Federated Nations Campaign - Part 1

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

This is a solo campaign (i.e. computer NPRs only) in a Real Stars universe with two starting NPRs. It’s a TN  start with 1000m population, 1200 industrial capacity, 40 labs and 200,000 tech points

Prologue

On April 4th 2025 the Earth was struck by the remnants of an ancient comet. Seventeen fragments of varying sizes smashed into the Earth in a ragged line stretching from north-eastern Siberia, across China, northern India and Pakistan, the Arabian peninsula, central Africa and South America. Total devastation extended across a huge portion of the Earth’s surface. Even though Europe, western Russia, North America and Australasia escaped direct damage, they suffered from the immediate effects of large-scale earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis and the long term consequences of gigatons of dust thrown up into the atmosphere. The average temperature of the Earth dropped by six degrees and took several years to fully recover. Even with their resources relatively intact, the surviving nations were fully engaged in ensuring the welfare of their own populations and few expeditions were launched into the devastated zones to deliver aid. A few private organizations tried but gave up after suffering considerable losses in equipment and personnel. Many of the European nations were barely capable of  feeding themselves and existing agricultural production was badly affected by the falling temperatures. Until grain imports from North America resumed, starvation was a significant problem. By the time the resources were available to investigate the devastated zones, they had fallen into a stone age existence, rife with tribal warfare and even cannibalism. The only country close to the impacts with a surviving civilization, albeit at a mid-nineteenth century level, was Japan. By this point, the nadir of the post-industrial human race, the population of Earth was less than one billion.

Fifteen years after the impacts, with their survival no longer in doubt, the remaining nations of the Earth began to look to the future. By a fortunate geographical and political coincidence, most of the surviving nations were long standing allies. Even Russia had become closely tied to Europe in the early decades of the twenty-first century. Although she could not be classed as an ally, she was an economic partner. With their populations demanding that the human race should never again come so close to extinction, the governments agreed to combine their resources and develop the technology to establish off-world colonies. Initially, Mars seemed to be the only realistic option but the global scientific community believed that some form of interstellar travel was only a matter of time. Over the next ten years, economic integration and a growing number of inter-governmental organizations began to blur the lines between nations. Eventually an embryonic world government began to form, based around the institutions of the European Union and the United States. Initially, the appointments to the international organization were made by the member governments but as its powers grew, popular demand led to direct elections. In 2050, Heinrich Steiner became the first popularly elected President of the Federated Nations of Earth. The breakthrough into trans-Newtonian physics came in 2060. Realising the potential of the discovery, every state in the Federated Nations began converting its industrial base to use the new technology. Humanity's darkest hour was to end in the dawn of the Interstellar Age.

Excerpt from Jane's Fighting Spacecraft - January 2070 edition.
The vehicle and electronic designation systems used by the Federation Navy in 2070 are detailed in the first two sections, followed by descriptions and specification of the warships in service at that date

Federation Navy Vehicle Designation System (VDS)
Vehicle in this context refers to a any unmanned missile, drone, buoy or mine in use by the Federated Nations. The VDS allows easy identification of the type and purpose of each vehicle. The required format is as follows:
(Primary Launch Platform)(Mission)(Vehicle Type) - (Design Number)(Series Letter)(Popular Name)

Primary Launch Platform
A - Spacecraft powered by fighter engine
B - Multiple Launch Environments
C - Captor Mine
G - Planetary Defence Centre
L - Box Launcher
R - Spacecraft
U - Stealthy Spacecraft

Mission
D - Decoy
E - Special Electronics
G - Spacecraft Attack
I - Interception (of missiles or perhaps fighters)
L - Detection or Reconnaissance
M - Scientific Instruments (e.g. geosurvey buoy)

Vehicle Type
B - Booster or First Stage
C - Captor Mine
M - Guided Missile
N - Probe or Recon Drone
R - Submunition
S - Unarmed Satellite or Buoy

Design Number
Each vehicle type will have a design number based on chronological order of design. It is possible there could be multiple versions of the same vehicle type intended for different purposes or with different launch options. These versions would use the same design number with different letter combinations. For example, the RGM-1A might be a spacecraft-launched spacecraft-attack missile while RLN-1A is a spacecraft-launched reconnaissance drone, which replaces the warhead of the RGM-1 with a sensor package but is otherwise identical.

Series Letter
Variants of a basic vehicle type are designated by a suffix letter. The first model always receives suffix "A" and subsequent series letters are assigned in strict sequence (omitting "I" and "O" to avoid confusion with numerals "1" and "0"). The series letter is a mandatory component of the VDS and therefore 'plain' designations such as 'RIM-12' always designate the general type of vehicle and never a specific model.

Popular Name
Most vehicles receive a 'popular name' or acronym early in the planning or development phase. While the name is not part of the official designation, many missiles and other vehicle types are almost exclusively referenced by their name, both in the popular press and in official government news releases and documents.

Examples
RGM-1A Falchion is a Spacecraft-launched (R) Guided-missile (M) intended to attack other Spacecraft (G)
RLN-2A Raven is a Spacecraft-launched (R) Recon Drone (N) used for reconnaissance (L)

Electronics Designation System (EDS)
The older US Joint Electronics Type Designation System provided a basis for the Federation Navy's naming scheme for its electronic systems, known as the Electronics Designation System. All designations are proceeded by FN/ for Federation Navy

Platform
A - Spacecraft powered by fighter engine
B - Stealthy Spacecraft
F - Planetary Defence Centre
G - Spacecraft powered by gunboat engine
S - Spacecraft powered by military or commercial engines

Equipment Type
A - Invisible Light
D - Radioactivity Detection
G - Gravitational Survey
L - Countermeasures
M - Geological Survey
P - Active Sensor
Q - Thermal Detection

Purpose
D - Missile Detection
G - Fire Control
N - Navigation
Q - Special or Combination
R - Receiving or Passive Detection
S - Active Search
Y - Surveillance (used for particularly large active sensors)

Examples:
The FN/SPS-7 Active Search Sensor is a Spacecraft-mounted (S) Active Sensor (P) used for Area Search (S)
The FN/SQR-1 Thermal Sensor is a Spacecraft-mounted (S) Thermal Detection sensor (Q) used for Passive Detection (R)

Ships of the Federation Navy

The Galileo class gravitational survey vessel is intended for deep space survey expeditions, with adequate fuel and supplies to operate away from home for two years or more on each mission. As well as its gravitational survey sensors, it is equipped with active, thermal and EM sensors to detect any sign of non-human intelligence. The Magellan class Geological Survey Vessel is a sister class to the Galileo, identical in every respect except for the replacement of the three FN/SGQ-13 Gravitational Survey Sensors with three FN/SMQ-14 Geological Survey Sensors. Four of each class are in service.

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Galileo class Gravitational Survey Vessel    3750 tons     361 Crew     709.6 BP      TCS 75  TH 300  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1-21     Shields 0-0     Sensors 5/5/3/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 37%    IFR: 0.5%    Maintenance Capacity 355 MSP    Max Repair 100 MSP

J375 Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 3750 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls Royce Falcon Ion Engine (5)    Power 60    Fuel Use 80%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres    Range 210.0 billion km   (607 days at full power)

FN/SPS-6 Active Search Sensor (1)     GPS 2560     Range 25.6m km    Resolution 80
FN/SAR-1 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m km
FN/SLR-3 EM Detection Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m km
FN/SGQ-13 Gravitational Survey Sensor (3)   3 Survey Points In Service:
Galileo class GSV: Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe
Magellan class GEV: Sir Francis Drake, Henry Hudson, Louis Joliet, Ferdinand Magellan

The four Agincourt class destroyers comprise the primary striking power of the Federation Navy. With six Mk 1 Guided Missile Launching Systems and a storage capacity for ninety RGM-1A Falchion anti-ship missiles, the Agincourt can inflict significant damage on any potential adversary. The FN/SPS-7 Active Search Sensor provides detection capability out to seventy-six million kilometres and is supported by passive thermal and EM sensors. A substantial armour belt protects the Agincourt against any hostile fire that penetrates the defensive umbrella of its escort (see below).

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Agincourt class Destroyer    6000 tons     592 Crew     833.8 BP      TCS 120  TH 480  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 3-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 10/10/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 24
Annual Failure Rate: 96%    IFR: 1.3%    Maintenance Capacity 261 MSP    Max Repair 96 MSP
Magazine 360    

Rolls Royce Falcon Ion Engine (8)    Power 60    Fuel Use 80%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 37.5 billion km   (108 days at full power)

Mk 1 Guided Missile Launching System (6)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 60
FN/SPG-8 Missile Fire Control (1)     Range 76.8m km    Resolution 80
RGM-1A Falchion (90)  Speed: 20,000 km/s   End: 50.5m    Range: 60.6m km   WH: 5    Size: 4    TH: 66 / 40 / 20

FN/SPS-7 Active Search Sensor (1)     GPS 7680     Range 76.8m km    Resolution 80
FN/SQR-2 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 10     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  10m km
FN/SLR-4 EM Detection Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 10     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  10m kmIn Service: Agincourt, Blenheim, Salamanca, Waterloo

The Guardian class Destroyer Escort is intended to protect the other ships of the Federation Navy from hostile missile attack. With fifteen Mk 2 Guided Missile Launching Systems and three independent FN/SPG-10 Anti-Missile Fire Control systems, the Guardian is capable of launching sixty RIM-2A Sentinel anti-missiles every minute, targeting multiple incoming salvos. The FN/SPD-9 Missile Detection Sensor will detect hostile missiles at almost one million kilometres while even greater magazine space than the Agincourt allows for a standard loadout of 435 Sentinels. There are two Guardians in service, one with each of the two destroyer squadrons.

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Guardian class Destroyer Escort    6000 tons     526 Crew     892 BP      TCS 120  TH 480  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 3-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 5/5/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 15
Annual Failure Rate: 96%    IFR: 1.3%    Maintenance Capacity 279 MSP    Max Repair 96 MSP
Magazine 435    

Rolls Royce Falcon Ion Engine (8)    Power 60    Fuel Use 80%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 37.5 billion km   (108 days at full power)

Mk 2 Guided Missile Launching System (15)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 15
FN/SPG-10 Anti-Missile Fire Control (3)     Range 960k km    Resolution 1
RIM-2A Sentinel (435)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   End: 1.6m    Range: 2.3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 176 / 105 / 52

FN/SPN-5 Navigation Sensor (1)     GPS 1280     Range 12.8m km    Resolution 80
FN/SPD-9 Missile Detection Sensor (1)     GPS 96     Range 960k km    Resolution 1
FN/SQR-1 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m km
FN/SLR-3 EM Detection Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m kmIn Service: Guardian, Protector

The Kongo class jump cruiser forms the heart of a destroyer squadron and is intended to operate with a pair of Agincourt class destroyers and a single Guardian class escort. As the Kongo lacks any armament of its own, it relies on the rest of squadron for defence. In return, it provides a jump capability and the huge detection range of the FN/SPY-11 Area Search Sensor, able to detect ships of more than 5000 tons at a remarkable 240 million kilometres. The FN/SLR-12 EM Detection Sensor is also much more powerful than the EM sensors of the warships, allowing the Kongo to detect sensor emissions at a considerable distance. Finally, the Kongo carries three times more fuel than the Agincourt and Guardian, extending the operating range of the entire squadron.

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Kongo class Jump Cruiser    6000 tons     558 Crew     1024 BP      TCS 120  TH 480  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 3-29     Shields 0-0     Sensors 10/25/0/0     Damage Control Rating 5     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 57%    IFR: 0.8%    Maintenance Capacity 533 MSP    Max Repair 256 MSP

J800 Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 8000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls Royce Falcon Ion Engine (8)    Power 60    Fuel Use 80%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres    Range 112.5 billion km   (325 days at full power)

FN/SPY-11 Area Search Sensor (1)     GPS 24000     Range 240.0m km    Resolution 100
FN/SQR-2 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 10     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  10m km
FN/SLR-12 EM Detection Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 25     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  25m kmIn Service: Kongo, Kirishima

The final design for the Atlas class freighter was the cause of considerable controversy within the Federation Navy as its engines comprised seventy percent of the ship's total cost. During the design process, proposals for smaller, slower freighters with the same cargo capacity were put forward, including a 32,250 ton ship with five engines, a speed of 1160 km/s and a cost only half that of the final Atlas. The economy Atlas, as it became known, had major support within the Senate Appropriations Committee and several members pointed out the flexibility afforded by having twice as many ships in service, even though they could only performs missions at less than half the speed. Eventually the Navy's won the argument though, pointing out the faster ships would have the same lift capacity over time as a greater number of slower ships, provided speed of delivery in an emergency and could operate more easily with Fleet units if required. Five are in service.

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Atlas class Freighter    45000 tons     451 Crew     822.8 BP      TCS 900  TH 2250  EM 0
2500 km/s     Armour 1-112     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 11 MSP    Max Repair 38 MSP
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10    

NPO Energomash Commercial Ion Engine (15)    Power 150    Fuel Use 8%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 50.0 billion km   (231 days at full power)The Jamestown provides cryogenic transport capability for fifty thousand colonists. With its three cargo handling systems, it can load all of the pre-frozen colonists in just over sixteen hours. Two are in service

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Jamestown class Colony Ship    27400 tons     386 Crew     1098.8 BP      TCS 548  TH 1650  EM 0
3010 km/s     Armour 1-80     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 25 MSP    Max Repair 38 MSP
Colonists 50000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 15    

NPO Energomash Commercial Ion Engine (11)    Power 150    Fuel Use 8%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 82.1 billion km   (315 days at full power)
History of the Federated Nations of Earth

By mid-February of 2070, the ongoing but still incomplete gravitational survey of the Sol system had revealed six jump points. With the gravitational survey ships still busy in the outer system, the task of investigating the newly discovered jump points fell to the Magellan class geological survey ships, fresh from their own survey missions in the inner system. The first to carry out a transit was Louis Joliet, captained by CMDR Reinhardt Wolf, entering the fourth furthest jump point from the Sun and re-appearing in the FL Virginis system, fourteen light years from Earth. Although a total of eight planets, forty-nine moons and twenty asteroids orbited the pair of red dwarfs, none of them were even close to habitable. Louis Joliet began an immediate geological survey.

Twenty-four hours later, Henry Hudson entered jump point two and discovered the planetless Wolf 359 system. Sir Francis Drake investigated the innermost jump point on February 21st and found herself 1700m kilometres from Sol's nearest neighbour - Proxima Centauri. The dim M6-V star was orbited by six rocky planets and a gas giant, plus almost three hundred asteroids in three separate belts. The second planet had a 0.22 atm nitrogen - carbon dioxide atmosphere with a trace of oxygen and a surface temperature of -25C. While hardly ideal, it did have some possibilities for terraforming.

Henry Hudson entered the G2 - K1 binary system of Alpha Centauri on February 22nd and discovered the first  ideal habitable world to be found outside the Sol system, or at least the first ideal habitable moon. The two stars orbited each at 23 AU, or about 3.5 billion kilometres. Five gas giants, a terrestrial size world with a thin oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and a barren rocky chunk orbited the G2 primary. The planetary system of the smaller companion star comprised a Venusian world with a dense, boiling atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide, two gas giants and three airless planetoids. The second moon of the inner gas giant was almost Earth-sized with a gravity of 0.82G. Liquid oceans covered a third of its surface and the atmosphere was well within the breathable range for humans. Due to its proximity to the gas giant, less than the distance from Earth to Luna, the habitable moon was tidelocked, with each day of seventeen hours equal to the time it took for the moon to complete one orbit of the gas giant. The combination of the gas giant filling half the sky, the orbits of eighteen other moons and the orange K1-V star sixty-four million kilometres away, would provide any future colonists with a truly amazing vista.

As the jump point was located on the far side of the system from the K1-V companion, the habitable moon was almost five billion kilometres away. As the companion followed its eighty-two year orbit, it would move further away for the next couple of  decades then gradually draw closer until it reached a point less than 1400m kilometres from the jump point in approximately fifty-five years. Henry Hudson began a geological survey, starting with the planets of the primary.

Ferdinand Magellan probed three jump points stretching in an arc from nineteen degrees to seventy degrees of bearing in the north-east quadrant of the Sol system, with distances from 3100 kilometres to 3800 billion. The innermost of the three was a newly discovered seventh jump point. They led, respectively, to Luyten 726-8, Barnard's Star and Ross 248, none of which had any habitable worlds or moons. In fact, there was only a total of seven planets between all three systems.

The gravitational survey ship Tycho Brahe found an eighth jump point way out at over five billon kilometres on a bearing of 188. She deviated slightly from her planned survey course to probe it and found the system of Ross 128. The small M4V red dwarf had six planets, five of which were within three billion kilometres. Two vast asteroids belts surrounded the inner system with the outermost asteroids of the second belt crossing the orbit of the sixth planet at four hundred billion kilometres.

By April 2070, the first extra-solar gravitational surveys were underway, with the first extra-solar jump point found in Proxima Centauri on April 1st. The gravitational survey ship Tycho Brahe carried out the probe and arrived in EZ Aquarii, the first trinary system to be encountered. All three red dwarf stars had planetary systems with a total of thirteen planets and almost a hundred moons, although none were even close to habitable. On April 30th, investigation of another jump point in Proxima Centauri revealed a link from that system to Alpha Centauri. The new jump point in Alpha Centauri was only two billion kilometres from the habitable moon in that system and lay along the orbital path of Alpha Centauri-B so the distance would gradually shorten to only 300 million kilometres before the star passed by. This opened up a much better colonization route through Proxima to Alpha Centauri, bypassing the direct route from Sol. The survey of Proxima was finally completed on June 24th, after a total of eight jump points had been found.

In early September, two ships of a new type were laid down. The primary role of the Gateway class jump freighter was to act as a temporary jump gate for commercial traffic until the Sydney Harbour class jump gate construction ships, the first of which was under construction, could build permanent gates. With a fuel capacity of 1.75 million litres, the Gateway could also provide local refuelling if required and its limited sensor suite would provide at least some coverage of the area around its assigned jump point. If required, the Gateway could act as a jump-capable freighter, able to transport vital equipment to colonies outside of the planned jump gate network.

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Gateway class Jump Freighter    64000 tons     740 Crew     1512.4 BP      TCS 1280  TH 2250  EM 0
1757 km/s    JR 2-25(C)     Armour 1-142     Shields 0-0     Sensors 5/5/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 15 MSP    Max Repair 289 MSP
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10    

JC64K Commercial Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 64000 tons    Distance 25k km     Squadron Size 2
NPO Energomash Commercial Ion Engine (15)    Power 150    Fuel Use 8%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 1,750,000 Litres    Range 615.0 billion km   (4050 days at full power)

FN/SPN-5 Navigation Sensor (1)     GPS 1280     Range 12.8m km    Resolution 80
FN/SQR-1 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m km
FN/SLR-3 EM Detection Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m km
On January 6th 2071, three new Agincourt class destroyers, Balaclava, Crecy and Ramillies were launched from the Swan Hunter orbital shipyard, taking the total number of this class to seven. A further three were laid down. Fifteen days later, Sydney Harbour, the first jump gate construction ship was completed and immediately left orbit to begin work on a jump gate at the Sol - Proxima Centauri jump point. The Pan United Marine Shipyard laid down Golden Gate, the second unit of the Sydney Harbour class. The building of this ship would proceed far more quickly than her sister as Earth's factories had already built the jump gate construction module that represented sixty percent of the total ship cost.

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Sydney Harbour class Construction Ship    64000 tons     801 Crew     1657.4 BP      TCS 1280  TH 1500  EM 0
1171 km/s     Armour 1-142     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 16 MSP    Max Repair 38 MSP
Jump Gate Construction Ship: 180 days

NPO Energomash Commercial Ion Engine (10)    Power 150    Fuel Use 8%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres    Range 123.0 billion km   (1215 days at full power)On February 1st, a pair of Guardian class escort destroyers joined the fleet and two new destroyer squadrons were formed. The Third Destroyer Squadron comprised Balaclava, Crecy and the Guardian class escort Defender. Completing this squadron would be the jump cruiser Haruna, which was due in late March. Ramillies and Cerberus, the second Guardian, formed the basis of the Fourth Destroyer Squadron. One of the recently laid down Agincourts and a future Kongo class jump cruiser would eventually join the Fourth's order of battle. Construction work began on a fifth Guardian as part of a long term plan for a fifth destroyer squadron.

The stream of new ships leaving Earth's orbital shipyards continued with the launching of three Genesis class Terraformers. With no jump gates constructed or Gateway class jump freighters in service, the only possible destination for the new ships was the recently settled Martian colony.

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Genesis class Terraformer    57450 tons     561 Crew     1407.8 BP      TCS 1149  TH 750  EM 0
652 km/s     Armour 1-132     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 15 MSP    Max Repair 500 MSP
Terraformer: 2 module(s) producing 0.002 atm per annum

NPO Energomash Commercial Ion Engine (5)    Power 150    Fuel Use 8%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 39.1 billion km   (694 days at full power)On March 7th 2071, the survey of the Ross 248 system was completed, confirming a total of seven jump points. With eight jump points in Sol, eight in Proxima Centauri, seven in Ross 248 and four in Wolf 359, there were a considerable number of systems within a few billion kilometres of Earth, which presented the Federation Navy's senior officer's with a lot of space to cover if any hostile aliens were encountered. As of March 7th, a total of twenty-eight systems were known, including Sol, and only six of them had been surveyed for jump points.

The second jump gate construction ship, Golden Gate, was completed on June 23rd. She immediately joined the effort to connect Sol to the habitable moon in Alpha Centauri via the shortest route through Proxima Centauri. The first gate in the chain had already been built at the Sol - Proxima jump point and Sydney Harbour was at work on the far side of the same jump point. Golden Gate transited the newly built gate on the Sol side and proceeded to the Proxima - Alpha Centauri jump point to begin work on the third jump gate in the chain. A third construction ship, the Akashi-Kaikyo, was laid down at the Pan United Marine Shipyard. The two Gateway class jump freighters were launched in August 2071, finally giving the Federated Nations the ability to send large commercial vessels into other star systems. They were dispatched to the same jump points as the gate construction ships, providing a ferry service for colony ships until the gates were completed. As a result, the first human extra-solar colony was established on September 4th 2071 on the second moon of the second planet of Alpha Centauri-B. As Alpha Centauri B II- Moon 2 was not exactly a PR-friendly name, the colony was named Minerva, following the tradition of naming major system bodies after figures from Roman and Greek mythology.

The first sign of alien intelligence was discovered on the second planet of 70 Ophuichi, two transits from Earth via Barnard's Star. The planet had a very thin oxygen - nitrogen atmosphere with only six percent the density of Earth's atmosphere at sea level and a relatively mild temperature of -3C. A ruined settlement was detected on the surface during a routine geological survey by GEV Ferdinand Magellan. A Xenology team was assembled and dispatched to 70 Ophuichi II on board the jump cruiser Haruna. Even while the team was en route, a second ruin site was found on the third planet, although apparently just an outpost. When Haruna arrived on October 26th, her FN/SPY-11 active sensor detected the wreck of a 14,000 ton ship in the same orbit as 70 Ophuichi II, presumably an alien ship from the same race as the ruins. As the wreck had the potential to reveal alien technologies, research into a mobile salvage module was scheduled so a salvage ship could be designed and built. A gravitational survey of the same system revealed an alien-built jump gate, which linked 70 Ophuichi to Kuiper 75.

Due to the amount of huge amount of research, shipbuilding and installation construction that took place in the late 2060s and early 2070s, the economic situation of the Federated Nations began to suffer. The amount of wealth coming in from taxation and the burgeoning civilian shipping sector was unable to cover the economic cost of the vast industrial investments. This was addressed in two ways. The amount of production was reduced, particularly with regard to new shipping and the expansion of shipyard complexes, and the research sector was focused on improving economic performance. In addition, Financial Centres were established in several cities in an attempt to boost overall economic output and a commercial spaceport was constructed to improve the turnaround time on Earth for shipping. Even so, the outlook by late 2071 was bleak and further stringent cuts in production were inevitable.

On December 27th, the Agincourt class destroyers Fort Washington, Quebec and Vitoria joined the Fleet, taking the total number of destroyers in that class to ten. Due to the worsening financial crisis, no more were ordered and the Swan Hunter shipyard lay empty. Fort Washington joined the Fourth Destroyer Squadron, which now only lacked a jump cruiser, while Quebec and Vitoria formed a new Fifth Destroyer Squadron. Still under construction were the Kongo class jump cruiser Hiei, which would complete the Fourth Destroyer Squadron, and the Guardian class escort Vigilant, which would join the Fifth.

Alpha Centauri was first visited by ships of the Federation Navy in February 2070 and the Minerva colony was established in September 2071. Both civilian and government-owned colony ships had been bringing new colonists for almost a year and by August 2072 the population was 1.7 million. Throughout that time there had been no sign of any alien presence. In fact, despite the discovery of ruins and a jump gate in 70 Ophuichi, there was no sign of any contemporary extra-solar intelligence anywhere in the thirty-seven systems of known space. Which made the events of August 16th 2072 all the more shocking. A Jamestown class colony ship of the Heidelberg Colony Company had arrived in Alpha Centauri at 06:00 Zulu time and headed for the Minerva colony, maintaining regular contact with the colony's traffic control. For ten and a half hours the routine mission to deliver 50,000 cryogenically frozen colonists proceeded without incident. Without any warning, at 16:33 hours, the latest status report from the colony ship's 2nd officer was dramatically interrupted by an abruptly terminated scream. Simultaneously, seven large nuclear detonations registered on the colony's sensors at the same location as the colony ship. Within moments, life pod beacons began broadcasting with the colony ship's ID signature.

[attachment=1:1b74r71l]AlphaCentauri001.GIF[/attachment:1b74r71l]
There were no other civilian or Federation Navy ships in the system and Minerva's governor was aware the 1.7 million civilians for which he was responsible were totally defenceless. The destruction of the Heidelberg colony ship took place 1.4 billion kilometres away so he fervently hoped the unseen alien attackers were unaware of its existence. He immediately sent a message to Earth via the jump gate network that connected Alpha Centauri to Sol via Proxima Centauri, requesting urgent assistance. In the life pods surrounding the wreckage of the colony ship were just 101 survivors of the crew of 386. The 50,000 frozen colonists stood no chance at all.

[attachment=0:1b74r71l]KnownSpace0872.GIF[/attachment:1b74r71l]
to be continued...

Steve

[TrueZuluwiz]

I always thought that Proxima Centaurus was the third stellar component of the Alpha Centaurus System. It seems there is some doubt about this at Wikipedia, however. Still, the possibility of warp points between components of a far-flung system such as Centaurus is intriguing.
The early discovery of hostile aliens, even before the possibility of having cruisers, let alone battleships, is daunting. Flog those proletarians to their work at the shipyards, they don't need to be paid! The State is in danger!

Yes, we are having fun. The Troutmaster can relax for a bit.

[Beersatron]

One of the hardest things for me is coming up with a naming convention for components, I can honestly say that I have never sat down and worked through anything as complex as you have Steve!

Did you start this campaign at 2025 with heavy dust and a lower temp for Earth? Or did you start in 2070 and use the SM to setup the researched components and the first load of ships? You have done a lot of exploring for a year of game play. I never explore that fast - the NPRs are too nasty! :)

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

One of the hardest things for me is coming up with a naming convention for components, I can honestly say that I have never sat down and worked through anything as complex as you have Steve!

It's actually a cut-down and modified version of the systems used by the US Military. Here are a couple of links to the pages I used as my source material

http://www.designation-systems.net/usmi ... onics.html
http://www.designation-systems.net/usmi ... em_3_Note1

Did you start this campaign at 2025 with heavy dust and a lower temp for Earth? Or did you start in 2070 and use the SM to setup the researched components and the first load of ships?

I just used the prologue as a background to give me the right size of campaign. It actually started in Jan 2070 so by the time of the destruction of the colony ship, I have been exploring for two years and eight months

You have done a lot of exploring for a year of game play. I never explore that fast - the NPRs are too nasty!

Despite writing the game, all my recent campaigns have been purely for testing and I have been monitoring the NPRs too. I thought it was time I played one exactly as anyone else would play it so you probably have more experience than me at this type of campaign. There have been quite a few NPR battles when I just let the automated turns run. I thought this occasion was just the same until the colony ship exploded. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Steve

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

I always thought that Proxima Centaurus was the third stellar component of the Alpha Centaurus System. It seems there is some doubt about this at Wikipedia, however. Still, the possibility of warp points between components of a far-flung system such as Centaurus is intriguing.

When I was working on the real stars source material, most of my sources treated them as two separate systems so I thought I would do the same. The amount of disagreement between different astronomical sources with regard to almost everything is considerable

The early discovery of hostile aliens, even before the possibility of having cruisers, let alone battleships, is daunting. Flog those proletarians to their work at the shipyards, they don't need to be paid! The State is in danger!

Yes, we are having fun. The Troutmaster can relax for a bit.

Yes, the destruction of the colony ship came as something of a shock, especially as I am in the midst of a financial crisis. I have been concentrating on boosting my economy, rather than my military capabilities.

Steve

[backstab]

Steve,

What happened to your Pre Trans Newton Campaign you were planning ?

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Steve,

What happened to your Pre Trans Newton Campaign you were planning ?

It's on the backburner again. I did a lot of research into a 12-nation pre-TNT campaign but I abandoned it after about 10 years of game-time. I still have the starting setup though and may go back to it. The problem I found was that it's difficult to maintain a dozen different racial 'personalities' when they all start on Earth. It's a lot easier for something like the Rigellian Campaign as each race appears separately and has time to develop a personality based on game events before the next race comes along. I am still keen to write an Aurora novel but I just didn't think the 12-nation campaign was working so, rather than continue with something with which I wasn't entirely comfortable, I decided to cut my losses. I think at heart my favourite way to write is from the perspective of a single race with limited information. I am going to try running a few campaigns with NPRs (and with after-action reports) and see how they develop. If one develops well, I will consider whether to start a novel from part-way through the campaign based on the situation at that point. If I had taken a similar approach with the Rigellian Diary, I could probably have written an entire series of novels

Steve

[sloanjh]

EDIT:  Quotes are messed up for me (probably because this is a fiction thread and BBCode is off) so I'm inserting some anglies....

>

>>

>>One of the hardest things for me is coming up with a naming convention for components, I can honestly say that I have never sat down and >>worked through anything as complex as you have Steve!
>>

>It's actually a cut-down and modified version of the systems used by the US Military. Here are a couple of links to the pages I used as my >source material

>http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/electronics.html
>http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/missiles.html#_System_3_Note1
>

The naming convention reminded me - have you given any thought to the suggestion from a while back of putting intelligence about missile generations into the standard magazine loads for ships?  Something like allowing the player to designate an "SM-2" type missile, which would have variants SM-2a, SM-2b, etc. - the magazine load would be for "200 SM-2", and the system would automatically go to older versions of the missile if enough of the current varient weren't available.

Thanks,
John

PS - Loved the comment about Congress' love of "economy" ships....or were you talking about a UK equivalent?

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

The naming convention reminded me - have you given any thought to the suggestion from a while back of putting intelligence about missile generations into the standard magazine loads for ships?  Something like allowing the player to designate an "SM-2" type missile, which would have variants SM-2a, SM-2b, etc. - the magazine load would be for "200 SM-2", and the system would automatically go to older versions of the missile if enough of the current varient weren't available.

Yes, I did like that suggestion, especially as it will no doubt come in useful for this campaign. Once I create new generations of missiles in this campaign I think there is a very good chance I will will add it . I am aware that a lot of recent US naval procurement decisions do seem to be economy-based though. Virgina instead of Sea Wolf, DDG-1000 instead of DD-21, more Arleigh Burkes instead of fewer DDG-1000s, etc. The Royal Navy has a new class of anti-air destroyer that doesn't have any anti-ship or anti-sub capabilities. Another false economy. I just hope they don't bail out on the new carriers.

Steve

[sloanjh]

>

>>

>>PS - Loved the comment about Congress' love of "economy" ships....or were you talking about a UK equivalent?
>>

>Some things are universal :). I am aware that a lot of recent US naval procurement decisions do seem to be economy-based though. Virgina
>instead of Sea Wolf, DDG-1000 instead of DD-21, more Arleigh Burkes instead of fewer DDG-1000s, etc. The Royal Navy has a new class of
>anti-air destroyer that doesn't have any anti-ship or anti-sub capabilities. Another false economy. I just hope they don't bail out on the new
 >carriers.
>

I was actually thinking of Gary Hart (who's actually been popping up in the news again here and there) and his push for "light" carriers in the 80's....

The really amusing part about all this is that the US actually does have a bunch of such carriers, and few people notice - all the flattop 'phibs like Wasp etc.

John

PS - Was in San Francisco a couple of weeks back when Fleet Week happened to be going on.  The were supposed to have one of the new 'phibs open for visits, but she was gone by the time I was free on Sunday.  Did get to see the Blue Angels, though - unfortunately it was the low-ceiling version of the show.

[Father Tim]

I am curious as to why, if a Destroyer Squadron is intended to be DD, DD, DDE, DDJ, the Kongos jump drives can only handle 3 ships at a time?  More 'economy' ships, or an oversight in the planning department?

[waresky]

Steve's Campaign r ever intriguing and fill of good example,tactics and so..
But careful Steve,.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

I am curious as to why, if a Destroyer Squadron is intended to be DD, DD, DDE, DDJ, the Kongos jump drives can only handle 3 ships at a time?  More 'economy' ships, or an oversight in the planning department?

No, I just ran out of pre-game tech points . I will be creating a more capable jump drive once I research the necessary tech.

Steve