS: 25000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 40,000 km ROF 5
1998 PD Beam Fire Control R160-TS20000 (1) Max Range: 160,000 km TS: 20,000 km/s ECCM-1 94 88 81 75 69 62 56 50 44 38

1992 CIV PD Sensor AS11-R1 (1) GPS 28 Range 11.2m km MCR 1m km Resolution 1
1992 CIV Sensor AS51-R100 (1) GPS 2800 Range 51.8m km Resolution 100
1993 EM Sensor EM1.0-14.0 (1) Sensitivity 14 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 29.6m km
Thermal Sensor TH1.0-8.0 1969 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km

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