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Posted by: Haegan2005
« on: May 11, 2008, 07:57:08 PM »

Wouldn't that be difficult? After all, how do you talk to a race that sees you as food? Granted the Andies are bots, but they occupy worlds that do have edibles on them. The other side of the coin is that the bugs don't see anybody else as anything other then compitition. As I faintly recall, their psyche was extremely xenophobic.

Quote from: "TrueZuluwiz"
How about an Andromedan-Bug alliance?
Posted by: TrueZuluwiz
« on: May 11, 2008, 11:33:16 AM »

How about an Andromedan-Bug alliance?
Posted by: Strega
« on: May 11, 2008, 08:10:31 AM »

[/quote]
Well, unless there was some sort of civil war - or maybe an Andromedan - Kapaluan alliance

Steve[/quote]

Both of which could easily happen.  The Andromedans now know what an alliance is, and the apparent assassination of Tsushima could lead to a split in the military if and when Fuchida is accused.  Or the Octopi and Midgard could declare war on the Empire once the Octopi learn what the Empire has really been up to.  Throw in a war with either the Andromedans or the Kapaluans and that could be big trouble.
Posted by: Steve Walmsley
« on: April 20, 2008, 12:48:03 PM »

Quote from: "kdstubbs"
Steve,
      I would like to see you get the urge to work out the next turn of the Rigellian Campaign.  It would be interesting to see how the new weapons systems gained from the Kapullans affected the Migard Conferation, or the Andromedans.  Also, will you try to establish trade with the Kapullans--creating a threat that would force the Kapullans and the Rigellians to work together.  

Does look like you expanded yourself into a dead end with the Rigellian Empire--who would have the size or techology to defeat them?  Even the kapullans have a limited capability to defeat the Rigellians.

Well, unless there was some sort of civil war - or maybe an Andromedan - Kapaluan alliance

Steve
Posted by: kdstubbs
« on: April 20, 2008, 12:44:46 PM »

Steve,
      I would like to see you get the urge to work out the next turn of the Rigellian Campaign.  It would be interesting to see how the new weapons systems gained from the Kapullans affected the Migard Conferation, or the Andromedans.  Also, will you try to establish trade with the Kapullans--creating a threat that would force the Kapullans and the Rigellians to work together.  

Does look like you expanded yourself into a dead end with the Rigellian Empire--who would have the size or techology to defeat them?  Even the kapullans have a limited capability to defeat the Rigellians.

Kevin
Posted by: Steve Walmsley
« on: April 20, 2008, 10:05:45 AM »

Quote from: "MWadwell"
So does this mean that we will see the 2084 campaign continue, or will it go the same way as the Rigellians.....  :). As for the Rigellians, I can't see anything happening in the foreseeable future but the campaign is still sat on my PC ready to carry on if I ever get the urge :)

Steve
Posted by: MWadwell
« on: April 15, 2008, 08:26:15 AM »

Quote from: "SteveAlt"
Quote from: "MWadwell"
Steve,

Does this mean that the 2084 campaign is finished? (Which is a shame - as I was so looking forward to the Chinese getting their head handed to them on a platter.....  :D
Posted by: SteveAlt
« on: April 14, 2008, 06:23:19 PM »

Quote from: "MWadwell"
Steve,

Does this mean that the 2084 campaign is finished? (Which is a shame - as I was so looking forward to the Chinese getting their head handed to them on a platter.....  :twisted: )

Its on hold for the moment. The campaign has tested a lot of the the things I needed to but I made a mistake in starting with too few minerals to support three large pops. It is taking a long time to recover because of the lack of nearby resources and the war between the Asians and the Tanagrans is going to stall because the Asians are defending the next jump point inside a Nebula and the Tanagrans only have missile weapons. I have started a new campaign to test the parts of v3.0 that the 2084 campaign didn't touch on.

Steve
Posted by: Father Tim
« on: April 14, 2008, 09:00:21 AM »

But on the bright side, does this mean that 3.0 is ready for release?
Posted by: MWadwell
« on: April 14, 2008, 08:31:11 AM »

Steve,

Does this mean that the 2084 campaign is finished? (Which is a shame - as I was so looking forward to the Chinese getting their head handed to them on a platter.....  :twisted: )
Posted by: SteveAlt
« on: April 13, 2008, 02:46:03 PM »

1st January. Year One of the New Era.

Note: In this English translation of the Chronicles, all names, times, dates and measurements have been converted to standard human equivalents for ease of understanding.

It is now six months since the death of my father and my ascension to the Throne of the Imperator. Six months that have seen many changes in the Empire, the greatest of which is the final triumph of the State over the Church. I find it hard to believe that a people as advanced in science and art as the Vathor have clung for so long to the ancient dogmas of the Vicarius and his prelates. With Vicarius Marcellus safely under guard within the Obsidian Tower and his apologists scattered to the four winds, the Church is in complete disarray. The religious commissars have been forcibly ejected from schools, universities and research establishments and any political interference by any member of the clergy  is now a serious offence. My supporters within the Conclave will ensure the new Vicarius is a man who understands the subservience of the Church to the State and will devote his energies to the moral guidance of the Vathor people, rather than the suppression of scientific teaching and advancement.

All our efforts will now be focused on improving our scientific knowledge and our manufacturing base. Even with the Church?s attempts to restrict progress, the discovery of the so-called Phased Elements twenty years ago has transformed our industry and greatly enhanced our capabilities. The increase in living standards for our people has been considerable and the Church?s attempts to sabotage those advances began its decline and fall. Although my father was too afraid of the Church?s remaining power to move against Vicarius Marcellus, I have shown the people that the whole corrupt edifice was ready to collapse as soon as real pressure was applied against its imposing but fragile fa?ade.

My father faithfully obeyed the Church?s proscription against Astronomy or any thought of exploring space, even though such technology was within our capabilities. According to ancient scripture, the planet Vath was God?s gift to the Vathor and if any of our people tried to ascend to the heavens, God would cast down the Vathor and lay waste to Vath. Because of this ridiculous ancient decree, the growth of the Empire has been unnecessarily restricted to our homeworld and despite our industrial prowess, we do not even possess a shipyard capable of building a spacecraft. That will be corrected today, as we begin construction of our first shipyard. The first priority will be to carry out a geological survey of the other planets and moons in our solar system as the resources of Vath are finite and unless we can find Phased Elements on other worlds to feed out factories, our economy will eventually crash.

With the ban on Astronomy lifted, newly constructed telescopes and deep space sensors have finally allowed us to examine our solar system in great detail. Sanctum is a binary system with a yellow-white F4-V primary and a yellow G9-V orbiting at eighteen billion kilometers. The primary has seven planets, sixty-eight moons and almost two hundred and fifty asteroids. The innermost planet, Agni, is slightly larger than Vath and has an extremely dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. The crushing pressure and searing temperature make this world an extremely unpleasant place. Vath is the second planet of our system, orbiting at 191m kilometers, and has a gravity of 1.01, temperature of 20.4 degrees and a nitrogen - oxygen atmosphere of 1.0 atm, with an 80-20 split between the two gases. Sanctum-A III, orbiting at 417m kilometers, is known as Abaddon, or the Forbidden Planet, and is the home of God?s Enemy in our ancient texts. The Church believes an ancient battle was fought on this world in the distant past and the ruins of the Enemy?s city still lie on its surface. More religious nonsense. I am sure that reason for the Church?s ban on space travel is so that the Vathor could not visit Abaddon and weaken the Church by dispelling the ancient myth. Abaddon does not appear to deserve its reputation as it is smaller than Vath and has a thin Nitrogen ? Carbon Dioxide atmosphere with traces of oxygen. The temperature is -39C. Hardly the world of fire and brimstone described by the Church. Our scientists believe that one day we will have the technology to terraform Abaddon and establish Vathor colonies.

Niflheim, or Sanctum-A IV, is the largest of the rocky inner planets, with a diameter of 14,000 kilometers and has a similar atmosphere to Abaddon, except for the addition of sulphur dioxide from its many volcanoes. With a surface temperature of -140C, it is unlikely we will ever visit this planet unless it has significant deposits of Phased Elements. Ymir, a gas giant over 100,000 kilometers in diameter, forms the boundary between the inner system and the vast region of asteroids stretching from 1.7 billion to 7.6 billion kilometers. Formoria, the largest planet in our system at 138,000 kilometers, and Duergar, the smallest at 2200 kilometers, both orbit within the asteroid field. Ciocal, one of Formoria?s thirty moons, is actually larger than Vath and has its own atmosphere of nitrogen and methane.

Sanctum-B has nine planets and eighty moons, although no asteroids. The first planet is similar to Agni, a hot world with a high pressure atmosphere while the second planet, Elysium, with a thin nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere twenty percent the density of Vath?s, acceptable gravity and a temperature of -52C, is another potential colony site once the proposed terraforming technology is available. The remaining seven planets are a mixture of gas giants and cold, barren rocky worlds. Even though several moons are large enough to support an atmosphere, all of them are freezing, hostile and desolate. Once our first shipyard has reached a sufficient size, we will begin building geological survey ships to explore every body in the entire system.

For the purposes of historical record, I will layout the status of our manufacturing capability and at the start of this New Era of scientific progress and space exploration plus the existing deposits of Phased Elements within Vath?s core. Although our industrial potential is considerable, it has never been devoted to the exploration of space so it will take some time to develop a significant ship-building capacity. In the meantime, our research facilities, finally freed from the restraints of the Church, can begin work on many different technologies, beginning with general economic improvements that should increase the wealth production of the Vathor and provide the funds to make full use of our industrial might.

Vath - Prince Bernhard von Reichenbach
Population: 1500m
Wealth: 7500
Shipyards: 0 / 0
Maintenance Facilities: 10,000 tons
Construction Factories: 1500
Ordnance Factories: 300
Fuel Refineries: 600
Mines: 1200
Automated Mines: 240
Research Labs: 60
Ground Force Training Facilities: 15
Naval Academy: Level 6
Fuel Stockpile: 7.2m litres

Vath Mineral Deposits
Duranium 244,500  Acc: 0.9
Neutronium 94,400  Acc: 0.6
Corbomite 47,900  Acc: 0.2
Tritanium 45,300  Acc: 0.4
Boronide 153,000  Acc: 0.6
Mercassium 34,800  Acc: 0.9
Vendarite 14,700  Acc: 0.1
Sorium 142,200  Acc: 0.7
Uridium 20,900  Acc: 0.7
Corundium 22,100  Acc: 0.1
Gallicite 42,100  Acc: 0.7

Apart from the ground forces, the only military assets available at the start of the New Era are four planetary defence centres, more suited to ensuring peace on Vath than defending the planet against any external threat.

Code: [Select]
Seydlitz class Planetary Defence Centre    22000 tons     1530 Crew     1255 BP      TCS 440  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 11-69     Sensors 1/0     Damage Control 0-0     PPV 120
Troop Capacity 6 Divisions    Magazine 620    

PDC Missile Launcher (20)    Missile Size 6    Rate of Fire 90
Peacekeeper Missile (103)  Speed: 9200 km/s   End: 13.6 minutes    Range: 7.5m km   Warhead: 6    MR: 10    Size: 6

The Vathor officer corps is well-trained and well motivated, although there are still a number of officers who have gained their position through loyalty to the Church. In addition, all their experience has been gained in land, naval and air forces dedicated to planetary combat so some may find the move into space difficult while others may display previously unappreciated capabilities. As civilian readers may not understand the hierarchy of our armed forces, I will cover that in more depth. There are seven officer ranks within the Imperial Vathorian Guard, all of which are based on our feudal past. The lowest rank is the Knight who, unlike the higher ranks, is traditionally referred to by their given name preceded by the honorific ?Sir?. Next is the Viscount, derived from the Old Vathorian vicecomes or vice-count. Historically the Viscount held an estate within a county and commanded a portion of the forces of his feudal lord. Above the Viscount is the Count. Hundreds of years ago, the Imperator divided his realm between trusted retainers. The Old Vathorian comes meant "companion" (literally, "go with"), and they were originally the retainers of the Imperator in the days of the Third Empire, who were then often entrusted with the administration of dioceses, major divisions of the Empire referred to as Counties in Modern Vathorian.

Some Counts were more important than others. Counties at the edge of Imperial territory were sometimes threatened with invaders or were expanding into outside territories. These were referred to as the "Marches" (marca in Old Vathorian) and the Count of a March is known as a Margrave (marchio), which is now the fourth highest rank of the Imperial Vathorian Guard. In the latter days of the Third Empire, a higher level of noble rank developed. The Old Vathorian dux meant "leader," and this was the Third Empire title for a frontier military commander. The Count, as a Companion of the Imperator, originally had the higher rank. As the Kingdoms of the High Plains were absorbed into the Empire in the 4th century of the Third Empire, the governors of the conquered Kingdoms came to be called dux and this elevated the title well above its original status, so that dux, now referred to as Duke in Modern Vathorian, came to be regarded as superior to Count and Margrave and consequently is now the third highest military rank.

In the Confederation of Eastern Varpathia, the rulers of the three main powers were referred to as Velikii Knyaz. This has been loosely translated from Varpathian to Vathorian as Grand Dukes or even sometimes Grand Princes. When the Confederation peacefully joined the Fourth Empire in the Second Century (4thE), the Velikii Knyaz retained almost complete autonomy for decades and the translation of Grand Duke came into common use to denote their high rank within the Empire. The title is now used to refer to the second highest rank within the Guard. The highest rank of the Imperial Vathorian Guard is the Prince. This originated from the Old Vathorian princeps, "first, foremost", which had a variety of meanings, including a brother or son of the Imperator or the ruler of a principality which had sworn allegiance to the Empire. There is currently only one Prince within the Imperial Vathorian Guard, Prince Bernhard von Reichenbach, who serves as Planetary Governor of Vath and takes responsibility for the day to day running of the Empire. Despite his heavy workload, he maintains a busy social schedule and always seems to attend every glittering function at Court. This never affects his work however and he is undoubtedly the most effective administrator on the planet.

11th July Year One NE
Our construction factories have now built the framework of three shipyards. As each one was completed, its initial focus was on its own expansion but the first to be built, the Metzelder Shipyard, should be ready to begin work on a geological survey ship in the near future. Over the last six months, our scientists have completed their development of economic improvements forbidden by the Church that should boost the wealth produced by the Vathor economy by fifty percent.

22nd August Year One NE
A momentous day for the Empire. Our first spacecraft, the geological survey ship Bayern, has been laid down in the Metzelder Shipyard. She should be ready to launch by July of next year. In the meantime, construction of a second slipway at the Metzelder Shipyard is underway to enable us to work on two Bayerns at the same time.

Code: [Select]
Bayern class Geosurvey Ship    2000 tons     196 Crew     425 BP      TCS 40  TH 75  EM 0
1875 km/s     Armour 1-14     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/3     Damage Control 0-0     PPV 0
Replacement Parts 5    

Nuclear Thermal Engine (3)    Power 25    Efficiency 1.00    Signature 25    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 90.0 billion km   (555 days at full power)

Geological Survey Sensors (3)   3 Survey Points


21st May, Year Two NE
Due to an improvement in our shipbuilding technology, Bayern has been completed ahead of schedule. Amid much celebration and planet-wide media coverage, Bayern left orbit on course for Agni, the innermost planet of the system. After completing a geological survey, she will move on to Abaddon and finally lay to rest the myth of the ruined city on that world. In addition to an improvement in shipbuilding, our scientists have increased the efficiency with which can make improvements to our existing shipyards and have increased our mining output by twenty percent. They have also developed the technology for pebble bed reactors and are using that new knowledge as the basis for a potential new generation of engines. In the meantime a second Bayern class ship has been laid down in the Metzelder Shipyard. We now have four shipyards two of which have a capacity of 3000 tons and two have a capacity of 2000 tons. All four have a single slipway, although the two smaller yards, Metzelder and Steiner, are each building a second slipway. For the moment our construction factories are devoting their output to automated mines so that if Bayern finds new sources of Phased Elements, we can establish off-world mining colonies.

29th May, Year Two NE
The mineral survey of Agni has been completed. Although Agni has considerably larger deposits of many minerals than Vath, they are mostly of low accessibility and it is therefore unlikely any colony will be established on this planet.

Agni Mineral Survey
Neutronium 159,201  Acc: 0.3
Corbomite 6,874,884  Acc: 0.6
Tritanium 7,800,849  Acc: 0.3
Mercassium 12,489,160  Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 12,895,280  Acc: 0.1
Sorium 10,929,640  Acc: 0.1
Corundium 4,447,881  Acc: 0.6
Gallicite 11,309,770  Acc: 0.1

8th June, Year Two NE
Bayern has completed her survey of Abaddon, with disturbing results. A half buried ruined city has been discovered in the ice sheet covering the northern continent. News of this city has been kept a closely guarded secret, to avoid any trouble from religious zealots, until we can learn more. Even my closest advisors appear worried at this discovery as it does appear to validate the ancient texts, although there is no way our primitive ancestors could possibly have known of this ruin on another world. Pure coincidence seems the most rational explanation, although whatever the origin of the city it suggests that some form of civilization once existed on Abaddon. Perhaps some catastrophe overcame that civilization and the survivors fled to Vath. That would explain where the myth of the ruined city originated and possibly some of the ancient myths regarding monsters and demons. Bayern has been ordered to return to Vath and ferry an archaeological team to Abaddon who will carry out a detailed examination of the city. The only mineral deposit on Abaddon is a small quantity of inaccessible Gallicite.

1st July, Year Two NE
The archaeological team, led by Viscount Alfred Scheiner, has quickly established two important facts about the ruined city on Abaddon. Firstly that it was the home of an civilization more advanced than our own, although there is no sign of any divine or demonic influence, and secondly that there are a large number of structures that remain intact and could probably be restored to use. A cybernetic team will be assembled and delivered to Abaddon by Bayern to work on establishing the purpose of the structures and reactivating them. The archaeological team will study both the structures and the rest of the city in an attempt to learn any technological secrets that will aid our own advancement.

to be continued...

Steve