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Fiction => Aurora => Sublight's Fiction => Topic started by: sublight on February 09, 2013, 05:20:30 PM

Title: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on February 09, 2013, 05:20:30 PM

One of the more popular short fiction accounts formats here are Battle After Action Reports, or AARs for short. These may be written as 1st person accounts, 3rd person accounts, formatted event logs, etc. In War Stories of Alpha Centauri I'm going to experiment with every writing style I can think for comparison on both literary effort on my part and enjoyment of readers. Feedback on both the writing styles, comments on fleet composition, and speculation on results of planned battles are all encouraged.

Mechanically, the Alpha Cenauri Arena is rich system with two jump points 1.2b km apart. The Objective? Establish exclusive control over both jump points. Each faction starts with a 6,000 BP fleet, and receives a 2,000 BP reinforcement wave by standard transit through their jump point ever 30 days until one side is destroyed or surrenders.

Rules used for fleet creation/combat for the following stories:
• 100k RP for both theoretical and applied technologies. Basically, a standard TN start with 100k for war and 20k for gate construction and other civilian activities.
• An Fighter/Ordiance/Ship construction tech purchased gives a proportional discount on construction cost.
• Missiles and fighters may be purchased at 50% face build cost.
• Ships not carried in hangers must have 6 month deployment times.
• Ships not carried in hangers must have fuel for a 30b km range. Up to 2/3 of this fuel may be carried by oilers.
• Ships not carried in hangers must have at least a 2 year maintenance life. Ships carried in hangers must have at least a 6 month maintenance life, or have an annual failure rate less than 50%.
• Size 1 missiles are AMM only. ASMs must be size 3 or larger.

Using these rules I created 8 unique fleets, which will fight it out in a standard double elimination bracketed tournament. This gives me 13, 14 battles to report. Lets see how far I can go before I start to repeat myself.

The Contestants are as follows:
> Fast Rail Frigates.
> Gauss Turreted Tanks
> Beam Fighters
> Missile Fighters
> Very Long Ranged Missile
> Classic Missile Fleet
> Reduced Size Missile Fleet with Beam PD
> Fast Attack Kiting Craft

The top three will become my officially recommended early-tech fleet design philosophies.

According to my random number generator:
Match #1 is Gauss vs. Beam Fighters.

Fleet Gauss Tanks
Main Fleet: 2x Moyote, 2x Zenzontie, 1x Cacle
Reinforcements: 3x Cacle
Tactics are simple: Crawl on top of the enemy JP and slaughter their reinforcements. Make the enemy come to you. Particle beams included to thwart beam sniping.

Fleet Beam Fighter
Main Fleet: 4x Essex, 2x Iowa. Carried strike groups total 30 heavy (~500 ton) fighters.
Reinforcements: 1x Essex, 1x Iowa. Carried strike groups total 9 heavy fighters.
Tactics: Scout for enemy fleet, then launch fighters from stealth. Fighters attempt to stay just outside of enemy beam PD range.

Anyone interested in making predictions before I post the first outcome?

Gauss Tanks:

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Moyote class Heavy Cruiser    9,000 tons     204 Crew     1305.88 BP      TCS 180  TH 130  EM 0
722 km/s     Armour 8-38     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 78.24
Maint Life 2.3 Years     MSP 363    AFR 162%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 93    5YR 1399    Max Repair 95 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 16   
Cryogenic Berths 200   

43.2 EP Ion Drive (3)    Power 43.2    Fuel Use 23.59%    Signature 43.2    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 42.4 billion km   (679 days at full power)

Particle Beam-3 (2)    Range 150,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 7-2    ROF 20        3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Twin Gauss Cannon R2-100 Turret (4x6)    Range 20,000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 2    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Turret FireCon (4)    Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Long FireCon (1)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
S1 Fast Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 4.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Zenzontle class Heavy Cruiser    9,000 tons     199 Crew     1335.88 BP      TCS 180  TH 130  EM 0
722 km/s     Armour 8-38     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/15/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 72.24
Maint Life 2.33 Years     MSP 371    AFR 162%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 93    5YR 1391    Max Repair 95 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Cryogenic Berths 200   

43.2 EP Ion Drive (3)    Power 43.2    Fuel Use 23.59%    Signature 43.2    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 42.4 billion km   (679 days at full power)

Particle Beam-3 (1)    Range 150,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 7-2    ROF 20        3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Twin Gauss Cannon R2-100 Turret (4x6)    Range 20,000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 2    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Long FireCon (1)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Turret FireCon (4)    Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
S1 Fast Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 4.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (1)     GPS 43     Range 2.6m km    Resolution 1
EM Detection Sensor EM2.5-15 (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  15m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Cacle class Light Cruiser    4,700 tons     105 Crew     664.52 BP      TCS 94  TH 86  EM 0
914 km/s     Armour 6-24     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 22.56
Maint Life 2.92 Years     MSP 177    AFR 88%    IFR 1.2%    1YR 31    5YR 460    Max Repair 95 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 5   

43.2 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 43.2    Fuel Use 23.59%    Signature 43.2    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 240,000 Litres    Range 38.9 billion km   (492 days at full power)

Particle Beam-3 (1)    Range 150,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 7-2    ROF 20        3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Twin Gauss Cannon R2-100 Turret (1x6)    Range 20,000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 2    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CIWS-160 (2x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Turret FireCon (1)    Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Long FireCon (1)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
S1 Fast Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 4.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (1)     GPS 35     Range 2.1m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Beam FTR:

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Essex class Carrier    8,000 tons     117 Crew     923.8 BP      TCS 160  TH 312  EM 0
1950 km/s     Armour 5-35     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/24/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.42 Years     MSP 253    AFR 146%    IFR 2%    1YR 59    5YR 889    Max Repair 72 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 158   
Hangar Deck Capacity 3000 tons     

156 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 156    Fuel Use 19.07%    Signature 156    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 510,000 Litres    Range 60.2 billion km   (357 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR4-R1 (1)     GPS 72     Range 4.3m km    Resolution 1
EM Detection Sensor EM4-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

Strike Group
2x Fletcher Fighter   Speed: 3618 km/s    Size: 9.95
2x Spruance Fighter   Speed: 3618 km/s    Size: 9.95
2x Coontz Fighter   Speed: 3600 km/s    Size: 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Spruance class Fighter    498 tons     27 Crew     61.7 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 36  EM 0
3618 km/s     Armour 2-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4
Maint Life 10.45 Years     MSP 19    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 5    Max Repair 9 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months    Spare Berths 3   

18 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 18    Fuel Use 190.97%    Signature 18    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 1.9 billion km   (6 days at full power)

R6/C2 Meson Cannon (1)    Range 60,000km     TS: 3618 km/s     Power 4-2     RM 6    ROF 10        1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Target-Lock FTR (1)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
FTR Fast Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 2.25    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


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Fletcher class Fighter    498 tons     19 Crew     79.7 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 36  EM 0
3618 km/s     Armour 2-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4
Maint Life 7.68 Years     MSP 25    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 11    Max Repair 24 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months    Spare Berths 1   

18 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 18    Fuel Use 190.97%    Signature 18    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 1.9 billion km   (6 days at full power)

R6/C2 High Power Microwave (1)    Range 60,000km     TS: 3618 km/s     Power 4-2     RM 6    ROF 10        1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Target-Lock FTR (1)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
FTR Fast Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 2.25    Armour 0    Exp 5%

MicroScan (1)     GPS 36     Range 550k km    Resolution 15

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


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Coontz class Fighter    500 tons     23 Crew     64.1 BP      TCS 10  TH 36  EM 0
3600 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4.35
Maint Life 8.36 Years     MSP 20    AFR 8%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 8    Max Repair 11 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months    Spare Berths 2   

18 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 18    Fuel Use 190.97%    Signature 18    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 1.9 billion km   (6 days at full power)

Single Fast Meson Turret (1x1)    Range 30,000km     TS: 18000 km/s     Power 3-2     RM 3    ROF 10        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Missile-Lock (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 32,000 km   TS: 18000 km/s     69 37 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FTR Fast Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 2.25    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


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Iowa class Cruiser    5,550 tons     120 Crew     587.8 BP      TCS 111  TH 216  EM 0
1945 km/s     Armour 3-27     Shields 0-0     Sensors 5/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 11.5
Maint Life 2.83 Years     MSP 132    AFR 123%    IFR 1.7%    1YR 24    5YR 361    Max Repair 29 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 72   
Hangar Deck Capacity 1500 tons     

72 EP Ion Drive (3)    Power 72    Fuel Use 17.57%    Signature 72    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres    Range 64.6 billion km   (384 days at full power)

Triple Standard Meson Turret (1x3)    Range 30,000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 9-6     RM 3    ROF 10        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Turret FireCon (1)    Max Range: 32,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     69 37 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR6-R20 (1)     GPS 480     Range 6.4m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH1-5 (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m km

Strike Group
2x Fletcher Fighter   Speed: 3618 km/s    Size: 9.95
1x Spruance Fighter   Speed: 3618 km/s    Size: 9.95

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Conscript Gary on February 09, 2013, 05:57:51 PM

Oh this will be interesting. Team Beam has speed, but they haven't got the range to completely dictate a close-in engagement. On the other hand, using mesons and microwaves completely nullifies the 'tank' aspect of team Gauss. It's gonna be an absolute lightning slugfest.
I think it's all gonna come down to lucky internal hits before the fighters get picked off by the particle beams. It only takes a week for an Essex to cross the gap, if they can win the initial engagement they can blitz and claim the JP. If any of team Gauss survive, though, it is going to be a rough transit.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Nightstar on February 13, 2013, 01:04:16 PM

Looks like the beam fighters should win with heavy losses. The fleets seem kinda inefficient though. For a start, I'd switch the carrier to cheaper commercial drives. No real need for speed on that.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: TheDeadlyShoe on February 13, 2013, 03:04:14 PM

Love the idea.


I would note that doctrine-wise, beam fighters work somewhat better as detachable battlefleet beam mounts (reserved until close range) than they do as distance strike weapons.  Thus Steve's Battlestar doctrine in Crusade

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on February 13, 2013, 10:42:29 PM

Writing Style #1: First Person, multiple perspective.
The Story of Beam Fighters fighting Guass Tanks.

"Well done Helm. Smooth transit. Active scanners as soon as the breakers finish reseting, and bring us under way toward the far gate. Awaken me if you see anything, I'll be below."

==================================================

"All hands stand by for gate transit." Commodore Andrews bellowed from the bridge of Essex 002, and 15 seconds later the Beam Fighter Assault fleet twisted sidewise across space. Andrews fought back the nausea and allowed himself and his crew a few seconds to assure themselves that they were still real before barking out the next command. "Helm designate waypoints 100 mill-klicks north of both jump points. Take us out to the waypoint above us, and then across to the waypoint above them. We don't know what they've brought, but we don't want the carriers walking into it."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eight days latter Commodore Andrews was once more back at the bridge staring accusingly at the scanners. They were empty, and had stayed empty until the fleet had taken up position 100m km out from opposing gate.

"Still nothing on the EM detector?"

"No Sir."

"Nothing we missed in the archives?"

"We just finished the third review. Sir."

"So our enemy has small scanners, small resolutions, or was flying blind." Andrews said, stating the obvious. "Com, notify the fleet. All Fletcher and Spruance fighter to launch. Their crews have one hour to collect any personal effects stored on the carrier. Fighters from Essex 001, 002, and Iowa 001 in one ambush squadron, remainder in squadron two."


The Fletcher class fighter had a crew of 19, plus a spare berth for an officer. That berth was empty, leaving Boatswain Mate Peter Shark the nominal commander of Fletcher 012. He wondered again, as he stared at the handheld compunction tablet duct taped above the tiny engineering compartment's damage report panel, if the empty berth wouldn't make a better office, even if it was little bigger than a man's sleeping bag. No time for that now. "Flight leader, F-12 reporting all systems go, all scanners clean." He commd in when his turn came, verifying that yes, his sensors showed that the space around the entry point was uncontested.


=================================================

Nineteen days after transit the Guass Fleet pulled into position on top of the enemy jump point. They still hadn't seen their foe: but the incoming Cacle had been designed to resist missile fire blind, whereas nothing would survive a gauss chewing.

=================================================

Ten days after arrival the Ambush strike groups split, with Ambush 1 reversing course to meet up again with the carriers. Mr Shark, and the rest of Ambush 2, were tasked with holding their jump point if possible, and promised pickup within three weeks. It was going to be a long three weeks.

=================================================

36 hours before expected gate transit the Commander of the Guass Fleet watched with interest as eleven fighters steadily closed. Oddly, no missiles had been fired, suggesting the incoming were beam armed. "All ships, prime particle beams. I want each ship targeting a different fighter. Fighters with active scanners have target priority. Fire at will."

=================================================

"Andrews speaking. All fighters, time to earn your pay. Close to 50-K, and fire as you will."

"Ambush acknowledged. 300-K and closing… 265… 230… 200… 165… 13-IMPACT! Class-3 impact on F-2, looks like particle beams…"

1.2 billion miles away Ambush Two let out a collection of groans, with a few scattered cheers. In the dark humor of high-stress professionals everywhere they had a scorch pool going: and someone had just one the long-odds. "AGR! We got F2, but Lasers" Shark admitted over the squadron channel. Naming the target let a boat keep their wager, but the pot went to the weapon.

The banter persisted briefly, turning to cheers when the Fletcher 001 scored the first hit for their side, but turned somber when first one, then two fletchers died. The fighters were at sniping range with 22% accuracy: but despite having 50% more weapons firing twice as fast were still trading hits one for one.

"Andrews speaking. Ambush One, close to 35."

The savage cheers were quick to follow, but actions were slower. A third fletcher died before the untried crewmen responded.


Back on the Essex 002, Andrews stared gloomily at the display. The closer range, thankfully, hadn't exposed his fighters to any additional fire: but the move was too little, too late. A fourth fletcher died. Two of the large defenders were clearly suffering damage, and the battle now felt nearly even… except when the last two fletchers fell they would take all active sensor coverage of the jump point with them. Andrew watched as the enemy began to target the Spruance, and watch the armor on the last fletchers ablate as he mentally compared the fletcher survival times against crew reaction times. Two slow breaths, and a new order. "Full retreat. Ambush one, retreat to carriers."

===================================================

The Commander of the Gauss Fleet watched with satisfaction as particle beams shattered the last of the active-scanner microwave fighters 100 thousand km out as the enemy attempted to retreat. Perhaps they could call it a success: his ships had only destroyed one of the cursed meson welders after all. If the fighters returned, the fighters would die: but at the moment a more immediate concern presented itself: damage control. Three of his ships had sustained damage, two of which had lost their long range fire controls and had resorted to targeting the particle beams with the shorter ranged turret controls. The most heavily targeted ship had lost an engine and all gauss turrets. In less than two days enemy reinforcements would be transiting. His ships would need to be ready.

===================================================

Peter Shark stared sightlessly at the sensor display over. He was bored. Bored bored bored bored bored. Officially he was standing watch. Unofficially he was avoiding getting his ass kicked by one of the wet-behind-the-ear spacemen in the latest Unreal Battle Front IX death match tournament that Boatswain Mate of Spruance 006 had dreamed up. He idly eyed the progress of the fleet carriers coming to pick them up. He couldn't wait. If they were left out much longer he'd have moral issues to deal with, Unreal Battle Front or no. Still, he felt like he was forgetting something. Shark was still trying to remember when the active scanner proximity alarm went off.


The Alarms were even louder on the bridge of the Iowa 003, ship of the 1st beam reinforcement wave. Active scanners, and fire controls were off line, but one practically could here the active scanner resonating their hull with even the simplest of passive scanners. There were five ships waiting on the point, and they weren't friendly. Commander Brooks Squash gave thanks to here orders to accelerate out, and cursed the slow response of her crew. The volume of panic and curses grew when fifteen seconds after transit a hail gauss projectiles and an afterthought of particle beams shook the hull. Seconds latter a second volley hit as additional enemy fire crews configured targeting priorities. As components failed Brooks wished for practical countermeasures. A jammer, chaff, decoy… decoys! With a grin of desperation Brooks hastily toggled the fighter auto-combat launcher spilling her three fighters into the void. She was still grinning five seconds latter when a gauss round took out the bridge, and a companion projectile shattered engine containment triggering a secondary explosion that cracked her ship in two.

Spaceman Sandria Mars shook her head, disoriented from the sudden unexpected acceleration that caught her trying to reset circuit beakers in fighter. Her disoration didn't last long. Five seconds after launch a smaller gauss barrage turned the fighter one of its wingman int matching debris.

Captain Kelly Johnson watched with misplaced admiration at the foresight of the late Commander Brook's decision to try to save her fighters, and winced as the last of them died as enemy fire began to fall on his ship as well. The crew were starting to rally, but it would be close. "All Fighters, brace for emergency launch!" his voice went out, even as another hell-wave of fire ablated over half of the Essex's armor. For a half second Brooks hesitated, before launching his remaining fighters. They probably could have been carried 5 seconds longer, but better safe than sorry. It was a wise decision, if futile. The next volley destroyed the Essex 005, and the two after that took out all fighters.

There were no survivors.

================================================
The Gauss commander closed the line praising his crew for their impeccable work "shooting the enemy skeet." He had been a little worried some might escape: yet none did.

"Second, how is our relief?"
"Better. They are off the jump point and under way… but… I don't know if they will make it. A force equal to the fighter swarm was waiting. So far only one has sustained serious damage, but microwaves have already fried every active scanner and fire control the group has. Repeated hits make damage control repairs impossible."

The Gauss commander joined his second by the plotter showing the distant battle. "Order Cacle 4 and 5 to reverse course. I bet the fighters are following Cacle 2. Cacle 5 is too badly damaged to be anything but a decoy, but we can repair Cacle 3 if it escape sensor range."

================================================

Peter Shark floated in the access tube outside of the once empty berth. A small corner of his mind noted that had been a mistake. There wasn't room for both him and the paperwork and monitors need for command. As cramped as the engineering compartment was, at least he was securely strapped in. Not that the larger portion of his mind was minding such trivialities.

"Petty Officer Shark to Ambush Two, retarget all weapon on boogie 0-0-2. Minimum range, Maximum accuracy. Kill'er dead!"
 

Eight days latter Shark found himself in command of the Expanded Ambush Two Assault Group. The four surviving Spruance fighters of the first group were added. With no danger of missiles the eight Coontz mobile turrets had been ordered into formation 10,000 km ahead of the group, while the Essex Carriers loitered 3 mill-klicks off the point to provide uninterrupted sensor coverage.

Again the fighters charged. Again the particle beams answered, seeking out the fletchers for priority as before. Ahead the Coontz wildly maneuvered seeking to maintain position. Sometimes drifting back outside of their own targeting range, sometimes drifting inside the gauss turret range. Sometimes they darted out again. Sometimes the turrets noticed - and killed.

When the fighting stopped every Gauss giant was wrecked.

One Fletcher fighter survived…

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Winner: Beam Fighter.
Gauss Tank Losses: Total loss of initial assault force and 1 reinforcement wave.
Beam FTR Losses: 11 Fletchers, 1 Spruance, 5 Coontz, and an entire reinforcement wave.


 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


Ok, that was Writing Style #1: First Person, multiple perspective. I think I had the muse, but it sure took a lot longer to type out than I had anticipated.

Battle Lesson of the Story: Always have orders to travel somewhere on jump point exit. At best you might have a head start out of a jump ambush. At worst you cancel orders and are in the same place as if you had done a simple transit. All Round 1 battles will feature the same poorly planed standard transit, but starting Round #2 reinforcements will be under orders to immediatly start moving someplace.

Those of you who predicted the Beam Fighters would win with substantial losses called it.
As far as the Essex Carrier Engines, I gave that carrier 25% engines by volume with a fuel efficiency that was 10x better than the fighters. With Eight fleets to design I didn't try to make perfectly optimal designs.

Finally, Random Number Generator says Match #2 will be Fast Rail Frigates vs Missile Fighters.
The loosers of Match 1 and 2 will face off in round 2, as will the winners. In fact, I'm thinking of running the looser/looser winner/winner matches next so I won't have to worry about reposting designs.

Fleet Fast Rail
Main Fleet: 3x Gargoyle, 3x Gryphon, 7x Orc
Reinforcements: 2x Gargoyle, 2x Gryphon, 2x Orc
Tactics: Charge any enemy spotted. Attempt to Kite beam opponents, but close if that proves impossible. Biggest anticipated danger is Missile fights, so Gryphon's included to hunt those down after they fire so they can't reload.

Fleet Missile Fighter
Main Fleet: 4x Mark II Carriers, 2x Spiral Collier, 1x Providance Scout. Carried strike groups total 36 medium (~330 ton) fighters.
Reinforcements: 3x Spiral, 1x Providance.
Tactics: Scout out enemies, then launch long-range fighter-bomber attack runs from stealthy carriers until the enemy dies. Two missiles carried: Lightning anti-fighter missiles, and Blood hounds. The bloodhounds are identical, except they replace agility with more fuel and small active scanners to avoid over saturation or, if necessary, fire and forget solutions against bright signatures.

Fast Rail Ships:

Code: [Select]

Orc class Frigate    4,000 tons     109 Crew     606.4 BP      TCS 80  TH 386  EM 0
4825 km/s     Armour 3-22     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 15
Maint Life 2.2 Years     MSP 142    AFR 85%    IFR 1.2%    1YR 40    5YR 593    Max Repair 96.6 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   

193.2 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 193.2    Fuel Use 73.18%    Signature 193.2    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 510,000 Litres    Range 31.4 billion km   (75 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V3/C3 (3x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4825 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15cm Railgun V3/C3 (1x4)    Range 90,000km     TS: 4825 km/s     Power 9-3     RM 3    ROF 15        3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
Fire-Control Beta (2)    Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4500 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Small Gas Reactor (3)     Total Power Output 13.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Code: [Select]

Gargoyle class Frigate Leader    4,000 tons     89 Crew     633.2 BP      TCS 80  TH 386  EM 0
4825 km/s     Armour 4-22     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/16/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 6
Maint Life 3.18 Years     MSP 198    AFR 64%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 30    5YR 443    Max Repair 96.6 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   

193.2 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 193.2    Fuel Use 73.18%    Signature 193.2    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 660,000 Litres    Range 40.6 billion km   (97 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V3/C3 (2x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4825 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire-Control Beta (1)    Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4500 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Small Gas Reactor (2)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

BattleScanner (1)     GPS 48     Range 3.8m km    Resolution 1
EM Detection Sensor EM2-16 (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Gargoyle also carry the extra fuel needed to support one Gryphon.

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Gryphon class Interceptor    1,000 tons     31 Crew     174.8 BP      TCS 20  TH 130  EM 0
6500 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 5.57 Years     MSP 55    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 3    5YR 45    Max Repair 32.4 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   

64.8 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 64.8    Fuel Use 121.97%    Signature 64.8    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 70,000 Litres    Range 10.3 billion km   (18 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V3/C3 (1x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 6500 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire-Control Theta (1)    Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Small Gas Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 4.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Huntsman (1)     GPS 84     Range 3.0m km    Resolution 5

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Missile Fighter Ships:

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Mark I class Fighter-bomber    323 tons     6 Crew     56.9 BP      TCS 6.45  TH 42  EM 0
6511 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 1.8
Maint Life 18.45 Years     MSP 28    AFR 3%    IFR 0%    1YR 0    5YR 2    Max Repair 14 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months    Spare Berths 4   
Magazine 12   

21 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 21    Fuel Use 320.86%    Signature 21    Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 15,000 Litres    Range 2.6 billion km   (4 days at full power)

Size 4 Box Launcher (3)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
Ftr FireCon (1)     Range 28.9m km    Resolution 70

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


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RM-09 class Fighter-Scout    353 tons     11 Crew     78.7 BP      TCS 7.05  TH 42  EM 0
5957 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 10.08 Years     MSP 35    AFR 3%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 9    Max Repair 42 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months    Spare Berths 4   

21 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 21    Fuel Use 320.86%    Signature 21    Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 15,000 Litres    Range 2.4 billion km   (4 days at full power)

Flying Scanner (1)     GPS 2940     Range 28.1m km    Resolution 70

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


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Mark II class Light Carrier    7,000 tons     97 Crew     785.43 BP      TCS 140  TH 214.5  EM 0
2042 km/s     Armour 2-32     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.17 Years     MSP 210    AFR 130%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 60    5YR 900    Max Repair 62.475 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 68   
Hangar Deck Capacity 3000 tons     Magazine 84   

142.8 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 142.8    Fuel Use 27.22%    Signature 107.1    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 70.8 billion km   (401 days at full power)

S4 Bloodhound (21)  Speed: 22,000 km/s   End: 54.6m    Range: 72m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 80/48/24

Strike Group
2x RM-09 Fighter-Scout   Speed: 5957 km/s    Size: 7.05
7x Mark I Fighter-bomber   Speed: 6511 km/s    Size: 6.45

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Providence class Fleet Scout    5,850 tons     165 Crew     759.07 BP      TCS 117  TH 214.5  EM 0
2444 km/s     Armour 2-28     Shields 0-0     Sensors 96/96/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 16
Maint Life 2.28 Years     MSP 203    AFR 109%    IFR 1.5%    1YR 53    5YR 795    Max Repair 96 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 112   

142.8 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 142.8    Fuel Use 27.22%    Signature 107.1    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres    Range 33.9 billion km   (160 days at full power)

Size 4 Missile Launcher (2)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 120
Size 1 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 30
Fine FireCon (1)     Range 7.2m km    Resolution 1
Emergancy AMM (64)  Speed: 21,000 km/s   End: 1.9m    Range: 2.4m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 105/63/31
S4 Lightning (12)  Speed: 22,000 km/s   End: 25.8m    Range: 34.1m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 102/61/30

Fine Scan (1)     GPS 84     Range 6.7m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH12-96 (1)     Sensitivity 96     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  96m km
EM Detection Sensor EM12-96 (1)     Sensitivity 96     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  96m km

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Spiral class Collier    2,750 tons     43 Crew     325.915 BP      TCS 55  TH 107.25  EM 0
2600 km/s     Armour 3-17     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.88 Years     MSP 74    AFR 60%    IFR 0.8%    1YR 13    5YR 197    Max Repair 62.475 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 252   

142.8 EP Ion Drive (1)    Power 142.8    Fuel Use 27.22%    Signature 107.1    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range 48.1 billion km   (214 days at full power)

S4 Lightning (21)  Speed: 22,000 km/s   End: 25.8m    Range: 34.1m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 102/61/30
S4 Bloodhound (42)  Speed: 22,000 km/s   End: 54.6m    Range: 72m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 80/48/24

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on February 19, 2013, 07:40:27 PM

Writing Style #2: Personal Letter.
The Story of Missile Fighters fighting Fast Railgun Frigates

I, Rear Admiral BlackRock of ShaleCity do hereby offer my resignation from command of the 1st Missile Fighter division of the 2nd Forward Strike Fleet, and do take full responsibility for the crushing defeat and needless loss of life suffered at Alpha Centari. It was entirely the poor tactical planing and inept leadership on my part that lead The Division in a departure from established fleet guidelines, frivolously waste ordinance, and ultimately commit the folly of deliberately seeking close combat. Indeed, it is a credit to discipline and bravery of the men under my command that victory was nearly achieved in spite of my own incompetence for command.

The opening days of Alpha Centari campaign progressed in good order according to fleet plan. Initial fleet transit was made unopposed, and the carriers made swift progress to a center-ground position safely offset from the gate-axis. After two days with no emissions detected on passive arrays to betray the enemy position, two RM-09 scout fighters were detached with orders for each to picket one of the gate objectives. The reconnaissance was an initial success, when the enemy fleet was detected returning to their point of entry. Their high speed of 4825 km/s was of some concern, but no alarm. The four squadrons of fighters under my command were immediately launched for their first engagement.

Our first, and initially only, loss soon followed when the RM-01 was intercepted by two high-speed 1,000 ton fast attack craft, identified as Gryphon. Within 10 seconds of closing range, the RM-01 was destroyed. Overcome with undo caution and paranoia for our irreplaceable fighters, I gave orders for the attack wing to launch only half of their available missiles, holding the remainder in excessive reserve. Further compounding this error, in complete defiance of guided missile doctrine, was my order for each of the two attacking squadrons to target different frigates. Of the 14 salvos launched, 8 salvos were destroyed by point defense fire with half of the remainder missing. The few hits that did occur had no observable effect spread as they were.

The fighters disengaged scanners, began evasive maneuvering, and escaped unopposed. To compensate for the enemy speed, the two spent squadrons were reloaded with Lightning interceptor missiles and vectored in toward the jump point from a slightly different direction. On scanner activation the enemy frigates were found once again waiting predictably on their jump point. In a partial recovery of my prior mistake of insuficent missiles, the entire wave launched. Regrettably, I once again repeated the mistake of spreading missiles across four targets. The mistake was compounded by a failure of oversight to ensure the lightning-armed fighters had their targeting computers programed for the change. Although the crew were quick to correction the launch resulted in two waves staggered 5 seconds apart. Sadly, most of the enemy point defenses had 5-second cycle times causing this mistake to lead to the needless loss of nearly 20 additional missiles to point defense fire.

Again, the fighters successfully withdrew to reload. It was only now, with but a single full fighter reload available that I realized the consequences of the headless and ineffective expenditure of missiles in the early onslaught. Against the observed volume and rate of point defense fire of the enemy, our own incoming resupply wave would have an estimated lifespan of just 50 second should our foes relocate to our own entry point.

To minimize the chance of detection, the fleet relocated to launch fighters from a new direction. This proved fortunate, for when the attack wave approached the jump point they found the enemy out of position. Fearing a trap, a single squadron's missiles were held in reserve while the remaining three launched on each of the three previously damaged Gargoyle's: presumably targets of value given the small numbers. This missile wave was enough to, when added to previous attacks, destroy one Gargoyle and cripple a second.

Further, while the missiles were still in flight the two previously seen Gryphon attempted to jump the fighters, but both were promptly destroyed by the missiles held in reserve.

With insufficient missiles remaining to penetrate the enemy point defense, I devised ruse to hold the enemy attention so that our own reinforcements could enter unopposed. Three fighter squadrons were armed with 5 of the remaining missiles and sent back to the enemy jump point on a ruse that we meant to ambush their own reinforcements, while the main fleet relocated to a covering position close to our entry point. For the following week we pretended we were trying to flank their fleet so as to ambush their jump-blind reinforcements while they pretended try to drive us off. With days left before transit, the ruse collapsed when the rail gun frigates began a charge for our jump gate timed to arrive 24 hours before our own resupply force transited.

At this point, in arrogant desperation for fame, I refused to consider negotiating a conditional surrender while our own losses were minimal but instead devised a desperate gamble to win the battle. The Providence fleet scout, escorted by the 4th squadron of fighters, would close to a point blank range of 100,000 km from which the enemy would have insufficient targeting time to defend against our missiles which would destroy any and all scanner-equiped enemies. The attack was timed to permit our foe insufficient time to repair any survivors. This would allow the resupply ships to transit in safety. It was a lone fools hope. At 300k km the enemy detached two Orc-class ships to intercept us. They entered range, and began firing 10 seconds before our own. A third of the missiles were destroyed unlaunched. Half the remainder self destructed when their fire controls were destroyed in 5 seconds after their launch. In the end, nearly 200 died so that just two additional missiles might make it through the enemy defenses, to minimal effect. Even worse, with less than an hour before transit the enemy would not accept our surrender until after our reinforcements had transited, and been destroyed.

Their blood, is on my hands alone.


 +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +

In all fairness, even if the Missile Fighters hadn't made any mistakes and destroyed every frigate scanner that would just been the first battle. The frigates would have mostly replaced losses with their reinforcements, changed tactics, and eventually won. The fighters might have come out on top if their missiles were deposited into a secret asteroid missile cache, but at this tech level the cost of the colliers to carry the missiles proved a strategic weakness. Maybe they'll do better against the Guass tanks, whom the missile fighters will be fighting next in the losers bracket.

I've decided to finish up the rest of the round-1 matchup before moving on to round-2.

Next match will be Standard Missiles vs Fast Attack Kites.
Ship designs following shortly.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on February 19, 2013, 08:02:18 PM

Coming next: Match #3: Fast Attack Kites vs Standard Missile

Fleet Fast Attack Kites
Main Fleet: 10x Dredlezhdr, 8x Idlev, 4x Jderveledr, 11x Shianzpla
Reinforcement Waves: 2x Dredlexhdr, 3x Idlev, 2x Jderveledr, 3x Shianzpla
Tactics: Soften the enemy up with breacher missiles, then send in the Shianzpla to finish them off.
The S5 Breacher missiles has 1-level of missile armor to help overcome missile defenses.

Standard Missile Fleet
Main Fleet: 3x Nahid, 4x Falaq, 4x Fath
Reinforcments: 1x Nahid, 1x Falaq, 2x Fath
Tactics: This missile fleet is built around using high-speed high-accuracy missiles to maximize missile hits. The only thing subtle are the Fath which are intended to act as blockade runners to get missiles out of an jump ambushes quickly if necessary.


Fast Attack Kite Designs:

Code: [Select]

Shianzpla  class Gunboat    1,000 tons     28 Crew     163.5 BP      TCS 20  TH 81  EM 0
4050 km/s     Armour 2-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4
Maint Life 6.62 Years     MSP 51    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 2    5YR 30    Max Repair 32 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   

16.2 EP Ion Drive (5)    Power 16.2    Fuel Use 167.71%    Signature 16.2    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 120,000 Litres    Range 12.9 billion km   (36 days at full power)

15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 144,000km     TS: 4050 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 3    ROF 10        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
Fire Control S03 72-3000 (1)    Max Range: 144,000 km   TS: 3000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Pebble Bed Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Dredlezhdr class Missile Boat    1,000 tons     16 Crew     152.25 BP      TCS 20  TH 81  EM 0
4050 km/s     Armour 2-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4.95
Maint Life 8.28 Years     MSP 48    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 1    5YR 19    Max Repair 27 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 30   

16.2 EP Ion Drive (5)    Power 16.2    Fuel Use 167.71%    Signature 16.2    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 120,000 Litres    Range 12.9 billion km   (36 days at full power)

Size 5 Missile Launcher (33% Reduction) (3)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 1500
Moose-FireCon (1)     Range 51.0m km    Resolution 110
S5 Breacher (6)  Speed: 21,000 km/s   End: 43.9m    Range: 55.3m km   WH: 4    Size: 5    TH: 77/46/23

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Jderveledr  class Fast Scout    1,000 tons     24 Crew     187.5 BP      TCS 20  TH 81  EM 0
4050 km/s     Armour 2-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/7/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.18 Years     MSP 59    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 5    5YR 81    Max Repair 84 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 3   

16.2 EP Ion Drive (5)    Power 16.2    Fuel Use 167.71%    Signature 16.2    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 110,000 Litres    Range 11.8 billion km   (33 days at full power)

Scry Beam (1)     GPS 9240     Range 52.9m km    Resolution 110
EM Detection Sensor EM1.2-7.2 (1)     Sensitivity 7.2     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.2m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Idlev  class Replenishment Ship    2,000 tons     26 Crew     287.22 BP      TCS 40  TH 122  EM 0
3050 km/s     Armour 2-14     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/7/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 9.19 Years     MSP 90    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 2    5YR 29    Max Repair 17.34 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 60   

40.8 EP Ion Drive (3)    Power 40.8    Fuel Use 51.16%    Signature 40.8    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 131.9 billion km   (500 days at full power)

S5 Breacher (12)  Speed: 21,000 km/s   End: 43.9m    Range: 55.3m km   WH: 4    Size: 5    TH: 77/46/23

EM Detection Sensor EM1.2-7.2 (1)     Sensitivity 7.2     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.2m km
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Missile Fleet Designs:

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Falaq class Missile Destroyer    5,000 tons     145 Crew     691.5 BP      TCS 100  TH 252  EM 0
2520 km/s     Armour 2-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 24
Maint Life 2.55 Years     MSP 173    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 37    5YR 560    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 120   

126 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 126    Fuel Use 37.7%    Signature 126    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 320,000 Litres    Range 30.6 billion km   (140 days at full power)

S4 Missile Launcher (6)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
ASM Guidance (2)     Range 83.7m km    Resolution 80
SuckerPunch ASM (30)  Speed: 26,400 km/s   End: 50.7m    Range: 80.3m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 140/84/42

Ship Search (1)     GPS 9600     Range 85.9m km    Resolution 80

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Nahid class Destroyer Escort    5,000 tons     137 Crew     672.5 BP      TCS 100  TH 252  EM 0
2520 km/s     Armour 2-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 20
Maint Life 2.6 Years     MSP 168    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 35    5YR 526    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 180   

126 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 126    Fuel Use 37.7%    Signature 126    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres    Range 33.4 billion km   (153 days at full power)

S4 Missile Launcher (2)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
S1 Missile Launcher (12)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
AMM Guidance (2)     Range 9.4m km    Resolution 1
BuzzKill AMM (156)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   End: 3.6m    Range: 5.2m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 200/120/60
SuckerPunch ASM (6)  Speed: 26,400 km/s   End: 50.7m    Range: 80.3m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 140/84/42

Missile Search (1)     GPS 120     Range 9.6m km    Resolution 1

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Code: [Select]

Fath class Collier    2,950 tons     49 Crew     271 BP      TCS 59  TH 252  EM 0
4271 km/s     Armour 2-18     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.11 Years     MSP 57    AFR 69%    IFR 1%    1YR 17    5YR 256    Max Repair 47.25 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 3   
Magazine 304   

126 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 126    Fuel Use 37.7%    Signature 126    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 8.1 billion km   (21 days at full power)

BuzzKill AMM (136)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   End: 3.6m    Range: 5.2m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 200/120/60
SuckerPunch ASM (42)  Speed: 26,400 km/s   End: 50.7m    Range: 80.3m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 140/84/42

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Nightstar on February 20, 2013, 01:46:28 PM

Goes to show that tactics are pretty important. The numbers don't seem to be coming out quite right though. Your AAR shows ~2.8 volleys of missiles, while your designs should hold 3.5. Did you remember to preload your figbees? The listed design has no assigned missiles. Also shows the main problem of specialization.

You may also want to take advantage of your own rules: "An Fighter/Ordiance/Ship construction tech purchased gives a proportional discount on construction cost." Base shipbuilding rate is 400. 5k RP gives you 40% more ship to work with!

Love reading these by the way.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on February 20, 2013, 06:20:33 PM

Whoops. I thought the base shipbuilding rate was 500 for just a 12% bump... if I revise to the lower base construction cost I'll have to award the three fleets that did take that tech (Fast Attack Kite, Standard Missile, Fast Rail) extra ships starting round 2. Up to 25% more ships depending on missile costs... I... I might have to nerf that rule.

As for the Missile Fighters, I deliberately didn't pre-load missiles on them to make the carrier cost calculations easier. That way one glance at the Ordinance/Fighter tab was all I needed. Of the 6,000 bp available for their opening attack group the Missile Fighter Fleet spent 5941 bp. Dividing the remainder by the 28 fighters, add the missile discount... and we have 1.8 preloaded missiles per fighter.
Sure, why not. I'll round down and give the missile fleet 1 extra preloaded missile on every fighter in their future matches. Who knows? Maybe the extra 28 missiles will make a difference.


And finally, thank you for reading.  8)

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: dgibso29 on February 20, 2013, 09:11:32 PM

Fantastic read, very much looking forward to further installments!

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on February 24, 2013, 03:33:21 PM

Writing Style #3: Radio-anouncer type Narrator
The Story of Fast Missile Fleet fighting Fast Attack Craft

===========================================
[May 1, 2025: Transit into Alpha Centauri Arena]
Fast Missile: Set Speed to 2,000 km/s.
Fast Attack split scouts into scatter-shot spread pattern.

[May 4, 2025]
SM realizes that fleets managed to fly past each other on 8-hour auto turns with sensors active without either seeing the other. Positions reset, and relations set to 'hostile'

[May 5, 2025: Auto-turn interrupt]
Contact! Success! -No, false alarm. Just Industry-cycle inactive research lab alert.

[May 6: 16:21]
Contact! For real this time. Team FACQ spots Fast missile active scanners at 64m km. Allow for +1 EM sensitivity over reported range indicates missile boats will be invisible as long as they stay 8m km or more distant. Life looks good for the fast attack craft.

Main battle fleet closes to 45m km for missile launch.
Support fleet hangs back at 90m km for safety.

[May 6: 19:00]
Problem. The Res-110 scanners are unable to detect the enemy at 45m km. Main fleet ordered to close to 36m km.

Fast Missile fleet still blissfully unaware.

[May 6: 19:06]
Enemy fleet finally scanned on actives. Cross section 100. Estimated Maximum range: 43.6m km. 36m should still be safe enough.

[May 6: 20:11]
Dredlezhdr missile boats launch first volley on Falaq 005/004. 10 salvos of 3 Breachers inbound.

[May 6: 20:36]
Missile boats launch second volley, this time on Nahid 002.

[May 6: 20:37]
Fast missile fleet finally realizes they are under attack when missiles appear on Res-1 scanner. The anti missile launchers, configured to fire 3:1, begin launching immediately. Enemy fighters are suspected.

25 seconds latter and every volley has been allocated the proper number of antimissiles just as the first 36 AMM strike home. 9 interceptions are made, but only 5 missiles are destroyed. Launchers immediately begin launching fresh missiles.

The next wave does worse. 9 hits, 3 destroyed missiles, and one point of overkill.

In the end, 159 anti missiles were launched, destroying 22 incoming armored breacher missiles, but allowing 8 leakers that all hit. The 7:1 Anti-missile/missile ratio required does not bode well for the defenders. The Falaq targeted suffers armor breach and looses an engine, but little else.

The Nahid reload from the Fath colliers.

[May 6: 21:03]
2nd wave of breach missiles appears. This time the fast missile fleet reverses course to maximize engagement time.

Correction: Attempts to reverse course. The fleet is still awaiting acknowledgment when impact occurs. 162 anti missiles launched, 25 missiles destroyed. Only two points of damage penetrate armor, but are absorbed without component loss.

FACQ missile boats return to colliers to reload for a second attack run. The plan is to launch two sets of two missile volleys to soften the defenders up, and then try a nine gunboat attack run: saving two gunboats in reserve to picket the enemy jump point if the attack run ends… badly.

[May 7 08:07]
Missile boats finish rearming, refueling, and return to rejoin to the front lines. By this time the injured Falaq finishes repairing the damaged ion engine, but decides to hold of repairing the expensive, yet frail, ASM targeting system that was the only other component destroyed.

The first volley launched is split 50/50 between the two ships damaged in the first attack run. The Second volley is programed to target the Falaq 004(003).

[May 7 08:32]
Missiles impact strike group.
The 159 BuzzKill AMMs launched take out 19 incoming armored missiles allowing 11 hits to leak through. The two targets suffer moderate internal damage, but neither loose speed.

[May 7 08:33]
Next wave of Breacher ASMs is launched. The launch had been purposeful delay to view the outcome of the first, and after much arm waving and shouting the captains agreed that 4 intact ships and 3 cripples would, probably, be better for the beams than 5 intact ships and 2 kills.

[May 7 09:05]
Missile Impact!
156 BuzzKill AMMs launched, taking out 18 incoming missiles leaving 12 leakers. The targeted Falaq suffers moderate internal damage.

This time, only a partial reload of AMMs from the Colliers is possible. However, with over 400 AMM remaining in magazines the FACs will run out of breacher missiles before the fast missile fleet runs out of BuzzKills. It's a good thing for the incoming gunboats that the use of AMMs offensively in this arena is prohibited.

[May 7 10:21]
Contact! The missile fleet finally sees some of their attackers when the Gunboats cross into the missile scanner's range. Perhaps a third of the earlier missile damage has now been repaired.

[May 7 10:26]
Nahid reconnect the anti-missile fire controls and launch an exploratory wave of 5 SuckerPunch ASM at the incoming FAC.

[May 7 10:30]
Seeing no evidence of point defense, the Nahid begin to fire at will rather than waiting for the heavier salvoed Falaqs.

[May 7 10:36]
Three of the gunboats have been savagely injured, but at least their attacker appears to have run out of ammunition. There is some talk about the virtues of turning back.

The Falaq also choose this time to open fire themselves.

[May 7 10:38]
First Falaq launched salvo impacts. 22 detonations. Again, by cruel fate, the single engineering compartment is almost universally one of the first components destroyed making even the possibility of repair impossible. With only two combat-capable FAC still flying, the attack group survivors decides to attempt a strategic withdraw.

[May 7 10:42]
Panicked fleeing proves impossible, as the last attacking gunboat is destroyed. With 80% of the Falaq ASM magazines exhausted it is possible that a rush of twice as many gunboats may have made it through, but as it is the destroys simply reload from the waiting colliers as they advance onward.

[May 7 23:54]
Missile boats return to the front line for the 3rd time, carrying the last of the breacher ASMs. There is no more talk of softening the enemy up. Missiles are spread across the three previously damaged enemy ships, with hopes for a kill.

[May 8 00:20]
21 Breacher impacts. Only 9 were destroyed. A frantic review for the ineffectiveness of the AMM fire reviles that half of the AMM fire controls were still disconnected from the AMM launcher and instead tied to the onboard ASM launchers. Opps.

No ships were destroyed, although there may not be enough maintenance supplies to completely repair everything.

The Missile boats launch their last six breacher split 3/3 between the the two original targets as six salvoes of 1.

[May 8 00:49]
3 breachers leak through to impact.
The Nahid 001 is now half mobile, but with both fire controls offline combat ineffective. 190 maintenance supplies required to repair engines, engineering, and one fire control.
Falaq 003 suffered worst in the poorly defended volley. Immobile, blind, and weaponless the ship is written off as not combat salvageable. What fuel, maintenance supplies, and ordinance that remain are off-loaded, and the ship abandoned.
Falaq 004 is also combat ineffective, but 170 MSP to repair the damaged engine and one of the fire controls will make it battle capable again.

[May 8 22:09]
Fast Missile Fleet basic repairs completed. Perhaps 250 MSP remain. The fleet reintegrates, and resumes forward motion toward the enemy jump gate.

The FAC fleet tries to kill the missile dudes by glaring daggers. There was no effect. Someone in the coalition suggested having the Idlev resupply ships make a dummy attack run to try and deplete the enemy ASMs. The Idlev captains were unanimous in their vote of opposition.

[May 8 23:09]
Fate notices that the Fath Collier does not compile with Arena rules. Retroactive changes are immediately implemented. Matching the MSP proves hardest.

[May 9 02:11]
Fast Missile fleet finishes basic reapers and abandons the Falaq 003.

[May 10 06:11]
Two surviving Shianzpla take up picket position on Sol Jump point.

[May 12 23:56]
The Fast Missile Fleet takes up position 3 million km off of the Ross Jump point. They are somewhat annoyed at being unable to see their missile attacker, and are determined to destroy the reinforcements before those can disappear into the depths of space too.

[June 1 00:56]
Reinforcements arrive.
The Fast Attack reinforcements make a run to rejoin the replenishment ships. The task group is instructed to "stick together for their own protection," but the cold intent is for them to soak up enemy missiles.

Significant tactical mistake. Shianzpla took up position with Jdervelerdr 10m km off of the jump point instead of on the jump point. It will be a race to see if the Shianzpla can close before the missile reinforcement jump blindness wears off.

[June 1 00:57]
Fast attack force cancels orders for Sol picket force to close. With an estimated 41 minutes to complete orders they are unlikely to close before jump blindness ends. A pointless charge would be just that: pointless. Still, valuable intelligence was gained about the existence of the Fath collier.

[June 1 01:07]
The Falaq of the Fast Missile Fleet fire the last of their Sucker Punch missiles, and begin reloading from the coilers. Reloading will take a few minutes, but the fleeing Fast Attack reinforcements have all been at least slowed to below Fleet Speed by damage.

[June 1 01:29]
Last of the Fast Attack Reinforcements is destroyed.
~ 120 ASM missiles were required, and exactly 120 new ASM missiles were delivered by the reinforcement wave. This is sustainable.

[June 6 13:59]
Reinforcement wave rejoins Missile Fleet. Additional repair work begins.

[June 7 7:59]
All fire controls and missile launchers of the Fast Missile Fleet have been repaired.
The fleet splits in two: with each sub fleet containing 2x Nahid, 2x Falaq, and 3x Fath. The fleet with the empty Falth coilers is sent back to secure the Sol Jump Point.

[June 12 21:59]
Lacking the power to control either jump point, the Fast Attack Kite Force surrenders. The blotched jump point defense pretty much doomed them.

==================================

Winner:
Standard Missile Fleet
Missile Fleet Losses: 1x Falaq
Fast Attack Losses: 1x reinforcement wave, 9x Shianzpla

The fast attack fleet felt promising, but their tactics may need work.

I'm going to continue with my original shipbuilding assumption of a 500 BP base construction rate as far as the ship construction tech discount goes. Someday, if I run the Arena again with higher-tech fleets, I'll modify that rule to be a discount of 1/2 the proportional discount, or about 20% more construction. That will be a bump up from 16% tech bonus used for this series, down from the 40% bonus that would have followed if using the same discount formula for fighter and ordinance construction.

Next match will be Long Range Missiles vs Shields
Ship designs following shortly.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on February 24, 2013, 03:55:06 PM

Fleet Long Missiles
Main Fleet: 2x Wooden, 3x Skadi, 1x Grendel
Reinforcement Waves: 1x Wooden, 2x Grendel
Tactics: Launch missiles early. Kill as many as possible while they have no hope of returning fire.

Shielded Fleet:
Main Fleet: 3x Zambia, 3x Turkmenistan
Reinforcments: 1x Zambia, 1x Turkmenistan
Tactics: Close to missile range. Try not to use reduced size point defense lasers offensively unless absolutely necessary.

About the name change: 'Shielded Fleet' is easier to say than the originally posted 'Reduced Size Missile Fleet with Beam PD,' and there is no chance of confusion since this is the only fleet to use shields at all where as 'reduced size' was a typo off 'tiny size-3 missiles.'

Before anyone asks, the shielded fleet kind of miscalculated and failed to save enough research points for component designs. If they did this again they would have bought one or two fewer theoretical techs in-order to research better engine and sensor components.


Ships of the Long Missile Fleet:

Code: [Select]

Woden class Cruiser    6,100 tons     188 Crew     1326.04 BP      TCS 122  TH 245  EM 0
2008 km/s     Armour 1-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 27.5
Maint Life 2.39 Years     MSP 408    AFR 99%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 98    5YR 1463    Max Repair 315 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 4    
Magazine 115    

81.6 EP Ion Drive (3)    Power 81.6    Fuel Use 42.9%    Signature 81.6    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 450,000 Litres    Range 30.9 billion km   (178 days at full power)

Size 3 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 3    Rate of Fire 45
Size 5 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (5)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 375
LongLock (1)     Range 329.2m km    Resolution 100
Short Lock (1)     Range 73.6m km    Resolution 5
S3 ShortStop (5)  Speed: 19,200 km/s   End: 74.5m    Range: 85.9m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 89/53/26
S5 LongShot (20)  Speed: 17,700 km/s   End: 284.9m    Range: 302.6m km   WH: 6    Size: 5    TH: 76/46/23

LongScan (1)     GPS 31500     Range 346.5m km    Resolution 100
Short Scan (1)     GPS 1575     Range 77.5m km    Resolution 5

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Code: [Select]

Skadi class Cruiser    6,100 tons     167 Crew     909.54 BP      TCS 122  TH 245  EM 0
2008 km/s     Armour 1-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 40
Maint Life 2.73 Years     MSP 186    AFR 148%    IFR 2.1%    1YR 36    5YR 537    Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0    
Magazine 350    

81.6 EP Ion Drive (3)    Power 81.6    Fuel Use 42.9%    Signature 81.6    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 450,000 Litres    Range 30.9 billion km   (178 days at full power)

Size 3 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 3    Rate of Fire 45
Size 5 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (10)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 375
LongLock (2)     Range 329.2m km    Resolution 100
Short Lock (1)     Range 73.6m km    Resolution 5
S3 ShortStop (50)  Speed: 19,200 km/s   End: 74.5m    Range: 85.9m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 89/53/26
S5 LongShot (40)  Speed: 17,700 km/s   End: 284.9m    Range: 302.6m km   WH: 6    Size: 5    TH: 76/46/23

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Code: [Select]

Grendel class Collier    2,200 tons     40 Crew     245.36 BP      TCS 44  TH 163  EM 0
3704 km/s     Armour 1-15     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.93 Years     MSP 70    AFR 38%    IFR 0.5%    1YR 5    5YR 72    Max Repair 34.68 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1    
Magazine 270    

81.6 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 81.6    Fuel Use 42.9%    Signature 81.6    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 170,000 Litres    Range 32.4 billion km   (101 days at full power)

S3 ShortStop (20)  Speed: 19,200 km/s   End: 74.5m    Range: 85.9m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 89/53/26
S5 LongShot (40)  Speed: 17,700 km/s   End: 284.9m    Range: 302.6m km   WH: 6    Size: 5    TH: 76/46/23

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Ships of the Shielded Fleet

Code: [Select]

Zambia class Destroyer Escort    7,450 tons     168 Crew     996.06 BP      TCS 149  TH 367  EM 1260
2463 km/s     Armour 2-33     Shields 42-300     Sensors 1/12/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 32.88
Maint Life 2.31 Years     MSP 167    AFR 222%    IFR 3.1%    1YR 42    5YR 637    Max Repair 48 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2    

61.2 EP Ion Drive (6)    Power 61.2    Fuel Use 56.35%    Signature 61.2    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 1,060,000 Litres    Range 45.4 billion km   (213 days at full power)
Delta R300/540 Shields (17)   Total Fuel Cost  383 Litres per hour  (9,180 per day)

Triple Slow Turret (4x3)    Range 60,000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 9-2     RM 2    ROF 25        3 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Missile Track (2)    Max Range: 32,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     69 37 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fighter Track (1)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Reactor (2)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (1)     GPS 48     Range 2.9m km    Resolution 1
EM Detection Sensor EM2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Code: [Select]

Turkmenistan class Missile Destroyer    7,000 tons     173 Crew     965.06 BP      TCS 140  TH 367  EM 1260
2621 km/s     Armour 2-32     Shields 42-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 30
Maint Life 2.86 Years     MSP 172    AFR 196%    IFR 2.7%    1YR 31    5YR 463    Max Repair 48 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0    
Magazine 120    

61.2 EP Ion Drive (6)    Power 61.2    Fuel Use 56.35%    Signature 61.2    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 1,060,000 Litres    Range 48.4 billion km   (213 days at full power)
Delta R300/540 Shields (17)   Total Fuel Cost  383 Litres per hour  (9,180 per day)

Size 3 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 3    Rate of Fire 45
Emergancy-FireCon (1)     Range 3.4m km    Resolution 10
Missile Fire Control FC33-R125 (2)     Range 33.8m km    Resolution 125
S3 HailStone (40)  Speed: 16,800 km/s   End: 35.9m    Range: 36.2m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 61/37/18

Active Search Sensor MR32-R125 (1)     GPS 6000     Range 32.2m km    Resolution 125

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Finally, here is the new Fath design for the Fast Missile Fleet now in compliance of arena rules.

Code: [Select]

Fath class Collier    2,900 tons     45 Crew     271.56 BP      TCS 58  TH 202  EM 0
3482 km/s     Armour 2-18     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.86 Years     MSP 59    AFR 67%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 11    5YR 158    Max Repair 35.28 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1    
Magazine 304    

100.8 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 100.8    Fuel Use 32.47%    Signature 100.8    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 160,000 Litres    Range 30.6 billion km   (101 days at full power)

BuzzKill AMM (136)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   End: 3.6m    Range: 5.2m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 200/120/60
SuckerPunch ASM (42)  Speed: 26,400 km/s   End: 50.7m    Range: 80.3m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 140/84/42

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Nightstar on February 24, 2013, 06:04:59 PM

Well, now that all your designs are out, I might as well post the ones I made when I saw the thread.

Rule abuse fleet:
~75 Figbees
Enough colliers for a reload
Enough tankers for the range reqs
4x Hi!
3x NUSMNUD
Using 12 BP fighter tech. (can't remember exact numbers) (never decided what would make good reinforcements)

Tactics:
Four battle groups, one Hi! for each: three detached NUSMNUDs, and the main figbee group. Tankers/colliers detach and run somewhere. Two NUSMNUDs are main scouts. Only one has sensors active at a time. (Now U See Me) After enough time has passed for self targeting missiles/fighters to possibly get near, that one drops sensors and random-walks to evade just after the other raises sensors. (Now U Don't) Third NUSMNUD is a spare. Main figbee group stays invisible and launches missiles. Target anything dangerous first, like really fast ships and long range sensors, then AMM sensors if spotted. Keep the autotargets in magazine for emergencies, like fighters out of nowhere.

Looking over it, I totally forgot to give the autotarget missiles more range than regular missiles. Their sensors are oversized anyway, so I could triple their range and make them cheaper. I just didn't do it. >_<

Comments: Despite the decade long maint life, fighters can't be maintained/overhauled without a hanger, which probably goes against the spirit of the rules, especially as I didn't even research that tech. Though generally speaking, I bet anything you build at this tech would be obsolete within a decade anyway. Half cost fighters/missiles isn't really fair. I assume it's to compensate for the costs of retooling and building SYs, but it's excessive. More fair might be a larger BP pool, but 1x cost of the ship for every non-fighter ship design.

Code: [Select]

Ammo Dump class Collier    498 tons     10 Crew     63.1 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 24  EM 0
2412 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 11.64 Years     MSP 20    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 4    Max Repair 8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 96   

12 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 12    Fuel Use 89.1%    Signature 12    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 30,000 Litres    Range 12.2 billion km   (58 days at full power)

Size 4 Anti-ship Missile (20)  Speed: 18,000 km/s   End: 63.5m    Range: 68.6m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 60/36/18
Size 4 Autotarget Missile (4)  Speed: 18,000 km/s   End: 63.5m    Range: 68.6m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 60/36/18

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


Code: [Select]

Figbee class Fighter-bomber    498 tons     12 Crew     81.1 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 48  EM 0
4824 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 2
Maint Life 11.06 Years     MSP 25    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 6    Max Repair 21 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 20   

12 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 12    Fuel Use 89.1%    Signature 12    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 25,000 Litres    Range 10.2 billion km   (24 days at full power)

Size 4 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (1)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 300
Missile Fire Control FC69-R100 (1)     Range 69.3m km    Resolution 100
Size 4 Anti-ship Missile (4)  Speed: 18,000 km/s   End: 63.5m    Range: 68.6m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 60/36/18
Size 4 Autotarget Missile (1)  Speed: 18,000 km/s   End: 63.5m    Range: 68.6m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 60/36/18

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]

Hi! class Fighter-Scout    498 tons     12 Crew     98.1 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 48  EM 0
4824 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/22/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 9.84 Years     MSP 31    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 9    Max Repair 22 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   

12 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 12    Fuel Use 89.1%    Signature 12    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 75,000 Litres    Range 30.5 billion km   (73 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR7-R10 (1)     GPS 210     Range 7.3m km    Resolution 10
EM Detection Sensor EM2-22 (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]

NUSMSUD class Scout    1,000 tons     25 Crew     222.8 BP      TCS 20  TH 96  EM 0
4800 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 8.29 Years     MSP 139    AFR 8%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 4    5YR 54    Max Repair 126 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   

12 EP Ion Drive (8)    Power 12    Fuel Use 89.1%    Signature 12    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 20.2 billion km   (48 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR138-R100 (1)     GPS 12600     Range 138.6m km    Resolution 100

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Code: [Select]

T1 Autofuel class Tanker    498 tons     4 Crew     94.1 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 24  EM 0
2412 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 29.23 Years     MSP 30    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 1    Max Repair 8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   

12 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 12    Fuel Use 89.1%    Signature 12    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 340,000 Litres    Range 138.1 billion km   (662 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

Detailed analysis of the different types of fleet to come.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on February 24, 2013, 09:23:32 PM

Quote from: Nightstar on February 24, 2013, 06:04:59 PM

Comments: Despite the decade long maint life, fighters can't be maintained/overhauled without a hanger, which probably goes against the spirit of the rules, especially as I didn't even research that tech. Though generally speaking, I bet anything you build at this tech would be obsolete within a decade anyway. Half cost fighters/missiles isn't really fair. I assume it's to compensate for the costs of retooling and building SYs, but it's excessive. More fair might be a larger BP pool, but 1x cost of the ship for every non-fighter ship design.

...

Detailed analysis of the different types of fleet to come.

The general spirit of the rules was that the limiting factors for construction was half minerals, half time. Or, full cost for the most expensive fleet component, half cost for everything else assuming parallel construction. My pricing could use work, but I figured it was quick, easy, and good enough for this arena.

Still, quite the interesting take on fleet design! I'm curiously awaiting your fleet analysis.  8)

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Nightstar on February 25, 2013, 12:01:24 PM

First I'll go with the one that stuck out at me:

Code: [Select]

Beam fighters:   
Missile defense: point defense
Beam defense:    None really :/
Offense:         LOTS
Range:           Short beam
Speed:           medium
Mmk. Now for the discussion. The first question I ask when building fleets is: How will my fleet survive missiles? Beam fighters are limited in this regard. Armor isn't generally an option. Shields would be laughable. Missiles are out by definition. What's left? Gauss turrets, laser/meson turrets, and railguns. I have a general dislike for turrets on carried fighters. If you use those, what's the point of using fighters? Most of my beam fighter designs get stuck with railguns by default.

On to your specific design, we have another question: What are the meson fighters for? Mostly, it seems they're for mop up after the HPMs knock out all fire controls. They take far longer to cripple a ship than the HPMs do, even in larger numbers. After the HPMs die, you have serious troubles targeting anyway, so the rest of the squad would be better off as support. Personally, I'd have switched out the spruances for more fletchers and coontzs as BP allows.

On the positive side:
While not so good in open combat, a relatively small part of the fleet makes for powerful JP defense. That was actually demonstrated pretty well In fact, it's not that bad a fleet for JP offense either. The main expense of the fleet is relatively safe  -- the carriers can hang back. Most of my comments assume a solo role. With support from a larger fleet, meson fighters can be good support. They can kill stuff trying to kite, and the JP roles.

Against the other fleets:
> Fast Rail Frigates.
They'll get kited and die. These fighters are kinda slow.
> Gauss Turreted Tanks
The only fleet this can actually beat.
> Missile Fighters
Missile smackdown.
> Very Long Ranged Missile
Missile smackdown.
> Classic Missile Fleet
Missile smackdown. Though, because they're not allowed to use their AMMs, it'll be closer than most of the rest.
> Reduced Size Missile Fleet with Beam PD
Missile smackdown.
> Fast Attack Kiting Craft
Missile smackdown. Or kiting. Take your pick.

What I would have built:

Main fleet:
1x Carrier scouts
2x Carrier EM
3x Carrier
48 heavy figs.

Reinforcements:
1x Carrier
1x Carrier EM?

In this case, I consider carriers to just be shells for the real power of the fleet. They're built as such.

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Carrier class Carrier    6,350 tons     90 Crew     590.1 BP      TCS 127  TH 150  EM 0
1181 km/s     Armour 1-30     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
Maint Life 5 Years     MSP 145    AFR 129%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 10    5YR 145    Max Repair 37.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 10 months    Flight Crew Berths 42   
Hangar Deck Capacity 4000 tons     

150 EP Commercial Ion Drive (1)    Power 150    Fuel Use 13.26%    Signature 150    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 32.1 billion km   (314 days at full power)

Strike Group
4x Fig Fighter   Speed: 12060 km/s    Size: 9.95
4x Fig HPM Fighter   Speed: 12060 km/s    Size: 9.95

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Code: [Select]

Carrier EM class Carrier    6,600 tons     100 Crew     619.7 BP      TCS 132  TH 150  EM 0
1136 km/s     Armour 1-31     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/25/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.47 Years     MSP 147    AFR 139%    IFR 1.9%    1YR 33    5YR 501    Max Repair 37.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 10 months    Flight Crew Berths 41   
Hangar Deck Capacity 4000 tons     

150 EP Commercial Ion Drive (1)    Power 150    Fuel Use 13.26%    Signature 150    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 30.8 billion km   (314 days at full power)

EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1)     Sensitivity 25     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  25m km
Strike Group
8x Fig Fighter   Speed: 12060 km/s    Size: 9.95

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

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Carrier Scouts class Carrier    6,300 tons     90 Crew     586.1 BP      TCS 126  TH 150  EM 0
1190 km/s     Armour 1-30     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.99 Years     MSP 145    AFR 127%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 10    5YR 145    Max Repair 37.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 10 months    Flight Crew Berths 33   
Hangar Deck Capacity 4000 tons     

150 EP Commercial Ion Drive (1)    Power 150    Fuel Use 13.26%    Signature 150    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 32.3 billion km   (314 days at full power)

Strike Group
3x Fig EM Fighter-Scout   Speed: 12565 km/s    Size: 9.55
1x Fig Scout Fighter-Scout   Speed: 12565 km/s    Size: 9.55
2x Fig Fighter   Speed: 12060 km/s    Size: 9.95
2x Fig HPM Fighter   Speed: 12060 km/s    Size: 9.95

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Fig class Fighter    498 tons     5 Crew     94.9 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 120  EM 0
12060 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 12.2 Years     MSP 30    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 6    Max Repair 15 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 5   

30 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 30    Fuel Use 978.33%    Signature 30    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 0.7 billion km   (17 hours at full power)

10cm Railgun V1/C3 (1x4)    Range 10,000km     TS: 12060 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 1    ROF 5        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S00.5 16-3000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 32,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     69 37 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (7)     Total Power Output 3.15    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1)     GPS 1     Range 50k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

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Fig HPM class Fighter    498 tons     5 Crew     109.9 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 120  EM 0
12060 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 10.78 Years     MSP 35    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 8    Max Repair 20 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 5   

30 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 30    Fuel Use 978.33%    Signature 30    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 0.7 billion km   (17 hours at full power)

R3/C3 High Power Microwave (1)    Range 30,000km     TS: 12060 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S00.5 32-1500 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (7)     Total Power Output 3.15    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1)     GPS 1     Range 50k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


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Fig EM class Fighter-Scout    478 tons     3 Crew     95.3 BP      TCS 9.55  TH 120  EM 0
12565 km/s     Armour 2-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/15/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 8.95 Years     MSP 31    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 10    Max Repair 15 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 7   

30 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 30    Fuel Use 978.33%    Signature 30    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 0.8 billion km   (17 hours at full power)

EM Detection Sensor EM3-15 (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  15m km
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


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Fig Scout class Fighter-Scout    478 tons     3 Crew     110.3 BP      TCS 9.55  TH 120  EM 0
12565 km/s     Armour 2-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 8.02 Years     MSP 36    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 15    Max Repair 30 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 7   

30 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 30    Fuel Use 978.33%    Signature 30    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 0.8 billion km   (17 hours at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR1-R1 (1)     GPS 30     Range 1.5m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

...

You know...

After writing all that out, I finally realized that you intend to sacrifice your carriers in order to empty the opponent's missile stocks. That is potentially an incredible tactic. It's just so expensive I didn't consider it at first. This fleet may have a sporting chance against some missile fleets!

Looks like I need to redo this analysis. >_<

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: SteelChicken on February 25, 2013, 01:34:20 PM

This is a great thread, thanks!

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Nightstar on February 25, 2013, 03:10:22 PM

Mmk. Redo time:

Code: [Select]

Beam fighters:   
Missile defense: point defense, carrier sacrifice
Beam defense:    None really :/
Offense:         LOTS
Range:           Short beam
Speed:           medium
On your specific design, I still might switch out the spruances.

The fighter's long range and deployment time make a lot more sense when the carriers' main purpose is decoy.

Note: If the carriers aren't fast enough to come in range, the enemy only needs to kill the microscan equipped fighters to become practically unkillable.

Revised analysis against the other fleets:
> Fast Rail Frigates.
They'll still get kited and die. These fighters are kinda slow.
> Gauss Turreted Tanks
Known win.
> Missile Fighters
These can cripple or destroy most of the carriers. Then they run out of ammo. Results largely depend on how much ammo the missile fighters save. The inability to use AMMs to shoot down fighters is a problem here. All in all, this is one of those beautiful fights that depend on tactical ability.
> Very Long Ranged Missile
Ineterestingly, the long range missiles again just fail to kill the carriers entirely. This fleet has better luck in that it'll likely spot the fighters before opening fire with the smaller missiles. More fun, while the smaller missiles can probably cripple all the fighters, there may not be quite enough left to finish the carriers. If a carrier can repair itself and a couple fighters, (or you just keep one of each fighter in reserve) the long range missile fleet may end up destroyed by a pair of mesons. Disadvantages of having no beam weaponry!
> Classic Missile Fleet
Yet again, they run out of missiles. Since they can't use their giant stocks of AMMs on fighters, their only chance is a commander that saves enough ASMs. More tactical fun.
> Shielded Fleet
This can do damage after it runs out of missiles! Better, its shields stop HPMs. By my calcs, this can beat the beam fighters without any missiles, though it may be fairly close. Scratch that, I'm not at all sure who will win. What's left of the carriers will need to provide scanners probably, but the beam fighters are looking favorable.
> Fast Attack Kiting Craft
Kited anyway.

Of the fleets, the main missile fleet is most likely to save its missiles. It has defense against any surprise missile attacks, and it will be clear earlier that it can't kill all the enemy. The shielded fleet is also relatively likely to save its missiles, which would let it win. Also interesting is that the carriers are quite dangerous, just by having a few mesons and a bunch of armor. They can't force an engagement, but they might hold their own jump point for reinforcements.

I'm now much more impressed than I was with this fleet. On my designs, I'd probably switch out a carrier for 6-35 armor on the other carriers. Though, to be entirely fair, a bunch of the missile designs may be able to run and reload once they start getting low on missiles. With access to reloads from a population, things might change.

It's increasingly looking like missiles can't easily finish off a similar size armored fleet at this tech level. I gotta rethink my doctrines.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: TheDeadlyShoe on February 25, 2013, 03:17:10 PM

They never really could.  It just seemed that way because the NPRs tended to have very thin skinned vessels and tended to not turn on their AMM sensors.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on February 25, 2013, 04:08:15 PM

Here's a dirty little secret: the Beam Fighters were original created as a joke fleet, destined to fail spectacularly as a counterpoint to missile fighters. After all, all of us 'knew' that making an effective beam fighter was nearly impossible: partially because of the pre-6 single fighter engine limit. The only people who did use beam fighters seemed to be experienced players trying to make combat against the NPRs even more challenging.

The beam fighter fleet is optimistic enough to hope that their foes are all using 50% reduced launchers with 100+ resolution fire controls that will only get one, maybe two, launches in on the small fighters before they enter beam range. Using the carriers as missile decoys is Plan B.


Its too bad the NPRs aren't programmed to keep any ship with only res-1 scanners always in active scanner mode.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Nightstar on February 25, 2013, 05:29:02 PM

AI has really influenced designs.  :(  That and Steve's stories. I'd really love a way to play a human intelligence.... Most of my designs can certainly beat up the AI, but that's not a hard bar to meet. Particularly as the AI is predictable. No fighters, no decoys, no well built beam fleets. You could get around the need for AI to have good designs by using nethackesque bones files, but AI tactics would still be horrible.

Unusual tactics are fun. Though, there's no particular need for the fast carried beam ships to be fighters. Fighters have a few advantages, in fire controls, logistics, scanners, and overwhelming targets. Despite those, a 3kton ship would work better in some ways than six fighters. As long as it fits in the carrier that is. As far as logistics go, I tend to 500t 1kt 2kt 4kt etc. so my carriers are more interchangable.

Sadly, using the carrs as decoys kinda has to be plan A. Problem is, once your opponent knows you have hidden ships, (and that the big ships are probably unarmed) they'll play more cautiously. Maybe if you have a darn good EM sensor to be pretty sure they don't have small res sensors.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: TheDeadlyShoe on February 25, 2013, 06:18:49 PM

it kinda depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

There are several different paths to victory in a beam engagement.

1.) Faster, Longer Ranged.
This is the holy grail, as a single combatant that is both faster and longer ranged can defeat an effectively unlimited number of enemies.   And it doesn't really matter what design compromises you have to make if you can accomplish the primary goal.  Fighters arn't good at this generally - they usually (with a handful of limited exceptions) can't fit both a 4x range firecontrol and a long range weapon in 500t.  This strategy usually requires technical superiority.  Parasite warships tend to be good at this owing to strong engines.

Arguably measures should be taken to make this harder, but oh well :)

3.) Slower, Longer Ranged
Fighters can't do this either, owing to their problems , but is a viable path for larger ships.  Again, it typically requires tech superiority.

2.) Faster, Firepower Superiority
This is where beam fighters tend to shine.  Fighters can achieve very high speeds owing to minimal support system needs, and can usually only fit short range beam systems in the first place.  It's also the only strategy to achieving beam victory against higher tech opponents.

It should also be noted that only fighters benefit from the new Fighter Combat Bonus, which gives them an additional +to hit with beam weapons. 

Of course for that to work you have to be faster to begin with. It is logical to conclude that a beam fighter design should concentrate on speed almost to the exclusion of other factors;  lack of firepower or armor can be overcome with more numbers, but fighters that are too slow are useless.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on March 16, 2013, 02:42:37 PM

Writing Style #4: The Graphic Novel
The Story of Long-Ranged Missile Fleet fighting Shields

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Wrech-July1_zpsfac24569.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Shield-J2_zps21079455.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Long-J2_zps63f3d281.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Shield-J3_4_zps28a0be33.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Long-J3_12_zpsf3d6d476.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Shield-J3_15_zpsbc987366.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Long-J_15b_zpse5e36f79.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Long-J3_18_zpsa294f806.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Long-J3_22_zps1d803770.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Long-J3_25_zpsa7e2b5ab.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Shield-J4_8_zps38065d64.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Long-J4_21_zps9c3437d8.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Shield-J4_22_zps2eabcd90.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Shield-J5_5_zps78396309.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Shield-J5_6_zps582ae408.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Long-J5_12_zps233856f2.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Long-A1_0_zps640c2bd1.png)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/Aurora%20LetsPlay/BattleForAlphaCentari/Shield-A1_0b_zpsb4122a18.png)

==================================

Winner:
Shielded Fleet
Shielded Fleet Losses: 1x Turkministian, 1x Zambia
Long Missile Losses: 1x reinforcement wave, 1x Wooden, 2x Skadi

Shields are extremely effective against slow-cycle missiles as long as a single wave or two can't take out the target.

Round 2 Lineup:
Beam Fighters vs Fast Rail
Fast Missiles vs Shielded Fleet
Gauss Tanks vs Missile Fighters
Fast Attack Craft vs Long Missiles

Round 2 matches will feature the reinforcements moving towards a predesignated waypoint immediately rather than wait for orders after transiting. This will make the beam jump defense tactics slightly less effective.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Nightstar on March 17, 2013, 08:56:20 AM

Alright, next:

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Gauss Tanks
Missile defense: point defense + armor
Beam defense:    heavy armor
Offense:         particle beam
Range:           medium beam
Speed:           sloooooow
Well, against missiles, this is hard to kill. Really, really hard to kill. It does, however, suffer from penalties because of that. Because of its speed, it must maintain beam superiority at ALL ranges in order to win a fight. It also can't force an engagement. Best case scenario is an enemy gambling on a win and losing. It's more likely that attackers will run out of missiles, but just run away. Or, of course, the tanks could die.

As jump point defense, it's potentially pretty nasty -- against a standard transit. Squad transit will end up out of range of the gauss cannons, and its particle beams aren't going to do a whole lot of damage before the enemy runs away.

On a further note, it can't even easily force an enemy to defend their planet. None of its guns will penetrate atmosphere, and it's so darn slow an enemy could tug their shipyards away. Its strategy seem to be 'you can't kill me -- now what?'

Deployment time is low compared to how slow they are. Increasing it might make sense.

You have no emergency active scanners on the Moyotes. Possible weakness.

[ooc]This has been sitting unfinished for weeks. I couldn't find a design I really liked with the same principles, and I never got back to opening up my design windows.[/ooc]

Predictions:

Fast rail: Lose. Barring problems like the idiot initiative system or it trying to move closer than 30k km
Missile: Draw? Neither fleet does enough damage. Tanks hold the JP, so I guess you would call it a win. Can't hurt anything but ignorant reinforcement waves.
MFig: Same. Mfigs do overwhelm firecontrols, so the tank fleet will be losing ships. The colliers are likely to explode spectacularly, so the reinforcements won't break through to finish em off.
L Missile: Same.
Kite: The beam kites don't have enough range to kite! I'd favor the tanks, but the kites will do a bunch of damage. The kites are likely to figure out the tactic of throwing missiles from inside point defense range.
Shield: Beams! This is... Close. Really close. Tanks have the advantage because only half the enemy ships (priority targets) have beam weapons. Shield might be able to win by throwing missiles from too close to intercept, but they're unlikely to figure out that tactic in time. Shield ships don't have quite enough shields to bounce in and out of range. Unless, maybe, they kill a tank or two THEN start that tactic. I won't call this one.

What I would have built:

5x Massacre
1x massacre EM
Reinforcements:
1x Massacre
1x Massacre EM

Code: [Select]

Massacre class Cruiser    9,850 tons     258 Crew     1119.8 BP      TCS 197  TH 180  EM 0
913 km/s     Armour 5-40     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 84
Maint Life 2.03 Years     MSP 213    AFR 258%    IFR 3.6%    1YR 69    5YR 1036    Max Repair 77 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Cryogenic Berths 200   

180 EP Commercial Ion Drive (1)    Power 180    Fuel Use 2.46%    Signature 180    Exp 3%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 37.1 billion km   (470 days at full power)

Single 15cm C2 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (15x1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 6-2     RM 4    ROF 15        6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Fire Control S02 16-16000 (3)    Max Range: 32,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S04 128-4000 (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (7)     Total Power Output 31.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (1)     GPS 45     Range 2.3m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]

Massacre - EM class Cruiser    9,850 tons     256 Crew     1099.8 BP      TCS 197  TH 180  EM 0
913 km/s     Armour 5-40     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/15/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 84
Maint Life 2.04 Years     MSP 209    AFR 258%    IFR 3.6%    1YR 67    5YR 1007    Max Repair 77 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   
Cryogenic Berths 400   

180 EP Commercial Ion Drive (1)    Power 180    Fuel Use 2.46%    Signature 180    Exp 3%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 37.1 billion km   (470 days at full power)

Single 15cm C2 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (15x1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 6-2     RM 4    ROF 15        6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Fire Control S02 16-16000 (3)    Max Range: 32,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S04 128-4000 (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (7)     Total Power Output 31.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Minipaint (1)     GPS 5     Range 250k km    Resolution 1
EM Detection Sensor EM3-15 (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  15m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
~20% worse in point defense and armor, far nastier in beam combat. I tried to stay close to your designs in most aspects. Dual purpose lasers work pretty well. Effectiveness against AMM fire is worse though. Problems of a 15s firerate.

Next up: Fast rail.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on April 07, 2013, 01:19:30 PM

Writing Style #5: A History Buff's explanation.
The Story of Missile Fighters attempting to resist Gauss Tanks

On paper, the the Missile Fighter Fleet of the Mark & Sons Corporation is the best in the world. The Mark-I fighter-bomber is the fastest ship in human space. Armed with triple medium-range ship-killer missiles, a fighter squadron carries the power to destroy most ships of equal tonnage and the speed to retreat from anything that survives their first attack run.

The Heavy cruisers of the Guass, by contrast, are instruments of blunt utilitarian force. With little more than 15% of their mass devoted to propulsion, the Moyote and Zenzontle are juggernauts filled almost entirely with weapons and armor but almost entirely lacking in subtlety.

In the first clash, the Mark-Is closed uncontested to range and launch a barrage of 84 blood hound missiles against a Moyote. 42 missiles were shot down by point defense fire. 41 were absorbed by armor. Only the 84th missile alone caused atmospheric venting. By most standards, the untouched fighters won the engagement, yet this also underscored the fighter's greatest weakness: the fighters were raiders by design. Eight volleys would destroy the Guass, but the fighters had ammunition for less than three.

On paper, the Spiral Ammunition Runner was the answer. The standard magazine of the Missile Fighter Fleet is a size-1 single-reload armored magazine, with each magazine having sufficient space to hold the 3x size-4 missiles needed to reload a Mark-I fighter-bomber plus reinforcement padding them out to 4-HTK. As a result, with a 100 internal HTK rating the Spiral ammunition runner is by some definition the toughest ship in fleet, allowing it to survive blockade weapon fire long enough to deliver enough missiles to reload three squadrons of fighters.

The realities of war, however, often trump the elegance of design. Despite having standing orders, the inexperienced crew of the reinforcements insisted on waiting for acknowledgement before continuing onward in-system. Within 45 seconds they were moving again, but the Heavy Cruisers required just 20 seconds to start firing, and 25 more to leave every ship an engineless cripple.

The Cacle faired better. A combination of thick armor, automated CIWS units, and extensive use of small fuel storage modules for increased HTK compartmentalization allowed the Guass reinforcements to survive. Only one cacle was lost, leaving a 2nd badly wounded and the 3rd untouched.

From this moment the fight was lost, yet the Missile Fighters made a valiant attempt at a 3rd attack run. Closing to just 100k km before the enemy reinforcements could rejoin the main body, the fighters launched the last remaining missiles from a distance at which the point defense weapons could not respond. One Mark-I was destroyed by particle beams, but the 43rd unopposed missile was enough to destroy the previously damaged Moyote. As a result, the 2nd resupply wave faced 17% fewer gauss turrets. The reduction made no difference, and once again every missile fighter reinforcment was lost with all hands.

With no missiles remaining the Missile Fighter fleet reluctantly surrendered. They were a raiding fleet, incapable of holding grounds.

Winner: Guass Tanks.
Tank Losses: 1x Moyote heavy cruiser, 1x Cacle light cruiser.
Missile Fighter Losses: 1x Mark-I, 2x Reinforcement waves.

=================

I thought missile fighters would do better. They work well against the AI and when based defensively on top of a planetary missile stockpile, but either got unlucky in the bracketing or perform poorly at this tech level in remote-system fleet actions.

I also learned that fleets will always stop for acknowledgement if they make a transit into point-blank beam-fire range. Previously I had mistakenly thought order acknowledgment delays only happened when an order queue was cleared or was previously empty.

Free Advise: If you can afford the fuel cost (fuel runs from 1bp = 2,000 L if refiner produced up to 1bp = 8,000 L if harvester produced) then running up task force training before a battle is very, very, helpful. If I ever run an Arena 2 I'll set 1bp = 5000 Liters in the fighter/ordinance BP pool and allow extra fuel to be purchased for fleet training.

Next battle to report is Fast Attack Kites vs Long Missiles.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Charlie Beeler on April 09, 2013, 12:26:23 PM

Hm.  Did the Fighter force know, in general, that the Gauss force was so short ranged and slow before deployment?

My assumption is that you've allowed for general knowledge of the opposing factions design outlines.  (class speed/weapon type/armor preference/etc) But not specifics of which class does what.

If that is the case then the Fighter force should have won.  Bring the main force in close the the Gauss group (1-2m/km) to facilitate faster recovery/turn around. 

Send strikegroup into 100-110k/km and launch missiles.  Target selection.  If the Zenzontle class has displayed an active emission then split the first strike between both.  If only the single Cacle has shown actives then it gets hammered by half the first strike and the other half targets one of the cruisers.  This assumes a knowledge that the OPFOR does not maintain minimum actives on every combat ship and that a mission kill by taking out the fleets eyes is a reasonable expectation.  Either way, the fighters are given orders to return their motherships the cycle after launch to minimize time inside the beam engagement envelope.

Yes, getting in that close but the fighters at risk vs the main beams.  But as you noted, it completely takes beam point defense out of the equation.  The loss of 1 or 2 fighters for functionally all of your missiles hitting is worth it.  It does assume that you know that the OPFOR has no way to directly counter.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on April 09, 2013, 02:30:41 PM

Although the the fleets were played as if they knew nothing of each other before the fight, the primary cause for their loss were tactical mistakes on my part.

The Gauss slow speed was unknown before hand, but easily observable. Likewise, the fleet scout could have been used to check for active scanners before hand and logically concluded that the Gauss fleet had no anti-ship missiles.

However, the largest mistake was my assumption of ship behavior on gate transit. The fighters and I assumed that their reinforcements would charge full speed out of the gate toward any destination already in the order queue. At worst, I thought the ships would be outside of guass range in 15 seconds, possibly escaping point defense fire all together. They may have to weather a storm of particle shots, but at worst only a single ship would have been lost. As a result, rather than trying to do whatever they could to weaken the gate defense the fighters flew to the opposite side of the map to pick off the jump-blind Gauss reinforcements. The sickening feeling I got on seeing "Awaiting Acknowledgement" was even worse than when I saw the Fast Attack Kites over a million km out of position on their failed jump point defense.

And, like my permitting the Fast Attack Kites to loose over a career ending mistake, so the Fighters lost in part to a similar mistake.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Charlie Beeler on April 09, 2013, 02:42:40 PM

Assuming a lack of knowledge of the OPFOR makes sense.

How are you handling the fleets locating each other?  It doesn't sound like your using active scouting₁ and don't have DSTS in system.

₁-Active Scouting being the deployment of scouts, not necessarily with active sensors.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on April 09, 2013, 03:23:54 PM

Active scouting was used, but not reported. After sitting on the last battle for two weeks with a dead muse I decided to write up something quick and move on to the next fight. All of the little scouting details, including when the Providence fleet scout closed to 110k km of the guass tanks in a survivability test for the later point-blank fighter mission, were omitted.

Anyway, the gravitational survey data of Alpha Centauri is common knowledge in this set up, so the two strategic objectives (the jump points) are known in advance.

In some battles each force moves directly toward the enemy jump point and the two fleets meet in the middle. In this last battle the Fighters sent the carriers off to hide in deep space, and then launched an RM-09 class Fighter-Scout to monitor each jump point. When the Guass fleet showed up at the Fighter's home jump point the remaining fighters were launched for attack along a zig-zag path that wouldn't point back toward the carriers.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on April 10, 2013, 09:18:28 PM

I've heard a lot of feed back on tactics, but not so much on writing styles, so here is something completely different:

Writing Style #6: Haiku.
A tribute to the one-sided slaughter of Fast Kites by Long Missiles.

Big eye seen, threat not.
Overconfident by all.
Flash! Minnows rush

One eye known, two no
Final step to go: Thwarted!
Survivors flee, three.

Big, small, Homeward be
Reinforce! Rearm! Return!
Calm leads storm follows.

Idlevs sacrifice
Minnows follow, missiles eat.
Endless rain, parley.

Winner: Long Missiles
Casualties:
  Long Missiles: None.
  Fast Kites: Almost everything.

Next Fight:
Beam Fighters vs Fast Railgun Frigates

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on June 29, 2013, 07:05:43 PM

Beam Fighters vs Fast Rail Frigates

The Frigates won. Mistakes were made on all sides, some more severe than others, but in the end the rail frigates won with nearly reparable component damage. Any proper report would be tediously dull unless written as high drama from 1st or 2nd person perspective. The next time I feel like writing a high-drama short story I'll come back to this. Until then, moving on.


Writing Style #7: Recollections
A recounting of Shield Fleet vs Classic Missiles

The clash between the Shielded Fleet and the Classic Missiles is, without a doubt, the closest fight the Alpha Cenauri Arena has seen that was not decided by a tremendous strategic or tactical mistake. The contest opened with remarkably little subtle, with both sides charging the other jump point and meeting in the center. The Shielded fleet established contact first by detecting the Classic Missile active scanner emissions. Orders were given to close to 30m km for missile firing.

Within the hour, the Classic Missile fleet established contact by active sensor ping. They closed gave orders to close to 70m km. Uncertain of their target, the fleet launched four salvos, one each against a different target, before ceasing to observe and reload from the colliers. Observations indicated that the targets had at least class-2 armor, shields somewhere between strength 35-45, point defense batteries capable of destroying 2-4 salvos, and no anti-missiles. The intelligence gain almost made up for the depressed realization that they had just fired nearly a third of their offense to negligible effect. Determined to make up the loss, the classic missile fleet adjusted orders to close to 9m km, so that the Nahid escorts could use their size-4 tubes to provide a 25% increase in missile density.

As the fleets closed passed 32m km the Shielded fleet had there chance to realized that their plans were flawed as they slowly realized that their adversaries were smaller than the 125 resolution used. No firing solution would be available until the 20.8m km mark. At 18m km the shielded missiles had their chance to open fire.

The hailstone missile of the Shielded fleet exemplified the philosophy that quantity has a quality of its own. The 30x outbound missiles in each wave, fired 45 seconds apart, were an impressive sight sure to leave their victim a realization of impending doom. The shielded fleet fired a full wave against each of the Falaq destroyers seen to have a large anti-ship scanner. The Nahid, for their part, were quick to respond to the threat, and began promptly launching AMM 3:1 as the inbound missiles appeared. By the 2nd wave the missiles did begin to inspire fear, but it was fear that the Nahid would run out of missiles rather than any worry of being overwhelmed. The order was given to cut back to a 2:1 AMM ratio to make the missiles last. On the third wave the order was given to resume launching the SuckerPunch ASM, this time 2.5 waves per target.

As the last HailStone wave vanished emotions peaked high on all sides. The shielded fleet with disappointed disbelief that of the 120 missiles launched only a single hit leaked through. The Classic Missile fleet was wavering between giddy relief of survival and disappointment at another suboptimal missile launch. One one hand the Nahid had fired 75% of their stocks in an effort that left one escort with just 5 missiles remaining, while their nearly unscathed survival proved that their launch need not have been hurried.

The 2nd set of SuckerPunch impacts established a new high for effectiveness. On each target the 1st wave shattered the shields, the 2nd wave shattered the armor, and the next half wave destroyed internal components. Both targeted Turk and Zambia were left venting atmosphere even if only one was slowed. The Classic Missile fleet reloaded a final time from colliers, closed to 9m km, and opened up an improved volley of 30 suckerpunch missiles, a wave and a half at each previously injured foe. The results were devastating. The extra missiles were desisive, allowing the first wave to shatter the rebuilt shield and nock the target out of formation. The next half wave then struck the vulnerable ship separated from protective point defense fire with a killing blow. Two shielded ships were destroyed, but with insufficient missiles to reload all launchers the missile fleet was forced to give ground as the shielded fleet pressed onward to camp on the Classic fleet's jump point. For the next 19 days the two fleets sat in draw, waiting.

The wait ended with the jump emergence of reinforcements. The Shielded fleet immediately opened fire with point defense weapons. The defending Classic missile fleet ordered the slower Nahid and Falaq destroyers to separate from the Fath colliers to allow the missile reloads to speed ahead. Freed from the slower destroyers, the fath immediately rocketed out of the ambush before the first Zambia could open fire. In the end, both reinforcing destroyers were lost, while both colliers escaped to rearm the main fleet. For now, the two fleets stood tied at two kills, although this distinction would scarcely last the hour.

Partially reamed, the Classic missile fleet unloaded everything they had in four waves, two waves targeting each of the Zambia cruisers now known to carry the point defense guns. Weakened by the earlier loss of one Zambia, additional missiles leaked through the remaining point defense fire. This time two waves were enough. A 2nd Zambia fell, allowing the 3rd to fall as well despite the 4th missile wave being understrength. The Classic missile fleet now stood at four kills, although the losses were immediately replaced by Zambia and Turk in the shielded fleet reinforcement group. Again, the two fleets settled down to wait.

At first the 2nd wave of reinforcements ran better than ever for the classic missiles, the single point defense Zambia managed to take out a single fath collier while the other collier and two destroyers began their escape, but this escape proved short lived. The Turk from the 1st reinforcement group had been saving its missiles for the occasion, and began launching salvos one by one at the escapees until they were slowed to below the shielded fleet speed. The reinforcing Falaq made a valiant effort at covering the retreat, firing missiles point-blank as the shields tried to close. However, the shields were happy to drop back to recharge and this defiance soon ended when the lone falaq's magazines ran dry. With no survivors from the 2nd reinforcement wave the unarmed classic missile fleet was compelled to reluctantly surrender.

Winner: Shielded Missile Fleet
Casualties:
  Shielded Missiles: 3x Zambia, 1x Turkmenistan
  Classic Missiles: 2x Falaq, 2x Nahid, 2x Fath


Four more matches and this version of Alpha Centari will be completed.
Shielded Missiles vs Fast Rail Frigates for 1st and 2nd place,
Classic Missiles vs Guass and Beam Fighters vs Long Missiles in the looser bracket semi-finnal, with the winners then facing off for the 3rd and 4th place spots.


Is anyone interested in seeing me do a 2nd Alpha Centauri arena at a higher tech level once this one ends, and if so would anyone be interested in submitting designs instead of everything being my own creation?

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: Nightstar on June 30, 2013, 10:40:49 PM

Quote

Is anyone interested in seeing me do a 2nd Alpha Centauri arena at a higher tech level once this one ends, and if so would anyone be interested in submitting designs instead of everything being my own creation?

Well, I am anyway. In both.

The railgun fleet is totally going to win the next match. Reduced size lasers and shields can't stand up to railguns and armor. The gauss tanks might have been able to stand up if they had a bit more range on their gauss guns. Mixed fleets were generally going to lose, because less than heavy missile capability does poorly against point defense. However, long missiles and standard missile could both have won, with the right tactics. The problem is, the gargoyles stick out. They're the same size as the orcs, but fewer in number. After knocking them out, point defense and long range scanners drop. I think at least a couple ships from the rail fleet would survive, but basic scatter and run tactics would leave them unable to do much damage before reinforcements come. It'd be close either way I guess.

Anyway, the point is that your winning fleet isn't going to fight either of the two fleets with the best chance against it.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on July 13, 2013, 01:21:15 PM

Link to sign-up for the Alpha Centauri 2 challenge. (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/topic,6292.msg64102/topicseen.html#msg64102)

Writing Style #8: Simplicity
Black Box recordings Classic Missiles fighting Guass Tanks

1st June 2026: 00:00
Opposing fleets enter the Alpha Centauri System.

5th June 2026: 00:24
Guass EM sensors detect the Falaq active scanners.

5th June 2026: 5:14
Missile Fleet detects Guass fleet on active scanners.

5th June 2026 6:35
Missile fleet launches the first of 3 SuckerPunch waves consisting of 8 salvos of 3 missiles. Each wave targets a different ship of a different class.

5th June 2026 7:18
Guass fleet detects the first approaching wave of missiles. 10 seconds later Guass turrets destroy every missile. The Guass fleet goes on to destroy every incoming missile.

5th June 2026 7:20
The Classic missile fleet begins the regrettably necessary task of closing to a point blank range of 128k km. The two fath colliers that still have full ammunition loads are detached to stay clear of the fighting.

5th June 2026 13:41
The Guass particle beams open fire for the first time at a range of 146k km. Fire is split between one Falaq and one Nahid. 5 shots hit.

The Missile fleet then launches, targeting the Cacle first. 4 missiles are destroyed by CIWS, but the armor is breached and one CIWS is destroyed. The second wave looses only 1 missile and destroys the Cacle with massive overkill.

5th June 2026 13:42
The Missile fleet has no EM sensors and is unable to detect the resolution 1 scanners used by the Guass fleet. They decide to target the Moyotes next since those are firing twice as many of the pesky particle cannons. By now one missile ship, Falaq 015, is streaming atmosphere through holes in the thin armor.

5th June 2026 13:42:41
Falaq 015 is now only marginally combat capable. Roughly half of all combat related components have been destroyed, and the armor belt is reduced to small scabby patches of protection. Orders are given for the wounded Falaq to withdraw.

5th June 2026 13:43:06
After repeated pounding the Moyote tank is finally starting to stream atmosphere. The wounded Falaq is still floundering trying to acknowledge orders and has drifted 14k km closer to the gauss fleet. While the Falaq continues to take the majority of hits, the Nahid 011 has also started to stream atmosphere.

5th June 2026 13:43:46
The injured Falaq -finally- gets under way after drifting to within 85k km of the enemy. The targeted Moyote is still stubbornly alive, even if it has fallen out of formation due to engine damage. With only 6 ASM missiles left to fire the rest of the missile fleet is given orders to retreat to a safe distance to rearm from colliers.

5th June 2026 13:44:46
The missile fleet makes good its escape with no losses, even if the Falaq 15 is too badly damaged to risk in combat again.

5th June 2026 18:01
The lightly damaged Nahid has finishes field repairs, and the missile fleet transfers the last collier carried ASM to the attack ships.

5th June 2026 21:35:36
Round 2 begins. The Gauss tanks target one of the smaller Fath colliers. Both of their previously damaged targets stayed behind for this fight.

5th June 2026 21:36:11
The first wave of point blank Suckerpunch strike the previously damaged Moyote, destroying it.

5th June 2026 21:36:41
The second wave of point blank missiles strikes the remaining Moyote. The guass fleet realizes the wave was smaller than when the fleets first met and correlates this with the absence of the previusly damaged ships. The particle guns switch targets to one of the Falaq.

5th June 2026 21:37:41
The 2nd Moyote is destroyed by the 4th wave of point blank missile in the clash. The guass have less than a third of their starting particle cannons still firing. The Missile fleet is down to 6 ASMs. Orders are given to empty magazines into a Zenzontle and begin the retreat.

30th June 2026 17:54:06
Missile reinforcements make transit, and identify the Zenzontle as having Res-1 scanners. The Zenzontle open fire with two guass turrets and the particle beam each while holding the remainder for point defense. This totals about 25 points of damage every tick.

30th June 2026 17:54:31
The guass tanks fire targeting the Flaq, Nahid, and one of the Fath. The Fath starts to immediately vent atmosphere.

30th June 2026 17:55:11
The missile reinforcements finally overcome their terror and confusion and start moving. The Nahid and one of the Fath have already been destroyed.

30th June 2026 17:55:21
The Falaq manages to limp outside of guass turret range. Slowed as it is it is still faster than the guass tanks. The Fath didn't make it.

30th June 2026 17:55:56
63k km into its run for freedom particle cannon hits destroy the Falaq's last engine leaving it dead in space. Three more rounds of particle beam shots are enough to make the kill.

30th June 2026 18:00
The Missile Fleet surrenders.

------------------------------------
Alternative Ending:

5th June 2026 13:42
Instead of targeting the Moyote the Missile fleet hypothetically targets the Zenzontles instead. The next two clashes play out as before, but leave two intact Moyotes instead of intact Zeenzontles.

30th June 2026
With no active scanners the Moyote are helpless to stop the missile reinforcements. The Missile fleet now has 120 new ASMs to use to take down the arriving guass reinforcements.

6th July 2026
Having found the Cacles, the missile fleet once again closes to point blank range and opens fire: launching 6 waves of 20 missiles, with two waves targeting each cacle.

When the dust clears all three cacles are heavily damaged beyond complete repair, but all are intact and one still has a working active scanner.

8th July 2026
All reinforcing cacles finish repairing at least one engine, and make speed toward the missile fleet entry point. Faced with proof that they can't stop fleet guass the missile fleet surrenders.


Winner: Guass fleet.
Casualties:
   Guass Fleet: 1x Cacle, 2x Moyote
   Classic Missiles: 1 reinforcement wave.

The Classic Missile fleet might have won if they were allowed to use their AMM offensively. Alternatively, they may have won if the fath colliers carried only half as many AMMs to make room for an extra 17 ASMs per collier.

Title: Re: War Stories of Alpha Centauri Arena
Post by: sublight on July 17, 2013, 09:40:29 PM

Quote from: Nightstar on February 25, 2013, 03:10:22 PM

> Very Long Ranged Missile
Ineterestingly, the long range missiles again just fail to kill the carriers entirely. This fleet has better luck in that it'll likely spot the fighters before opening fire with the smaller missiles. More fun, while the smaller missiles can probably cripple all the fighters, there may not be quite enough left to finish the carriers. If a carrier can repair itself and a couple fighters, (or you just keep one of each fighter in reserve) the long range missile fleet may end up destroyed by a pair of mesons. Disadvantages of having no beam weaponry!

Nightstar called this one.

At the end of the opening round the Long Range Missiles were left with 2x Short Stop, while the Beam Fighters had 2x E-carreries (one undamaged, one badly damaged) plus four meson fighters (one in hangers for repairs) leaving three meson cannons active when the reinforcements arrived.

In the following fight One grendal collier was crippled before it could escape and destroyed, while the other grendal managed to escape. The fighters then turned on the slow Woden class cruiser, but the Woden cruiser managed to recover from jump blindness first, seriously damaging one fighter, killing a second, and nearly destroyed the previously damaged E-carrier before being destroyed.

I'll post a proper ARR when the fight ends, because the battle is now into the 2nd reinforcement wave and the outcome is still inconclusive. If the Beam Fighters win, then they would next face a rematch against Guass Tanks which they would win. That would guarantee that beam fighters would make my top 3 list of recommended ion-era fleet tactics. Am a that bad at designing missile fleets, did the beam fighters get lucky, or are beam fighters actually viable in 6.x?