Author Topic: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7  (Read 7341 times)

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NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« on: September 03, 2010, 09:11:52 AM »
1st October 2031
Hainan Six falls to the Soviet Union after three months of bitter fighting. The last fanatical Chinese defenders are overrun and the complex is declared secure. The four Soviet divisions involved in the assault are at ninety-five percent readiness, despite taking significant casualties over the last few months, as the Soviet Union had three Replacement Battalions available. However, those battalions no longer exist and future Soviet losses will be harder to replace. China still has five operational divisions, including two garrison divisions, each of which is defending a different Hainan class PDC.

6th October 2031
Soviet forces launch an assault on Hainan Seven, which is undefended except for two Chinese replacement battalions. The Chinese troops have only small arms and limited training and are overrun within hours.

10th October 2031
Chinese shipyards complete construction of three Xian II class freighters. The Soviet Union maintains its policy of ignoring Chinese commercial traffic, at least until its new marines are trained and their assault shuttles readied.

15th October 2031
The Red Army begins a new offensive, this time against Hainan One, which is defended by the First Garrison Division. In the initial skirmishes, five Soviet and three Chinese battalions take losses. Although the absolute number of casualties is lower on the Chinese side, in terms of the overall balance between attacker and defender in this particular engagement, the losses favour the Soviet Union.

5th November 2031
The Soviet Union completes work on a new commercial shipyard. It will take some time to increase its size to the point where it can build new ships but it is a start.

25th November 2025
Fierce fighting continues in and around Hainan One. Despite taking heavy casualties in fifteen of its sixteen battalions, the Chinese 1st Garrison Division is still maintaining unit cohesion and holding the outer perimeter of the PDC. Many Soviet units have suffered losses and some have been temporarily withdrawn from combat while they recover. Even so, the balance of forces is slowly changing in favour of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union has completed training of six Marine companies and their assault shuttles are ready for operations. What they lack is targets. All Chinese commercial shipping has retreated beyond the Bernard's Star jump point and the Chinese naval colony ship and freighter fleets have only recently left the Sol system. Admiral Melnikov is considering opening a new front in the war and attempting to enter Bernard's Star to find the Chinese commercial shipping and any colonies they may have established.

China temporarily suspends construction of the four Zunyi class planetary defence centres and begins building ordnance factories. The People's Republic has only forty-seven ordnance factories and between them they have produced less then eighty of the new Hummingbird anti-ship missiles. Until more missiles are available, the new PDCs will be ineffective.

26th November 2025
The Soviet Union completes the salvage of all Chinese wrecks. A small amount of information was gained on laser technology but most salvaged components were scraped for their minerals

5th December 2025
The NATO gravitational survey of Groombridge 34 is well underway and the geological survey of the primary star system has been completed, with no sign of any alien presence. Therefore the Enterprise / Graf Zeppelin carrier strike group has moved from the TZ Arietis - Groombridge 34 jump point to the TZ Arietis - Gliese 105 jump point. The gravitational survey of Gliese 105 has recently been completed and revealed the location of four new jump points, which are next on the list for NATO exploration. The first Alexander class jump cruiser has now joined the fleet, which allows any of the NATO ships except the two carriers to enter Gliese 105 and provide cover for the Galileo class survey ships as they probe the new jump point.

Code: [Select]
Alexander class Jump Cruiser    15,000 tons     1359 Crew     3234.8 BP      TCS 300  TH 1200  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 4-54     Shields 0-0     Sensors 25/110/0/0     Damage Control Rating 15     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 120%    IFR: 1.7%    Maint Capacity 2022 MSP    Max Repair 630 MSP    Est Time: 1.84 Years
Flag Bridge    

Blohm + Voss BV1500 Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 15000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls Royce RR60 Ion Drive (20)    Power 60    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres    Range 120.0 billion km   (347 days at full power)

Guardian CIWS (2x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
SN/SPY-19 Area Surveillance Array (1)     GPS 50400     Range 506.1m km    Resolution 120
SN/SPY-20 Small Target Detection System (1)     GPS 12600     Range 309.9m km    Resolution 20
SN/SQR-21 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 25     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  25m km
SN/SLR-22 EM Detection Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 110     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  110m km

ECM 10
The overall commander for the NATO carrier group and survey force, Rear Admiral Arno von Kolbe, forms a task group comprising Alexander the Great, the Virginia class cruisers Texas and Virginia, the Daring class area defence cruiser Dauntless and the Spruance class destroyer escort Cunningham and sends it into Gliese 105 to meet Kepler and Newton at jump point three, the closest to the entry point from TZ Arietis. A construction ship is building a gate at the TZ Arietis - Gliese 105 jump point, and will be finished in approximately five weeks.

11th December 2031
The Soviet Union has reorganized its naval forces so it can implement Admiral Melnikov's plan to enter Bernard's Star. All eight of the Project 1200 Berkut escort cruisers plus one Project 1201 Orlan battlecruiser are now in Earth orbit, providing missile defence and allowing for bombardment of Chinese ground forces if they leave their PDCs. Almost all of the Soviet Navy's remaining warships, which include two battlecruisers, two aviation cruisers, six Project 1204 Atlant missile cruisers and twenty-five Project 1202 Molniya class Missile Boats, are at the Sol - Bernard's Star jump point. Five Missile Boats are stationed at the main Soviet colony in Alpha Centauri and ninety Tupolev-50 bombers are at Ganymede. After loading missiles from the magazines of the bomber bases on Ganymede and from the stockpile of recent construction on Earth, all of the major warships at the Bernard's Star jump point are fully loaded with a mixture of P-501 Garpun, P-504 Garpun-B and P-503 Ametist anti-ship missiles. The missile boats and all forty-eight Sukhoi-40 fighters are fully armed with P-500 Palash anti-ship missiles but the Project 1206 carriers have no reloads for the Su-40s. The Project 1200s in Sol orbit have full magazines of 9K50 Strela-25 anti-missiles but no anti-ship missiles, although the battlecruiser leading that force is armed with P-501 Garpuns.

The Soviet assault plan is brutally simple. All the warships, missile boats and fighters will use the jump gate to enter Bernard's Star en masse, where they expect to encounter the remaining twelve Chinese warships. The Soviets will use their superior speed to move as far from the jump point as possible before the Chinese can react. However, it will take anything from two to three minutes for Soviet electronic systems to recover from transit so if the Chinese react quickly enough, they could cause significant damage before the Soviet ships can retaliate. Admiral Melnikov expects to lose more than one major warship but as the Soviet Union is fast running out of missiles, warships with no missiles are of little use anyway. The objective of the attack is to eliminate the remaining Chinese warships and locate any Chinese colonies in Bernard's Star, as well as the missing commercial shipping. That shipping will then be captured using the new assault shuttles. As the Chinese do not have jump gate construction ships, the KGB and GRU believe that every missing Chinese ship larger than a survey vessel must be somewhere in the Bernard's Star's system. Once the system is secure and the Chinese fleet either destroyed or captured, Admiral Melnikov believes the People's Republic will have no hope and therefore little reason to continue its increasingly futile resistance.

Kiev and Minsk deploy their fighters and the entire Soviet force enters Bernard's Star at full speed. The Chinese defenders, four Jiangwei class cruisers armed with ten 20cm lasers, six Luhu class escort cruisers with four quad 10cm lasers and two Houjian class bombardment cruisers with five bomb launchers, are waiting on top of the jump point. Surprised by the sudden assault, their crews rush to man weapons and get their vessels underway before the Soviet ships and fighters can move out of range. Each Luhu targets one of the six Project 1204 Atlant class cruisers and each Jiangwei targets a battlecruiser or aviation cruiser. The Houjians are unable to effectively contribute for the moment as the Soviet ships are faster than their short-ranged missiles. That may change if any Soviet ships suffer engine damage.

[attachment=0:33wzdbs2]Arrival.GIF[/attachment:33wzdbs2]
Twenty seconds after the Soviet transit, three of the Jiangweis, Jiaxing, Lianyungang and Xiangfan activate their lasers and open fire. As the Chinese task group has not yet left the jump point the closest Soviet ships at a range of 80,000 kilometers, which means the laser strikes are strength-5. Frunze and Kirov are each hit five times. The substantial armour belt of the battlecruisers prevents any internal damage. Kiev suffers six hits, including three close together that result in minor armour penetration. An ion engine is hit but remains functional. The Soviet ships are already out of range of the quad turrets on the six Luhu class escort cruisers. Five seconds later, the fourth Jiangwei, Mianyang, inflicts four strength-4 armour hits on Minsk.

Thirty-five seconds after the Soviet transit, the Chinese ships are still not underway. Jiaxing, Lianyungang and Xiangfan fire again and score a total of seven strength-2 hits on Kiev, Frunze and Kirov. A few seconds later Minsk is hit three times by Mianyang. All of the damage is absorbed by armour. By the time the lasers recharge for their third volley, the Soviet ships are two hundred thousand kilometers from the jump point and their ECM is causing serious targeting problems for the Chinese fire control systems. Just two hits are scored from thirty shots. Five seconds later, the still stationary Mianyang cannot even lock on, which means the Soviet task group is now out of effective range. The Chinese fleet commander countermands his order to pursue the fleeing Soviets, which his ships have not even begun to execute, and instead orders his fleet to transit the jump point into Sol to avoid a Soviet missile attack. The inexperienced Chinese crews have not carried out any fleet training exercises and have been  slow to respond to the initial command. The change in orders causes even more confusion. Even so, the Soviets are suffering from transit effects and are unable to lock on and launch missiles before the Chinese task group suddenly disappears from the jump point.

Admiral Melnikov, monitoring events from Fleet Headquarters on Ganymede, orders the Soviet task group to send the six Project 1204 Atlants and the fast attack craft in pursuit while the fighters, the two battlecruisers and the two aviation cruisers remain on top of the Bernard's Star to prevent the Chinese continually moving between the two systems. The Project 1201, 1204 and 1206 classes all have a secondary armament of railguns so they are able to fight a non-missile action if required. It takes a few minutes to organize the Soviet transit to Sol, by which time the waiting Chinese ships have recovered from transit effects.

The six Project 1204s, Admiral Gorshkov, Chervona Ukrayina, Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya, Sevastopol, Slava and Varyag, and the fast attack craft return to Sol and move away from the jump point at maximum speed. The green Chinese crews are slow to react once again and the Soviets are 80,000 kilometers away when Jiaxing becomes the first Chinese ship to open fire. Nine of her ten 20cm ultraviolet lasers strike Varyag, inflicting significant armour damage and penetrating in two places. Two of Varyag's eighty B-408A VLS box launchers are destroyed. Lianyungang, Mianyang and Xiangfan fire five seconds later, scoring a total of nineteen strength-4 hits on Admiral Gorshkov, Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and Slava. Admiral Gorshkov loses a box launcher and a quarter of her fuel storage capacity while Slava suffers damage to two box launchers. Follow-up shots from the four Chinese Jiangweis inflict eleven strength-2 hits on the fleeing Soviet cruisers, one of which destroys a B-408A VLS on Admiral Gorshkov. Jiaxing's third volley misses and the Soviet ships are out of effective range before Lianyungang, Mianyang and Xiangfan recharge their lasers.

The Soviet ships halt 500,000 kilometers from the jump point. Admiral Gorshkov and Chervona Ukrayina launch a wave of one hundred and fifty-eight P-501 Garpun missiles at four of the Luhu class escort cruisers in order to force the Chinese ships to either hold position and defend themselves or jump back into Bernard's Star where the other Soviet forces are waiting. One advantage of using the P-501s from the Project 1204 Atlants, rather than the P-500 Palash missiles from the fast attack craft, is that because of their onboard sensors the P-501s will remain on the jump point if the Chinese jump back into Bernard's Star, acting as a temporary minefield while their endurance lasts. Aware that a missile attack is almost certainly incoming, Xue Dong Gang, the Chinese fleet commander and son of Admiral Xue, is in a very difficult position. If he stays and fights against a missile wave of unknown size he risks suffering heavy losses. If he transits back into Bernard's Star his ships will be unable to fight back for two or three minutes while potentially facing Soviet warships at close range. The Chinese have never seen the Soviet railgun batteries in action so they do not have confirmation that the Soviet warships even have a secondary energy armament. However, an in-depth analysis of the capabilities of Soviet ships by Chinese intelligence services, based on tactical intelligence gained to date, could not account for the function of a significant amount of tonnage in several classes. Therefore the Chinese assumption is that the major Soviet warships do have some form of energy weapon. Because of that assumption, Xue decides to stand and fight for the moment.

The Chinese have a total of twenty-four quad 10cm laser turrets on the six Luhus, linked to dedicated point defence fire control systems, plus the forty 20cm lasers of the four Jiangweis. Between them they shoot down seventy-six of the one hundred and fifty-eight incoming missiles. The rest obliterate two Luhus, killing Xue Dong Gang, and inflict armour damage on a third. Command of the Chinese task group falls to Shang Xiao (Captain) Yin Fen Dong. With the Chinese point defence capability reduced by a third, the chances of the remaining ships surviving the rest of the Soviet missiles are not good. Therefore Captain Yin orders them to enter Bernard's Star and take their chances against the energy weapons of the Soviet battlecruisers. While the Chinese crews are preparing for transit, Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and Sevastopol launch a new wave of one hundred and sixty Garpuns, targeted on the four Luhus. They arrive twenty-five seconds later, before the Chinese task group can enter Bernard's Star. Despite desperate point defence fire, two more Luhus are destroyed and a third is seriously damaged.

After a further twenty-five seconds, with the Chinese ships still in Sol, Slava and Varyag launch a third wave of P-501 Garpuns. Just seven seconds from impact, all the Chinese ships except the damaged Luhu vanish into the jump point, appearing an instant later at point blank range from Kirov, Frunze, Minsk, Kiev and forty-eight Sukhoi-40s. The Chinese pick up thermal signatures from the Soviets but are unable to engage due to their transit-scrambled fire control systems. The Soviet crews try to activate and lock on their railguns before the Chinese try another disappearing act. Meanwhile back in Sol, forty P-501 Garpun anti-ship missiles smash the crippled Luhu into wreckage, leaving one hundred and twenty-more still active and looking for new targets. Admiral Gorshkov, Chervona Ukrayina, Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya, Sevastopol, Slava and Varyag head for the Sol - Bernard's Star jump point and ready their own railguns in case the Chinese return to Sol.

In Bernard's Star, Soviet railguns begin sandpapering the strong armour belt of the Chinese warships. Frunze and Kirov and armed with three 200mm railguns, each one capable of four strength-4 hits every twenty seconds, and six 100mm railguns, each of which can inflict four strength-1 hits every five seconds. Minsk and Kiev have the same number of 100mm railguns but no larger calibre weapons. For the moment, all four ships preserve their missiles due to a Soviet ordnance shortage that is reaching crisis proportions. The Chinese ships remain on the jump point, to preserve their option to jump back and to avoid being caught in open space by Soviet missiles, while their crews hope that transit effects will dissipate before their armour does.

Forty-five seconds after the Chinese task group returns to Bernard's Star, the last Luhu begins to take internal damage. Soviet fire is concentrated on the Luhu in particular due to its devastating point blank firepower and also the four Jiangweis. For the moment the two Houjian class bombardment cruisers have not been targeted as their anti-ship capability is extremely limited. A minute after transit, all five beam-armed ships have received minor internal damage. Eighty seconds into the energy engagement, the Luhu is crippled and attempting to enter Sol, the Jiangwei class cruiser Jiaxing has lost both fire controls, rendering it combat ineffective, and the other three Jiangweis are seriously damaged. There is no sign of a reduction in transit effects and the Chinese task group is in an extremely difficult situation.

Five seconds later, the crippled Luhu explodes under heavy fire and Mianyang loses her fire control systems. Shang Xiao (Captain) Wang Son Lan, the senior surviving officer in the Chinese task group, sees no point in losing more Chinese lives when his ships cannot return fire due to scrambled electronics and the two ships that still have operable fire control systems are unlikely to survive until those effects wear off. He broadcasts the immediate surrender of his remaining ships to the Soviet commander and to his own Fleet Headquarters. The Soviet ships immediately cease fire. Back on Earth, Admiral Xue is devastated at the loss of the last active Chinese warships but gives his official approval to the surrender decision to avoid any criticism falling on Shang Xiao Wang. The only Chinese hope is now to make Chinese territory on Earth so difficult and expensive for the Soviets to conquer that they will eventually settle for some form of armistice.

The only intact Chinese ships captured by the Soviet Union are the two Houjian class bombardment cruisers. Both are sent back to Earth so they can be used against any Chinese troops that emerge from their PDCs. All four captured Jiangweis have serious internal damage and their armour is almost completely destroyed. They are each dispatched to Ganymede at their individual maximum speed, while their captive crews attempt to make engine repairs. None of them will be fit for combat without extensive shipyard repairs and at the moment the Soviet Union doesn't have any naval shipyards.

Code: [Select]
Houjian class Bombardment Cruiser    12,000 tons     1005 Crew     1266.8 BP      TCS 240  TH 600  EM 0
2500 km/s     Armour 8-46     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 45
Annual Failure Rate: 255%    IFR: 3.6%    Maint Capacity 297 MSP    Max Repair 36 MSP    Est Time: 2.07 Years
Magazine 660    

Nuclear Pulse Engine (15)    Power 40    Fuel Use 90%    Signature 40    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range 33.3 billion km   (154 days at full power)

Bomb Launcher (5)    Missile Size 9    Rate of Fire 270
Bomb Fire Control (1)     Range 288k km    Resolution 1
SR-1 Missile Detection Sensor (1)     GPS 32     Range 1.9m km    Resolution 1
Code: [Select]
Jiangwei class Cruiser    12,000 tons     1202 Crew     1694.8 BP      TCS 240  TH 600  EM 0
2500 km/s     Armour 8-46     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 5     PPV 60
Annual Failure Rate: 230%    IFR: 3.2%    Maint Capacity 441 MSP    Max Repair 77 MSP    Est Time: 1.74 Years

Nuclear Pulse Engine (15)    Power 40    Fuel Use 90%    Signature 40    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range 33.3 billion km   (154 days at full power)

20cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (10)    Range 256,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 10-4     RM 4    ROF 15   10 10 10 10 8 6 5 5 4 4
LR Fire Control (2)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Pebble Bed Reactor (16)     Total Power Output 48    Armour 0    Exp 5%
LR-1 Search Sensor (1)     GPS 3600     Range 24.9m km    Resolution 75
The Soviet task group has escaped relatively lightly, although all six Project 1204 Atlants have used their entire supply of anti-ship missiles. Four of the six Atlants have significant armour damage, Admiral Gorshkov, Slava and Varyag have each lost a pair of box launchers and Gorshkov has also lost a quarter of her fuel capacity. The minimal internal damage will be quickly repaired using the ship's inherent repair capabilities. The armour damage will require a shipyard, when one exists. The Project 1204s are ordered to Ganymede where they will re-arm by taking anti-ship missiles from the launch rails of the Tupolev-50 bombers. Kirov, Frunze, Kiev and Minsk are undamaged and their box launchers are loaded. The forty-eight Sukhoi fighters from Kiev and Minsk still have a full loadout of P-500 Palash anti-ship missiles, although their motherships have no reloads. The Soviet fast attack craft also retain their P-500 missiles. Admiral Melnikov orders the fast attack craft to Ganymede to act as a reserve force while the two battlecruisers and two aviation cruisers remain at the Bernard's Star - Sol jump point. Three Project 1215 Fyodorov gravitational survey ships and two Project 1216 Molchanov geological survey ships are dispatched from Ganymede to Bernard's Star.

12th December 2031
The survivors of the destroyed Chinese ships, including several senior officers, are rescued and interrogated. As a result, the Soviet Union gains technical information on the asteroid mining module, specifications for the Hainan class PDC and geological survey data for Bernard's Star and Wolf 629.

14th December 2031
The People's Republic of Chinese receives its second major setback in the space of three days. An new offensive by the Red Army against Hainan One achieves a stunning breakthrough. Seven battalions of the Chinese 1st Garrison Division are cut off  and annihilated. The remaining four garrison battalions, the two surviving brigade headquarters and the divisional headquarters all suffer heavy casualties in the confused retreat to the core defence zone. The Soviet forces take minimal losses.

15th December 2031
The first test of the new Soviet assault shuttles takes place. Using a single Ilyushin Il-120 Assault Shuttle, the 112th Naval Infantry Company attempts to board a recently built Luda II class colony ship from Liu Container Services, midway between Earth and the Bernard's Star jump point. While a Soviet warship could fire on the Luda II to slow it down, Admiral Melnikov has forbidden that approach to avoid causing damage to the colony ship while there are no Soviet repair facilities available. Therefore the Chinese ship is still moving at 2586 km/s when the one hundred marines make the combat drop from a shuttle moving at 8470 km/s. Ninety-eight marines are killed or lost. Some by impact on the hull of the colony ship and many more by falling into its exhaust plume. An unlucky few end up tumbling through space at thousands of kilometers per second with little hope of recovery. Two Marines, Senior Sergeant Dimitri Tokarev and Private Avel Golovin, somehow land safely. Showing remarkable presence of mind in the face of such a disaster, Sergeant Tokarev detonates a breaching charge to provide access to the interior of the ship. The Luda II has a crew of almost two hundred. Even with their training for boarding combat the two Soviet marines cannot take on odds of one hundred to one. They try anyway and are killed in a brave attempt to reach the bridge of the Chinese ship. A second assault shuttle is dispatched from Earth carrying the 113th Naval Infantry Company, which has orders to board the colony ship. Kirov is ordered to re-enter Sol, intercept the colony ship before the shuttle arrives and use railguns to slow it down.

16th December 2031
Kirov intercepts the Chinese Luda II and begins firing with a single 100mm railgun. The hull of the 14,500 colony ship is easily penetrated and its internal systems soon begin taking damage. Unfortunately, even a small railgun is not a precision weapon. All five commercial engines are disabled, bringing the ship to a complete halt, and two of the three cryogenic transport modules are destroyed, killing twenty thousand frozen Chinese colonists. The intention was to leave the ship with at least one engine but the spray of fire from the multi-shot railgun made that a difficult task. With no Soviet tugs in service the crippled ship cannot be towed back to Earth for repair, even if it is captured and such repair facilities existed. Admiral Melnikov orders the Kirov to complete the destruction of the ship. The battlecruiser's commander requests confirmation of the order and is ordered to comply. He does so after registering an official protest.

The People's Republic launches a media offensive in NATO countries on Earth, highlighting the unprovoked destruction of an unarmed colony ship by a Soviet battlecruiser and the deaths of thirty thousand helpless colonists. Until this point many NATO citizens have watched the Sino-Soviet conflict with either detached fascination or a fervent hope it remains confined to the Asian landmass. Now several anti-war movements are born, some of which urge NATO leaders to intervene and stop the fighting and others demand unilateral NATO disarmament to avoid future conflict. Most NATO intelligence agencies believe the latter groups are receiving Soviet funding.

20th December 2031
Three Soviet gravitational survey ships arrive in Bernard's Star and begin a search for jump points. The two battlecruisers and two aviation cruisers head in-system to check the system's apparently inhospitable planets for Chinese colonies. A Project 1205 Vishnaya class intelligence ship takes over picket duty at the Bernard's Star - Sol jump point.

27th December 2031
The NATO light carriers Illustrious and Invincible, each with eighteen F-24A Cobras, and the Alexander class jump cruiser Belisarius arrive at the TZ Arietis - Gliese 105 jump point where the Enterprise / Graf Zeppelin carrier group is holding position. Belisarius escorts both light carriers into Gliese 105 so they can rendezvous with the Alexander the Great task group, currently waiting at the unexplored third jump point for the arrival of Kepler.

28th December 2031
Hainan One falls to the Soviet Union. Four Chinese divisions remain, occupying four more Hainan class PDCs.

1st January 2032
The NATO gravitational survey ship Kepler enters jump point three of Gliese 105. She finds herself in YZ Ceti, a known system connected to Tau Ceti that was previously thought to be a dead-end. Gliese 105 can therefore be reached from Epsilon Eridani via Tau Ceti and YZ Ceti or via Teegarden's Star and TZ Arietis. Kepler returns to Gliese 105 and, along with Newton and their escort group, sets course for jump point four, one of three remaining unexplored jump points in the system.

3rd January 2032
The Red Army launches an assault on Hainan Four, a Chinese PDC defended by the Fourth Infantry Division. Somehow, the Soviets achieve tactical surprise and three Chinese battalions suffer casualties before the People's Liberation Army repulses the initial attack.

13th January 2032
Kepler transits jump point four of Gliese 105 and finds herself in Gliese 109, a system with a red dwarf primary, eight planets and a sizeable asteroid belt. None of the planets appear likely to support any form of alien life. Nevertheless, the NATO task group covering the survey ships enters Gliese 109 and begins a patrol around the system. Kepler and her sister ship Newton remain at the jump point for the moment.

18th January 2032
The Soviet Union breaks off the attack on Hainan Four and launches an assault on one of the two Kaifeng class PDCs which provide Earth-based active sensors for the People's Republic. The Kaifeng can support a brigade of troops, compared to the entire division that can garrison a Hainan class. Even so, all the Chinese ground forces are assigned elsewhere and the Kaifeng falls without a fight. China quickly moves the 110th Infantry Brigade of the Fifth Garrison Division into the second Kaifeng. If that PDC falls, China will be left with only passive deep space tracking stations to monitor events in the Sol system.

19th January 2032
The NATO task group led by Alexander the Great completes a sweep of Gliese 109 without finding any evidence of an alien presence. Kepler and Newton begin a gravitational survey of the system while the Alexander task group returns to Gliese 105 and sets course for jump point five

23rd January 2032
The Soviet Union launches a ground attack against the remaining Kaifeng class PDC. The Chinese 110th Infantry Brigade suffers significant casualties as it holds off the assault by four crack Soviet divisions.

24th January 2032
NATO completes a gravitational survey of the Groombridge 34 system without finding any new jump point. The survey ships Galileo and Copernicus head for a rendezvous with the Enterprise / Graf Zeppelin carrier group in TZ Arietis to refuel from the tanker Rappahannock before moving into Gliese 105 to link up with the main survey force.

7th February 2032
The People's Republic of China trains five new garrison battalions. They are assigned to Hainan Four to replace the 110th Infantry Brigade.

9th February 2032
Soviet survey ships in the Bernard's Star system detect a jump point a billion kilometers from the primary. To the considerable surprise of the Soviet Union's intelligence community, the jump point has a jump gate. As far as the KGB and the GRU are aware, the People's Republic does not have jump gate construction technology and no NATO construction ships were detected entering or leaving Bernard's Star after the construction of the gates at the Sol jump point. However, it does answer the question of why Kirov, Frunze, Kiev and Minsk could find no sign of Chinese ships or colonies in Bernard's Star. The Soviet task group and the survey ship that made the discovery both head for the new jump point. The other two gravitational survey ships in the system continue their search for additional jump points.

10th February 2032
The second Kaifeng class PDC falls to the Soviet Union, depriving China of its last operational active sensor. At least until the four Zunyi class PDCs are available. Their construction is still on hold until sufficient missiles are available.

14th February 2032
The jump cruiser Alexander transits jump point five of Gliese 105 and enters an unremarkable red dwarf system, identified as Gliese 87, that has a dense asteroid belt close to the primary and six barren planets. As there are no planets or moons worthy of investigation, Alexander returns to Gliese 105 to join up with the rest of her task group then leads the group toward jump point one, the remaining unexplored jump point in the system.

15th February 2032
The Soviet gravitational survey ship Antares transits the newly discovered jump gate in Bernard's Star. Kirov, Frunze, Kiev and Minsk wait at the Bernard's Star side of the jump point in case there is no jump gate on the far side. Antares emerges in 70 Ophuichi, a binary with two orange K-class stars, and immediately detects a tiny thermal signature at point blank range; identified as a Jianghu class corvette with engines powered down. There are twenty-four transponder signals from Chinese civilian ships in orbit of the system's third planet, which has an almost breathable nitrogen - oxygen atmosphere and a surface temperature of -30 Celsius. There are six other planets in 70 Ophuichi, including a gas giant orbiting the B component. An unknown wreck of 19,350 tons is in orbit of the fourth planet. Antares reverses course and re-enters Bernard's Star without incident.

The Jianghu class corvette detected in 70 Ophuichi is a known Chinese ship that was noted as missing during the initial battle in the Sol system. Its lack of response during the sixty seconds Antares spent in 70 Ophuichi suggests it is disabled in some way. As no other thermal signatures were detected in close proximity to the jump point and there as no other known Chinese warships still in service, Admiral Melnikov orders the Kirov task group to secure the 70 Ophuichi system. He also dispatches the five Project 1210 Landing Ships from Ganymede to Earth to pick up the 51st Parachute Landing Regiment and transport it to 70 Ophuichi.  A pair of Project 1201 Berkut missile cruisers are detached from the Soviet naval forces in Earth orbit to provide escort.

The two Soviet battlecruisers and two aviation cruisers of Raketnyy Korabl Otdel 01 transit into 70 Ophuichi and wait for their electronic systems to recover from transit. The Jianghu class corvette broadcasts its surrender, claiming its engines and fire control systems have failed due to lack of maintenance. Admiral Karen Kravchenko, commanding RKO-01, has little interest in captured an obsolete, disabled corvette so she orders the Chinese crew to abandon and scuttle their ship. Kirov recovers the life pods and RKO-01 heads for the third planet. Antares remain on the jump point as a picket.

17th February 2032
The first civilian mining colony outside the Sol system is founded on the sixteenth moon of Epsilon Eridani V.

18th February 2032
The Soviet Union launches an attack on Hainan Three, which is defended by the Second Assault Division. Casualties during the initial assault are relatively equal

27th February 2032
As RKO-01 closes on 70 Ophuichi-A III, twenty-four civilian vessels all break orbit and flee directly away from the approaching Soviet task group. Five terraforming ships remain in orbit. Soviet thermal and EM sensors detect a small Chinese colony on the planet.

28th February 2032
Soviet survey ships complete their work in Bernard's Star, finding no jump points except for those to Sol and 70 Ophuichi. They move into the latter system to begin a new survey.

1st March 2032
The NATO survey ship Copernicus transits the innermost jump point of Gliese 105 and enters the Kappa Ceti system. Kappa Ceti has a yellow G5-V primary, slightly less luminous than Sol, and nine planets. The fourth and fifth planets are ice-bound terrestrial worlds with thin, non-breathable atmospheres and temperatures of -58C and -86C respectively. Even so, they have acceptable gravity and their atmospheres are at least a start in terms of making them habitable in the distant future. The escort group, now comprising the jump cruiser Alexander, the light carriers Illustrious and Invicible, the cruisers Texas and Virginia, the area defence cruiser Dauntless and the destroyer escort Cunningham, transits into the system and begins a sweep of the inner planets.

6th March 2032
A Chinese espionage team operating in Soviet territory steals detailed schematics for the P-504 Garpun-B, allowing the People's Republic to replicate the Soviet Union's latest anti-ship missile; although at the moment they have no launcher capable of firing it.

12th March 2032
NATO begins construction of a new type of planetary defence centre. The Fortress class PDC, equipped with ten PDC-specific, fast firing MK8 GMLS launching the newly developed BGM-10A Soliferrum Anti-ship Missile, is intended to give NATO a well-defended second strike capability on Earth's surface as well as provide a haven for ground forces.

Code: [Select]
Fortress class Planetary Defence Centre    19,550 tons     712 Crew     1373.6 BP      TCS 391  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 12-64     Sensors 1/84     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 60
Troop Capacity: 5 Battalions    Magazine 366    

Mk8 Guided Missile Launching System (10)    Missile Size 6    Rate of Fire 20
SN/SPG-29 Missile Fire Control (1)     Range 128.8m km    Resolution 120
BGM-10A Soliferrum ASM (60)  Speed: 36,000 km/s   End: 34.7m    Range: 75m km   WH: 9    Size: 6    TH: 120 / 72 / 36
SN/SPS-28 Area Search Sensor (1)     GPS 10080     Range 128.8m km    Resolution 120
ECCM-1 (1)
Code: [Select]
BGM-10A Soliferrum Anti-ship Missile
Missile Size: 6 MSP  (0.3 HS)     Warhead: 9    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Speed: 36000 km/s    Endurance: 35 minutes   Range: 75.0m km
Cost Per Missile: 5.85
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 360%   3k km/s 120%   5k km/s 72%   10k km/s 36%
Materials Required:    2.25x Tritanium   3.35x Gallicite   Fuel x3750
Development Cost for Project: 585RP
17th March 2032
The Soviet 51st Parachute Landing Regiment is combat dropped on the Chinese colony of 70 Ophuichi III. There are no Chinese ground forces so the colony is secured within hours. Along with the Chinese population of 1.7 million, the Soviets capture five mining complexes, an automated mining complex, five maintenance facilities and almost forty thousand tons of minerals that the People's Republic has apparently stashed on the colony. The five Chinese terraforming ships in orbit surrender when the colony falls. As the maximum speed of the terraformers is only 354 km/s, the Soviet Union decides to keep them on their current mission rather than send them to Alpha Centauri. 70 Ophuichi III has the potential to become the first Soviet-occupied ideal habitable world.

18th March 2032
Raketnyy Korabl Otdel 01 begins a sweep of the other planets in the 70 Ophuichi system, beginning with 70 Ophuichi IV, which has a large, unknown wreck in orbit. As the four Soviet capital ships approach the planet, they detect Chinese ground forces. As there is no sign of the thermal or EM signatures normally associated with a colony and therefore nothing that can be lost to collateral damage, the Soviet ships destroy the Chinese ground forces from orbit. Their presence on the fourth planet is a mystery though, given that the Chinese colony was on the third planet.

20th March 2032
RKO-01 detects a small Chinese colony on the inner moon of 70 Ophuichi VI. As the moon is a barren, frozen chunk of rock it seems likely it is some form of automated mining colony. The 77th and 79th Assault Infantry Battalions are transported from 70 Ophuichi III

23rd March 2032
The NATO geological survey ship Nimrod is en route to the inner system of Gliese 87 when she detects the thermal signatures of six alien ships in close proximity. They are identified as the same race that was encountered in Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti, although the ships are of a new type, designated as Socrates class. Unfortunately, the barren nature of this system meant no sweep of the planets was carried out by the Alexander group and Nimrod is operating alone. She engages her active sensors and registers the size of the alien ships as 1000 tons - similar to the Soviet Molniya fast attack craft. Seconds later, Nimrod is hit by fourteen anti-ship missiles and blown to pieces.

27th March 2032
Soviet paratroops capture ten Chinese automated mines on the first moon of 70 Ophuichi VI.

7th April 2032
All Chinese warships have been destroyed and all Chinese off-world colonies have fallen to Soviet ground forces. The People's Liberation Army still has four divisions, although the Second Assault Division is taking heavy casualties in its defence of Hainan Three. With eventual defeat appearing to be increasingly likely, Admiral Xue plays his final card. The four Zunyi class PDCs come online at the same time that six Jianghu II class fast attack craft are launched from Chinese shipyards. Soviet forces in orbit have been dispersed in recent months due to the offensive into Bernard's Star and 70 Ophuichi, the escorts assigned to planetary assault ships and a general lack of ordnance. A Project 1201 Orlan class battlecruiser, six Project 1200 Berkut class escort cruisers and the two captured Chinese bombardment cruisers remain. The Berkuts have full loadouts of 9K50 Strela-25 anti-missiles plus a pair of 200mm railguns but no anti-ship missiles. The battlecruiser Kalinin has one hundred and twenty P-504 Garpun-B anti-ship missiles, two hundred and thirty-five Strela-25s, three 200mm railguns and six 100mm railguns. As any missiles launched from Earth would arrive to quickly for anti-missiles to intercept, the railguns on all seven ships are linked to fire controls set for defensive mode.

Admiral Xue is well aware his small force cannot hope to defeat the entire Soviet Navy, even if it manages to overcome the small Soviet task group currently in orbit. However, the war aims of the Soviet Union are obvious, especially given its reluctance to attack Chinese industry, shipyards or commercial shipping. Therefore, Admiral Xue's objective is cripple the Soviet Union's ability to achieve those aims and bring about some form of negotiated settlement. With that in mind, he orders the Jianghu IIs to concentrate their fire on the Soviet battlecruiser while the Chinese planetary defence centres target their missiles on the Soviet ground forces currently in Chinese territory. Without those ground forces the Soviet Union will be unable to force a Chinese surrender without destroying the industry it intends to capture. While this strategy will still result in considerable collateral damage to Chinese industry, Admiral Xue believes the alternatives are much worse.

The six Soviet Berkut class escort cruisers in Earth orbit target the Chinese FACs with their anti-missile launchers. The Kalinin holds backs its anti-ship missiles until the armament and intentions of the new Chinese PDCs can be determined. Unfortunately for the People's Republic, the crews of four of the six Berkuts have undergone extensive training exercises and are much faster to respond than the green Chinese crews. Fifteen Strela-25s from each of the fast-reacting cruisers strike different Jianghu IIs, causing serious internal damage. A second salvo ten seconds later completes their destruction. One of the two surviving FACs hits Kalinin with both of its 10cm lasers. The damage doesn't even penetrate halfway through the battlecruiser's impressive armour belt.

Meanwhile, the first of the four Zunyi class PDCs launches a salvo of ten Hummingbird missiles at Soviet ground forces. It soon becomes apparent that the time between launch and impact is so short there is no time to detect and engage the Chinese missiles before they reach their target, even with point blank defensive fire. Ten mushroom clouds blossom among the Soviet divisions surrounding Hainan Three, inflicting significant casualties on nine different battalions. With no idea how many missiles the PDCs can launch, the Soviet Union has to choose between losing its ground forces or striking directly at the hostile PDCs, regardless of the potential collateral damage and environmental effects. Admiral Melnikov orders Kalinin and the two captured bombardment cruisers to engage them immediately. Combat continues in orbit and the Soviet battlecruiser is struck three more times by 10cm lasers before the last two Chinese Jianghus are blown to pieces by Strela-25 anti-missiles from the Berkuts.

While Kalinin and the two Houjians are preparing to fire, the other three Zunyis launch their first salvos and thirty more nuclear detonations rip through Soviet battalions. However, with a sixty second reload time their chances of firing again are limited. Kalinin launches sixty P-504 Garpun-B anti-ship missiles, split between two Zunyi class planetary defence centres. Zunyi One survives the onslaught as a battered, radioactive wreck with no operable weapons. Zunyi Two is just a glass covered hole in the ground. The captured Houjian class bombardment cruisers each launch five orbital bombardment devices at the third and fourth Zunyis. They fail to penetrate the armour of either PDC and the slow-firing launchers require five minutes to reload. By the time the Kalinin has changed targets, the last two Zunyis fire a second time, inflicting more damage on Soviet ground forces. Twenty Garpun-Bs are targeted on each of the operational Zunyis, blasting them into oblivion. Five more are used to eliminate the Zunyi crippled by the first wave of Soviet missiles.

The results of the brief but violent action include destruction of all six Chinese FACs and all four Zunyi class planetary defence centres, minor armour damage to Kalinin, considerable losses among Soviet ground forces, including the complete destruction of the headquarters of the 423rd Guards 'Yampolsky' Motor Rifle Regiment from the 4th Guards 'Kantemirovskaya' Tank Division, massive collateral damage to Chinese industry and environmental effects that will plague Earth for years. Almost sixty million Chinese civilians have died and Chinese industrial losses include one hundred and fifty-three construction factories, nineteen ordnance factories, one hundred mines, fifty-eight fuel refineries, nine research facilities, twenty-three automated mines, two ground force training facilities, eleven maintenance facilities and a deep space tracking station. Almost a third of the entire Chinese industrial capacity. The crippling blow to the economy of the People's Republic has not even bought a delay in the Soviet advance. The Red Army is wounded and will take some time to recover but its offensive continues regardless.

As a result of the dust thrown up into the atmosphere, the surface temperature of the Earth drops by nine degrees, causing serious concern in the world's capitals that further atmospheric nuclear detonations could turn the planet into a hostile environment. The effects of radiation are projected to cause a small fall in the planetary population over the forthcoming months, although that fall is likely to be less than one percent, and to reduce overall industrial output by over nine percent.

8th April 2032
Interrogation of the survivors from the Chinese FACs provides the KGB with gravitational survey data for 70 Ophuichi, showing the location of two additional jump points. The Soviet survey ships in the system are directed to head for the new jump points and carry out initial probes.

11th April 2032
The Red Army throws itself at Hainan Three with fanatical determination, its soldiers eager to avenge their vaporized comrades. The Chinese defenders, their morale rapidly failing due to the obvious defeat of their nation's latest counter-attack, fall back in disarray. Their retreat turns into a rout and six Chinese battalions are cut off and destroyed. The survivors finally put up resistance in the core areas of the PDC but the fall of Hainan Three now seems inevitable.

19th April 2032
The Soviet survey ship Andromeda arrives at the innermost jump point of 70 Ophuichi and discovers a fleet of non-combatant Chinese ships, including thirteen freighters, ten colony ships, two troop transports and six small survey ships. They are obviously hiding from the Soviet warships in the system but why this have chosen this particular location is unknown. Andromeda enters the jump point into Wolf 629, the existence of which was known though interrogation of Chinese POWs, although until now not its location. The system comprises a red dwarf star, a small asteroid belt, two superjovians, one of which has thirty-four moons, and a small barren chunk of rock which barely deserves its designation as a planet. There is no immediate sign of any Chinese activity and no jump gate on either side of the jump point. Andromeda returns to 70 Ophuichi to picket the jump point and await new orders.

20th April 2032
The Soviet survey ship Mars transits jump point two of 70 Ophuichi and arrives in Gliese 701; a red dwarf system with a dense asteroid belt close to the star and four unremarkable planets. As with Wolf 629, there is no sign of any Chinese shipping. Mars re-enters 70 Ophuichi and remains on the jump point as a picket

25th April 2032
Hainan Three falls to the Soviet Union. Three more Hainans remain, each garrisoned by a full Chinese division.

5th May 2032
The first NATO Fortress class PDC becomes operational.

7th May 2032
The People's Republic of China launches three new Luda II class colony ships, laid down before the Sino-Soviet war. With all Chinese off-world colonies under Soviet occupation and Soviet warships monitoring all Chinese commercial shipping, there is nowhere for them to go. The sight of the three useless colony ships, incorporating the latest Chinese technology, brings home to Admiral Xue the futility of the Chinese situation. The warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy have been destroyed or captured and Soviet warships stand ready to stand ready to obliterate any new construction. Even with Soviet warship strength in Earth orbit at its nadir, the recent battle was an easy Soviet victory. The fall of the colonies in 70 Ophuichi will eventually result in Soviet naval forces currently in that system returning to Sol, which will worsen the overall strategic situation. Any further attempt to build missile-armed PDCs will result in Soviet orbital bombardment, cause the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese civilians, destroy the remainder of Chinese industry and potentially plunge the Earth into a new ice age. Even the media campaign in NATO countries following the destruction of the Chinese colony ship by the Soviet battlecruiser Kirov has faltered as the short attention span of the western public is drawn elsewhere. With heavy heart, Admiral Xue informs the Chinese civilian leadership that he believes eventual Soviet victory is inevitable and that the People's Republic should seek the best terms they can while the People's Liberation Army continues to resist on the ground. After heated debate, facing accusations of cowardice and threats of execution, Admiral Xue convinces his leaders of the gravity of their situation. A dialogue is opened with the Soviet Union with regard to the possible terms of a Chinese conditional surrender.

14th May 2032
The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China declare an armistice. China becomes a protectorate of the Soviet Union, maintaining nominal independence and retaining its existing leadership while handing over control of foreign policy and military operations to the Soviet Union. Under the terms of the armistice, all Chinese shipyards, shipping and Trans-Newtonian industry are turned over to the Soviet Union, leaving China as a non-Trans Newtonian power. China retains the remaining Hainan class planetary defence centres and its ground forces and there will be no Soviet occupation of Chinese territory. The Chinese shipping lines will come under Soviet state control, in the same manner as Kazakov Transport and Matveyev Marine. Finally, China must transfer a substantial proportion of its wealth to the Soviet Union on an ongoing basis, as war reparations. The total immediate gains of the Soviet Union are as follows:

Installations
17x Research Facility
366x Construction Factory
234x Mine
42x Ordnance Factory
131x Fuel Refinery
52x Automated Mine
44x Maintenance Facility
3x Deep Space Tracking Station
3x Ground Force Training Facility
1x Naval Academy
8x Genetic Modification Centre

Naval Shipping
10x Xian class Freighter
3x Xian II class Freighter
10x Luda class Colony Ship
3x Luda II class Colony Ship
1x Jinan class Geosurvey Ship
2x Huangwen class Gravitational Survey Ship
6x Dalian class Survey Ship
2x Hegu class Troop Transport

Civilian Shipping
13x Xian class Freighter
10x Luda class Colony Ship
2x Luda II class Colony Ship

Shipyards
Commercial Shipyard with two slipways of 72,000 capacity, tooled to build Yinchuan II class terraformers.
Commercial Shipyard with three slipways of 48,000 capacity, tooled to build Xian II class freighters
Commercial Shipyard with three slipways of 36,000 capacity, tooled to build Luda II class colony ships
Commercial Shipyard with one slipway of 25,000 capacity, tooled to build Hegu class troop transport.
Naval Shipyard with one slipway of 12,000 capacity, tooled to build Houjian class bombardment cruiser.
Naval Shipyard with two slipways of 12,000 capacity, tooled to build Luhu II class escort cruiser.
Naval Shipyard with two slipways of 12,000 capacity, tooled to build Huangwen class survey ship
Naval Shipyard with six slipways of 1,000 capacity, tooled to build Jianghu II class corvette

Miscellaneous
Fuel: 15.25m litres
Maintenance 25,840
Minerals: 70,000 tons
Wealth 12,000

Despite the disastrous loss of the Soviet shipyards in the early stages of the war, Admiral Melnikov has achieved his war aims, substantially increasing the commercial shipping available to the Soviet Union and expanding the Soviet industrial capacity. The newly gained Chinese shipping, most of which is currently in 70 Ophuichi, is ordered to Earth to begin its task of colonizing Alpha Centauri. All Soviet warships are recalled to Earth for refueling, resupply and repair. The Chinese shipyards will have to be retooled in order to begin new construction so no new Soviet shipping will be available for at least a year.

The sudden and unexpected end to the Sino-Soviet war causes some consternation in NATO Fleet Headquarters. With both of the other superpowers tied up in a war against each other, NATO was given a free hand to build up its population and industry in Epsilon Eridani and to explore the chain of systems beyond. Now, a larger, more powerful and more confident Soviet Union has emerged victorious from its war with China and potentially presents a far greater threat than before. The lights burn late in NATO capitals and at the NATO headquarters on Jamestown. Two objectives eventually arise from the discussion. Firstly, to move the bulk of NATO industry and a large section of its population into Epsilon Eridani where it can be more easily protected. This is already an ongoing task but now assumes more urgency. Secondly, to change the NATO command structure to allow more rapid decision making. In the initial hours of the war, NATO's response was slow and uncoordinated. NATO military commanders such as Admiral Thorn had to make decisions on their own initiative due to a lack of coordinated civilian leadership. If NATO rather than China had been the target of the Soviet attack this could have led to unnecessary NATO losses. The NATO council is given the task of determining a more responsive command structure and presenting it to the various national governments within the alliance.

to be continued...
 

Offline Vanigo

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2010, 05:50:58 PM »
At this point, China has no assets whatsoever and is a permanent nonentity, right?

I'm kind of surprised NATO completely ignored the entire war. That's a major shift in the balance of power, and they didn't seem to care in the slightest.
 

Offline Beersatron

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2010, 06:18:03 PM »
I would have favored using the PDCs against the BC in orbit as well as the FACs. Taking out a BC would have been a far bigger shock to the Russians than fragging some of their ground troops and also wrecking your own holdings.

But that is just my opinion and I can understand the lure of smashing troops to relieve your garrisons.
 

Offline UnLimiTeD

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2010, 07:09:18 PM »
You know, the system is kinda flawed.
How can the Soviet ground troops, all currently assaulting a single PDC, be so far spread out that targeting them vaporizes a third of the chinese industry?

As for NATO, now would actually be a good time to just assault the positions and unite earth under the oppression... ehm, you know what I mean.
As for the chinese, why didn't they design an orbital bombardment FAC to cause more damage with their little counter attack?
And can ruins ( the bombardment in 70 ophuichi) actually be damaged?
 

Offline Beersatron

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2010, 09:58:37 PM »
Quote from: "UnLimiTeD"
You know, the system is kinda flawed.
How can the Soviet ground troops, all currently assaulting a single PDC, be so far spread out that targeting them vaporizes a third of the chinese industry?

As for NATO, now would actually be a good time to just assault the positions and unite earth under the oppression... ehm, you know what I mean.
As for the chinese, why didn't they design an orbital bombardment FAC to cause more damage with their little counter attack?
And can ruins ( the bombardment in 70 ophuichi) actually be damaged?

I think that Steve has Grand Plans for ground combat that may include a Hex based deployment that would aid in specifying exactly were you drop the 'nukes' but at the moment all that can be done is [I have forgotten the dam word, extrapolate?] the damage that would be inflicted according to the warhead strength over the whole of the targeted Race's colony.

I am 50-50 on the NATO response, might need to re-read the intro and see if this NATO is hard-line-anti-russian-to-the-hilt or the pansy NATO we have in real life. If they are hard-line then go in guns blazing while they are down and the Russian Navy is relatively spread out.
 

Offline Vanigo

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #5 on: September 05, 2010, 02:58:56 PM »
You know, it's too bad for the Chinese there are no internal security components. There probably should be, come to think of it; don't see why a fortress like the Hainans shouldn't be able to give the defenders an advantage.
 

Offline ShadoCat

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #6 on: September 05, 2010, 06:19:54 PM »
I have three questions:

1.  Why didn't the Chinese leave one ship behind in Bearnard's Star to destroy the jump gate?  I didn't think the Soviets had many jump capable ships.  That would have given them a fighting chance.

2. Why send the FACs against something that was hard to destroy?  Why not shoot up their own shipyards?  It would give the Soviets less reason to continue the attack.  If nothing else, it would be an FU gesture.

3.  Why didn't NATO decide to "help" the Soviets during the conflict by destroying the Chinese orbital assets?

Offline Vanigo

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2010, 06:21:18 PM »
I don't think you can destroy jump gates, actually.
 

Offline ShadoCat

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2010, 11:24:10 PM »
Quote from: "Vanigo"
I don't think you can destroy jump gates, actually.

Pity.

Offline welchbloke

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #9 on: September 06, 2010, 02:13:27 AM »
Quote from: "ShadoCat"
Quote from: "Vanigo"
I don't think you can destroy jump gates, actually.

Pity.
There was a long discussion about this a while back and Steve decided against introducing a mechanism to destroy JGs.
Welchbloke
 

Online Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #10 on: September 06, 2010, 05:33:40 PM »
Quote from: "Vanigo"
At this point, China has no assets whatsoever and is a permanent nonentity, right?

I'm kind of surprised NATO completely ignored the entire war. That's a major shift in the balance of power, and they didn't seem to care in the slightest.
China is still in the game and has unarmed PDCs and ground forces but no construction capability. It is effectively helpless unless one of the other two powers provides it with TN installations. NATO is trying to avoid a war with the Soviet Union as its own Earth-based population is defenceless against a serious Soviet attack. NATO leaders will not risk their own nations in defence of the Chinese and were hoping the war would exhaust both the USSR and China. They have begun a military build up though recently and have researched heavily into new sensor technology.

Steve
 

Online Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #11 on: September 06, 2010, 05:35:04 PM »
Quote from: "Beersatron"
I am 50-50 on the NATO response, might need to re-read the intro and see if this NATO is hard-line-anti-russian-to-the-hilt or the pansy NATO we have in real life. If they are hard-line then go in guns blazing while they are down and the Russian Navy is relatively spread out.
No, they are the pansy real-life NATO, although there are one or two interesting political changes coming up in part 8 :)

Steve
 

Online Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #12 on: September 06, 2010, 05:37:40 PM »
Quote from: "ShadoCat"
I have three questions:

1.  Why didn't the Chinese leave one ship behind in Bearnard's Star to destroy the jump gate?  I didn't think the Soviets had many jump capable ships.  That would have given them a fighting chance.
Jump gates can't be destroyed - for the moment anyway

Quote
2. Why send the FACs against something that was hard to destroy?  Why not shoot up their own shipyards?  It would give the Soviets less reason to continue the attack.  If nothing else, it would be an FU gesture.
The FACs were a distraction to keep the orbiting warships busy while the Chinese PDCs attacked the Soviet ground forces. The Chinese were still hoping for a stalemate at this point so they didn't want to lose their own shipyards.

Quote
3.  Why didn't NATO decide to "help" the Soviets during the conflict by destroying the Chinese orbital assets?
NATO is trying its best to stay out of the conflict. Shooting up the Chinese shipyards would likely get them into a war with the Soviet Union.

Steve
 

Online Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #13 on: September 06, 2010, 05:42:24 PM »
Quote from: "Vanigo"
You know, it's too bad for the Chinese there are no internal security components. There probably should be, come to think of it; don't see why a fortress like the Hainans shouldn't be able to give the defenders an advantage.
The defenders do get an advantage from PDCs. I think their defence strength is multiplied by the armour level / 10

Steve
 

Offline UnLimiTeD

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 7
« Reply #14 on: September 06, 2010, 07:43:59 PM »
I think it's kinda stupid the Chinese are suddenly an agrarian Nation.
There should be a base construction power for population that automatically results in conventional Industry.
I mean, if you need tools to produce tools, we'd probably still be living on trees.