Cold War Comments Thread

[TheTalkingMeowth]

Ooof. And Humanity is so behind the curve that they'll get curb stomped once they encounter the Mintak.

Yeah, humans have been boned ever since they blew up their own homeworld. For. You know. The second time.

[Kurt (OP)]

Ooof. And Humanity is so behind the curve that they'll get curb stomped once they encounter the Mintak.

Logically speaking, the Mintak have no chance of taking the Alliance - they're simply too small, and once the Alliance learns that fighters are a game changer, they'll go all in on carriers as well. Once both of those powers have carriers out the wazoo, Humanity is stuck playing catchup with no realistic way of doing so.

and:

Ooof. And Humanity is so behind the curve that they'll get curb stomped once they encounter the Mintak.

Yeah, humans have been boned ever since they blew up their own homeworld. For. You know. The second time.

You are both correct, if things go on as they have, with no new input. 

The D'Bringi are working hard to tie all of their allies together in a web of alliances, so that they can amalgamate them all into a one large empire, under their control, of course.  And they are being successful, so far.  However, they have a long ways to go.  The T'Pau are probably the closest to amalgamation, just needing to reach the same tech level, and will be a big boon to the D'Bringi economy.  However, both the Torqual and the Doraz have a fair amount of R&D to do before they can be amalgamated, although they are good to have around as piggy banks, and sources of additional ships for the blockade fleet.  However, their ships won't be as effective, both because of their lower tech and because they aren't very warlike.  The Bir and the Chirq are even worse, not even HT yet and a resource sink to a greater or lessor extent.  And the D'Bringi's main ally, the Rehorish, have agreed to a closer relationship, in the face of human and Mintek hostility, but still are not convinced that amalgamation is in their best interest. 

As long as the allies haven't been amalgamated they still have at least some independence.  A big setback could result in the Torqual and the Doraz going their own way, while successes will tend to keep them in the fold. 

Even as the D'Bringi are working to unite their disparate races, the Humans are trying to unite their scattered colonies.  You are right, they are falling behind, although the Colonial Union will start R&D soon, to at least ensure that they don't fall too far behind.  And, it is always possible that the human colonies may ally themselves with the Bjering, who are ahead of them technologically, or some other race they haven't met yet.  A lot can happen. 

As I said, though, as things stand you are not wrong.

Kurt

[StarshipCactus]

I am kind of hoping this new alien alliance falls out and starts shooting itself lol.

[misanthropope]

"Explore, Expand, Explode.  um, Explore?" 

[papent]

I'm personally enjoying the interlude of conflict between the great powers. the D'Bringi Alliance has a chance to recover and then start a campaign against the Mintek and I hoping the human diaspora after stabilizing discovers a new threat or another great power.

[Black]

The new development within D'Bringi Alliance is another blow for Humans. It seems that the best choice now is to just surrender to D'Bringi and hope for favorable treatment. I wonder how they found out about the destruction of Earth.

[Kurt (OP)]

The new development within D'Bringi Alliance is another blow for Humans. It seems that the best choice now is to just surrender to D'Bringi and hope for favorable treatment. I wonder how they found out about the destruction of Earth.

Through the buffer state - the Titov Free State.  Both the Rehorish and the various human colonial states have trade & military agreements with the Free State, by design.  The Free State was created as a buffer between the Rehorish and the human states, and neither humans nor the Rehorish wanted it to have too much independence.  Thus the agreements between both sides that allow each to enter Titov space with limited scouting forces to keep an eye on the other side.  In addition, these agreements, which the Titov Free State never agreed to, but rather had them forced upon it, also allow the human states and the Rehorish to maintain significant "diplomatic" presences on Titov itself.  Think Europe after WW II. 

The Free State itself is a confusing mix of politics and motivations.  The Rehorish occupied them prior to the peace treaty, so they are not particularly well-regarded by the Titov citizens.  On the other hand, the Rehorish occupation was light and fairly bloodless, once they convinced the human colonists that they meant business, so the Rehorish aren't exactly hated by most in the Free State.  There is a significant feeling of belonging to the bulk of humanity, and to the home world, but on the gripping hand, no one in the Free State is going to forget the way Admiral Ruston bargained them away during the peace negotiations without even consulting them.  Finally, they kind of enjoy their independence, so, even though they resent the way it happened, they kind of like the result.  The United Colonial Defense Fleet tried to keep the information about Earth's demise away from the Free State for as long as possible, however, with the flow of refugees from Earth sloshing around, it was inevitable that word would reach Titov, which over time received a fair amount of refugees, albeit second or third hand.  Once it became common knowledge that Earth had nuked itself on Titov, it was inevitable that the Rehorish, and then the D'Bringi, would find out. 

Kurt

[DIT_grue]

I'm very surprised that the Colonial Union established their system of government with such blatantly anti-functional requirements! Usually it takes time, and changing circumstances, to reveal that what seemed a reasonable setup can actually be a distinct problem; but why wasn't it obvious that mandating a supermajority (so probably two thirds, that's more common than three quarters) for the mere existence of a government is almost certainly going to prove insupportable in short order?

[misanthropope]

... is there a betting pool on the timing of the next suigenocidal event by the stupid monkeys? 

reho probably looking forward to the roachaforming of human space.

[Migi]

From an outsiders perspective with little to no context, nuking your own home planet sure does sound incredibly dumb.
The D'Bringi leaders didn't really react to the information in that way, I wonder if that is because they knew about the situation and were expecting it or if they were more shocked by the revelations about the Keepers keeping secrets.

In any case I wonder if the D'Bringi will willingly change tactics from large warships to small fighters, while they generally come across as pragmatic, it seems to run rather heavily against their current mindset.

I also wonder if they will try and keep the fighters secret from their allies in order to become dominant within the alliance or if they will share the tech to get all the alliance on the same doctrine.

[Kurt (OP)]

I'm very surprised that the Colonial Union established their system of government with such blatantly anti-functional requirements! Usually it takes time, and changing circumstances, to reveal that what seemed a reasonable setup can actually be a distinct problem; but why wasn't it obvious that mandating a supermajority (so probably two thirds, that's more common than three quarters) for the mere existence of a government is almost certainly going to prove insupportable in short order?

The people that developed the Colonial Union were afraid of powerful central governments, and also had very little experience setting up governments.  They opted for a parliamentary form, where the Prime Minister equivalent would need two thirds of the parliament's vote to confirm his government.  There were some that wanted to require 100% of the vote.  This was for two reasons.  They wanted inclusivity, and they thought that the Unity Party, which was running at close to 80% support at the time of the formation of the Colonial Union, would always have the votes. 

If they had had time to think it through, they would have realized that humanity was in a volatile state after the near destruction of the home world and two wars with aliens.  But they didn't. 

The Colonial Union will either find a way to function within those limitations, or they will have to change their government/constitution. 

[Kurt (OP)]

From an outsiders perspective with little to no context, nuking your own home planet sure does sound incredibly dumb.
The D'Bringi leaders didn't really react to the information in that way, I wonder if that is because they knew about the situation and were expecting it or if they were more shocked by the revelations about the Keepers keeping secrets.

In any case I wonder if the D'Bringi will willingly change tactics from large warships to small fighters, while they generally come across as pragmatic, it seems to run rather heavily against their current mindset.

I also wonder if they will try and keep the fighters secret from their allies in order to become dominant within the alliance or if they will share the tech to get all the alliance on the same doctrine.

The D'Bringi are caught between too many threats.  All other things being equal, with no other threats, finding out that the humans were dumb enough to destroy their home world would have been enough to restart the war, but now they are caught between too many other issues.  They have been trying to jump-start their economy, which has been lagging behind that of the other major races in the Alliance.  There is the Mintek threat.  And there is the constant juggling that goes with managing the junior members of the Alliance.  The D'Bringi Clan leaders have the distinct feeling that they are balancing on a precipice without a net. 

Kurt

[Andrew]

As the D'Bringi I would also have a very strong desire to make sure that the Rehorish are always outgunned and know it. Their betrayal of the Russians shows a capacity for treachery which means that the D'Bringi would be fools to do anything which left thr Rehorish in a position to profitably betray them. Which means making sure that any wars fought force the Rehorish fleet to take the same sort of losses as that of the D'Bringi . The lesser nations fleets are too small to worry about betrayal but the Rehorish need watching.

I would also think that the D'Bringi think about the Humans there but for the Grace of our Divine being(s) of choice is what we could have done. They have multiple fiercely contesting factions with nuclear weapons and it would not have been too hard for the Great Clans to have blasted themselves into rubble

[Migi]

Can fighters be sent through jump points unaccompanied or do they need to be launched from their carriers after transit?
Also does the limit on jump point transits apply in both directions?
I'm thinking in context of a jump point assault.

[Jorgen_CAB]

Can fighters be sent through jump points unaccompanied or do they need to be launched from their carriers after transit?
Also does the limit on jump point transits apply in both directions?
I'm thinking in context of a jump point assault.

Fighters are just a small ship so the same rules applies, although most small jump-drives can only self-jump so you generally need a bigger ship to squadron jump fighters.

It does not matter from witch direction you jump from a JP, the same rules applies.