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Posted by: joeclark77

« on: September 14, 2013, 10:01:00 AM »

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Quote from: Brainsucker on September 10, 2013, 04:34:29 AM

interesting! Just curious about the fighter base. Why giving it a large fuel?

So it could refuel its fighters when they dock. I know you can just transfer fuel from the population, but that doesn't feel right to me from a roleplaying perspective. If I were building missile fighters I'd also have it stock ammo.

Posted by: Brainsucker

« on: September 10, 2013, 04:34:29 AM »

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interesting! Just curious about the fighter base. Why giving it a large fuel?

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: August 28, 2013, 02:18:05 PM »

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February 8, 2012 AD:
Construction of the 24th Longhorn freighter is completed, the last of the line. New freighters will be commissioned when the magnetoplasma engine designs are ready later this year. A task group of twenty Longhorns should be sufficient to transport the largest installations, so these will be kept together and ready to transport any newly uncovered installations from Dushanbe. The other four freighters in service will be used for routine transport of minerals. Civilian freighters can be hired for any urgent transportation jobs but few are anticipated at this time.

February 25, 2012 AD:
GEV Gretna discovers massive EM radiaton around Gretna B-V, concluding that it is either the Carmelite homeworld or a huge colony. The planet is renamed Mount Carmel, riding the wave of popular enthusiasm, although the chattering classes maintain that the Carmelite homeworld may be yet to be discovered.

February 28, 2012 AD:
Approaching Mount Carmel, GEV Gretna activates its sensors and scans a sizable fleet of Carmelite ships of every description in orbit of the planet. Approximately eighty Victor-class FACs make an impressive home defense fleet and increase Federation confidence that this is the homeworld.

March 10, 2012 AD:
A substantial Carmelite colony is detected on Gretna B-VII, with a few freighters (class: Black Lion) in orbit. The world is renamed Tabasco.

June 22, 2012 AD:
Jumping from Kalamazoo, DSS Bigfork finds itself inside a class 8 nebula where a protostar is orbited by a single Earthlike planet with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere and substantial ice cover. Unfortunately due to the thickness of the nebula, it would take a great deal of time to travel to the planet and investigate it. The new system is named Awahtukee.

July 21:
Miles Container Services opens for business as the third civilian shipping line.

August 2:
Professor Stephanie Bartlett demonstrates a working prototype of a magneto-plasma drive. A flurry of activity follows as ship designers begin work on new generations of every type of ship.

====================

...and I lost the latest version of the database in moving to my new PC! It's either replay 2012 or start a new game, and since I'm experiencing a bug with civilian traffic taking infinite loops around my jumpgate network, I think I'll be starting a new game soon.

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: August 26, 2013, 06:09:44 PM »

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FYI, I have been in the process of moving (to the west!) so I haven't been able to play for a few weeks. I've unpacked my computer and (importantly) now I have a desk to set it on, so I hope to write another chapter soon.

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: August 26, 2013, 05:56:32 PM »

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January 6, 2011 AD:
Construction begins on Earth's first four trans-newtonian fighter bases.

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Astrodome class Planetary Fighter Base    19,800 tons     321 Crew     1779 BP      TCS 396  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 12-65     Sensors 1/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 43.29
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Flight Crew Berths 32    
Hangar Deck Capacity 8000 tons     Troop Capacity: 2 Battalions    

Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range N/A
Quad R3/C3 Meson Cannon Turret (3x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 9000 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Meson Turret Fire Control S03 40-9000 (1)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 9000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
1HS-4.5P Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (8)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%


This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 8 sections

February 20, 2011 AD:
Researchers achieve the ability to reduce the size of a laser by 50%, enabling a powerful 20cm Near UV laser to be sized for a fighter. Fighter sized meson, microwave, and laser weapons are now in development.

With the completion of two-way jumpgates to Ponchatoula, tugboats begin towing the three Wildcat fuel platforms from Neptune orbit to Ponchatoula A-II. The superjovian gas giant is officially renamed Eisenhower.

March 11, 2011 AD:
After much deliberation and analysis, the Foreign Office issues a ruling that the Irian Commonwealth may be considered "friendly". The practical impact of this is that tactical officers will not need to be awakened in the middle of the night every time an Irian freighter appears on radar, and the War department can instead focus on real threats. (OOC it'll mean a lot less interruptions in the game clock for me!)

June 10, 2011 AD:
A major setback in sensor research occurs when Dr. Olivia Barrett is forced to retire for health reasons. She was working on a new generation of military sensors and there are no qualified replacements, so these projects are likely to proceed much more slowly under the management of lesser experts.

The first Astrodome fighter base is now operational and ready to receive fighters. The first fighter designs will be completed sometime this autumn.

June 27, 2011 AD:
Surface ice on Luna has begun to melt, increasing the albedo and the temperature there. At the current rate of terraforming, Luna will have a warm, breathable atmosphere in less than two years. However, three more Greenhorn terraforming platforms will enter service next April and June, and research into advanced terraforming techniques is nearing fruition, so this may be accomplished even sooner.

July 22, 2011 AD:
Carmelite jumpgate construction ships (Sentinel class) work faster than Federation Trailblazer-class JCSs, and are quickly building gates on all JPs in Texarkana. As the Carmelites appear friendly and open to trade, the Federation is willing to let them continue building up a jumpgate network. Several gravitational survey ships have completed overhauls and are on their way to help scan down the route to the Carmelite homeworld. Once it is located, trade can likely begin, as there appear to be a complete set of gates from Sol, via Muskogee and Texarkana, to the Carmelite chain.

In Fristoe, the two-way jump gates from Muskogee are complete, and colonization efforts are under way on Fristoe A-II, which at the President's request is named Trig.

August 3, 2011 AD:
The 39th Construction Brigade has fully exploited the ruins on Aegir. Two automated mines and one fuel refinery were recovered, as well as some valuable Tritanium and Uridium stores. Although the find was somewhat disappointing, Aegir is nonetheless a valuable planet that will likely become a major base of operations for the Federation in the coming decade.

August 8, 2011 AD:
Design of the first fighter craft is completed with the development of the final part, an electronic sight for targeting. The Gunslinger is classified as a dive bomber because its mission is to close to point-blank range against a larger enemy vessel, fire an armor-penetrating volley with its massive 20cm laser cannon, and withdraw while recharging its laser. It can fire once every five and a half minutes.

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Gunslinger class Dive Bomber    315 tons     3 Crew     59.25 BP      TCS 6.3  TH 10.5  EM 0
4761 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 63%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 6    5YR 87    Max Repair 14 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 7    

15 EP Ion Fighter Drive (2)    Power 15    Fuel Use 121.06%    Signature 5.25    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 4.7 billion km   (11 days at full power)

20cm Fighter NUV Laser (1)    Range 27,200km     TS: 4761 km/s     Power 10-0.15     RM 3    ROF 335        10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fighter Electronic Sight S00.5 13.6-4500 (1)    Max Range: 27,200 km   TS: 4500 km/s     63 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stellarator Hampster Wheel (1)     Total Power Output 0.6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

Work continues on a fighter-sized meson beam that will be carried by a fighter-interceptor.

August 24, 2011 AD:
The covert archaeological excavation in the ruined city on Dunshanbe (Eureka-B III) begins to pay off, as the 41st construction brigade recovers a working research facility. The discovery accelerates Western research into EM Sensor Sensitivity 8. There is no sign that the Irians are even interested in visiting their companion star.

October 4, 2011 AD:
The Carmelites give the Federation not one, but two technologies for high-yield missile warheads. Although the Federation has avoided using missiles due to the potentially high cost of building and transporting ammunition, these may be valuable in the future particulary for planetary defense.

October 22, 2011 AD:
Spies on Reagan have stolen the technical details of Beta Shields from the Irians. On Earth, Dr. Oscar Parker has achieved a breakthrough in terraforming technology that will dramatically improve the performance of orbital terraformers. Instructions are transmitted to all terraformer captains to enable them to reconfigure their systems.

October 27, 2011 AD:
Four Wildcat fuel platforms are towed into position in orbit of the Eisenhower gas giant in Ponchatoula. A tanker has been dispatched to ferry fuel from these platforms to the colony at Aegir.

Designs have been finalized for the Cowboy, a meson-armed dogfighter with somewhat less range and speed than the Gunslinger but the ability to fire every five seconds. It will be a key offensive and defensive fighter, able to intercept missiles and enemy fighters as well as to disable larger craft with its armor-penetrating meson beam:

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Cowboy class Fighter    330 tons     4 Crew     57.25 BP      TCS 6.6  TH 10.5  EM 0
4545 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 66%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 5    5YR 68    Max Repair 13.125 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 6    

15 EP Ion Fighter Drive (2)    Power 15    Fuel Use 121.06%    Signature 5.25    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 5,000 Litres    Range 2.3 billion km   (5 days at full power)

R6/C3 Fighter Meson Cannon (1)    Range 27,200km     TS: 4545 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 6    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fighter Electronic Sight S00.5 13.6-4500 (1)    Max Range: 27,200 km   TS: 4500 km/s     63 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stellarator Power Pak (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

November 6, 2011 AD:
The Bandito-class fighter is a modification of the Cowboy that exchanges its meson beam for a high-power microwave. An initial strike by a Bandito squadron can hopefully shut down enemy defenses by overloading their sensors and fire controls, allowing the Cowboy and Gunslinger squadrons more opportunities to fire. From the outside, it looks almost identical to the Cowboy except that the Bandito is painted black.

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Bandito class Fighter    330 tons     3 Crew     91.25 BP      TCS 6.6  TH 10.5  EM 0
4545 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 66%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 12    5YR 181    Max Repair 40 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 7    

15 EP Ion Fighter Drive (2)    Power 15    Fuel Use 121.06%    Signature 5.25    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 5,000 Litres    Range 2.3 billion km   (5 days at full power)

R6/C3 Fighter High Power Microwave (1)    Range 27,200km     TS: 4545 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 6    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fighter Electronic Sight S00.5 13.6-4500 (1)    Max Range: 27,200 km   TS: 4500 km/s     63 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stellarator Power Pak (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

November 29, 2011 AD:
The Papillion system is suspected to be on the path from Sheboygan toward the Carmelite homeworld, but it is costly to survey, with its survey points located 5 billion km from each other. Four survey ships concentrating on the system are still only beginning the task. Today a JP was located in the innermost asteroid belt, with a jump gate on it. DSS Muskogee and GEV Prospector 012 are assigned to transit and investigate. [Update, December 22: The adjacent system is a large quadruple with many asteroids and comets. Two planets of the B star are nearly habitable, and are considered possible candidates for the Carmelite home world. The system is named Gretna for the moment. GEV Prospector 012 is renamed GEV Gretna and sent to investigate the two planets.]

The Federation has decided to allow the Carmelites to access Western ports. It is hoped that as a side benefit of the trade, Federation sensors may be able to get some idea of where the Carmelite homeworld is.

January 2, 2012 AD:
Research into a Brigade Headquarters is completed. Thus ends the eleventh year of this history.

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: August 26, 2013, 05:54:20 PM »

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January 16, 2010 AD:
Sensor bouys in Sheboygan and an adjacent system named Kalamazoo detect two (separate) Carmelite ships of 6550T moving 3479km/s. If these are survey ships, they are fast ones. The Department of War analyzes the data warily. These aliens do not appear to be warming up to our diplomats as quickly as the Irians did.

March 5, 2010 AD:
Surveying the third planet of the Eureka-B system (some 17Gkm from the Eureka-A system where the Irian homeworld is located), GEV Humboldt detects a ruined alien city. Curiously, no Irian population is detected on the world. FASA orders GEV Palmer to pick up the Xenology team from Aegir (Ponchatoula B-II) and get them to the Eureka find as fast as possible.

June 4, 2010 AD:
As the first trade fleets, both Irian and Western, begin operating along the Earth-Paducah-Eureka trade route, news comes in that the Carmelites want their share of the action. They have granted trade access to Western Federation freighters.

July 11, 2010 AD:
Analysts believe that a new Irian ship, the Golf class, is a geological survey vessel. One has been sighted in Paducah.

September 8, 2010 AD:
A large fleet of approximately 20 Irian warships transits from Eureka into Paducah, moves toward the two planets hosting Federation colonies, and then sets course for the Sol JP. Could this be the beginning of war? Only a couple of months ago the Irians declared that we were "friendly" and that they'd be sharing geo-survey data with us. All Federation warships are sent to the Sol-Paducah JP just in case, although it is unclear whether they could match the Irian fleet. Construction of new warships must be made a priority!

November 1, 2010 AD:
A ruined alien colony is detected on Teulon III. Teulon is a system connected to Sparwood and our ships will have to pass by Eureka to get there.

November 19, 2010 AD:
The Irian fleet arrives in Earth orbit. It consists of two Kilos, four Charlies, one Mike, four Xrays, ten Juliets, two Novembers, a Hotel, two Sierras, one Tango, and two Romeos. Most are about 9000T but the Romeos and Mikes are about 18000T and the Novembers and Tango are 27,450T. All move at about 1575km/s. Our warships have been shadowing them on their approach.

November 24, 2010 AD:
The Irian fleet moves to Mars orbit.

December 2, 2010 AD:
The Irian fleet is visiting each of our colonies in turn. After stopping by the Jovian moons, it is now headed back toward Earth.

December 7, 2010 AD:
The gravitational survey of Sheboygan is complete. Two JPs lead to newly-discovered systems and sensor bouys indicate Carmelite traffic through both JPs, however, the system designated Papillion seems to be the "source" JP, so the federation expects to find Mount Carmel by exploring that route.

December 17, 2010 AD:
It has become evident that the Irian fleet is patrolling the Federation's colonies in Sol. It visits Earth, Luna, Mars, and the Jovian colonies in turn, and repeats the circuit. Apparently this "Great White Fleet" has been sent as a gesture of friendship, but it is also unmistakeably a show of force as well.

December 27, 2010 AD:
As a fine Christmas present, the Carmelites give us the technology for Jump Drive Efficiency 5.
Also in the spirit of the season, the xenologists on Eureka-B III deliver the secrets of the ruined city. It belonged to the Dushanbe Association and features 144 abandoned installations. Who knows what secrets might be discovered there! We shall give our Irian friends a taste of their own medicine as we unload troops and construction battalions within their own star system to exploit the ruins on the planet now renamed Dushanbe.

January 1, 2011 AD:
Behind closed doors at Federation HQ, the discussion is cacophonous. The Irian fleet is on the minds of many. By their speed and the range of their sensors, it seems the Irian technology is far less developed than human TN technology, but by tonnage and sheer number of ground troops, the Irians clearly have a superior force. If they are friendly, all well and good, but our weakness invites an opportunistic attack. After ten years of encounters, we still haven't even dared fight the Remnant aliens, and they only ever come in ones and twos.

A new generation of engines is expected to be introduced in August of 2012, but we cannot wait that long to respond to the Irian show of force. Two points are agreed upon: First, that the Maverick destroyers must recieve upgraded armor to allow them to survive a firefight with the Remants. Since Remnant ships fire particle beams that can cut through a six-layer hull, it is decided that at least seven layers of armor must be added. Second, a fighter fleet shall be built to defend Earth and Luna. Fighters will be designed to take advantage of new technology for reduced-size lasers and improved meson and microwave weapons, and large planetary hangars will be constructed for them. This appears to be the fastest way to increase Western firepower and the cheapest to upgrade later. The fighters may be glass cannons, but enough of them together should be able to shatter any hostile fleet in a first strike.

In other areas, the Federation's progress is more satisfactory. Extrasolar colonies are growing and trade is flourishing. Mars is booming with emigrants from Earth and Luna, and the eleventh terraforming platform will enter Luna orbit this spring. (Once twenty such platforms are built, terraforming efforts will move at a brisk pace.) Jump gates are being built rapidly and by the end of this year Ponchatoula and Fristoe will both be fully connected. Alien ruins in Ponchatoula have been disappointing, but a major find in Eureka right under the Irians noses may be a windfall for the West, and another find in Teulon is being researched as well. Relations with the Carmelites are warming, slowly, and Western merchants are excited about trading with them once their homeworlds are discovered.

Explorers have identified a number of mineral-rich systems, but even more interesting strategically, they have discovered secret back-door entrances into Eureka and Wichita (from Saskatoon) and Sheboygan (from Walla Walla) that may allow us to launch surprise flanking maneuvers against the Irians, Remnants, and Carmelites respectively.

Goals for the next 10 years:
1. Develop colonies and mineral extraction bases in Ponca, Ponchatoula, and Fristoe, completing a small loop. Pocatello, Rangeley, and Falkton to follow.
2. Develop Ponchatoula as a fuel harvesting base and strategic base for naval maintenance.
3. Fully terraform Luna and Mars; complete a 20-platform terraforming fleet to send outside the system; begin building a second fleet of the same size and use it to terraform the Jovian moons.
4. Exploit the ruins in Eureka and establish a well-defended colony and military base on a planet of the Eureka-B star.
5. Engage the Remnant aliens and recapture the valuable systems of Laramie and Wichita (and others). Salvage Remnant ships to learn from their technology.
6. Develop the military's ships, weapons, and tactics based on the discussions we have had in this first decade of experience.
7. Establish jump gate connections on all strategically-important loops.

Longer-term goals:
1. Colonize the entire loop from Sol through Ponca, Ponchatoula, Rangeley, Killarney, Medford, and Saskatoon, connecting back to Sol through Wichita.
2. Make Saskatoon and Sheboygan into forward military bases to defend against our alien friends if necessary.
3. Spread out industry and research facilities so that the Federation is less vulnerable to a surprise attack on Earth.

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: August 03, 2013, 01:58:55 PM »

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Quote from: Brainsucker on August 03, 2013, 06:49:40 AM

interesting, I can learn a lot of things from this AAR. BTW, can you share your recipe of creating the mines? As I don't know how to build a mine currently.

Simple: No engine, no fuel, no warhead, no agility, just active sensors. The game will automatically add a "reactor" of the appropriate size, so you just keep adjusting the sensor size until sensor+reactor comes out to a round number (in this case, size 7). I went with resolution 40 so that I'd have a good chance of detecting small survey ships but still have a bit of range (about a million km, if I recall correctly). Missile launcher with the lowest reloading tech (and reduced size, if you have the tech). You need a missile fire control - just make the smallest one possible with the lowest technology in every drop down, because its capabilities don't matter. In the Task Groups window you just assign the ship to "move to JP#1" and "launch missiles at JP#1" and it'll do it, assuming the buoys are assigned to the launcher linked to the fire control. Oh and you also need a magazine to carry them.

If you want to make it a mine, give the buoy a second stage which has the same sensor but also has fuel, engine, and warhead.

Posted by: Brainsucker

« on: August 03, 2013, 06:49:40 AM »

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interesting, I can learn a lot of things from this AAR. BTW, can you share your recipe of creating the mines? As I don't know how to build a mine currently.

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: August 02, 2013, 02:22:07 PM »

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January 19, 2009 AD:
DSS Hattiesburg jumps through a JP in Saskatoon and finds itself in the Eureka system only 600mkm from Eureka-A. This is a previously-unknown JP that could enable a surprise attack on the Irians, and very likely they will not know about it. An excellent discovery!

January 24, 2009 AD:
Communication has been achieved with the new aliens. They call themselves the Carmel Cityi Khanate. All of Earth is abuzz with the news, and top diplomats have been reassigned from the Irian embassy to forge peace with the Carmelites.

February 26, 2009 AD:
GEV Prospector 013 jumps from Killarney into the undiscovered Hannibal system, and takes its name. Hannibal is a binary and both stars have planets in the temperate zone that might be suitable for colonization. They only lack atmospheres.

March 10, 2009 AD:
DSS Hattiesburg jumps from Saskatoon and discovers a new connection to Medford. Saskatoon is a very well-connected system that is causing the Federation to have to re-draw all of its maps. Hattiesburg returns to Saskatoon to explore one last JP.

April 21, 2009 AD:
GEV Hannibal comes under attack near Hannibal-A by two new ships of the Laramie aliens, these ones apparently in orbit of the A-II planet. The Osa class is 14950T and the Borodino is 14650T. At 350kkm from the planet, the GEV is hit by a single salvo of fifty-five low-yield missiles (perhaps some kind of point defense missiles?) and remarkably survives. Altering course, she heads for the Killarney JP at half speed. 26 minutes later, just when the crew is beginning to feel confident in their escape, she is struck by ten missiles with strength-5 warheads and destroyed.

In the very same hour, sensor buoys in Abilene receive a destress call from the lifepods of an Irian Echo-class survey vessel, and detect the wreck of that ship near the innermost planet. The Federation has never surveyed the planet, so it is guessed that Laramie aliens may have been lurking there and human ships never got close enough to attract their attention.

By now, most of the Federation has come to believe that the Laramie aliens do not represent a civilization as we imagine such things. Otherwise, how could they be so spread out and yet have no apparent settlements or commerce? Instead it is theorized that they are the remnants of some ancient but extinct civilization, scattered here and there. Whether they are generation ships or simply running on autopilot, opinions differ. From now on, they will be referred to as the Remnant Aliens or simply Remnants.

Although another ship has been lost to the Remnants, today the Federation gained some valuable information -- the location of one of their bases. Hannibal A-II has been renamed Carthage, and the naval leadership vow that one day Carthage must be destroyed.

May 6, 2009 AD:
JCS Trailblazer 002 has completed a two-way jump gate connection between Sol and Ponca. Ships leave earth to establish the first extrasolar colonies for economic purposes on Ponca-A II, moons 3 and 11, named Lewis and Clark for brave explorers of another era.

As Luna's population now exceeds 95 million, President Palin officially announces the end of immigration subsidies for the Luna colony, in hopes that more emigrants will elect to settle on Mars or the more distant colonies. From now on, Luna is for the Loonies and their posterity.

DSS Hattiesburg transits the last unexplored JP in Saskatoon and discovers a new system it names Edmonton. This system's most curious feature is that ships can reach a remote B star (the system is actually a quadruple) by jumping from the Lagrangian point of an inner-system gas giant to the LP of a gas giant orbiting the distant star. Laymen find the physics of this maneuver puzzling.

May 26, 2009 AD:
GEV Pocatello transits an unexplored JP in Ponchatoula and finds a new connection to the Fristoe system. Due to the mineral riches found in Fristoe, and the government's intention to make Ponchatoula a mining and fuel harvesting base, this is a fortuitous discovery indeed.

July 21, 2009 AD:
DSS Oskaloosa discovers a connection between Brainerd and Rangeley.

August 20, 2009 AD:
The sixth Trailblazer JCS enters service, the last of the line. The shipyard is now fully employed building Longhorn freighters, which it can manufacture without retooling. The Federation will need a lot more freighters to establish mining and strategic operations outside the Solar system.

September 8, 2009 AD:
GEV Pocatello charts the Millinocket star binary, a connection from Walla Walla.
Xenologist Nathan Kay and his team have finally uncovered the mysteries of the ruins on Ponchatoula-B II. The aliens who established the outpost called themselves the Confederation of Aegir, and eight abandoned installations may be recoverable. It will be at least six months before jump gates will be constructed to allow construction battalions to land there, though.

September 22, 2009 AD:
GEV Pocatello discovers a new connection between Walla Walla and Sheboygan. This one might be useful, as it is deemed unlikely that the Carmelite aliens know about it. Survey ships in Sheboygan have already located one additional JP with a gate built on it, possibly leading toward the Carmelite home world (aka "Mount Carmel"). It has not been explored yet.

Rocky Mountain Shipyard launches its seventeenth GEV Prospector and is being retooled to once again build DSS Pathfinders. The newest Prospector is assigned to land an espionage team on the Eurekan planet Reagan, which surveys reveal is likely the Irian homeworld.

GEV Pocatello transits the last unexplored JP in Walla Walla and discovers Nome, a star orbited by five comets only.

October 17, 2009 AD:
Surveying the planet Reagan, GEV Humboldt turns on its active sensors and notes a number of new ship classes. The planet's ground forces have a strength of 527, nearly twice the strength of Earth's garrisons, and the fleet is powerful but not unbeatably so. There are ten of the previously encountered Whiskey-class destroyers, about forty 850T FACs, and a handful of other ships that might be PDCs or might be heavy cruisers of about 20kT each. A large number of freighters of two or three types are also observed. The Irians have two other colonies orbiting Eureka-A, one apparently a mining station and the other a growing settlement. The planets of Eureka-B have not yet been surveyed.

December 7, 2009 AD:
Trailblazer 001 completes jump gates on both sides of the Paducah-Eureka connection. Federation and Irian freighters now have access to each other's ports, and trade may begin to flow.

January 1, 2010 AD:
Nine years have passed since then-Governor, now-President Palin declared a new manifest destiny for the West. In an uplifting speech she recalls the grand achievements of these short years, and promises that by the close of the decade the Federation will have 100 million colonists on the moon, a growing pipeline of minerals and fuel production along the Sol-Ponca-Ponchatoula-Fristoe-Muskogee-Sol loop, active trade with the Irian Commonwealth, and vast new stretches of space charted. Still, there will be many more milestones to achieve in the next decade. In the coming year, the West hopes to lay the best foundation possible for the goal-setting that will take place a year from now.

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: August 02, 2013, 02:19:41 PM »

Insert Quote

January 12, 2008 AD:
GEV Sheboygan comes under attack by an Oscar class ship of the Laramie aliens, and is destroyed before she knows what's happening. Commander Patrick Burns and 12 other crew manage to make it to the escape pods, but have no hope of rescue.

February 29, 2008 AD:
Trailblazer 001 has completed the first two-way jump gate, linking Sol to Paducah. It will begin making the connection from Paducah to the Irian system of Eureka, as our freighters begin establishing bases on Paducah's two planets -- one a colonization target and the other a mining site.

March 21, 2008 AD:
GEV Prospector 006 jumps from Abilene and discovers the Mayville system, which has at least three attractive planets for colonization, as well as several gas giants and over five hundred asteroids.

April 24, 2008 AD:
DSS Ponchatoula jumps from Rangeley and discovers the Faulkton system, a compact system with two very nice colonization prospects with N2-O2 atmospheres and mild temperatures, either of which would only need a small amount of terraforming to be habitable.

April 28, 2008 AD:
GEV Prospector 005 jumps from Brainerd and discovers the star Deadwood with no satellites. It is renamed GEV Deadwood for its discovery, despite the complaints of some crew members that this is a really bad name for a ship.

May 29, 2008 AD:
GEV Deadwood explores another JP in Brainerd and discovers the star Thedford. It is a red giant and has two planets but they are tens of billions of kilometers away and not worth the trip to survey them.

August 22, 2008 AD:
DSS Ponca transits the final unexplored JP in the Eureka system, discovering the Akron system. With one gas giant, two venusian worlds, and three airless terrestrials, it is a mostly unremarkable system.
Elsewhere, GEV Deadwood transits from Killarney into the Holyoke system. With four stars but only two small planets, it is uninviting.

September 23, 2008 AD:
GEV Deadwood explores another JP in Killarney and discovers the Medford system, which features a few unremarkable planets and is orbited by another star with a thick asteroid belt.
On Earth, the first Wildcat fuel harvester platform is completed and it is being towed to Neptune. There are now six Greenhorn terraforming platforms in orbit of Luna, with more under construction.

November 1, 2008 AD:
Approaching the Sheboygan JP in Texarkana, ML Fox detects a large thermal signature at the JP. As it launches its sensor bouy, data begins pouring in. The new contact is 67,800 tons, is not moving, and most importantly does NOT appear to be a ship of either of the two alien civilizations previously encountered. Sheboygan is a mineral-rich system that has been geologically surveyed but not gravitationally surveyed. DSS Texarkana has been ordered to immediately set course for Sheboygan to begin a survey. Xenologists begin the attempt to make contact with this new alien.

November 29, 2008 AD:
DSS Hattiesburg completes its survey of Saskatoon, numbering five JPs. Transiting one of the unexplored ones, it finds itself in Wichita... a back-door route into the system humans have feared to enter since meeting hostile aliens there. Elsewhere, one of the new Pathfinders discovers a connection between Rangeley and Pocatello.

December 8, 2008 AD:
Another JP from Rangeley has been found to link to Killarney. Governor of Earth Adams has been killed in an accident involving a banana peel. Josh Potter, former Governor of Luna, has been elected to fill his seat.

December 13, 2008 AD:
GEV Prospector 014 jumps from Rangeley to discover the new system of Ordway, takes its name, and begins to search for minerals.

January 3, 2009 AD:
Xenologists continue to struggle at communicating with the aliens seen at the Texarkana-Sheboygan JP, but are optimistic that a breakthrough will be made soon.

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: August 02, 2013, 10:16:48 AM »

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Wait till you see the next couple years of write-ups. I found so many new connections between known stars that I had to twist the galaxy map in all kinds of knots to try and make it manageable. The Federation at this point has about ten Pathfinders and fifteen Prospectors in service, so the cartographers are very busy. On the downside our military hasn't grown much, and important research is painstakingly slow due in part to our only good P&P researcher being limited to five labs (and also due to the fact that the gameplay is really slow when you're keeping a diary of events like this).

Posted by: Brainsucker

« on: August 02, 2013, 09:58:05 AM »

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this is a crazy expansion. 8 years and there are already many stars explored by the Western Federation

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: August 02, 2013, 09:51:44 AM »

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February 10, 2007 AD:
DSS Roswell completes a gravitational survey of the Walla Walla binary. This system seems to be an interstellar hub of sorts, with nine JPs. JP#3 features a stable jump gate of alien construction, and it is to be explored first.
On the diplomatic front, the Irian Commonwealth has granted us trade access. However, their diplomats have not yet convinced us to reciprocate. It will take some years to construct a trade route, anyway.

March 8, 2007 AD:
DSS Roswell jumps through the alien-built gate in Walla Walla and discovers the Saxapahaw system. The new system has three gas giants, dozens of rocky moons, and hundreds of asteroids. Although none appear hospitable to human life, geologists are interested in the possible mineral discoveries.

May 4, 2007 AD:
Trailblazer 001 completes a jump gate from Sol to Paducah and is at work on the other side.
At the same jump point, ML Coyote is about to launch the first sensor bouy in what will become an interstellar network of surveillance and communication. Bouys will be launched in each system on the Earthward side of each jump point, so that the bouys themselves will not light a path to Earth for aliens who have not yet discovered our star.
GEV Prospector 003 has jumped from Walla Walla into a new system it names Wheeling. With a single gas giant, no moons, and eight comets, the most interesting thing about the system is that there is an alien-built jump gate on the Wheeling side of the jump connection, but not the Walla Walla side. Unlike the other alien-built jump connections we have discovered, this one is incomplete.

June 16, 2007 AD:
With the construction of a Sector Command on Earth, Governor Palin is promoted to President of the Universe, and Michael Adams (former Governor of Encke) is promoted to Governor of Earth.
GEV Wheeling jumps through another unexplored JP from Walla Walla and names the system of Yuma, a single star with no satellites of any kind.

June 25, 2007 AD:
On the same day that DSS Ponca completes her survey of the Eureka system (Irian territory), DSS Bigfork transits one of its three unexplored JPs and discovers a system it names Sparwood. The Sparwood system has six terrestrial inner planets, four substantial gas giants, and almost three hundred noteworthy asteroids. The third and fourth planets appear highly suitable for colonization, and undoubtedly the Irians will see it the same way. DSS Ponca heads for another unexplored JP in the Eureka system.

On the same day, jumping from the only unexplored JP in the now-fully-surveyed Slocomb system, DSS Texarkana discovers and names the Blackduck system, a quadruple with planets orbiting the accessible A and C stars. One planet orbiting Blackduck-C has an N2-O2 atmosphere and is a bit cold but could be terraformed reasonably easily.

July 4, 2007 AD:
GEV Wheeling transits another unexplored JP in Walla Walla and discovers the Boardman system. Consisting of three gas giants and their moons, as well as a B star with an asteroid field, this system is most notable for a moon of the second planet which has breathable air and a temperature only slightly too cold for unaided human habitation.

July 13, 2007 AD:
One of the sensor bouys placed by ML Coyote detects an Irian Echo-class survey ship at the Paducah-Eureka JP. Due to the small size of the Echo (3600T) it was not presumed to have had its own jump drive, but given that the Irians have not begun building jump gates, this assumption must be discarded. Soon enough the Irians will discover the way to Earth. Secretary Rumsfeld's foresight in ordering the sensor bouys is praised by President Palin.

August 7, 2007 AD:
Three new GEV Prospectors have been launched. These will be used as shuttles and support craft for surface-based geology teams. The first has been renamed GEV Metcalfe for the talented explorer Charlie Metcalfe, whose team has completed its survey of the Galilean moons and is now on its way to survey the two planets of the Paducah system where the Federation intends to set up its first extrasolar strategic base. The second is named for James Palmer, who will begin surveying the moons of Ponca, and the third for Mitchell Charlton, who has been studying the geology of Mars for several years now.

DSS Ponca jumps from Eureka into the Cranbrook system, which consists of three gas giants and a handful of moons, dwarf planets, and asteroids. Two wrecks appear on scanners in deep space outside the third gas giant's orbit. DSS Ponca begins the gravitational survey but does not approach the wrecks, not knowing whether they indicate the presence of Irians, or Laramie-Wichita aliens, or something else.

Noting that fuel consumption is starting to exceed refinery production, FASA draws up plans for a harvester platform that can produce sorium fuel directly from gas giants like the one discovered in the Ponchatoula system. The "Wildcat" platforms will be tested on Neptune initially, then towed where they are needed once a jumpgate network allows access to better sorium sources.

Code: [Select]

Wildcat class Fuel Harvester    104,200 tons     410 Crew     1837 BP      TCS 2084  TH 0  EM 0
1 km/s     Armour 1-197     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 11    Max Repair 30 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 6    
Fuel Harvester: 40 modules producing 1120000 litres per annum

Fuel Capacity 2,500,000 Litres    Range N/A

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

Houston class oil tankers will transport refined fuel to Earth and other strategic bases. They will also transport fuel produced by civilian fuel platforms for federal use.

Code: [Select]

Houston class Oiler    5,800 tons     28 Crew     391.4 BP      TCS 116  TH 216  EM 0
1862 km/s     Armour 1-28     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 42    Max Repair 16.2 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 6    

Hyundai 108 EP Commercial Ion Drive (2)    Power 108    Fuel Use 2.42%    Signature 108    Exp 3%
Fuel Capacity 2,500,000 Litres    Range 3205.9 billion km   (19927 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

September 26, 2007 AD:
An Irian Echo-class survey ship is detected in the Solar system for the first time at the Paducah jump point. Although the aliens have been peaceful so far, military exercises are taking on new importance.

November 10, 2007 AD:
GEV Sheboygan jumps from the Walla Walla system into a new system it names Turtleford. The system features six uninviting terrestrial planets and a gas giant.

December 15, 2007 AD:
Jumping from Brainerd, DSS Muskogee discovers the star Killarney with a single gas giant and a comet in orbit.

January 1, 2008 AD:
The known universe has expanded substantially in the past two years, even though the slow work of shipbuilding, jumpgate construction, and research makes things seem to be moving more slowly.

Posted by: joeclark77

« on: July 31, 2013, 09:56:27 PM »

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It is size 30 and if I recall correctly it's 0.30 power. Bigger engines with lower power are extremely fuel efficient. Even for military engines I would use something like 0.75 or 0.80 power if I were doing a missile fleet. This energy fleet stuff is really an experiment for me, but I think you need more speed to make it work well.

Posted by: Brainsucker

« on: July 31, 2013, 09:09:19 PM »

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an engine of 108EP can move around for 1000 days with only 100.000 fuel? Can you share the design please? I'm curious about it.