C# Ground Combat

[Jorgen_CAB]

But can my STO emplacements bombard the planet they're on?  And can they do so more effectively than heavy bombardment set to 'indiscriminate nuke' mode?

I don't think STO weapons can partake in actual ground combat at all... they can only shoot at space ships... as far as i understand anyway.

[xenoscepter]

How long do my landing ships need to unload my forces? Cargo Handling Systems aren't a thing anymore in C#, so how would that be calculated?

I was thinking of cargo shuttles with LOG-S infantry for resupply...

[Hazard]

But can my STO emplacements bombard the planet they're on?  And can they do so more effectively than heavy bombardment set to 'indiscriminate nuke' mode?

No.

But an STO emplacement on the Moon can hit the Earth for orbital bombardment purposes as long as the weapon has that range.

How long do my landing ships need to unload my forces? Cargo Handling Systems aren't a thing anymore in C#, so how would that be calculated?

I was thinking of cargo shuttles with LOG-S infantry for resupply...

Landed ships unload instantly IIRC, orbiting ships use the Cargo Shuttle technology and components in place of the Cargo Handling Systems technology in C# to determine how fast they load/unload.

[xenoscepter]

Wait, so I can actually LAND things now!?

Even my Fighters? I can simulate Airbases now w/o needing a metric f-ton of PDCs!?

AWESOME!

[papent]

But can my STO emplacements bombard the planet they're on?  And can they do so more effectively than heavy bombardment set to 'indiscriminate nuke' mode?

No.

But an STO emplacement on the Moon can hit the Earth for orbital bombardment purposes as long as the weapon has that range.

So a hypothetical superjovian moon hopping campaign is going to be a blast. Clearing moons of sto and ground troops and finally getting a foothold to bombard other moons without risking ships. That's ... Brilliant. Space Solomon island campaign with troop transports have to run "the slot".

How the fire director work with coordinating fire support from STOs on other bodies? Or it's the general strategic bombing option instead of the combat support?

[Jorgen_CAB]

Wait, so I can actually LAND things now!?

Even my Fighters? I can simulate Airbases now w/o needing a metric f-ton of PDCs!?

AWESOME!

You can designate fighter to ground and they can't be targeted as a space object... I still think they will require maintenance facilities on the ground or in space to function normally though. So if you have maintenance facilities on the planet you can station fighters and use the ground stance and they will function as ground fighters.

At least that is how I believe how it will work.

[Barkhorn]

But can my STO emplacements bombard the planet they're on?  And can they do so more effectively than heavy bombardment set to 'indiscriminate nuke' mode?

No.

But an STO emplacement on the Moon can hit the Earth for orbital bombardment purposes as long as the weapon has that range.

So a hypothetical superjovian moon hopping campaign is going to be a blast. Clearing moons of sto and ground troops and finally getting a foothold to bombard other moons without risking ships. That's ... Brilliant. Space Solomon island campaign with troop transports have to run "the slot".

How the fire director work with coordinating fire support from STOs on other bodies? Or it's the general strategic bombing option instead of the combat support?

It's better than the Solomon Island campaign, because the "islands" in this case move.  Imagine island-hopping when the islands aren't always the same distance apart.

"Dear diary, We made our landing on Io a week ago.  The Martians put up stiff resistance, but with fire support from our railgun batteries on Europa we were able to establish a beach-head during Europa's closest approach.  Now though, Europa's almost out of range, and the Martians know it.  One way or another, this invasion will be over soon."

[Garfunkel]

Wait, so I can actually LAND things now!?

Even my Fighters? I can simulate Airbases now w/o needing a metric f-ton of PDCs!?

AWESOME!

Only fighters - or things less than 500 tons - can land:
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg105591#msg105591

Part of the background in C# Aurora will be that large TN ships function only in space and cannot move any closer to planetary bodies than low orbit. Small craft below a limit of 500 tons, such as fighters and shuttles, are capable of landing on planets. Ship are built in orbit and habitats are assembled in orbit. Only fighters can be built on the ground.

As part of this change, Cargo Handling Systems have been replaced by Cargo Shuttle Bays. They function in a similar way, although they are larger (10 HS) and more expensive.

Because large ships cannot land on planets, a freighter or colony ship cannot load / unload unless it has at least one Cargo Shuttle Bay, or the target population has either a Spaceport or a Cargo Shuttle Station (new installation, 1200 BP). Spaceports and Cargo Shuttle Stations can service any number of ships simultaneously but they do not stack. In effect they count as a single Cargo Shuttle Bay for any ship at the population.

Fighters do not need any special facilities to be housed on a planet but they do require maintenance facilities:
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=9792.msg106102#msg106102

You will be able to base fighters at planets using maintenance facilities.

Examples of fighter size troop transports are here:
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=9792.msg106580#msg106580

You can still keep using bigger troop ships to perform landings. You'll have to use Troop Transport Bay - Drop Ships instead of the commercial Troop Transport Bay:
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=9679.msg105565#msg105565

2) Troop Transport Bays - Drop Ship Equipped is a new module which can function as a normal troop transport bay or quickly deliver troops from orbit using abstract drop ships. If the fast orbital delivery is chosen, there will be two options for the drop - Normal and Abandon. A normal drop will include waiting for the drop ships to return to the bays, which will require two minutes without additional research. A new tech line will reduce drop ship return times, starting with 90 seconds for 2000 RP and ending with 20 seconds for 64,000 RP. In an Abandon drop, the drop ships make a one way trip, allowing the ship to leave orbit immediately after the drop. In this case the bay is damaged (to simulate the loss of the drop ships) and can only be repaired at a shipyard. A ship with intact drop ships can also pick up troops from a planet, although this requires double the normal return trip time (as it is faster to unload than load). In all cases, the ship may only carry out landing or recovery operations if it starts the movement phase in the same location as the planet. For example, in an Abandon drop, the troop ship will arrive at the planet, take any fire for that turn, then launch drop ships and move away in the following turn. There are drop ship equivalents for the three normal bays. They have the same capacities but are 20% larger, 150% more expensive and a military system.

So you have the option of having a single huge, heavily armoured & shielded, troopship carrying an entire army, that uses multiple "Troop Transport Bay - Drop Ships" to land all the troops in one go while tanking fire from defending STO units. Or you can have an Assault Carrier with a bunch of Landing Shuttles, that is sitting safely beyond enemy STO range and is equipped with cheap commercial troop transport bays and commercial hangars, and then the Landing Shuttles brave enemy fire, hopefully being fast enough that STO will miss them on the approach but if you lose one it's only a small percentage of your total force.

From Steve's Crusade campaign:

Code: [Select]

Cetaceous class Troop Transport      239,925 tons       1,360 Crew       7,280.2 BP       TCS 4,798    TH 7,344    EM 0
1530 km/s      Armour 4-341       Shields 0-0       HTK 544      Sensors 6/8/0/0      DCR 1      PPV 0
MSP 18    Max Repair 200 MSP
Troop Capacity 100,000 tons     Drop Capable    Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 10   
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   

Commercial Ion Drive (34)    Power 7344    Fuel Use 1.41%    Signature 216    Explosion 3%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres    Range 31.9 billion km (241 days at full power)

Commercial Defence Turret (4x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16,000 km/s     ROF 5       
MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1)     GPS 1920     Range 31.5m km    Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km
and

Code: [Select]

Delphinus class Troop Transport      31,840 tons       194 Crew       824.9 BP       TCS 637    TH 1,296    EM 0
2035 km/s      Armour 1-89       Shields 0-0       HTK 78      Sensors 6/8/0/0      DCR 1      PPV 0
MSP 16    Max Repair 200 MSP
Troop Capacity 10,000 tons     Drop Capable    Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 1   
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   

Commercial Ion Drive (6)    Power 1296    Fuel Use 1.41%    Signature 216    Explosion 3%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 100.3 billion km (570 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1)     GPS 1920     Range 31.5m km    Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km
and

Code: [Select]

Orca class Troop Transport      45,905 tons       230 Crew       939.8 BP       TCS 918    TH 2,304    EM 0
2509 km/s      Armour 1-114       Shields 0-0       HTK 109      Sensors 6/11/0/0      DCR 1      PPV 0
MSP 12    Max Repair 80 MSP
Troop Capacity 20,000 tons     Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 2   
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   

Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (8)    Power 2304    Fuel Use 1.41%    Signature 288    Explosion 3%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 69.6 billion km (320 days at full power)

MK II Commercial Active Augur Array (1)     GPS 2100     Range 39.8m km    Resolution 100
MK II Electromagnetic Augur Array (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  26.2m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km
Hope that helps.

[harpyeagle]

If a target is destroyed, the firing element gains morale and the target element suffers a loss of morale.   This morale gain/loss is doubled if the firing unit is in front-line attack mode. 

Does this mean that, in the case where a front-line attacker fights a front-defender, if say they are evenly matched and inflict equal losses, the attacker will get a net morale gain, and the defender will suffer a net morale loss?

And therefore that the attacker has an advantage in morale loss in ground combat? Or was it meant that morale loss is doubled for losses inflicted on or by a front-line attacker, to reflect the heightened intensity of battle involving a front-line attacker?

[Steve Walmsley]

If a target is destroyed, the firing element gains morale and the target element suffers a loss of morale.   This morale gain/loss is doubled if the firing unit is in front-line attack mode. 

Does this mean that, in the case where a front-line attacker fights a front-defender, if say they are evenly matched and inflict equal losses, the attacker will get a net morale gain, and the defender will suffer a net morale loss?

And therefore that the attacker has an advantage in morale loss in ground combat? Or was it meant that morale loss is doubled for losses inflicted on or by a front-line attacker, to reflect the heightened intensity of battle involving a front-line attacker?

Morale impact is doubled for the front-line attacker only. Double gains and double losses.

[harpyeagle]

If a target is destroyed, the firing element gains morale and the target element suffers a loss of morale.     This morale gain/loss is doubled if the firing unit is in front-line attack mode.   

Does this mean that, in the case where a front-line attacker fights a front-defender, if say they are evenly matched and inflict equal losses, the attacker will get a net morale gain, and the defender will suffer a net morale loss?

And therefore that the attacker has an advantage in morale loss in ground combat? Or was it meant that morale loss is doubled for losses inflicted on or by a front-line attacker, to reflect the heightened intensity of battle involving a front-line attacker?

Morale impact is doubled for the front-line attacker only.   Double gains and double losses. 

Ah, so it is doubled if the firing element (gain) or the target element (loss) is a front line attacker. 

edit: and only doubled for whichever one of the (firer/target) pair is the attacker, as you just said.

[Marski]

So what's the smallest infantry formation this game simulates? Platoon? Company?
If I make "Infantry" HQ, does it count it as Platoon HQ or Company HQ?

[Father Tim]

So what's the smallest infantry formation this game simulates? Platoon? Company?
If I make "Infantry" HQ, does it count it as Platoon HQ or Company HQ?

One man/person/being/robot/small furry green creature from Proxima Centauri.

[Marski]

So what's the smallest infantry formation this game simulates? Platoon? Company?
If I make "Infantry" HQ, does it count it as Platoon HQ or Company HQ?

One man/person/being/robot/small furry green creature from Proxima Centauri.

Why post if you don't know the answer?

[Father Tim]

I do know the answer.

One Infantry is 0 tons, and the smallest unit Aurora can make.  One Headquarters component is variable in command rating (user set), 10 tons, and INF-mountable.

One junior officer, freshly graduated, is Command 10, 0+10 tons, cost (with starting tech) 0.00001, Annual Maint 0.0005.

An Army (unit) of One, as the saying goes.