Author Topic: Battle for Barnard's Star  (Read 36129 times)

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Offline sublight (OP)

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Battle for Barnard's Star
« on: August 21, 2015, 04:23:12 PM »
Welcome to the Magneto-Plasma era sequel to War Stories of Alpha Centauri.
I have access to a shiny new computer that no longer blue screens on me, and 6.5 has gotten me excited about Aurora again. Put together, and here is a quick new AAR series while we all eagerly wait for the next version.

Once again, two fleets will enter a system 1 b km apart and seek to establish exclusive control by successfully interdicting their opponent's jump point while maintaining a resupply line through their own jump point. Once again I will be writing the AARs from a variety of different view points, but letters of war and announcer-style running commentaries will probably dominate. And again, both fleet and literary comments and criticism from you the readers will be encouraged.

Lessons Learned from Alpha Centauri:
> Inexperienced crews do poorly on jump point assaults.
> Beam fighters can be viable if no AMMs are used.
> Missile fleets require deep magazines or resupply runs to counter heavy armor.

In accordance, primary changes for this challenge include:
> No inexperienced crew penalties. (Unless someone knows of an easily way to SM adjust task force training levels)
> A resupply/replenishment stockpile fleets may draw from instead of regular reinforcing waves.
> +100% RP, +50% BP for bigger, grander, and more exciting battles.


For this bracketing I will be investigating three variables:

Large vs Small ships
Beams vs Missiles primary
Brute force vs Finess

Brute force is the conventional tactics of using either an unstoppable preemptive offense or an unbreakable defense. The idea is to preemptively destroy your helpless opponent (missiles), or to become utterly impervious to missiles (beams). This gives a fleet the confidence to charge headlong into battle confident of inevitable victory.

Long ranged multi-warhead missiles (large ships, missiles)
Medium range box-launcher Fighters/FAC (small ships, missiles)
Shielded/CIWS Juggernaughts (large ships, beams)
High speed railguns (small ships, beams)

Finesse involves either second guessing your opponent and using unexpected orders of battle to throw their plans in disarray, or else to use careful maneuvering to identify and exploit weaknesses rather than optimizing a strength.

The unconventional/finessing counterparts will be:
Stealth Missile Cruisers (large ships, missiles)
Mine Layers (small ships, missiles)
Tractor Modules (large ships, beams)
Beam Fighters (small ships, beams)


The initial bracketing will pit polar opposites against each other in the first round.

Large Brute Missiles vs Small Finessing Beam
AKA: Missile Artillery vs Beam Fighters

Large Finessing Missiles vs Small Brute Beams
AKA: Stealth Missiles vs Fast Rail Frigates

Small Brute Missiles vs Large Finessing Beam
AKA: Missile FAC vs Tractor Module Beams

Small finessing missiles vs large brute beams
AKA: Mine Layers vs Shielded Juggernaughts


Finally, for reference here are the fleet design rules I will be using for the fleets I will be showcasing.
Victory Condition:
Enforce a blocade on the opponent's jump point while retaining the ability to resuply through their own jump point for say... one month.

If there is no winner after three months then:
1st Tie Braker: Fewest crew casualties
2nd Tie Braker: Fewest BP worth of losses/expendatures.

Fleet Rules
> 200k RP budget (Jump Theory, Gate Construction, and 1st level of Jump Drive techs are free)
> Construction/Fighter/Ordinance/Fuel production techs provided a proportional discount if matched by mining tech.
> 9000 BP budget (Fuel costs 1 BP per 5000L)
> No ship size limit, but expanding the military shipyard past 5kTon costs 240BP/kTon.
> 3000 BP factory produced supplies (fuel, msp, missiles, fighters) located 4b km away from entry jump point.
> Resupply fighters may not fly themselves to the front line unescorted.
> 1500 km/s minimum fleet speed
> Only ships exceeding 3000 km/s may retreat to the resupply base.
> 2 year minimum maintenance life for non-hanger carried ships
> 6+ month maintenance life (or less than 50% annual failure) for hanger carried craft
> 6+ month minimum deployment time for non-hanger carried ships
> 30b km minimum fleet range, fuel may be carried by accompanying tankers
> Crew Inexperience penalties disabled.
> Jump gates on all jump points.
> Fleets may not initiate a new jump while still jump blind.
 

Offline sublight (OP)

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2015, 06:55:48 PM »
Exhibition Fleet #1: Missile Artillery
Heavy adherents to the "shoot long, shoot first, shoot decisively" school of combat, this fleet ignores missile defense as irrelevant. If the enemy gets within range your ship builders have failed. To maximize anti-missile defense penetration each Delivery Van missile packs 4x Size-2 submunitions with str-4 warheads and a 10m km separation range. This drops 104 mini missiles packing 416 points of damage on target with every volley. The Str-9 torpedoes, by contrast, are intended for anti-fighter work, point-blank acts of desperation, and to finish off wounded targets.

Standard tactics are to fire full waves of 26 missiles allocated for 2x Delivery Vans or 3x Torpedos per kTon of target. Missiles may be split into two waves, but should all be fired within 5-seconds. Err on the side of over kill. If the initial launch fails to cripple or kill all targets the cruisers should retreat as possible and avoid close combat until the supply ships return with fresh ordinance, but should only retreat from the system through the jump point as a last resort.

Production Tech:
Construction [14], Ordinance [14], Fuel [12]

Order of Battle:
1x Amon Cruiser [1977 BP fully loaded]
1x Anuket Cruiser [1977 BP fully loaded]
1x Hipimon Jump Ship [1682 BP fully loaded]
2x Amathaunts Support Craft [947 BP fully loaded]

Supply Base:
240x Delivery Van missiles
240x Torpedo missiles
3,150,000 L fuel
1,000 MSP

Code: [Select]
Amon class Cruiser    11 000 tons     300 Crew     2017.2 BP      TCS 220  TH 352.5  EM 0
2136 km/s     Armour 2-44     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/55/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 70
Maint Life 2.17 Years     MSP 516    AFR 215%    IFR 3%    1YR 146    5YR 2196    Max Repair 315 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 810   

235.2 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 235.2    Fuel Use 58.29%    Signature 176.4    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500 000 Litres    Range 14.0 billion km   (76 days at full power)

S5 - 50s Launcher (2)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 50
S12 6HS-600s Launcher (10)    Missile Size 12    Rate of Fire 600
Anti-Ship MFC (2)     Range 300.1m km    Resolution 75
Anti-Fighter MFC (2)     Range 84.9m km    Resolution 6
S12 Delivery Van (50)  Speed: 10 400 km/s   End: 518.6m    Range: 335.6m km   WH: 0    Size: 12    TH: 34/20/10
S5 Torpedo (42)  Speed: 28 600 km/s   End: 55m    Range: 94.4m km   WH: 9    Size: 5    TH: 133/80/40

Active Search Sensor MR300-R75 (1)     GPS 23625     Range 300.1m km    Resolution 75
EM Detection Sensor EM5-55 (1)     Sensitivity 55     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  55m 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
Code: [Select]
Hapimou class Jump Cruiser    11 000 tons     307 Crew     1678.2 BP      TCS 220  TH 352.5  EM 0
2136 km/s    JR 3-100     Armour 2-44     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 7     PPV 41
Maint Life 2.19 Years     MSP 667    AFR 138%    IFR 1.9%    1YR 187    5YR 2809    Max Repair 373 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 536   

J11000(3-100) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 11000 tons    Distance 100k km     Squadron Size 3
235.2 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 235.2    Fuel Use 58.29%    Signature 176.4    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 100 000 Litres    Range 30.9 billion km   (167 days at full power)

S5 - 50s Launcher (1)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 50
S12 6HS-600s Launcher (6)    Missile Size 12    Rate of Fire 600
Anti-Ship MFC (1)     Range 300.1m km    Resolution 75
Anti-Fighter MFC (1)     Range 84.9m km    Resolution 6
S12 Delivery Van (33)  Speed: 10 400 km/s   End: 518.6m    Range: 335.6m km   WH: 0    Size: 12    TH: 34/20/10
S5 Torpedo (28)  Speed: 28 600 km/s   End: 55m    Range: 94.4m km   WH: 9    Size: 5    TH: 133/80/40

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]
Amathaunta class Support Vessel    4 600 tons     80 Crew     679.6 BP      TCS 92  TH 352.5  EM 0
5108 km/s     Armour 1-24     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.24 Years     MSP 231    AFR 67%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 33    5YR 497    Max Repair 147 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 510    Cryogenic Berths 200   

235.2 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 235.2    Fuel Use 58.29%    Signature 176.4    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 050 000 Litres    Range 70.5 billion km   (159 days at full power)

S12 Delivery Van (30)  Speed: 10 400 km/s   End: 518.6m    Range: 335.6m km   WH: 0    Size: 12    TH: 34/20/10
S5 Torpedo (30)  Speed: 28 600 km/s   End: 55m    Range: 94.4m km   WH: 9    Size: 5    TH: 133/80/40

EM Detection Sensor EM1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m 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
Code: [Select]
Anuket class Cruiser    11 000 tons     300 Crew     2017.2 BP      TCS 220  TH 352.5  EM 0
2136 km/s     Armour 2-44     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/55/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 70
Maint Life 2.17 Years     MSP 516    AFR 215%    IFR 3%    1YR 146    5YR 2196    Max Repair 315 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 810   

235.2 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 235.2    Fuel Use 58.29%    Signature 176.4    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500 000 Litres    Range 14.0 billion km   (76 days at full power)

S5 - 50s Launcher (2)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 50
S12 6HS-600s Launcher (10)    Missile Size 12    Rate of Fire 600
Anti-Ship MFC (2)     Range 300.1m km    Resolution 75
Anti-Fighter MFC (2)     Range 84.9m km    Resolution 6
S12 Delivery Van (50)  Speed: 10 400 km/s   End: 518.6m    Range: 335.6m km   WH: 0    Size: 12    TH: 34/20/10
S5 Torpedo (42)  Speed: 28 600 km/s   End: 55m    Range: 94.4m km   WH: 9    Size: 5    TH: 133/80/40

Active Search Sensor MR84-R6 (1)     GPS 1890     Range 84.9m km    Resolution 6
EM Detection Sensor EM5-55 (1)     Sensitivity 55     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  55m 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



Exhibition Fleet #2: Beam Fighters
The use of semi-expendable high-speed fighters gives the beam fighter fleet the freedom to be as aggressive or cautious as they wish and to control the engagement range. While some fitness may be required this fleet is rather smug about the number aces they've stuffed up their sleeves.

Standard Tactics: Upon system entry half of the jump ships and carriers will immediately abandon their fighters and make all speed back home for another load. Said fighters should be rotated through the remaining carriers as needed for rest, relaxation, and refueling. All Barracuda and Tarantula fighters should attempt to locate and harass the enemy fleet with missiles without entering missile range themselves. While these shouldn't inflict much if any damage, they should quantify the volume, range, and type of anti-missiles and point blank beam weaponry. Unless there is no evidence of enemy missiles no attempt to approach to beam range should be made until the carriers return with reinforcements.

Production Tech:
Construction [12], Fighters [12], Fuel [12]

Order of Battle:
2x Doberman Jump Ships [1082 BP fully loaded]
4x Wolverine Carriers [1405 BP fully loaded]
1x Black Widow-A Escort [457 BP fully loaded]
1x Black Widow-B Escort [429 BP fully loaded]

Supply Base:
3x fully loaded Tarantula fighters
2x Barracuda fighters
9x Scorpion fighters
9x Jaguar fighters
9x Recon missiles
9x Extortion missiles
1300 MSP
1,540,000 L fuel

Code: [Select]
Scorpion class Fighter    493 tons     8 Crew     126.5 BP      TCS 9.85  TH 84  EM 0
8527 km/s     Armour 4-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 8.99 Years     MSP 40    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 13    Max Repair 30 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months    Spare Berths 4   

28 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 28    Fuel Use 320.86%    Signature 28    Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 20 000 Litres    Range 2.3 billion km   (3 days at full power)

R4.5/C3 High Power Microwave (1)    Range 45 000km     TS: 8527 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S00.2 32-2000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 64 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
Fusion Reactor 3 (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Auxilary B (1)     GPS 18     Range 370k km    Resolution 15

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
Armored microwave fighter to quickly disable opposition.

Code: [Select]
Jaguar class Fighter    493 tons     14 Crew     97.5 BP      TCS 9.85  TH 84  EM 0
8527 km/s     Armour 2-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4
Maint Life 10.04 Years     MSP 31    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 8    Max Repair 14 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.3 months    Spare Berths 0   

28 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 28    Fuel Use 320.86%    Signature 28    Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 15 000 Litres    Range 1.7 billion km   (55 hours at full power)

R9/C3 Meson Cannon (1)    Range 90 000km     TS: 8527 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 9    ROF 10        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
Fire Control S00.4 48-2000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 96 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Fusion Reactor 3 (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Auxilary B (1)     GPS 18     Range 370k km    Resolution 15

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
Long range meson fighters used to finish off disabled opponents or to snipe anything lacking long ranged weaponry.
Code: [Select]
Barracuda class Fighter-Scout    480 tons     6 Crew     118.5 BP      TCS 9.6  TH 112  EM 0
11666 km/s     Armour 3-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/8/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 9.61 Years     MSP 39    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 11    Max Repair 27 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months    Spare Berths 0   

28 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 28    Fuel Use 320.86%    Signature 28    Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 20 000 Litres    Range 2.3 billion km   (55 hours at full power)

Scout Scanner (1)     GPS 540     Range 9.7m km    Resolution 20
EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  8m km

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
High speed scout intended to provide enemy active scanner warning and to spot for the Tarantulas.
Code: [Select]
Tarantula class Interceptor    478 tons     5 Crew     104 BP      TCS 9.55  TH 112  EM 0
11727 km/s     Armour 3-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 1.5
Maint Life 11.35 Years     MSP 34    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 7    Max Repair 14 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 18   

28 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 28    Fuel Use 320.86%    Signature 28    Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 20 000 Litres    Range 2.3 billion km   (55 hours at full power)

S3 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (1)    Missile Size 3    Rate of Fire 225
FTR MFC (1)     Range 9.0m km    Resolution 20
S3 Recon (3)  Speed: 22 600 km/s   End: 7.5m    Range: 10.2m km   WH: 2    Size: 3    TH: 83/49/24
S3 Extortion (3)  Speed: 22 600 km/s   End: 7.7m    Range: 10.4m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 90/54/27

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
A high speed missile harasser used to intercept other missile fighters and safely examine enemy defenses.
Code: [Select]
Wolverine class Light Carrier    6 600 tons     121 Crew     838.74 BP      TCS 132  TH 449  EM 0
3401 km/s     Armour 2-31     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 6     PPV 0
Maint Life 17.46 Years     MSP 477    AFR 58%    IFR 0.8%    1YR 3    5YR 44    Max Repair 10 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 57   
Hangar Deck Capacity 3000 tons     Magazine 30   

13.6 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (33)    Power 13.6    Fuel Use 52.76%    Signature 13.6    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 700 000 Litres    Range 36.2 billion km   (123 days at full power)

S3 Recon (4)  Speed: 22 600 km/s   End: 7.5m    Range: 10.2m km   WH: 2    Size: 3    TH: 83/49/24
S3 Extortion (6)  Speed: 22 600 km/s   End: 7.7m    Range: 10.4m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 90/54/27

Strike Group
1x Tarantula Interceptor   Speed: 11727 km/s    Size: 9.55
1x Barracuda Fighter-Scout   Speed: 11666 km/s    Size: 9.6
2x Jaguar Fighter   Speed: 8527 km/s    Size: 9.85
2x Scorpion Fighter   Speed: 8527 km/s    Size: 9.85

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]
Doberman class Jump Ship    6 600 tons     157 Crew     810.74 BP      TCS 132  TH 449  EM 0
3401 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 2-31     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.39 Years     MSP 345    AFR 77%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 29    5YR 433    Max Repair 135 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 35   
Hangar Deck Capacity 1500 tons     Magazine 15   

J6600(3-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 6600 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
13.6 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (33)    Power 13.6    Fuel Use 52.76%    Signature 13.6    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 655 000 Litres    Range 33.9 billion km   (115 days at full power)

S3 Recon (2)  Speed: 22 600 km/s   End: 7.5m    Range: 10.2m km   WH: 2    Size: 3    TH: 83/49/24
S3 Extortion (3)  Speed: 22 600 km/s   End: 7.7m    Range: 10.4m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 90/54/27

Strike Group
1x Jaguar Fighter   Speed: 8527 km/s    Size: 9.85
1x Scorpion Fighter   Speed: 8527 km/s    Size: 9.85
1x Tarantula Interceptor   Speed: 11727 km/s    Size: 9.55

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]
Black Widow - A class Destroyer Escort    3 000 tons     96 Crew     493.7 BP      TCS 60  TH 204  EM 0
3400 km/s     Armour 3-18     Shields 0-0     Sensors 60/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 12
Maint Life 4.14 Years     MSP 103    AFR 72%    IFR 1%    1YR 10    5YR 145    Max Repair 60 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   

13.6 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (15)    Power 13.6    Fuel Use 52.76%    Signature 13.6    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 270 000 Litres    Range 30.7 billion km   (104 days at full power)

R4.5/C3 High Power Microwave (1)    Range 45 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
10cm Railgun V1/C3 (3x4)    Range 10 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 1    ROF 5        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01 64-4000 (1)    Max Range: 128 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Fusion Reactor 6 (2)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (1)     GPS 36     Range 2.9m km    MCR 314k km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH10-60 (1)     Sensitivity 60     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  60m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Black Widow - B class Destroyer Escort    3 000 tons     107 Crew     460.7 BP      TCS 60  TH 204  EM 0
3400 km/s     Armour 3-18     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/64/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 16
Maint Life 4.33 Years     MSP 96    AFR 72%    IFR 1%    1YR 8    5YR 124    Max Repair 64 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 3   

13.6 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (15)    Power 13.6    Fuel Use 52.76%    Signature 13.6    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 270 000 Litres    Range 30.7 billion km   (104 days at full power)

R9/C3 Meson Cannon (1)    Range 90 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 9    ROF 10        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
10cm Railgun V1/C3 (4x4)    Range 10 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 1    ROF 5        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01 64-4000 (1)    Max Range: 128 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Fusion Reactor 6 (2)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fusion Reactor 3 (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

EM Detection Sensor EM8-64 (1)     Sensitivity 64     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  64m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Black Widow escorts are sized small enough to use the hanger bays for repair if ever required allowing repeated hit/run attacks with recovery against slower opponents.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2015, 08:08:39 PM by sublight »
 

Offline sublight (OP)

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2015, 10:08:34 PM »
Solar Sentinels - The News for us all.

Court-Martials enter Third Day, Treason charges Considered

Court Martial continue throughout the ranks of the 2nd Fleet Logistics Wing following the humiliating defeat of 2nd fleet at the hands of a rag tag band of fighters. Despite destroying over 40 kTon of enemy military vessels without a single loss in life 2nd Fleet was forced to depart the system after running out of ammunition due to faulty weaponry. On return after rearming 2nd fleet was confronted by a single mismatched  fighter squadron massing less than 3.5 kTon which proceeded to fry every scanner and fire control using militarized microwaves before a single missile could be launched.

Protesters continue to demand Treason charges for all parties responsible, both military and civilian, in allowing the fleets state of the art multi-warhead missiles to be given unauthorized, unreported, and untested 'smart tracking' upgrades. So far the fleet commander has been cleared of wrong doing and awarded medals for uncommon valor, but speculators continue to believe High Command will identify someone of rank to bear the full charge of treason to appears the masses.



*    *    *    *    *    *    *

Viable beam fighter fleets are extremely tricky. The philosophy accepts a steep tonnage penalty for splitting costs between both carrier and fighter in return for massive speed increase in the fighters. In Alpha Centauri this was managed by sacrificing the carriers to tank missile hits to avoid wasted tonnage. However, this fleet attempted to avoid that sacrifice by using minimalist carriers and hit-run heavy-armor fighters. This was not quite as effective as in practice as on paper. On the plus side microwave fighters once again proved absolutely awesome at jump point defense.

This war had four battles. First contact skirmish, Beam Ship jump emergence, Missile fleet jump exit, and Missile Fleet jump return.

The fight opened with the Barracuda and Taranula fighters making a recon run on Str-314 Res-75 beacon seen approaching. The missile artillery promptly launched torpedoes, and then reversed course 20 minutes later. The fighters concluded they had been spotted and concluded they had been detected at 70m km by a res-4 scanner. The continued briefly and then retreated to 80m km in hopes of thwarting any launched missiles. It was a good attempt, but they didn't retreat far enough. Four (out of sixteen launched) torpedoes impacted shortly thereafter. The fighters learned they could be targeted by str-9 warheads at 80m+ km, the artillery ships discovered the fighters had at least three layers of armor. The fighters limped away and the artillery set up position 45m km off of the fighter jump point.

On month later the far-side carrier fleet returned with an additional 2 Barracudas, 3 Tarantulas, 3 Jaguars, and 5 Scorpions. The carriers jumped through and made a run for it. Their fighters were released for an attack run on the missile fleet, while the black widows made best speed to join up with the outbound carriers. At the same time the remaining fighters began their attack run from the far side to cut of any escape. The timing was a little off, but everything appeared on the missile fleet scanners within 20 minutes.

The missile fleet held position, and once it was clear the fighters were committed began launching heavy waves of every type of missile at both the fleeing carriers and nearest groups of fighters. The firing only stopped once enough ordinance had been launched to take the full collier reloads. The colliers were ordered to head back for reloads while the missile fleet waited for results.

The first casualty came at 22:29:26 when a torpedo struck Scorpion #11 and destroyed a microwave beam via shock damage: 5 dead. Scorpion #12 was struck moments later and lost an engine to shock damage... which promptly detonated in a secondary explosion that took out the fusion reactor, engineering station, and microwave with it. The debut of the multi-warhead missiles, however, proved disastrous. Against the high speed fighters separation ranges as early as 24m were reported, leading the size-2 payload missiles to run out of fuel early. Not a single delivery van payload directed at an inbound fighter scored a hit.

No longer trusting any of the delivery vans still in flight, redundant torpedoes waves were launched against the fleeing carriers, and in miserly ones and twos against the remaining fighters with priority given to killing the barracuda fighter scouts once their active scanners were detected. When the fighters came close the primary scanner was deactivated and the delivery vans were used as point blank canister shot to take out targets of opportunity while dodging the blundering fighters. The fighters attempted a search pattern, but artillery ships had already slipped away.



Once the fighters gave up and headed back the carriers the primary scanner was reactivated to give the delivery vans a second chance in firing run against the slower Black Widows. Once again the payload was deployed early, but not so early that they were unable to reach their target. The missile fleet was dominating, but was now nearly depleted of ordinance.

The rest is tales of valor. Of the missile fleet charge toward their exit with the last missile destroying the last active scanner between them and the jump point. Of the failed attempt by the still active Tarantulas to use their missiles as mines, and of defeat of the returning giants against the repaired remnant numbering just six, not counting the crew less drones or the trio on the carriers for moral recovery.

The only functioning meson cannon at the end was on a repaired jaguar with 100% casualties that could not fire, but it was not required. Without ever inflicting a single casualty the beam fighters completed their mission by gaining control of the entire system. So here is to the heroes, those survivors, the last few and often under crewed fighters that won only the last final battle, but in doing so won the war.


Victory(marginal): Beam Fighters.
Beam Fighter Losses: 2 light carriers, one jump ship, two escorts, 34 fighters.
Missile Artillery Losses: None.

Things I learned:
2nd Stage Separation Range == 1st Stage Distance to Interception.
Ships with a zero remaining crew (or a negative crew) can have a negative moral which gives a negative hit chance.
Life pods are always created, even when they contain no survivors.
High Power microwave fighters are highly effective defending jump points.

For their part the Missile Artillery fleet has been granted updated missiles with a smaller separation range for future battles.

Coming soon, the fleets for match #2.
 

Offline sublight (OP)

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2015, 08:07:32 PM »
Exhibition Fleet #3: Stealth Missile Cruisers

Rather than optimize for extreme range, the Stealth Missile cruisers opted to use cloaking systems to provide all the benefits of using a small number of large ships that can only be detected at fast-attack craft ranges. Sadly, the exorbitant expense of cloaking technology forced this fleet to pass on Magneto-plasma drives making this fleet one of the slowest around.

Tactics are simple. Fly directly toward the opponent jump point, and allow the enemy to come to them. Open combat with long range armored missiles to soak and saturate any AMM defenses favored by missile armed opponents, then close to medium range to mix high-speed size-4 missiles masked by volleys of Size-1 ASMs to overwhelm any beam point defenses. If that fails use any remaining AMMs offensively to cover a retreat to the collier to rearm.

Production Tech:
Construction [14], Ordinance [14]

Order of Battle:
2x Tribal
2x Melbourn
1x Amphion
1x Sydney

Code: [Select]
Tribal class Cruiser    8 000 tons     258 Crew     1682.72 BP      TCS 32  TH 346  EM 0
2162 km/s     Armour 2-35     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 6     PPV 22
Maint Life 2.6 Years     MSP 855    AFR 78%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 178    5YR 2665    Max Repair 800 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 294   

172.8 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 172.8    Fuel Use 45.18%    Signature 172.8    Exp 9%
Fuel Capacity 610 000 Litres    Range 30.4 billion km   (162 days at full power)

S1 10s Launcher (6)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
S4 40s Launcher (4)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 40
Missile Fire Control FC33-R10 (1)     Range 33.4m km    Resolution 10
Missile Fire Control FC105-R100 (1)     Range 105.6m km    Resolution 100
Missile Fire Control FC10-R1 (1)     Range 10.6m km    Resolution 1
SnapShot AMM (84)  Speed: 34 200 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 2.3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 239/143/71
Dualing AMM (66)  Speed: 30 000 km/s   End: 12.9m    Range: 23.3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 190/114/57
S4 Cruise Missile (20)  Speed: 20 300 km/s   End: 83.8m    Range: 102.1m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 101/60/30
S4 Syncronus (16)  Speed: 30 000 km/s   End: 17.9m    Range: 32.2m km   WH: 6    Size: 4    TH: 160/96/48

Active Search Sensor MR105-R100 (1)     GPS 9600     Range 105.6m km    Resolution 100
Cloaking Device: Class cross-section reduced to 20% of normal
The Tribal comes in three variants: The classic Tribal with an R100 active scanner, the Melbourn with an R1 active scanner, and the Amphion with an R10 active scanner. The cruisers are otherwise identical.

Code: [Select]
Sydney class Collier    5 350 tons     114 Crew     818 BP      TCS 107  TH 428  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 4-27     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 10
Maint Life 3.34 Years     MSP 143    AFR 152%    IFR 2.1%    1YR 19    5YR 292    Max Repair 96 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 350   

12.6 EP Ion Drive (34)    Power 12.6    Fuel Use 78.29%    Signature 12.6    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 700 000 Litres    Range 30.1 billion km   (87 days at full power)

S1 10s Launcher (2)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
S4 40s Launcher (2)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 40
Missile Fire Control FC33-R10 (1)     Range 33.4m km    Resolution 10
SnapShot AMM (36)  Speed: 34 200 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 2.3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 239/143/71
Dualing AMM (40)  Speed: 30 000 km/s   End: 12.9m    Range: 23.3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 190/114/57
S4 Cruise Missile (14)  Speed: 20 300 km/s   End: 83.8m    Range: 102.1m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 101/60/30
S4 Syncronus (12)  Speed: 30 000 km/s   End: 17.9m    Range: 32.2m km   WH: 6    Size: 4    TH: 160/96/48

Active Search Sensor MR33-R10 (1)     GPS 960     Range 33.4m km    Resolution 10
The Sydney is intended primarily for resupply runs and is not expected to see action if all goes to plan. This oversized collier starts with a half-load of ordinance due to budget limitations but can rearm a cruiser and a half with every resupply run.



Exhibition Fleet #4: Fast Rail Frigates
The champions of the Alpha Centauri Ion Era, the fast railguns are back with extra active scanners, thicker armor, and an even faster relative speed. Primary changes since their last appearance include the use of dedicated tankers plus a fast scout intended to follow any missile fighters back to their carriers rather than intercepters to engage and interdict.

Production Tech:
Construction [14], Fuel [14]

Order of Battle:
3x Halifax frigates
3x Kingston frigates
2x Protector frigates
3x Annapolis fast scouts
3x Iroquois tankers

Code: [Select]
Halifax class Frigate    5 000 tons     156 Crew     1130.2 BP      TCS 100  TH 742  EM 0
7420 km/s     Armour 4-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 21
Maint Life 3.83 Years     MSP 283    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 30    5YR 455    Max Repair 92.8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Cryogenic Berths 200   

185.6 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 185.6    Fuel Use 139.75%    Signature 185.6    Exp 14%
Fuel Capacity 600 000 Litres    Range 15.5 billion km   (24 days at full power)

15cm Railgun V4/C3 (1x4)    Range 120 000km     TS: 7420 km/s     Power 9-3     RM 4    ROF 15        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
10cm Railgun V4/C3 (5x4)    Range 40 000km     TS: 7420 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01.5 36-8000 (1)    Max Range: 72 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
Fire Control S03 72-8000 (1)    Max Range: 144 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Fusion Reactor 6 (3)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR7-R1 (1)     GPS 64     Range 7.0m km    MCR 767k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Iroquois class Tanker    3 500 tons     27 Crew     419.8 BP      TCS 70  TH 264  EM 0
3771 km/s     Armour 2-20     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.52 Years     MSP 75    AFR 98%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 16    5YR 246    Max Repair 49.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   

132 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 132    Fuel Use 26.01%    Signature 132    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 1 950 000 Litres    Range 385.5 billion km   (1183 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Kingston class Frigate    5 000 tons     156 Crew     1118.2 BP      TCS 100  TH 742  EM 0
7420 km/s     Armour 4-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/33/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 21
Maint Life 3.89 Years     MSP 280    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 29    5YR 439    Max Repair 92.8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Cryogenic Berths 200   

185.6 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 185.6    Fuel Use 139.75%    Signature 185.6    Exp 14%
Fuel Capacity 600 000 Litres    Range 15.5 billion km   (24 days at full power)

15cm Railgun V4/C3 (1x4)    Range 120 000km     TS: 7420 km/s     Power 9-3     RM 4    ROF 15        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
10cm Railgun V4/C3 (5x4)    Range 40 000km     TS: 7420 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S03 72-8000 (1)    Max Range: 144 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Fire Control S01.5 36-8000 (1)    Max Range: 72 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
Fusion Reactor 6 (3)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (1)     GPS 20     Range 2.1m km    MCR 230k km    Resolution 1
EM Detection Sensor EM3-33 (1)     Sensitivity 33     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Protecteur class Frigate    5 000 tons     158 Crew     1092.2 BP      TCS 100  TH 742  EM 0
7420 km/s     Armour 4-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 30/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 21
Maint Life 3.82 Years     MSP 273    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 29    5YR 442    Max Repair 92.8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   

185.6 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 185.6    Fuel Use 139.75%    Signature 185.6    Exp 14%
Fuel Capacity 600 000 Litres    Range 15.5 billion km   (24 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V4/C3 (5x4)    Range 40 000km     TS: 7420 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
15cm Railgun V4/C3 (1x4)    Range 120 000km     TS: 7420 km/s     Power 9-3     RM 4    ROF 15        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Fire Control S03 72-8000 (1)    Max Range: 144 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Fire Control S01.5 36-8000 (1)    Max Range: 72 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
Fusion Reactor 6 (3)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Thermal Sensor TH5-30 (1)     Sensitivity 30     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  30m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Annapolis class Fast Scout Craft    290 tons     8 Crew     63.4 BP      TCS 5.8  TH 65  EM 0
11206 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0.5
Maint Life 41.71 Years     MSP 68    AFR 1%    IFR 0%    1YR 0    5YR 1    Max Repair 10.8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   

21.6 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 21.6    Fuel Use 146.75%    Signature 21.6    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 20 000 Litres    Range 8.5 billion km   (8 days at full power)

Gauss Cannon R1-8% (1)    Range 10 000km     TS: 11206 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 1    ROF 5        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.1 HS (FTR) BFC (1)    Max Range: 24 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     58 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Active Search Sensor MR2-R8 (1)     GPS 64     Range 2.5m km    Resolution 8

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

On further thought, I believe I will post all of the fleets before resuming the battle reports.

Next post: Fleet Missile FAC and Fleet Tractor Module Beams
 

Offline sublight (OP)

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2015, 06:57:59 PM »
Exhibition Fleet #5: FAC Missile Boats
Massed box launches fired from small speedy platforms are one of the most popular approaches for butchering enemy fleets. With the Battle for Barnard's Star setup permitting fighters as replaceable this faction predicted that everyone else would have anti-fighter scanners, and thus chose to use larger more capable FAC for missile delivery complete with their own AMM escorts.

To hedge their bets, the FAC Missile Boat fleet also tossed some cheap plasma carronades and backup scanner onto their colliers for extra variety.

Initial Tactics:
On entry send the FAC wings down the center toward the opposing jump point at 4 k km/s while the tenders and colliers slink of to hide in deep space. The enemy should mistake the FACs for a conventional fleet and move to intercept. Begin a full speed attack run once opposing active scanners are detected. Make an early retreat to rearm if more than half of the AMM are expended fending off any counter attacks before entering missile range.

Production Tech:
Construction [14] Ordinance [12]

Order of Battle:
5x Gomati Tenders, each with 1x Nirbhik Interceptor, 1x Trinka Fast Scout, and 2x Rana Missile Boats.
4x Nipat Colliers

Code: [Select]
Nirbhik class Interceptor    750 tons     10 Crew     200.9 BP      TCS 15  TH 160  EM 0
10666 km/s     Armour 1-7     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4.05
Maint Life 7.37 Years     MSP 42    AFR 18%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 1    5YR 20    Max Repair 63 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 27   

32 EP Magneto-plasma Drive B (5)    Power 32    Fuel Use 392.02%    Signature 32    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 30 000 Litres    Range 1.8 billion km   (47 hours at full power)

S1 Box Launcher (27)    Missile Size 1    Hangar Reload 7.5 minutes    MF Reload 1.2 hours
MFC-6.9-R1 (1)     Range 6.9m km    Resolution 1
S1 Panic (27)  Speed: 39 000 km/s   End: 2.9m    Range: 6.9m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 208/124/62

Active Search Sensor MR6-R1 (1)     GPS 63     Range 6.9m km    MCR 755k 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]
Trinkat class Fast Scout    750 tons     13 Crew     230.9 BP      TCS 15  TH 160  EM 0
10666 km/s     Armour 2-7     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/22/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.42 Years     MSP 48    AFR 18%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 6    5YR 94    Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months    Spare Berths 5   

32 EP Magneto-plasma Drive B (5)    Power 32    Fuel Use 392.02%    Signature 32    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 30 000 Litres    Range 1.8 billion km   (47 hours at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR81-R55 (1)     GPS 5487     Range 81.4m km    Resolution 55
EM Detection Sensor EM2-22 (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Rana class Missile Boat    750 tons     9 Crew     186.7 BP      TCS 15  TH 160  EM 0
10666 km/s     Armour 1-7     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4.5
Maint Life 6.17 Years     MSP 39    AFR 18%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 2    5YR 26    Max Repair 34 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months    Spare Berths 3   
Magazine 30   

32 EP Magneto-plasma Drive B (5)    Power 32    Fuel Use 392.02%    Signature 32    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 30 000 Litres    Range 1.8 billion km   (47 hours at full power)

Size 3 Box Launcher (10)    Missile Size 3    Hangar Reload 22.5 minutes    MF Reload 3.7 hours
MFC82-R55 (2)     Range 82.2m km    Resolution 55
S3 Ender (10)  Speed: 34 800 km/s   End: 40m    Range: 83.5m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 150/90/45

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
Code: [Select]
Gomati class FAC Tender    6 000 tons     94 Crew     736.8 BP      TCS 120  TH 272  EM 0
2266 km/s     Armour 2-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/22/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.9 Years     MSP 230    AFR 96%    IFR 1.3%    1YR 40    5YR 606    Max Repair 57.8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 71   
Hangar Deck Capacity 3000 tons     Magazine 96   

136 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 136    Fuel Use 41.96%    Signature 136    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 550 000 Litres    Range 39.3 billion km   (200 days at full power)

S1 Panic (27)  Speed: 39 000 km/s   End: 2.9m    Range: 6.9m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 208/124/62
S3 Ender (20)  Speed: 34 800 km/s   End: 40m    Range: 83.5m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 150/90/45

EM Detection Sensor EM2-22 (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m 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
Code: [Select]
Nipat class Collier    4 500 tons     100 Crew     577.48 BP      TCS 90  TH 408  EM 0
4533 km/s     Armour 4-24     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 12
Maint Life 3.34 Years     MSP 160    AFR 81%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 22    5YR 326    Max Repair 57.8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 261   

136 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 136    Fuel Use 41.96%    Signature 136    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 350 000 Litres    Range 33.4 billion km   (85 days at full power)

20cm C2 Plasma Carronade (2)    Range 100 000km     TS: 4533 km/s     Power 10-2     RM 1    ROF 25        10 5 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
Fire Control S04 64-4000 (1)    Max Range: 128 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Tiny (2)     Total Power Output 4.8    Armour 0    Exp 5%

S1 Panic (81)  Speed: 39 000 km/s   End: 2.9m    Range: 6.9m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 208/124/62
S3 Ender (60)  Speed: 34 800 km/s   End: 40m    Range: 83.5m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 150/90/45

Shoehorn Active MR1.4-R9 (1)     GPS 38     Range 1.4m km    Resolution 9

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



Exhibition Fleet #6: Tractor Beam Modular Fleet
The tractor beams subscribe to Ender's-Game theory. The objectives are the gates, not the fleets, and the limitations are in minerals, not tonnage. To this end their fleet attempts to maximize efficiency per credit, and delegates propulsion to inexpensive commercial tugs and backfilled the volume normally occupied by propulsion with cheap low-tech 10cm rail guns. With no missiles or fighters this fleet has no need or advantage to retreat to the resupply base, and with no need for speed Magneto Plasma propulsion was traded for increased production efficiency.

Tactics:
Make speed toward the enemy gate, destroying anything in the fleet's path. After securing the enemy jump point divide forces: half the fleet is to hold the enemy jump point, half to return to enforce security of the fleet's own entry point. Wait out the clock, and detatch modules whenever increased speed is necessary.

Production Tech:
Construction [16]

Order of Battle:
5x Verutum Tugs
10x Lancea Base Stars
5x Spiculum Monitors

Code: [Select]
Lancea class Base Star    5 000 tons     194 Crew     724.2 BP      TCS 100  TH 0  EM 0
1 km/s     Armour 5-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 44
Maint Life 3.12 Years     MSP 181    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 28    5YR 420    Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Tractor Beam     


25cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 320 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 16-3     RM 3    ROF 30        16 16 16 12 9 8 6 5 5 4
15cm C2 Near Ultraviolet Laser (3)    Range 180 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-2     RM 3    ROF 15        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
10cm Railgun V1/C2 (8x4)    Range 10 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 3-2     RM 1    ROF 10        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Close BFC (3)    Max Range: 64 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
BFC Long (1)    Max Range: 320 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (6)     Total Power Output 27    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR5-R1 (1)     GPS 54     Range 5.9m km    MCR 647k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Verutum class Tug    15 000 tons     115 Crew     713.2 BP      TCS 300  TH 1080  EM 0
3600 km/s     Armour 6-54     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 0
MSP 89    Max Repair 24 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Cryogenic Berths 1000   

120 EP Commercial Ion Drive (9)    Power 120    Fuel Use 6.07%    Signature 120    Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 350 000 Litres    Range 69.2 billion km   (222 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Spiculum class Monitor    4 000 tons     147 Crew     557.2 BP      TCS 80  TH 0  EM 0
1 km/s     Armour 5-22     Shields 0-0     Sensors 30/30/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 30
Maint Life 4.13 Years     MSP 174    AFR 64%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 16    5YR 245    Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Tractor Beam     


15cm C2 Near Ultraviolet Laser (3)    Range 160 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-2     RM 3    ROF 15        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
10cm Railgun V1/C2 (6x4)    Range 10 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 3-2     RM 1    ROF 10        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Close BFC (2)    Max Range: 64 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01 80-4000 (1)    Max Range: 160 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     94 88 81 75 69 62 56 50 44 38
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Pebble Bed Reactor Technology PB-1 (3)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Thermal Sensor TH2.75-30 (1)     Sensitivity 30     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  30m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2.75-30.25 (1)     Sensitivity 30.25     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  30.25m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
 

Offline JacenHan

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2015, 11:17:36 PM »
Why are the modular fleet's railguns Capacitor 2, when they seem to have used Capacitor 3 in their 25cm lasers? Is it to save cost?
 

Offline sublight (OP)

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2015, 06:57:46 AM »
Bingo, cost saving. They figure that at this tech level nobody will be using any tech more than one tier higher than the propulsion, or reload 5 at most. Since a size-1 launch would still cycling at 10s, a 10s point defense cycle as all they think they need.
 

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2015, 09:24:41 PM »
Exhibition Fleet #7: Mine Layers
The mine layers are cowards, who have no plans on ever engaging in direct combat. The plan is to mine the jump points with traditional buoys protected from anti-missile fire by micro-fighter weapon platforms. If necessary, a minefield can be deployed in deep space that opponents can be lured into. When in doubt, drop the mines and run home for a resupply.

Production Tech:
Construction [12] Fuel [12] Ordinance [12] Fighters [12]

Order of Battle:
4x Broadsword Mine Layers
4x Sepulchre Mine Layers
4x Crossbow Scouts

Resupply Stockpile
3x Broadsword fighter loads
4x Sepulchre missile loads
361 S2 Payback missiles
1,050,000L fuel
1,300 MSP

Code: [Select]
Broadsword class Minelayer    4 750 tons     72 Crew     606.48 BP      TCS 95  TH 346  EM 0
3642 km/s     Armour 3-25     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.57 Years     MSP 160    AFR 90%    IFR 1.3%    1YR 34    5YR 509    Max Repair 51.84 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 2   
Hangar Deck Capacity 2000 tons     Magazine 56   

115.2 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 115.2    Fuel Use 56.55%    Signature 115.2    Exp 9%
Fuel Capacity 460 000 Litres    Range 30.8 billion km   (97 days at full power)

S2 Payback (25)  Speed: 26 600 km/s   End: 18.2m    Range: 29m km   WH: 4    Size: 2    TH: 115/69/34

Strike Group
1x Baldwin Collier   Speed: 1 km/s    Size: 4.95
1x Warhorse Recon Satellite   Speed: 1 km/s    Size: 4.8
6x Reconquista Hunter   Speed: 1 km/s    Size: 4.95

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
This unconventional minelayer carries 8x 250 ton self-reloading 'mines.'

Code: [Select]
Reconquista class Hunter    248 tons     9 Crew     46.7 BP      TCS 4.95  TH 0  EM 0
1 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 2.5
Maint Life 21.88 Years     MSP 29    AFR 1%    IFR 0%    1YR 0    5YR 2    Max Repair 19 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 10   


Size 2 Missile Launcher (25% Reduction) (5)    Missile Size 2    Rate of Fire 2000
Missile Fire Control FC27-R19 (1)     Range 27.6m km    Resolution 19
S2 Payback (5)  Speed: 26 600 km/s   End: 18.2m    Range: 29m km   WH: 4    Size: 2    TH: 115/69/34

Backup Active (1)     GPS 61     Range 1.5m km    Resolution 19

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]
Warhorse class Recon Satellite    240 tons     10 Crew     69.7 BP      TCS 4.8  TH 0  EM 0
1 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 11.43 Years     MSP 45    AFR 1%    IFR 0%    1YR 1    5YR 9    Max Repair 60 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   


Active Search Sensor MR28-R18 (1)     GPS 1080     Range 28.0m km    Resolution 18

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Baldwin class Collier    248 tons     6 Crew     34.46 BP      TCS 4.95  TH 0  EM 0
1 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 22    AFR 1%    IFR 0%    1YR 0    5YR 0    Max Repair 8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 56   


S2 Payback (25)  Speed: 26 600 km/s   End: 18.2m    Range: 29m km   WH: 4    Size: 2    TH: 115/69/34

Strike Group
0x Baldwin Collier   Speed: 1 km/s    Size: 4.95

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]
Sepulchre class Minelayer    3 150 tons     62 Crew     450.68 BP      TCS 63  TH 230  EM 0
3650 km/s     Armour 3-19     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 10.5
Maint Life 4.76 Years     MSP 134    AFR 52%    IFR 0.7%    1YR 10    5YR 146    Max Repair 51.84 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 287   

115.2 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 115.2    Fuel Use 56.55%    Signature 115.2    Exp 9%
Fuel Capacity 300 000 Litres    Range 30.3 billion km   (96 days at full power)

S7 Launcher (50% Reduction) (3)    Missile Size 7    Rate of Fire 350
Missile Fire Control FC27-R19 (1)     Range 27.6m km    Resolution 19
S7 Static Mine (26)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0.1m km   WH: 0    Size: 7    TH: 0/0/0
S7 Self Propelled Mine (15)  Speed: 10 200 km/s   End: 244m    Range: 149.5m km   WH: 0    Size: 7    TH: 34/20/10

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
A classic minelayer. The static-mines contain a payload of 3x size-2 rockets. The self propelled mine only has two. Both have onboard sensors and are programed to fire on anything within 133k km, which the payload rockets can strike within 5 seconds.
Code: [Select]
Crossbow class Scout    3 150 tons     92 Crew     550.28 BP      TCS 63  TH 230  EM 0
3650 km/s     Armour 3-19     Shields 0-0     Sensors 110/110/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 5
Maint Life 2.92 Years     MSP 164    AFR 52%    IFR 0.7%    1YR 28    5YR 427    Max Repair 110 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   

115.2 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 115.2    Fuel Use 56.55%    Signature 115.2    Exp 9%
Fuel Capacity 300 000 Litres    Range 30.3 billion km   (96 days at full power)

Particle Beam-2 (1)    Range 144 000km     TS: 3650 km/s     Power 5-1    ROF 25        2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Fire Control S01.5 72-2000 (1)    Max Range: 144 000 km   TS: 2000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Stellarator P1 Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 1.2    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR1-R1 (1)     GPS 16     Range 1.8m km    MCR 192k km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH10-110 (1)     Sensitivity 110     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  110m km
EM Detection Sensor EM10-110 (1)     Sensitivity 110     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  110m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The primary purpose of the crossbow is to keep the fleet out of trouble. The single particle beam is included to finish off cripples from as far away as possible with the least research wasted on beam-tech.



Exhibition Fleet #8: Beam Leviathans
This one-size-fits-all approach relies on a single generalist class protected by a full layered defense of beam turret, CIWS, Shields, armor, and even a little ECM to maximize defense against everything. Natural, this is a very large class. The turreted 15-cm lasers are intended to do double duty for both offense and defense.

Tactics
None. With a size seen by anything active and Thermal/EM signatures spotted by all the Leviathans make no effort at fancy maneuvers, advanced planing, or subtly. Just capture the opposing gate, and when the clock runs out send half the fleet back to their own jump point to prove they can still transit.

Production Tech:
Construction [14] Fuel [12]

Order of Battle:
4x Krivak Battleships

Code: [Select]
Krivak class Battleship    14 000 tons     326 Crew     2157.9 BP      TCS 280  TH 900  EM 1500
3214 km/s     Armour 5-51     Shields 50-400     Sensors 1/8/0/0     Damage Control Rating 5     PPV 55.2
Maint Life 2.15 Years     MSP 482    AFR 313%    IFR 4.4%    1YR 139    5YR 2092    Max Repair 77 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 4   
Cryogenic Berths 200   

180 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (5)    Power 180    Fuel Use 33.12%    Signature 180    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 1 000 000 Litres    Range 38.8 billion km   (139 days at full power)
Gamma R400/384 Shields (25)   Total Fuel Cost  400 Litres per hour  (9 600 per day)

Twin 15cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (5x2)    Range 240 000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 12-6     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
CIWS-160 (4x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Long Range Fire Con (2)    Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
High Speed Fire-Con (2)    Max Range: 64 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
Stellarator Fusion Reactor (5)     Total Power Output 30    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR4-R1 (1)     GPS 57     Range 4.6m km    MCR 497k km    Resolution 1
EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  8m km

ECM 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes



Ladies and Gentlemen, those are the contestants for the Battle of Barnard's Star!

I haven't decided if rematches will be double-elimination bracket style or round-robin rankings by decisiveness of victory/defeat, but that choice can wait until after the remaining three battles of the first round conclude.
 

Offline sublight (OP)

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #8 on: August 30, 2015, 01:12:34 PM »
Round 1, Match 2

Ladies and Gentlemen, next two contesting fleets are now entering Barnard's Star. From the North we have the Stealth Missile cruisers, massing just over 45 kTons and moving at 2.2 K km/s. From the South the Fast Rail frigates are entering with 51 kTon and moving at an impressive 7.4 K km/s. Both factions have elected to leave their colliers and tankers on the far side of the jump point for the time being, but that situation could soon change.

Annnd... Contact! Twenty hours on the clock, and the rail frigates have detected the opposing active scanners. The fleets are still a solid 300m km apart, so the action will not be starting just yet.

The clock now shows 26 hours and 5 minutes. The Stealth Cruisers established active contact twenty minutes ago, and are now launching their long ranged armored missiles with 4 waves of 20 now in flight. 20 missiles in a wave from a fleet this size is rather light, but the layer of missile armor should help compensate for AMM, Gauss, and Railgun fire. Telemetry indicates that the first and last waves are focused entirely on Protector 001 and Protector 002 respectively, with the intermediate missiles spread evenly across the other ships in hopes of softening them up a little. The Stealth Cruisers carry enough long range ordinance for five waves, but the fifth is being held in reserve for now.

The clock is ticking, T-10, T-5, and... ho! That was anticlimactic! The time is 27 hours and 5 minutes, and the fast rail frigates point defense just destroyed each and every incoming missile from that wave! Sensors indicate 40x energy impacts of str-0, str-1 or str-3. It is now obvious to the stealth missiles that their opponents are armed extensively with 10cm and 15cm railguns. Those frigates are flying high, but I imagine the officers of the missile cruisers are feeling rather consternated.

Now, this was not entirely unexpected, and the stealth cruisers are now allowing the range to close to a close 20m km before launching a coordinated salvo of 50x size 1 and size 4 missiles. Wait for it.. wait for it... there! Five missile waves: Two waves of 50 mixed munitions separated by three waves of 30 size-one missiles.



Impact! First Blood! The frigate point defenses were saturated, and Protector was just struck by 13 leakers packing 48 points of damage. However, the frigate armor was -almost- up for even this, with just two points of damage reaching the interior to vent two small fuel tanks to space. The frigates did much better against the following waves pure size one missiles however, with only a single missile leak. The final wave did much the same a the first, but was targeted on the other protector allowing all damage to be absorbed by armor.

By now missile fleet is firing much more conservatively, launching waves just once per minute once every launcher has reloaded. The first two use the remaining synchronized size-4 missiles, with one destroying every fire control on one protector, and the other destroying half the engines of the other.

The cruisers continue to launch missiles, now firing size-1 from every launch tube, each wave hammering one or the other protector frigates: each wave inflicting a little extra damage as fire controls and railgun are lost. The cruisers are now firing their last two medium range missile waves but Oh The Humanity! One frigate just suffered twin secondary explosions for an additional 22 points of damage.

Now that the dust has settled it doesn't look good for the missile fleet. Somehow all frigates are stiff flying, even if Protector one if moving slower than the stealth cruisers and the other has no remaining sensors. Up until now the undamaged frigates had been protectively following the Protectors, but those are now moving too slow and no long offer any tactical benefit except as decoys. The Protectors are turning back for their jump point, the remaining frigates are accelerating for an intercept, and the cruisers deactivated their long and medium range scanners! It appears the cruisers are going for the evade, but it is now far too late for that. By now the frigates are just 15m km out, and will be able to reach the cruisers last known position before the cruisers clear the frigate's active scanner range.

And, contact, again. The frigates are changing course, and the cruisers are still holding fire. They have enough missiles to maim two or three more frigates, but that still leaves at least three frigates inbound. Instead, the cruisers are holding fire until point-blank range to make every missile count. One way or another this ends soon.

The range is winding down, 213k k... 192k km... 172k km... missiles! One Annapolis is down, a second Annapolis is down, a Halifax has dropped out of formation, and now two of the Stealth cruisers are dead. It is over folks. A few missiles are still firing, but now the fire controls are being destroyed before missiles can impact. Only the Amphion is still flying and... she is gone too.

Fast Rail Frigates are Victorious
Decisive Victory!

Losses:
Stealth Missiles: All cruisers.
Fast Rail: Two Annapolis fighters lost, with Protector 001, 002, and Halifax 001 reporting heavy damage.

Those expensive cloaking devices were just dead weight in this fight.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2015, 01:15:24 PM by sublight »
 

Offline Nightstar

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #9 on: September 04, 2015, 08:15:10 PM »
Oh cool, I remember the last one of these.

Comments:
Fleet 1: Missile Artillery
3176 total mag space, not counting reloads.
1178+1178+780+1500 = 4636 total warhead, NCR.
This fleet...is actually pretty good, not counting the mistake with the MIRV setup.

I'm a little confused as to why the ships are so big, given that you could easily separate the different sized launchers. Fire control redundancy is generally commendable, but the fleet is pretty much wrecked anyway when the big sensors get broken, as the ships don't have enough MSP for repairs. It's 16% of allowed BP spent on SY size, and I can't see the gain.

With only a factor of 12.5 between your sensor sizes, I'd have consolidated those, but that's more in the realm of personal preference. I play with small sized missile ships a lot, so I tend to use massive fighter res sensors on any fleets without significant missile defense. When I think twice I realize you need at least two sensors to hold two JPs, duh.

I bet I could make a bunch small optimizations, but I'm finicky. I like this fleet anyway.

Fleet 2: Beam Fighters
This is a very interesting fleet. I would have bet on it getting utterly ruined by the missile artillery, but the reinforcements seem to make it usable. Generally speaking, beam fighters at this tech and with these restrictions aren't good. All you get from the fighter size is a cheaper BFC and no bridge. Fast hangar carried ships still have potential, but a larger size would tend to be better. With the reinforcement rules, fighters become clearly superior. Completely different from anything I would have made, and yet interesting.

Fleet 3: Stealth Missiles
1820 total mag space, NCR.
1630+204 = 1834 total warhead.
Frankly, stealth at this tech level is a gigantic waste. Unless you outright can't fit the components, just use smaller ships. It still has some potential, but that's mostly because range focused missile ships are scary. With so little firepower, this is going to have a lot of trouble against anything designed to survive more forceful missile fleets. Maybe it'll win on tiebreakers?

Fleet 4: FRFs
Here we go. This is the fast beam fleet archtype, and it's not bad. I'll save the rest of my commentary.

Fleet 5: FAC missiles.
Total mag space: 1959, NC planet reloads.
Warhead: 1070+1284 = 2354 NC planet reloads.
This is fun. It'll probably win any time it goes to tiebreaker, and it's pretty well designed.  It probably doesn't have enough firepower to handle this arena, but you can't do much about that without changing the fleet drastically. I really would have differentiated the scouts by giving one of them a big EM sensor though. Sensitivity 22 just isn't enough to spot an anti-fighter sensor before you're in range. That would cost less than 1k RP, and the warning would prevent any major losses.

Fleet 6: Tractors
Um, IIRC tractors were changed so that you can't link more than two ships together at a time. Have you tested this? If it works, it's an okay slow beam fleet. Not much else to say really.

Fleet 7: Minelayers
1756 total magazine space, NCR.
1120+1248+480 = 2848 total warhead, NCR.
My gut reaction is that this sucks. No ability to survive missile fire, and not enough missiles of its own to destroy fleets with heavy defenses. A second look, and it seems like it'll actually do okay in this arena. A third look, and I see that the fighter "mines" are useless after a month. If a fleet manages to avoid getting utterly destroyed, the follow up probably won't go well for the minelayers. I look forward to seeing the results.

Fleet 8: Beam Leviathans
:/
This type of fleet relies on brute force to win, and I think it doesn't have enough. Also, CIWS and ECM weird me out.

Just for fun, this is the fleet I would make: Fast Heavy

The principle is that you only need one beam cruiser to hold a jump point. This is a good thing, because any beam fleet trying to close in on a decent missile fleet is going to take damage. With the tech and requirements set up the way that they are, high speed made more sense for damage absorbency. ...It basically ended up being a fast rail. I think a higher level of drive tech is worthwhile here, even though it made my RP budget really tight. Then I used a really large drive to improve fuel efficiency. I also went for microwaves instead of heavy railguns. Microwaves are far nastier against anything without shields, and they still do three damage to shields, even at max range. For a mid-range weapon system on really fast ships, I think it's the best choice. Didn't quite turn out as I hoped, but I think it's a pretty good demonstration of what brute force can do.

Tactics: Detach tankers. Leave half behind the JP, hide half in the system. Leave high res sensors off unless trying to find an enemy that dropped their own active sensors. Claim opposing JP. Send part of remaining fleet back to claim own JP after a month of waiting or after all possible systems have been repaired, whichever takes longer. In combat, stay at edge of own microwave range (90k km) until everything electronic is thoroughly fried. Disperse the microwave fire unless opponents are obviously shielded. Kill.

Production Tech:
Construction [14] Fuel [12]

Order of Battle:
5x Hurk Cruiser (925.67 BP each after fuel+discounts)
1x Hurk 10 Cruiser
1x Hurk 100 Cruiser
1x Hurk EM Cruiser
8x Fwoosh 4 (161.55 BP each after fuel+discounts)
[300 BP in SY expansion]

Code: [Select]
Hurk class Cruiser    6 250 tons     176 Crew     1272.6 BP      TCS 125  TH 1250  EM 0
10000 km/s     Armour 8-30     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 17
Maint Life 2.24 Years     MSP 1318    AFR 125%    IFR 1.7%    1YR 354    5YR 5304    Max Repair 625 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Cryogenic Berths 200   

1250 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1)    Power 1250    Fuel Use 61.14%    Signature 1250    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 100 000 Litres    Range 4.7 billion km   (5 days at full power)

R9/C3 High Power Microwave (2)    Range 90 000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 9    ROF 10        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
10cm Railgun V1/C3 (3x4)    Range 10 000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 1    ROF 5        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S02 24-12000 (1)    Max Range: 48 000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S02 96-3000 (1)    Max Range: 192 000 km   TS: 3000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (19)     Total Power Output 15.2    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (1)     GPS 40     Range 2.4m km    MCR 261k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Main line cruiser. 1x maint storage bay, 2x eng spaces, 1x small eng space. Hurk 10 and Hurk 100 have those sensor resolutions respectively, with no other changes. Hurk EM changes the sensor to a size 3.75 EM, and switches the cyro for a size 1 res 1 active.

Code: [Select]
Fwoosh 4 class Oiler    800 tons     4 Crew     95.5 BP      TCS 16  TH 30  EM 0
1875 km/s     Armour 1-7     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 10.73 Years     MSP 37    AFR 10%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 9    Max Repair 8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   

30 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1)    Power 30    Fuel Use 12%    Signature 30    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 560 000 Litres    Range 1050.0 billion km   (6481 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
2x large fuel, 1x fuel, 1x small fuel, small eng.


Code: [Select]
Tech
8k: Construction 14
8k: Mining 14
3k Fuel 12
7.5k: Composite armour
6k: 15 cm microwave
6k: Microwave range 3
2k: Small eng section
1k: large fuel section
7k: Fuel consumption 0.7
120k: Internal fusion drive
1k: Maximum engine power modifier x1.25
6k: Capacitor recharge 3
6k: BFC range 24,000
6k: FCSR 3000 km/s
2k: EM 6
=189,500 RP for techs
1,200: R9/C3 High Power Microwave
300: 10cm Railgun V1/C3
6,250: 1250EP Internal Fusion Drive (size 50, EPM 1.25)
75: 30 EP Internal Fusion Drive (size 3, EPM 0.5)
400: Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (size 4, res 1)
400: Active Search Sensor MR7-R10 (size 4, res 10)
400: Active Search Sensor MR24-R100 (size 4, res 100)
100: Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (size 1, res 1)
220: EM Detection Sensor EM3.75-22.5 (size 3.75)
430: Fire Control S02 24-12000 (4x speed, 1x range)
430: Fire Control S02 96-3000 (1x speed, 4x range)
=295 RP left over

Predictions:
Fleet 1:
Beats 2, 4, 7, 8. 8 is assuming it concentrates fire, because CIWS and shields really mess with distributed fire.
Loses to 3, 5
??? 6. I'd weight it towards a win, but it depends on targets I guess.

Fleet 2:
Beats: 4, 6 go go microwaves.
Loses: 3, 5? Not entirely confident. I think 5 is going to do better than 3 though.
Loses 8. It could pull a win if 8 splits its fleet, but since tiebreaker goes to 8 after destroying some of the reinforcements, I'm not sure that'll happen.
Loses 7. Not enough defense to survive the mines.

Fleet 3:
Loses 4. Can't overcome the PD effectively.
Beats 5. Slightly better range ends up counting for all. 5 closes to range, fires, survives the first few waves of missiles, then goes boom.
Loses 6. Again, not enough firepower.
Loses 7. AMMs wreck the traditional mines, but loses the range battle to the fighter mines. Could win if it somehow knew to avoid where the mines were, but it probably doesn't.
Loses 8. Not enough firepower.

Fleet 4:
Loses 5? It takes a whole lot of damage anyway. The fast scouts could be the saviors, except they probably die to AMMs.
Beats 6. Hangs out at 40k km and dominates.
Beats 7. At 5s timestep and perfect crew, it should be able to avoid running into the mines, and the fig-mines can't do enough damage on their own. Loses if it somehow hits the minefield straight on. Remember that a single ship will empty a full minefield, because mines aren't smart.
Beats 8? 48 guns vs 40, and 72% accuracy vs 44, vs about 1200 total defense vs 800. Um, it seems pretty close. Could lose if they headed into the range of the high-speed FC.

Fleet 5:
Loses to 6 I think. Does some damage, but still not enough.
Loses to 7. AMMs beat mines, still doesn't know how to dodge the fighter mines.
Should beat 8 unless it spreads fire.

Fleet 6:
Not sure about 7. Depends on if the tractor chaining works I think.
Same with 8. Can't do enough damage at long range to break the shield :p. All the fleet at once would beat 8, but... yeah.

Fleet 7:
Depends on if its mines get shot down by lasers. At the given deployment range, should happen, so loss.

None of your fleets seem to really dominate. Interesting.

Oh, apologies for never getting the orders in for that old version of this. I swear I wrote them out...
 

Offline sublight (OP)

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #10 on: September 05, 2015, 09:51:38 AM »
Welcome back! I enjoyed your commentaries last time.

Missile Artillery: One recent forum theme has been 'make big ships,' so I wanted to make half of the contestants as large as possible just to see what happens. In theory large ships allow more efficient engines, larger consolidated sensors, favorable shield/CIWS/armor concentrations, etc. However, I don't think I spent enough time with this fleet on 'how to protect multiple jump points.'

Stealth Fleet: I keep hoping stealth will work, and figured I'd combine that with the offensive AMM doctrine. However, cloaking modules make large jump engines look cheap! Almost 50% of the base ship cost comes from the cloaking device. If this was tonnage limited they might have had a chance, but at 800BP/cloak they will not be going far under these rules at this tech level.

Tractor Fleet: Tractor beams are bugged, but not in any way that dooms this challenger. Multiple ships can tractor the same target, but only the first link is considered when calculating speed. This means that multiple tugs can't make a shipyard go faster... but it also means that multiple lamprey modules do not slow a ship down further. For this challenge I keep manually setting the task group speed to the correct slower speed. I would not recommend using this approach in a real game unless you were looking for buggy loopholes to exploit.


I've written off the old challenge version as a learning experience. I had not properly considered the temporal challenges of having several people generate several fleets at the same time under pressure for high performance. If I were to run that challenge again I would use a Serial Attack formate instead of a tournament bracketing where people were challenged to design a fleet that could defeat both the current and previous champion. That would eliminate deadlines and require only one person to design one fleet at a time.
 

Offline MarcAFK

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2015, 01:31:59 AM »
I would like to pit some of these fleets up against a pure AMM fleet designed with similar restrictions, just to see if AMMs really are as OP as they have a reputation for.
" Why is this godforsaken hellhole worth dying for? "
". . .  We know nothing about them, their language, their history or what they look like.  But we can assume this.  They stand for everything we don't stand for.  Also they told me you guys look like dorks. "
"Stop exploding, you cowards.  "
 

Offline sublight (OP)

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #12 on: September 11, 2015, 10:17:34 AM »
Sorry for the slow posting.
I just started Grad-school. And accidentally missed the first two weeks of classes. It will probably be at least another week, maybe two, before I stop panicked cramming long enough to resume posting battle AARs.


Anyway, the AMM focused fleet is a good idea. That is a much discussed strategy that was not well represented here. If I add an AMM fleet at #9 I'll need another beam fleet at #10 for balance. Nightstar, any objection if I save myself the design effort and steal your fast-heavy fleet for position #10?
 

Offline Nightstar

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2015, 05:45:50 PM »
Feel free to have it. ...I may also have spent time on an AMM design, if you want that >_<

Two AMMs per target missile, unless hit by more than a couple leaked missiles, at which point bump it up. Move straight down to enemy JP. Try to move into missile range, but don't move into beam range if possible. Kill anything in range. Prioritize eliminating entire enemy classes. If at enemy JP without engaging anything but enemy missiles, return half of fleet to hold own JP.

Production:
Construction [14], Ordinance [14]

Order of Battle:
2x Drest
6x Crunk 4
11x Fizzle

Code: [Select]
Drest class Surveillance Cruiser    5 000 tons     110 Crew     698.2 BP      TCS 100  TH 160  EM 0
1600 km/s     Armour 8-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 7     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.84 Years     MSP 611    AFR 28%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 43    5YR 646    Max Repair 300 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   

160 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 160    Fuel Use 11.32%    Signature 160    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150 000 Litres    Range 47.7 billion km   (345 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR33-R1 (1)     GPS 300     Range 33.0m km    MCR 3.6m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Crunk 4 class Missile Cruiser    5 000 tons     136 Crew     567.2 BP      TCS 100  TH 160  EM 0
1600 km/s     Armour 2-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 20
Maint Life 3 Years     MSP 142    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 24    5YR 354    Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 547   

160 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 160    Fuel Use 11.32%    Signature 160    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100 000 Litres    Range 31.8 billion km   (230 days at full power)

Size 1 Missile Launcher (20)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC33-R1 (1)     Range 33.0m km    Resolution 1
Size 1 Anti-ship Missile (60)  Speed: 52 000 km/s   End: 9.6m    Range: 30m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 173/104/52
Size 1 Anti-missile Missile V4 (487)  Speed: 40 000 km/s   End: 1.2m    Range: 3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 440/264/132

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]
Fizzle class Escort Cruiser    4 950 tons     163 Crew     311.8 BP      TCS 99  TH 320  EM 0
3232 km/s     Armour 1-25     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 36
Maint Life 2.36 Years     MSP 79    AFR 98%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 19    5YR 290    Max Repair 40 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   

160 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 160    Fuel Use 11.32%    Signature 160    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100 000 Litres    Range 32.1 billion km   (115 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V1/C1 (12x4)    Range 10 000km     TS: 3232 km/s     Power 3-1     RM 1    ROF 15        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01.5 24-4000 (2)    Max Range: 48 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (1)     GPS 20     Range 2.2m km    MCR 240k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Mining+construction+ordnance 14: 24k
HDD armour: 2.5k
MLauncher reload 3: 6k
5x MSP warhead: 14k
Agility 80: 29k
MFSE 85%: 6k
MP engines: 56k
MEPM 2.5x: 30k
Fuel 0.8: 3k
EM 11: 14k
FCSR 2k km/s: 2k
BFCR 16k: 2k
MRRB 20%: 4k
=192,500 RP

10 cm railgun: 150
Capacity 17 Magazine: 50
Size 1 Missile Launcher: 60
160 EP MP drive (size 20, EPM 0.5): 400
2 EP MP missile engine (0.5 MSP, EPM 5): 100
2.6 EP MP missile engine (0.65 MSP, EPM 5): 130
Stellarator Fusion Reactor (size 1): 180
Active Search Sensor (size 30, res 1): 3000
Missile Fire Control (size 10, res 1): 1000
Beam Fire Control (1.5x range, 2x speed): 140
Active Search Sensor (size 2, res 1): 200

Size 1 AMM V4 (0.2 WH, 0.018 fuel, 0.282 agil, 1x 2 EP MP drive): 120
Size 1 ASM (0.2 WH, 0.15 fuel, 1x 2.6 EP MP drive): 90

=198,120 RP

Other thoughts:
The AMM fleet is pretty powerful here, because none of the other missile fleets use size 1 ASMs, or even size 1 payloads in MIRVs. The only real problem is that it might lose in tiebreaks if it can't split into two fleets safely. It's a problem with slow short ranged fleets. If, say, the missile artillery fleet stopped firing with most of its missiles left, splitting this fleet would likely get half of it killed. Theoretically you could add an EM sensor and make it faster, but with the range differential in active sensors, it's still hard to force an engagement.

Missile artillery: The easy solution is to give it enough range to cover both JPs at once. :p

Stealth: In a tech level or so, fights tend to devolve into whichever missile fleet has more range. It might have happened this tech level with slightly different designs. Anyway, once that happens, cloaked ships gain the advantage that you can fit a size 50 active sensor on them without bloating your TCS. Makes them more usable, in that you can basically guarantee that the cloaked ships will be able to shoot first. Cloaks are also pretty cheap if you're far enough up the tech tree. This game isn't.

Tractor: Interesting. I might have to play with tractor fleets sometime.
 

Offline sublight (OP)

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Re: Battle for Barnard's Star
« Reply #14 on: November 20, 2015, 02:18:03 PM »
Looks like I was a little optimistic on when I could resume running battles. Still, I have free time and the next release is still not out, so the Battle for Barnard's Star is resuming for now.

Round 1, Match 3

Lieutenant Commander Pishachi Desai of the Nipat 001 allowed himself to finally relax, slightly. His command was the second ship targeted running the blocade, leaving the Nipat to limp outward on two engines with seven reported casualities. However, she was still faster than the Verutum could tow a Lancea and better still the collier had finaly cleared laser range of the jump point defenders. In total, the task group would deliver 176 Ender anti-ship missiles and 238 panic anti-missile missiles. Losses included nine missiles jetsoned when a magazine was destroyed plus the full load of the Nipat 002 which had only managed 165k km before being forced to abandon ship. He hoped those missiles would be enough.

They almost were. Close enough.


I had planed to include a 'the next day' sequel, featuring the heroic Pishachi Desai finishing off the over-sized tractor tugs armed with the plasma cannonades, but when the dust settled the tugs still had a single fully operational Lancea Base Star remaining which allowed the Verutum Tugs to escape preventing total loss.

Initial combat was almost even.The massed point defense fire of the Tractor fleet was capable of shooting down roughly half of a box-launched salvo, with armor mostly absorbing the remainder. However, the lampreys had a flaw: they were incapable of repairing the tractor module if it was destroyed. As a result any cripples were knocked permanently out of the fight. By the time the Tractors gained the opposing jump point over a third of their combat units had been destroyed or disabled with no FAC losses in return. Failing the secondary objectives, the tractor fleet was forced to split forces to secure both jump points. The FAC responded by offensively using their AMM stores to thin the forces guarding their entry point before making an ammunition run through the softened blockade. When that succeeded all the Tractor fleet could do was to retreat with whatever they could salvage.

Missile FACs are Victorious
Decisive Victory!

Losses:
FAC: One Nipat collier, light damage to a second.
Tractors: All Spiculum Monitors, Nine Lancea Base Stars. Moderate armor damage to one Verutum tug.


Nightstar, I think people want to see a pure AMM fleet in action, so I don't think a fleet that is 65% beam point defense by tonnage qualifies, even if a layered defense is more optimal. I used your base tech selection with minor tweaks for the following:


Code: [Select]
Abasolo class Destroyer Leader    4 600 tons     119 Crew     665.08 BP      TCS 92  TH 166  EM 0
1804 km/s     Armour 5-24     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 9
Maint Life 3.35 Years     MSP 271    AFR 56%    IFR 0.8%    1YR 37    5YR 550    Max Repair 180 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 111   

166.4 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 166.4    Fuel Use 20.03%    Signature 166.4    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 200 000 Litres    Range 39.1 billion km   (250 days at full power)

Size 1 Missile Launcher (9)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
MFC39-R9 (1)     Range 39.6m km    Resolution 9
MFC19-R1 (1)     Range 19.8m km    Resolution 1
S1-ASM (27)  Speed: 48 000 km/s   End: 14.5m    Range: 41.7m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 176/105/52
Nightstar-AMM (84)  Speed: 40 000 km/s   End: 1.4m    Range: 3.4m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 440/264/132

Active MR19.8-R1 (1)     GPS 180     Range 19.8m km    MCR 2.2m 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]
Bahiana class Destroyer    4 600 tons     116 Crew     652.08 BP      TCS 92  TH 166  EM 0
1804 km/s     Armour 5-24     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/33/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 9
Maint Life 4.25 Years     MSP 266    AFR 56%    IFR 0.8%    1YR 24    5YR 354    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 162   

166.4 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 166.4    Fuel Use 20.03%    Signature 166.4    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 200 000 Litres    Range 39.1 billion km   (250 days at full power)

Size 1 Missile Launcher (9)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
MFC39-R9 (1)     Range 39.6m km    Resolution 9
MFC19-R1 (1)     Range 19.8m km    Resolution 1
S1-ASM (36)  Speed: 48 000 km/s   End: 14.5m    Range: 41.7m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 176/105/52
Nightstar-AMM (126)  Speed: 40 000 km/s   End: 1.4m    Range: 3.4m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 440/264/132

Active MR39-R9 (1)     GPS 1080     Range 39.6m km    Resolution 9
EM Detection Sensor EM3-33 (1)     Sensitivity 33     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33m 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
Code: [Select]
Tapajo class Destroyer Escort    4 600 tons     123 Crew     570.88 BP      TCS 92  TH 166  EM 0
1804 km/s     Armour 3-24     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 18
Maint Life 3.76 Years     MSP 155    AFR 84%    IFR 1.2%    1YR 17    5YR 257    Max Repair 60 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 426   

166.4 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 166.4    Fuel Use 20.03%    Signature 166.4    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 200 000 Litres    Range 39.1 billion km   (250 days at full power)

Size 1 Missile Launcher (18)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
MFC39-R9 (1)     Range 39.6m km    Resolution 9
MFC19-R1 (1)     Range 19.8m km    Resolution 1
S1-ASM (90)  Speed: 48 000 km/s   End: 14.5m    Range: 41.7m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 176/105/52
Nightstar-AMM (336)  Speed: 40 000 km/s   End: 1.4m    Range: 3.4m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 440/264/132

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]
Zarco class Collier    2 750 tons     50 Crew     281.48 BP      TCS 55  TH 166  EM 0
3018 km/s     Armour 1-17     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.09 Years     MSP 64    AFR 60%    IFR 0.8%    1YR 10    5YR 151    Max Repair 54.08 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 5   
Magazine 510   

166.4 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 166.4    Fuel Use 20.03%    Signature 166.4    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 100 000 Litres    Range 32.7 billion km   (125 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Order of Battle:
4x Abasolo
2x Bahiana
6x Tapajo
2x Zarco (unloaded)

Tactics:
The fleet proceeds directly toward the opposing jump point en-mass seeking to do battle while the Zarco's immediately run for the resupply base. If the fleet is in any danger of loosing to stale-mate conditions the fleet will return to their entry point to recover the returning fully-loaded Zarco's then split forces to cover both jump points.