Author Topic: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR  (Read 21983 times)

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Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« on: August 22, 2019, 03:10:56 PM »
I'm always very short on time, so the entries will be super brief. Also, I'm not English native, so beware. I've been playing this campaign for a while, and it starts to get interesting, so I've decided it's worth an AAR.

Start parameters (default if not mentioned):
Year: 0
Difficulty: 100%
Max number of systems: 150
Starting NPRs: 2
NPR generation: Disabled
Precursors & Star Swarm: Enabled

Racial Data:
Name: United Systems
Government type: Representative Democracy
Location: Earth/Sol
Training Level: 5
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2019, 03:40:08 PM »
September 11, Year 54.
MAP & Diplo data:
Off-Topic: show



It's been almost 35 years since I've met the Union of Gun (GUN or Gun Union for short). Scary looking robots (are they?) with actual guns instead of hands, that were given a chance for friendship. Well, one sided kind of friendship, because I don't trust them.

I get their research data occasionally. In return, I allow them to keep buzzing around Sol in their slow (1.4K km/s) ships. It was hard to find them, but I managed.

I wanted to attack them, many times. But ultimately decided that peace, even though boring, is much more profitable to me. My resource situation is not particularly great (I'll get to that later), so making it any worse before it'll stabilize will not be wise.

Another thing that came into my head was that if I met another empire, and there will be some kind of 3 way conflict, it'll be hard to process turns. But that's a silly excuse, I guess. Or is it?

Things changed in Y54. I did find ruins and wrecks previously. But no additional alien activity. Today, I've found two Jump Gates, which I do not believe were built by GUN. Somebody else built them. They lead to nowhere on one side (EG 45, an empty system), and to almost nothing on the other (EG 290 no habitable planets or any additional Jump Gates).

I'll go into more detail about my current fleets later, but I do not feel that I'm ready for a serious conflict yet.

I have two combat fleets (1x CVL 10x DDG and 1x CV 12x DDG) and some support ships (4x AKE, 4x AO). My plans for a cruiser were postponed previously, because I feel the need for a better (at least 250+K km) gunnery FCS (I want an area defense capability on it). Current engine tech is magneto-plasma, but I feel like I'll be able to produce new generation of ships in just a couple of years. Most tech has already been done.

I'm yet to produce a minelayer (or mines) to place sensors buoys, among other things I'm yet to do. Not sure if the makers of those Jump Gates are still around, but if I'm about to meet them, I don't think this new "first contact" will be as friendly as the first one. I need to prepare more.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2019, 03:48:34 PM by L0ckAndL0ad »
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2019, 12:00:13 AM »
Economy

Due to automation difficulties, I went with centralized approach. Everything of importance is located on Earth. Other colonies are made as close as possible, and first of all are treated as a source of minerals. Including Sorium, because I figured it takes too much micromanagement effort to control gas giant fuel harvesting ops. It's easier to just mine it with all other minerals, ship it back to Earth and refine there.

Civilian sector plays a very important role. Everything that civilians can do themselves - I allow and encourage it. Therefore in every system there's a main hub that gathers all the minerals mined by the civilian mining complexes.

Colonial hubs outside of Sol have small industrial complexes to allow small scale construction and PDC assembly.

Earth industries:
DSTS lvl 17 (9350)
Spaceport lvl 1
Shipyards 764k naval, 1.12m civilian
Maintenance facilities 500 (100k tons)
Construction factories 674
Ordnance factories 222
Fighter factories 250
Fuel refineries 200
Mines 431 (some are converted to auto to be shipped away)
Mass drivers 6 (30k tons)
Research labs 70

Population

Sol:
Earth 1.5b
Luna 126m
Mars 75m
Mercury 0.26m
Venus 0 (automated mining colony)

Bernards Star:
Bortus (no mustache) 13.87m

Luyten 726-8:
Feb 1.42m

WISE 0410+1502:
Socrates 0.52m

Listening posts in systems:
Altair (2x DSTS)
Proxima Centauri (2x DSTS)

United Systems CIA station embassy  on GUN homeworld:
Luyten 1305-10A II M 4 -- no population

Minerals situation

Earth is almost out of ore, but has 30-190K of each mineral type stored. Luna (2.7m), Mars (7.6m), Mercury (3m) and Venus (42m) have decent mineral deposits, with the biggest being on Venus, but their accessibility is medium to low. Closest colonies of Bortus (51m), Feb (74m) and Socrates (167m) all have huge deposits, but most of them are either 0.1 or ~0.4. So Auto/Mines are being created on Earth now to increase extraction volume, which is currently pretty low and not enough to fulfill Earth's industrial needs (even under ideal circumstances, like no freighters being blown up by aliens).
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2019, 01:47:59 PM »
I dug up some info around and it may be that these Jump Gates I found are not a telltale sign of an active alien Empire. So I may have jumped the gun with this AAR, he-he. But let's continue anyway, who knows what might happen...

Current state of the United Systems Navy:

TG 1.1 "Ranger" (2nd Gen ships)
1x Ranger class CVL (10x Strike Fighters, 5x Beam Fighters, 1x Early Warning scout)
10x Mahan class DDG

TG 2.1 "Enterprise" (3rd Gen ships)
1x Enterprise class CV (36x Strike Fighters, 24x Beam Fighters, 7x Early Warning scouts)
12x Cole class DDG

Rescue and Recovery Div 1
4x Rama class ARS (Rescue and Salvage Ships)

Supply Squadron 1
4x Pyro class AKE
4x Saturn class AO

TG 2.1 is the main strike force. Some (2-4) destroyers from TG 1.1 would be detached to escort Supply Squadron ships as needed. The rest of 1.1 would be in reserve. Earth and Bortus colony have various PDCs, including some hangars for reserve fighters.

Designs:

Carriers:

Off-Topic: show

Ranger class Light Carrier    35 200 tons     700 Crew     4726.88 BP      TCS 704  TH 1800  EM 0
2556 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 4-95     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 54     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.25 Years     MSP 7854    AFR 291%    IFR 4%    1YR 699    5YR 10484    Max Repair 791 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months    Flight Crew Berths 195   
Flag Bridge    Hangar Deck Capacity 8000 tons     Magazine 622    Cryogenic Berths 200   

J35200(3-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 35200 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
600 EP Ion Drive (3)    Power 600    Fuel Use 30%    Signature 600    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 3 000 000 Litres    Range 51.1 billion km   (231 days at full power)

AFM-41 Funny Man (60)  Speed: 35 200 km/s   End: 23.7m    Range: 50.1m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 246/147/73
ASM-41 Falling Star (80)  Speed: 20 800 km/s   End: 40.4m    Range: 50.4m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 138/83/41

Strike Group
10x F/A-3 Banshee Strikefighter   Speed: 10333 km/s    Size: 9.29
5x F-4R Ray Fighter   Speed: 12877 km/s    Size: 9.94
1x EW-2F Interrogator Early Warning and Control   Speed: 6400 km/s    Size: 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enterprise class Carrier    100 000 tons     2026 Crew     16535.24 BP      TCS 2000  TH 2240  EM 0
3200 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 5-191     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 140     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.26 Years     MSP 12427    AFR 665%    IFR 9.2%    1YR 3298    5YR 49468    Max Repair 3466 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 30 months    Flight Crew Berths 323   
Flag Bridge    Hangar Deck Capacity 32000 tons     Magazine 1866    Cryogenic Berths 600   

J100000(3-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 100000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
640 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (TR35%) (10)    Power 640    Fuel Use 14.31%    Signature 224    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 9 000 000 Litres    Range 113.2 billion km   (409 days at full power)

CIWS-160 (3x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
AFM-41 Funny Man (144)  Speed: 35 200 km/s   End: 23.7m    Range: 50.1m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 246/147/73
ASM-41 Falling Star (288)  Speed: 20 800 km/s   End: 40.4m    Range: 50.4m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 138/83/41

ECM 10

Strike Group
36x F/A-3 Banshee Strikefighter   Speed: 10333 km/s    Size: 9.29
12x F-4G Grizzly Fighter   Speed: 13704 km/s    Size: 9.34
12x F-4R Ray Fighter   Speed: 12877 km/s    Size: 9.94
3x EW-2F Interrogator Early Warning and Control   Speed: 6400 km/s    Size: 10
4x EW-2 Seer Early Warning and Control   Speed: 3232 km/s    Size: 9.9


Destroyers:

Off-Topic: show
Mahan class Destroyer, Guided Missile    11 400 tons     260 Crew     1843.88 BP      TCS 228  TH 600  EM 420
2631 km/s     Armour 4-45     Shields 14-300     Sensors 12/12/0/0     Damage Control Rating 14     PPV 32.24
Maint Life 6.42 Years     MSP 1415    AFR 74%    IFR 1%    1YR 59    5YR 888    Max Repair 160 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 367   

300 EP Ion Drive (2)    Power 300    Fuel Use 52.5%    Signature 300    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 700 000 Litres    Range 21.0 billion km   (92 days at full power)
Beta R300/324 Shields (9)   Total Fuel Cost  122 Litres per hour  (2 916 per day)

Single Gauss Cannon R1-100 Turret (1x2)    Range 10 000km     TS: 8000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 1    ROF 5        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gunnery FCS 16K/8K (1)    Max Range: 32 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     69 37 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

AMM-1-10s Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
ASM-6-1200s Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 6    Rate of Fire 1200
ASM FCS 8Kt/175M (1)     Range 175.3m km    Resolution 160
AMM FCS 1.25M (2)     Range 11.5m km    Resolution 1
AMM-12-3M Magic (175)  Speed: 25 600 km/s   End: 2m    Range: 3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 290/174/87
ASM-62-150M Sunburn (32)  Speed: 23 500 km/s   End: 106.4m    Range: 150m km   WH: 9    Size: 6    TH: 164/98/49

AMM Radar 1M (1)     GPS 160     Range 9.6m km    MCR 1.0m km    Resolution 1
RAD 8Kt/204M (1)     GPS 23520     Range 204.5m km    Resolution 160
Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km

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

Cole class Destroyer, Guided Missile    10 000 tons     246 Crew     1981.36 BP      TCS 200  TH 640  EM 300
3200 km/s     Armour 4-41     Shields 10-300     Sensors 22/22/0/0     Damage Control Rating 15     PPV 34.27
Maint Life 2.14 Years     MSP 681    AFR 145%    IFR 2%    1YR 198    5YR 2975    Max Repair 256 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 25 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 367    Cryogenic Berths 200   

640 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 640    Fuel Use 14.31%    Signature 640    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 400 000 Litres    Range 50.3 billion km   (181 days at full power)
Delta R300/300 Shields (4)   Total Fuel Cost  50 Litres per hour  (1 200 per day)

Twin Gauss Cannon R3-67 Turret (1x6)    Range 30 000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gunnery FCS 32K/16K (1)    Max Range: 64 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0

AMM-1-10s Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
ASM-6-720s Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 6    Rate of Fire 720
ASM FCS 8Kt/175M (1)     Range 175.3m km    Resolution 160
AMM FCS 3/27.7M (2)     Range 27.7m km    Resolution 1
AMM-12-3M Magic (143)  Speed: 25 600 km/s   End: 2m    Range: 3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 290/174/87
ASM-62-150M Sunburn (32)  Speed: 23 500 km/s   End: 106.4m    Range: 150m km   WH: 9    Size: 6    TH: 164/98/49
AFM-41 Funny Man (8)  Speed: 35 200 km/s   End: 23.7m    Range: 50.1m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 246/147/73

AMM Radar 3/27.7M (1)     GPS 252     Range 27.7m km    MCR 3.0m km    Resolution 1
RAD 8Kt/321M (1)     GPS 36960     Range 321.4m km    Resolution 160
Thermal Sensor TH2-22 (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-22 (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km

ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 10


Fighters:

Off-Topic: show
F/A-3 Banshee class Strikefighter    465 tons     3 Crew     132.8 BP      TCS 9.29  TH 96  EM 0
10333 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 2.4
Maint Life 2.67 Years     MSP 18    AFR 17%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 4    5YR 54    Max Repair 48 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 16   

96 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 96    Fuel Use 274.36%    Signature 96    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 15 000 Litres    Range 2.1 billion km   (56 hours at full power)

MS4-BX Missile Launcher (4)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
ASM FCS(F) 5Kt/55M (1)     Range 55.4m km    Resolution 100
ASM-41 Falling Star (4)  Speed: 20 800 km/s   End: 40.4m    Range: 50.4m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 138/83/41

RAD(F)-5Kt/51M (1)     GPS 4725     Range 52.0m km    Resolution 100
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-4R Ray class Fighter    497 tons     4 Crew     145.4 BP      TCS 9.94  TH 128  EM 0
12877 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 2.2 Years     MSP 18    AFR 19%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 5    5YR 75    Max Repair 64 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 0   

128 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 128    Fuel Use 271.53%    Signature 128    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 15 000 Litres    Range 2.0 billion km   (43 hours at full power)

10cm Railgun V3/C3 (1x4)    Range 30 000km     TS: 12877 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S00.5 40-4000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 80 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Stellarator Fusion Reactor PW3 (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

AMM Radar 250K/2.3M (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.3m km    MCR 252k km    Resolution 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-4G Grizzly class Fighter    467 tons     4 Crew     138.2 BP      TCS 9.34  TH 128  EM 0
13704 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 2.26 Years     MSP 18    AFR 17%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 5    5YR 71    Max Repair 64 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 0   

128 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 128    Fuel Use 271.53%    Signature 128    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 15 000 Litres    Range 2.1 billion km   (43 hours at full power)

Gauss Cannon R3-50 (1x3)    Range 30 000km     TS: 13704 km/s     Accuracy Modifier 50%     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S00.5 40-4000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 80 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0

AMM Radar 250K/2.3M (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.3m km    MCR 252k km    Resolution 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EW-2 Seer class Early Warning and Control    495 tons     16 Crew     149 BP      TCS 9.9  TH 32  EM 0
3232 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/22/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 1.74 Years     MSP 19    AFR 19%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 8    5YR 115    Max Repair 94 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 1.9 months    Spare Berths 0   

32 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (B) (1)    Power 32    Fuel Use 49%    Signature 32    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 20 000 Litres    Range 14.8 billion km   (53 days at full power)

RAD 8Kt/131M (1)     GPS 15120     Range 131.5m km    Resolution 160
EM Detection Sensor EM2-22 (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EW-2F Interrogator class Early Warning and Control    500 tons     9 Crew     168 BP      TCS 10  TH 64  EM 0
6400 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/22/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 1.86 Years     MSP 21    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 8    5YR 116    Max Repair 94 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.4 months    Spare Berths 4   

64 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 64    Fuel Use 277.19%    Signature 64    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 35 000 Litres    Range 4.5 billion km   (8 days at full power)

RAD 8Kt/131M (1)     GPS 15120     Range 131.5m km    Resolution 160
EM Detection Sensor EM2-22 (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Auxiliaries:

Off-Topic: show

Rama class Rescue and Salvage Ship    40 000 tons     293 Crew     1813.4 BP      TCS 800  TH 2000  EM 0
2500 km/s    JR 1-25(C)     Armour 4-104     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 28    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 1   
Cargo 5000    Cryogenic Berths 1000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 5    Tractor Beam     
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

JC41K Commercial Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 41000 tons    Distance 25k km     Squadron Size 1
400 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (5)    Power 400    Fuel Use 4.42%    Signature 400    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1 850 000 Litres    Range 188.3 billion km   (871 days at full power)

CIWS-160 (4x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pyro class Auxiliary Cargo and Ammunition    30 000 tons     567 Crew     3243.04 BP      TCS 600  TH 1600  EM 0
2666 km/s    JR 5-50     Armour 5-86     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 58     PPV 0
Maint Life 9.29 Years     MSP 10567    AFR 189%    IFR 2.6%    1YR 221    5YR 3309    Max Repair 551 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 2100    Cryogenic Berths 200   

J30000(5-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 30000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 5
400 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 400    Fuel Use 4.42%    Signature 400    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500 000 Litres    Range 67.9 billion km   (294 days at full power)

CIWS-160 (4x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
ECM 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturn class Auxiliary Oiler    30 000 tons     172 Crew     1701.4 BP      TCS 600  TH 1600  EM 0
2666 km/s    JR 1-25(C)     Armour 4-86     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 35    Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 120 months    Spare Berths 0   
Cryogenic Berths 2000    Tractor Beam     

JC30K Commercial Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 30000 tons    Distance 25k km     Squadron Size 1
400 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 400    Fuel Use 4.42%    Signature 400    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 11 000 000 Litres    Range 1492.8 billion km   (6480 days at full power)

CIWS-160 (4x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes


These are 2nd and 3rd Generation of ships, and I'm just several years away from designing 4th Generation.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2019, 04:06:58 PM by L0ckAndL0ad »
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2019, 02:47:58 PM »
October 17, Year 55

FLASH

Exploration Ship Simon Newcomb encountered six unknown alien ships while grav-surveying system NN 3517, one jump away from recently found Jump Gates (also 5 jumps away from Sol).

Unknown ships are of two classes (three each). All estimated 8600 tons, thermal signature 900, observed speed 5232 km/s. Both are using active sensors.

Another Jump Gate was found in a nearby system to the previous gates.

The most experienced diplomatic team, the one that was working with GUN all this time, was reassigned to deal with this new alien race.

No response yet. No shots fired. Yet...

FLASH

17th October 55 13:42:46, NN 3517, Simon Newcomb suffers complete structural failure due to the amount of damage it has received. The ship is destroyed.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2019, 02:59:59 PM by L0ckAndL0ad »
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2019, 01:42:23 PM »
October 23, Year 55

23rd October 55 04:02:56, Unknown, Commander Anthony Morley has been captured by the NN 3517 Aliens #161

Union diplomats are still unable to make contact with the Nails. That's how I call them for now.

TG 2.1 Enterprise is readied and sent towards NN 3517. Other exploration ships remain in the area to keep watch. Supply Division 1 (Prov.) - TG 2.9 (2x AKE, 2x AO, 3x DDG) and Rescue and Recovery Div 1 are trailing behind the Enterprise group.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2019, 01:50:17 PM by L0ckAndL0ad »
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2019, 02:49:29 PM »
November 27, Year 55

Still can't make contact with the Nails. Diplomatic team is not sure if that's even possible. Enterprise group has entered NN 3517 system. Current task - locate and destroy any Nails ships in NN 3517.

In other news...

New alien race found! Just three jumps away from our Nails encounter. Ross 594 appears to be their home world. Nine ships, thermal signature 275, were sitting on a Ross 594 - HIP 29332 (JG) Jump Point, on the Ross 594 side. They did not attack my exploration ships, but did detach a couple of vessels to investigate the hastily retreating explorers.

This spices things up even more. Did not expect to find two alien races so quickly after one another and so close to each other. I'm still a few (well, decent amount) months away from being ready to build new generation of combat ships. Gotta wait some more to find out the exact ETA.

Alright, wish the Enterprise group a good luck!

Map update:

Off-Topic: show



PS: Google Images seem to have trouble loading for unauthorized users (or so it seems in incognito mode when I test), so I'm adding the images as attachments.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2019, 03:16:38 PM by L0ckAndL0ad »
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #7 on: August 25, 2019, 04:24:04 PM »
November 28, Year 55

Combat Report

TG 2.1 assumed EMCON 1 (radio silence) before entering NN 3517. One Seer class EW fighter and two Interrogator class EW fighters were launched. Seer turned on active radar and took station near TG 2.1 which started moving in the direction of the wreckage. Interrogators were vectored to the most probable enemy locations. At 10:25 EW-2F Interrogator 003 detected six enemy vessels, near the wreck. The same ones that were responsible for the destruction of Simon Newcomb.

24 strike fighters, accompanied by 12 beam fighters were launched.

Bandits started approaching EW-2F 003, but it kept them at distance of 120M km. When the strike package came within 42M km of the targets, it turned out that they are using ECM 40. Strikers had to close in to 31M km.

6 targets, 96 missiles (WH 9), 16 missiles per target. Decent accuracy of ASM-41 Falling Star and outstanding (15-22%) crew grade bonuses allowed to score surprising 95 hits in total (timestamp 15:51).

The bad news is, only two enemy ships slowed down (1161 and 4086 km/s), while one secondary magazine explosion was detected. No ships were destroyed. All keep coming towards TG 2.1, which is just 150M km away. Enemy vessels have at least 3 levels of armor.

Strike package is ordered to RTB. Reserve strikers will be launched for reattack.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2019, 04:35:33 PM by L0ckAndL0ad »
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2019, 12:04:36 AM »
Continued

Short mid combat update.

My WH 9 missiles seem to be pretty weak for what I'm dealing with. It's still Nov 28, and I've managed to destroy four enemy ships and damage two others, but ammo expenditure is greater than expected. Some enemy ships were capable of withstanding >35 missile hits. This is where I realized that using Laser or Meson/HPM armed fighters in swarm tactics could be a great help.

Speaking of swarm tactics. I tried sending a railgun-equipped fighter squadron to deal with the most damaged enemy ship (where I thought the ammo storage blew up). Oh man, it was a reaaaly slow action. The struggler was still relatively close to his mates, and upon closing, the fighter squadron became the target for countless ASM strikes. I've lost track of how much missiles were sent at them. I felt as if the enemy had 30 second reload launchers, and they were sending 3-8 missile volleys. For hours! Missile size 4, speed is hard to figure out, I saw 40000 km/s at some point.

Result - 2 of my fighters destroyed. But they managed to kill the damaged ship, which, thankfully, had no guns. The surviving squadron retreats to the carrier, using a rather long range (but safer) route.

Strike fighter squadrons were rearmed and now are coming after two surviving enemy ships. Should be finished with them on the next day. Rescue and Recovery ships are already en route.
 

Offline Garfunkel

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2019, 04:01:25 AM »
Just a quick note, if you keep building DSTS on Earth, as well as improving their tech line, Aurora will start giving you errors at some point due to the sensor range becoming too large. I can't remember the exact distance where it happens.

Good luck with the battle!
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2019, 11:58:33 PM »
March 28, Year 56

Post-battle

The remaining two enemy vessels were dealt with quickly and without problems. 100 EP Magneto-plasma engine was found in one of the wreckages. Other remains weren't that interesting.

System NN 3517 was swept head to toe. 5 Jump points and 2 small Nails colonies (thermal signatures 5 and 10) were found. Nothing else. All Navy task groups are returning back to Sol.

I can't make contact with the Ross 594 aliens, despite them not being overly aggressive. Their presumed homeworld is just 6 jumps away from Earth, but I'm not worried. Yet. New engine tech (Internal Confinement Fusion Drive) will be ready in August 57. Not sure if I should continue building combat ships with the old tech or wait. Unfortunately, I don't have any dropships built. Assaulting Nails colonies will have to wait.

Just a quick note, if you keep building DSTS on Earth, as well as improving their tech line, Aurora will start giving you errors at some point due to the sensor range becoming too large. I can't remember the exact distance where it happens.

Good luck with the battle!
Thanks for the tip!
I did have some errors with the game initially, but then I figured the most out. New ones appeared recently, during combat (like final PD fire error), but nothing majorly problematic it seems.
Excess DSTS are planned to be shipped off world, of course. I'm just being lazy, as always  ;D
« Last Edit: August 28, 2019, 12:02:34 AM by L0ckAndL0ad »
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #11 on: August 31, 2019, 01:23:39 PM »
July 27, Year 57

I managed to make full contact with the Ross 594 system aliens. They call themselves the Commonwealth of Majlesi. I call them MAJ for short now. Not sure if there was a bug or that's just due to diplomatic system's simplicity, but they allowed me to do trade with them even before I got comms with them. This got me thinking...

Nothing stops me from gaining infinite amounts of positive diplo score with MAJ. Just like it happened with GUN. I can make them my new friends, get their tech and such. But do I want that? Frankly, I don't need anything from them, not their planets, nor their stuff. But having two whole alien races, the both ones that I started the game with, as allies, would be pretty... anticlimactic. I was hoping for a conflict.. But for a true one. Don't want to instigate one just because it will be pretty boring otherwise.

United Systems isn't at its best yet anyway. I think I'll keep peacefully expanding and improving my colonies. Need to stabilize mineral excavation and expand the Navy. I am withdrawing my diplomats from MAJ, however. And I'm not even sure if I want to let their ships close to Sol. Letting them know where I live might not be the best idea, if there will ever be a conflict. This paranoid stance can become my new policy, but I need to think about it more. I'm not the most Role Playing guy ever, and being super paranoid or aggressive isn't in my character, but I can, say, establish some sort of parliamentary government body that could advise or even dictate national policies, stances and laws. Wink wink.
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #12 on: September 05, 2019, 02:10:10 PM »
July 21, Year 58

Feature creep...

It's been a while since I researched new generation engines. But my gunnery tech is still not advanced enough, so I keep postponing new ship designs. Refits, even the "free" ones, are looking kinda costly to me, and mineral situation isn't great yet anyway. Gunnery FCS Speed Rating 5K and Turret Tracking Speed Gear 10K are just around the corner, but Gunnery FCS Range 60K, which should allow me to design 240k km reaching gunnery FCS, is at least several years away.

Yet I'm not even sure I need such long range guns. I was aiming for ~250km 12cm laser turret (@10-20km/s tracking for Dual Purpose use). But now I can't really see their usefulness. I don't think it's a good idea to fight with big ships at close range in the first place. Fighters are much better suited for knife-fighting. I plan on always having enough scouts not to get into close range combat. New gun may be my "OHSHI~" button, a plan B, an insurance... I guess...
« Last Edit: September 05, 2019, 02:13:50 PM by L0ckAndL0ad »
 

Offline L0ckAndL0ad (OP)

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #13 on: September 07, 2019, 01:33:00 PM »
December 1, Year 58

Before making new generation of ships, I thought it would be wise to gather more intelligence from MAJ home system. A survey ship with active sensors was sent to Ross 594.

MAJ got themselves a big fleet. I did not bother to count yet, but I suspect at least 70 combat ships just below 10000 tons. But I haven't seen anything faster than 1500 km/s. Apparently, they did not like the way I was snooping around and revoked my trading access to their empire. Diplo score is showing 366 on my end and it stays the same while my ship is in their system, so I have no idea how exactly this "worsening of relations" works.

In other news, I've made some preliminary designs for my new destroyer. Biggest problem with mounting a new laser gun on them is that a good, long range and fast tracking (240k km range, 20k km/s tracking, for dual purpose use) FCS costs A LOT. A single unit would cost me 720 BP and the same amount of Uridium. That's almost 1/3 of the ship's BP cost and half of Uridium cost. That's totally unacceptable.

Lowering tracking on this FCS would make it almost useless against missiles and fighters, making DP capability worthless. 5000-10000 km/s is a stone age.  The only alternative I see is to use dedicated gun battery equipped ships, to warrant the FCS costs (per amount of guns). I'm still to envision a cruiser for United Systems Navy, so that's one more aspect to consider.

Also, I'm still torn between particle beams and lasers. Beams seem to be great dedicated anti-ship weapons, but lasers allow more flexibility due to turreting capability. As I've already said, I value multirole/dual purpose capabilities for everything possible. So I'm mostly leaning for lasers, but beams show great DPS potential one should not disregard.

Oh yeah, if you haven't noticed by now, it's hard for me to make up my mind about anything. I'm a somewhat hesitant person. Not even sure about how much hesitant! Case in point, I guess....
 

Offline DIT_grue

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Re: L0ckAndL0ad's United Systems AAR
« Reply #14 on: September 08, 2019, 12:43:12 AM »
I have no idea how exactly this "worsening of relations" works.

Under the hood, there are two figures - your opinion of them, and their opinion of you. You only get to see your opinion of them, the only way you can guess what they think about you is by the treaties they grant and revoke (there are exact thresholds for each, you can check them on the wiki).
 
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