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Serial Attack Challenge - 6000: The Escort Mission

List of Champions:
#1: Energy Legion (DIT_grue) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8776.msg97471#msg97471)
#2: Fast Railguns (Lennson) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8776.msg94142#msg94142)
#3: DemoFleet FAC (Sublight) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8776.msg93115#msg93115)
------------------------------------
#4: DemoFleet AMM (Sublight) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8776.msg93115#msg93115)
#5: ...

About:
A Serial Attach Challenge is a leader board type championship where the defending fleets are known in advance. This allows the battles to be run by the challengers themselves unaffected by the availability a judge or system master. Now, anyone can design a fleet capable of defeating another if the designs are known, but can you design a fleet capable of defeating any one of three? Your challenge, should chose to accept, is to design a fleet capable of defeating each of the top three champions. Succeed, and your fleet becomes the new #1 Champion for however long it takes the next fleet designer to build a fleet capable of squashing you and the previous two champions.

Design Rules:

6000 BP for ships, ordinance, and fuel (1BP per 5,000L)
6,000 ton maximum military ship size (Shipyard expansion available for 240BP/kTon)
All theoretical tech 6000 RP or less researched for free!
24000 RP budget for unique tech and components (Ion Propulsion, an 8K tech of choice, and 6K for components is expected, but anything works)
Fleet Must include 1x Commercial Salvage vessel
5 Billion Km minimum ship range
6 month minimum deployment time
1 year minimum maintenance life
Hanger carried craft are exempt from range/deployment/maintenance restrictions
Ships may not use a jump point while under a fire delay from a previous jump (missiles have to have a chance at the whack-a-mole game)

Victory Conditions

Primary: Exterminate the Opposing Fleet*
Secondary: Exploit the McGuffin**

* Reduce opposing fleet to less than half the BP value including ordinance/missiles of your own.
** Be the first to reach the McGuffin Wreck with your salvage vessel and ensure it survives at least 60 seconds on return to Sol to beam home the technological findings.
Tie Breaker: If all else fails however controls the Sol side of the jump point wins.

Tactical Overview
The wreck of a small highly advanced scout craft has been discovered in an adjacent system. Establish our undisputed power by squashing their response fleet, and if that proves impractical secure the relic to give us a technological edge in the current stalemate.

Each fleet starts 1b km away from Sol and 1b km away from the target jump point. The target jump point conveniently already has a jump gate. The victory point wreck is located 250m km past the far side. There is no minimum speed, but the first fleet to the jump point will gain a tactical advantage and if your salvage vessel is at least 50% faster than your opponents fleet you could potentially win via the secondary objective without ever firing a shot.

Inexperienced fleet penalties are not in effect for this challenge.

Each faction also starts with a population and 4 DST stations on Earth so signatures greater than 530-720, depending on position, may be instantly detected on passives.

Special thanks to Lenson for creating a saved arena database and DIT_grue for included an updated copy with the latest fleet. The save can be found at the end of this post (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8776.msg97470#msg97470).

To create the arena from scratch start with a Sol star system that has three jump points 6.68AU distant on bearings 60 degrees apart. Give the center (or all) jump points gates, and start the opposing fleets on the outer two jump points like so:

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x184/sublightrun/SerialOpening_zpsehiqyxnf.png)

Final Word:
There are no hard rules against it, but when possible go for style and submit a fleet distinct from any of the current top champions.
Please do not submit a new fleet if you currently hold either the #1 or #2 spot.
Please post either screen shots or a battle summaries when submitting a new fleet as the latest champion.

DemoFleet AMM

Tech
Theoretical: None

Component List:
S1 10s Launcher: 60RP
C14 Magazine - HTK 3: 60RP
MFC 2HS-R1: 320RP
12x1.25 Nuclear Pulse Engine: 600RP
J6000(4-100) Military Jump Drive: 1010RP
Active Search 6HS R1: 960RP
0.55x3.5 Pulse Missile Engine: 38RP
Pulse AMM: 62RP
CIXS-120: (No ECCM) 265RP
200 EP Commercial Nuclear Pulse Engine: (50HS 0.5 power) 500RP
Total: 3.9K/24k

Ships:

Code: [Select]

Sonora class Salvager    39 700 tons     348 Crew     1155.7 BP      TCS 794  TH 1600  EM 0
2015 km/s     Armour 2-103     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 18    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 2    
Cargo 5000    
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

200 EP Commercial Nuclear Pulse Engine (8)    Power 200    Fuel Use 6.19%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150 000 Litres    Range 11.0 billion km   (63 days at full power)

CIWS-120 (7x4)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]

Abasolo class Jump Cruiser    6 000 tons     191 Crew     758.28 BP      TCS 120  TH 240  EM 0
2000 km/s    JR 4-100     Armour 3-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 18
Maint Life 4.06 Years     MSP 316    AFR 72%    IFR 1%    1YR 31    5YR 461    Max Repair 101 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1    
Magazine 270    

J6000(4-100) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 6000 tons    Distance 100k km     Squadron Size 4
12x1.25 Nuclear Pulse Engine (2)    Power 120    Fuel Use 107.61%    Signature 120    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 250 000 Litres    Range 7.0 billion km   (40 days at full power)

S1 10s Launcher (18)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
MFC 2HS-R1 (2)     Range 7.7m km    Resolution 1
Pulse AMM (270)  Speed: 15 400 km/s   End: 10.7m    Range: 9.9m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 97/58/29


This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Abasolo uses 18x C14-HTK3 magazines

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Breton class Cruiser    6 000 tons     194 Crew     891 BP      TCS 120  TH 240  EM 0
2000 km/s     Armour 2-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 30
Maint Life 4.48 Years     MSP 278    AFR 96%    IFR 1.3%    1YR 22    5YR 336    Max Repair 96 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1    
Magazine 450    

12x1.25 Nuclear Pulse Engine (2)    Power 120    Fuel Use 107.61%    Signature 120    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 250 000 Litres    Range 7.0 billion km   (40 days at full power)

S1 10s Launcher (30)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
MFC 2HS-R1 (3)     Range 7.7m km    Resolution 1
Pulse AMM (450)  Speed: 15 400 km/s   End: 10.7m    Range: 9.9m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 97/58/29

Active Search 6HS R1 (1)     GPS 96     Range 7.7m km    MCR 836k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Breton uses 30x C14-HTK3 magazines

Design Notes:
Pulse AMM: 0.25WH, 0.02Fuel, 0.18 Agility, 1xEngine[0.55MSP, 3.5x Power]
Ships use standard size fuel tanks

Order of Battle:
1x Sonora
1x Abasolo
3x Breton

Standard Tactics:
This fleet flies directly to the target jump point, all scanners active, firing offensively on anything in its path with launchers set to 3:1 antimissile duty.
Once reaching the jump point detach the salvage ship and squadron jump the others through to ensure safe passage. Once clear send the salvage vessel through and ahead to the victory point and back under escort by one Breton while the others maintain guard on the jump point. When the salvage vessel is ready to return squadron jump the four military vessels ahead to clear the way before jumping the salvage vessel back to Sol to broadcast findings.

Initially no more than 20 missiles should be allocated per kTon of target to avoid excessive over kill. Prioritize targets in beam range first, the smallest and presumably squishiest targets second, and active scanner sources third. If the defenders are sitting on a jump point fire only a single wave at a time since it is likely they could jump-out at any moment.

Demo Fleet FAC

Tech
Theoretical: None

Component List:
S5 1000s Launcher (33% Reduction): 99RP
C15 Magazine: HTK2: 55RP
MFC 3HS-R80: 480 RP
1x1.35 Nuclear Pulse Engine: 54RP
2.75x3.5 Pulse Missile Engine: 192RP
S5 Pulse Punch ASM: 247RP
Active 9HS R80: 1440RP
Active 3HS R1: 480RP
TH2-16: 160RP
EM4-32: 320RP
200 EP Commercial Nuclear Pulse Engine: 500RP
TH1-8: 80RP
EM1-8: 80RP
R3.5/C3 High Power Microwave: 900RP
10cm Railgun V3/C3: 450RP
Gas-Cooled Reactor PB-1: 140RP
BFC 2xR 1.25xS: 270RP
Total: 5.9k/24k

Code: [Select]

Allende class Missile Boat    950 tons     19 Crew     152.76 BP      TCS 19  TH 65  EM 0
3421 km/s     Armour 2-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3.3
Maint Life 8.07 Years     MSP 50    AFR 14%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 1    5YR 20    Max Repair 48 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0    
Magazine 40    

1x1.35 Nuclear Pulse Engine (6)    Power 10.8    Fuel Use 146.75%    Signature 10.8    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 40 000 Litres    Range 5.2 billion km   (17 days at full power)

S5 1000s Launcher (33% Reduction) (2)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 1000
MFC 3HS-R80 (1)     Range 103.0m km    Resolution 80
S5 Pulse Punch ASM (8)  Speed: 15 400 km/s   End: 108.5m    Range: 100.3m km   WH: 4    Size: 5    TH: 72/43/21

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

The Allende uses 2x C15-HTK2 magazines

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Blanco class Fast Scout Craft    950 tons     27 Crew     212.2 BP      TCS 19  TH 65  EM 0
3421 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.41 Years     MSP 70    AFR 14%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 9    5YR 138    Max Repair 144 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0    

1x1.35 Nuclear Pulse Engine (6)    Power 10.8    Fuel Use 146.75%    Signature 10.8    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 40 000 Litres    Range 5.2 billion km   (17 days at full power)

Active 9HS R80 (1)     GPS 11520     Range 103.0m km    Resolution 80

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]

Durango class Fast Scout Craft    950 tons     27 Crew     164.2 BP      TCS 19  TH 65  EM 0
3421 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 16/32/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 6.28 Years     MSP 54    AFR 14%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 2    5YR 35    Max Repair 48 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0    

1x1.35 Nuclear Pulse Engine (6)    Power 10.8    Fuel Use 146.75%    Signature 10.8    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 40 000 Litres    Range 5.2 billion km   (17 days at full power)

Active 3HS R1 (1)     GPS 48     Range 3.8m km    MCR 418k km    Resolution 1
TH2-16 (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m km
EM4-32 (1)     Sensitivity 32     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  32m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]

Panuco class Salvager    24 050 tons     171 Crew     626.8 BP      TCS 481  TH 600  EM 0
1247 km/s     Armour 2-74     Shields 0-0     Sensors 8/8/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 16    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 2    
Cargo 5000    
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

200 EP Commercial Nuclear Pulse Engine (3)    Power 200    Fuel Use 6.19%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150 000 Litres    Range 18.1 billion km   (168 days at full power)

TH1-8 (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  8m km
EM1-8 (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  8m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]

Quetzalcoatl class Fast Attack Craft    950 tons     36 Crew     172.2 BP      TCS 19  TH 65  EM 0
3421 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 6
Maint Life 8.13 Years     MSP 57    AFR 14%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 2    5YR 23    Max Repair 30 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2    

1x1.35 Nuclear Pulse Engine (6)    Power 10.8    Fuel Use 146.75%    Signature 10.8    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 40 000 Litres    Range 5.2 billion km   (17 days at full power)

R4.5/C3 High Power Microwave (1)    Range 45 000km     TS: 3421 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
10cm Railgun V3/C3 (1x4)    Range 30 000km     TS: 3421 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BFC 2xR 1.25xS (1)    Max Range: 96 000 km   TS: 3750 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Design Notes:
S5 Pulse Punch ASM: 1WH, 0.336 Fuel, 0.365 Agility, 0.023 Active Sensor R50, 0.51 Ablative Armor, 1x Engine [2.75MSP x 3.5 Power]

Order of Battle:
1x Panuco
3x Blanco
4x Durango
7x Quetzalcoatl
15x Allende

Standard Tactics:
The FAC split off and make best speed for the target jump point with only the Durango's R1 scanners active. The salvage vessel should also make for the jump point, but should not approach within suspected range of any enemy active scanner.

Once the enemy is detected the fleet should move to follow at 80m km and once there activate the scanner on one of the Blanco. Two synchronized volleys should be fired, each focused on one of the two largest signatures. If the missile waves cause atmospheric venting or are intercepted by anti-missile fire a 3rd wave should be launched against the smallest contact in formation, else one of the previously damaged targets. The remaining missiles are to be saved until the enemy is either jump blind and helpless or at point blank range (<75k km)

While the targeting Blanco continues to provide sensor coverage the fleet should then return to the jump point to make their stand. The fleet will retreat through the point if a wave massing more than 20 MSP is detected, or charge to point blank range if the enemy approaches to within 250k km without firing missiles. If the fleet retreats through the jump point one Durango should be detached and sent out 2m km or so to provide active scanner over-watch from a safe distance while the rest of the fleet waits in ambush.

Quetzalcoatl targeting: If there are less than half as many targets in range as Quetzalcoati remaining distribute fire evenly over all targets. Otherwise focus fire on two targets, prioritizing targets with active scanners. If targets have shields focus fire on the target with the weakest shields who still has an active scanner.

Contingency Plans:
The enemy is too small to be detected on actives at 80m km -> Fall back to jump point, wait until enemy comes within 80% detection range to open fire.

The enemy reached the jump point before entering range -> Charge the jump point, holding missile fire until incoming missiles are detected or the distance to target is less than 25m km.

Edit: Clarified Orders on request
Edit Edit: Added race-designed component lists for fleet

I like this one, I'll submit something tomorrow. Probably an FAC swarm since the distances are low and I love me some corvettes.

@sublight It doesn't look like you specified how many of each type of FAC there are in your fleet.

One difficulty with the challenger running the battles is determining targeting for weapons of the opposing fleet.
E.g. The challenger could make a ship that is just an armor block and have the opposing fleet waste their weapons on it or simply severely overkill weak targets.

For your FAC Fleet you gave targeting orders so this is mostly a concern for the AMM Fleet. However, even for the case that you gave orders what happens if there is only 1 detected signature? Should it be fired on and if so with how much?

Of course, we can just trust that the challenger will want to show a fair fight and leave targeting to the 'captains of the ships' since trying specify detailed targeting orders seems tedious.

No battle plan should be expected to survive contact with the enemy, so some improvisation will always be expected of the ship captains. Challengers are permitted to use suboptimal tactics to fill in the gaps of vaguely worded standing orders, but any decision made should always have a plausible in-character explanation. Still, when possible avoid submitting fleets that rely on your challengers using significantly more advanced off-script tactics than the defenders. The longer we can go without writing guidelines for appeals and arbitration the better this challenge will run.

That reminds me, any standing orders posted for a new champion and the battle plan used to defeat the previous champions should be one and the same.

@lennson
Orders were intentionally vague since the first two fleets are essentially straw-men to provide the first couple of serious challengers opponents to prove themselves against. Still, since I went ahead and did add a few extra clarifications. Good catch though on the missing order of battle.

I was wondering how fast a salvage ship could be under the tech and cost restrictions. This is what I ended up with,

Code: [Select]

Roadrunner class Salvager    177 650 tons     1667 Crew     5877.6 BP      TCS 3553  TH 18900  EM 0
5319 km/s     Armour 1-281     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 21    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0    
Cargo 5000    
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

300 EP Commercial Ion Drive (63)    Power 300    Fuel Use 5.3%    Signature 300    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 260 000 Litres    Range 5.0 billion km   (10 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

It's using Ion Drive and fuel efficiency as its tech choices.

Strategy, race to the objective and get back to Sol before hostiles get in range.

It looks like it wins against the straw-men fleets by way of being more than 50% faster than opposing fleets.

(This isn't intended to be a serious challenger.)

Points for style!
That would set the minimum-maximum speed much higher than I had envisioned, but it does win via the terms of the challenge.

As your reward would you prefer the Roadrunner be named the latest Champion of the SAC 6000, or for a new rule to be implemented in your honor to nerf similar tactics?

Actually it doesn't obviously beat the FAC fleet does it? It looks like FACs do reach the jump point before the Roadrunner gets back but I am not sure they have the fire power to stop it from escaping (or at least living for 60s). :P

I just noticed that not only is it fast it has a really high internal HTK (1644!) because of all of the commercial engines.

For now lets just say it doesn't win since it doesn't make a very interesting combatant considering it can't fight.

It's close, but under the original rules the FAC are still just over 35m km out when the Roadrunner transits back into Sol. The Roadrunner is in missile range, but would have plenty of time to download technological data.

Ok, new ~~nerf~~ clarification: The Victory Point wreck masses 1kTon. So a salvager with a single 500 ton/day salvage module would require 48 hours on site. The fastest known salvage vessel, the Roadrunner, can be intercepted prior to making the jump back to Sol by any ship capable of flying at least 2200 km/s. Fleets are not required to have this sort of speed, but slow fleets are vulnerable to embarrassment.

Edit, wait... Roadrunner still wins. Originally the salvager would have taken ~200 damage from missiles. With the extra delay and fancy flying the FAC could maybe inflict an additional 65 from rail-guns before Roadrunner passes out of beam range. Improbably bad luck in hit rates and secondary explosions would be required for that salvager to loose.

Still it seems like a good idea to have salvaging take some time.

If the FACs transited to the other side of the jump point they might be able to stop the roadrunner with missiles. Or at least maybe slow it down enough for the beam FACs to catch it.

I don't know how to determine what magazine designs you used from the specifications given.

Sorry about that.

Both factions use the best feed efficiency (85%) and Magazine Ejection (90%) available.

The FAC fleet uses Size-1 C15-HTK2 magazines, 2x per Allende

The AMM fleet uses Size-1 C14-HTK3 magazines, 1 per missile launcher

So here is a beam armed fleet that managed to win against the 2 fleets currently on the board.

Tech:
Ion Drive: 10,000
Fire Control Speed Rating 4000 km/s: 8,000

Components:
810 EP Ion Drive: 4050
300 EP Commercial Ion Drive: 750
Gas-Cooled Reactor PB-1: 140
Fire Control S01 24-8000: 290
10cm Railgun V1/C3: 300
Active Search Sensor MR1-R1: 160
Total: 23,690 / 24k

Code: [Select]

Gatling class Destroyer    4 850 tons     155 Crew     739.8 BP      TCS 97  TH 810  EM 0
8350 km/s     Armour 3-25     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 18
Maint Life 1.5 Years     MSP 286    AFR 62%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 142    5YR 2137    Max Repair 405 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1    

810 EP Ion Drive (1)    Power 810    Fuel Use 74.12%    Signature 810    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 150 000 Litres    Range 7.5 billion km   (10 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V1/C3 (6x4)    Range 10 000km     TS: 8350 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 1    ROF 5        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01 24-8000 (1)    Max Range: 48 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (4)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR1-R1 (1)     GPS 16     Range 1.3m km    MCR 139k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

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Lost and Found class Salvager    20 850 tons     142 Crew     510.2 BP      TCS 417  TH 600  EM 0
1438 km/s     Armour 1-67     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 15    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 0    
Cargo 5000    
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

300 EP Commercial Ion Drive (2)    Power 300    Fuel Use 6.19%    Signature 300    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100 000 Litres    Range 13.9 billion km   (112 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

Design Notes:
Standard fuel tanks on all designs.

Standard Tactics:
The Gatling Destroyers are to chase down any hostile forces detected. If none are detected they are to move to the jump point and hold position.
The salvager is to avoid hostiles if possible and to head towards the objective otherwise.

All railguns on the Gatling Destroyers are on final fire mode for point defense but are to be used offensively if any opposing ships are in range.

Targeting:
Focus fire ships suspected of being armed with beam weapons. Allocate roughly 6 railguns per 1k tons of opposing ship to limit overkill.

Order of Battle:
7x Gatling Destroyer
1x Lost and Found

(I'll use the "offtopic" formatting to hide how the 2 battles went.)

VS DemoFleet AMM (Sublight)

Off-Topic: show

VS DemoFleet FAC (Sublight)

Off-Topic: show

Some observations:
- It is REALLY hard to attack AMM ships with only beam weapons. This fleet should have very good damage mitigation against missile (high speed & significant point defense) but it still didn't win very convincingly.
- Since the fleets have no training it is important to order beam weapons to fire well before they are in range to actually hit anything. This matters a lot considering firing 10-15 seconds late could mean the fleet is destroyed before it even fires. (e.g. That could of happen with the FAC fleet since the weapon fire exchange only lasted 10 seconds, but to be fair I prepared both fleet the same way.)

Congratulations to our first Champion! Lennson's beam armed railgun fleet is now at the top of the list.

For future reference it is recommended that the "Use inexperienced fleet penalties" option for Game Details be unchecked to eliminate target delay issues.

lennson: It seems you accidentally switched the titles of the FAC and AMM battles.

I'm very new to this game but I'll try to come up with something to enter.

Quote from: DaMachinator on July 18, 2016, 01:50:02 PM

lennson: It seems you accidentally switched the titles of the FAC and AMM battles.

I'm very new to this game but I'll try to come up with something to enter.

Oops. That's fixed now.

Here's a link to a database with the "Arena" and 3 fleet designs entered in if you would like to use it,
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1caHHJaeFBkb0d5VmR3djhPd2c (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1caHHJaeFBkb0d5VmR3djhPd2c)
(This is a backup I made before running any of the battles.)

Maybe not needing to setup the arena and enter the existing designs will also encourage more people to participate.

Good idea.

Quote from: lennson on June 28, 2016, 04:16:52 PM

I was wondering how fast a salvage ship could be under the tech and cost restrictions. This is what I ended up with,

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Roadrunner class Salvager 177 650 tons 1667 Crew 5877.6 BP TCS 3553 TH 18900 EM 0 5319 km/s Armour 1-281 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0 MSP 21 Max Repair 200 MSP Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Spare Berths 0 Cargo 5000 Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day 300 EP Commercial Ion Drive (63) Power 300 Fuel Use 5.3% Signature 300 Exp 5% Fuel Capacity 260 000 Litres Range 5.0 billion km (10 days at full power) This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
It's using Ion Drive and fuel efficiency as its tech choices.

Strategy, race to the objective and get back to Sol before hostiles get in range.

It looks like it wins against the straw-men fleets by way of being more than 50% faster than opposing fleets.

(This isn't intended to be a serious challenger.)

Looking at the demo fleets, commercial ships aren't required to have the 6 month deployment, which frees up enough BP to squeeze in two more engines, plus ten thousand fuel each to keep the range over 5 billion km. Of course, since I can be picky about details sometimes, I'll point out that going for the next level of armour instead of fuel efficiency squeaks out another marginal speed improvement even over that. Also, there's exactly enough BP left to slap on a 0.4HS active sensor, because why not? (It doesn't affect the speed at all.)

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Beep! Beep! class Salvager    181,850 tons     1718 Crew     5938 BP      TCS 3637  TH 19500  EM 0
5361 km/s     Armour 1-285     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 20    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 1    
Cargo 5000    
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

300 EP Commercial Ion Drive 50x0.5 (65)    Power 300    Fuel Use 6.19%    Signature 300    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 310,000 Litres    Range 5.0 billion km   (10 days at full power)

0.4HS Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1)     GPS 7     Range 510k km    MCR 56k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

... Maybe the next player can make it a real tradition by finding a way to top my version. ;)

Quote from: lennson on July 18, 2016, 08:27:17 PM

Oops. That's fixed now.

Here's a link to a database with the "Arena" and 3 fleet designs entered in if you would like to use it,
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1caHHJaeFBkb0d5VmR3djhPd2c (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1caHHJaeFBkb0d5VmR3djhPd2c)
(This is a backup I made before running any of the battles.)

Maybe not needing to setup the arena and enter the existing designs will also encourage more people to participate.

Providing a pre-generated arena is a good idea (my update should be attached), but there's no reason not to take it further: in addition to adding my designs, I spawned the ships, set up PD assignments, etc. - I found that to be a lot more work than just throwing together the map, although admittedly the tech and designs are a larger task by far than either of them. (Also, you forgot to put a gate on the far side of the jump point, which caused me some confused frustration the first time I was waiting for the fast salvager to return so I could ambush it.)

Instructions for adding a new challenger with minimum fuss:

In Spacemaster mode, open the System Information (F9) window, select Earth, and click the Create Empire button.
Enter the Title and Short Name of your empire, set the Species to Human, and pick themes.
Leave the radio-button set to Trans-Newtonian Empire, and check the box to complete the Jump point survey.
Set the Starting Tech Points to 570,500 (this is everything up to 6k plus the 24k you have to start).
Make sure the boxes to assign those tech points or create systems and ships are NOT checked.
Set the starting Shipyards to zero (their capacity is random, and sets the BP for ships in rapid-OOB; it's easier to start at 0 and make sure you don't exceed -6000).
Set the starting Research Labs to zero. (Because unassigned labs generate an interrupt during the construction cycle, and who needs that?)

You'll also want to go into the Intelligence window to make sure everyone is using the correct names for other people's ships.

I've been working on this on-and-off since the challenge was posted. It was delayed by far too many clean-sheet redesigns when I was sure I'd finalised what I wanted and set out to produce a pretty version without all the experimental equipment draining my RP allowance, and then when I ran the battles I eventually found I had a lemon. Of course, I'd started with the fleets that looked most threatening, so (other than deciding that - since I could barely scratch it - I wouldn't inclde the Roadrunner after all) I got to the end and was embarrassed to discover that the AMM fleet could walk all over me. Of course I slapped on more armour, but what really turned the trick was remembering that a weapon's Tracking Speed is floored by the racial Fire Control Speed, which rapidly brought on the brainwave that not only could I make my ships even slower, I should buy that tech instead of armour. So here's the Energy Legion, a penny-pincher's dream.

Energy Legion (DIT_grue)

Tech
Theoretical:
Ion Drive Technology: 10,000 RP
Fire Control Speed Rating 4,000 km/s: 8,000 RP

Component List:
0.8HS Active Sensor MR1-R1: 130 RP
0.7HS Active Search Sensor MR0-R1: 110 RP
Fire Control S01 48-4000: 290 RP
Fire Control S02 96-4000: 580 RP
75 EP Commercial Ion Drive 25x0.25: 94 RP
134.4 EP Commercial Ion Drive 28x0.40: 269 RP
135 EP Commercial Ion Drive 25x0.45: 304 RP
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser: 220 RP
10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser: 150 RP
10cm Railgun V1/C2: 200 RP
1.0HS Gas-Cooled Reactor 4.5power: 140 RP
0.5HS Gas-Cooled Reactor 2.25power: 70 RP

Ships:

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Architecti class Salvager    16,900 tons     98 Crew     332.775 BP      TCS 338  TH 75  EM 0
221 km/s     Armour 1-58     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 12    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 6    
Cargo 5000    
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

75 EP Commercial Ion Drive 25x0.25 (1)    Power 75    Fuel Use 1.64%    Signature 75    Exp 2%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 6.5 billion km   (338 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Architecti uses a single small fuel tank.

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Cohort class Frigate    6,000 tons     158 Crew     514.36 BP      TCS 120  TH 269  EM 0
2241 km/s     Armour 4-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 30
Maint Life 2.43 Years     MSP 107    AFR 144%    IFR 2%    1YR 25    5YR 374    Max Repair 29 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 1    

134.4 EP Commercial Ion Drive 28x0.40 (2)    Power 134.4    Fuel Use 5.1%    Signature 134.4    Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 5.9 billion km   (30 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V1/C2 (10x4)    Range 10,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 3-2     RM 1    ROF 10        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01 48-4000 (5)    Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
0.5HS Gas-Cooled Reactor 2.25power (1)     Total Power Output 2.25    Armour 0    Exp 5%
1.0HS Gas-Cooled Reactor 4.5power (4)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

0.8HS Active Sensor MR1-R1 (1)     GPS 13     Range 1.0m km    MCR 111k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Cohort class uses two tiny fuel tanks.

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Tormenta class Frigate    6,000 tons     171 Crew     678.35 BP      TCS 120  TH 270  EM 0
2250 km/s     Armour 4-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 35
Maint Life 2.31 Years     MSP 141    AFR 144%    IFR 2%    1YR 36    5YR 537    Max Repair 58 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2    

135 EP Commercial Ion Drive 25x0.45 (2)    Power 135    Fuel Use 7.13%    Signature 135    Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 15,000 Litres    Range 6.3 billion km   (32 days at full power)

10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 90,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (8)    Range 180,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 3    ROF 10        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
Fire Control S02 96-4000 (2)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
1.0HS Gas-Cooled Reactor 4.5power (6)     Total Power Output 27    Armour 0    Exp 5%

0.7HS Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1)     GPS 12     Range 890k km    MCR 97k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Tormenta class uses one small and one tiny fuel tanks.

Order of Battle:
1x Architecti
7x Cohort
3x Tormenta
Total = 5,993.345 BP

This is intended as a brutally simple, straight-forward fleet. Cohorts provide anti-missile cover, while the Tormenta class is intended to prevent anyone kiting them with beam weapons.

Standard Tactics:
All active sensors turned on, all weapons evenly distributed over available fire controls and configured for Final Defensive Fire at 10,000km. Each class is organised into a separate Task Group.

The Tormentas are set to Follow the Cohorts, both other TGs ordered to proceed to the JP at their own best speed. Use the occupation of the JP (or implacable advance toward it) to force the enemy to commit to battle. If under missile fire, weather it, depending on point defence and armour to survive.

When engaging at energy ranges, try to hold the best possible range as long as possible. (Since the enemy will almost always be faster, they can control the range, but you can still affect the rate at which they change it. The 15cm lasers are intended to outrange most energy weapons, so the typical strategy is to retreat from a charging enemy while firing at maximum rate.) Targetting priorities are for the most urgently threatening ships first - usually the longest-ranged weapon that doesn't appear to be out of ammunition - and sensor ships will be low priority unless the enemy is stupid enough to have a single sensor platform and bring it within killing range. In the balance between killing the enemy as rapidly as possible and avoidance of overkill, the emphasis should be on speed; but units slowed by engine damage may become lower priority than their closer sister-ships.

Special Case: If a fast-salvager type enemy is detected (a single ship with Thermal signature greater than 15,000 and moving at more than 4,500 km/s) then the combat ships should follow it through the jump point as rapidly as possible, taking up position at a waypoint 500,000 km off the JP towards where the wreck was originally located. Once the enemy is detected again they should advance towards it, then set course for the JP at their best speed once it is within 250,000km, and fire all weapons on it as often as possible. (Then hope for good luck: there's better than even odds that it will still escape, thus winning.)

vs Gatling Fleet (lennson)

Off-Topic: show

Once the Energy Legion finally crept into active sensor range, the Gatlings pursued them immediately. When they were within a few hundred thousand kilometres the enemy reversed course, then opened fire as the distance continued to close only slightly more slowly. As they charged forward, their great speed not only gave the enemy few chances to fire unanswered, but limited the accuracy of their fire controls, thus devaluing even the few volleys they had time for. Even so, the beam weapons hit harder as the range shrank, and the first Gatling was destroyed just before reaching its own effective range.

In the moment the fleets intermingled, both unleashed broadsides of railguns, but though the targetted ships writhed under the pounding and vomited copious fountains of air, every single one clung to its assigned position. The Gatlings' guns cycled swiftly, whereas the Legion seemed to be alternating railgun fire with lasers, but both were equally lethal: two Gatlings and one Cohort were reduced to shattered wreckage. Another Cohort fell victim to the next exchange of fire, the consequence of focussed rather than divided targetting; although the Gatlings also lost a ship's worth of weapons at this point, even if this was not externally apparent. By now it was taking multiple firing cycles for the Gatlings to chew through the armour of their target and then take it down, and the Legion was perhaps unlucky - despite their lasers doing a total of 42 damage to the engines of two already badly-damaged ships, neither lost any function at all. As if to compensate, their railgun-equipped ships again underestimated how much it would take to kill the two battered ships (in fact, those two 25HTK engines collectively absorbed at least 63 damage, with one of them still functioning!), and assigned many of their weapons to a fresh target... whereupon a lucky hit slipped through a gap torn in the armour to lodge in the engine, which failed catastrophically and tore the ship apart from the inside.

In short order, two of the three surviving Gatlings were engineless, and thus could be avoided and picked off at leisure; the last was attempting to use its sole remaining railgun to finish a crippled Cohort. Of course, being capable of evasion, it was a much harder target than its fellows, and successfully killed its target - though it lost the weapon at about the same time. Its engine continued to withstand incredible punishment, but the fuel tanks did not prove so resilient and thus it was brought to bay and destroyed despite the Legion being wrong-footed by its abrupt escape attempt. This brought the violence to a conclusion eighty seconds after the first shot was fired.

Evaluation: This confrontation feels like it could probably be analysed fairly well using Lanchester's Square Law - the superiority of the Gatlings' equipment has proven woefully incapable of compensating for the weight of numbers every time I've run the battle with a force designed using this general philosophy.

vs DemoFleet FAC (Sublight)

Off-Topic: show

Waiting on the jump point, the FACs spotted the enemy on thermals at just over four million klicks, rather closer than their doctrine called for at this stage of the battle. One Blanco immediately painted the target while the fleet launched its initial missile strike and backed off until it could empty its magazines. Since all the enemy ships were identically sized, the first two volleys would be targetted on one of each class. The enemy ignored their manoeuvers, advancing steadily on the jump point, so rather than continue retreating out to eighty million kilometres the admiral decided to hold the current distance.

Out of the first wave, two missiles hit, though without breaching the armour. The Legion destroyed every missile in the second volley. Therefore the third launch was against the previously damaged target, though it again failed to score any hits. Once the launchers had cycled for the final time, the FACs charged.

Not surprisingly, enemy missiles still hadn't materialised when they backpedalled off the JP at around 200,000 km. The FACs' speed advantage was relatively slight, and the rate of closure dropped precipitously even as one of the Allendes began to be subjected to occasional energy weapon fire. Even the token armour of that class was sufficient to weather a few weak shots here or there, but shortly before they regained the JP an unusually accurate flurry finally punched through, and by extreme bad luck gutted the ship. It not only lost the sole fire control and half its engines (one of which exploded), but every drop of fuel on board, leaving it immobile and useless. Swiftly redirecting their attention, the Legion's next broadside was guided by equally malevolent luck, a single hit slipping through the armour to scrap the fire control - at least they could not detect this mission kill, and would have to keep pounding a dead ship flying. That didn't last long, however, and only two further broadsides were required to leave it a lifeless wreck, with life pods spilling away from it at the last moment.

As the fleet closed in, the accuracy and hitting power of the enemy's lasers increased and a few lighter but faster-firing weapons also became evident. It took only two volleys for them to convert the third Allende they targetted to a dissipating cloud of gas around drifting rubble, with the fourth and fifth following in immediate sequence. At this point twenty Pulse Punch missiles were launched at the previously-damaged ship, which was believed to be of the laser-armed class, the range finally being short enough that the enemy would have no opportunity to intercept them. Murphy meddled again, three missing despite a projected 96% hit rate, but four hits in the middle of the string did at least produce atmospheric venting. Even as they detonated, yet another missile boat blew apart, but the enemy swiftly assessed the survivors as posing no further threat and began targetting Quetzalcoatls - presumably as the only other class not known to mount a powerful (thus large) active sensor.

If the armour on the Allende class was inadequate, that on the other FACs was pathetic. When even their secondary lasers prove able to wreak havoc in a single shot, they begin spreading their fire very widely rather than maintaining singular focus. The FACs' last offensive capability is wiped away in a single ripple of shots, and - trapped this deep within the enemy's range envelope - the only choice remaining is between destruction and surrender.

Evaluation: If I'd been keeping a closer eye on the event log (or had remembered from my previous attempt) I would have spotted the massive overkill going on, the Legion would have been splitting their fire earlier, and I doubt they'd have gotten even as close as they did. On the other hand, a little carelessness, a little luck; maybe encourage things along by holding the missile strike in order to expend the Allendes as decoys... even one good HPM volley would have gutted the Tormentas, and without them the Cohorts could have been kited at leisure. Of course, the analysis required to identify the critical range for the missiles is entirely trivial, and if they can't be or aren't fired once inside it that should ring very loud alarm bells.

vs DemoFleet AMM (Sublight)

Off-Topic: show

Congratulations! Looking quite similar to my usual first-generation ships... only not quite as cheap (who needs armour if most internals are 0.3 or slower engines and base-tech railguns... armour is expensive and crewmembers are a renewable resource).

I suspect that an improved AMM fleet using Ion drive missiles may be able to win against both my fleet design and the Energy Legion (DIT_grue) considering that both of our designed had significant difficulty against the Demo AMM fleet, which was only using Nuclear Pulse drive missiles.

At the other extreme now that the Demo AMM fleet has been bumped out of the top 3 maybe a fleet using more heavy beam weapons has a shot at winning.

I also wonder if a carrier design is at all competitive.

Congratulations DIT_grue! The front page has been updated with your accomplishment.

@lennson Yes carriers can be competitive but I think it would be harder than using normal ships. I messed around with fighter/carrier designs earlier but the Gatling fleet limited box-launcher fighters to at most a single reload while the AMM made beam fighters/FAC entries tricky at best.

Ok, new answer: Carrier designs are indeed competitive!

Carrier Fleet (Sublight)

Ion Drive Technology - 10,000 RP
Box Launcher - 10,000 RP
1.68x3.5 Missile Drive - 176 RP
S7 Raindrop - 486 RP (2x engines, 2.25 MSP warhead, 0.103 fuel, 0.657 agility, 0.07 activit R20, 0.51 armor)
Active S3.5-R30 - 560 RP
Active S1.6-R1 - 260 RP
MFC S0.6-R30 - 100 RP
Fire Control S0.7 72-1500 (FTR) - 160 RP
109.2 EP Commercial Ion Drive - 191 RP (26 HS - 0.35 power)
11.4 EP Ion Drive - 54 RP (1 HS - 0.95 power)
S7 Box Launcher - 42 RP
C14 Magazine Exp 10% HTK-3 - 60 RP
10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser - 150 RP
Gas Reactor S0.7-90 RP
--------------------------------------------------
1671 RP Unused

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Lennon Karma class Fighter    500 tons     3 Crew     96.2 BP      TCS 10  TH 84  EM 0
8400 km/s     Armour 2-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 10    5YR 153    Max Repair 16 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 7    

21 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 21    Fuel Use 280.76%    Signature 21    Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 5 000 Litres    Range 0.6 billion km   (21 hours at full power)

10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 90 000km     TS: 8400 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
Fire Control S00.7 72-1500 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 144 000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Gas Reactor S0.7 (1)     Total Power Output 3.15    Armour 0    Exp 5%

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

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Cosmic Liberty class Carrier    7 000 tons     113 Crew     884.375 BP      TCS 140  TH 285  EM 0
2035 km/s     Armour 4-32     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.46 Years     MSP 276    AFR 112%    IFR 1.6%    1YR 35    5YR 529    Max Repair 56 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 24    
Hangar Deck Capacity 3100 tons     Magazine 140    

11.4 EP Ion Drive (25)    Power 11.4    Fuel Use 60.96%    Signature 11.4    Exp 9%
Fuel Capacity 450 000 Litres    Range 19.0 billion km   (107 days at full power)

S7 Raindrop (20)  Speed: 20 200 km/s   End: 13m    Range: 15.7m km   WH: 9    Size: 7    TH: 101/60/30

Active S3.5-R30 (1)     GPS 1680     Range 24.5m km    Resolution 30

Strike Group
3x Lennon Karma Fighter   Speed: 8400 km/s    Size: 10
5x Little Flower Fighter-bomber   Speed: 9843 km/s    Size: 6.4

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

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

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Little Flower class Fighter-bomber    320 tons     2 Crew     56.9 BP      TCS 6.4  TH 63  EM 0
9843 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 2.1
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 64%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 4    5YR 56    Max Repair 10.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months    Spare Berths 4    
Magazine 14    

21 EP Ion Drive (3)    Power 21    Fuel Use 280.76%    Signature 21    Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 5 000 Litres    Range 1.0 billion km   (28 hours at full power)

Size 7 Box Launcher (2)    Missile Size 7    Hangar Reload 52.5 minutes    MF Reload 8.7 hours
MFC S0.6-R30 (1)     Range 12.6m km    Resolution 30
S7 Raindrop (2)  Speed: 20 200 km/s   End: 13m    Range: 15.7m km   WH: 9    Size: 7    TH: 101/60/30

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

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

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Temple Sunrise class Salvager    21 300 tons     162 Crew     508.68 BP      TCS 426  TH 874  EM 0
2051 km/s     Armour 1-68     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 15    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 0    
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

109.2 EP Commercial Ion Drive (8)    Power 109.2    Fuel Use 3.76%    Signature 109.2    Exp 3%
Fuel Capacity 100 000 Litres    Range 22.5 billion km   (126 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

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Chelsea Morning class Scout    240 tons     6 Crew     59.6 BP      TCS 4.8  TH 41  EM 0
8541 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 8.8 Years     MSP 16    AFR 4%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 6    Max Repair 26 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2    

20.4 EP S1x1.7 Ion Drive (2)    Power 20.4    Fuel Use 261.13%    Signature 20.4    Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 20 000 Litres    Range 5.7 billion km   (7 days at full power)

Active S1.6-R1 (1)     GPS 26     Range 2.0m km    MCR 222k km    Resolution 1

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

Order of Battle:
shipyard expansion 240 BP
2x Chelsea Morning Scouts 127.2 BP
3x Cosmic Liberty Carriers 5104.1 BP 3x[884.38 carrier, 187.24 fuel/ordinance, 573.1 fighters, 56.62 ftr F/O]
1x Temple Sunrise Salvager 528.7 BP

Total: 6000 BP exactly

Intermission: New Speed Record:

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Faster! class Salvager    186 900 tons     1728 Crew     5900 BP      TCS 3738  TH 17700  EM 0
4735 km/s     Armour 1-291     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 20    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 5    
Cargo 5000    
Salvager: 3 module(s) capable of salvaging 1500 tons per day

300 EP Commercial Ion Drive 50x0.5 (59)    Power 300    Fuel Use 6.19%    Signature 300    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 320 000 Litres    Range 5.0 billion km   (12 days at full power)

0.4HS Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1)     GPS 7     Range 510k km    MCR 56k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

Beep! Beep! Was able to salvage the wreck and return in 125.7 hours, requiring 2210 km/s to intercept with beams
Faster! Can salvage the wreck and return in 104 hours, requiring 2671 km/s to intercept with beams.

Battle Report

Tactics

Off-Topic: show

Vs Energy Legion

Off-Topic: show

Vs Gatling Fleet

Off-Topic: show

vs FAC Fleet

Off-Topic: show

The fast attack fleet oppened fire for the standard 80m km range, targeting the two largest targets per doctrin (the Salvager and one Carrier)

The carrier beam fightes managed to only destroy 3 missiles in the first wave but all successful targeting attempts on the 2nd wave failed to penitrate the missile armor. The salvager lost three engines and the salvage module, the carrier was reduced to approximatly half speed and lost most of her hanger space.

The FAC fleet then launched a 3rd wave targeting the smaller of the two previously damaged targets: The carrier. This time area defenses managed to destroy four incoming missiles, but the wave was enough to induce structural failure with three missiles to spare. Those final missiles retargeted on a Little-flower Fighter-bomber, and promptly missed.

The battle then appeared to continue according to the FAC plan. The FAC fleet retreated to the jump point, and transited when a wave of 270MSP missile wave was detected. However here their plan suffered complications.

With the salvage module destroyed the Carrier fleet had no reason to risk transit rendering the FAC jump ambush useless and decided to leave the carriers stationed from their prior engagement position while the beam fighters guarded the jump point itself. Worse from the FAC fleets perspective they were lossing the stalemate by controlling the wrong side.

The FAC commander decided their best course of action would be to use their own salvager as a distraction to cover a jump point assault. 5 minutes after they estimated the their salvager had been detected the FAC fleet performed a standard transit to their doom.

The carrier fleet, in accordance of a single squadron per target, had launched one fighter bomber squadron to intercept the salvager and sent the other two from the carrier to the jump point to relieve the picketing beam fighters. The picketing beam fighters had waited until relief before leaving and had only been outbound for 15 seconds when the FAC fleet transited.

The Fighter-bombers on station eached targeted one of the rarest fast attack craft, destroying all transiting FAC-scouts plus a couple Quetzalcoatls. The Beam fighters for their part reversed course and closed to 0k km to take advangate of jump shock blindness, destroying one FAC ever 5-10 seconds. Only a single Allende survived long enough to overcome sensor blindness, but not quite long enough to overcome the fire control delay.

I was wondering if you considered/tested how the Carrier Fleet would do against the AMM fleet.

I suspect that the AMM fleet would win but maybe I am mistaken.

The AMM fleet went down, hard. I'm a little fuzzy on the specifics since I accidentally deleted the notes from that battle and the aurora-wrapper auto-save saves copies from the game state on opening rather than on closing but...

Opening: The Carrier group makes it to the jump point first and tosses the salvager through before turning to do battle.

1st strike:
The fighter-bombers launch from outside of AMM active scanning range.
The beam-fighters follow, and the AMM launches 9-10 missiles on each.
The missile wave is detected and AMM are launched.
1st missile interception: only a couple of successful hits but the beam-fighters make a panicked u-turn.
A couple AMM salvos fail to intercept and the faster Raindrops and hopelessly trail behind, tricking autofire into not launching replacements.
The AMM fleet belatedly reverses course and increases allocation to 1:4. Even so only ~5 total Raindrops were stopped by AMMs, with a couple more missiles downed by the CIWS on the salvager.
Impacts moderately damage the salvager, destroy the jump-ship, and leave a Breton immobile and scanner-less.
The beam-fighters successfully retreat past detection range before the AMM catch up.

2nd Strike
Same as above. The AMM fleet is less stingy with the AMM this time around and quicker to retreat to prolong the engagement window but also had fewer launchers operating. The two remaining AMM warships and the salvager are targeted, all 'survive' but are left immobile and without scanners.

3rd Strike
I didn't bother to run the mop-up to completion since the AMM fleet had no remaining sensors and no remaining engines at this point.

Honestly the AMM did worse than I was expecting. On paper the standard 1:3 rate should have been enough to destroy ~50% of the incoming Raindrops in the first wave, neglecting salvo misses.

Aurora 4x

VB6 Aurora => Aurora Chat => Topic started by: sublight on June 26, 2016, 08:36:14 PM