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

[blue emu]

Some Tenders carrying spare parts have arrived at the rendezvous and are bringing the Gunships back up to 100%.

 

[blue emu]

The last components of the Spaceport are now en-route to Harmony. ETA 34 days.

The spaceport cannot be brought fully online until there are people on the planet to operate it.

 

[randakar]

Regarding the dropships, is there a place that we can use as a staging point near Mechanus? Something close enough that we can make a lot of trips in a single 8 hour ground combat interval?

If the answer is no, then we need to build dozens of the highest capacity version of troop transport. Plus tugs, I guess. So we can land a big, several million troop first assault wave.

If the answer is yes, we can go for the highly armored version as we can do more round trips before the ground combat kicks off in earnest.

How quickly does one of these things load up the troops it's going to be shipping?

 

[blue emu]

Regarding the dropships, is there a place that we can use as a staging point near Mechanus? Something close enough that we can make a lot of trips in a single 8 hour ground combat interval?

If the answer is no, then we need to build dozens of the highest capacity version of troop transport. Plus tugs, I guess. So we can land a big, several million troop first assault wave.

If the answer is yes, we can go for the highly armored version as we can do more round trips before the ground combat kicks off in earnest.

How quickly does one of these things load up the troops it's going to be shipping?

I gave each version enough shuttles to reduce the loading time to between three and four hours. I could add a few more without exceeding the slipway limit.

The home planet has a moon that is only 31,000 km out. More than ten times closer than our own moon, Luna.

Naturally that's within STO range... it's within Gauss PD range!... so we could only set up there after wiping out all the enemy STO.

But from there we can transfer our army to the planet pretty quickly.

 

[blue emu]

Revised Lake design - loading time 55 minutes.

Lake class Dropship 85,005 tons 543 Crew 8,648.8 BP TCS 1,700 TH 12,000 EM 0
7058 km/s Armour 25-172 Shields 0-0 HTK 121 Sensors 24/24/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 63 Max Repair 800 MSP
Troop Capacity 25,000 tons Drop Capable Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 30
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months

2021 CIV SCAM Drive EP2400.0 HS-150 P-50 (5) Power 12000 Fuel Use 1.37% Signature 2400 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 154.6 billion km (253 days at full power)

CIV PD Active Search Sensor AS14-R1 2004 (1) GPS 36 Range 14.4m km MCR 1.3m km Resolution 1
CIV Active Search Sensor AS66-R100 2004 (1) GPS 3600 Range 66.7m km Resolution 100
2018 CIV EM Sensor EM1.0-24.0 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km
2025 CIV Thermal Sensor TH1.0-24.0 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Troop Transport for auto-assignment purposes

---

Revised Rodent design - loading time one hour.

Rodent class Dropship 109,908 tons 683 Crew 6,942.5 BP TCS 2,198 TH 12,000 EM 0
5459 km/s Armour 8-204 Shields 0-0 HTK 158 Sensors 24/24/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 39 Max Repair 800 MSP
Troop Capacity 50,000 tons Drop Capable Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 55
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months

2021 CIV SCAM Drive EP2400.0 HS-150 P-50 (5) Power 12000 Fuel Use 1.37% Signature 2400 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 59.8 billion km (126 days at full power)

CIV PD Active Search Sensor AS14-R1 2004 (1) GPS 36 Range 14.4m km MCR 1.3m km Resolution 1
CIV Active Search Sensor AS66-R100 2004 (1) GPS 3600 Range 66.7m km Resolution 100
2018 CIV EM Sensor EM1.0-24.0 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km
2025 CIV Thermal Sensor TH1.0-24.0 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Troop Transport for auto-assignment purposes

---

Modified Lizard III design - loading time 55 minutes.

Lizard III class Dropship 33,678 tons 160 Crew 1,015.6 BP TCS 674 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s No Armour Shields 0-0 HTK 38 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 18 Max Repair 800 MSP
Troop Capacity 25,000 tons Drop Capable Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 30
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months

Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range N/A

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Space Station for construction purposes
This design is classed as a Troop Transport for auto-assignment purposes

 

[blue emu]

Revised Snake design - loading time 58 minutes.

Snake class Dropship 99,950 tons 450 Crew 2,945.6 BP TCS 1,999 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s No Armour Shields 0-0 HTK 108 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 18 Max Repair 800 MSP
Troop Capacity 75,000 tons Drop Capable Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 85
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months

Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range N/A

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Space Station for construction purposes
This design is classed as a Troop Transport for auto-assignment purposes

 

[Wagonlitz]

View attachment 1283672

Isn't there a jump gate from NZ to Harmony?
I thought it only was the Harmony NZ direction which wasn't built yet.

Our colony ship continues to collect prisoners. And Intel.

View attachment 1283681

Could jndel give tech too?

I say let's use rhe heavily armoured dripship.
Such that we can avoid blasting the planet from orbit and wrecking it.

 

[blue emu]

Isn't there a jump gate from NZ to Harmony?
I thought it only was the Harmony NZ direction which wasn't built yet.

There is, but the connecting line only turns orange if BOTH sides of the gate are finished.

Could jndel give tech too?

I believe so. Not sure.

I say let's use rhe heavily armoured dripship.
Such that we can avoid blasting the planet from orbit and wrecking it.

We can't afford either the time or the minerals that it would take to build enough armored dropships for a multi-million ton force of ground troops.

The first wave and the most valuable units (Tanks) can be transported in armored carriers, but most troops will ride in the cheap seats.

Which means that we'll need to smash his STO regardless.

 

[son of liberty]

Is there a darkside to the moon or is it rotating?

 

[blue emu]

Is there a darkside to the moon or is it rotating?

It is tidally locked.

But the game mechanics don't distinguish between different parts of its surface.

If they can see the moon, then they can shoot at anyone on it.

 

[Acheron]

It is tidally locked.

But the game mechanics don't distinguish between different parts of its surface.

If they can see the moon, then they can shoot at anyone on it.

I take it we cannot drop something on the moon for the sole purpose of the Morons wasting their shots on it?

 

[randakar]

Cool, the loading time reduction really helps.

The home planet has a moon that is only 31,000 km out. More than ten times closer than our own moon, Luna.

Naturally that's within STO range... it's within Gauss PD range!... so we could only set up there after wiping out all the enemy STO.

But from there we can transfer our army to the planet pretty quickly.

That's unfortunate, the ideal staging point is close but out of STO range. Because then you can make do with less drop capacity and leave the STO alone.

If you are killing the STO anyway we can do it without armor on the dropships.

 

[Wagonlitz]

gave each version enough shuttles to reduce the loading time to between three and four hours. I could add a few more without exceeding the slipway limit.

Slipway limit? Ad in how much tonnage you can give the ship?

I take it we cannot drop something on the moon for the sole purpose of the Morons wasting their shots on it?

It's not missiles, so they'll never run out.

 

[Acheron]

It's not missiles, so they'll never run out.

I suspected that. But what about reload times?

 

[Flockingbird]

Snake, lizard, rodent, and lake: what led you to name one dropship class “Lake?” You always have a reason for your naming conventions!

Also, snakes eat rodents and lizards! But not lakes. Wondering if you’re making a Norse mythology allusion; didn’t Loki give Thor or Odin a tankard that was magically connected to the ocean and bet him that he couldn’t drain it in one go? I haven’t read any mythology in decades, so I don’t remember the exact details.

 

[blue emu]

I take it we cannot drop something on the moon for the sole purpose of the Morons wasting their shots on it?

Unfortunately STO never malfunctions or runs short of ammo.

---

The way I envisage the assault (a few years from now) is something like this:

1) Break the jump point blockade annd destroy the enemy Red 10 fleet.
2) Head straight for the enemy shipyards, destroying any enemy ships encountered on the way. Smash the shipyards.
3) Clean out any remaining enemy warships in the star system.
-- at this point we can begin shipping in troops and just start dumping them on some random rock, so that they are near at hand later.
4) Secure the jump points in and out of the star system.
5) Destroy the enemy STO.
6) Transfer our ground troops to the planet's moon, only 32,000 km from the target planet itself.
7) When everything is ready, drop the first wave and immediately start shuttling our entire army from the moon down onto the planet's surface.

Cool, the loading time reduction really helps.

That's unfortunate, the ideal staging point is close but out of STO range. Because then you can make do with less drop capacity and leave the STO alone.

If you are killing the STO anyway we can do it without armor on the dropships.

The great majority of our troops will drop from Lizards or Snakes (both un-armored).

But an armored pathfinder force is very useful anyway.

What if the Modrons also have another colony or two? We'll have to assault them as well, to force a surrender.

Slipway limit? Ad in how much tonnage you can give the ship?

Correct.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Snake, lizard, rodent, and lake: what led you to name one dropship class “Lake?” You always have a reason for your naming conventions!

Also, snakes eat rodents and lizards! But not lakes. Wondering if you’re making a Norse mythology allusion; didn’t Loki give Thor or Odin a tankard that was magically connected to the ocean and bet him that he couldn’t drain it in one go? I haven’t read any mythology in decades, so I don’t remember the exact details.

It's Udgaardsloke, who's different from Loke.
But yes, Thor drinks from the sea and makes the sea level fall a few metres, which is the reason that today (forgot what it explains.)

 

[blue emu]

Snake, lizard, rodent, and lake: what led you to name one dropship class “Lake?” You always have a reason for your naming conventions!

Also, snakes eat rodents and lizards! But not lakes. Wondering if you’re making a Norse mythology allusion; didn’t Loki give Thor or Odin a tankard that was magically connected to the ocean and bet him that he couldn’t drain it in one go? I haven’t read any mythology in decades, so I don’t remember the exact details.

Snake and Lizard share an important characteristic... neither one has a hull, let alone any armor.

They are just a bunch of drop-pods bolted to an open frame. Requires a Tug to drag it to the enemy planet and drop the troops.

The other two are armored (and self-powered) drop-ships.

I suspected that. But what about reload times?

Too short to matter.

Gauss PD (which ARE within range of the moon) fire 20 times per 5-second increment, for example. Or 30cm Lasers fire once every 25 seconds. Or 20cm DP Lasers fire once every 5 seconds.

Since we're going to HAVE to kill the STO before we can bring in the bulk of the troops (who will be travelling in Lizards and Snakes, open frameworks with no armor) there isn't a lot of point to getting too fancy.

Laser fire doesn't do nearly as much ecological damage as missiles, and we can out-duel the STO because we have shields and can pull back whenever they weaken.

 

[blue emu]

Lizard IIIs can be built in our Lizard II yard, without re-tooling. Awesome.

A second yard (currently tooled for Orbital Refineries) will only require five weeks to re-tool for Lizard IIIs. Again, awesome.

Lizard IIIs are just our current Lizard IIs with enough extra Shuttles added to give them a one-hour loading time.

 

[blue emu]

We have a shipyard available that can produce Rocks.

Is this worth doing?

---

Rock class Third Class Cruiser (P) 106,248 tons 946 Crew 12,246.6 BP TCS 2,125 TH 28,800 EM 0
13553 km/s Armour 20-199 Shields 0-0 HTK 208 Sensors 24/24/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 72 Max Repair 600 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months

2021 CIV SCAM Drive EP2400.0 HS-150 P-50 (12) Power 28800 Fuel Use 1.37% Signature 2400 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 123.7 billion km (105 days at full power)

CIWS-320 (4x10) Range 1000 km TS: 32,000 km/s ROF 5
2027 CIV Search Sensor AS88-R100 (1) GPS 4800 Range 88.9m km Resolution 100
2027 CIV PD Search Sensor AS19-R1 (1) GPS 48 Range 19.1m km MCR 1.7m km Resolution 1
2025 CIV Thermal Sensor TH1.0-24.0 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km
2018 CIV EM Sensor EM1.0-24.0 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a None for auto-assignment purposes