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Topic Summary

Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 26, 2019, 02:54:58 PM »

1906

Completed techs: Shipyard Operations: Time/Cost Saving 20%, Shield Regen 2, 20cm Railgun, Beam Fire Control 40kkm, new beam fire controls, ECCM-3, Advanced Spinal Mount, Missile Launcher Reload Rate 4, Near Ultraviolet Laser, Fuel Production 80k liters, Beta Shields, 15cm Laser Focal Size

New techs being researched: Shipbuilding Rate 1000, Shield Regen 2.5, 20cm Railgun Design, Corvette & Cruiser Beam Fire Controls, Near Ultraviolet Laser, Turret Tracking Speed 3kkm/s, Missile Launcher Reload Rate 5, 15cm Laser Focal Size, Shipyard Operations 30%, Magazine Feed 90%, Gamma Shields, Ultraviolet Laser


The Sperber-class Escort Destroyer is designed, its main purpose it missile defense for the fleet and help planetary PDC with missile defense if needed. In addition it is able to raid enemy civilian shipping and hunt down missile ships who have spend their missiles. This is Humanities first use of laser weapons, in this case in combination with a very large single bore laser alongside the main axis of the ship – Advanced Spinal Mount. With better lasers large version of this weapon are planned.

Code: [Select]
Sperber class Destroyer Escort    4 000 tons     135 Crew     846.8 BP      TCS 80  TH 400  EM 0
5000 km/s     Armour 2-22     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 25
Maint Life 1.04 Years     MSP 79    AFR 213%    IFR 3%    1YR 73    5YR 1094    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 105   

S5 100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4)    Power 100    Fuel Use 57%    Signature 100    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 330 000 Litres    Range 26.1 billion km   (60 days at full power)

18cm C4 Visible Light Laser (1)    Range 160 000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 8-4     RM 2    ROF 10        8 8 5 4 3 2 2 2 1 1
Cruiser Fire Control S02 160-5000 (1)    Max Range: 320 000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
S05 Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 8    Armour 0    Exp 5%

10s Size 1 Missile Launcher (20)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
S05 Missile Fire Control FC9-R1 (2)     Range 9.7m km    Resolution 1
Natter S1 Mk2 (105)  Speed: 30 000 km/s   End: 4.4m    Range: 8m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 360/216/108

S3 Active Search Sensor MR19-R1 (1)     GPS 108     Range 19.4m km    MCR 2.1m km    Resolution 1

ECM 20

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

In July expansion of the New Berlin naval yards has reached 2 slips with 2kt each. The newly designed Habicht-class Corvette will be build there. Its main purpose is jump point defense/ambush, running down missile ships who have expended their missiles and raiding enemy civilian shipping.

Code: [Select]
Habicht class Corvette    2 000 tons     54 Crew     552.9 BP      TCS 40  TH 400  EM 0
10000 km/s     Armour 3-14     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4
Maint Life 0.71 Years     MSP 43    AFR 128%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 61    5YR 910    Max Repair 180 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 7 months    Spare Berths 0   

S5 100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4)    Power 100    Fuel Use 57%    Signature 100    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 150 000 Litres    Range 23.7 billion km   (27 days at full power)

Sp 15cm C6 Visible Light Laser (1)    Range 120 000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 2    ROF 5        6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Corvette Fire Control S03 120-10000 (1)    Max Range: 240 000 km   TS: 10000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 6.4    Armour 0    Exp 5%

S05 Active Search Sensor MR3-R1 (1)     GPS 18     Range 3.2m km    MCR 353k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


By mid-July the survey program is restarted after most vessels have completed their refits and overhauls. GravSurvey of Bonn is started and the GeoSurvey of Kiel will be continued. A little bit later news reaches Earth that the espionage team on the Iroquois homeworld has been killed in action. Other methods to learn about those aliens are currently being worked on…

Code: [Select]
Reier class Assault Shuttle    1 000 tons     17 Crew     162.8 BP      TCS 20  TH 80  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 0.42 Years     MSP 10    AFR 80%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 24    5YR 360    Max Repair 60 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 0   
Drop Capacity: 1 Battalion    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

S1 20 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4)    Power 20    Fuel Use 59.4%    Signature 20    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 110 000 Litres    Range 33.3 billion km   (96 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

BTW, I can not remember, does cargo handling help with drop pods as well, or just normal troop transports?


After trying to establish a Kepler jump scout as a gateway into Osnabrück and a refueling point for survey ships a ship is detected which is identified as a Robot ship. The Kepler jumps right out of Osnabrück again. The ship is labeled as a Agincourt-class, it has never been seen before and has a thermal signature of more than 1.2k.


In August a ungated jump point is found in Bonn, leading to Schweinfurt, which has a gate back to Bonn. Schweinfurt is a binary, has a couple of planets, moons and asteroids. There is 1 terrestrial planets in orbit around Schweinfurt-A inside the habitable zone. A second jump point leads to Bamberg, which is gated on the Bamberg side. Bamberg has a single sun with several planets and moons. There is a terrestrial planet inside the habitable zone as well.


At the end of October a ungated jump point is found in Bamberg. This jump point leads to the München system, which is already known, but has not been surveyed yet. The recovery of alien ruins on Düsseldorf A-III has been completed. Besides lots of infrastructure and some minerals 3 tracking stations, 40 maintenance facilities, 3 construction factories, 6 mines, 8 automines, 1 mass driver, 2 terraforming installations, 1 research lab, 1 gene center, 1 ground force training facility, 1 ordnance, 1 fighter and 1 fuel factories have been recovered. With just 0.3m workers there is currently a shortage of close to 4m workers.


With the refitting of the Kondor-class carriers completed a large fleet exercise is started, involving 2 Kondor carriers, 4 Graf Zeppelin carriers, 20 Falke missile boats, 2 R100 Radar FACs, 4 R1 Radar recon fighters, 20 Fokker R2 fighters.


In November research into shields has been completed and the new Scharnhorst-class cruiser is designed. Cruisers are supposed to be able to operate independent of other ships, but can be used to support carrier task forces as well. Retooling is started on Earth.

Code: [Select]
Scharnhorst class Cruiser    16 000 tons     467 Crew     4235.4 BP      TCS 320  TH 1600  EM 900
5000 km/s     Armour 4-56     Shields 30-225     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 5     PPV 81
Maint Life 2.07 Years     MSP 827    AFR 409%    IFR 5.7%    1YR 257    5YR 3851    Max Repair 360 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 1   

S5 100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (16)    Power 100    Fuel Use 57%    Signature 100    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 2 110 000 Litres    Range 41.6 billion km   (96 days at full power)
Beta R225/216 Shields (20)   Total Fuel Cost  180 Litres per hour  (4 320 per day)

20cm Railgun V6/C6 (9x4)    Range 240 000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 12-6     RM 6    ROF 10        4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2
10cm Railgun V6/C3 (6x4)    Range 60 000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 6    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Cruiser Fire Control S02 160-5000 (3)    Max Range: 320 000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
Fire Control S00.7 60-5000 (2)    Max Range: 120 000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     92 83 75 67 58 50 42 33 25 17
S05 Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (18)     Total Power Output 72    Armour 0    Exp 5%

S10 Active Search Sensor MR648-R100 (1)     GPS 36000     Range 648.0m km    Resolution 100
S3 Active Search Sensor MR19-R1 (1)     GPS 108     Range 19.4m km    MCR 2.1m km    Resolution 1

ECCM-2 (1)         ECM 20

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Well, I managed to get in 9 large caliber guns and 6 smaller ones, but that’s where the RL similarities end, but later Scharnhorsts will get closer to the original I hope and be re-classed as (small) battleships.

Map:


That’s it for today…
Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 23, 2019, 03:53:41 AM »

1905

Completed techs: Internal Confinement Fusion Drive Tech, Heavy Assault Battalion, Fuel Consumption 0.6 liters, Infrared Laser, 10cm Laser Focal Size, Combat Drop Module – Battalion, Beam Fire Control Range 32kkm, 15cm Railgun, Fire Control Speed Rating 5kkm/s, Shield Regen Rate 1.5, Visible Light Laser, 12cm Laser Focal Size

New techs being researched: Infrared Laser, 10cm Laser Focal Size, Combat Drop Module – Battalion, new engines, Fuel Consumption 0.5 liters, Combat Drop Module (Cryo) – Battalion, Cryo Transport – Small, Planetary Sensor Strength 550, 20cm Railgun, Visible Light Laser, 12cm Laser Focal Size, Shield Regen Rate 2, Beam Fire Control Range 40kkm



The second gate in Flensburg leads to Bielefeld. A fairly small binary system with 4 terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of its two suns.


In February research into Internal Confinement Fusion Drive Tech is completed and a batch of new engines are designed. This leads to the development of a new anti-ship missile, the Dorn Mk3 and a new anti-missile missile, the Natter Mk2.

Dorn Mk3 – slightly less speed, 70% more range, 16% higher chance to hit 10kkm/s:
Missile Size: 6 MSP  (0.3 HS)     Warhead: 9    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 26
Speed: 24000 km/s    Engine Endurance: 115 minutes   Range: 165.1m km
Cost Per Missile: 5.97
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 624%   3k km/s 208%   5k km/s 124.8%   10k km/s 62.4%

Natter Mk2 - 24% higher chance to hit 10kkm/s:
Missile Size: 1 MSP  (0.05 HS)     Warhead: 1    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 36
Speed: 30000 km/s    Engine Endurance: 4 minutes   Range: 8.0m km
Cost Per Missile: 1.137
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 1080%   3k km/s 360%   5k km/s 216%   10k km/s 108%


This leads to a improved Missile Boat design as well (1 additional launcher, higher speed, longer range and a slightly lower deployment time):
Code: [Select]
Falke Mk3 class Missile Boat    1 000 tons     11 Crew     172.8 BP      TCS 20  TH 160  EM 0
8000 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 9
Maint Life 1.59 Years     MSP 11    AFR 80%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 5    5YR 76    Max Repair 36 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.7 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 60   

S1 20 EP Internal Fusion Drive (8)    Power 20    Fuel Use 59.4%    Signature 20    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 30 000 Litres    Range 9.1 billion km   (13 days at full power)

Size 6 Box Launcher (10)    Missile Size 6    Hangar Reload 45 minutes    MF Reload 7.5 hours
S1 Missile Fire Control FC137-R50 (1)     Range 137.5m km    Resolution 50
Dorn S6 Mk2 (10)  Speed: 25 600 km/s   End: 62.7m    Range: 96.3m km   WH: 9    Size: 6    TH: 136/82/41

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


New Railgun Fighters are designed as well (+1.6kkm/s speed, +10bn km range, 2 month less deployment time):
Code: [Select]
Fokker R2 class Fighter    500 tons     17 Crew     118.6 BP      TCS 10  TH 80  EM 0
8000 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 3.53 Years     MSP 15    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 2    5YR 28    Max Repair 31 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3.1 months    Spare Berths 0   

S1 20 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4)    Power 20    Fuel Use 59.4%    Signature 20    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 40 000 Litres    Range 24.2 billion km   (35 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V6/C3 (1x4)    Range 60 000km     TS: 8000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 6    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S00.5 48-2000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 96 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 3.2    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


The heavier ships will follow once larger engines are designed and new recon fighters when a larger/better R1 sensor is designed. But I prefer to keep the engines fairly small in order to save research time for better technology instead using the time for larger engines (at least till a fairly high level of tech).

With close to 300 construction factories brought to and build at New Berlin production of a new Naval Shipyard is started there, afterwards the industrial buildup will continue. On Earth 2 new shipyards are completed and expanded to 2 slipways, Duranium was moved to Earth from New Berlin.

New Radar FAC/fighter
Code: [Select]
Radar FAC R100 Mk3 class Scout    1 000 tons     27 Crew     461.3 BP      TCS 20  TH 100  EM 0
5000 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 1.26 Years     MSP 72    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 47    5YR 711    Max Repair 360 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 0   

S5 100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1)    Power 100    Fuel Use 57%    Signature 100    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 140 000 Litres    Range 44.2 billion km   (102 days at full power)

S10 Active Search Sensor MR648-R100 (1)     GPS 36000     Range 648.0m km    Resolution 100

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]
Radar S1 Mk3 class Recon Fighter    500 tons     13 Crew     205.6 BP      TCS 10  TH 80  EM 0
8000 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.06 Years     MSP 26    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 8    5YR 123    Max Repair 144 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   

S1 20 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4)    Power 20    Fuel Use 59.4%    Signature 20    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 30 000 Litres    Range 18.2 billion km   (26 days at full power)

S4 Active Search Sensor MR25-R1 (1)     GPS 144     Range 25.9m km    MCR 2.8m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

Flag/Fighter carrier
Code: [Select]
Kondor Mk3 class Carrier    16 000 tons     215 Crew     2309.8 BP      TCS 320  TH 1200  EM 0
3750 km/s     Armour 1-56     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 7     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.2 Years     MSP 632    AFR 292%    IFR 4.1%    1YR 93    5YR 1392    Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months    Flight Crew Berths 210   
Flag Bridge    Hangar Deck Capacity 6000 tons     

S5 100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (12)    Power 100    Fuel Use 57%    Signature 100    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 4 290 000 Litres    Range 84.7 billion km   (261 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Missile Bomber carrier
Code: [Select]
Graf Zeppelin Mk2 class Carrier    16 000 tons     202 Crew     2131.8 BP      TCS 320  TH 1200  EM 0
3750 km/s     Armour 2-56     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 7     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.16 Years     MSP 583    AFR 292%    IFR 4.1%    1YR 88    5YR 1317    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months    Flight Crew Berths 84   
Hangar Deck Capacity 6000 tons     Magazine 340   

S5 100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (12)    Power 100    Fuel Use 57%    Signature 100    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 3 650 000 Litres    Range 72.0 billion km   (222 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


With the retooling complete refitting the Falke-class missile boats is started in April. The Graf Zeppelin Mk2 carriers follow in May. In May an alien Genetic Modification Centre and Technical Details of Genome Sequence Research are recovered from a ruin on Düsseldorf A-I, for now there are no plans to use genetic modification.


In November the GeoTeam on Duisburg A-III found additional deposits of Mercassium and Gallicite in addition to raising the accessibility of Corbomite from 0.1 to 0.5.

Status at the end of 1905:

Map:



POP systems



Earth


Except for the mineral situation Earth looks pretty good…



Mars is just a population dump, 23 finance centers are located on Mars and more are slowly build due to 12 construction brigades.

New Berlin is much more interesting, once the other new colonies reach 25m people it will become a destination for colonists again. In addition a commercial shipyard is under construction to build state owned colony ships.


New Berlin’s own minerals are not that great, but together with the other mineral rich planets and moons in the system it will become the main hub of the empire in the medium term.



Duisburg A-III is perfectly habitable and has a +50% bonus to energy research. Once some transports are freed up/additional transports are build some research labs will be transferred from Earth. There are 9.2m free workers and essentially no industry.


Dresden A-II is another colony with former ruins and an anomaly, this one providing +40% bonus to defense research and due to a recovered labs it is currently in use researching Beta Shields. Colony Cost is at 1.9 due to lack of Oxygen and the low temperature of -22° Celsius.


Düsseldorf A-I is another colony with ruins and an anomaly, this one providing +80% bonus to logistics/ground combat research. Currently there are still 22 alien installations recoverable (TL 3). Another likely research world in the long run. Colony Cost is just 0.18 due to low temperature (-14° C).


Ulm A-I Moon 18 is yet another colony with ruins and a research anomaly - +30% construction/production. Due to its perfect habitability and fairly hard to access minerals a good candidate for another research world. 6 low tech (TL 1) alien installations might be recoverable.


And finally Köln A-III, this is the homeworld of the Iroquois Imperium who are a prime target for assimilation into the Kaiserreich. They lack space ships and due to this it seems doubtful that they are technically advanced. Humanity is currently building its first Heavy Assault Infantry, are refitting their troop transports and will soon start to develop assault drop shuttles. There is a Human espionage team on the surface, but so far nothing has been heard from them. Köln’s Colony Cost is @0.56 for Humans.


Overall the situation is decent. There are mineral shortages all over the place, but currently the alien empires encountered are peaceful – most importantly the Federation of Pelican – in order to spice things up a little bit I will have to do something about it soon, before Humanity gets too strong.

That’s it for today…
Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 21, 2019, 12:22:16 PM »

Yes, but it seems like the Köln aliens (Iroquois) have no other option. I have not observed a single ship of them, so it looks like they have not invented space flight yet. Sooner or later those poor aliens have to be uplifted by a more knowledgeable race ;) I hope to get some intel from my spies, soon.

Those Pelican guys on the other hand really scare me... Fleet exercises in 3 of my sectors with fleets larger than everything I can field at a about even tech level and a lack of minerals to really build a large fleet.

And from the San Remo aliens I have only seen gate builders and survey vessels yet, but those do not seem very impressive.
Posted by: Garfunkel
« on: August 21, 2019, 11:59:55 AM »

Quite surprised that all 3 NPRs are so friendly.
Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 20, 2019, 03:05:33 PM »

1904

Completed techs: new sensors, Fuel Production 64k liters, Magazine Ejection System 85%, Capacitor Recharge Rate 6, ECCM-2, Alpha Shields, ECM-2, Missile Reload Rate 3

New techs being researched: ECCM-2, Shield Regen 1, Fuel Production 80k liters, Magazine Ejection System 90%, Fuel Consumption 0.6 liters, ECM-2, Beta Shields, Fire Control Speed 5kkm/s, Missile Reload Rate 4


By mid-January all ancient ruins on Duisburg A-III have been exploited, 1 tracking station, 5m liters of fuel, a couple of (auto)mines and 1 construction factory have been recovered in addition to 400 infrastructure. The construction brigades will move to Düsseldorf A-I next.


The expected additional and gated jump point in Münster was found at the end of March. The gate leads to Kiel, the JP in Kiel is gated as well. Kiel is a binary with a couple of planets, two of them terrestrial which are inside the habitable zone and Kiel has lots of asteroids.


The large amount of civilian transports involved in trading with the Iroquois is starting to get annoying, Humanity has 7 state controlled large cargo transports, but when trying to set up an industry on New Berlin in addition to providing the mines needed for it more help from the civilians would be nice. Something will have to be done about the Iroquois. First one of the new Auge recon fighters will be send to their home planet in Köln. Humanity needs better intel.


On May, 28th 12 ships from the Federation of Pelican entered Hannover from the Bremen gate. They move at about 3.1kkm/s and head neither to New Berlin nor to any known jump gate. One of the R1 recon fighters is ordered to follow what has been designated as the Challenger class. The Challenger, Neptune and Templar each have active sensors estimated as S324/R93. The other ships all have thermals of 1.8k and expect for 6 Cataphracts there is just 1 ship of each kind. The Human fleet and PDCs are manned and missiles are loaded despite the aliens not heading towards a Human colony.







The Pelican’s radar signature and ship speed imply a similar or slightly more advanced tech level that Humanities. When the recon fighter gets closer to the alien fleet it is shown that the 3 ships with active sensors have slightly smaller thermal signatures than the other ships, just 1.2k vs. 1.8k. When the recon fighter gets in range for its sensors it detects that the Banshee and Cataphract classes have a cross section of 588 and estimates the tonnage at 29.4kt, the Wasp, Neptune, Blackjack and Templar with cross sections of 392 at 19.6kt. Overall 17 Pelican ships are on various sensors now and it looks like a serious battle fleet with an estimated total weight above 350kt, about 3 times what Humanity is able to field.

A bit later 5 additional Pelican ships are detected, moving at a heading of 300° as well. Sadly all R100 FACs are currently undergoing a refit, so it will not be possible to get data about the whole Pelican fleet. Another day later 5 additional ships are detected. In addition the Corsair and Devastator classes are estimated to weight 29.4kt, the Sentry 19.6kt and the newly observed Stuka, Ferret and Uziel classes 9.8kt with thermal signatures of 0.6k. The Pelican fleet has changed its heading to 270°, but is still not moving towards any known gates or colonies.


On June, 1st the Pelican fleet reverses its course and seems to head back towards the gate back to Bremen. A Mk2 recon fighter with is lower speed but longer range is send to the Bremen gate in order to keep shadowing the Pelican fleet for as long as possible. Based on their heading of 157° they are moving towards the gate to Frankfurt. While following the aliens the recon ship encounters another group of 15 Pelican ships, they head in the exactly different direction, back to Hannover. The Mk3 will follow those ships once they enter Hannover. Contrary to expectations the two fleets united and now all ships are moving at a heading of 157°.


High Command on Earth is still wondering what to make of the Pelican’s moves. The most likely explanations are either a show of force or fleet exercises. With the joined Pelican fleet starting to head back to Hannover the exercise theory seems more likely, but the fleet is put back on alert anyway. Overall the Pelican fleet currently consists of 42 ships. With the Pelican fleet moving around in Hannover in mid-June a destroyed alien outpost has been found on Ulm A-I Moon 18, the XenoTeam is dispatched there and due to its perfect habitability a colony is established there as well.




By the end of June the Iroquois Imperium regards Humanity as a friendly Empire and will share their future GeoSurvey data. In August the San Remo Hegemony granted trade access to Humanity.


3 new gated jump points were discovered in Kiel. The first leads to Lübeck, a binary without any other bodies. The second leads to Flensburg, which has one sun with 3 terrestrial planets inside the habitable zone. The third one leads to Neumünster, another single star system, this one with 2 terrestrial planets inside the habitable zone. All jump points are already gated on both sides.


At the end of September the first research station outside of the Earth starts its work, Beta Shields are being researched on Dresden A-II due to the alien facility providing a 40% bonus to defensive research. In addition Dresden A-II is a perfectly habitable world and has enough free workers.


In mid-October the fourth and final jump point (gates again) is found in Kiel. With gates to 4 systems Kiel turns out to be a major hub. Exploration will focus there for now and a tanker is moved there. The final gate leads to Rostock, a binary without any interesting features.


In November the XenoTeam is able to identify the race that left the ruins on Ulm A-I Moon 18, they called themselves the Alphecca Federation and their technology was very basic. 6 ancient installations might be recoverable.


Till the end of the year 2 gated jump points were found in Flensburg. The first lead to Schwerin, a level 3 nebula with 1 sun and 1 super jovian and about 100 asteroids.


At the end of the year the Pelican ships are still moving around in Human systems, mostly in Hannover and Bremen, but 21 9.8kt ships are in Sol as well. Their active sensors are not helping with morale, but due to their large number currently nothing can be sone about them...



Map at the end of the year:


That’s it for today…
Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 19, 2019, 03:29:36 PM »

1903

Completed techs: Capacitor Recharge 5, Colonization Cost Reduction 5%, Tokamak Fusion Reactor Tech, Thermal Sensor 11, EM Sensor 18,

New techs being researched: Alpha Shields, Capacitor Recharge 6, Heavy Assault Battalion, Internal Confinement Fusion Drive Tech, new sensors,


As expected alien ruins have been located on Düsseldorf A-I along with large deposits of minerals, but it will be very hard to mine them. In addition one of the alien ruins provides a large boost to research into logistics and ground combat (+80%).


Salvage of the unknown wrecks in Düsseldorf yielded mainly minerals, but some knowledge about Internal Confinement Fusion Drive Technology was learned from one of the wrecks as well.


In February the 2 new Graf Zeppelin-class carriers are completed and another 2 are ordered. The survey of the ruins on Dresden A-II is completed as well, some infrastructure, maintenance facilities and 1 mine, factory, fuel refinery, fighter factory and automine were recovered from the ruins. The construction brigades are moved to Duisburg A-III next to help with the ruins there.


Two jump points were found in Düsseldorf, with one leading to Ulm, a binary system with a bunch of planets and asteroids. The other JP leads to Augsburg, a very unremarkable system.


In June the GeoTeam completes the survey of Hannover A-III, increasing the available Duranium from 0.8mt to 7.1mt and accessibility from 0.6 to 1.0 turining it into a prime source for Duranium.


On June, 15th the Kronos gate builder in Münster detects an alien ship right at the jump point where it is just 20 days away from establishing a gate back to Duisburg. The alien ship does not match any class or design previously seem. The Kronos 2 starts to hail the alien ship. The aliens do not respond for now, but seem to be peaceful. Based on its huge thermal signature of 2.4k the alien ship might be a gate builder as well.

Later in June the ruins on Düsseldorf A-I have been fully surveyed. The aliens who lived there called themselves the Pasuruan Imperium and 45 of their installations might be recoverable. Their technology seems to be at the same level as Humanities.


In early July Kronos 2 completes the gate from Münster to Duisburg and moves to the Duisburg/Osnabrück jump point to establish a gate there. A Kepler jump ship is send to the Duisburg/Münster gate to keep watch for alien ships. A bit later the first two Oase fuel harvesters are completed and send to Uranus and Hannover A-VI. Due to the low Duranium levels on Earth (2k) no additional harvesters are build for now. The third harvester is send to Dresden A-V.


In late September communications are established with the aliens encountered in Münster, they call themselves the San Remo Hegemony. 2 of their ships have been encountered yet, in very separate systems, Münster and Ulm. It seems likely that there is a jump point connecting those systems or some of their neighboring systems.


A new alien race has been detected in Hannover, a small 3.3kt ship sits atop an asteriod, the computers designate it the Lucifer-class. It looks like a GeoSurvey ship. It is starting to get crowded, and while the new aliens look peaceful as well, better security is needed. A short time later another new alien ship is encountered, this one seems to focus on the asteroids as well and weights close to 3kt, most likely another GeoSurvey craft. It looks like Humanity really needs some long endurance ships to keep watch on the gate network.

Code: [Select]
Auge S1 class Recon Fighter    495 tons     13 Crew     149.6 BP      TCS 9.9  TH 32  EM 0
3232 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 29.91 Years     MSP 189    AFR 1%    IFR 0%    1YR 0    5YR 6    Max Repair 84 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 300 months    Spare Berths 0   

EP1 FC08 1HS 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 16    Fuel Use 79.2%    Signature 16    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 70 000 Litres    Range 32.1 billion km   (115 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR11-R1 (1)     GPS 84     Range 11.8m km    MCR 1.3m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


As was expected a jump point in Ulm lead to the Münster system. There is even a gate on the Münster side which has been build by aliens. A Tormenta-class ship (most likely a gate builder) of the Sam Remo aliens sits atop the Ulm/Münster jump point, making it likely that is build the gate observed in Münster. In early December the Ulm/Münster gate is completed, making it nearly 100% certain that the Tormenta is a gate builder.

In mid-December communication is finally established with the aliens encountered in Hannover, they call themselves the Federation of Pelican.

Map (new layout based on the distance from Sol):


That’s it for today…
Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 18, 2019, 11:02:22 AM »

1902

Completed techs: Ordnance Production 12, Active Grav Sensor 36, Railgun Launch Velocity 6, Jump Drive Efficiency 6, Capacitor Recharge 4, Fuel Production 56k liters

New techs being researched: Missile Launcher Reload 3, EM Sensor Sensitivity 18, 15cm Railgun, Ordnance Production 14, Maximum Engine Power x1.75, Capacitor Recharge 5, Fuel Production 64k liters


After analysis of the debris, salvage and other data about the Düsseldorf aliens the majority of scientists and officers is fairly sure that the aliens are actually robots. Everything found and seen so far points in the same direction.


A newly discovered jump point in Dortmund leads to Kassel, another unremarkable system. At second discovered JP leads to Würzburg which is unremarkable as well. More and more systems on the survey vessels are breaking down, it is time for another round of overhauls. 3 Kamel-class colliers are completed and load Dorn Mk2 missiles. Kamel 1 and 2 load the 280 missiles currently in stock and head towards Düsseldorf.


When getting closer to the wrecks in Düsseldorf 4 new ships of the DUS aliens are detected at or close to the planet Düsseldorf A-I, a terrestrial planet inside the habitable zone. 1 Oueen Elizabeth at 17.1kt moving at 7.2kkm/s, 1 Vanguard at 8.55kt moving at 7.2kkm/s, 1 Invincible at 16.7kt stationary and 1 Ark Royal at 17kt stationary as well. The 2 stationary ships/stations emit a powerful active sensor signal, S126/R1, about 10 times stronger than the small R1 sensors carried by the 2 R1 recon fighters. The 10 Falke missile boats are ordered to fire at the approaching Queen Elisabeth class at a distance of 70mkm the closest alien ship.


With the missiles away the CTF starts to head back towards the jump point. Salvos of 3 size 5 missiles are targeting the fleet but are easily dealt with by the 10 railgun fighters. After 16 salvos the missiles stopped, they arrived at 30 second intervals. Humanities Dorn Mk2 has a 57% chance to hit the Queen Elisabeth class who does not seem to posses a PD system. Its armor class is at least 3, meaning that a single missile is not able to penetrate the armor. After 20 missiles have hit the alien ship it explodes, 3 secondary magazine explosions are detected and since the alien missiles have not reappear this most likely means smaller and short range missiles had been in those magazines.


With the 2 colliers about 1 day behind the CTF and the Vanguard currently 120mkm away and closing at about 3kkm/s it will catch the CTF before the colliers get in range. But for some reason the Vanguard moves away from the CTF. Only shortly before the colliers reach the fleet the Vanguard starts to close in again. The missile boats are reloaded from the colliers and due to the Vanguard just weighting in at 8.5kt only 5 missile boats will fire their 9 Dorn Mk2s at first. Right at the edge of the Dorn’s rage the Vanguard starts to move parallel to the CTF course at the same speed. A short time later the first alien missiles – again 3 size 5 missiles at 30 second intervals – start to arrive. It looks doubtful if the Human missiles will have the endurance to hit the Vanguard.


As expected, neither side caused any damage to the other. 17 waves of alien missiles are destroyed by railgun fire and the human missiles ran out of fuel before reaching the Vanguard. With the Vanguard moving away from the CTF, still with missiles in the tubes and colliers and enough fuel Konteradmiral Sylvie Golz orders the fleet to head back to the two stationary alien ships. Before reaching the 2 stations the Vanguard starts to approach and shadows the human ships again just outside the Dorn’s range. Most likely it has restocked its missiles and is launching again.


As expected there are incoming alien missiles a short time later. All are destroyed without any problems. It is decided to follow the Vanguard this time, maybe it can be attacked while taking on new missiles. At least another alien base can most likely be found this way. After plotting the Vanguard’s movement for 13 hours it seems like Asteroid #10 is its target and rearming station. When heading back towards the Human fleet the Vanguard enters much deeper into the Dorn’s range, it is speculated that the outpost ran out of long range missiles, forcing the Vanguard to get closer. 5 missiles boats launch their Dorn Mk2 missiles.



   
1 missile is destroyed by PD fire, the other missiles get through to the Vanguard, the chance to hit is still 57%. It seems like the Vanguard has a armor strength of at least 3 as well. It takes 20 missiles again to kill the alien ships despite it being only half the size of the Queen Elisabeth, most likely both had the same armor. This time there is only one secondary strength 7 power explosion. The fleet heads towards the stations again. After reloading the missile boats there are 100 Dorn Mk2s left at the colliers. Due to the observed armor 5 missile boats will target each station, since they all arrive at the same time it should help with potential enemy PD as well.


Once inside missile range the CTF stops and the missile boats are launched again. As planed 5 boats target each station. After 30 seconds all missiles are away. Due to the targets being stationary the hit chances are 100%. Neither the Ark Royal nor the Invincible seem to posses PD. The Invincible is destroyed after having been hit by 27 missiles, the Ark Royal took 39. This might mean that the Ark Royal is the most heavily armored vessel of the aliens. By April, 12th the known Düsseldorf aliens have been dealt with, and with the destruction of the aliens the CTF continues towards Düsseldorf A-I and salvage ships are called into the system. Way before the salvagers are in range Asteroid #10 will have been examined as well.


Falke 13 under Korvettenkapitän Eduard Schneidermann destroyed the Invincible receives the Großkampfschiff-Medallie. Falke 6 under Korvettenkapitän Meinhard Volland managed to destroy the other 3 major alien vessels, receiving the Großkampfschiff-Medallie as well. Konteradmiral Sylvie Golz receives the Iron Cross for her leadership during the engagements and her overall strategy, not a single Human life was lost during the battles. In addition all crews receive commendations and extra vacations for their participation in the battle and Xeno Combat medals (dang, should have used German names for medals earlier – Außerirdischen-Kampf Orden ;) ).


No alien presence is detected on Düsseldorf A-I, the fleet moves to the asteroid next. As expected there is a small alien outpost detected on Asteroid #10, 2 troop transports with 2 brigades are dispatched to the asteroid.


In June the ruins on Dresden A-II have been fully surveyed. The race living there have called themselves the Senejan Hegemony and seemed to have possessed Earth’s technology level or a little bit above it. 11 of their installations might still be recoverable and an alien installation should help with research into defense (+40%). 1 Garrison and 3 Construction Brigades will be brought there, the XenoTeam will head to Duisburg A-III.


A short time later the ruins there have been surveyed. The former inhabitants are identified as the Republic of DeWitt. Their tech level seems to have been below current Earth standards. 13 installations might be recoverable and an alien installation on the planet provides a boost to energy research (+50%). The XenoTeam heads to Düsseldorf A-I and while the planet has not been surveyed yet a alien presence there is strongly suspected due to the two alien stations in its orbit.


With some infrastructure having been found in the alien ruins colonists are attracted to Dresden A-II.


The alien outpost on Asteroid #10 in Düsseldorf was only defended by 1 robot garrison unit. It was defeated without any problems. The outpost was acting as a resupply station in addition to having a small listening post. The post will be moved to Düsseldorf A-I along with some infrastructure to establish a colony there. The ground forces who participated in the raid are moved to Düsseldorf A-I as well. Once the survey ships are done with their overhauls Düsseldorf will be the next target for survey.



Salvage of the Düsseldorf alien ships did not yield any surprises, a couple of engines, missile launchers, fire controls and sensors.


Map:



That’s it for today…

Posted by: Garfunkel
« on: August 15, 2019, 11:49:57 AM »

Bit embarrassing for the Raummarine that civilian transports killed the enemy... but hey, whatever works and the same has happened in couple of my games  :D
Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 15, 2019, 02:30:02 AM »


1901

Completed techs: Missile Agility 64, ECCM 1, Fuel Production 48k liters, Magazine Feed 80%, Missile Launcher Reload Rate 2, Asteroid Mining Module, Magazine Feed 85%, Two-stage Thermonuclear Warhead Strength 6, Magazine Ejection System 80% Chance, Missile Agility 80 per MSP, Fuel Consumption 0.7

New techs being researched: Magazine Feed 80%, Fuel Production 56k liters, Active Grav Sensor 36, Magazine Feed 85%, Magazine Ejection System 80% Chance, Jump Gate Construction Module 150, Missile Agility 80 per MSP, Railgun Launch Velocity 6, Magazine Ejection System 85% Chance, Ordnance Production 12, Fuel Consumption 0.7, Tokamak Fusion Reactor Tech


The last jump point in Stuttgart leads to the Magdeburg System. It consists of a G-class sun (94% mass), 4 planets (one might be habitable), 2 moons and 6 comets.


Two new jump points are discovered in Dresden, both inside the orbit of Dresden A-IV, the first at 70° and the second at 90° from the sun. Kepler 2 heads there to investigate.

In February the first 5 Falke missile boats are completed. They are loaded with missiles and have to wait for the carrier from New Berlin due to their limited range. In the meantime a slightly improved missile has been developed and construction started.
Missile Size: 6 MSP  (0.3 HS)     Warhead: 5    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 19
Speed: 25600 km/s    Engine Endurance: 90 minutes   Range: 137.6m km
Cost Per Missile: 4.194
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 486.4%   3k km/s 152%   5k km/s 97.3%   10k km/s 48.6%
Materials Required:    1.25x Tritanium   2.944x Gallicite   Fuel x2500


The first jump point in Dresden leads to the Dortmund System with a binary sun, a G-class (99% mass ) orbited by a smaller K-class (82%) at a distance of 0.25 lightyears. Both suns have planets, but due to the range Dortmund-B’s planets are not relevant for further exploration. Dortmund-A has 10 planets, 50 moons, 1200 asteroids and 10 comets. There are 2 planets in the habitable zone, but one of them is a gas giant, the other one terrestrial, but at the outer edge of the zone and thus fairly cold.


The exploration of the second Dresden JP leads back to Sol which is a huge surprise since it was assumed that all jump points in Sol have already been discovered. It seems like there are some holes in the current Jump Point Theory since the existence of the additional jump point in Sol can not be explained by the theory. But this shortcut will be very useful in the exploration and potential exploitation of the Bremen/Koln System arm.

A ruined outpost is found on Dresden A-II and a XenoTeam is ordered there. Upon taking a closer look at one of the larger installations it seems very likely that this installation would be able to help with defensive research and speed up the research by up to 40%. The salvage of the first wrecks in Munchen yields nothing but minerals, all relevant systems were destroyed beyond recognition or salvage. The same happens at the second wreck a short time later. Both salvagers head back to Earth.


In March Humanity gains trade access to the Iroquois Imperium. At the beginning of April another jump point is found in Dresden, this time beyond the orbit of Dresden A-VI, more than 5bkm from the sun at an angle of 85°. One of the new Kepler Mk2s will take a look and arrives in the Duisburg System, the first Quadrinary encountered by Humanity.


Duisburg-A is a G-class sun (144% mass) orbited by Duisburg-D another G-class sun only a little bit smaller (96%) at a distance of 3bkm. Farther out the double stars B (G-class, 143%) and C (G-class, 142%) orbit at a distance of about 20bkm. All suns have planets and the system look very interesting for an in depth survey.
Duisburg-A: 5 planets with 6 moons between them, 2 terrestrial planets in the habitable zone
Duisburg-D: 7 planets with 9 moons, 2 terrestrial planets in the habitable zone
Duisburg-C: 4 terrestrial planets with 2 moons, but all outside of the habitable zone
Duisburg-B: 4 terrestrial planets with 2 moons, 2 in the habitable zone

With logistics becoming a real issue the first collier is designed
Code: [Select]
Kamel class Collier    4 500 tons     43 Crew     427 BP      TCS 90  TH 200  EM 0
2222 km/s     Armour 1-24     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 0.03 Years     MSP 6    AFR 1620%    IFR 22.5%    1YR 220    5YR 3301    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 850   

EP05 FC 08 25HS 200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 200    Fuel Use 10.61%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 530 000 Litres    Range 199.8 billion km   (1040 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

On July, 2nd the first carrier task force in addition to 2 recon fighters and 10 Fokker fighters arrive at the Bremen/Dusseldorf jump gate and refuel before jumping into Dusseldorf itself. All sensors are active and the 1 recon fighter (R1, 19mkm), 1 recon FAC (R100, 392mkm) and 5 missile boats start to move towards the wrecks. At 07:51 on the 9th contact is made with 4 alien ships, all at 8,550tons, 1 Sheffield, 2 Amazon and 1 Vanguard class. The recon craft retreat towards the carrier while the missile boats wait for now. At 15:11 the alien ships are in range, each missile boat targets one enemy and the Sheffield-class is targeted twice, orders are to fire synchronus. Due to strong enemy ECM and lack of any ECCM system the firing range is lowered to 104mkm. At 16:44 the missiles are launched and the missile boats start to head back towards the carrier at 7.2kkm/s, at tad slower than the aliens at 7,238km/s.

The missiles have a chance of 57% to hit the aliens and the strength 4 warheads are not able to penetrate the alien armor which has a thickness of at least 2. Sheffield is hit 5 times by the first flight and 4 missiles miss, 7 hits from the second flight of nine missiles, no PD is observed. Vanguard PD destroys 2 missiles, 2 miss and 5 hit. Amazon 2 destroys 3 and is hit by just 1, 5 miss. Amazon 1 destroys 4 and is hit by 2 missiles, 3 miss. The PD was energy weapon based. No change in the flight pattern or speed can be observed and no atmosphere from any cracks in the armor, essentially the attack did not cause any real damage.

When all ships are back at the carrier Kapitän zur See Nikolaus Laufenberg asks Fregattenkapitän Lukas Rewald of the S1 Recon Fighter if he and his crew would be willing to volunteer for waiting in system till the last possible moment before jumping out in order to provide intelligence about the likely missile strike about to occure and Rewald agrees.

The first important fact is that the Sheffield and Vanguard keep their distance at a range of about 130mkm while the Amazons close in. Making the Amazons most likely close ranged vessels. After about 1 hour the Vanguard even starts to move away while the Sheffield starts to close the distance as well. At a distance of about 50mkm the Amazons stop. Flights of 3 and 2 size 5 missiles are spotted moving at a speed of 31kkm/s. Each waves seems to be about 40 seconds apart from the next. With this information The recon fighters jumps out of the system and move to New Berlin.

Due to the small number of missiles 2 Fokker fighters might actually be able to destroy 1 incoming missile (23% for each shot)m but they were left behind to guard the jump point. A better offensive missile is needed to damage the alien ships anyway, the Dorn Mk2. While 1 less engine and more agility would improve the chances to hit (by about 7%), but the speed would be lowered (by about 6k) and with the enemy PD capabilities higher speed seems preferable.
Missile Size: 6 MSP  (0.3 HS)     Warhead: 9    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 16
Speed: 25600 km/s    Engine Endurance: 63 minutes   Range: 96.3m km
Cost Per Missile: 4.938
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 409.6%   3k km/s 128%   5k km/s 81.9%   10k km/s 41%
Materials Required:    2.25x Tritanium   2.688x Gallicite   Fuel x1750


At 03:38:06 a hostile transit is detected. 2 Amazon and 1 Sheffield have arrived in Bremen. The Fokker squad tries to follow and target Amazon 1, which is using active sensors. But due to the untrained crews they take a lot of time before they are able to open fire and the enemy is out of reach soon. But it seems that they have expended all their missiles and their PD seems to be only defensive in nature, no shots are fired at the Fokker squadron.

At 03:38:31 all fighters are ready to fire, but the enemy remains out of reach and the Fokkers are ordered to follow the slowly retreating recon fighters. At 03:38:41 Fokker 1 is hit by an alien ASM and is destroyed. It seems like the aliens still do have missiles, but due to the short range they were not detected before impact and due to this could not be engaged by PD. The next 2 waves are detected and intercepted by the railguns. Due to system error PD failed to engage a flight of missiles and Fokker 3 is destroyed (tried to change the PD settings and messed up). A flight of 9 size 1 missiles moving at 56kkm/s is dectected among swarms of size 5s, they will be very hard to intercept, but in the end fire from 6 Fokkers was enough to neutralize them (12-14% to hit).

At 03:45:01 size 1 and size 5 missiles arrived at the same time, overwhelming the PD, 2 Fokkers are destroyed. The number of missiles passing the fighters and targeting the carrier is rising. At 04:03:56 SMS Kondor is hit by a ASM for 13 damage, all FACs are launched as a precaution and follow the carrier. At 04:09:06 SMS Kronos is destroyed. In hindsight it would have been better to keep the fighter escort with the carrier instead of trying to ambush the aliens at the jump point. Especially with untrained crews who are not able to take advantage of the enemies weakness after a jump. Future tactics will be adjusted accordingly. A Falke missile boat is destroyed by the remaining missiles.

After having moved away from the remaining ships for some time the aliens start to follow the fighter group again. At 05:27:01 a new flight of 9 size 1 missiles appears on the screens. The salvos are 10 seconds apart. Obviously the alien ships still have ordnance left. At 05:27:51 Fokker 2 is destroyed. The R100 recon fighter 10 seconds later. 20 seconds afterwards Fokker 10. While the minimal armor on the fighters was able to absorb some damage earlier it is largely worn down now, leading to lots of kills in short order. And with each Fokker gone the remaining PD capabilities grow weaker. At 05:28:51 Fokker 9 is destroyed. And the missiles keep coming. At 05:30:01 the R1 recon fighter is destroyed, turning the 2 remaining Fokkers unable to see approaching missiles. At 05:35:06 the last fighter is destroyed. At 08:44:51 the FACs are destroyed as well.

Trail of tears…



At July 27th the alien Sheffield 1 rammed a small civilian cargo transport and while the transport was destroyed the Sheffield blew up as well. It looks like the aliens are willing to commit kamikaze attacks. Maybe they mistook the transport for a capital warship due to its 33kt size… Essentially a civilian caused the first casualty to the aliens.



A Ruined Outpost is discovered on Duisburg A-III, in addition a radiations was detected, that turned out to be conetected to research boni in two other places. With the XenoTeam still looking into Dresden A-II it will take some time before these new ruins are examined. At the same time Duisburg A-III turned out to be a perfectly habitable planet, with large deposits of Duranium, Corbomite, Boronite, Sorium and Gallicite, but sadly all will be fairly hard to mine. In addition there is some Mercassium and Vendarite, hard to mine as well.

In the meantime a new Radar TF (1 R100 FAC, 1 R1 recon fighter) arrived in Hannover. Together with the Fokker 2 TF (10 Fokker R1) and the remaining missile boat TF (5 Falke) they head towards Bremen. The Salvage 3 who was send towards Dusseldorf for the two wrecks there arrives at the Hannover/Bremen jump point. It will try to salvage the alien Sheffield class instead, but will wait for the battle force moving into Bremen to give the all-clear before starting, There are at least 2 Amazon vessels still around. At August 9th the battle force arrives in Bremen and heads towards the Dusseldorf gate.

On August 10th the 2 Amazons are detected again, they tried to ram another small civilian cargo ship close to the gate into Koln. The battle group changes course accordingly. Every 2 hours the aliens try to ram, but so far have been unsuccessful, but it seems very likely that they will succeed before the military will be close enough to fire missiles. At 12:46 the small cargo transport is destroyed due to a ramming attack, but its destruction served to reveal that the alien Amazon class has an armor strength of at least 6, Humanity is essentially using unarmored ships. 6 hours later Kepler 1 is destroyed while heading form Koln to the Hannover gate. And on the 12th another small transport is lost to ramming. Later in the days another transport is destroyed, but this time the Amazon which did ram it was destroyed as well. There is 1 Amazon still at large.

One day later the remaining Amazon appears on the sensors of the battle group. Salvage 3 enters Bremen and starts to move to the wreck of the Sheffield class. It looks like the Amazon is moving to another transport in order to ram it as well. And the Amazon seems to be damaged, it is only moving at 4kkm/s instead of the previous 7k. Right before the Amazon reaches the fire the missile boat fire their 45 old ASMs. With a damaged Amazon those might be enough. The Fokker squad starts to speed towards the Amazon as well. But the problem has solved itself at the expense of another civilian transport, both ships are destroyed. What strikes the crews as strange is that neither destroyed alien ship has left behind any lifepods. Then again this might fit in with the suicidal ramming attempts…

The recon craft and the fighters head back to the Sheffield wreck to provide cover for the salvage operation while the missile boats try to pick up lifepods. Salvage of the Sheffield has yielded 1 ECM-3, 5 size 1 missile launchers and 1 Thermal Sensor 11 in addition to a couple of minerals. Salvage 3 moves to the nearest Amazon next. The guards move back to New Berlin. A new kind of PDC, a hangar is designed and pre-fabricated on Earth and will be send to New Berlin to house the fighters.
Code: [Select]
Hangar 6k class Point Defence Base    7 500 tons     90 Crew     797.4 BP      TCS 150  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 7-34     Sensors 1/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Flight Crew Berths 0   
Hangar Deck Capacity 6000 tons     

Fuel Capacity 430 000 Litres    Range N/A

This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 3 sections

With the completion of the expansion of Zeppelin Werke the yard is retooled to 16kt a new CV design, the Graf Zeppelin. Basically a Kronos with some additional engines and enough magazine space for a single reload for a squadron of Falke missile boats.
Code: [Select]
Graf Zeppelin class Carrier    16 000 tons     212 Crew     1991.8 BP      TCS 320  TH 960  EM 0
3000 km/s     Armour 2-56     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 7     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.11 Years     MSP 545    AFR 292%    IFR 4.1%    1YR 85    5YR 1270    Max Repair 40 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months    Flight Crew Berths 74   
Hangar Deck Capacity 6000 tons     Magazine 340   

EP10 FC 08 25HS 80 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (12)    Power 80    Fuel Use 76%    Signature 80    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 3 500 000 Litres    Range 51.8 billion km   (199 days at full power)

ECM 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

In September Kepler 3 pick up a espionage team and heads towards the Koln alien planet. It is time to learn more about them. And even if the mission is discovered relations should be good enough that no real problems are to be expected.


Salvage of the Amazon yields knowledge about ECM which provides a small boost to ECM-2 research, 2 magnetic fusion drives, 1 Thermal-11, 1 Missile Fire Control, 1 ECM-3, 1 ECCM-3, and 1 size 5 missile launcher in addition to some minerals. The small transport destroyed by the Amazon is next, but the main focus is to bring back the treasure trove of alien tech to Earth.


With the fuel situation on Earth starting to get below save level (4m liters) despite having build lots of fuel refineries there needs to be another solution. A fuel harvester is designed, the Oase-class.
Code: [Select]
Oase class Fuel Harvester    70 000 tons     299 Crew     2446.6 BP      TCS 1400  TH 1600  EM 0
1142 km/s     Armour 3-151     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
MSP 11    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 120 months    Spare Berths 0   
Fuel Harvester: 20 modules producing 960000 litres per annum

EP05 FC 08 25HS 200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (8)    Power 200    Fuel Use 10.61%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 5 660 000 Litres    Range 137.1 billion km   (1389 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

The second Amazon wreck yields a ECM, missile fire control, engines, launchers and a thermal sensor as well. It turns out that Duisburg has 3 jump points in total, exploration of the 2 newly found JPs is started. The Munster System is found, but seems unremarkable, as is the second new system, Osnabrück.

In order to keep up with the fighters and missile boats a new R1 Radar fighter is designed and constructed.
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Radar S1 Mk3 class Recon Fighter    500 tons     12 Crew     145.6 BP      TCS 10  TH 80  EM 0
8000 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.54 Years     MSP 18    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 4    5YR 58    Max Repair 84 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 15 months    Spare Berths 0   

EP1 FC08 1HS 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (5)    Power 16    Fuel Use 79.2%    Signature 16    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 30 000 Litres    Range 13.6 billion km   (19 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR11-R1 (1)     GPS 84     Range 11.8m km    MCR 1.3m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

With the completion of another squad of missile boats and 2 new Kondor carriers a new attack on Düsseldorf is planned and set into motion. 10 Fokker fighters, 2 R1 Radar fighters, 1 R100 Radar FAC and 10 missile boats will participate in the attack supported by 1 tanker. The missile boats will use the improved Dorn Mk2.

Close to the end of December the assembly of the Hangar PDC is finally completed on New Berlin and the Fokker squad moves there. And at the end of the year the espionage team assigned to the Köln aliens finally feels prepared enough to begin their mission (actually I forgot about them ;) ).


Map at the end of 1901


That's it for today...
Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 14, 2019, 12:04:45 AM »

Quote
Intended Deployment Time: 1.9 months
Was that to get nice round numbers and no extra crew berths?

Yes, no extra berths was the idea. In addition it actually helps a little bit with extra endurance for jump point picket duty.
Posted by: Garfunkel
« on: August 13, 2019, 01:06:23 PM »

Quote
Intended Deployment Time: 1.9 months
Was that to get nice round numbers and no extra crew berths?

And yeah, double contact! I do like how everything seems to evolve so organically in your game. Good luck with the aliens!
Posted by: Michael Sandy
« on: August 11, 2019, 09:54:04 PM »

There is a difference between scouting and forward observer role.  Scouting, you want to know if somebody is there without revealing yourself.  Ships and fighters with EM sensors are the most likely to detect an enemy very far out, because long ranged anti-ship sensors are noisy as hell.

The forward observer sacrifices endurance for speed, and is supposed to be able to make the system ring like a bell, and hopefully you can have a combination of size and sensor reach that fits a hole in the enemy sensor capabilities.

If they have a res 10 sensor, maybe your 200 ton scout (2 HS in engines, 1 HS in sensor) will have the edge.  If they have a res 1 sensor, maybe you want a 500 ton scout with a 3 HS sensor, as it will be detected at the same range, but be able to shadow the enemy from much further out.

I would consider it a very unfriendly act for someone new to my system to wander around with a forward observer active sensor, lighting up my fleet for whatever long ranged bombardment options they had.

I like my long endurance scout pinnaces for the job they have to do, to check if systems are safe for surveying.  They are cheapish, require little micro, and I don't need to pay much attention to them, except for noting on the Galactic map whether a given system has been body checked or not.  But if there are wrecks in a system, or a habitable body, that is a job for recon missiles and/or fleet scouts, after checking with an EM scout that the jump point isn't within active sensor range of anybody.

Ah well, every empire has to learn sometime. :)  Fortunately, it is REALLY easy to just come out with a new generation of fighter scouts, and the old ones still have some utility.
Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 11, 2019, 01:21:11 PM »

Yeah, I will have to (re)design some survey craft once the current situation is dealt with...


1900

Colonies


Earth


Minerals


Shipyards


Research



New Berlin will soon reach a population of 10 million and demand some form of protection. With the troop transports scheduled for refit and no military ships at all this will become a problem. The only alternative at the moment is a PDC which will be prefabricated on Earth and moved to New Berlin. The current design is more show than substance and nobody has to know that no missiles have been actually designed or build yet…

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Flak class Point Defence Base    5 000 tons     186 Crew     663 BP      TCS 100  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 6-26     Sensors 1/140     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 52
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Flight Crew Berths 1   
Hangar Deck Capacity 1000 tons     Magazine 52   

Fuel Capacity 430 000 Litres    Range N/A
PDC Size 1 Missile Launcher (52)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 15
Missile Fire Control FC3-R1 (5)     Range 3.5m km    Resolution 1

Active Search Sensor MR19-R1 (1)     GPS 140     Range 19.6m km    MCR 2.1m km    Resolution 1


This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 2 sections


But the main problem is the Duranium crunch and while there are enough mines to deal with it in the long run it will be hard for a while. 54 automines will be moved from Wolf (Corundium) to Ceres (Duranium). It might get even harder considering the danger of meeting potentially hostile aliens. With the lack of minerals higher efficiency/tech are more important. Salvaging might help here – and with resources as well – but currently Humanity lacks a dedicated transport ship under direct control. There are two designs which should remedy this, but are partially limited by current shipyard capacity:

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Esel class Freighter    30 000 tons     52 Crew     416.4 BP      TCS 600  TH 600  EM 0
1000 km/s     Armour 1-86     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
MSP 1    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months    Spare Berths 0   
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

EP05 FC 08 25HS 200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 200    Fuel Use 10.61%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 430 000 Litres    Range 24.3 billion km   (281 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

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Lastesel class Freighter    60 000 tons     103 Crew     784.8 BP      TCS 1200  TH 1200  EM 0
1000 km/s     Armour 1-136     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
MSP 1    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months    Spare Berths 2   
Cargo 50000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 15   

EP05 FC 08 25HS 200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (6)    Power 200    Fuel Use 10.61%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1 090 000 Litres    Range 30.8 billion km   (356 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes



Completed techs: Composite Armor, Fire Control Speed 4kkm/s, Reduced-size Launcher 0.25 Size, Planetary Sensor Strength 300, Implosion Fission Warhead: 3x MSP, Magazine Ejection System 70% Chance, Missile Agility per MSP 32, Railgun Launch Velocity 5, Levitated-Pit Implosion Warhead Strength 4, Planetary Sensors 400, Missile Agility per MSP 48, Magazine Feed System 75%, ECM 1, Fusion-boosted Fission Warhead Strength 5, Two-stage Thermonuclear Warhead Strength 6

New techs being researched: Ceramic Composite Armor, Planetary Sensor Strength 300, Implosion Fission Warhead: 3x MSP, Magazine Ejection System 70% Chance, Planetary Sensors 400, Beam Fire Control Range 32kkm, Missile Agility per MSP 32, Magazine Feed System 75%, Box Launcher Size 0.15, Levitated-Pit Implosion Warhead Strength 4, Missile Agility per MSP 48, ECM 1, Missile Launcher Reload Rate 2, Fusion-boosted Fission Warhead Strength 5, ECCM 1


After having been refueled by Kepler 3 the recon fighters start their scan of the Dusseldorf System and head towards the two wrecks detected in the orbit of Dusseldorf A-I, a potentially habitable planet. The journey into the inner system will take close to 23 days.

On January 21st at 08:56 the suspicions about Dusseldorf prove to be correct, there is a aliens presence here. 4 alien ships of 3 different classes massing 8.55kt each are detected by the active sensors at a distance of 196mkm. The recon fighters stop and try to keep the distance from the aliens while hailing them and stating their peaceful intentions.

Sensor data shows that the aliens move at a speed of 7.2kkm/s, more than twice the speed of the recon fighters. After having stopped for one hour and sending their hails the fighters start to retreat towards the jump point and Kepler 3 jumps out of the system. The recon fighters are ordered to ignore the jump point and try to move past it, but the aliens will reach them before reaching the jump point anyway.

Active sensor coming online in combination with the 2 wrecks already in system do not bode well…


At January 22nd, 20:50:46 the recon fighters are hit by 3 missiles. Based on their flight patterns they are theorized to be anti-ship missiles, but since they were launched at point blank range it is hard to say for sure. Each missile caused a strength 13 nuclear explosion. 15 crew make it to the lifepods and are stranded in Dusseldorf with no hope for rescue.


When news about the destruction of the recon fighters reaches Earth construction and research priorities are switched to war mode. Meyer Werft which has been building the gate builders is converted to the Lastesel-class heavy transport since wrecks might prove to treasure trove of important technologies and to move PDCs away from Earth.

All ships in Bremen are ordered into the Koln System to start surveys there, the most important point is trying to prevent the Hannover jump point from looking like the origin of Earth ships. Maybe the impression can be established that Humanity comes from the Koln System, even though it is very likely that the aliens have already surveyed Koln. Kepler 3 volunteers to stay at the Bremen/Dusseldorf jump point and look for an alien transit.

Due to the range advantage the Dusseldorf Aliens better sensors are a high priority. With improved sensor tech expected to be 3 years away from completion larger sensors seem to be the only way in the short term. A size 10 sensor able to spot 5kt ships would have a range of close to 400mkm and take about 3 month to develop. Improving the planetary sensor network would take about the same time. Both projects are started, but first research into better beam fire control tech will have to be completed in order to build a beam PD fighter/FAC.



Industrial capacity will be focused on Ordnance Production Factories and Fighter Production Factories for now. But currently missile technology is hardly known, this has to be remedied soon. In mid February all components for a railgun based fighter are completed and production of the Fokker R1 is started.

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Fokker R1 class Fighter    500 tons     17 Crew     96.6 BP      TCS 10  TH 64  EM 0
6400 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 3.59 Years     MSP 12    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 1    5YR 22    Max Repair 20 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 5 months    Spare Berths 0   

EP1 FC08 1HS 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 16    Fuel Use 79.2%    Signature 16    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 30 000 Litres    Range 13.6 billion km   (24 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V4/C3 (1x4)    Range 40 000km     TS: 6400 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S00.5 48-2000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 96 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

On March, 7th the Heidi Baum GeoTeam completes its survey of New Berlin, revealing additional Sorium desposists and a 14.8mt Corundium Deposit @0.9. Overall still sadly hard to mine the bulk of the minerals.

A couple of days later the first Fokker R1 is completed and heads heads towards New Berlin in order to provide some protection. Taskforce Carrier 1 is ordered there as well to provide some logistical support for the fighters.

On March, 19th a population of a new race of aliens is detected at Koln A-III, it has a thermal signature of 4.9k and an EM emission of 49k while Earth has 35k/170k. Either this civilization is fairly backwards or this is a minor colony. Newly established Diplomacy Team  Ulrich Bodendorf tries to establish communication.

Communication with the Koln aliens is established less than one week after initial contact. They identify themselves as the Iroquois Imperium and seem to be fairly peaceful, but it will take some time to work out a deeper translation of their language. At first sight they seem to be a race of heavily enhanced man-machines.



With the second Fokker arriving at New Berlin the population feel more secure, unrest is no longer rising. And construction on Earth is switched to Financial Industries, since those do not need any Duranium and might become useful later on.

In June the Duranium stpckpile has stabilized and is back above 1kt. The new FAC sensor ship is designed and a shipyard is retooled. In September Box-Launcher research is expected to be completed. A new FAC based on those launchers is planned. With the Dusseldorf aliens not having left their system there is some hope that it might be possible to bring the fight to them. Humanity still burns for revenge.

[/code]
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Radar FAC R100 class Scout    1 000 tons     27 Crew     370.8 BP      TCS 20  TH 80  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 1.02 Years     MSP 46    AFR 40%    IFR 0.6%    1YR 44    5YR 667    Max Repair 280 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 0   

EP10 FC 08 25HS 80 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 80    Fuel Use 76%    Signature 80    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 140 000 Litres    Range 33.2 billion km   (95 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR392-R100 (1)     GPS 28000     Range 392.0m km    Resolution 100

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

In mid June an already established jump gate is found in Koln, it is located close to 5bkm from Koln-A at a angle of 310°. Kepler 5 heads there to investigate. A short time later the final GravSurvey is conducted and no further jump point was found. The first Seekuh tanker arrives at New Berlin from Earth, a second delivery is ordered, this will greatly cut down on the overhead needed to keep the survey ships in operation.

Kepler 5 jumps into the Nurnberg System, which consist of a small M-class sun (7% mass) and 2 planets. Due to the weak radiation from Nurnberg-A no life is possible there. The survey ships start to explore the system. And as expected, there is a gate at the Nurnberg-side as well. But it seems very unlikely that the Iroquois came from Nurnberg, most likely there is another gate in Nurnberg.

With the Duranium stockpile still rising retooling for the Kondor Mk2 carrier is started. At the beginning of August a ungated jump point is found in Nurnberg. It is located about 1.5bkm from Nurnberg-A at an angle of 350°. The JP leads into an equally boring system, Stuttgart. It consists of a single K-class sun and a single terrestrial planet orbiting it, due to the closeness to the sun the planet is very hot and seems uninhabitable. Another jump point is found in Nurnberg again without a gate, this one about 1.8bkm away from the sun at an angle of 135°. Kepler 3 heads there from New Berlin.

With no further jump points found in Nurnberg is seems very likely now that the Iroquois are not a very technically advanced race, which found fit in with the fairly low emissions from their planet and the lack of space ships or space stations as well.

The final Nurnberg jump point leads to the Mannheim System, consisting of 2 G-Class sun (around 90% mass) with Mannheim-B orbiting A at a distance of 0.1 lightyears. Mannheim-B has 6 planets with a fair number of moons, but due to the distance it is hard to make out any details. Mannheim-A has 9 planets with Mannheim A-III to V being in the habitable zone as well as being terrestrial planets. Further investigation might yield interesting results. In addition to the planets there are about 30 moons and 25 asteroids. With the JP more than 3bkm from the inner planets and due to the distances involved to reach Mannheim it will take some time before a large scale survey can be launched.

A missile fire control is tailor made for the Dusseldorf aliens (resolution 8kt for their 8.55kt ships) in addition to a size 6 box launcher. Speed is somewhat below what was seen from the aliens, but it is hoped that the missile range will be high enough to enable a timely retreat. A size 6 ASM is designed for the launcher/control combo as well. Since the enemy has been firing AAMs with a strength warhead the idea is using a large number of fairly small warheaded missiles from long range instead of large warheads. Retooling a shipyard and production of the missiles is begun. The next generation of carriers will have to incorporate magazins in order to reload the missile boats.

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Falke class Missile Boat    1 000 tons     12 Crew     151.2 BP      TCS 20  TH 144  EM 0
7200 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 8.1
Maint Life 1.52 Years     MSP 9    AFR 80%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 4    5YR 66    Max Repair 28 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 1.9 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 54   

EP1 FC08 1HS 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (9)    Power 16    Fuel Use 79.2%    Signature 16    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 20 000 Litres    Range 4.5 billion km   (7 days at full power)

Size 6 Box Launcher (9)    Missile Size 6    Hangar Reload 45 minutes    MF Reload 7.5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC148-R160 (1)     Range 148.7m km    Resolution 160
Size 6 Anti-ship Missile (9)  Speed: 25 600 km/s   End: 89.6m    Range: 137.6m km   WH: 4    Size: 6    TH: 136/82/41

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

In November the first Lastesel transport is completed. Together with a Geier salvager it heads off into the Munchen system to salvage the 2 wrecks there. Followed shortly afterwards by another transport/salvager pair.

In early December a jump point is found in Stuttgart. It is located about 400mkm from the sun at an angle of 200°. Kepler 2 moves to investigate. The JP leads to the Dresden System, which has a single G-class sun (108% mass). There are 6 planets, about 60 moons and a couple of asteroids. There is one terrestrial planet inside the habitable zone which looks interesting.

A new jump point is found a Stuttgart a short while later. About 1bkm from the sun at 105°. Kepler 4 moves to investigate.

Map at the end of 1900



That’s it for today…

edit: Research table was from 10 years ago ;)
Posted by: Michael Sandy
« on: August 09, 2019, 02:07:07 AM »

I have 2 main types of scout fighters, with very different jobs.

First, there is the jump pinnace, which are 200 tons (before efficiency 5 tech) or 250 ton and 500 ton (after efficiency 5 tech), with size 1, 2 and 3 sized engines respectively.  These are designed to be based on Earth, or later a colony world with a PDC CV, with 3 year endurance and 60+ billion km range.  Each is likely to probe every body in multiple systems before having to go back for fuel and maintenance.

Second, there are fast sprint scouts.  You can body check with fast scouts once you have carriers and jump tenders, it is safer, but uses a lot more fuel.  But 80 ton scouts don't use that much more fuel than 250 ton scouts over the same distance traveled.

But sprint scouts can't serve as pickets, cause they have no crew or maintenance endurance.
Posted by: CharonJr
« on: August 08, 2019, 03:00:20 PM »

1899

Completed techs: Magneto-Plasma Drive Tech, Reduced Size Launcher 0.33, EM Sensor Sensitivity 14, Active Grav Sensor 28, Improved Cargo Handling, new res 1 and res 100 sensor, Jump Drive Efficiency 5, Spinal Mount, Shipbuilding Rate 750, Research Rate 320, Orbital Habitat Module, Terraforming Rate 0.002 atm

New techs being researched: Reduced Size Launcher 0.25, Jump Drive Efficiency 5, Thermal Sensor Sensitivity 11, new res 1 and 100 sensors, Orbital Habitat Module, Fire Control Speed Rating 4kkm/s, Jump Drive Efficiency 6, Advanced Spinal Mount, Mining Rate 20, Shipyard Operations 20% Time/Cost, Salvage Module 750, Terraforming Rate 0.0025 atm

At the end of January the second Kronos-class gate builder is completed and is tasked with building a gate on the Hannover/Bremen jump point. For some reason the game will not assign “good” officers to construction and salvage ships. They benefit from factory production bonus, but the game will happily assign crew training officers to them, so remember to change them.

At the beginning of February Magneto-Plasma Drive Tech is completed and after some testing a couple of engines are designed. Two military drives (1HS and 5HS) and a 25HS commercial engine. Based on tests with the survey FACs a speed increase about 30% is expected.

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Humboldt FAC Mk3 class Geological Survey Vessel    1 000 tons     22 Crew     279 BP      TCS 20  TH 112  EM 0
5600 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 8/1/0/2     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 5.04 Years     MSP 87    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 6    5YR 86    Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 68 months    Spare Berths 0   

EP1 FC08 1HS 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (7)    Power 16    Fuel Use 79.2%    Signature 16    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 160 000 Litres    Range 36.4 billion km   (75 days at full power)

Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  8m km
Improved Geological Sensors (1)   2 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

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Kopernikus FAC Mk3 class Gravitational Survey Vessel    1 000 tons     22 Crew     279 BP      TCS 20  TH 112  EM 0
5600 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 8/1/2/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 5.04 Years     MSP 87    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 6    5YR 86    Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 68 months    Spare Berths 0   

EP1 FC08 1HS 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (7)    Power 16    Fuel Use 79.2%    Signature 16    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 160 000 Litres    Range 36.4 billion km   (75 days at full power)

Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  8m km
Improved Gravitational Sensors (1)   2 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

On February 13th, Norbert Doppler Xeno team working on New Berlin’s 7th moon were able to identify the alien ruins as belonging to a race calling themselves the Ningpo Alliance. 6 abandoned installations were found which might be recovered by a construction brigade. From what was learned during the investigation the Ningpo technology is considered more advanced than Earth’s. 2 construction brigades and their HQs are moved from mars to New Berlin together with 1 garrison battalion.

By the end of February the commercial engine design is completed. The currently useless Geier salvage ships are the first who are scheduled for a refit.

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Geier Mk2 class Salvager    20 000 tons     192 Crew     896.4 BP      TCS 400  TH 1200  EM 0
3000 km/s     Armour 1-65     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 8     PPV 0
MSP 224    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 73 months    Spare Berths 0   
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

EP05 FC 08 25HS 200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (6)    Power 200    Fuel Use 10.61%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 750 000 Litres    Range 63.6 billion km   (245 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

In March Humanities first carrier, the SMS Kondor is completed and send right back to the shipyard in order to refit better engines – at least once the second slipway and retooling are completed. The Kepler-class jump ships will be refitted as well. In addition to their own shipyard the FAC-shipyards will work for this.

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Kondor Mk2 class Carrier    14 500 tons     190 Crew     1933.2 BP      TCS 290  TH 640  EM 0
2206 km/s     Armour 2-52     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 6     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.18 Years     MSP 500    AFR 280%    IFR 3.9%    1YR 75    5YR 1118    Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months    Flight Crew Berths 180   
Flag Bridge    Hangar Deck Capacity 6000 tons     

EP10 FC 08 25HS 80 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (8)    Power 80    Fuel Use 76%    Signature 80    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 3 490 000 Litres    Range 57.0 billion km   (298 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Kepler Mk2 class Jump Ship    1 000 tons     17 Crew     123.5 BP      TCS 20  TH 80  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 1-50     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 3.51 Years     MSP 19    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 2    5YR 36    Max Repair 10 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 43 months    Spare Berths 0   

J1000(1-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 1000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 1
EP1 FC08 1HS 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (5)    Power 16    Fuel Use 79.2%    Signature 16    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 350 000 Litres    Range 79.5 billion km   (230 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Shortly afterwards the GravSurvey of Essen is completed, there are no jump point except the one leading back to Berlin. A bit later new sensor technology is completed and new resolution 1 and 100 sensors are designed, improving the range by about 30% (res 100) and 80% (res 1). And at the end of March the Heidi Baum GeoSurvey Team arrives on New Berlin and start their survey. With Duranium stockpiles on Earth starting to run very low 160 automines and 2 mass drivers are send to Ceres (475 kt @1.0).

The Kranich-class troops transport needs some redesign-love as well, they are still nuclear pulse based which was somehow overseen when they were tasked with moving troops to New Berlin’s moon.

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Kranich Mk2 class Troop Transport    20 000 tons     121 Crew     762.4 BP      TCS 400  TH 800  EM 0
2000 km/s     Armour 1-65     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
MSP 60    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 1   
Troop Capacity: 5 Battalions    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

EP05 FC 08 25HS 200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 200    Fuel Use 10.61%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1 410 000 Litres    Range 119.6 billion km   (692 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

In June the third Kronos-class gate builder is completed and heads to the soon to be completed Sol/Hamburg jump gate in order to establish a Hamburg/Munchen gate. Kronos 1 completes the Sol/Hamburg gate a few days later and starts building the Hamburg/Sol counterpart. By the end of June the troops finally arrive at New Berlin’s 7th moon are start to try recovering the alien structures. By the end of the year 1 Construction Factory, 240 infrastructure, 2 automines and 1 mine have been recovered.


With the completion of the new sensors designs recon fighters of the next generation are designed and constructed.

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Radar S1 Mk2 class Recon Fighter    498 tons     14 Crew     182.9 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 32  EM 0
3216 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.61 Years     MSP 57    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 4    5YR 65    Max Repair 140 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 9 months    Spare Berths 0   

EP1 FC08 1HS 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 16    Fuel Use 79.2%    Signature 16    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 60 000 Litres    Range 27.4 billion km   (98 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR19-R1 (1)     GPS 140     Range 19.6m km    MCR 2.1m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
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Radar S100 Mk2 class Recon Fighter    498 tons     14 Crew     182.9 BP      TCS 9.95  TH 32  EM 0
3216 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 4.61 Years     MSP 57    AFR 7%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 4    5YR 65    Max Repair 140 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 9 months    Spare Berths 0   

EP1 FC08 1HS 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 16    Fuel Use 79.2%    Signature 16    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 60 000 Litres    Range 27.4 billion km   (98 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR196-R100 (1)     GPS 14000     Range 196.0m km    Resolution 100

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


In September retooling for Kronos and Seekuh is completed. But all 3 Kronos-class gate builders are currently busy and the first and only Seekuh-tanker is still under construction. 1 additional Kronos (Mk2) is ordered.


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Kronos Mk2 class Construction Ship    70 000 tons     233 Crew     2519.2 BP      TCS 1400  TH 2000  EM 0
1428 km/s     Armour 1-151     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
MSP 56    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 120 months    Spare Berths 0   
Jump Gate Construction Ship: 180 days

EP05 FC 08 25HS 200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (10)    Power 200    Fuel Use 10.61%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 4 960 000 Litres    Range 120.2 billion km   (973 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Seekuh Mk2 class Tanker    10 000 tons     55 Crew     822.8 BP      TCS 200  TH 800  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 2-41     Shields 0-0     Sensors 8/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 51    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 55 months    Spare Berths 0   

EP05 FC 08 25HS 200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 200    Fuel Use 10.61%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 4 000 000 Litres    Range 678.6 billion km   (1963 days at full power)

Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  8m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes


Also in September Kronos 2 finishes the Hannover/Bremen gate and with a ancient counterpart already in place the gate builder heads towards the Hannover/Bonn jump point to construct a gate there. With New Berlin’s population assumed to reach 10 million by the end of the year 100 mines are transported from Earth to New Berlin in October.

Still in October a new jump point has been found in Bremen, about 3bkm from Bremen-A at an angle of 115°. This jump point has an ancient gate as well. It seems more and more likely that there has been a time when this system was visited and maybe even settled by aliens. With 5 GeoSurvey ships already at work around Bremen-B it is too late to send in recon fighters before committing survey ships, but up to now nothing bad has happened.

Research into improved Research and Shipbuilding Rates was completed at the same time and due to the mineral situation all 30 freed up labs (out of 102 total) are allocated to research Mining Rate 20, the maximum number of labs the currently best CP specialist (20%) is able to handle. And with Kronos 1 having completed the Hamburg/Sol gate and no other urgent projects it heads back to Earth for a refit.

In November Kepler 3 finishes its overhaul and is send to investigate the new gated jump point in Bremen. Kepler 2 heads there as well as a ersatz-tanker. Two weeks later 2 new jump points are found in Bremen, both already gated as well. Kepler 2 is retasked with exploring the 3rd JP. A couple of days later the GeoSurvey craft have completed the survey of the 6 planets, 20 moons and 30 asteroids, nothing remarkable was found. They are ordered to refuel at Kepler 4 and wait for further orders. JP2 leads to the Köln System and there is already a gate in place there as well.

With a G-class sun, 7 planets (4 of them terrestrial), and 70 moons Koln looks like a likely source for the aliens who have build the gates. The 2 freshly constructed recon fighters are ordered to scan the system. In the meantime Kepler 3 will take a look at JP4 in Bremen.

By mid December Kepler 3 discovers the Dusseldorf System, again with a gate leading back to Bremen. With a F-class sun 50% larger than Sol, 6 planets (2 terrestrial) and 65 moons Dusseldorf might be the home system of the aliens as well. Especially since there are two wrecks right at orbit of Dusseldorf A-I, which might be a habitable world. Dusselfdorf becomes the new priority for the recon fighters.


No further investigation is ordered till there has been a recon sweep. In Hamburg Kronos 3 has completed its gate and with a alien gate already in place on the other side heads back to Earth for a refit. JP3 leads to the Frankfurt System which seems fairly unremarkable, a single G-class sun (85% mass) and just two planets that look very unlikely to be habitable. The only thing remarkable is the gate already in place, but this has become the norm with the Bremen jump points by now.

Bremen System at the end of the year



Galaxy Map


That’s it for today…