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

[blue emu]

Wagonlitz, You've got ECM and ECCM confused. Again.

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ECM is DEFENSIVE. It makes it harder for the enemy to hit you. It works completely differently when applied to ships or missiles. COMPLETELY differently.

- When applied to ships, each level of ECM in excess of the opponent's ECCM (ie: if we have ECM-4 and the opponent has ECCM-3, that's a one-level advantage) penalizes the opponent's shot by -20%. So a five-level advantage (our ECM-5 ships being attacked by ECCM-0 missiles, for example) is -100% and an automatic miss. Excess ECM also shortens the opponent's Missile Fire Control range, by -10% per level of ECM above the opponent's ECCM. Example: ECM-5 would halve the opponent's Missile fire control range unless the opponent could counter it with his own ECCM.

- ECM also applies to any Decoys that we launch from our ECM-protected ships to distract incoming enemy missiles. So his AMM-PD (which is ECCM-0) cannot hit our ship Decoys, any more than it can hit our ships.

- Missiles do NOT get ECM. Never. Instead, they can pay extra tonnage to carry Pen-Aids (penetration aids)... decoy missiles that deploy just as your missile is approaching the target and try to distract some of the enemy's anti-missile PD fire. It is unfortunate that the game ALSO calls these penetration aids as "Decoys", a term that the game already uses to refer to something completely different (decoy targets that an attacked ship deploys to distract incoming missiles).

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ECCM is OFFENSIVE. It tries to "see through" the opponent's ECM counter-measures so that you can strike the correct target instead of one of the decoys.

ECCM on Missile Fire Controls counters that "10% shorter FC range per ECM level". It allows you to use your missiles at their full range.

ECCM on the missiles themselves opposes enemy ships' ECM. If the target has ECM-5 and the missile has ECCM-3, then the missile shot is at a -40% penalty. ECCM on the missiles also reduces the effectiveness of the ship's decoys by -10% per excess ECCM level. So ECCM-5 (if unopposed by ECM) would reduce the enemy ship's decoys to half effectiveness.

 

[blue emu]

Harmony system.

140 missiles have been launched by the Modrons... without a declaration of war!

Presumably we are the target?

 

[blue emu]

Happycat has reached the Alpha Centauri system and begun exploring it!

Alpha Centauri is a binary star system about four light-years from Earth.

A G2-V primary just a touch more massive than Sol (1.02 Solar masses) with a K1-V Red Dwarf about 80% as massive (and 40% as luminous) as Sol, in an eccentric orbit. The primary star has six planets, fifteen moons (many of them as habitable as Mars) and ten comets, while the secondary star has two planets, four moons and 370 asteroids.

Nearly 200 of the asteroids (circling the secondary star) are within the habitable zone for temperatures.

We can't complain about the lack of colony sites in the Alpha Centauri system... there are 217 habitable points in the star system (nearly all of them airless rocks).

 

[blue emu]

Oooops.

Commander Happycat is the first person to encounter Aliens!

I suggest a rapid withdrawal. We should leave (if they allow it).

If this is the Precursors, then it won't matter what we decide to do... Commander Happycat is doomed.

If this is NOT the Precursors, then this is likely to be their home system, given the habitable planet. So we should LEAVE as quickly as possible, and send a Diplomatic vessel instead. Diplomatic vessels do not raise inter-species tension by being in your star system. Other vessels (including Scouts) do raise the tension.

 

[blue emu]

... looks like they don't want to talk.

We are now at war.

 

[blue emu]

OK... I guess Operation Big Nose is on.

Step 1 : The relevent ships will gather at Earth, do any needed preparations, and form up into a fleet.
- Meanwhile, a Super-Tug can drag a Portal class CIV Jump Tender Station out to the jump point into the enemy-held system. We won't need it yet anyway.

Step 2 : One Spy, one Agent, one Provocateur and one Scientist will all jump in and spread out.

 

[blue emu]

Whoops!

Look at the strength of the RADAR signature, and at the speed of the ship.

These look like late-game opponents. Invaders?

This should make Randakar very happy!

 

[blue emu]

I thought there waa an eccm thst had to he prototyped for each kf the types of ecm.

No.

There are three components to an ECM suite. Sensor Jammer, FC Jammer and Missile Jammer.

They all affect different things. There is no overlap.

Sensor Jammers and ONLY Sensor Jammers affect RADAR. FC Jammers and ONLY FC Jammers affect FCs. Missile Jammers and ONLY Missile Jammers affect missiles.

So when you put ECCM on a RADAR, it ONLY counters Sensor Jammers... because ONLY Sensor Jammers affect RADAR. The other two Jammers don't.

When you put ECCM on a Fire Control, it ONLY counters FC Jammers... because ONLY FC Jammers affect Fire Controls. The other two don't.

When you spend extra mass to equip a missile with ECCM, it ONLY counters Missile Jammers... because only Missile Jammers affect missiles.

... so your ECCM is automatically of the appropriate type. Because only one type of ECM (out of the three) ever affects each piece of equipment.

 

[blue emu]

Operation Proposal is launched at 7 PM August 21st, 2033.

Tactical. - We've turned off all of our RADARs except one FAC AWACS to watch for enemy missiles.

 

[blue emu]

Jesus Christ, not again!

Presumably at this distance we are only seeing the thermally brightest of the enemy ships, the Lot-et-Garonnes. It will be a full fleet.

It's the Purely Hypothetical Fourth Fleet!

I wonder if the Completely Mythical Fifth Fleet is also hanging around?