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Offline Starslayer_D (OP)

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #15 on: April 22, 2011, 07:17:15 AM »
Priesthood of Wisdom and Engeneering

-   Various competing scientists and priests of Toth,  Imperial research
-   Fifth Oracle Tut-Amon, Office of Construction and Civil Engeeering

Research has been progressing rapidely, fueled by the scientific data gained from exploring new systems and strange stars. New cosmologic theories abount, and the abundand supply or rarer earths and biological compounds from the new colonies has enticed a lot of innovations in the general sciences.

Yards
Oracle Tut-amon supervises a fleet of three mobile yards based on a destroyer sized freighter. These have been vital in constructing a new space station in the Monthuemet system. This base is busy expanding itself, while the Theban home system ahs gained two smaller space stations to help increase yard capacity. The mobile yards are currently travelling to Merymose, to build another station there. Overall, imperial construction capacity is keeping apace with the expansion plans of the fleet.

SS KHEPRI class SS            1125 Hull    TL 1
[1] Sx100Ax100(SY)x8HQQ(SY)(SY)(CHS)(BbL)Qx5Lh(CIC)Rx30MgMgLhQ

1125 RCP  75 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  7983.5/ 79.7
HTK 346   Sx100  Ax100  Rx30  Mgx2 
200x SM
The main station of the theban empire, it will be due for a refit in the near future to upgrade it’s defenses and weapon systems to the new standards.

SS 1 ANTI class SS            99 Hull    TL 1
[1] (SY)H(BbS)(CHS)QLh

99 RCP  31 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  783.5/ 7.7
HTK 15   
One of these is being build by the expanded station in Mnothuemet, and one will soon be started in Merymose.

SS2 THOTH class SS            179 Hull    TL 1
[1] (SY)H(BbS)(CHS)QLh(SY)

179 RCP  31 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  1383.5/ 11.7
HTK 25   
The current Monthuemet station, and also the two new Theban stations.

SS4 THOTH II class SS            339 Hull    TL 1
[1] (SY)H(BbS)(CHS)QLh(SY)x3

339 RCP  31 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  2583.5/ 19.7
HTK 45   
The proposed expansion for the current Toth stations.
 

Offline Starslayer_D (OP)

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #16 on: April 22, 2011, 07:18:46 AM »
That's it for now.. the imperial advisors and heads of bureaus soon will ahve some lively discussions to do with the discovery of another inteligent race. Economy is fine and nice, but even though 9 CL's are now build or constructing, the stars may no longer be so golden in the future.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #17 on: April 27, 2011, 06:21:23 AM »
Apologies on the lack of an update blame Dragon Age 2...I am in a love hate relationship with that game.  Love the art, story and dialogue but hate the combat system changes.  Well a few of the other changes that feed into the combat system...but taking 3-5 min to kill a boss with 4 characters beating on him while he can kill 3 of the 4 party characters in a single blow is not fun...nearly dieing to a skeletal archer when I had 2 characters bashing on it...gah...gahhhh!!  They messed up their difficulty settings seriously as it is night and day to drop the game from hard (where I usually play) to normal...and drop it casual (did that once when I nearly went mad in a fight) and it is just a walk in the park...tried nightmare at the start since it has friendly fire (a requirement in my mind) but the fights become even more tedious and not fun at all (you do pin prick damage to a creature with 5x the total parties hit points and get hit like a hammer in return...).   They also made friendly fire include things like two handed weapon sweeps etc so well it is moronic...so you take your pick which thing offends you more basically.  Casting cone of cold through the party is less annoying then nightmare's bloody tedious combat I discovered.   Lots of the changes in the combat system (and things like the characteristics which feed it...) make it well less fun then the system in Origins.  But I'm not a 12 year old, and I think that is the level they were aiming for with the combat system changes...either that or MMO players.  Ok stop now...else the rant will go on for pages.

For the Shanirian Parliament things have been a mixed bag of reports.  The science directorate has had the lions share of the funding of late and has turned out an impressive array of new systems for the Navy:  Machine Shop, Tractor Beam, Improved Survey Instruments, Long Range Sensors, Point Defense, Energy Particle Cannon, Data link, Deep Space Buoy Control System, and just started the Bomb pumped laser buoy.  In addition new basic research has begun and been running concurrent with a number of the last projects.

The new systems led to a massive wave of refits.  All military ships in the home fleet were brought up to the newest standards, this includes the newly constructed class of ships, the heavy cruiser.  But before this a massive expansion of the main shipyard facility: Prime Yards was undertaken and then all three survey forces were updated and 6 new survey frigates were built and added to the fleets while the older survey corvettes were refit as military scout ships and sent to the 3 deployed defense squadrons.  ICN link stations were built in two chains going out towards Pisea and Byzantium.  The last two systems Virconium and Byzantium received pre-fabricated stations and the plan is to assemble them in orbit around the planets and later tug them out to the WPs as the new Mobile Construction force moves up to Byzantium.

The funding for all this cut deep into Parliamentary subsidies for new colonization efforts.  Also as the new ships are more expensive than the older models Naval maintenance requirements have risen to 50% of the yearly budget.  The science directorates funding on basic research amounts to nearly 23% of the yearly budget leaving only a minimal amount for economic efforts while saving to start new science projects.  20,000 People were transferred to Lyre Minor in Veii and 80,000 to Surfsup the waterworld in Palmyra on a regular basis but this is not a significant expansion of the tax base.  When all refits were complete and the survey forces back in operation it is planned to do a few months of serious economic investment to make up for the lack but the issue of balancing expenditures over the Navy, Science Directorate, and Colonization Subsidization remains a difficult one to solve.

The Navy needs to build another 5 heavy and 6 light cruisers, plus at least 9 more Destroyers to achieve its desired force level.  The bulk of these ships would go straight into the reserve fleet so the primary issue is finding the capital for the ships.  Fortress Command also needs to update the Shanian Warp Point Defense arrays.  The Onager class of bases is nearing completion of its prototype phase, but the base will require modernization as will the Pilum class bases.  Due to Rome being a dead end system behind a closed warp point, and having limited economic value so no exploitation is planned the array at its warp point will be reduced to 3 Sling's and an ICN Comm Station.  Still this means 3 more Sling, 5 more Pilum and a total of 4 Onager bases.  Plus the arrays going up elsewhere in Confederation space.  The DSB-L as it is known will also require a station to control it, plus a mobile hull carrying this system for the Navy and it is planned to update the survey forces with a new support ship which also carries them and a controller installation.  The cost of all of this is non-trivial.

The survey forces have been updated but the older Packmule support ships remain in service until the newer Survey Support Freighters are produced.  Survey Force 1 determined that Rome is a dead end system and is now headed towards the Lugdunum warp point nexus to assist Survey Force 2 which finished the survey of Veii determining it had no new warp points and moved to probe the two remaining warp points in Lugdunum.  Survey Force 3 headed for Antium to finish its survey, will then proceed to Byzantium and finish its survey before heading off beyond Syracuse and explore the new warp points found at the end of the survey before refit.

The older Pioneer class mobile yards have been refit into Olympic class tugs and their mobile yards are planned to be reused in the newer larger Mobile Workshop class construction ships.  At least two ships with machine shop modules are authorized to be laid down as funding becomes available.  Also the Naval Board is debating a fleet support ship design and a collier design, it has proven impossible to make these the same ship and there is a general consensus that the collier must be built on a military hull while the support vessel can be based on a freighter.  It is also intended to produce a dedicated military SGF transport based on the FT6 type hull.  Plus clearly forward fleet repair bases need to be established and a design report on a smaller space station for that purpose is being written.

Complications over funding have caused serious squabbles in the Parliament itself as almost every system developed by the Science Directorate has cost more than total Parliamentary budget, and only two were less than the funds remaining after the deduction of fleet maintenance costs.  Fortress Command funding has to rise as well, plus a lot of new funding for, as it is being called, the fleet train.  The debate continues regardless and some sort of compromise will need to be found soon.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #18 on: April 27, 2011, 08:20:54 AM »
Tonight I will get a warbook up of the newest designs that were mentioned.

Alex, here is the time to go from 150 PU to 400 PU depending on the growth rate (heavily rounded up):
GrowthRate      #ofGrowthTurnsRequired
50%(base SF)                3
5%                              21
7.5%                           14
10%                            11

For growing from 400 to 800 PU
GrowthRate       #ofGrowthTurnsRequired
25%(base SF)                4
2.5% (half 5%)              28
3.75% (half 7.5%)          18
5% (half 10%)               15

Uhm I think the plan to increase the high growth rate to 7.5% isn't a bad idea.  For comparison it will take 111 growth turns to grow 4 PU to 50 PU on a moon (which is sensible since the population growth on an airless rock is like to be small).  This is still having a huge difference in our incomes.  I have 6 small populations (160 PU each) and under the old system I would likely be closer to 6 medium populations (600 PU each)...that is a base income (excluding REI, EL, and AST mods) of 960 MCr to 3600 MCr.  Not including the moons would have much higher populations around now.  So our income is smaller than it would be under the base line system....about 4000 MCr at a minimum less income...with the corresponding wealth breeds wealth knock on effect reduction.

Sorry guys, math...not interesting but not bad for those looking at how to modify 3rdR economics. 
For those interested the formula is: LOG(EndPopinPU/StartPopinPU)/LOG(1+GrowthRate) = #ofGrowthTurnsRequired
 

Offline Starslayer_D (OP)

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #19 on: April 27, 2011, 11:51:54 AM »
*grins* Ok, ok... high growth is 7.5% now.

This campaign moves extremly fast. We're at turn 69 now. I will need to slow and do a bit of imperial reorganisation on turn 70. And prepare an update for the empire. Nothing exiting happening overall though. No wars yet anyway, allthough 2 NPR's are not totally good at communicating with each other.

The thebans have some strange warp chains. The one open is now 8 stmp long and has barely any branchinsg wich don#t dead end immediately. The other one, wich I only lately explored, as it was into a close and rocks only system from the home system, now is branching into multiple nexi 5 stmp out from home. Anything habitable within 4 stmp is of course long settled, elaving either rocks (expensive) or long cfn task.. (also expensive, and no cfn every second turn). The low build rates sure have effect, but I guess here my earlier startegy of expanding my sy capacity is helping a lot. allthough in hindsight my first two extrasolar sy complexes were placed in the dead ended expansion branch :(. So now I have 10 yards savely hidden behind my home system. I gotta figure out how to post a picture here. :) Some of those NPR home systems are jus.. incredible. 4 belts and 4 worlds...  and the other one has a one system empire.. with a high roll. second highest income in game. And 8 warp points.. (not yet surveyed). And an agressive exploration strategy. Go figure.
Allthough for NPR spendings.. 3 success NPR's wich have to sink a lot of money into fleets are nasty when first found, but then later have real troubles expanding and can get outgrown quickly. Some wich have a high ind percentage etc. may not have as big a fleet initially, but have a lot more money to invest into economics and colonisation, and within a short time can afford a huge fleet while still expanding fast.

Anyway, enough for now.
Alex
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #20 on: April 27, 2011, 02:26:00 PM »
The Shanirian's have taken to calling their galactic neighbors the Uruloki of Unden "Drakes" due to their reptilian physiology and drakonian pychology.  The initial difficulties in communication had been caused by their internal politics.  Instead of a single central government structure they were split into competing "Flights" which were extended families that grouped together for mutual territorial exploitation and support.  This led to a totally anarchistic government structure which required a degree of flexibility to deal with.  Positions of power were stable, but who was in them was anything but.  Duels and assassinations were considered effective ways to advance ones career in the civil service.  The constant skirmishing between the Flights; however, gave them a substantial military power.

After a considerable period of time as trade partners the Shanirian Parliament approached the Drake's High Council with a mutual defense treaty which surprisingly was accepted quickly.  This relieved the Naval board immensely as Lutetia (as it was listed in the Shanirian charts) was but three transits from Shanir.  Admittedly the warp point leading out of Pisea was closed but no one believed that it could be kept secret if the Drakes invaded Argos.

After having refit the two remaining Pioneers to Olympics, two new Mobile Workshop class mobile shipyards were laid down, at a considerable discount due to the ability to reuse a number of systems.  In addition the assembly of the ICN Comm Stations in Viroconium and Byzantium begins.  Major movements of colonists consume the remaining income from the budget but don't exhaust the available CFN capacity like the month previous.

WARBOOK  INFORMATION SECLEVEL PRIMUS

Shanirian Survey Command Vessels

SEARCHER class FGX        4 XO Racks    22 Hull    TL 3
[2] SSAXi(BbS)(Ic)H(Ic)XrQsDL(Ic) [4]
22 RCP  3 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  331/ 49.7
HTK 13   Sx2  Ax1  Dx1  Lx1

The Searcher replaces the older Seeker class survey Corvette.  It is intended to probe newly discovered WPs and two such ships are with each survey force.  The advanced sensors in conjunction with their science package gives the ship the ability to detect high tech populations outside of the range they can be detected and also helps locate alien ships while surveying. 

PATHFINDER MOD 1 class DDX     (AC)    6 XO Racks    30 Hull    TL 3
[3] SAAXi(BbM)H(Ic)(Ic)(BbM)(Ic)LLhQDL(Ic) [4]
30 RCP  20 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  415/ 62.3
HTK 16   Sx1  Ax2  Dx1  Lx2 

A modest upgrade of the Pathfinder that unfortunately cost some crew comfort but significantly enhanced the ships survey speed.

SURVEY SUPPORT VESSEL TYPE 1 class FT6X      6 XO Racks    60 Hull    TL 3
[3] SSAA(CC)(BbL)H(IcIc)HH(BbM)HH(BbM)HH(BbM)HH(IcIc)HQH(DCS)(IcIc)QLhQ(BbL)(IcIc) [4]
60 RCP  390 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  603/ 45.2
HTK 34   Sx2  Ax2

This vessel will replace the Packmule for survey support duties when available.  It mounts a long range communications suit, a sizable small craft inventory and significant hold capacity to carry both maintenance supplies but also DSB-L and other DSBs.  It contains the buoy control system to program them.  This will enable the Survey Force to establish a forward defense in an emergency.  Like the packmule on survey duty its extra crew capacity is used for garden domes and recreation facilities to facilitate crew morale during the long missions.

Shanirian Naval Combat Force Vessels


DRUSUS MOD 2 class CTR    (AC)    3 XO Racks    16 Hull    TL 3
[2] SAH(I)(I)Xr(I)QsDL(I) [8]
16 RCP  9 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  220/ 33
HTK 11   Sx1  Ax1  Dx1  Lx1

This is a refit of the older Drusus and Seeker class vessels to provide a recon corvette capable of detecting enemy vessels at range.  It can also fulfil the original courier duties being the fastest ship outside of the messenger.  It is armed only for emergency self defense.

LANCEA MOD 2 class DDP    (AC)    6 XO Racks    30 Hull    TL 3
[3] SSAx3ZH(BbS)(I)Qs(I)(I)(I)RRM1Mg(I)(I)QsDL(I) [7]
30 RCP  20 MCP       Trg:2        Cost =  410/ 61.5
HTK 23   Sx2  Ax3  Dx1  Lx1  Rx2  Mgx1 
60x SM

This is a continuing modernization of the Lancea class general purpose combatant.  It proved impossible to fit an Energy pulse cannon into a destroyer hull without seriously compromising its passive defenses so it was left with the laser battery it started with.  The addition of point defense and datalink significantly increases the vessels combat power.  Armour was emphasized over shields to maintain the ability of the ship to weather a single close range laser barrage.

GLADIUS MOD 1 class CLP        9 XO Racks    45 Hull    TL 3
[3] Sx6Ax5ZH(BbS)(II)(I)R(II)R(I)RM1Mg(II)DLhQDEpc(I) [6]
45 RCP  5 MCP       Trg:2        Cost =  579.5/ 86.9
HTK 33   Sx6  Ax5  Dx2  Epcx1  Rx3  Mgx1 
90x SM

The backbone of the Shanirian Navy is its Gladius class light cruisers.  A data group of these ships can project power at all ranges and the new Energy particle cannon gives nearly the same close range firepower as the twin laser installations it replaced.

OCTAVIUS MOD 1 class CLC        9 XO Racks    45 Hull    TL 3
[3] Sx5Ax5Z(CC)H(II)(I)(II)(I)QLhXr(BbM)D(CIC)DEpc(II)(I) [6]
45 RCP  5 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  730.5/ 109.6
HTK 30   Sx5  Ax5  Dx2  Epcx1

The Octavious is limited run command ship class.  Optimized for fleet control it is armed only for self defense.  Only two units are currently authorized: the Octavious and Antonious.

SPATHA class CAP        12 XO Racks    60 Hull    TL 3
[3] Sx6Ax6ZH(BbM)Q(II)R(II)RR(II)RM1MgEpc(II)DQLhDEpc(II)(II) [6]
60 RCP  40 MCP       Trg:2        Cost =  818/ 122.7
HTK 40   Sx6  Ax6  Dx2  Epcx2  Rx4  Mgx1 
132x SM

The newest addition to the Shanirian Navy the Spatha is the Gladius writ larger.  Due to its cost only a limited number (2) of these vessels will be retained by the active fleet and the bulk of the builds are designated for the reserve.  Even so a two ship data group will have nearly the same fire power at long range as three Gladius's and more close range firepower.


Shanirian Navy Fleet Train and Logistic Support Units

CASTORUM class DD        6 XO Racks    30 Hull    TL 3
[3] Sx3Ax3H(BbM)(Ic)(Ic)MgBMg(Ic)MgBMgDMgLhQD(Ic) [4]
30 RCP  20 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  317/ 47.6
HTK 23   Sx3  Ax3  Dx2  Mgx5 
100x GM, 800x SM

After much debate a destroyer hulled size vessel was chosen for the naval collier class.  No attempt to make a freighter hulled vessel to fulfill this ships duties passed the final naval board reviews.

REGO AURAM class DD        6 XO Racks    30 Hull    TL 3
[3] Sx3AAH(BbM)(Ic)(Ic)(Ic)XrLhQ(DCS)D(Ic) [4]
30 RCP  20 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  386/ 57.9
HTK 16   Sx3  Ax2  Dx1 

This is a ship designed to control DSB-L in forward defense locations.  It won over a light cruiser hulled design mainly due to the existence of the Castorum class.  It was felt standardizing on the destroyer hull was best allowing flexibility in refits.  Four of this class are authorized for construction.

OLYMPIC class FT4       3 XO Racks    30 Hull    TL 3
[3] SA(IcIcIcIcIcIcIc)(Ic)T(Ic)T(Ic)HQs(Ic) [4]
30 RCP  45 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  185/ 13.9
HTK 17   Sx1  Ax1  Tx2 

Refit of the older pioneer class vessels.  This is a tug capable of moving up to 70 HS at high speed across a starsystem.  It adds significant flexibility to the Mobile Construction Forces who are no longer required to build the array in its final place.  It also allows for pre-fabbed bases to be assembled in orbit by planetary industry.

FORWARD REPAIR SHIP class FT5       3 XO Racks    45 Hull    TL 3
[3] SAH(IcIc)H(MS)H(Ic)(IcIc)HQs(BbS)(Ic) [4]
45 RCP  55 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  314.2/ 16.1
HTK 17   Sx1  Ax1 

This class is intended for battle repairs and assembly of prefabricated bases.

CORVUS class FT6       6 XO Racks    60 Hull    TL 3
[3] Sx4Ax4H(BbL)HQHQ(BbL)HQHQLhQ(IcIc)(IcIc)HQHQ(BbL)HQHQLhHQ(IcIc)DQsD(IcIc) [4]
60 RCP  1515 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  509/ 38.2
HTK 44   Sx4  Ax4  Dx2 

The Corvus is an assault transport intended to replace the Packmule.  It can carry 22 PCF units, the limitation being stowage of weapons rather than life support.  Normally 5 Combat ready plus 15 non-combat ready PCF are carried.  9 shuttles are on-board to move the troops to the planet surface.

SIGNIFER class FT6       6 XO Racks    60 Hull    TL 3
[3] Sx4Ax4HHBHHBHHBHH(BbM)HH(BbM)HH(BbM)HHTHHTHH(IcIc)(IcIc)(IcIc)DQsD(IcIc) [4]
60 RCP  15 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  438/ 32.9
HTK 45   Sx4  Ax4  Dx2  Tx2 

This is a military freighter intended to support forward fleet operations with its large hold capacity.

Shanirian Fortress Command Units 


ICN COMM STATION class BS0           10 Hull    TL 2
[1] SA(CC)HQs(BbS) [-]
10 RCP  15 MCP       Trg:1        Cost =  152/ 7.6
HTK 6   Sx1  Ax1 

Typical ICN warppoint linkage base.  The lack of an Xr means the bases must be deployed rather close to the WP of interest to monitor traffic for custom purposes but there is no immediate plans to upgrade the bases.

TRIPWIRE class BS1       5 XO Racks    25 Hull    TL 3
[1] Sx4Ax4H(DCS)DXrDQs(BbS) [-]
25 RCP       Trg:1        Cost =  340/ 17
HTK 15   Sx4  Ax4  Dx2

This base is intended to control DSB-L in established defense arrays.

PILUM MOD 1 class BS2       10 XO Racks    50 Hull    TL 3
[1] Sx6Ax6ZH(BbS)RRTRR(BbS)RRM1MgDLhQ(BbS)DEpc [-]
50 RCP       Trg:2        Cost =  527/ 26.4
HTK 31   Sx6  Ax6  Dx2  Epcx1  Rx6  Tx1  Mgx1 
200x SM

The first modernization of the Pilum class replacing its close defense lasers with the Energy particle cannon and adding modern electronics and point defenses.  It is intended to deploy two pilums with each Onager class base.

ONAGER class BS3        17 XO Racks    85 Hull    TL 2
[1] Sx10Ax10BBH(BbM)QRRMgRRM1QRRLRRMgLM1BBLBB(CIC)(BbM)BBLhQL [-]
85 RCP  65 MCP       Trg:3        Cost =  823/ 41.2
HTK 52   Sx10  Ax10  Lx4  Rx8  Mgx2 

This base is still under construction at Prime yard when the base is completed it will be modernized much as the Pilum was.  The bulk heads will be replaced by point defense arrays, and the lasers with two Energy Particle Cannon, military grade sensors and a tractor beam.

PRIME YARD UPGRADE 2 class SS        66 XO Racks    1553 Hull    TL 3
[1]Sx100Ax100HHBHHQ(BbL)HHBHH(BbL)HHQBHH(BbL)Q(CHS)QRx3QBMgBRx3LhBMgBRx3QBMgBRx3QBMgB(SY)(SY)QB(SY)(SY)B(SY)(SY)B(SY)(SY)B(SY)(SY)QBLLBLBQLhL(BbL)LBBHHBHHBHHBHQHBTTB(SY)(SY)B(BbL)B(SY)(SY)BM2RRQRRM2RRQRRM2RRQRRMgM2LDLDLD(CIC)(BbL)DLhQLMg [-]
1553 RCP  317 MCP       Trg:9        Cost =  11551.5/ 119
HTK 463   Sx100  Ax100  Dx4  Lx9  Rx24  Tx2  Mgx6 
800x SM

The current version of Shanir's primary shipyard.  A further upgrade is planned but there is currently to many construction plans requiring the full capacity of the yard to make it a priority.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2011, 02:22:24 AM by Paul M »
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #21 on: April 29, 2011, 10:30:03 AM »
Here is the "Known Space" map of the Shanirian Confederation as of Month 71.  My memory of system names as can be seen is sorta ok-ish but not the best.  Hopefully it will make all the previous posts more clear.

Err how do I actually imbed the file in the message rather than have it as an attachment??  Is this cut and paste?  Or something more complex?
« Last Edit: April 29, 2011, 10:32:32 AM by Paul M »
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #22 on: May 02, 2011, 05:21:57 AM »
The survey forces are all back in business and what they find is rather interesting.  SF 1 explores the last warp point in Lugdunum and finds a second starless expanse, this time the survey ships find another warp point near the first arrival one.  This warp point leads back to the Drake's homeworld.  This completes the survey of the Lugdunum nexus itself.  The colonization efforts of the single moon of the companion star with interesting minerals continues but without a habitable world this system will never be more than pathway to the worlds beyond.  Tarentum with its single world of Red Harbor and 4 asteroid belts is fully surveyed and an astounding number of warp points are found, apparently warp point nexus breed warp point nexus.

Survey Force 1 moves from the starless nexus to the Jerusalem system and probes its long known warp point finding a system composed of a single blue giant star.  The lack of planets is not a surprise and the ships proceed inwards to map the gravitational space of the system.  Survey Force 1 so far has had the worst luck of any of the three forces in terms of finding habitable worlds.

Survey Force 2 prioritizes surveys of the warp points in Tarentum choosing to probe the warp points in order of their proximity to the entrance warp point to the system.  The first probe finds an uninteresting system of hot and cold airless balls and gas giants.  The second probe discovers something much more interesting, the system has two habitable worlds and no native life.  The planets are named Gaeltec and Carthage, the former being only marginally habitable while the later is while hot and dry and lacking in substantial mineral deposits otherwise suitable for colonization.  The only problem is that the distance from Shanir is such that it will take 2 months for the colonists to arrive.

Survey Force 3 transits Syracuse to Caesera and probes its two warp points.  The first probe arrives through a closed warp point and after waiting on the warp point for its systems to recover and its crew meld to recover from the shock of drop discovered the system was inhabited.  The Searcher returned through the warp point and with its partner took on 5 months worth of supplies then re-entered the system.  The second searcher dropped its inertia damping field just after drop remaining on the entrance warp point as a communications link.  The other Searcher headed away from the star then looped around to hide the location of the entrance WP.  The first glimpse of the inhabitants gave them the name "Squids" as they seem celephod related life forms.  Initial communication protocols were established early and hopefully a treaty can be reached before the supplies on the two searchers are exhausted.  The rest of SF 3 remains at the warp point picketing it.

The Shanirian research community was proud to announce several breakthrus that led quickly to a growth in the economy and to the availability of new systems for the Navy.  The Naval board after studying the various proposals decided to prioritize the development queue with the following order.   First a companion system to the tractor beam, called the presser beam, then the advanced missile launcher system, next the defensive anti-missile defense drone, followed by the capital survey system.  After this the final two systems are the assault shuttle and communications buoy.

An interesting side effect of the breakthru was the easing on the budget.  While insufficient money is available to do everything in the plans the amount of money for each branch of the government increased sufficiently that planning for one did not require beggaring another.  It became possible to fund Naval builds to the tune of around 1 billion Credits in excess of operational funds, maintain a science budget of near to 2 billion that will allow for a steady if not speedy development of system, and a colonization budget that can move 50% of the Civilian freighter capacity each month plus a modest industrial expansion.  Given the near inter service and inter departmental wars which were brewing this is a massive improvement in the situation.

Refits on the Shanirian system defenses are completed with the Onager and all Pilum class bases refit to the newest standards.  Active duty Lancea's are mostly refit to the mod 2 standard but the development of the advanced missile launcher will likely cause another series of refits.  Three heavy and light cruisers have been laid down in the yards as well as additional support vessels and Sling class bases.  Two more heavy and four more light cruisers are required by the naval planning to fill each out to the authorized limit.  Almost all of the new ships will be going straight into mothballs though.  The Velite class needs to be updated to include a point defense system and it is completely clear that in the face of the rapidly increasing defensive strength possible a new class of assault ships will need to be designed, one considerably larger then the frigates.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #23 on: May 05, 2011, 04:44:58 AM »
The contact with the Squids proceeded briskly, with communication fully established inside of 3 months.  The offer of a trade treaty, with the system of Byzantium given as a Shanirian trade centre was accepted by the Squids.  The Searchers returned with the good news, rejoining SF3 and proceeding to explore the newly discovered system beyond Ceasera, whose lone habitable world was called Port O'Connel.  A lone messenger class vessel was left as a look out at Ceasera's warp point back to the core worlds.

Survey Force 1 finds 2 warp points leading out of the blue giant system.  The first one probed discovers a binary system with a pair of worlds in the life zone.  They are infact similiar to Lyre Minor and Shanirian's could only live there if in underground enclaves, but the system would be ideal for the Drakes.  There is now consideration of offering the Drakes a treaty of Partnership with this system as a bargaining chip.  Still Survey Force 1's luck on finding habitable real estate seems unchanged.

Survey Force 2 is still surveying Nicopolis while each month more and more colonists arrive at one of the Confederations border systems. 

There is now nearly 2 months transit time for the home fleet to the frontier.  The defense squadrons plus the start of defense arrays in both Pisae and Byzantium are the primary defenses.  The full complement of heavy and light cruisers authorized for the navy have been either built or laid down.  Home fleet now consists of one command cruiser, 2 Spatha class and 3 Gladius Mod 1 class cruisers, 6 Lancea Mod 2 destroyers and 4 Drusus class scout/couriers.  The mothballed reserve or ships under construction add 4 more Spatha's, 6 more Gladius's and one command cruiser to the fleet list.  More destroyers are urgently required to form two more defense squadrons plus some reserve ships and 12 more ships are authorized by the naval review committee.

However, the recent development of the advanced missile launcher system means a large scale refitting of the Lancea, Gladius, Spatha, Pilum and Onager classes will be necessary.  The refit in all cases is essentially the same; replace the older launchers with the new faster cycling systems and upgrade the targeting and tracking systems to allow more targets.  This will tie up considerable ship yard assets, but at least with 2 Forward Repair Ships available it will be possible to undertake the refits of deployed defense squadrons in situ.  Another issue is the question of expanded yard capacity.  There is a strong desire to add forward yards to both Pisae and Byzantium, and it has to be looked at adding up to two additional such fleet bases further into the frontier.  But each fleet base ties down 10 yards for 6 months just building the components, this leaves only 4 yards left to construct ships in Shanir.  Assembly in orbit will take a further 3 months in general plus shipping time.  Plus it is pointed out the Prime Yard is nearing its limit in size and a new yard complex in Shanir itself should be started.  These are; however, very long term plans and considerable numbers of meetings end up in dead locks over funding, time, and priorities.

The staff in Survey command are overjoyed as a new system enters development.  The capital survey sensor is something that will revolutionize the survey force, and plans are underway for a new survey light cruiser and a modification to the existing Pathfinder's.  It is planned to build the cruisers first and then send them out to each survey force and pull back for refit 3 Pathfinders.  The system is significantly more effective then the current sensors suits and the 3 light cruisers, 3 destroyers and 2 frigates will have nearly be able to do a full rough or detailed survey in a single month.  The inclusion of a single searcher more in each group will see this accomplished.  This is a four fold increase in survey efficiency.  Plus the planning for how this will be accomplished will not require recall of the survey forces as was needed before, it will also result in 9 spare Pathfinder class vessels which is an excellent reserve force.

Shanirian Ground Forces are expanded with 5 line and 1 security Bde raised on each established colony world, while a single security bde is raised on the furthest colony systems.  The development of the assault shuttle will aid in deploying these troops from orbit as well.  The Ground Force officers continue to push for the construction of at least one Corvus class vessel.

Overall trade with the Squids and the Drakes now forms 10% of the Parliamentary operational budget and the outsystem tax base is starting to approach 40% of the GDP.  Exhausting the CFN's transport capacity has actually begun to happen more regularily.  As a stop gap, 4 Type 3 CFN freighters are authorized to expand the government pool.  Otherwise things are looking good economically for the Confederation.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #24 on: May 05, 2011, 12:09:58 PM »
Here is a new map of "Known Space" with the location of the survey forces shown.

Is there really no way I can just "paste" the darn thing in the message??  oh wait there is!!

[imghttp://

Uploaded with ImageShack.us][/img]

As can be seen in the above chart the connection between Nicopolis and Syracuse changes the situation significantly.  Also only 3 of the 7 warp points in Nicopolis have been probed so far.  Survey Force 2 is expanding the frontier by exploring down each one a few systems.  The need to establish a security force in this system is increasing dramatically.  Additionally the communication and response times are now starting to become significant.  There is a growing need for establishing a forward fleet base with a reaction force present.  The difficulty so far, outside of funding and time, is deciding which system is best suited for this.

The defense arrays in Byzantium and Pisea are getting their close in defense bases plus a tripwire controller base.  Larger missile bases will be pre-fabricated and assembled in orbit as they would tie up the mobile yards for too long.

It is also becoming clearer that administrative divisions within the confederation will likely become necessary.  The existence of the ICN Comm Stations ties the core worlds together in a far tighter network then does the largely courier drone dependent frontier system.

« Last Edit: May 10, 2011, 03:22:40 AM by Paul M »
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #25 on: May 10, 2011, 04:39:51 AM »
Survey Force 3 completes its survey of Aurelianonium and finds no new warp points meaning this chain is now at an end.  The Force moves to Tarentum to explore the remaining warp points there.  Survey forces 1 and 2 continue with their routine survey operations.

Naval builds continue on schedule with heavy and light cruiser coming out of the yards and into mothballs.  The first of the Signifer and Survey Support Vessel classes are laid down as is a third Forward Repair Class vessel as having a group of 3 of them will expedite forward refits.  As well, new Pilum Mod 2 bases are laid down.  What is more than clear is that a significant increase in available ship yard capacity is becoming more and more necessary.

Research continues and new basic research is authorized after the research into the assault shuttle and shear plane are started.  The development of a communications buoy and a system to enhance drive field deformation for the purposes of fire confusion are both possible and expensive but the former will be developed over a long time period while given the expected performance of the latter system it is deemed unnecessary to develop it at the moment.

Economically the Confederation is concentrating on expanding its mining colonies in Ceasera and Lugdunom while at the same time building up the colonies of Port O'Connel, Katmandu and Mercy.  Systematic industrial expansion has been ongoing in the Antium, Pisea, and Veii systems.  A significant amount of effort has also gone into establishing mineral extraction facilities via in-system expansion and colonization.  Byzantium, Pisea and Antium in particular are rapidly exploiting the moons available to them.  The distance to any new colony site from Shanir is slowing down the speed at which new colonies can be established, plus the limit in freighter lift rather than available income often determines how many people can be shipped.

After a considerable time in contact with the Drakes it is decided by a vote in Parliament to extend the offer of partnership to them.  Their fundamentally anarchistic government stood in the way of this for some considerable time as the Privy Council was always concerned that something so inherently unstable would not be able to maintain any sort of reasonable diplomatic relations.  As it turns out the Drakes High Council as an institution has proven to be a stable trade partner and the defensive alliance seemed well accepted on both sides.  The High Council accepted the offer with alarcity, leading several Xenologists to comment that it is likely they were overjoyed to be able to be able to call on the Shanirian's greater administrative skills.  The Drakes were also in contact with another Race, who were known as the Cartel.  Shanirian traders had encountered their ships in Luteria but formal contact had never been possible.  To take advantage of this opportunity a Messenger class vessel with a first contact team and Diplomatic Attache were dispatched into Drake space to establish communications with this race of traders and industrialists.  With the establishment of the partnership with the Drakes the Parliament also deeded them the world Londonium and systems beyond its warp point.  Taking advantage of this bounty of two, for the Drakes, easily habitable worlds would take time.

The biggest shock though was felt by the Shanirian Naval Board whose representatives were finally able to tour one of their allies ships.  The Drakes felt that any sort of passive defense on a warship was dishonorable they discovered.  Apparently relating to their natural "armoured" skin the warrior race felt that outside of defenses for lairs additional armour was the act of a coward.  This lent their ships considerable firepower, but at the cost of being fragile.  The fact they used a weapon system the Shanirian's had not developed, the dual-purpose gun-missile launcher coupled with the newly developed active missile defense systems and their highly trained crews made this, at ranges were missiles were not in direct fire sprint mode not as crazy as it first looks.  The chance that their active defense arrays would stop a missile and the substantial number of the systems onboard made the ships highly likely to stop most normal barrages cold.  However, in the caldron that would be a warp point assault their ships would be slaughtered...in a warp point defense on the other hand the high fire power of their ships would be telling.  The Drakes had 3 combat ship classes: a corvette, a destroyer and a new heavy cruiser class.  All classes were solely armed with the dual purpose launcher system.  Given the situation plus the differences in the atmospheres each race required the Naval Board was forced to conclude that only limited inter-operational-ability could be achieved.  Primarily this would take the form of training each races medical personal to deal with the others casualties and standardization of some electronics and missile dimensions to permit both sides to use the others ammunition for their main ship killer missiles.  As both Navy's were tied into serious refit schedules joint fleet exercises in the SN 984 area could only be held at a later date.

Organizationally the Drakes had several fleet elements.  The High Council Fleet was under the command of the current leader of the body in question and was twice the size of any of the 4 flights (Gold, Bronze, Red, Blue) fleets.  There was a Joint Expeditionary force with a ship from each flight in it that was used for patrolling.  Lastly two large survey forces existed.  At least 4 other flights (Silver, Brass, Green and Black) exist but currently they are involved in non-directly naval affairs or else are leading the exploration efforts.

Although the Drakes had a much smaller number of world colonized then the Confederation they had a massive economy due to sizable investments in industrialization.  All their systems were heavily industrialized, to a degree that was almost alarming to the environmental lobby.  This was; however, a virtual necessity as they had discovered no planets of the same type as their home world.  And this substantially limited their ability to colonize the world they had found.  Thus Londonium was for them an incredible gift as it had 2 worlds they felt at home on.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #26 on: May 11, 2011, 07:21:10 AM »
Interlude

The Searcher class frigate Rambl'n Lady hung in space.  The light of the distant star throwing razor sharp shadows over her hull making a crazy patchwork due to her retracted sensor booms.  A light second further in-system was an alien ship and further back outside of easy visual range but showing up clearly on her hull mounted phased arrays were a pair of larger alien ships.  Lights flickered on and off in sequence around her docking bay doors and an antenna cluster was fixed on the alien vessel while another high gain, microwave antenna was trained on the only other Shanirian vessel laying motionless on the entrance warp point under EMCON 3.

Decturion Andrew O'Connel reached over touch the controls that would advance one of his holographic pawns a single square when he froze.  Sam?  The link he maintained with the officer of the watch had suddenly spiked with concern.  His opponent, Engineering mate 1st class Frank Petrov frowned seeing the captain's sudden pause.  Everything.  His thoughts flowed into meld.  Alright?  Andrew.  Not sure.  Aliens.  His view shifted and he could see a picture of the Alien Chief Negotiator.  Computer analysis scrolled up beside it.  His hand moved and he touched the save and quit button.  "Frank, somethings come up.  We'll finish later."  His voice sounded odd to him half in Meld as he was.  The engineer nodded, his face worried.

His pace quickened as he left the rec deck and made his way to the spiral stair leading two decks down to the ships nerve centre.  Report.  The meld deepened and a stream of information about the current day of exchanges with the aliens blossomed in his mind.  Vocabulary, communications systems, measurement systems.  It was still early in the process, and having sucessfuly established contact with the Squids no one had anticipated problems with a race that looked much the same as Shanirian.  He concentrated as his hand hit the control to the command centre's hatch.  Nicolas?  The meld broadened and the Negotiators agitation struck his shield like a choppy wave.  Alarm.  Agitation.  Upset.  Over the Meld.  Andrew rested his hand on the shoulder of the Communications rating his vision seeing the computer analysis of the aliens posture, while he opened himself up to the onduty crews awareness.  His senses came alive with sharp scents and tastes as he took over leadership of Meld from Samantha who dropped back to prop up his shielding.  They are upset over the Meld?  What has it to do with them?

Mind Readers.  Many untranslatable words.  Sharp Changes in posture and attitude.  Questioned Strongly.  Recoiled upon confirmation.  The impressions, and thoughts of the ships senior Contact Specialist were underlayed by puzzlement.  The groundless fear was incomprehensible.

"Decturion.  Another Antenna has deployed."  Andrew glanced over at the frigates tactical section and a computer graphic of the enemy ship showed a third antenna had indeed deployed.  Narrow Beam Transmission probably.

Andrew fitted his microphone and ear piece as two more people entered the control area.  His distracted gaze caught and held Nicolas Crispin and Faith de Moulin.  "Faith any ideas what the problem is?"  The ships senior Xenologist looked as confused as everyone.  "No idea.  But we were trying to explain the Meld to them when they..." she gestured to the picture on the screen, "...lost it."  He walled himself off somewhat from the crew, Samantha picking up his intention and taking over for him.  "I and the computer thinks we are seeing fear reactions.  They are afraid of us because of how we communicate with each other...at least that is what seems to be the issue."  Nicolas shrugged, "I can't think why they were afraid, we can't use our ability to cast on an alien.  We told them that.  They just refused.  The computer can't even translate what their replies were.  Utter out of our preliminary lexicons."

Engineer cast readiness.

Space time changed as the engineering staff linked and amplified will altered reality what was became otherwise.  The telekinetic wave amplified by the output of fusion generators became manifest in normal reality and Rambl'n Lady was poised on the precipice of a cliff ready to fall on command.

"It will take some 10 hours for a message to get to the planet and back,"  Andrew looked at Nicolas then nodded and took a seat.  Look.  See.  Find.  His direction to his contact people dismissed them.  He flicked a switch.  "Update.  Searcher 5.  At Contact Point.  Week 2.  Day 4.  Hour 11.  Alien Contact Team has broken contact with us.  10 hours approximate minimum time till reply from their home world if they sent a message as seems reasonable.  The contact ship seems to be now communicating with the alien watchforce via narrow beam transmissions.  Contact Log appended to message.  O'Connell Out."  He terminated his recording.

"Append all of the data on today even and send it, and ask the galley to send up sandwiches."

Fourteen hours later Samantha shook him awake.  "Decturion they are moving."  Andrew barely came out of his nap before diving into the Meld.  Awareness flooded him as he stabbed his repeater's on switch.  The two watchdog's were moving, as expected faster than what his ship could do given the rating of his inertia cancelling field.  Tactical?  The courses of the two aliens intersected his ships, 6 minutes to maximum missile range.  Intention became will and screens solidified around his ship and armoured ports slid aside to reveal the emitters of his ships point defense lasers.

"Nicolas, anything?"  He stood and let the two crew help him into his survival suit.  He sealed his gloves and locked the helmet down but left the visor up.  "Nothing Decturion.  They haven't moved though."  Nicolas's voice betrayed his upset.  This was the first time such a thing had happened the other aliens had always been willing to at talk...these Aussie's weren't anymore.

Pain Blockers.  In medical three volunteers were injected with powerful hallucinogenic drugs and walls appeared through the tight knight melding to channel pain to them.  Fear and anxiety spiked through as the crews perceptions merged then damped down as comfort and confidence flowed around.  The repeater showed the icons of two enemy ships moving closer.  Andrew relaxed buckling himself into the chair and surfed the meld, tasting his crews concern, feeling the warmth of his ships ready cast amplifiers, the tension that was the ships massive lasing chamber.  He forced himself to relax, Contact SOP was clear he was not to make the first aggressive move.

Range 5 light seconds.  The two alien vessels were now in range of missile fire.  Tactical.  Fire Control Detected.  Hull Mapping Detected.  No Movement Alien Contact Ship.

Continuous Update to Searcher 6. Establish feed to drones.

Range 3 light seconds.  Tactical.  Missile seperation.  Single Inbound. Tracking.  Tracking.  Locked.  Counter Missile Battery Solution Found.

HOLD.  DRONE LAUNCH PREP.

The missile covered the distance in agonizing slowness, each moment stretching out and then it crossed the invisible line marking the maximum range of the ships counter missiles and still the will was: HOLD.  Emitters swiveled on super conducting magnetic bearings aligning with the inbounds track.  HOLD.  Half a light second from impact the warhead detonated and a fireball formed.

A wave of relief wove through the Melding.  Helm.  Bring us about.

The ships engineering crew fed their knowing and will and space twisted rotating the ship around and then it began to slide down an ever moving slope of collapsing space time, moving away from the still stationary contact ship towards the weakness in the fabric of the universe that would allow them to drop away from this place, with the two alien vessels matching its speed.

Andrew O'Connell released his control over the Meld, and began mentally composing a message on the situation for the Naval Board.  They were going to be rather unhappy about this.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2011, 02:16:42 AM by Paul M »
 
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Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #27 on: May 12, 2011, 05:47:28 AM »
The failure of the Contact 3 mission to the Aussie's sent a shock wave through the Parliament.  A small fraction wanted to invade them since Tarentum was a major hub world to be.  A much larger fraction were more willing to sit on a fence and see which way the wind blew before committing, and a small but vocal minority called for peace talks with the aliens.  It was never clear to anyone in Survey Command how this was to be accomplished since the Aliens clearly were not interested in talking.  The Naval board scrambled to find an appropriate response outside of sending off the Home Fleet, which was largely half in and half out of Prime Yard's shipyards getting refit.  Worse Prime Yard was in the middle of a major construction sequence and there simply was no capacity free for major efforts in prefabrication of bases.  The logistical nightmare that would have resulted from "kicking over the can" for anything but  a real shooting war, which the Navy didn't think was likely...given that Searcher 005 was not actually attacked.

The initial SCN response was to pre-fabricate two Sling class close defense bases and divert two mobile construction yards to Tarentum itself from Byzantium.  The Mobile Workshops in Pisea were directed to advance into Lugdumun to build two ICN comm relays initially.  The Forward Repair ships were also directed there to refit the 3 destroyers of the 3rd Defense Squadron.  The 4th Defense Squadron was assembled from newly constructed ships and orders were cut for it to move to Tarentum.  This would relieve the survey fleet of active defense duties and allow it to resume its survey operations as 4 warp points in Tarentum remained un-explored.  The plan eventually coalesced into developing a core WP defense array backed up by ships and laser buoys.  The operations staff charged with carrying out this were not amused as the time scale became apparent.  The mobile yards took 9 months to build a single Sling.  Assembly in orbit cut that time down by only two months and when you took into account the time to pre-fabricate and ship the components there was no direct time saving.

When the first month passed an no alien ships exited the warp point the higher levels of the SCN planning staff let out a sigh of relief and concentrated on expediting things as much as possible.  On Red Harbor, the first Shanirian Planetary Defense Centre was designed.  Additionally a serious look was taken on the shipyard capacity available.  Though it would require a sizable investment in time, the Naval Board using the panic created by the soured contact got permission for the construction of 3 smaller space station complexes.  One would go in the home world, one would go into Byzantium and the third was scheduled for Tarentum itself.  Diverting 10 of the homeworlds 14 shipyards for nearly 2 years would not have been so easily achievable without the shock effect.  The good news though was that the pipeline for new builds was full, with a destroyer coming out of the ways every month and Pilum bases starting to also also finish production.  This represented a substantial increase in the defenses of the Shanir System.

The situation with the aliens off Tarentum overshadowed the sucessful contact with the Cartel, and the trade treaty with them was welcomed given the obvious costs associated with the above planning.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #28 on: May 13, 2011, 01:32:01 AM »
The survey ships nearly caused heart attacks in the comptrollers office when the oversight committee saw the price tag.

The new survey DDX:
 
PATHFINDER MOD 2 class DDX   (AC)  6 XO Racks  30 Hull  TL 4
[3] SAAXcH(Ic)(Ic)(BbM)(Ic)LLhQDL(Ic) [4]
30 RCP  20 MCP     Trg:1      Cost =  550/ 82.5
HTK 15 Sx1  Ax2  Dx1  Lx2

The latest version of the Pathfinder trims away almost all excess systems to allow the mounting of the capital survey instruments.  The boat bay capacity was halved but the ships survey speed more than doubles.  There was some debate about installing a datalink system but given the expected combat environment of this ship there seemed little point.
 
The new survey CLX:
 
DISCOVERY class CLX    9 XO Racks  45 Hull  TL 4
[3] SSAAZXc(BbM)XcH(IcIc)(Ic)(BbM)M1Ra(IcIc)DXrRaMgLhQD(Ic) [4]
45 RCP  5 MCP     Trg:2      Cost =  1041.5/ 156.2
HTK 25 Sx2  Ax2  Dx2  Rax2  Mgx1
80x SM, 6x EDM (Mg)

Three of these ships will form the core of each survey force.  By itself a Discovery can survey faster than the original survey forces deployed at the start of expansion of the Confederation.  The ship carries the new advanced missile launcher system and full datalink capacity.  The cost of the ship though exceeds even a Spatha Mod 1 class heavy cruiser.
 
The small fleet base space station:
 
SUPPORT BASE class SS    37 XO Racks  480 Hull  TL 4
[1]Sx50Ax60ZHHBHH(BbL)HHQHHBHH(BbL)HHQHHBHH(CHS)HHBTPbBTPbB(MS)(MS)BQRx3BDBQRx3BMgDBQLhBRRBRRBMgDB(SY)(SY)BQM2LDDQBQM2LDDBQM2LDDBXr(CIC)(BbL)BLLhQDMg[-]
480 RCP  230 MCP     Trg:7      Cost =  3694/ 53.9
HTK 227 Sx50  Ax60  Dx10  Lx4  Rx10  Tx2  Mgx3
50x GM, 430x SM, 20x EDM (Mg)

The design bureau finally came up with a design that was easily expandable plus could be built on a reasonable time frame and assembled in short order at any colony world.  The standard missile launcher system was chosen due to large surplus of these systems available.  Current estimates place the overall construction of a support base class station at between 10 to 11 months depending on the distance it must be shipped (6 months pre-fabrication, 1-2 months shipping, 3 months assembly in orbit).
« Last Edit: May 13, 2011, 01:49:28 AM by Paul M »
 

Offline Starslayer_D (OP)

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Re: Theban Empire
« Reply #29 on: May 14, 2011, 08:01:12 AM »
I seem to be playing catchup with my reporting. The game is closing on turn 100, so far free of serious conflicts. The one failed war check affected a race trapped in a single system with the the entry WP being a closed one. Go figure. The federal Theocracy has not found any alien non-homesystem colonies to siphon people off. But they are gearing up to deal with the one race close by who won't talk. They are hampered though by their unwillingness to release a significant portion of their fleet from the home system. And the constant refit shuffle. Finally though they have gotten the BC's out of prototyping, wich means soon their CA's will be secondary units, and then they will move. I also suspect of the major races they have had the worst luck finding habitables.

Anyway, some news of the Thebans, and a glimpse of the map to allow me to drop names in further writing.

Theban Empire – a Synopsis of the next four years (Turn 70)
We have achived a further upgrade of our general technological basis and thus provided our economy new incentives.
The imperial expansion has run into dead ends down 2 lines, and the Hamadi system in the Mosegi also contains only a single warp point. We may face a possible dead end down that line of systems as well.
Down the other chain of the mosegi branch we encountered an alien race, the Federated Suns who after some troubles establishing a communication proved to be peaceable and entered a trade alliance with us, wich over time we were able to upgrade to a partnership.
We are lucky in this, as their crews are trained quite well, above the standard of Theban crews, although their technology is behind our own.
Allthough the Federated Suns does not show any interest in exploring beyond their paradisical home system with three theban type worlds and a supertheban world, they gratiously allowed the Second Survey Fleet to enter their system last month and search for warp points in it.

Surprisingly, the originally neglected Sekhemkare system lead via several systems to a nexus wich opened new avenues of exploration for the Theban empire.
Soemthing wich may strongly affect our future deployment is the fact that several of the warp lines in the empire are very small, and thus may prevent the deployment of future large hulls down the warp lines, and thus either cutting the empire into several independently acting sectors for capital fleets, or making the research of alternative ways for travelling through them a necessity.

The growth of our domain has provided us with funds to alleviate the budgetary crisis, allowing an expansion of our military although colonisation and research still have dominance. Settlement of new worlds is now slowed down with settlers taking over a month of travel to reach their new homes, and thus freeing up funds in the months where our freighters are underway.


The following are short diagrams to show the theban star chart.
Legend:
- / \ |    = Warp Line
?      = Warp Points possible or suspected, unsurveyed.
W      = Unexplored Warp Point