Post by: Kurt on April 04, 2009, 08:53:21 AM
Kurt
Post by: Kurt on April 04, 2009, 08:54:22 AM
The Alliance Navy is officially based on Earth, however, the bulk of the fleet operates out of Mars orbit. The Navy made this decision long ago to protect the fleet from the numerous ground-based launchers on the Earth. In addition, both the Reich and the Alliance view their fleets, which orbit Venus and Mars respectively, as “second-strike” platforms. Both Admiralties know that their fleets will survive any conflagration which envelops Earth, as do any possible enemies. Even if their strategic defense systems are surprised or overwhelmed, the fact that both maintain overwhelming fleets in distant orbits ensures that a surprise attack will be answered with overwhelming force as soon as those fleets can return to Earth.
The Alliance Navy, like the Alliance government, has a very Earth-centric viewpoint. This attitude is pervasive, and has actually become more pronounced over the last few years, in spite of the establishment of at least one large out-system colony on New Boston and the discovery of a non-Human race in the distant reaches of the Alpha Cephi warp chain. The reason for this is rooted in the ongoing situations within the USSR and the Japanese Empire, and the instabilities that these situations have caused in the international situation. The ongoing problems in these nations have kept the Alliance’s leadership, both political and military, to focus on Earth-bound problems almost exclusively, and this is not likely to change in the near to mid-term future.
The Earth-centric viewpoint of the Alliance Navy means that possible threats are evaluated and military goals are developed looking at Earth first, and in many cases, only. A perfect example of this viewpoint can be seen in the way the Alliance government and military have reacted to the discovery of the Millungera Empire five jumps from Earth in the Alpha Cephi warp line. The Alliance’s military planners have looked at the Millungera only from the viewpoint of how they will affect the balance of power between the Alliance and the other Solar nations. In other words, the Alliance has not really evaluated the Millungera for the threat that they may present to the Alliance (or not present, as the case may be), but rather for their potential to destabilize the situation within the Solar system if they should initiate hostilities with the Alliance for some unknown reason.
A second example of the Alliance’s Earth-centric view can be seen in its fleet deployments, and the reason for the deployments. As noted above, the bulk of the Alliance fleet is stationed at Mars, however, there are several detachments located in other areas. In particular, there are several fleet deployments related to New Boston, including a picket group stationed at the Alpha Cephi warp point in the solar system, and a single picket destroyer in New Boston orbit. The thought process behind the positioning of these ships is illustrative. These ships were not stationed in their current locations because of the intrinsic value of the Alpha Cephi system, or any threat to the Alpha Cephi system, but rather because of the way a threat FROM other Earth nations TO Alpha Cephi would affect Alliance Naval operations. This is a subtle point, but important. The Alliance’s planners always start with the situation on Earth and how it might be affected by actions outside the solar system, rather than independently evaluating the threat to and defense needs of the out-system colonies of the Alliance.
Because the Alliance Navy’s attention is squarely focused on the Solar System, and thus primarily on operations within the Solar System, it has not “wasted” R&D and shipyard resources on the development and construction of combat jump-ships. In spite of the Navy’s preoccupation with Earth, there are a growing number of officers, particularly those in command of operational units, who are dissatisfied with this hole in the Navy’s capabilities. This counter-viewpoint has been growing ever since the discovery of the Millagran Empire. In the aftermath of their discovery, the Navy came to the unpleasant realization that it was not capable of projecting Alliance military power to the Millagran system, should it become necessary. Indeed, without combat jump-ships the Navy must either limit its operations to the systems connected by the jump gate network or it must “borrow” the Survey Command’s jump-ships, none of which are large enough to allow the Navy’s capital ships to transit a warp point. While this awareness has been growing amongst the CO’s of the Navy’s ships and squadrons, there has been no change in the Navy’s official stance, nor is there likely to be any change, at least not in the near future.
Currently, the Alliance Navy has no plans for large expansions or refits, however, the Navy did recently obtain approval for an expansion to its destroyer fleet, and at least one of the Alliance’s smaller yards is being converted to build the Admiral Mark 2.2 version destroyer. Approval for this expansion is likely tied to the Senate’s exploration of the possibility of selling several of the older units of this class to the Indian Republic, which has recently become uneasy about its naval capabilities. The Alliance Senate has approved a program to refit the Alliance Navy’s Tracker class scouts with improved sensors and enlarged engineering systems. This program will likely begin sometime in 2037.
Alliance Fleet
Commanding Officer: Vice Admiral Christopher Sivertson
HQ Location: San Diego, California
Primary Fleet Anchorage: Mars Orbit
1st Battle Squadron
CO: Rear Admiral Karen Reichard
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 3xArleigh Burke class DN
2nd Battle Squadron
CO: Commodore James Schmied
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 3xArleigh Burke class DN
1st Cruiser Squadron
CO: Captain Geoffrey Bilodeau
Current Location: Earth Orbit
Composition: 1xHero Mk 2 class CLE, 3xCity Mk 2 class CA
2nd Cruiser Squadron
CO: Commodore Terry Kukla
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 6xState Mk2 class BC
3rd Cruiser Squadron
CO: Commodore Paul Pagano
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 6xState Mk2 class BC
4th Cruiser Squadron
CO: Commodore William Toole
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 6xState Mk2 class BC
5th Cruiser Squadron
CO: Commodore Rey Gotch
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 5xState Mk2 class BC
6th Cruiser Squadron
CO: Captain Deshawn Ajello
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 2xCity Mk2.2 class CA, 1xCity Mk 2.1 class CA, 1xCity Mk 2 class CA
7th Cruiser Squadron
CO: Rear Admiral Heather Evangelista
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 4xCity Mk 2 class CA
1st Destroyer Division
CO: Captain Norberto Laver
Current Location: Earth Orbit
Composition: 6xAdmiral Mk2 class DD
2nd Destroyer Division
CO: Captain Fidel Gass
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 8xAdmiral Mk2.2 class DD
3rd Destroyer Division
CO: Commodore Greg Allgood
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 2xAdmiral Mk2 class DD, 5xAdmiral Mk 2.1 class DD
4th Destroyer Division
CO: Captain Garth Saguhun
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 7xAdmiral Mk2 class DD
5th Destroyer Division
CO: Commander Mitchel Stark
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 6xAdmiral Mk2 class DD
1st Escort Division
CO: Commander Jewel Miskin
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 2xHero Mk 2 class CL
2nd Escort Division
CO: Commander Elouise Wuensche
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 2xHero Mk 2 class CL
3rd Escort Division
CO: Commander Breanna Reynoldson
Current Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 2xHero Mk 2 class CL
Alpha Cephi Picket Group
CO: Captain Darius Doggett
Current Location: The solar side of the warp point to Alpha Cephi
Composition: 1xCity Mk 2 class CA, 1xADmiral Mk 2.2 class DD, 1xAdmiral Mk 2.1 class DD
New Boston Picket Group
CO: Captain Kelly Stoica
Current Location: New Boston Orbit
Composition: 1xAdmiral Mk 2 class DD
Procyon Picket Group
CO: Scott Tucholski
Current Location: The solar side of the warp point to Procyon
Composition: 2xAdmiral Mk 2 class DD
Ships in Overhaul Status, Mars Orbit
1xArleigh Burke class DN, 1xHero Mk 2 class CL, 2xCity Mk 2.2 class CA, 1xCity Mk 2.1 class CA, 1xCity Mk 2 class CA, 2xAdmiral Mk 2 class DD
Ships in Training Status
3xArleigh Burke class DN, 7xHero Mk 2 class CL, 1xCity Mk 2.1 class CA, 2xCity Mk 2 class CA
Fleet Support Group
CO: Captain Norbert Prindall
Location: Mars Orbit
Composition: 4xFuel Master class Tanker, 2xUNREP class Support Vessels, 7xInvasion Mk 2 class Troop Transports, 6xTracker Mk 2 class Scouts
Orbital Defense Command
The Orbital Defense Command was originally staffed by Navy personnel, however, it was made into a separate organization in 2032 by the Alliance Senate.
CO: Rear Admiral Abdul Meullion
HQ Location: San Francisco, Earth
Primary Anchorage: Earth orbit
Composition: 6xODB, 23xODB(African)
Survey Command
The Survey Command is a separate, civilian, service commanded by a Naval officer. Most of the SC’s officers are also from the Navy, although an increasing number are graduates of the Survey Command’s Officer Academy at Edinburgh, England. The Survey Command has a looser organization than the Navy, and as a result has several more or less unique oddities. The Survey Command’s headquarters is more of an organizational and political command and has very little to do with operations, which is largely left to the commanders of the various operational groups. This can be seen in the relative ranks of the overall commander of the SC, a Commodore, and some of its operational CO’s, one of which is a Fleet Admiral.
Note: Fleet Admiral Douglass McMann, CO of the 1st Survey Group, is 78 years old and in poor health. Fleet Admiral McMann has been involved in the Alliance’s survey efforts since the beginning of interstellar travel, and in fact, after serving as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 2010 to 2017 he requested reassignment to one of the new Magellan Solar Survey Vessels and participated in the history gravitic survey of the solar system. Fleet Admiral McMann refuses to consider retirement, in spite of his health, and had his life-support bed transferred to his command ship, the Geo-Survey ship Hawkins, prior to its departure for the Procyon system. The Admiral’s staff and the crew of the Hawkins are very loyal to the Admiral and refused to consider leaving without him, in spite of his occasional bouts of temper and gloom.
CO: Commodore Burl Pagano
HQ Location: San Francisco
Primary Anchorage: Earth orbit
1st Survey Group
CO: Fleet Admiral Douglass McMann
Current Location: In the solar system, en route to the Procyon system
Composition: 2xExplorer Class GeoSurv/JS, 4xGoddard class Grav-Surv
2nd Survey Group
CO: Commodore Florentino Campa
Current Location: Earth orbit, undergoing a major overhaul
Composition: 2xExplorer Class GeoSurv/JS, 2xGoddard class Grav-Surv
4th Survey Group
CO: Commodore Owen Eischens
Current Location: Tau Ceti
Composition: 2xExplorer Class GeoSurv/JS, 2xGoddard class Grav-Surv
Planetary Defense Command
The Planetary Defense Command has responsibility for the planetary surfaces of all Alliance possessions, out to low orbit. To meet its responsibility for defending Alliance possessions, the PDC has control of numerous ground combat divisions and the great planetary defense centers that form the backbone of the Alliance’s strategic defense.
CO: Fleet Admiral Hong Holt
HQ Location: Hutchison, Kansas, Earth
Alliance Strategic Defense Command
CO: Vice Admiral Colby Luchini
Location: Earth
Composition: 3xCommand Center class PDC, 7xStratDefCen Mk 1B class PDC, 7xMeson AM class PDC, 1xAMM class PDC
Mars Colony Defense Command
CO: Vice Admiral Sa, Deppe
Location: Mars Colony
Composition: 1xCommand Center class PDC, 3xStratDefCEn Mk 1B class PDC, 4xMeson AM class PDC, 2xAMM class PDC, 4xColonial Defense class PDC
New Boston Defense Command
CO: Commodore Gino Nono
Location: New Boston
Composition: 2xColonial Defense class PDC
Post by: Kurt on April 04, 2009, 08:55:40 AM
Unlike the Alliance Navy, the Raumarine has evolved over the last several years into a truly interstellar force. With the addition of the Von Roeder class Dreadnought/Jump-ships to its order of battle, along with the Von Roeder(C) fleet command ship variant currently under construction, the Raumarine has the capability to project force anywhere in known space, regardless of the existence of a jump gate network. This means that the Raumarine is the only human navy with this capability, putting them squarely in the forefront in terms of power-projection.
This capability did not come without a price. The Von Roeder class dreadnoughts required a truly awesome investment in R&D resources, and are actually less capable combatants than the smaller and cheaper Hessen class battleships due to their mass intensive jump drives. The Reich has no ships that can match the Alliance’s Arleigh Burke class dreadnoughts on a one-to-one basis, but none of the other human governments have ships that can perform an opposed combat transit.
While the Raumarine has become concerned that it has fallen behind the curve in terms of drive technology, now that the Russians have joined the Alliance in deploying internal confinement fusion drives, the Reich government is fairly certain that it has developed at least some capabilities that other nations have not. Specifically, the Reich has recently completed a long-term R&D project on Mars that has given it the technology to deploy fighters, which are small craft in the 200-300 ton range that are extremely fast and hard to target. The Reich’s Venus-based fighter construction factories have completed one eleven-ship squadron of fighters and are currently working on a second. These new units have been developed and built under the heaviest security, and Reich Intelligence has not received any information that any of the other nations have figured out what the Reich’s factories are doing on Venus. The Reich’s largest yards are being converted to produce the new Scheer class carrier, which can carry and support twenty-two of the new fighters. These yards are the same yards that were building the Von Roeder class jump and command ships, meaning that the eight jump ships and three command ships built or currently under construction will be all that the Raumarine will have of these units for the foreseeable future.
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Scheer class Carrier 16000 tons 1075 Crew 2420.8 BP TCS 320 TH 1280 EM 1350
4000 km/s Armour 4-56 Shields 45-300 Sensors 14/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 7 PPV 5
Annual Failure Rate: 292% IFR: 4.1% Maintenance Capacity 662 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 5000 tons Magazine 505
IGF Magneto-plasma Drive (16) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,080,000 Litres Range 202.5 billion km (585 days at full power)
Beta R300/9 Shields (30) Total Fuel Cost 270 Litres per day
Anti-Msl Missile Launcher 01-010 (5) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
AM Missile Fire Control (1) Range 1.7m km Resolution 1
AMM mk 2 (505) Speed: 32000 km/s End: 39.1 minutes Range: 75m km Warhead: 1 MR: 10 Size: 1
Mk 2 AM Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 168 Range 1.7m km Resolution 1
Mk 2 SM Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 3360 Range 33.6m km Resolution 60
Mk 2 SM Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 14 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 14m km
Strike Group
20x AF Type 1 Fighter Speed: 11034 km/s Size: 4.35
2x FS Type 1 Fighter Speed: 11566 km/s Size: 4.15
The Scheer class is an experiment for the Raumarine, and as of 2036 it has yet to develop a coherent strategy for its deployment. In addition, the class is the result of a series of compromises, and no one is really happy with the result. Nearly everyone anticipates that the Scheer class will be limited to a relative handful of units that will be used to develop fighter strategies and tactics for future carrier types.
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AF Type 1 class Fighter 217.5 tons 17 Crew 60.6 BP TCS 4.35 TH 24 EM 0
11034 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 1.5
Annual Failure Rate: 1% IFR: 0% Maintenance Capacity 44 MSP
Magazine 10
FTR Magneto-plasma Drive (1) Power 48 Efficiency 60.00 Signature 24 Armour 0 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 1.4 billion km (34 hours at full power)
AM 1 Box Launcher (10) Missile Size 1 Hangar Reload 7.5 minutes MF Reload 1.2 hours
FTR Missile Fire Control (1) Range 16.8m km Resolution 20
AMM mk 2 (10) Speed: 32000 km/s End: 39.1 minutes Range: 75m km Warhead: 1 MR: 10 Size: 1
This design is classed as a fighter for production and combat purposes
The Raumarine has developed the Type 1 Fighter using as much off-the-shelf components as possible. The box launcher used for this class was developed for the Scharnhorst Anti-Missile Frigate, and the missiles for the launcher are the Reich’s standard anti-missiles.
The armament for this class was determined only after a wide-ranging and bitter debate. Many officers and engineers held out for the development of launchers capable of handling the Reich’s standard anti-ship missile, however, the low salvo size that would have resulted ultimately killed that plan. An eleven fighter squadron (ten type 1’s and one scout) can launch one hundred AMM’s, a salvo size that at least has the possibility of overwhelming almost any target’s point defense capabilities, even if it won’t cause overwhelming damage.
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FS Type 1 class Fighter 207.5 tons 23 Crew 85.1 BP TCS 4.15 TH 24 EM 0
11566 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 1% IFR: 0% Maintenance Capacity 64 MSP
FTR Magneto-plasma Drive (1) Power 48 Efficiency 60.00 Signature 24 Armour 0 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres Range 2.9 billion km (69 hours at full power)
FTR Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 3360 Range 33.6m km Resolution 60
This design is classed as a fighter for production and combat purposes
The FS-1 (Fighter Scout) is intended to be an integral part of every fighter squadron. Currently, the Raumarine is organizing squadrons with ten type 1 fighters and one FS-1 scout.
Raumarine Deployments
Note: The Raumarine has a somewhat looser organization than the Alliance Navy. The Raumarine is organized into primary Flotillas, from which operational groups are detached as needed. Currently, the Raumarine has three primary flotillas, Earth Flotilla, Venus Flotilla, and Hamburg Flotilla. Nearly all ships on detached duty for the Interstellar Exploration Groups and the picket groups have been detached from the Earth Flotilla.
Raumarine Sol System Fleet
CO: Admiral Heidi Derg
HQ Location: Berlin, Earth
Primary Anchorage: Venus Orbit
Earth Flotilla
CO: Fregattankapitan Xavier Waldmann
Location: Earth orbit
Composition: 3xBlucher Mk 3 class CA, 2xScharnhorst Mk 2.2(AM) class FFG
Interstellar Exploration Group #1
Note: The Raumarine directly controls the Reich’s survey units, which are crewed by naval personnel. All IEG’s are administratively assigned to the Earth Flotilla.
CO: Kapitan zur See Emil von Lenssen
Location: Schweinfurt system
Composition: 1xHamburg Mk 2 class Jump Tender, 1xBlucher Mk 2 class CA, 1xScharnhorst Mk 2.2(AM) class FFG, 3xGeo Survey class Survey Ship, 3xGrav Survey class Survey Ship
Interstellar Exploration Group #2
CO: Kapitan zur See Hendrik Riehm
Location: Earth orbit, undergoing a major overhaul
Composition: 1xHamburg Mk 2 class Jump Tender, 1xScharnhorst MK 2.2 class FFG, 1xScharnhorst Mk 2.2(AM) class FFG, 2xGeo Survey class Survey Ship, 2xGrav Survey class Survey Ship
Interstellar Exploration Group #3
CO: Kontreadmiral Martin Arendt
Location: Earth orbit, undergoing a major overhaul
Composition: 1xHamburg Mk 2 class Jump Tender, 4xGrav Survey class Survey Ship
Note: IEG #3’s warship escort force was reassigned when it returned to Earth, and new escorts have not yet been assigned.
Picket Group, Hamburg System
CO: Kapitan zur See Lena Hamburg
Location, Sol System, Warp Point to Hamburg system
Composition: 1xBlucher Mk 2 class CA, 2xBlucher Mk 2.1 class CA, 1xScharnhorst Mk 2.2(AM) class FFG, 3xScharnhorst Mk 2.2 class FFG
Venus Flotilla
CO: Kontreadmiral Rudolf Schrader
Location: Venus Orbit
Composition: 1xVon Roeder class DN, 15xHessen class BB, 4xKoln class Scout, 9xBlucher Mk 3 class CA, 2xBlucher Mk 3.1 class CA, 7xScharnhorst Mk 2.2(AM) class FFG, 36xScharnhorst Mk 2.2 class FFG
1st Fighter Squadron
CO: Kommodore Hans Voss
Location: Venus
Composition: 10xAF Type 1, 1xFS
2nd Fighter Squadron
CO: Korvettenkapitan Sigrid Sommerfeld
Location: Venus
Composition: 2xAF Type 1, 1xFS
Training Flotilla
Location: Sol inner system
Composition: 3xVon Roeder class DN, 1xBlucher Mk 3.1 class CA, 2xGraf Spee class CLE
Overhaul Group, Venus
Composition: 3xVon Roeder class DN, 2xBlucher Mk 3 class CA, 1xBlucher Mk 3.1 class CA, 1xBlucher Mk 2 class CA, 1xScharnhorst Mk 2.2 class FFG
1st Out-System Fleet:
CO: Kontreadmiral Rainer Teltschik
HQ: Earth
Flotilla, Hamburg
CO: Kontreadmiral Helmut von Altherr
Location: On exercises, Sol system
Composition: 10xBaden class planetary monitors
Planetary Defense Command
CO: Admiral Simon von Loffler
HQ Location: Berlin
Planetary Defense Command, Venus
CO: Vizeadmiral Ruth Schulz
Location: Venus Colony
Composition: 1xNational Defense Site, 1xAMM Site, 4xFrontier Missile Base
Planetary Defense Command, Earth
CO: Vizeadmiral Florian Stauffer
Location: Earth
Composition: 11xNational Defense Site, 1xSpecial Base, 7xMeson Defense Center, 2xAMM Site
Fleet Support Command
CO: Fregattankapitan Norbert von Giese
Detachment A
Location: En route to Nue Duisberg in the Iota Piscum system
Composition: 3xAlpha Mk 2 class Troop Transports, 1xAlpha Mk 2.1 class Troop Transport
Detachment B
Location: Venus orbit
Composition: 4xBremse class Support Vessels
Post by: Kurt on April 04, 2009, 08:56:40 AM
The IJN has not recovered since its loss of face during the 3rd Sino-Soviet War. In the aftermath of the war and its failure to meet its goals, several senior officers were forcibly retired or committed suicide to atone for their failures. While the command echelons of the Navy were locked in confusion and anger over the situation, the new government re-prioritized construction schedules to emphasize civilian ships such as the new Kuma class terraformers and the Kamikaze class construction ships. The single new naval construction project that has been approved since the conflict is the desperately needed upgrade for the Zuikaku class destroyers. Aside from that, though, all new naval construction projects proposed by the Naval Council have been either denied outright or delayed. This situation is not likely to continue much longer, as even though the IJN is out of favor right now, the Imperial government is very aware that the IJN is a critical component of the Empire’s military might.
The IJN’s primary focus is, of course, on Earth and its environs. The bulk of the Empire’s citizens live on Earth, and the Empire’s primary competitors and enemies are there as well. Like the Alliance Navy, the IJN primarily views its off-Earth deployments and security requirements from the point of view of the threats posed by other Earth nations, and the effects on Earth-bound situations. This has led to an Earth-centric viewpoint that has further narrowed down to a Russian-centric viewpoint as the Empire has become more and more focused on the threat from the Russians and the opportunities to be gained by clashes with their northern neighbors. The Empire does not perceive the Reich and the Alliance as credible threats as long as no direct provocation is given to either of the two major powers, as the leaders of the Empire feel that the other power’s democratic governments are incapable of responding to anything but a direct and open threat. The Empire does take the threat presented by the USSR very seriously, and is focused on countering any moves by the Russians both off Earth and on-planet, if necessary.
Now that sufficient Kamikaze class ships have been built, and fifteen terraformers have been built or are under construction, the Empire is planning a significant change to its Naval capabilities. Specifically, after examining the Navy’s performance during the orbital conflict stage of the 3rd Sino-Soviet war, the government has decided that the most important portion of any future war in space will take place in orbit around Earth, or very close to Earth orbit, just as it did with the recent war. Therefore, their conclusion is that the Empire must maximize its orbital combat capabilities in order to succeed in the next war. To maximize their orbital combat capabilities, the government’s planners, without input by the Naval Council, have decided that the best route is to construct ground bases capable of rapid fire missile launches, and the construction of heavily armored orbital weapons platforms capable of engaging enemy ships in near-orbital space. The Navy has traditionally opposed both proposals, as the Council has wanted to maximize its mobile fleet strength and has seen orbital bases as an unwarranted diversion of fleet resources. To further frustrate the Navy, the Imperial government has decided that the new orbital bases will be controlled and operated by the Imperial Strategic Defense Command.
IJN Deployments
Imperial Japanese Solar Fleet
CO: Cho-sho Maubeni Kita
HQ: Tokyo, Earth
Primary Anchorage: Earth Orbit
Note: In 2011 Cho-sho Kita was the commander of one of the Empire’s first freighters. Cho-sho Kita, then a Sho-i, participated in the Empire’s unsuccessful attempt to break the Alliance blockade of Mars. Sho-i Kita was awarded the National Medal of Heroism for his actions off of Mars.
Beam Engagement Squadron
CO: Chu-I Mizutani Taree
Location: Earth Orbit
Composition: 2xZuikaku Mk 3 class Escorts, 12xZuikaku Mk 2 class Escorts
Missile Engagement Squadron
CO: Cho-sho Noguchi Takuya
Location: Earth Orbit
Composition: 20xKongo Mk 3 class CG, 5xZuikaku Mk 2 class Escort
Titan Picket
CO: Sho-i Komiya Genichi
Location: Titan Orbit
Composition: 1xKong Mk 2 class CG, 2xZuikaku Mk 2 class Escort
Gliese-204 Picket
CO: Cho-sho Marubeni Kita
Location: Sol system, warp point to Gliese-204
Composition: 1xKongo Mk 2 class CG, 2xZuikaku Mk 2 class Escort
Note: The Nagato class jumpship that is normally assigned to this unit has been detached to escort a group of freighters to the Kunamoto system.
Gliese-818 Picket
CO: Dai-i Miura Kinnori
Location: Sol system, warp point to Gliese-818
Composition: 1xNagato Mk 2 class Jumpship, 1xKongo Mk 2 class CG, 2xZuikaku Mk 2 class Escort
Units in Overhaul Status
2xNagato class jumpships, 1xAkagi Mk 3 class CA, 4xZuikaku Mk 3 class Escort
Units in Refit Status
4xZuikaku Mk 2 class Escort
Units in Training Status
3xAkagi Mk 3 class CA, 5xZuikaku Mk 2 class Escorts
Strategic Defense Command
The Strategic Defense Command is operated by the Imperial Army, which traditionally has had more influence within the government. The Imperial Government takes considerable care to choose the commanders of the Command’s PDC’s very carefully, selecting for loyalty to the Emperor first and foremost.
CO: General Uchida Takara
HQ Location: Tokyo, Earth
National Defense Network
CO: Tai-sa Sen Kasuga
Location: Earth
Composition: 14xHomeland Defense Center Mk2 class PDC, 3xMeson Defense Center PDC
Titan Defense Network
CO: Dai-i Kajitani Hirohisa
Location: Titan
Composition: 1xHomeland Defense Center class PDC
Imperial Survey Corps
CO: Sho-sa Hagiwara Juro
HQ Location: Tokyo, Earth
1st Survey Group
CO: Sho-sa Tayama Masuyki
Location: Earth orbit, undergoing a major overhaul
Composition: 1x Nagato class jumpship, 3xHyuga(P) class survey ships, 4xHyuga class survey ships
Note: The Nagato class jumpship is on loan to the Survey Corps from the Navy and is operated by a Navy crew.
2nd Survey Group
CO: Chu-i Eto Otondo
Location: Earth orbit, undergoing a major overhaul
Composition: 1xNagato class jumpship, 3xHyuga(P) class survey ships, 4xHyuga class survey ships
Post by: Kurt on April 04, 2009, 08:57:22 AM
The Indian Navy received a massive influx of resources in the aftermath of the Battle of the Comet, which resulted in a huge improvement in the Navy’s capabilities. Unfortunately, since then, the Republic has given priority to its civilian construction projects, and to R&D projects that support the civilian sector, and the Navy has stagnated. The last new cruiser for the Indian Navy was built in September, 2022, and none of the Navy’s ships have received upgrades to the latest drive technology, unlike the civilian sector’s freighters and transports.
The result of this stagnation is predictable. The Navy’s morale is poor, and its most capable leaders have left for more lucrative positions with the civilian shipping lines. The Indian government no longer considers the Navy as anything more than a Search and Rescue force, and given the government’s current position of playing up the threat from the Soviet Union to obtain support from the Reich and the Alliance, the government has seen no reason to invest in modernizing or expanding the fleet. Instead, the government has focused on building Earth’s second largest fleet of terraformers, a truly huge investment for the planet’s smallest economy, which has paid off in the reduction of the costs associated with the colonization of Ludhiana.
Given the ongoing issues with the Soviet Union, the Republic’s government has become convinced that the Navy will have to be modernized and expanded, but is not yet willing to divert the resources necessary to do so. Therefore, the Republic is currently in talks with the Alliance to purchase some destroyers and possibly even several cruisers.
Indian Fleet Deployments
1st Fleet
CO: Vice Admiral Hiresh Singh
HQ Location: Mumbai, India
Orbital Guard Force
CO: Paramjit Singh
Location: Earth Orbit
6xRaiput Mk 2 class CA, 6xTabar Mk 2 class CA
Warp Point Picket
CO: Captain Ambuja
Location: Sol system, warp point to Gliese-754 system
Composition: 1xRaiput Mk 2 class CA, 2xTabar Mk 2 class CA
National Defense Group
CO: Rear Admiral Mareechi
Location: India, Earth
Composition: 1xNational Redoubt class PDC, 5xNirbik class PDC, 9xGomati class PDC
Post by: Kurt on April 04, 2009, 08:57:49 AM
Very little was known about the Soviet Navy prior to The Event, and even less is known about the Soviet Navy as it currently stands. All three of the USSR’s warship classes are being refit, and although the extent of the refit isn’t known, it is believed that at the very least the refit involves the replacement of the older engine designs with very modern internal confinement fusion drives. Visual analysis of refitted Russian cruisers seems to indicate that the refits were limited to their drive spaces, however, such analysis would not reveal internal changes.
The Russian Navy has not been particularly active since The Event, although that is slowly changing. An increasing number of ships have been detached for what appear to be standard training exercises in the inner system, and what appears to be a patrol group has been dispatched through the Russian warp point at periodic intervals.
Only operational groups are listed below, as none of the other nations has any real idea about the current organization of the Soviet Navy.
Soviet Solar Defense Fleet
Location: Earth Orbit
Composition: 7xSverdlov Mk II class FFG
Ships in Training Status
Location: Inner System
Composition: 5xKirov MK VI class CA, 3xMoskva Mk IV class DE, 2xMoskva Mk III class DE, 5xSverdlov Mk II class FFG
Ships in Overhaul Status
Location: Earth Orbit
Composition: 3xKirov Mk VI class CA, 2xMoskva Mk IV class DE, 2xMoskva Mk III class DE, 1xMoskva Mk II class DE
Ships in Refit Status
Location: Earth Orbit
Composition: 6xKirov Mk V class CA, 3xMoskva Mk II class DE
Note:
The Kirov Mk VI, Moskva IV, and Sverdlov III are the latest Soviet ship designs, and were developed and introduced after The Event. All of the other designs were produced prior to The Event and have known capabilities.
Post by: Beersatron on April 18, 2009, 10:42:08 PM
Same thing to Steve if he reads this, I 'hate' it when a good story stops!! ;)
Post by: Kurt on April 19, 2009, 10:16:26 AM
Quote from: "Beersatron"
Hey Kurt, was wondering if you were still running with this campaign or if 4.0Beta had made too many changes to make it playable in the same manner?
Same thing to Steve if he reads this, I 'hate' it when a good story stops!!
This campaign is definitely still on. I am playing around with 4.0b, but I'm sitll using 3.11 for th 6P campaign. I'm way to into this campaign to let it die right now. I'm most of the way through 2036, and the Alliance has met an alien race in an uninhabited system, and the Reich is prepping for an assault on Novara. And the Japanese and what used to be the USSR are watching the major powers become preoccupied with out-system issues and are making their own plans.
Kurt
Post by: Exsellsior on April 20, 2009, 02:04:14 AM
I hope you have a backup on a sperate removable drive. You know how unreliable those early 21st century computers are.
Post by: welchbloke on April 21, 2009, 11:53:08 AM
Quote from: "Kurt"
That's good to hear Kurt, keep the fiction coming :)Quote from: "Beersatron"Hey Kurt, was wondering if you were still running with this campaign or if 4.0Beta had made too many changes to make it playable in the same manner?
Same thing to Steve if he reads this, I 'hate' it when a good story stops!! ;)
This campaign is definitely still on. I am playing around with 4.0b, but I'm sitll using 3.11 for th 6P campaign. I'm way to into this campaign to let it die right now. I'm most of the way through 2036, and the Alliance has met an alien race in an uninhabited system, and the Reich is prepping for an assault on Novara. And the Japanese and what used to be the USSR are watching the major powers become preoccupied with out-system issues and are making their own plans.
Kurt
Post by: SteveAlt on April 27, 2009, 08:49:34 AM
Quote from: "Kurt"
The Survey Command is a separate, civilian, service commanded by a Naval officer. Most of the SC’s officers are also from the Navy, although an increasing number are graduates of the Survey Command’s Officer Academy at Edinburgh, England.Before reading any further, I thought I had better warn you about visiting Scotland in the near future. They might be slightly upset that you relocated their capital city to England :)
Steve
Post by: Kurt on April 27, 2009, 11:12:36 AM
Quote from: "SteveAlt"
Quote from: "Kurt"The Survey Command is a separate, civilian, service commanded by a Naval officer. Most of the SC’s officers are also from the Navy, although an increasing number are graduates of the Survey Command’s Officer Academy at Edinburgh, England.Before reading any further, I thought I had better warn you about visiting Scotland in the near future. They might be slightly upset that you relocated their capital city to England :)
Steve
Oops :D
Kurt
PS: Scots, Englishmen, its all the same when you are looking at it from Alpha Centauri.
Post by: SteveAlt on April 27, 2009, 11:42:52 AM
Quote from: "SteveAlt"
Before reading any further, I thought I had better warn you about visiting Scotland in the near future. They might be slightly upset that you relocated their capital city to England :)I thought it might be interesting to explain the somewhat confusing national politics of the of the UK :). It may be time to start an English Nationalist party so we can gain independence from the UK
Wales is 8000 square miles and has a population of three million. It was conquered by the English in 1282. Scotland became part of the Union in 1707 although most Scots weren't too happy about it.
The United Kingdom includes Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) plus Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is 5300 square miles and has a population of 1.75 million.
When we come to sport it gets even more confusing. All four countries of the UK have their own football (soccer) teams and compete as separate countries in the World Cup and the European Championship. However, when it comes to Rugby, although England, Scotland and Wales have their own teams, the Ireland Rugby Team comprises players from both Nothern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (the latter is not part of the UK). The Irish cricket team is also chosen from both the North and South of Ireland. The English cricket team is actually an English and Welsh cricket team - there is no separate Welsh team - while Scotland has its own team, At the Olympics there is a British Team, although it is actually a UK team as some members are from Northern Ireland. The full name is the "Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team". The Republic of Ireland has its own team without any members from Northern Ireland.
One last interesting note is that the Republic of Ireland allows its citizens to enlist in the British Army (actually the UK Army), even though it isn't part of the UK, so the Royal Irish Regiment includes members from both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Steve
Post by: Charlie Beeler on April 27, 2009, 12:32:35 PM
Quote from: "SteveAlt"
Quote from: "SteveAlt"Before reading any further, I thought I had better warn you about visiting Scotland in the near future. They might be slightly upset that you relocated their capital city to England :). Those Scots can be so touchy :)I thought it might be interesting to explain the somewhat confusing national politics of the of the UK :)
England is just the one country, with a total land area of 50,300 square miles and a population of 51 million.
Great Britain also includes Scotland and Wales. Scotland is 30,000 square miles with a population of just five million. So although it is sixty percent the size of England, it only has one tenth of the population. Mainly because it is cold and they all moved here. There is also a Scottish conspiracy to take over the UK. The Prime Minister is Scottish, as is the second most powerful politician, the Chancellor of the Exchequor, and several other cabinet members. Even Tony Blair, the previous Prime Minister, was Scottish, although he did his best to hide it. He was born in Edinburgh. There is a also a Scottish Parliament which has considerable devolved powers. However, even though this body exists there are still Scottish MPs in the UK Parliament and they get to vote on laws that will be passed only in England while English MPs cannot affect many Scottish Laws. Even though this is plainly ludicrous, the current government is not interested in fixing it because they have the majority of those Scottish MPs and they wouldn't have a overall UK majority without them. Finally more public money is spent per capita on the Scots than the English. There is a powerful Scottish Nationalist Party which wants independence for Scotland. A recent opinion poll show that only 42% of Scots wanted independence but 58% of English voters wanted them to have independence :). It may be time to start an English Nationalist party so we can gain independence from the UK :)
Wales is 8000 square miles and has a population of three million. It was conquered by the English in 1282. Scotland became part of the Union in 1707 although most Scots weren't too happy about it.
The United Kingdom includes Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) plus Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is 5300 square miles and has a population of 1.75 million.
When we come to sport it gets even more confusing. All four countries of the UK have their own football (soccer) teams and compete as separate countries in the World Cup and the European Championship. However, when it comes to Rugby, although England, Scotland and Wales have their own teams, the Ireland Rugby Team comprises players from both Nothern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (the latter is not part of the UK). The Irish cricket team is also chosen from both the North and South of Ireland. The English cricket team is actually an English and Welsh cricket team - there is no separate Welsh team - while Scotland has its own team, At the Olympics there is a British Team, although it is actually a UK team as some members are from Northern Ireland. The full name is the "Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team". The Republic of Ireland has its own team without any members from Northern Ireland.
One last interesting note is that the Republic of Ireland allows its citizens to enlist in the British Army (actually the UK Army), even though it isn't part of the UK, so the Royal Irish Regiment includes members from both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Steve
And we won't talk about how the Manx fit in..... :D
Post by: Beersatron on April 27, 2009, 12:49:39 PM
Quote from: "SteveAlt"
Quote from: "SteveAlt"Before reading any further, I thought I had better warn you about visiting Scotland in the near future. They might be slightly upset that you relocated their capital city to England :). Those Scots can be so touchy :)I thought it might be interesting to explain the somewhat confusing national politics of the of the UK :)
England is just the one country, with a total land area of 50,300 square miles and a population of 51 million.
Great Britain also includes Scotland and Wales. Scotland is 30,000 square miles with a population of just five million. So although it is sixty percent the size of England, it only has one tenth of the population. Mainly because it is cold and they all moved here. There is also a Scottish conspiracy to take over the UK. The Prime Minister is Scottish, as is the second most powerful politician, the Chancellor of the Exchequor, and several other cabinet members. Even Tony Blair, the previous Prime Minister, was Scottish, although he did his best to hide it. He was born in Edinburgh. There is a also a Scottish Parliament which has considerable devolved powers. However, even though this body exists there are still Scottish MPs in the UK Parliament and they get to vote on laws that will be passed only in England while English MPs cannot affect many Scottish Laws. Even though this is plainly ludicrous, the current government is not interested in fixing it because they have the majority of those Scottish MPs and they wouldn't have a overall UK majority without them. Finally more public money is spent per capita on the Scots than the English. There is a powerful Scottish Nationalist Party which wants independence for Scotland. A recent opinion poll show that only 42% of Scots wanted independence but 58% of English voters wanted them to have independence :). It may be time to start an English Nationalist party so we can gain independence from the UK :)
Wales is 8000 square miles and has a population of three million. It was conquered by the English in 1282. Scotland became part of the Union in 1707 although most Scots weren't too happy about it.
The United Kingdom includes Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) plus Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is 5300 square miles and has a population of 1.75 million.
When we come to sport it gets even more confusing. All four countries of the UK have their own football (soccer) teams and compete as separate countries in the World Cup and the European Championship. However, when it comes to Rugby, although England, Scotland and Wales have their own teams, the Ireland Rugby Team comprises players from both Nothern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (the latter is not part of the UK). The Irish cricket team is also chosen from both the North and South of Ireland. The English cricket team is actually an English and Welsh cricket team - there is no separate Welsh team - while Scotland has its own team, At the Olympics there is a British Team, although it is actually a UK team as some members are from Northern Ireland. The full name is the "Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team". The Republic of Ireland has its own team without any members from Northern Ireland.
One last interesting note is that the Republic of Ireland allows its citizens to enlist in the British Army (actually the UK Army), even though it isn't part of the UK, so the Royal Irish Regiment includes members from both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Steve
Also, The Green and White Army (aka Northern Ireland Football Team) is the best in the British Isles ;) with the most prolific European Cup Qualifier goal scorer, David Healy!
There is just the minor point of us not qualify for the finals even though we had the best goal scorer, hah!
Post by: Steve Walmsley on April 27, 2009, 01:03:25 PM
Quote from: "Charlie Beeler"
And we won't talk about how the Manx fit in..... :)
Just for completeness and borrowed from Wiki :). Again, paraphrasing from Wiki...
The Channel Islands are a group of four islands in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. They are British Crown dependencies, but neither is part of the United Kingdom. They have been part of the Duchy of Normandy since the 10th century and Queen Elizabeth II is often referred to by her traditional and conventional title of Duke of Normandy. However, pursuant to the Treaty of Paris (1259) she is not the Duke in a constitutional capacity and instead governs in her right as Queen. This notwithstanding, it is a matter of local pride for monarchists to treat the situation otherwise: the Loyal Toast at formal dinners is to 'The Queen, our Duke', rather than 'Her Majesty, the Queen' as in the UK.
Under the Interpretation Act 1978, the Channel Islands are deemed to be part of the British Islands, not to be confused with the British Isles.
Steve
Post by: Steve Walmsley on April 27, 2009, 01:07:50 PM
Steve
Post by: Doug Olchefske on May 08, 2009, 04:16:04 PM
lose her virtue to some awful wog in a distant part of the Empire, she
should not actually "think of England" as is often stated (incorrectly and
insultingly to some) but in fact, should "think of The United Kingdom of
Great Britian and Northern Ireland and Alderney but not Mann, and Certain of
the Shetlands, Hebrides, but not Skye (because Johnny has lost his trews and
things are bad enough without thinking of that too) but including Calais and
Bermuda, and other Realms and Territories at Her Majesty's Pleasure?" I
can see the value in that. By the time she gets it all figured out, the wog
has come and gone and she can go about her business.
<shamelessly stolen from somewhere>
Post by: Paul M on May 19, 2009, 02:52:35 AM
Looking at the Reichraummarineschiffbauart I'm a tad confused about their fighter and AMM designs.
Making one fighter with only a search sensor may be sensible for pure search tasks, the arguements can go a lot of directions there. The attack fighters; however, have no search sensor, and an extremely long range fire control. But only against ships, against other fighters its range is largely crippled and against missiles basically non-existant. More sensible would be to give them a sensor and firecontrol range of about 3-5 million km (double or tripple the resolution 1 range of the AMM sensor/fire control) and give the carrier very long range sensors. Not giving the fighters their own sensor system is a dubious mass saving to me, but I frankly admit that is a personal taste. But a size 1 or size 0.5 fire control plus search sensor would fit on those birds, best with a resolution of around 10-15. As for their box launcher I would think a size two missile or a size three one would be better (5 or 3 missiles respectively), and make the missile more like a torpedo...big warhead, high speed, limited endurance, good manuever rating. You could also make a 2 stage design with a second stage that carries AMMs design to allow them to deploy in a "thicken the defences" mode or even better to engage other fighters.
The AMM designs also makes very little sense it has no manueverability and 39 min of endurance, yet the AMM sensors have only a 1.7m km range. So you only need 2-5 min at most endurance, the rest can go into manueverability. Even as a dual mode missile is 75m km range necessary?
Lastly none of the warships carry EM sensors...why not? This probably goes back to my personal taste but sensors both passive and active are a key to victory generally. Win the sensor game and the fight is half done. "Scouting and Counter Scouting" in naval speak.
Post by: Kurt on May 19, 2009, 03:23:08 PM
Quote from: "Paul M"
Kurt,
Looking at the Reichraummarineschiffbauart I'm a tad confused about their fighter and AMM designs.
I'll address your specific points below, but the general answer to most everything will be to remember that 1 - these are the Reich's first attempt to create a fighter, and 2 - this is really my first attempt to create a fighter using this version of Aurora, so the result was intentially clumsy, as it probably would have been in real life.
Quote from: "Paul M"
Making one fighter with only a search sensor may be sensible for pure search tasks, the arguements can go a lot of directions there. The attack fighters; however, have no search sensor, and an extremely long range fire control. But only against ships, against other fighters its range is largely crippled and against missiles basically non-existant. More sensible would be to give them a sensor and firecontrol range of about 3-5 million km (double or tripple the resolution 1 range of the AMM sensor/fire control) and give the carrier very long range sensors. Not giving the fighters their own sensor system is a dubious mass saving to me, but I frankly admit that is a personal taste. But a size 1 or size 0.5 fire control plus search sensor would fit on those birds, best with a resolution of around 10-15.
To be honest, this is the design decision that I was most uncomfortable with. And the inadequacy most likely to be addressed in the Mk II version of the fighter, whenever it might be produced. As noted above, the Reich, and I, are still feeling our way towards a realistic fighter deployment strategy and, linked to that, the best design to match that strategy.
Quote from: "Paul M"
As for their box launcher I would think a size two missile or a size three one would be better (5 or 3 missiles respectively), and make the missile more like a torpedo...big warhead, high speed, limited endurance, good manuever rating. You could also make a 2 stage design with a second stage that carries AMMs design to allow them to deploy in a "thicken the defences" mode or even better to engage other fighters.
The Reich is very concerned about salvo sizes. While larger missiles would be better all-around, as you note above, the fighters would be able to carry fewer, and thus would be much more vulnerable to point defense interception. Launching larger numbers of smaller, cheaper missiles makes it more likely that they will overwhelm point defense and get some hits, which, even if they are individually devastating, will at least do some damage, which the bigger missiles might not if they don't overwhelm point defense and get destroyed short of the target.
Quote from: "Paul M"
The AMM designs also makes very little sense it has no manueverability and 39 min of endurance, yet the AMM sensors have only a 1.7m km range. So you only need 2-5 min at most endurance, the rest can go into manueverability. Even as a dual mode missile is 75m km range necessary?
This one is easy, and not my fault
. The 6P campaign was created with Aurora v 3.11, which means that the missile design sequence is different than 4.0b's. Specifically, you can't specify the amount of fuel, all you can do is decide to devote either 0 missile size points (MSP's) to fuel, or increments of a quarter point to fuel. The result is one of the reasons Steve made the changes that he did for 4.0b, because in small 1 space anti-missiles you have no choice but to devote a full quarter of the available space to fuel, giving you a totally ridiculous flight time and range. Quote from: "Paul M"
Lastly none of the warships carry EM sensors...why not? This probably goes back to my personal taste but sensors both passive and active are a key to victory generally. Win the sensor game and the fight is half done. "Scouting and Counter Scouting" in naval speak.
That is a hold-over from the earlier days of the Raumarine, when it was only intended to act in the inner solar system, usually under cover of the planet-bound sensor network on Earth. It has always been their intention to remedy this weakness, but this intention has been caught up in the realities of other demands on R&D and construction resources.
Kurt
Post by: sloanjh on May 19, 2009, 07:53:42 PM
Quote from: "Kurt"
It has always been their intention to remedy this weakness, but this intention has been caught up in the realities of other demands on R&D and construction resources.
This is one of the things that I really like about Aurora (and that I believe is Working As Intended) - the fact that ship designs have interesting little warts that result from the burden of history and of the perpetual "yes, yes, we need to research that, but this other thing is higher priority at the minute" - I think it nails real life spot-on.
John
Post by: Paul M on May 20, 2009, 02:41:17 AM
Post by: Charlie Beeler on May 20, 2009, 08:50:21 AM
Quote from: "Kurt"
<snip>Quote from: "Paul M"Making one fighter with only a search sensor may be sensible for pure search tasks, the arguements can go a lot of directions there. The attack fighters; however, have no search sensor, and an extremely long range fire control. But only against ships, against other fighters its range is largely crippled and against missiles basically non-existant. More sensible would be to give them a sensor and firecontrol range of about 3-5 million km (double or tripple the resolution 1 range of the AMM sensor/fire control) and give the carrier very long range sensors. Not giving the fighters their own sensor system is a dubious mass saving to me, but I frankly admit that is a personal taste. But a size 1 or size 0.5 fire control plus search sensor would fit on those birds, best with a resolution of around 10-15.
To be honest, this is the design decision that I was most uncomfortable with. And the inadequacy most likely to be addressed in the Mk II version of the fighter, whenever it might be produced. As noted above, the Reich, and I, are still feeling our way towards a realistic fighter deployment strategy and, linked to that, the best design to match that strategy.
<snip>
I've approached this with several different methods. A jack-of-all-trades modelled on the mission set of current F15's (strike/air superiority/recon) tends to leave me with fighter that would be better built as a gunboat. It's usually slow, by fighter standards, and a relatively easy target for dedicated anti-fighter designs.
The mix that has worked best for me is a dedicated strike platform, a dedicated sensor platform, and a dedicated CSP platform. The strike and sensor platforms follow a similiar approach what Kurt has posted. The CSP platform is optimized for interdicting missiles and is capable of anti--fighter, usually gauss cannon's with as high a rof as I can afford to research (usually 3). The CSP should have both short range active as well as the neccassary fire control since it may have to operate seperate from the strike/sensor package.
Organization is usually 1 CSP for every 2 or 3 strike and 1 sensor to each strike squadron. I've also deployed fighters configured for recon from fleet scouts.
Most of this is from what I've learned with versions earlier that 4 though. In those I've modified the DB with GC's no larger than 1hs and faster turret tracking speeds.
Post by: Erik L on May 20, 2009, 02:01:24 PM
My doctrine is usually to hold the CSP birds back with the fleet to provide anti-fighter/missile defense, and the strike birds go forth and "touch" the enemy.
Post by: Paul M on May 21, 2009, 07:37:04 AM
I don't have a problem with a dedicated sesnor platform, I just don't see what the point of giving a ship weapons but no way to independantly find it's targets. Relying on a sensor fighter just begs to ask what happens when they are killed. I'm not even sure mechanics wise what happens. It is just a dubious mass saving to me.
Post by: Charlie Beeler on May 21, 2009, 08:46:28 AM
Quote from: "Paul M"
Looking at the sensor/missile fire control designer, 75 tons seems to give you a 1 HS Resolution 10 search sensor with a range of a few million km and a fire control system with twice that range from a 0.5 HS system. Sufficient so that you can engage other fighters at 0.5-1 million km, far outside any beam armed fighters range.
I don't have a problem with a dedicated sesnor platform, I just don't see what the point of giving a ship weapons but no way to independantly find it's targets. Relying on a sensor fighter just begs to ask what happens when they are killed. I'm not even sure mechanics wise what happens. It is just a dubious mass saving to me.
This is gaming it a bit, but consider...
If the missiles have thier own sensor package, they can be launched at a waypoint and allowed to aquire thier own targeting. No active sensor required on the launch platform.
No my usual approach.
Post by: Hawkeye on May 21, 2009, 10:12:53 AM
Strike FACs won´t have any active sensors. Each Squadron consists of 6 strike FACs and 2 Sensor FACs.
This being said, those Sensor FACs are only there as a backup or if I am forced to use them independently. SPO will be to attach the FACs to a carrier squadron which will have a scout or two with realy realy long range actives that will be used to light up the enemy, so the FACs can stay out of detection range as much as possible and the Sensor FACs don´t have to go active and make the enemy aware of their approach.
As I see it, the main benefit of using FACs (or fighters, for that matter) is that it is extremely costly to build ships with long ranged actives able to see them outside of their combat range (for missile armed ones, that is). So going active with them is a big No No.
Post by: Kurt on May 21, 2009, 12:44:08 PM
Quote from: "sloanjh"
Quote from: "Kurt"It has always been their intention to remedy this weakness, but this intention has been caught up in the realities of other demands on R&D and construction resources.
This is one of the things that I really like about Aurora (and that I believe is Working As Intended) - the fact that ship designs have interesting little warts that result from the burden of history and of the perpetual "yes, yes, we need to research that, but this other thing is higher priority at the minute" - I think it nails real life spot-on.
John
That was my thought as well. It has the "feel" of reality about it.
Kurt
Post by: Kurt on May 21, 2009, 12:48:53 PM
Quote from: "Paul M"
I'm not an expert either, and the whole "it's on the list but, well, it will take a few years before it is at the top of the list" is very clearly Aurora. The AMM is now very clear, that was a very good change in the game mechanics frankly. It also kyboshes the "torpedo" suggestion. Though you should have intervened and called the class "Graff Zeplin." *laughs* I'm curious to see how the fighters work out. Just consider my comments a report to the Reichraummarinebauabtilung from an independant assesment board.
Consider the report submitted. I was very unsatisfied with the missile design sequence as it stood in v3.11, as it forced bad designs at the small end of the missile size spectrum. I wasn't the only one, and Steve did very well in redesigning the missile design sequence as a whole.
Just a note, v3.11 contains a bug that allows 0 size warhead missiles to successfully destroy other missiles, so some of my races have anti-missiles with no warhead. When this bug was discovered, I considered requiring all races to have some sort of warhead on their anti-missiles, to make it fair and simulate the way Aurora was intended to work, however, after some thought, I decided to allow 0 size warheads. Such missiles cannot be used for anything but missile-interception, while anti-missiles with a warhead of 1 point can be used offensively as well.
Kurt
Post by: Kurt on May 21, 2009, 12:51:41 PM
Quote from: "Charlie Beeler"
Quote from: "Kurt"<snip>Quote from: "Paul M"Making one fighter with only a search sensor may be sensible for pure search tasks, the arguements can go a lot of directions there. The attack fighters; however, have no search sensor, and an extremely long range fire control. But only against ships, against other fighters its range is largely crippled and against missiles basically non-existant. More sensible would be to give them a sensor and firecontrol range of about 3-5 million km (double or tripple the resolution 1 range of the AMM sensor/fire control) and give the carrier very long range sensors. Not giving the fighters their own sensor system is a dubious mass saving to me, but I frankly admit that is a personal taste. But a size 1 or size 0.5 fire control plus search sensor would fit on those birds, best with a resolution of around 10-15.
To be honest, this is the design decision that I was most uncomfortable with. And the inadequacy most likely to be addressed in the Mk II version of the fighter, whenever it might be produced. As noted above, the Reich, and I, are still feeling our way towards a realistic fighter deployment strategy and, linked to that, the best design to match that strategy.
<snip>
I've approached this with several different methods. A jack-of-all-trades modelled on the mission set of current F15's (strike/air superiority/recon) tends to leave me with fighter that would be better built as a gunboat. It's usually slow, by fighter standards, and a relatively easy target for dedicated anti-fighter designs.
The mix that has worked best for me is a dedicated strike platform, a dedicated sensor platform, and a dedicated CSP platform. The strike and sensor platforms follow a similiar approach what Kurt has posted. The CSP platform is optimized for interdicting missiles and is capable of anti--fighter, usually gauss cannon's with as high a rof as I can afford to research (usually 3). The CSP should have both short range active as well as the neccassary fire control since it may have to operate seperate from the strike/sensor package.
Organization is usually 1 CSP for every 2 or 3 strike and 1 sensor to each strike squadron. I've also deployed fighters configured for recon from fleet scouts.
Most of this is from what I've learned with versions earlier that 4 though. In those I've modified the DB with GC's no larger than 1hs and faster turret tracking speeds.
I had a very hard time fitting everything I wanted into my fighter design and still keeping it small enough to maintain the speed I wanted. Which, of course, was why I left out even basic sensors on the attack design. This was really my first operational fighter design, though, as I really haven't used them in other games. I expect to learn a lot as they come into more common use in the campaign.
Kurt
Post by: Kurt on May 21, 2009, 07:59:30 PM
Quote from: "Paul M"
Looking at the sensor/missile fire control designer, 75 tons seems to give you a 1 HS Resolution 10 search sensor with a range of a few million km and a fire control system with twice that range from a 0.5 HS system. Sufficient so that you can engage other fighters at 0.5-1 million km, far outside any beam armed fighters range.
I don't have a problem with a dedicated sesnor platform, I just don't see what the point of giving a ship weapons but no way to independantly find it's targets. Relying on a sensor fighter just begs to ask what happens when they are killed. I'm not even sure mechanics wise what happens. It is just a dubious mass saving to me.
75 tons is over a third of the mass of my fighter! Adding something that big would reduce the fighter's speed from 11,000 kps to 8,200 kps.
As far as the mechanics, if the sensor fighter is killed, and there are no other sensor platforms in range, then the fighters either would not be able to launch, or they would lose their fire control lock on the target if they had already launched. The Reich was planning on integrating their new scouts in with their carrier groups. Their ability to launch sensor drones would provide sensor redundancy and help a fighter strike immensely.
Kurt
Post by: mavikfelna on May 22, 2009, 10:44:23 AM
--Mav
Post by: Haegan2005 on May 22, 2009, 01:34:42 PM
Quote from: "mavikfelna"
Ok Kurt, enough talking, more writing! ;)
--Mav
Agreed!
Post by: Kurt on May 22, 2009, 08:27:31 PM
Quote from: "Haegan2005"
Quote from: "mavikfelna"Ok Kurt, enough talking, more writing! :D Okay, oaky, I get the message.
I'm currently in the middle of a fairly large battle. It should be interesting!
Kurt
Post by: ShadoCat on May 23, 2009, 12:15:22 PM
Quote from: "Kurt"
Quote from: "Haegan2005"Quote from: "mavikfelna"Ok Kurt, enough talking, more writing! ;)
--Mav
Agreed!
:D Okay, oaky, I get the message.
I'm currently in the middle of a fairly large battle. It should be interesting!
Kurt
KEERAACK!!!
The beasts take offense and then take a bite out of your chariot. Lose one point of armor on the front of the chariot.
Post by: Paul M on May 25, 2009, 07:19:24 AM
But for the reduction in speed of the fighters the 75 tons is composed of 50 tons (1 HS) for search sensor and 25 tons (0.5 HS) for the fire control, as you have a 16 million km fire control my suspicion is that you aren't far from using 50 tons now anyway, so the increase is either 50 or 25 tons. The other point is who cares how fast the fighter goes in the abstract? You can launch your missiles outside of a range where the enemy can engage you even if they know you are there and no fighter armed with a gun is going to get to you before you can launch and run back to re-arm. By being able to engage fighters anyway you can just wait till they are a 0.5 m km distant and salvo some missiles at them anyway. Sure you abort the strike on the ships but you'll get them next time anyway.
Post by: Brian Neumann on May 25, 2009, 10:00:19 AM
Quote from: "Paul M"
I'm with Mav (as I recall a not unusual occurance on that other board we used to haunt) as far as the writing vrs talking.
But for the reduction in speed of the fighters the 75 tons is composed of 50 tons (1 HS) for search sensor and 25 tons (0.5 HS) for the fire control, as you have a 16 million km fire control my suspicion is that you aren't far from using 50 tons now anyway, so the increase is either 50 or 25 tons. The other point is who cares how fast the fighter goes in the abstract? You can launch your missiles outside of a range where the enemy can engage you even if they know you are there and no fighter armed with a gun is going to get to you before you can launch and run back to re-arm. By being able to engage fighters anyway you can just wait till they are a 0.5 m km distant and salvo some missiles at them anyway. Sure you abort the strike on the ships but you'll get them next time anyway.
The problem with this is that the number of reloads is limited as missiles are big compared to their magazine's and in addition missiles that are good against ships are probably not very accurate against fighters. After all most fighters are moving around three times as fast as their parent ships usually move. If you only have a 40-50% hit rate against those fighters you are throwing a lot of missiles away.
Brian
Post by: Paul M on May 25, 2009, 10:14:01 AM
A possible design glitch is that the carrier has, if memory serves, 500 or so missiles in its magazines that is only (20 fighter x10 missiles/box launcher = 200 full strike) 2 complete reloads on the carrier. That is a bit small I'd think.
I'm still inclined to mark some of this down to personal preference mind you.
Post by: Steve Walmsley on May 27, 2009, 03:50:52 PM
Quote from: "ShadoCat"
KEERAACK!!!KERRAKKKK!!!
The beasts take offense and then take a bite out of your chariot. Lose one point of armor on the front of the chariot.
Your beasts take the hint and put their minds to the task. 1 Space, 1 Pt to Beasts
That is a great game
Steve
Post by: Steve Walmsley on May 27, 2009, 03:52:19 PM
Quote from: "Paul M"
I'm with Mav (as I recall a not unusual occurance on that other board we used to haunt) as far as the writing vrs talking.Its OK, you can talk about Starfire on here but they get extremely upset if you talk about Aurora on the Starfire list
Steve
Post by: Paul M on May 28, 2009, 03:39:25 AM
Post by: Cassaralla on May 28, 2009, 09:35:28 AM
Quote from: "Steve Walmsley"
Quote from: "ShadoCat"KEERAACK!!!KERRAKKKK!!!
The beasts take offense and then take a bite out of your chariot. Lose one point of armor on the front of the chariot.
Your beasts take the hint and put their minds to the task. 1 Space, 1 Pt to Beasts
That is a great game :)
Steve
*Plays Maximus Turnius card.*
(Hope I have the right game here. :) )
Post by: Erik L on May 28, 2009, 12:46:18 PM
Quote from: "Paul M"
I didn't think it would be an issue with a starfire fiction section on the board...my comment was more a personal in-joke relating to my time running an order on a NWN PW and events related to that. I can't say I am surprised that Aurora discussions are actively discouraged though on that other board.
I think if there were a discussion relating to NWN, it'd have to be in the... hmmm... Maybe I should make a general "Other Games" forum.
Post by: ShadoCat on May 28, 2009, 06:44:05 PM
Quote from: "Cassaralla"
Quote from: "Steve Walmsley"Quote from: "ShadoCat"KEERAACK!!!KERRAKKKK!!!
The beasts take offense and then take a bite out of your chariot. Lose one point of armor on the front of the chariot.
Your beasts take the hint and put their minds to the task. 1 Space, 1 Pt to Beasts
That is a great game :)
Steve
*Plays Maximus Turnius card.*
(Hope I have the right game here. :) )
Slide out three lanes....
Yep. Nothing is more beautiful than a FRENZY going into a turn...
...and nothing is more aggravating than the lucky bonehead I play with who survived it.
Post by: ShadoCat on May 28, 2009, 06:56:27 PM
Quote from: "Steve Walmsley"
Quote from: "ShadoCat"KEERAACK!!!KERRAKKKK!!!
The beasts take offense and then take a bite out of your chariot. Lose one point of armor on the front of the chariot.
Your beasts take the hint and put their minds to the task. 1 Space, 1 Pt to Beasts
That is a great game :)
Steve
Yep. There's nothing like starting a chain reaction collision. <grin>
Post by: Paul M on May 29, 2009, 06:11:15 AM
Sounds like you need a vacation to recover from the vacation.
*as in the Chinese curse
Post by: waresky on June 07, 2009, 09:39:40 AM
Quote from: "Paul M"
Well Steve you win the "most interesting"* Italian Vacation Award I guess. I visited Rome and Florence with my parents last year and we had the usual touristy things: the toliets on the train going down, even though we were in 1st class, being a mess, eating in an Irish pub in Rome as the other restraunts were not so good (we were too near the train station I think), getting caught on the Roman forum during a thunderstorm and getting soaked, getting ripped off by a resturant down the street from St. Peter's for lunch but on the other hand having a wonderful set of meals in a restraunt in Florence. Getting to see both the Roman ruins was a real joy for me as I basically have a minor in the classical studies and seeing that stuff not in a book but in person was just a blast. I'm still, disturbed I guess, that on the road leading to the Vatican you are walking past high price women's clothing stores...something is just very wrong about that. As a hint go to the Sistine chapel in the afternoon, the lineup is much much much much shorter (200 m as opposed to 1+ km in the morning). Overall though we had a great time and I learned a new Italian word "Umbrelli" given that there was a person on each street corner in Rome trying to sell you one.
Sounds like you need a vacation to recover from the vacation.
*as in the Chinese curse
Am Italian.
u can find me on google Earth typing: "TRENTO" or better:"MEZZOCORONA" little hamlet:)
north east italy.beneath in Alpes,Dolomiti..
there r the most beautiful landscape,most welcome restaurant or little hut on mountain u can't find in whole ITALY..ther u can find the most highest groups of mountain in a same region..
And there u can find me:)
good meat,balanced,nature preparations,no traffic,take a most wanted breath in every Alpes..
C'mon on trentino,NOT going to damned boring Rome..:D
there r true italian style.