Solar Hegemony Redux

[Garfunkel (OP)]

SOLAR HEGEMONY

It is the year 1946. The greatest conflict in human history, Second World War, has barely ended. Most of the world is picking up the pieces, yet a new conflict, possibly even greater than WW2, is already brewing. The looting of the German scientific establishment had revealed the existence of Trans-Newtonian minerals and their near-magical properties. Luckily, the atomic bombing of Berlin had prevented the Näzis from utilizing these miraculous discoveries to their advantage. Seeing the utter destruction that the American A-Bombs had done to Berlin and Hamburg, the Japanese had surrendered in short order. But now politicians, soldiers and scientists in Moscow and Washington DC were putting their heads together to figure out how to best exploit this new knowledge. The fragile wartime alliance between the two new superpowers was about to fall apart. But could this new Trans-Newtonian science provide a way for the fading Great Powers of yesterday to make a comeback? And could they accelerate the rise of the emerging powers? The battle for the Solar hegemony is about to start!

Off-Topic: show

Conventional start, 1946. Both USA and USSR start with 1 billion population, 6100 wealth, 16 research facilities, 4 GFCC, 1600 conventional industry, and one level of military academy and naval headquarters. As you might have guessed from the brief description, this takes place in an alternate timeline of Earth hence the numbers don't exactly match with reality at the end of WW2. This story uses version 2.5 and will be fighter-centric to begin with. I am using SM mode to give both factions TN-theory in 1946 as otherwise the first few years are just wasted. Similarly, engine generations are locked behind story events. Otherwise, research is normal with LRA on. Difficulty 150%, Terraforming and Survey both half speed. Construction cycle 86,401 seconds.

1946

In March, the US scientists figure out a comprehensive TN-theory thanks to having looted far more material from the Germans than the Soviet had - the Soviet scientists expected their work to last until December. In May, the Soviets opened their first Deep Space Tracking Station, a collection of extremely accurate optical telescopes that could observe near-Earth space but the Americans were not far behind, opening theirs in June. By September, several maintenance facilities had been constructed at Baikonur, the site for the nascent Soviet space program. And finally in December the Soviets cracked the mysteries of TN-theory.

1947

Soviets began the year by figuring out how to make completely sealed tractors, ploughers and diggers so that their crews and machinery would work on freezing desert planets like Mars just as well as on airless rocks like Luna. The Americans discovered the secret of High-Density Duranium armour. In May, the Soviets constructed additional facilities at Baikonur, these were to house the bureaucrats making sure that the CCCP utilized all its resources and roubles to maximum efficiency. Meanwhile, across the oceans, the United States was going through a second industrial revolution, with both manufacturing and resource extraction being upgraded to TN-standards. In August, American science introduced Geological Survey Sensors that could scan a planetoid from low orbit for the presence of any of the eleven TN-minerals.

1948

Americans also solved the mystery of space-worthy construction equipment in January as well as how to refuel spacecraft while they were underway - at least on paper, since there were no spacecraft yet. They also started work on active sensors of sorts, able to make precise measurements of objects in space. In April, Soviet scientists managed to create a working Radioisotope Thermal Generator, which would create sufficient power for any spacecraft. And in July, the descendants of Siberians created a pressurized suit that allowed fine-motor control, in effect allowing soldiers to function almost normally in extreme temperatures.


Thanks for reading! Next update will probably happen next year.

[Warer]

Fighter centric noise...FACs are basically oversized fighters when you think about it, just a thought.

[nuclearslurpee]

This campaign will be either a triumph of the modern era or a monument to man's hubris in the face of overwhelming micromanagement, either way I am here for it! 

[Garfunkel (OP)]

1949

On 4th June, the Soviet Union triumphantly announced the launch of Vostok-1 , the first human space shuttle. With a crew of nine kosmonauts and commanded by Kapitan tret'yego ranga Anatoliy Denisov, the goal of the Vostok program was first to put a Soviet citizen in space and then on the Moon while simultaneously performing important scientific work.

Code: [Select]

Vostok class Geological Survey Shuttle      500 tons       9 Crew       67.3 BP       TCS 10    TH 2    EM 0
200 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 3      Sensors 0/0/0/0.2      DCR 0-0      PPV 0
Maint Life 1.55 Years     MSP 8    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 4    5YR 57    Max Repair 50 MSP
Kapitan tret'yego ranga    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months    Morale Check Required   

Glushko RD-101 (1)    Power 2.0    Fuel Use 201.25%    Signature 2.00    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 59,800 Litres    Range 10.7 billion km (619 days at full power)

Conventional Geological Survey Sensors (1)   0.2 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposes

Thanks to the incredible energy density of Sorium, the Glushko RD-101 rocket engine could propel the shuttle to the Moon in mere 32 minutes despite being made out of conventional materials. Its lifesupport system was rated for whole 30 days, ensuring that it could fully survey Luna for TN-minerals without having to return to restock air, food and other supplies.



Captain Denisov became the first human to step on the surface of Luna, planting the red-and-gold CCCP flag and uttering the historical words: "One small step for man, one giant leap for socialism!" as he did so. Shockwaves reverberated through all countries but especially in Washington DC, where President Truman announced the creation of National Aerospace and Space Administration to coordinate the American effort in space to ensure that the United States would regain the lead. In London, the Labour government came under heavy public pressure to enter the so-called 'space race' as the tabloids were calling it and in Paris, debate raged whether France should focus on propping up its crumbling empire or switch its attention to space as well. What Moscow desperately wanted to keep out of the public eye was the fat that it took Vostok-1 over three months to survey Luna. To ensure this, the shuttle was not allowed to return to Earth. It's nine-man crew, haggard and starving, finally landed at Baikonur on 5th September and were rushed to receive medical care and badly needed haircuts before the inevitable public parades would begin.

In October, Vostok-2 was launched from Baikonur. It was powered by the improved Glushko RD-102 rocket engine, making it 50 km/s faster than its predecessor. Both shuttles flew together back to Luna for further 'scientific research' as Moscow announced it. Captain Evgenia Sorokin, commanding Vostok-2, became the first woman to step on Lunar surface. In November, Moscow announced that Luna held all 11 TN-minerals and that they were all easily accessible albeit in much smaller numbers that on Earth. This seemed to confirm the hypothesis of some planetary scientists that the Moon, larger as it was than most moons in the system, was a fragment of Earth itself and had been formed in a gigantic collision between proto-Earth and some other, unknown planetoid. To cements its reputation, the Soviet Union announced that it would freely share all scientific data it had gathered with the world. American scientists later commented that the data had very obviously been sanitized to ensure that the Soviets would have an advantage for any future mining or colonization projects. Such complaints were labelled as 'degenerate capitalist whining' and promptly ignored by Moscow. Once again, the Vostok shuttles had went beyond the limits of their nominal life-support limits, and once again Moscow carefully kept this a secret. But in Baikonur, the leadership of the Soviet space program acknowledged that the design was incapable of further survey work and would be repurposed.

1950

February brought long-waited relief to the Americans as Mercury One was launched. While the public was told an inspiring story of engineers burning the midnight oil to go beyond the human limits in building this shuttle, the truth was that most of its components had been researched already and it was the creation of NASA that enabled the various military programs to be merged with civilian industries. The result was impressive:

Code: [Select]

Mercury class Geological Survey Shuttle      500 tons       10 Crew       116.4 BP       TCS 10    TH 4    EM 0
375 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 2      Sensors 0/0/0/1      DCR 0-0      PPV 0
Maint Life 1.44 Years     MSP 14    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 7    5YR 111    Max Repair 100 MSP
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months    Morale Check Required   

Rocketdyne C-125/9 Engine F-3 (1)    Power 3.8    Fuel Use 287.05%    Signature 3.75    Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 33,200 Litres    Range 4.2 billion km (128 days at full power)

Geological Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposes
Lieutenant-Commander Jarod Blissett from Ohio became the first American to step on Lunar surface after a flight of only 17 minutes thanks to the capable Rocketdyne C-125/9 rocket engine. Furthermore, thanks to its more capable survey sensors, the Americans announced that their survey was completed in mere two weeks. After four days of celebrations back home, the shuttle relaunched, this time at Mars. On 23rd February, the ten astronauts stepped on the Red Planet, finally writing a historical record first for the USA. Only gray cloud on the sky for NASA was that Mars only had Tritanium, Uridium and Gallicite, though all three were present in large quantities.

To further drive home the message of American superiority, on 17th May Mercury One completed the survey of Venus. Due to the hellish conditions on the planet, this time the shuttle did not land.   The mission had seriously taxed the life-support capacity of Mercury One. NASA thus decided to build more Mercury shuttles, to ensure faster surveying of other bodies as it was not deemed practical to extend the deployment time. Venus was discovered to be very poor with minerals with only five types present and all at minimal accessibility. Though the amount of Gallicite was massive, over 23 million tons. How humans could ever mine it was a mystery to be solved in the future.

On 25th June, the Soviet created Democratic People's Republic of Korea invaded Republic of Korea, its southern neighbour, announcing that the 'lapdogs of capitalist imperialists' were not democratic enough. Initially, the invasion went swimmingly for them as their Soviet-supplied armaments were an order of magnitude strongers than what the US had left behind in South-Korea. But the rest of the world did not sit idly by. Americans especially rushed troops and equipment over. The biggest impact was made by the brand new B-29L Superfortress, an experimental aircraft that replaced its entire bomb load with an infrared laser. Not only was it incredibly accurate as the bomber/gunner could hit anything he could see the same instant, its destructive power was sufficient to outright destroy any tank, vehicle, artillery piece or a command post it targeted. By end of the year, as more and more B-29Ls arrived in Korea, the Communist North found itself in an impossible situation, capable of moving only light forces and only at night, making it possible for the United Nations forces to regain lost territory and eventually enter North-Korea itself. This led to a massive surge in Soviet aid to the DPRK, including Soviet pilots flying the new MiG-15 jet fighter which posed a grave threat to the American bombers, meaning that more and more American fighters were needed to escort the vulnerable Superfortresses. With more and more Chinese 'volunteers' bolstering the diminished North manpower, the war stagnated as both sides re-evaluated their objectives. Both Moscow and Washington realized that space would be the ultimate high ground once TN-based weaponry matured and the so-far peaceful space programs started to transform into militaristic ones.

But first, there were more peaceful developments. In September, USSR launched the first Progress class shuttlecraft:

Code: [Select]

Progress class Shuttlecraft      500 tons       3 Crew       16.9 BP       TCS 10    TH 3    EM 0
250 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 2      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 0
Maint Life 3.79 Years     MSP 2    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 0    5YR 3    Max Repair 5 MSP
Cargo 250   
Kapitan tret'yego ranga    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 6 days    Morale Check Required   

Glushko RD-102 (1)    Power 2.5    Fuel Use 351.56%    Signature 2.50    Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 68,800 Litres    Range 7 billion km (326 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Freighter for auto-assignment purposes

Moscow announced that it was a research support craft but Washington doubted this claim since the two Vostok class shuttles had not done anything since their return from Luna and that inactivity continued.

In November, NASA gained Mercury Two and the two shuttles were sent together to survey their namesake planet, completed by 20th November. In December, the first Ares class transport shuttle was launched:

Code: [Select]

Ares class Troop Shuttle      496 tons       3 Crew       20.8 BP       TCS 10    TH 4    EM 0
378 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 2      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 0
Maint Life 2.00 Years     MSP 2    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 1    5YR 10    Max Repair 6 MSP
Troop Capacity 250 tons     
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 15 days    Morale Check Required   

Rocketdyne C-125/9 Engine F-3 (1)    Power 3.8    Fuel Use 287.05%    Signature 3.75    Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 38,200 Litres    Range 4.8 billion km (147 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Troop Transport for auto-assignment purposes

Though it did not have any troops to carry yet as Pentagon was still debating what form the American Lunar Garrison should take. Also in December, the Soviets launched their sixth Progress shuttlecraft.

[nuclearslurpee]

What Moscow desperately wanted to keep out of the public eye was the fat that it took Vostok-1 over three months to survey Luna. To ensure this, the shuttle was not allowed to return to Earth. It's nine-man crew, haggard and starving, finally landed at Baikonur on 5th September and were rushed to receive medical care and badly needed haircuts before the inevitable public parades would begin.

Now this is the high-quality Soviet engineering I come here for! 

In November, Moscow announced that Luna held all 11 TN-minerals and that they were all easily accessible albeit in much smaller numbers that on Earth. This seemed to confirm the hypothesis of some planetary scientists that the Moon, larger as it was than most moons in the system, was a fragment of Earth itself and had been formed in a gigantic collision between proto-Earth and some other, unknown planetoid.

SM, or do I have to hate you eternally for your brilliant dumb luck?

Lieutenant-Commander Jarod Blissett from Ohio

hisssssssss

Code: [Select]

Progress class Shuttlecraft      500 tons
Cargo 250

The name feels just a tad on the nose...

In November, NASA gained Mercury Two and the two shuttles were sent together to survey their namesake planet, completed by 20th November.

Maybe I missed this, but do two ships working together combine their survey points? I always thought this didn't work that way but maybe I was making an assumption based on how the standing orders work.

[Garfunkel (OP)]

Luna minerals were SM'd in. It was originally empty but I want to have some tensions over control of it early on so I had to change that. That Ohio thing is an homage to the fact that more astronauts are from Ohio than any other state which is a surprising but mysterious fact. For Progress, blame the actual Soviets for originally naming it that way! And yes, multiple geological survey ships can work together in the same Fleet to combine their points when surveying a single body. If you're using standing orders, the surveyors avoid each other, I guess to avoid wasteful traveling between bodies.

Anyway, this campaign is on hiatus until the cargo bug with fighters is resolved - I could use SM to temporarily overcome it but eventually it'll become too much of a hassle so I don't want to get committed if the fix requires a DB change.

[nuclearslurpee]

This campaign will be either a triumph of the modern era or a monument to man's hubris in the face of overwhelming micromanagement, either way I am here for it! 

Called it. 

And yes, multiple geological survey ships can work together in the same Fleet to combine their points when surveying a single body. If you're using standing orders, the surveyors avoid each other, I guess to avoid wasteful traveling between bodies.

Aha. That makes sense and would of course work with the standing orders, mystery solved! 

[Garfunkel (OP)]

Have no fear, the hubris will inflate and expand once 2.5.1 is here as Steve confirmed that the fighter cargo bug will be fixed with just an exe change. So this campaign will resume then!

[Garfunkel (OP)]

1951

ZVEZDA IS HERE screams the headline on Pravda as Moscow proudly announces that their DLB Lunar Base, commonly known as Zvezda, had finished its first stage of construction and that brave Soviet citizens would soon take up new lives on Earth's companion. The fact that the Soviet Union does not currently have any shuttles capable of transporting colonists is obviously not mentioned. The Soviet Progress fleet grew to ten vessels while the Americans put out four Ares class shuttles, before starting construction of Luna class troop shuttles and Artemis class shuttlecraft, respectively. During the latter half of the year, the Americans put out their new rescue shuttles, whereas the Soviets caused a minor global panic with the introduction of their Krivak class gunships, the first armed space-faring vessels humanity had produced:

Code: [Select]

GS-01 Krivak 001  (Krivak class Gunship)      250 tons       2 Crew       12.7 BP       TCS 5    TH 3    EM 0
600 km/s      Armour 1-3       Shields 0-0       HTK 1      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 0.98
Maint Life 9.02 Years     MSP 3    AFR 5%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 1    Max Repair 5 MSP
Kapitan tret'yego ranga    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Glushko RD-103 (1)    Power 3.0    Fuel Use 492.95%    Signature 3.00    Explosion 15%
Fuel Capacity 26,000 Litres    Range 3.8 billion km (73 days at full power)

Yurga MBP 100mm T-15 Gun 1A10 (1)    Range 10,000km     TS: 1,250 km/s     Power 0.75-0.25     RM 10,000 km    ROF 15       
Sapphire Gunsight N001 (1)     Max Range: 30,000 km   TS: 625 km/s    ECCM-0     10 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NPO Energomash RT-Generator/025 (1)     Total Power Output 0.3    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposes

The Apollo class rescue shuttle was a far more peaceful design:

Code: [Select]

RS-01 Apollo 001  (Apollo class Rescue Shuttle)      500 tons       4 Crew       28.6 BP       TCS 10    TH 4    EM 0
375 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 5      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 0
Maint Life 36.99 Years     MSP 303    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 0    5YR 6    Max Repair 5 MSP
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 15 days    Morale Check Required   

Rocketdyne C-125/9 Engine F-3 (1)    Power 3.8    Fuel Use 287.05%    Signature 3.75    Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 208,200 Litres    Range 26.1 billion km (805 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 10,000 litres per hour     Complete Refuel 20 hours

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a None for auto-assignment purposes

But Washington was not happy that the Soviet Union now had a base on the Moon as well as armed vessels in Earth orbit. Plans to push the USA forward were made and put into action.

[nuclearslurpee]

Have no fear, the hubris will inflate and expand once 2.5.1 is here as Steve confirmed that the fighter cargo bug will be fixed with just an exe change. So this campaign will resume then!

I see the campaign is resumed so I suppose the bug is fixed? 

[Garfunkel (OP)]

It sure is! And yes, campaign updated to 2.5.1 version.

1952

The Commonwealth joins the space race! With the crown jewel of the Empire, India, gaining its independence in 1947, the writing was on the wall for British colonial power on Earth. Unlike their counterparts in Paris, the British upper class decided not to fight former colonies that sought independence and instead focus on new possibilities in space. However, the war had left Great Britain itself exhausted and short of resources. Yet it still had friendly relations with most of its former dominions and thus the idea of becoming a proper Commonwealth emerged. After years of lengthy and occasionally spirited negotiations, the Commonwealth of Great Britain, Canada, Newfoundland, South Africa, Ceylon, Australia and New Zealand is ready to chase its future among the stars.

While the Americans were busy building more Artemis shuttlecrafts, the Soviets introduced a new class - the Glaz:

Code: [Select]

SCP-01 Glaz-1 'Lenin'  (Glaz class Sensor Platform)      500 tons       3 Crew       31.9 BP       TCS 10    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      Armour 3-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 1      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 0
Maint Life 29.61 Years     MSP 237    AFR 10%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 8    Max Repair 10 MSP
Kapitan tret'yego ranga    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   


Duga Search Array N002 (1)     GPS 50     Range 6.8m km    Resolution 5

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a None for auto-assignment purposes
Stalin has made it clear that the actual sensor is not to be turned on without his permission to avoid tipping off the Americans. In public, the 'Lenin' and the 'Stalin' satellites are claimed to be weather monitoring satellites. But in reality, Moscow now has both the sensors and the guns in Earth orbit to wage war and to dominate the ultimate high ground.

1953

NASA restarted the Mercury program with a carefully planned asteroid survey: Aten, Phaethon, 1999 UJ7 and 2010 TK7 were the targets. Between each asteroid, the two Mercury shuttles would return to Earth for an overhaul. Just in case, the Coast Guard rescue shuttles were on standby. Washington was also growing its Artemis fleet, now 17 shuttlecrafts strong as more and more infrastructure was shuttled to Luna. The Americans were determined that the Jamestown colony would be bigger and better than the Soviet Zvezda base, where first brave pioneers were now living thanks to the first Soyuz shuttle becoming operational.

In May, NASA celebrates a survey milestone - everything inside Mars' orbit has been surveyed. Unfortunately, the results are bit poor:

Code: [Select]

Mars
     Tritanium 5,503,716   Acc 0.9
     Uridium 4,588,164   Acc 0.1
     Gallicite 5,189,284   Acc 0.4

 Venus
     Duranium 263,712   Acc 0.1
     Corbomite 3,750,574   Acc 0.1
     Boronide 3,663   Acc 0.1
     Uridium 7,750,211   Acc 0.1
     Gallicite 23,441,091   Acc 0.1

 Halleys Comet
     Corundium 22,223   Acc 0.7

 Eureka
     Boronide 81   Acc 1
     Sorium 5,329   Acc 1
By the year's end, Washington becomes alarmed by the continued buildup of Red Army forces on Luna but Moscow brushes off all criticism by claiming them to be merely security units practicing on the harsh Lunar environment. Nevertheless, Pentagon has received almost all industry proposals and prototypes for their moon force and the planning for a new type of organization will start soon.

[nuclearslurpee]

The joining of the British (and friends) should be exciting, if nothing else there is a force in play which should, in principle, counterbalance Soviet aggression but will probably in practice annoy the Americans by refusing to do as told. 

Speaking of Soviet aggression, they really do seem to be set up in a position where they could handily 'win' the game if they felt like it, since right now they have all of the space-based military assets. Are there some measures in place which would restrain such an action? Particularly in this strange new post-VB6 world in which we lack PDCs...

[Garfunkel (OP)]

1954

The Korean war ends not with the apocalyptic bang that many feared but with a disappointing fizzle. Despite the awesome firepower of the United Nations forces, the endless masses of Chinese volunteers and the growing Soviet support ensured that after the initial back-and-forth, the war became a stalemate. After almost two years of depressing trench warfare and with neither side willing to escalate the war further, an agreement is reached that freezes the conflict as neither the North nor the South is willing to agree to a peace treaty. Having had the world come to a brink of nuclear annihilation, Premier Stalin agrees to meet with President Eisenhower at neutral ground, in Calcutta. It is the first time that Stalin had left the Soviet Union since the Potsdam Conference of 1945 and CIA analysts are shocked to see that the Generalissimus looked healthy and spry instead of the near-death ghoul that they were expecting based on the rumours that they had collected from Moscow the last two years. In fact, many had thought that Stalin had died at some point in 1953. Yet here he was, doing his best to crush Eisenhower's hand at the press meeting as if he wasn't 12 years the American's senior. Peculiarly, Molotov looked and acted his age as did every other senior member of the Soviet delegation.

The focus of the Calcutta Conference is peace, or rather, avoidance of war between the two superpowers. Stalin promised that the Soviet Union will not assist Communist movements across Africa and Asia and America, and in return Eisenhower promised that the United States will not bankroll or equip the colonial powers fighting such movements. A hotline between Kreml and the White House was created to ensure that in a time of crisis, the leaders could talk to each other quickly. The Calcutta Declaration is happily embraced by nearly everyone on the planet. Despite knowing that Washington will not help them in any way, De Gaulle doubles down on fighting Ho Chi Minh and his independence movement in French Indochina. The final clause of the Declaration states that the Moon, now often called Luna to make it distinct from the other moons in the Solar system, will remain open and available to all countries, though there is no requirement to make national bases open to others. Neither is there any clause for disarmament in space.

((In other words, I do not want to create OOBs for USA and USSR on Earth nor simulate ground war on Earth either. Sorry, Red Dawn is not going to happen.))

NASA added the asteroid Magellan to its list of surveyed rocks while the Soviet Union built ten Krivak-M class gunships, making a total of twenty. The M version incorporated the new Glushko RD-104 engine, increasing the gunships speed from 600 km/sec to 700 km/sec, though this cut its range down to 2.6 billion kilometres from the 3.8 billion that the older version had. Kreml saw this as an acceptable price as the class was meant for Cislunar operations only.


Soviet Forces on Luna at the end of 1954.

[AlStar]

How'd you manage to get the 5,000-ton army regiments up to Luna? Last time I used fighter shuttles to move some Xeno equipment I ended up having to break the unit down into individual trucks - the 10 shuttle squad couldn't pick up the 10 trucks all at once; it could only pick up 10 individual trucks.

[nuclearslurpee]

It is the first time that Stalin had left the Soviet Union since the Potsdam Conference of 1945 and CIA analysts are shocked to see that the Generalissimus looked healthy and spry instead of the near-death ghoul that they were expecting based on the rumours that they had collected from Moscow the last two years. In fact, many had thought that Stalin had died at some point in 1953. Yet here he was, doing his best to crush Eisenhower's hand at the press meeting as if he wasn't 12 years the American's senior. Peculiarly, Molotov looked and acted his age as did every other senior member of the Soviet delegation.

This seems ominous as it hints to some darker force behind Stalin's apparent good health...

((In other words, I do not want to create OOBs for USA and USSR on Earth nor simulate ground war on Earth either. Sorry, Red Dawn is not going to happen.))

But then how will the Chinese get screwed over again, as is tradition? 

NASA added the asteroid Magellan to its list of surveyed rocks while the Soviet Union built ten Krivak-M class gunships, making a total of twenty. The M version incorporated the new Glushko RD-104 engine, increasing the gunships speed from 600 km/sec to 700 km/sec, though this cut its range down to 2.6 billion kilometres from the 3.8 billion that the older version had. Kreml saw this as an acceptable price as the class was meant for Cislunar operations only.

And what is the US doing to counter this threat? Pretty soon it will not matter if the Soviets keep their agreement not to engage in ground combat if they can just kinetic-strike the West into dust unopposed!