Author Topic: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6  (Read 8210 times)

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Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« on: August 09, 2010, 05:56:01 PM »
Note that all sensors in this campaign have been updated to the new sensor model at this point

25th June 2031
In Gliese 105, the NATO survey ship Newton glides to a halt one hundred million kilometers from nearest of the two planets orbiting the system's B component. Each Galileo class survey ship is equipped with a dozen Mk4 Box Launchers, eight of which contain AGM-3A Katana Anti-Ship Missiles. The others hold two RLN-6A Raven Reconnaissance Drones and two RLN-7A Shadow Passive Recon Drones. Newton launches a pair of drones at each planet. Nothing is detected so Newton and her sister ship Kepler begin a gravitational survey of the system.

27th June 2031
NATO sensors detect ninety Soviet Tupolev-50s sixty million kilometers from Earth on a direct course from Ganymede. The bomber formation is ten million kilometers from a powerful task group of Soviet warships, including two battlecruisers, two carriers and seven cruisers, which has been tracked for the last two days as it moved across Sol on a similar course. Until the bombers were detected, the movement of the Soviet task group was assumed to be in line with the recent Soviet notification that they were returning to Earth for an overhaul. A report is quickly flashed to the new site of Fleet Headquarters at the Jamestown colony. On the basis that this unannounced movement of the entire order of battle of Soviet Naval Aviation cannot be good news,  the Independence carrier group and the Ark Royal / Akagi carrier group both depart Jamestown orbit for the Sol jump point. The only NATO forces in Earth orbit are the two Hercules class tugs. Both ships are ordered to tractor one of the remaining shipyards and leave orbit immediately. On Earth's surface is the unarmed Cheyenne class planetary defence centre which detected the Soviet bombers. Although it does have a hangar bay that can hold a dozen F-24A Cobras, none have been assigned. The 7th Armoured Brigade, part of the 1st Heavy Assault Division, moves into the PDC to provide local defence.

Debate rages within NATO headquarters and between Western capitals regarding both the intention of the Soviet bomber force and the nearby warships and what further steps NATO should take, including informing the Soviet Union that their bombers have been detected. There is no doubt that the Soviet forces can wreak havoc on NATO population centres and industry on Earth and there is nothing NATO forces can do to prevent that. There is only the deterrent effect of the consequences of NATO retaliation, which would annihilate the Soviet Union. Or at least that is the theory. While the politicians prevaricate, unable to agree on a course of action, Vice Admiral Samuel Thorn, the senior NATO naval officer, decides to contact his Soviet opposite number on Ganymede and confront him with NATO knowledge of the approaching bomber force. Vitse-admiral Vladimir Melnikov accepts the call and quickly reassures Admiral Thorn that the Soviet Union has no hostile intentions toward NATO. When Admiral Thorn demands to know where the bombers are heading, Admiral Melnikov is evasive, stating reasons of national security but repeating his promise that no harm will come to any NATO citizen. He reminds Admiral Thorn that the Soviet Union is well aware that any NATO retaliation for a surprise attack would be devastating.

Ending the call, Admiral Thorn informs his political leaders that the Soviet Union is almost certainly about to attack the People's Republic of China. The CIA Director and the heads of other Western intelligence agencies dismiss the Admiral's theory and insist that they would be aware of Soviet plans for any such attack. They believe that the Soviet bombers are merely on some form of training exercise. Forty minutes have passed since the initial detection and the ninety Tupolev-50s are fifty million kilometers from Earth. Admiral Thorn requests permission to warn the Chinese in an attempt to prevent the attack or at least give the Chinese some chance to defend themselves. The intelligence agencies argue strongly against such a move, warning that it will increase tensions unnecessarily and result in diplomatic problems with both the Soviet Union and China. The NATO political leaders side with their intelligence agencies and no warning is issued.

Thirty minutes later, with the bombers forty-three million kilometers from Earth, they slow to two thousand kilometers per second, reducing their thermal signatures. Three hours after being detected by NATO, the Tupolev-50s halt twenty-five million kilometers from Earth and hold position as the Soviet task group continues onward. NATO active sensors continue to track them but as neither NATO nor Chinese deep space tracking stations can see them,  the Chinese remain unaware of their presence. As the task group moves within four million kilometers of Earth, the bombers launch a total of three hundred and sixty P-501 Garpun anti-ship missiles. They are concentrated on nine of the twelve major Chinese warships in Earth orbit. The other three warships and the two dozen fast attack craft will be targeted by the Soviet warships once the bomber-launched missiles draw level with their position.

As the missiles streak toward the Chinese ships in Earth orbit, an unforeseen flaw appears in the Soviet plan. NATO and Chinese deep space tracking stations on Earth detect the tiny active sensor emissions of the P-501s. NATO is aware of the Soviet bombers and it is immediately apparent what the sensor emissions represent. There are red faces in the NATO intelligence community and a lot of concerned military officers at Fleet Headquarters. Despite the Soviet reassurances, there is no way to know the targets of the Soviet missiles. For the People's Republic of China, the contacts are a bolt from the blue. They are almost certainly active emissions from on-board missile sensors but the nationality of the missiles and their targets are unknown. China immediately contacts Soviet Fleet Headquarters on Ganymede and the NATO's Sol System HQ on Earth, demanding to know the identity and destination of the missiles. Both NATO and the Soviet Union inform the Chinese that the missiles are not theirs and suggest the Chinese urgently contact the other superpower. NATO military officers still do not have permission to reveal the existence of the Soviet bomber force, although that permission is being urgently sought. Minutes tick by as the missiles approach Earth at 22,500 km/s.

The head of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Admiral Xue Lin Feng, orders the warships in Earth orbit to move away on a perpendicular course to determine if they are the targets of the missiles. He has his suspicions about the origins of the missiles, especially given that a Soviet task group is two point five million kilometers away and heading straight for Earth. The sensor emissions immediately change course to intercept the Chinese ships. After seeking the permission of his Premier, which is quickly given, Admiral Xue contacts Admiral Melnikov and demands that he turns his ships around and instantly self-destructs the missiles heading for the Chinese ships. Aware that Red Twilight is starting to come apart at the seams, Melnikov desperately plays for time, insisting that the missiles are not Soviet. He informs his Chinese counterpart that Soviet sensors have just detected a wave of NATO fighters near the original contact point of the sensor emissions and that they must have launched the missiles, using the scheduled arrival of the Soviet task group for overhaul as a diversion.  He promises support from the Soviet Union if the Chinese wish to retaliate against NATO. Seven minutes have passed since the initial contact and the missiles are fourteen point seven million kilometers from their targets. Knowing he has to make a decision quickly, Admiral Xue orders his warships to return to Earth orbit then contracts Admiral Thorn again and repeats the Soviet accusation.

Admiral Thorn vehemently denies the accusation so Admiral Hue asks why the two NATO tugs pulled out of orbit with two large shipyards just hours before the missiles were detected. Silently cursing the intelligence services and his political masters, Admiral Thorn comes clean against orders and reveals that NATO has been tracking a formation of Soviet bombers for several hours. He asks Admiral Xue to consider what NATO could possibly gain from attacking China and why would it do so take place when all of NATO's Earth-based industry was completely open to retaliation. Seeing Xue is almost incandescent with rage at either NATO's unprovoked  attack or its failure to warn of an attack from the Soviets and realizing the next few seconds are critical, Admiral Thorn breaks every rule of operational security and turns his visual pickup around to show his Chinese counterpart the NATO plotting room at Fleet Headquarters. The Soviet bombers are clearly shown on the main holographic display. Although the NATO transmission could be faked, it is too close to what Admiral Xue himself believes is happening. Grimly, he thanks Admiral Thorn and re-opens the channel to Admiral Melnikov. Nine minutes have now passed since initial contact. The Soviet missiles are twelve million kilometers from Earth and the Soviet task group is one point six million kilometers away.

Ignoring the Soviet Admiral's protestations, Admiral Xue demands that Melnikov turn his ships around immediately and self-destruct the missiles or the People's Republic of China will consider itself at war with the Soviet Union. Melnikov tries to play for time again but Xue gives him thirty seconds to comply and cuts the connection. Knowing it is far too late to back down now, Melnikov contacts Vitse-Admiral Karen Kravchenko, commanding Raketnyy Korabl Otdel 02, and orders her to immediately commence unrestricted warfare against Chinese military targets. Raketnyy Korabl Otdel 01 is ordered to leave Ganymede and head for the Barnard's Star jump point. Chinese sensors detect the launch of forty-eight Sukhoi-40 fighters by the approaching Soviet task group.

The twelve Chinese warships are one hundred and sixty thousand kilometers from Earth, heading back after their brief excursion to confirm them as missile targets. Six are Luhu class escort cruisers, armed with four quad 10cm laser turrets, four are Jiangwei class cruisers, armed with ten 20cm ultraviolet lasers and the other two are Houjian class bombardment cruisers, armed with five bomb launchers designed to launch Orbital Bombardment Devices - slow ultra-short-ranged missiles with strength-17 warheads, designed for planetary bombardment. Already in Earth orbit are twenty-three Jianghu class corvettes, each armed with a single 10cm ultraviolet laser. Well aware his fleet is not going to get within range of the faster Soviet warships and realizing their life can be measured in minutes, Admiral Xue orders all his beam armed ships to open fire on the Soviet orbital shipyards and the two Houjians to begin launching against Soviet ground forces. All three Chinese infantry divisions and their sole assault division are ordered to launch an attack on the Soviet Union as soon as possible. The two garrison divisions are ordered to hole up in a pair of Hainan class PDCs to provide a last-ditch defence.

Believing that her task group is still too far from Earth to intercept any Chinese missile launch, Admiral Kravchenko concentrates her efforts on destroying the Chinese fleet. The incoming missiles from the Tupolev-50s are nine minutes from impact and targeting nine of the twelve 12,000 ton warships, leaving three more major warships and all twenty-three corvettes untargeted. However, Admiral Kravchenko is well aware that nine minutes is far too long to allow give the Chinese to wreak havoc, especially if they have missiles that can target Soviet population centres. Therefore she decides to attempt to take out every ship with her task group and allow the bomber-launched missiles to find their own targets when they arrive. Between her eleven ships and forty-eight fighters, Admiral Kravchenko's available anti-ship firepower includes three hundred P-501 Garpun missiles, two hundred and forty smaller P-500 Palash and three hundred P-504 Garpun-Bs, which are a newer, faster version of the P-501 designed to have the same speed as the P-500 Palash, allowing for coordinated attacks.

The fighters, the two aviation cruisers and the three Project 1204 Atlant class cruisers are unable to target the small corvettes as the resolution of their fire controls is too high at the current range. The Orlan class battlecruisers and the Project 1200 Berkuts also have fire controls intended for their 9K50 Strela-25 anti-missile missiles. By linking those to their anti-ship missile launchers instead, they can lock on to the Jianghus. However, the Orlans have one hundred and twenty missiles each and only two Volna-300 fire control systems so they can only target two corvettes each. They could use multiple launches, changing the fire controls between launches, but that would make things much easier for any Chinese point defence system. Therefore, Admiral Kravchenko orders the battlecruisers to hold their fire while the rest of the fleet launches first, hoping to take out any ships equipped with point defence before any missiles from the Orlans arrive. The rest of the Soviet missiles are split roughly equally between the twelve larger Chinese warships. Six hundred missiles streak from the Soviet task group and its fighters, adding to the three hundred and sixty missiles already in flight from the bombers.

[attachment=4:1tpy9mz5]SovietvsChina.GIF[/attachment:1tpy9mz5]
The Chinese ships are slow to respond to their orders and when they do so it is in a disjointed way, with ships firing as individuals when they are ready. Five Orbital Bombardment Devices (ODB) are launched from one of the Houjians when it is still 112,000 kilometers from Earth. The OBDs are really intended for orbital launch and have a speed of only 2200 km/s. Seeing the launch, Admiral Kravchenko orders her Project 1200 Berkut cruisers, designed for escort work, to engage their automated anti-missile systems, even though they are still almost one point five million kilometers from Earth. With a speed of 36,000 km/s, the Soviet 9K50 Strela-25 anti-missiles have a chance of intercept before the OBDs reach Earth. Suddenly, one of the smaller Soviet shipyards explodes amid a hail of laser fire from the Chinese corvettes. With the rest of her task group's missiles well on their way Admiral Kravchenko orders the two battlecruisers to begin launching salvos of ten missiles each at the corvettes, changing targets as quickly as their fire controls permit. The Soviet shipyards continue to take fire, with the shipyard that built the Project 1214 Kamenka class survey ship losing half of its six 1000 ton capacity slipways.  

The second Houjian launches its first salvo of OBDs, targeting Soviet troop concentrations. More Soviet anti-missiles launch in response. Unfortunately for the Chinese, the Houjian's bomb launchers take almost five minutes to reload and it is unlikely they will have that long. One of the largest capacity Russian commercial shipyards explodes and a large naval yard loses a slipway. The leading Soviet missiles are 900,000 kilometers from Earth and closing at 24,000 km/s. They will arrive in less than forty seconds but that is an eternity in a close range energy engagement. Two more Soviet shipyards disintegrate under heavy fire, quickly followed by a third. Five remain, including both shipyards tooled to build colony ships. Admiral Kravchenko silently urges her ships and missiles to somehow increase speed, knowing they will be too late. Admiral Melnikov can only watch in growing despair from Soviet Fleet Headquarters on Ganymede. The missiles are 300,000 kilometers from impact when the last Soviet shipyard is blown to pieces.

The Chinese warships finally reach Earth, destroying a Soviet colony ship from Kazakov Transport en passant then reconfiguring their fire controls for missile defence. In their wake is a wave of ten orbital bombardment devices, moving slower than the ships that launched it. Only seconds from impact, the OBDs are destroyed by a salvo of twenty Soviet 9K50 Strela-25 anti-missiles. The first wave of Soviet anti-ship missiles, fast moving P-500 Palash and P-504 Garpun-Bs from the task group, streak in behind the Strela-25s at 24,000 km/s. Chinese active sensors detect the missiles, fire controls lock on and laser turrets begin spitting their defiance.

[attachment=3:1tpy9mz5]SovietvsChina2.GIF[/attachment:1tpy9mz5]
[attachment=2:1tpy9mz5]SovietvsChina3.GIF[/attachment:1tpy9mz5]
The cataclysmic events of the next few seconds prove impossible to reconstruct in after action reports for either of the two combatants or for NATO. NATO sensors, watching the battle intently, detect one hundred and ninety-nine strength-6 warhead detonations, one hundred and eighty strength-9 warhead detonations, five secondary power system explosions and three magazine explosions. Lifepods and wreckage are detected from six Chinese ships, including a Houjian, a Luhu and all four Jiangweis. The thermal signatures of the other Houjian and a second Luhu are reduced, indicating significant internal damage. Even as the light from the explosions begins to fade, the second wave of Soviet missiles arrives; one hundred and eighty P-501 Garpuns, moving at 22,500 km/s. The remaining Chinese ships cannot hold back the onslaught and five more perish in nuclear fire. Of the twelve major warships in Sol with which the Chinese began the brief battle, only the wounded Houjian remains. It breaks orbit at 1333 km/s, vainly trying to head for the Barnard's Star jump point. The twenty-three Jianghu class corvettes, no longer protected by the point defences of the larger warships, are ordered to head for the oncoming Soviet task group, although with the confusion of the battle Admiral Xue is not sure if they will act on his orders in time. Two hundred and thirty more Garpun and Garpun-B missiles are inbound from the two Soviet battlecruisers, staggered in waves of forty and targeted on the corvettes, and the three hundred and sixty bomber-launched missiles are ten million kilometers from Earth, although they no longer have any targets. The last ten P-501 Garpun missiles on the battlecruiser Kalinin are launched against the surviving Houjian.

The fragile Chinese corvettes cannot withstand the powerful Soviet anti-ship missiles and every last one is blown to pieces, along with the crippled Houjian, long before they can fulfill Admiral Xue's orders. Every Chinese warship in Sol has now been lost. The People's Liberation Army Navy is not finished though as twelve more warships are in 70 Ophuichi. They are ordered into Bernard's Star in an attempt to reach and defend the Sol jump point before any Soviet warships arrive. The other surviving navy ships are all ordered to try and reach the small colony of 800,000 in 70 Ophuichi. A Huangwen class survey ship has just entered Sol en route to Earth for refueling and overhaul, so that turns back immediately. Two Hegu class troop transports are already halfway from Earth to the Bernard's Star jump point so they continue on course. The ships in most danger are seven Luda class colony ships with 210,000 colonists on board, currently passing through the asteroid belt three hundred million kilometers from Earth. Several other ships, including two more survey vessels, five Yinchuan class terraformers and ten Xian class freighters are already in 70 Ophuichi or the nearby systems. There are also twenty-four privately-owned freighters and colony ships in Sol, Bernard's Star or 70 Ophuichi. They are all advised to avoid the Sol system and stay well away from Soviet shipping. The planned Chinese ground assault on the Soviet Union, which was to have been preceded by a bombardment by the Houjians, is abandoned and the four Chinese divisions pull back into the Hainan class planetary defence centres. The Chinese leadership, advised by Admiral Xue, intends to fight a defensive ground war, playing for time and seeking NATO support. The Hainans, eight of which have been constructed by the People's Republic, are ideal for that purpose. Each one is protected by a massive amount of armour and capable of holding an entire division. All six Chinese divisions, one assault, three infantry and two garrison, will have to be dug out by the Red Army or subjected to a devastating orbital bombardment.

Code: [Select]
Hainan class Planetary Defence Centre    65,950 tons     115 Crew     2049.6 BP      TCS 1319  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 15-145     Sensors 1/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Troop Capacity: 21 Battalions  
 
The Soviet Union has completed the first phase of Red Twilight, eliminating the Chinese warships in Earth orbit. The good news is that the Chinese planetary defence centres do not appear to be missile armed and the primitive missiles launched against Earth by the two Houjian class bombardment cruisers were destroyed before they could cause any damage. The bad news is that every Soviet shipyard has been destroyed, along with five colony ships under construction, and no more Soviet ships can be constructed until those shipyards are replaced or the Chinese shipyards are captured. In addition, the task group has used all of its anti-ship missiles except for a complete reload of P-500 Palashes for the forty-eight Sukhoi-40s. The three hundred and sixty bomber-launched missiles, which alerted the Chinese to the attack, have to be self-destructed as there are no remaining targets. The bases for the Tupolev-50s on Ganymede have enough P-501 Garpuns to reload the bombers for two more strikes and these missiles could be used by Soviet warships instead if required. Soviet ordnance factories are working three shifts to try and replace the expended missiles as quickly as possible. Admiral Melnikov gives orders for his forces to ignore the Chinese colony ships and freighters in Sol as he intends to eventually force their surrender and destroying them would be destroying future Soviet property. The second phase of Red Twilight, the ground invasion of the People's Republic, is given the go-ahead, although the planned supporting orbital bombardment is no longer possible as the Chinese have unexpectedly hidden all of their ground forces in planetary defence centres. Those PDCs will have to be captured one by one.

The Soviet task group moves into orbit and rescues the survivors of the destroyed Chinese warships, including many of the commanding officers, and the Soviet colony ship. The Chinese captives are interrogated, yielding several useful pieces of information, including knowledge of the Wolf 629 and Gliese 722 systems, geological survey data on Barnard's Star, technical data on the Orbital Bombardment Device and schematics for the new Xian II class Freighter, shown below.

Code: [Select]
Xian II class Freighter    34,900 tons     236 Crew     476.4 BP      TCS 698  TH 1050  EM 0
1504 km/s     Armour 1-95     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 9 MSP    Max Repair 38 MSP
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 5    

Commercial Ion Engine (7)    Power 150    Fuel Use 8%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 64.5 billion km   (496 days at full power)
In line with its plan to hold out for as long as possible, China completely reorganizes its research effort to produce a planet-based missile capability. Basic designs for a missile and an associated launcher are quickly devised and development begins. Once the launcher is available, an armed PDC will be designed.

Code: [Select]
Hummingbird Anti-ship Missile
Missile Size: 4 MSP  (0.2 HS)     Warhead: 4    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Speed: 19000 km/s    Endurance: 5 minutes   Range: 5.6m km
Cost Per Missile: 2.2667
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 190%   3k km/s 60%   5k km/s 38%   10k km/s 19%
Materials Required:    1x Tritanium   1.0167x Gallicite   Fuel x250
Code: [Select]
Hummingbird Launcher
Maximum Missile Size: 4     Rate of Fire: 60 seconds
Launcher Size: 4 HS    Launcher HTK: 2
Cost Per Launcher: 20    Crew Per Launcher: 40
Materials Required: 5x Duranium  15x Tritanium
Soviet Project 1205 'Vishnaya' class intelligence ships move into position near the Epsilon Eridani and Bernard's Star jump points. Although NATO protests the close monitoring of the Epsilon Eridani jump point, the Soviet Union states once again its peaceful intentions toward NATO and asks for NATO's understanding of Soviet security concerns while the Soviet Union is at war with China. NATO decides not to push the issue but recalls a Saratoga class scout frigate from Tau Ceti and issues orders for it to picket the Sol - Alpha Centauri jump point.

28th June 2031
Soviet ground forces assault the Chinese planetary defence centre designated as Hainan Six, which is defended by the PLA Sixth Infantry Division. Fierce close quarter combat ensues as elements of four Soviet divisions attempt to force their way into the huge base. Three Chinese units, the 127th, 129th and 133rd mobile infantry battalions, suffer casualties, but the division as a whole is still at ninety-five percent of its normal strength. Soviet forces suffer losses to two battalions of the 2nd Tamanskaya Guards Motor Rifle Division and three battalions of the 76th Airborne Division; approximately two percent casualties for the entire assault force. Collateral damage from the fighting inflicts significant civilian casualties and destroys two mining complexes. Both the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China begin training new ground units.

29th June 2031
NATO's sensors continue to track the busy traffic of the inner Sol system. picture in late June 2031
[attachment=1:1tpy9mz5]NATOSensors.GIF[/attachment:1tpy9mz5]
30th June 2031
The Independence and Ark Royal / Akagi carrier groups arrive at the Epsilon Eridani - Sol jump point and hold position. The Redoutable class command ship Richelieu, from the Independence group, is detached and sent to join the Virginia class cruiser New Mexico on the Sol side of the jump point to provide the maximum possible sensor coverage. Her SN/SPY-19 Area Surveillance Area and SN/SPY-20 Small Target Detection System match those on the Cheyenne class PDCs on Earth and Titan and fill in the sensor gap between those two points. Due to Jupiter's current position in its orbit, Richelieu's SN/SPY-19 array covers Ganymede. If Richelieu remains at the Sol - Epsilon Eridani jump point, Ganymede will remain in sensor range for almost two years.

[attachment=0:1tpy9mz5]SPY19.GIF[/attachment:1tpy9mz5]
2nd July 2031
Five Soviet Project 1210 'Moskalenko' class Desatnyy Korabl', or Landing Ships, pick up the 234th Airborne Regiment from Earth and deliver it to Mercury, site of a Chinese automated mining colony. The Soviet paratroopers quickly capture the thirty automated mines and secure the colony.

3rd July 2031
The battle for Hainan Six continues. In a desperate counter-attack to prevent a threatened Soviet penetration of the PDC's outer defence zone, the Chinese 119th Mobile Infantry Battalion suffers fifty percent casualties. The 128th and 130th MIBs arrive in support and despite losing twenty percent of their strength manage to contain the Soviet assault. Two Soviet assault battalions suffer losses. One from the 237th Tank Regiment of the 3rd Vislenskaya Guards Motor Rifle Division and the other from the 51st Parachute Landing Regiment of the 76th Guards Airborne Division. A Chinese mining complex and a maintenance facility are destroyed by collateral damage.

With the Sino-Soviet war now six days old and the situation on Earth heading for the long-term conflict desired by the People's Republic, the Chinese leadership appeals to NATO for support, or at least for mediation. The NATO political leadership is torn by indecision. On one hand, they have no desire to see the Soviet Union profit from its aggression and become stronger as a result. On the other, they do not want to be responsible for the kind of devastation that could ensue if NATO and the Soviet Union become embroiled in war on Earth. NATO military commanders urge caution until significant anti-missile defences can be built on Earth. They have no wish to bring the carrier groups close to Earth where they would be potentially vulnerable to the same type of Soviet attack that destroyed the Chinese fleet. For the moment, NATO makes a show of meditation but with no real hope of resolving the conflict. It seems unlikely the Soviet Union will end the war after suffering the loss of its shipyards and there is little chance of the Chinese forcing the Soviets to back down.

5th July 2031
Raketnyy Korabl Otdel 01, a Soviet task group comprising one battlecruiser and seven cruisers, takes up position five million kilometers from the Sol - Bernard's Star jump point.

6th July 2031
The Soviet Landing Ship squadron delivers the 234th Airborne Regiment, fresh from the conquest of Mercury, to the Soviet colony on Mars, in readiness for an assault on the Chinese Martian colony. NATO protests vehemently, citing the tri-power pact of April 2025 that made Mars a demilitarized zone. The Soviet ambassador to NATO apologies for any concerns NATO may have but points out that the Soviet Union is at war and such peacetime luxuries as the Martian demilitarized zone cannot interfere with ongoing Soviet operations. In response, NATO transfers the 1st Marine Regiment from Jamestown to Mars on board a San Antonio class Troop Transport, covered by a pair of Daring class Area Defence Cruisers.

8th July 2031

Combat continues in and around Hainan Six, with no sign of either side giving up the bitter struggle. Three battalions on each side suffer combat losses and a Chinese fuel refinery is destroyed in the fighting. On Mars, Soviet ground forces overrun the Chinese colony but the Chinese refuse to surrender and continue guerilla actions against the Soviet paratroopers. The 234th Airborne Regiment excels at assault but has little training for pacification and occupation. The Landing Ship squadron returns to Earth to pick up the 100th Motor Rifle Regiment.

A KGB team operating in Chinese territory steals technical data on Chinese beam fire control systems, allowing the Soviet Union to extend its base beam fire control range to 32,000 kilometers.

12th July 2031
The remaining twelve warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy arrive at the Bernard's Star - Sol jump point. Due to sensor data relayed through the jump gate from Earth, the presence of Raketnyy Korabl Otdel 01 is known to the task group commander so he holds his ships on top of the jump point, ready to counter any Soviet attempt to enter Bernard's Star. The Chinese ships are beam-armed and slower than their Soviet counterparts so there is no question of trying to enter Sol, at least for the moment. On the Soviet side, there is a reluctance to enter Bernard's Star in case the Chinese ships are waiting in ambush so Admiral Melnikov has forbidden any reconnaissance until the situation is resolved. The ships of RKO 01 have been told to allow Chinese merchant traffic to pass unmolested in and out of the jump point as one of the major aims of the war is to capture the Chinese freighters and colony ships by forcing the surrender of the People's Republic.

13th July 2031
The battle for Hainan Six is intensifying. Five Chinese and six Soviet battalions suffer losses in heavy fighting. Three mining complexes and a construction factory are destroyed. Only five of the sixteen mobile infantry battalions in the PLA Sixth Infantry Division are at full strength. Five are at sixty percent strength or less. A total of twelve Soviet battalions have taken casualties but there are fifty-one battalions from four different divisions involved in the assault and the Soviets are using replacement battalions to more readily recover their losses. It is a slow process but the Red Army is beginning to grind down the defenders of Hainan Six.

On Mars the arrival of the 100th Motor Rifle Regiment proves decisive and the Chinese colony surrenders to the Soviet Union. The motor rifle troops take on the role of occupation force while the 234th Airborne Regiment is returned to Earth by the Landing Ship Squadron to join in the assault on Hainan Six.

14th July 2031
An enterprising young Soviet captain, third rank, has put forward a proposal that could result in capturing Chinese freighters and colony ships without the need to force a Chinese surrender. The suggestion quickly made its way up the Soviet hierarchy and will now be put into action as soon as possible. The young captain, Anatoly Borodin, is now first rank and on the fast track for further promotion. Captain Borodin proposed building small, fast ships, no larger than fighters, that would carry a company of Marines and combat drop them on to Chinese ships in deep space. The result is the Ilyushin Il-120 Assault Shuttle, the fastest Soviet ship ever designed. Six Marine companies begin training under the supervision of Captain Borodin, who will command the specialized unit. The first is expected to be ready by late November. Six shuttles are ordered and should be available before the Marines are fully trained.

Code: [Select]
Ilyushin Il-120 class Assault Shuttle  213 tons     4 Crew     37.7 BP      TCS 4.25  TH 36  EM 0
8470 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 1%    IFR: 0%    Maint Capacity 28 MSP    Max Repair 15 MSP    Est Time: 15.57 Years
Drop Capacity: 1 Company    

NPO Saturn AL-50 Ion Engine (1)    Power 36    Fuel Use 8000%    Signature 36    Armour 0    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 2.1 billion km   (69 hours at full power)
15th July 2031
The two Soviet Project 1218 salvage ships return from the safe haven of Ganymede and begin the long task of salvaging all of the Chinese wrecks. Some NATO officers propose that NATO should also be salvaging some of the Chinese wrecks but that suggestion is rejected by the civilian leadership to avoid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union.

26th July 2031
A Hercules class Tug arrives at the twentieth moon of Epsilon Eridani II, towing the Newport News Shipbuilding Shipyard that was used to construct all five Enterprise class carriers. The same gas giant is orbited by the three NATO colonies of Jamestown, Roanoke and Bermuda. The twentieth moon, a barren chunk of rock two hundred kilometers in diameter, is being used by NATO as a place to anchor shipyards until a sufficient workforce exists on Roanoke, the planned future shipbuilding centre for NATO. Roanoke is already home to five of the smaller NATO shipyards with a total of eleven slipways between them and their required workforce of twelve million is absorbing of the colony's manufacturing sector. Three shipyards are now in orbit of the twentieth moon, informally known as Mothball throughout the NATO naval forces, including the shipyards tooled to build the Illustrious class light carriers and the Redoutable class command ship. If the shipyards orbiting Mothball remained in Earth orbit they would still be in operation. Given the fate of the Soviet shipyards, NATO decided that preserving them until the population of Roanoke was large enough was more important than keeping them operational in the short-term.

27th July 2031
After a month of high intensity combat, the Soviet Union is starting to break through the outer defences of Hainan Six. The Chinese 119th Mobile Infantry Battalion has been completely wiped out and the Sixth Infantry Division as a whole is at fifty-six percent of the strength with which it started the battle. Soviet forces continue to take losses of their own but the balance of forces is tilting in their direction. The other five Chinese divisions, two of which are garrison divisions, remain in their own Hainan class planetary defence centres, safe from Soviet orbital bombardment but unable to assist their comrades.

3rd August 2031
Two more Chinese battalions are cut-off and destroyed amid the outer defensive works of Hainan Six. The rest of the Chinese battalions pull back to the second line of defence to shorten their defensive perimeter.

12th August 2031
Time is running out for Hainan Six. The last two battalions of the 117th Mobile Infantry Brigade have been wiped out, leaving the Sixth Infantry Division with only eleven of its original sixteen battalions. The Divisional HQ itself has suffered casualties, as well as one of the four Brigade HQs. Several of the surviving units are well below half strength and in overall terms the division is at less than forty percent strength. Recent Soviet losses are relatively light.

18th August 2031
NATO survey efforts continue in the systems beyond Teegarden's Star, although exploration of the third jump point in TZ Arietis has been put on hold until the current crisis has passed.

21st August 2031
The three remaining battalions of the Chinese 114th Infantry Brigade are overrun and destroyed. The seven battered surviving battalions of the Sixth Infantry Division, along with their HQ units, are forced to abandon their second defence line and pull back into the core of Hainan Six.

2nd September 2031
The end cannot be far away for the valiant defenders of Hainan Six. Only four infantry battalions remain, plus the divisional HQ and four brigade HQs. Two months of fighting have caused significant collateral damage to nearby Chinese industry. So far the destruction has extended to eleven construction factories, nine mining complexes, three fuel refineries, two ordnance factories and a maintenance facility

6th September 2031
NATO completes construction of two Kobyashi class jump freighters. They are intended to operate either solo, carrying vital installations or minerals, or as a jump escort for large commercial vessels, such as colony ships, freighters or construction ships. At some point they will be upgraded to use the new Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive. That may be some time away though as the shipyard that built them is scheduled to be towed to Mothball.

Code: [Select]
Kobyashi class Jump Freighter    70,000 tons     776 Crew     1758.6 BP      TCS 1400  TH 3000  EM 0
2142 km/s    JR 2-25(C)     Armour 3-151     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 16 MSP    Max Repair 240 MSP
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10    

JC70K Commercial Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 70000 tons    Distance 25k km     Squadron Size 2
Commercial Ion Engine (20)    Power 150    Fuel Use 7%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres    Range 110.2 billion km   (595 days at full power)

Guardian CIWS (2x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
SN/SPN-14 Navigation Sensor (1)     GPS 1575     Range 20.0m km    Resolution 75
SN/SLR-24 EM Detection Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
The first fighter to be equipped with the new Pratt & Whitney F160 Magneto-plasma Drive is built by NATO factories on Earth. The F-24B Cobra is thirty-six percent faster than the F-24A and has twenty percent more range. The fire control for the F-24B is the newly developed SN/APG-26 Missile Fire Control, which has thirty percent more range than the older SN/APG-1 Missile Fire Control of the F-24A and a resolution of 60, compared to 100 for the SN/APG-1, which allows it to engage smaller targets at greater ranges. The new model Cobra will eventually be armed with the AGM-1C Sabre Anti-Ship Missile, which is currently under development

Code: [Select]
F-24B Cobra class Strikefighter    245 tons     3 Crew     51.1 BP      TCS 4.9  TH 48  EM 0
9795 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 2.4
Annual Failure Rate: 49%    IFR: 0.7%    Maint Capacity 0 MSP    Max Repair 25 MSP    Est Time: 0 Years
Magazine 16    

Pratt & Whitney F160 Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 48    Fuel Use 6000%    Signature 48    Armour 0    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 1.2 billion km   (34 hours at full power)

Mk3 Box Launcher (4)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
SN/APG-26 Missile Fire Control (1)     Range 82.0m km    Resolution 60
AGM-1B Sabre Anti-Ship Missile (4)  Speed: 30,000 km/s   End: 33.3m    Range: 60m km   WH: 6    Size: 4    TH: 100 / 60 / 30
10th September 2031
In an effort to regain the initiative from the Soviet Union, or at least force the Soviet leadership to consider serious negotiations, the People's Republic of China begins two new military projects. The first is the production of a new, larger corvette design, using the recently developed Ion engines and twin 10cm lasers. A shipyard with six 1000 ton capacity slipways begins retooling to build the new design and should be ready to commence construction in November 2031.

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Jianghu II class Corvette    1,000 tons     116 Crew     171.5 BP      TCS 20  TH 120  EM 0
6000 km/s     Armour 2-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 6
Annual Failure Rate: 32%    IFR: 0.4%    Maint Capacity 27 MSP    Max Repair 38 MSP    Est Time: 1.61 Years

GB Ion Engine E80 (1)    Power 120    Fuel Use 800%    Signature 120    Armour 0    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 11.3 billion km   (21 days at full power)

10cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser (2)    Range 120,000km     TS: 6000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
R-64 Beam Fire Control (1)    Max Range: 128,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22
Pebble Bed Reactor (2)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%
The Zunyi class planetary defence centre is intended to regain control of near-Earth space and force the Soviet task group in orbit to withdraw. The PDC is well armoured, which should provide suitable protection given the Soviets' reluctance to bombard Chinese installations, and armed with ten launchers for the new Chinese Hummingbird anti-ship missile. Four Zunyis are being constructed simultaneously.

Code: [Select]
Zunyi class Planetary Defence Centre    4,200 tons     441 Crew     497.4 BP      TCS 84  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 12-23     Sensors 1/16     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 40
Magazine 160    

Hummingbird Launcher (10)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 60
PDC Missile Fire Control (1)     Range 5.8m km    Resolution 4
Hummingbird Anti-ship Missile (40)  Speed: 19,000 km/s   End: 4.9m    Range: 5.6m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 63 / 38 / 19

CAS-1 Active Search Sensor  (1)     GPS 320     Range 4.3m km    Resolution 20
16th September 2031
With the Sino-Soviet war apparently contained to a ground action on Earth, NATO's political leadership believes the chances of NATO being dragged into the conflict have receded considerably over the previous few weeks. The military alert level is lowered and the go ahead is given for further exploration. The Ark Royal / Akagi carrier group returns to the Jamestown fleet base, while the Independence carrier group remains at the Epsilon Eridani - Sol jump point.

In TZ Arietis, the Enterprise / Graf Zeppelin carrier group moves to the last unexplored jump point in the system and a J-30A Vanguard jump scout transits into the unknown. The Vanguard arrives in Groombridge 34, a binary of two red dwarfs twenty-four billion kilometers apart, located almost twelve light years from Sol. The primary is an M2-V orbited by eight planets, while the companion star is an M4-V orbited by a single planet and a sizeable asteroid belt. The only planet of even minor interest is Groombridge 34-A II, which has a nitrogen - oxygen atmosphere with a density of 0.47 atm. The oxygen level is too low for humans to breathe unaided and the surface temperature of -93C makes this an unlikely terraforming candidate. The gravitational survey ships Galileo and Copernicus have recently completed a survey of Gliese 1002, finding one additional jump point, so they move through TZ Arietis and into Groombridge 34 to begin a new survey. All four geological survey ships are also available so they split up and begin a search for new sources of Trans-Newtonian minerals.

17th September 2031
The organized defence of Hainan Six has finally collapsed and the central hub has fallen. A single Chinese battalion, cut-off and surrounded, refuses to surrender and the remnants of two headquarter units are conducting a desperate guerilla action. Soviet forces are in the mopping up phase and expect to secure the planetary defence centre within a few days. A Chinese research facility located near Hainan Six has been destroyed as a result of the fighting.

28th September 2031
NATO's leading expert on missile systems, Ray Dougherty, has been forced into retirement by a serious medical condition. His departure will severely affect NATO research in that field.

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.

to be continued...
 

Offline TrueZuluwiz

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2010, 07:13:34 PM »
How hard would it be for NATO to pull all their people and assets out of Sol System completely? Get everyone out, fortify the far side of that JP and declare a pox on both their houses.
Expecting the Spanish Inquisition
 

Offline Maltay

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2010, 11:55:17 PM »
As China has no military capacity in near Earth orbit, why does the Soviet Union not take over the Chinese shipyards?  The Soviet Union already learned that the Earth-based Chinese PDCs have no missile capacity in their destruction of the Chinese fleet two months earlier.  The Soviet Union desperately needs shipyards.  This is a perfect opportunity.  This could be done with SM mode, correct?
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
 

Offline UnLimiTeD

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2010, 01:06:56 PM »
Actually, that is something that could be done with a code change.
Come on Steve, we know you want it! :D

I'm really starting to think the Soviets will lose more than they gain, and by quite a significant margin.
They expended a good years worth of missiles, lost all their shipyards, half the chinese Infrastructure they wanted to capture will be wrecked by the time they actually do, they will lose a good portion of their army, and if the chinese turn out to stubborn (That is, if Steve does what he always does), they might end up with getting less than half of the civilian ships they set out to gain.

They should have probably known better.
What did they expect the Chinese would target if found to be under attack?
 

Offline Beersatron

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #4 on: August 10, 2010, 01:58:11 PM »
Wont those new Chinese PDCs be easy to capture since they no troop capacity?
 

Offline UnLimiTeD

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2010, 06:44:37 PM »
The question is if they can't target the Soviet Assault force to stall the war for even longer, and then they can just keep building more of them ;)
And why the chinese didn't build a single bombardment launcher into their huge PDCs.^^
 

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2010, 07:52:04 PM »
Quote from: "TrueZuluwiz"
How hard would it be for NATO to pull all their people and assets out of Sol System completely? Get everyone out, fortify the far side of that JP and declare a pox on both their houses.
Hard at the moment but that is NATO's long term goal. As of November 2031, NATO has about 100m population in Epsilon Eridani and 1400m in Sol. Colony ships are a priority but the recent change to MPD engines has slowed down production. Four shipyards are still in Earth orbit and will likely remain there for a while. Six are in operation at Roanoke and four more are in orbit of Mothball, including the three largest. Jamestown has all of NATO maintenance facilities and two hundred construction factories while Bermuda has one hundred and twenty mines. One hundred and ten automated mines are in Tau Ceti. All sixteen fuel harvesters are in Epsilon Eridani

Still on Earth though:

853 construction factories
300 ordnance factories
170 fighter factories
773 mines
500 refineries
64 research labs
12 ground force training facilities
30 financial centres

There are also 160 automated mines on Titan, although these are being moved as quickly as possible because they don't require supporting population.

Steve
 

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2010, 07:55:02 PM »
Quote from: "Maltay"
As China has no military capacity in near Earth orbit, why does the Soviet Union not take over the Chinese shipyards?  The Soviet Union already learned that the Earth-based Chinese PDCs have no missile capacity in their destruction of the Chinese fleet two months earlier.  The Soviet Union desperately needs shipyards.  This is a perfect opportunity.  This could be done with SM mode, correct?
There is no mechanism in the game at the moment to capture shipyards, except for capturing the supporting population. This partly because there is no mechanism to put defending troops on them either. I need to address both of those at once. For the purposes of the campaign, I think it the assumption would have to be that China would blow up its own shipyards rather than see them fall to the Soviet Union in the middle of a war.

Steve
 

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2010, 07:57:59 PM »
Quote from: "Beersatron"
Wont those new Chinese PDCs be easy to capture since they no troop capacity?
They will, but only after a few days. Adding a single PDC barracks so I could add a brigade of defenders would have made them twice as expensive and a single brigade wouldn't last long anyway.  Instead I decided that if I could get a few days use out of them, that would probably be sufficient to cause the Soviets some problems. The other option is for the Chinese to come out of their PDCs and defend in open ground, in which case the Soviets would be unable to attack any Chinese PDCs. The downside is that the Chinese troops would be bombarded from orbit.

Steve
 

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #9 on: August 10, 2010, 07:59:37 PM »
Quote from: "UnLimiTeD"
They should have probably known better.
What did they expect the Chinese would target if found to be under attack?
If the plan had worked as intended and the Soviet planners (me) had remembered the missiles had active sensors (oops!), the Chinese would have been toast before they could have targeted the shipyards.

Steve
 

Offline UnLimiTeD

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #10 on: August 11, 2010, 03:41:19 AM »
Yeah, but if the Chinese had Missiles, or Mesons, for that matter, the problem would have come up as well.
Still don't quite see why those big Bunkers don't have at least a single Missile launcher. Like the one on those bombardment vessels.
 

Offline MWadwell

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #11 on: August 11, 2010, 10:53:43 AM »
Quote from: "Steve Walmsley"
27th June 2031
(SNIP)
The only NATO forces in Earth orbit are the two Hercules class tugs. Both ships are ordered to tractor one of the remaining shipyards and leave orbit immediately. On Earth's surface is the unarmed Cheyenne class planetary defence centre which detected the Soviet bombers. Although it does have a hangar bay that can hold a dozen F-24A Cobras, none have been assigned.
(End SNIP)

G'Day Steve,

A couple of ideas:
1) Move a couple of missile defense cruisers into Earth orbit (in case either the Chinese/Russian's decides to take NATO down a peg or two to their level);
2) Build some missile defense PDC's (same reason as 1);
3) Move some Cobra's into the hangar of the Cheyenne PDC (so NATO has at least a little power projection capability.
4) Build some more ground troops - just in case the winner of the Chinese/Russian war decides to keep the steamroller going (or to take NATO down a peg or two to their level).

What do you think?
Later,
Matt
 

Offline Yonder

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #12 on: August 12, 2010, 02:22:00 PM »
Hmm, the active missile radar being detected was an interesting development, and one that I can see coming up in the future.

Maybe missiles shouldn't turn on their active radar until they are on close approach to their target, or they lose contact with their fire control?
 

Offline UnLimiTeD

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #13 on: August 12, 2010, 06:26:12 PM »
Sigh.
Yesterday I thought about the whole Campaign, and I discovered some sort of logic hole in either the plot or the actions one of the factions took, but now that I actually wanted to ask, I'm totally puzzled as to what the hell that could have been.
Derp.
Guess I can just keep enjoying it then.
 

Offline Vanigo

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Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 6
« Reply #14 on: August 12, 2010, 08:52:42 PM »
Quote from: "MWadwell"
1) Move a couple of missile defense cruisers into Earth orbit (in case either the Chinese/Russian's decides to take NATO down a peg or two to their level);
2) Build some missile defense PDC's (same reason as 1);
Do countermissiles work when the launching ship is right on top of the target? Only way I can think of that they would is if there's an artificial delay when a missile hits a planet; otherwise they'd launch in the same tick the attacking missile strikes. Seems like there should be something to let planetary countermissiles work against point-blank bombardments, though...

Oh, and did you change the resolution on people's sensors when you changed the range formula? Doesn't seem like NATO's sensors should have picked up the fighters that far out.