Space 1899 - Part VI

[MWadwell]

What might be an idea, if for the Federation to develop a some FAC tenders. Base one close to the JP, and another between the JP and the planet, and you have the ability to project force along the corridor between the JP and planet.....

I was thinking about this - and one of the problems is that the Kublai I class FAC is only 4800 km/s - which may not be fast enough to catch the intruders (especially when armed with short-ranged rail guns).

Of course, the 7200 km/s Kublai II class is a different kettle of fish.....

[Nathan_]

Yeah that would make the FAC tender a Military unit.

I'm not suggesting building the boatbays into the tenders. I'm suggesting just building a ship rather than a hanger pod, RP is going to be at a premium for the federation, and if they're going to use facs they'll need something that can do inflight overhauling.

[Nathan_]

On the subject of facs the federation can build a fac capable of traveling at 10800 km/s with a size 12 1.5x ion engine. Likewise a 20cm plasma carronade has enough range to let the fac outrange swarm ships, but in order to fit all that in everything else has to be cut to the bone. the search sensor dropping to 5 tons is no great loss, but there is only room for a 0.7HS FC, 1 10 ton reactor(which means C1 for the carronade), and probably less fuel.

[Mel Vixen]

The damage drops to 1 on the 100k range. Steve could try to fit a particle.beam on the facs. The smallest (dmg 2) is 250 the one up 300 tons. In a knifefight against Terran or Marsian ships mostly useless but you can out-damage all other beam at the max. range and you are still faster reloading then plasma. Also remember the ship can be a little bit bigger then 1000 tons. so fitting a 50ton reactor should work.

Since steve said that the venusians are working on a new railgun i suspect that it will bei either a faster firing one or hopefully one that has more range. The later with the same calliber could be installed on the fac to give it enough swarm fighting range.

[Nathan_]

it drops even sooner than 100k, and the FC can only shoot(barely) at targets 72k away. Depending on how much the particle beam costs the plasma carronade is the cheapest option(though particle beams would fire 2x as fast). As for size, anything bigger than 1050 drops below the 10km/s threshold, and since we're at 1000 now, and the bridge will cost 50 that can't work.

[Mel Vixen]

Right well i am pumpt for what Steve will throw at us in the hopefully soon (hint hint, *waves with a fence-pole*).

I have build a dedicated anti swarm destroyer in my last game. while not very fast (250 normal drive) it had an small missile storage (32 at 100 tons) and 5 size 1 launchers with 10 second turns. The MFC was severely reduced so that i could cram 5 of them into 50 tons. The missiles themselves were also in he 250 k range - not usefull for anything else. They had thought good speed and agility. Using those crafts i could take on the swarm. It wasnt the best result i had but it worked reasonable well.

Also didnt microwaves one-shot one of our spoilers? Iirc you could make swarm-teriaki by microwaving theyr "brains".

[Tanj]

Ahem, yes if 6.3 or another installment to arrive before my day off work on Monday I would be a very, very happy man 

[Jakalo]

I can`t shake the feeling that Martians are due some unpleasant confrontation with Venusians and Earthlings due to lack of their point of view in the updates.   

Rooting for Team Empire here.   I think due to military shipbuilding capacity British Empire has a possible window to outproduce and overpower Martians while Venusians are weak and concentrated on defense.   If so nothing will be able to stop Admirality to rule (Electromagnetic) Waves.   I doubt that they will do so however without major provocation from Martian side.   Also the 40+k size battleships are a concern, but not insurmountable. 

An alliance of Venusians and Martians could spell doom for the Empire though, but I can see it surviving if they manage to evacuate enough industrial base from the Solar system.   Too bad there is nothing as attractive as Eriadni in this game nearby. 

Also Automata city provide an excellent opportunity to catch up and even surpass Martians in a short while (long term shouldn`t be a concern given appalling lack of research facilities at their disposal).   

The high base strength of Venusians remains a concern, but, luckily, their expansion has suffered a serious setback and their military is in shambles, yet their population, industrial and research power continues to increase rapidly which is a troubling sign if they are left to develop peacefully.

In short; while Martians still have slight the upper hand in the short term (or will have at least for a short while after their mammoth BB launches) and Venusians could win the late game through sheer numbers if they manage to get their expansion back on track, the British Empire can compete with both of them both short term and long term.  And still have large timing window while Venusians are building up their fleet and catching up with research and Martians are starting to fall off due to their lack of power base.  Especially if they can manage to construct or tow enough ship building facilities out of Solar system and build up their forces in secrecy.  (preferably armed with goodies from the Ancient city)

Thus future looks bright for them.  Of course clumsy diplomacy or correct assessment of the relative strength of British Empire by the other two Solar races could provoke an alliance between them making everything a lot more complicated.  (for the British)

[Kurt]

"Those in favour successfully argued that the Royal Navy was effectively a global Navy and the naming of its ships should begin to reflect the changing nature of the British Empire. By 1910, the Earth has been united under one government for almost thirty years, with remarkably little resistance or rebellion. While the Royal Navy's ability to launch nuclear strikes from orbit makes rebellion a tricky proposition at best, a more significant factor is the rapid rise in living standards due to the impact of Trans-Newtonian technology on domestic life. A large proportion of the Earth's population has spent their entire lives under British rule and while the older generation still have some resentment, that is far less of an issue for the young. They regard themselves as citizens of Earth as much as any particular country. The presence of heavily armed alien warships in the Sol system also serves to forge a bond among those who live under the potential threat of alien attack or invasion. In 1910, officer cadets at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth include, among others, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Germans, Americans, Japanese and Russians."

Hey, wait a minute!  Where are the Americans!

Probably obliterated as they refused to bow to their British oppressors!

[sloanjh]

Hey, wait a minute!  Where are the Americans!

Um, 3rd from the last?

John

(I liked it better your way, though )

[Kurt]

Um, 3rd from the last?

John

(I liked it better your way, though )

Ummm...Hey wait a minute!  Why are the Americans third from the last!?!

We should be first in serving our British overlords!

[Mel Vixen]

Well i wonder what happened to historical people and political decisions. Charly Chaplin, a certain luckless artist from austria, Einstein, Freud, C. G. Jung, Kaiser Willhelm II, Tsar Nikolaus II,  the seperation of church and state in France, founding of Las vegas, the founding of the Niagara Movement etc. India had a 8.6 earthquake.

In science it was also an interesting time. Take the isolation of distemper and syphilis virus or the first described T-Rex.

[BwenGun]

Ummm. . . Hey wait a minute!  Why are the Americans third from the last!?!

We should be first in serving our British overlords!

The British Empire was built on cups of tea.  And the Yanks destroyed a fair amount of it, for which the Empire has never forgiven them.  Right now America is writing out "I must not waste tea" a few million times, and sorting out the paperwork for 130 years worth of back-taxes.   

[Amadeus]

  ah ah ah ah this one made my day !

[MWadwell]

We should be first in serving our British overlords!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Dis5a14g4 - a comedy by John Cleese.

     

(Ducks for cover....)