My problem with spreadsheets is that I invariably have to keep them synchronized across multiple devices which do not necessarily play nicely with one another. So I use other methods (which are probably not strictly optimal).

Nope, I am too lazy to do a spreadsheet for that. I use:

expected accuracy = tracking speed / missile speed

Which in my case yields accuracy = 0.07 (approx)

Then I have:

missiles destroyed = expected accuracy * number of shots per ship

Which in my case yields 0.07 * 16 = 1.12.

Missile volleys I am struggling with are about 50 missiles each with 70k km/s missiles. So I need about 50x Oblivions to counter that.

All of which I can easily calculate using my standards approved TI-30x non-graphing calculator! (which I hate... my TI-89 is so much more better)

EDIT: I neglected to include the effect of my BFC which imparts a 0.9 accuracy modifier on my 1.12. But that's not that important really since I need at least 50 Oblivions which is a huge investment to begin with. 60 would not be that much more. 75 is probably a better "safe" number.

What I have found is that a squad of 8x Oblivions has fairly good PD capability against the 30k km/s ASMs my foes like to use, but they get sandpapered to death by their AMMs at close range. My maths tell me that about 50x Oblivion IIs would be able to close the range, but that's a sizeable resource commitment and I'm still on the fence about whether that is the best option or if a new, larger ship would better.

In regards of sensors I think that on a ship like this the most important thing is to detect EM radiation from enemy actives to know if you have been detected and are in the envelope of their active sensors. A size 1 (50t) EM will roughly detect a resolution 100 sensor at the same range it will detect you if you have the same sensitivity level. So if it operate alone (or the scout are disabled or elsewhere) that probably is most important.
Thermal sensors are more difficult... but you can look at what range you want to detect something versus the speed and thermal radiation you put out during scouting missions. This is probably why you generally want small passive thermal scouts in front of your ship/squadron to detect something before they detect your main ships thermal.

Ships this size in general make poor scouts unless dedicated to it and retaining their PD capabilities at the same time.

I probably would not really expect these ships to be good in an independent capacity and since each squadron already have a dedicated scout attached I would add a small hangar to that ship and then fit it with a bunch of small 20-25t passive and active crafts.

I usually find that the best ability to survive is to find the opponent first and able to know their strength and you can retreat or engage on your terms.

I decided to strip an armor layer off of the Oblivion M1:

Code: [Select]

Oblivion M3 class Corvette (P)      5,000 tons       134 Crew       584.3 BP       TCS 100    TH 500    EM 0
5000 km/s      Armour 3-26       Shields 0-0       HTK 40      Sensors 5/5/0/0      DCR 3      PPV 21
Maint Life 3.11 Years     MSP 259    AFR 67%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 40    5YR 603    Max Repair 125.00 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required   

ARC 250MW SLIPS Drive System (2)    Power 500.0    Fuel Use 70.71%    Signature 250.00    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 401,000 Litres    Range 20.4 billion km (47 days at full power)

ARC 300mm Plasma Cannon (1)    Range 144,000km     TS: 5,000 km/s     Power 24-3     RM 10,000 km    ROF 40        24 12 8 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
ARC M1 100mm Railgun (4x4)    Range 10,000km     TS: 5,000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 10,000 km    ROF 5        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ARC Beam Fire Control R144-TS5100 (1)     Max Range: 144,000 km   TS: 5,100 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 38 31
ARC 5MW HCGMFF Reactor (3)     Total Power Output 15    Exp 5%

ARC M1 S5R1 Gravimeter (1)     GPS 1     Range 1.3m km    MCR 113.5k km    Resolution 1
ARC Thermal Sensor TH1.0-5.0 (1)     Sensitivity 5.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  17.7m km
ARC EM Sensor EM1.0-5.0 (1)     Sensitivity 5.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  17.7m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

This has a better BFC and better passive sensors. My hope is that the improved passives will allow squadrons of 4x Oblivions to operate independently but my concern is that they lack the armor to engage missile armed opponents.

Quote from: liveware on February 16, 2021, 03:46:06 PM

Quote from: nuclearslurpee on February 16, 2021, 01:27:18 PM

I'd say the first ship is probably better. The overall design is neater and 5000 km/s is a decent speed while 6250 km/s is excessive and costs you a lot of weapon payload. However I don't like the undersized BFC which will have accuracy problems due to low max range. Especially with that plasma cannon you really want to get in to 10k km and land the hit, otherwise you're losing a lot of alpha damage.

You might consider dropping a layer of armor and using the tonnage for a longer-ranged BFC. If you have a couple HS left over bumping up the engine size can't hurt, every 1 HS more engine size is going to get you +250 km/s to help close ranges.

The original Oblivion had 3 layers of armor and a better BFC... I might go back to that.

That's what I would have done, however with railgun and plasma ships I'm always loathe to suggest removing armor because you take a lot of hits when closing the range.

I would probably also choose the first ship, but that is entirely depending on how important speed is. The fire-control probably also would need to be replaced at some point as well, that one is really underwhelming for it's purpose.

I also find that the ship probably have too weak passive sensors as I figure this ship should be able to operate on their own as scouts. Scouts should always have decent passive sensors. You also could add the smallest type of hangar and fit a couple of really small active fast scouts as well... you can get decent small fast active sensor scouts at about 20-25t apiece. This way the ship itself only need to have a resolution 1 active and can use its fast scouts to fix any potential enemy at a longer range and don't have to endanger the ship itself.

Ships of this scale usually have too weak armour to be good beam ships so the weapons should mainly be considered for self defence or used against civilian ships. Being able to avoid the enemy should otherwise be their doctrine. They also can act as point defence for capital or support squadron as a secondary role. But PD perhaps is the ships primary role and then I think all is fine in general.