Awesome... I missed that part!!!

Thanks!

September 14, 2141
Admiral Law orders the initiation of Operation Secure Washington.  This fleet operation will utilize the bulk of the fleet, and will finally secure the Washington system for continued Republic operations.  The massive fleet sets out for the jump point within an hour.  Many of the ships are towing pods that will be deployed at strategic points in the Washington system and adjacent points to add to the security of the system. 

September 15, 2141
The fleet is assembled on the Washington side of the Sol-Washington jump point, and has taken the time to refuel from the UNREP ships waiting there for them.  It is time.  The fleet splits into three portions.  Two more-or-less equal groups head towards the jump point to the Denver system and the unexplored jump point on the far side of the system.  The Dregluk have used both to enter the system, and both are to be secured.  A smaller force sets out for Bastion, to serve as a reserve group for the operation.  Two monitors followed each group heading towards the jump points, and a fifth monitor headed inwards towards Bastion.  The first task force to arrive would be Admiral Wallace’s force, assigned to the jump point to Denver. 

September 19, 2141, 0724 hours, Washington System, jump point to Denver
Admiral Wallace’s task force has assembled, and the Fleet Support ship has arrived.  The ships of the task force refuel, and FSV-001 exchanges missiles with the Yamato.  This is to be the first test of the Republic’s new JPAM’s, or Jump Point Assault Missiles.  The JPAM is a modified Bludgeon III, with most of the endurance removed and that space devoted to a bigger warhead, larger sensor, and more armor.  The resulting missile, designated the Sledgehammer, has a maximum range of 7.6 mkm’s, but if the Yamato encounters anything sitting on the jump point, they’ll be able to make them regret it. 

The Yamato will lead an assault into the Denver system, conveying the anti-ship frigate Eire, the HuK’s Assistance and Endeavor, and the missile defense frigate Chongqing through the jump point.  The rest of 2nd Frigate Group, the 2nd Long Range Missile Group, and the Mars will remain behind in the Washington system for now. 

Admiral Wallace gives the order and the Yamato leads the other ships through the jump point.  The Yamato materializes on the far side of the jump to find…nothing.  The system had been probed during the Federation’s period of exploration prior to encountering the Dregluk, and everything appears unchanged, except two previously undetected jump points are marked by new Dregluk jump gates.  The system is apparently empty, although admittedly the Yamato’s sensors don’t penetrate very far compared to the immensity of an average star system. 

Admiral Wallace orders the Yamato back through the jump point and orders the 2nd Missile Group forward.  They, along with the pods, which will be deployed on this side of the jump point, will now provide the first line of defense for the Washington system.  Or they will until the monitors, which are coming up slowly from the jump point to the Solar System, can reach the jump point and take up station.  Once back in the Washington system she sends her report back to the picket ship on the Sol-Washington jump point and then settles in to wait. 

When Admiral Wallace’s message arrives at the jump point it is carried back to the Solar System by the picket ship stationed there, and then dispatched to the Admiralty.  Once it arrives on Earth the next phase is activated.  Cargo ships begin loading DSTS for a planned listening post in the Denver system, and a picket ship is dispatched to take up station on the jump point from Washington to the Denver system. 

September 22, 2141, New York System
The geo-survey units assigned to evaluate the New York system make a discovery.  One of the asteroids in the inner system houses an Obscura listening post.  The survey ship sends an urgent message back to the picket waiting at the jump point, and it returns to the Solar System and forwards the message on to the Admiralty.  In response, a troop ship with a battalion of Republic infantry sets out for the listening post.     

September 24, 2141:
Ten cargo ships join Admiral Wallace’s task group on the Denver side of the Denver-Washington jump point.  Once all of the cargo ships are in the system Admiral Wallace orders her cruiser group, along with the 2nd Frigate Group, to escort the cargo ships to the system primary’s fourth planet.  This planet was chosen both because it has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, making it a possible colonization choice, and because both of the unexplored jump points in this system are in the inner-system.  Putting the listening post on any of the other planets closer to the central star would have put it too close to the jump points it was to watch.  The voyage will take seven days. 

September 26, 2141, 0458 hours, Washington system
Admiral Bradshaw’s task force has gathered on the unexplored jump point in the Washington system, and his command ship, the Essex, has exchanged its long-range missiles for JPAM’s.  Admiral Bradshaw orders his ship to lead the task force through the jump point. 

They find themselves in a K5-V star system with a single gas giant.  There is nothing else on active sensors and no other system bodies or jump points.  Admiral Bradshaw finds this very puzzling.  Dregluk warships had been observed entering the Washington system through this jump point on several occasions, including the force that bombarded Earth the first time.  But yet, there were no other jump gates detected, at least so far.  Worse, there were no system bodies available to set up a listening post. 

He ordered one of the frigates to jump back to Washington and bring the rest of the task force forward, and attached a message to be sent back to the admiralty.  The Admiralty will eventually decide to designate this system as Detroit. 

September 29, 2141
The 2nd Republic Infantry Battalion lands on Asteroid #69 in the New York system.  They immediately begin securing their landing area and scouting out the Obscura installation.  There is no immediate resistance. 

By the 1st of October the 2nd Battalion has secured the DSTS left there by the Obscura.  While the battalion begins boarding its transport a cargo ship begins loading the DSTS for transfer to Earth. 

October 1, 2141:
Admiral Wallace’s task force is 232 mkm’s from the Denver system’s fourth planet when the Yamato’s sensors detected a Dregluk Crow class DD in-system of their location, headed towards the jump point to the Washington system.  Based on the destroyer’s course it originated at the system’s second jump point, located between the system’s third and fourth planets.  Admiral Wallace’s immediate impulse is to detach her warships from the cargo group and attack the destroyer, but after some consideration she realizes that she cannot leave the cargo ships uncovered.  Either the Dregluk ship will come for her force or continue on towards the jump point, but either way it will be dealt with. 

As the human task force continues towards the fourth planet, they watch the Dregluk ship continue on towards the jump point towards the Washington system.  As the Dregluk ship’s sensors aren’t active it is possible that it hasn’t detected the human fleet.  Admiral Wallace sends a warning and an ETA back to the forces at the jump point.  It will take the Dregluk ship almost six days to reach the jump point. 

In the New York system, the Geo-Survey Group completes its survey of the system.  In addition to the Obscura outpost, the group has identified several very good mining sites, including the system’s best colonization spot, a Type T planet with a colony cost of 1.8. 

October 2, 2141, Denver System
The cargo ships escorted by Admiral Wallace’s task force begin unloading their DSTS’s on the fourth planet and almost immediately contact is re-established with the Dregluk destroyer.  It is still headed out-system towards the jump point to Washington and the human forces waiting there.  The newly established listening post sends a contact report to the jump point.   

October 7, 2141
Eighteen Bludgeon III missiles from the LR Missile Boats stationed on the Denver-Washington jump point obliterate the Dregluk DD approaching their location.  A missile group is dispatched from Bastion to replace the LR Missile Group at the jump point. 

Back in the Solar System, three new Hero class Fleet Docks are launched from the Martian Yards.  This class is named for Federation Militia crew members that died in the early days of the war with the Dregluk, either fighting them in space or trying to help mitigate the damage on the ground.  They are part of the “New Technology Support Ship Program”, and are equipped with the latest magnetic confinement fusion engines that will allow them to keep up with the bulk of the fleet.  They immediately set out for Earth, where the Adela Sachs and the Debora Hasek will load missiles and then depart to join the forward deployed forces in the Detroit and Denver systems.  The Surayya Medved will remain in Earth orbit, in reserve. 

With the listening post in place in the Denver system and the cargo ships on their way back to the safety of the Washington system, Admiral Wallace orders her task force to rendezvous on the jump point that the Dregluk used to enter the system. 

October 17, 2141
Admiral Wallace orders her flagship to jump through the jump point to the unexplored system that the Dregluk Destroyer entered the Denver system from.  The Yamato is accompanied by the Assistance and the Endeavor, and the anti-missile frigate Chongqing. 

They materialize in a system with an M8-V central star.  The system contains the usual assortment of planets, including two type T planets, one of which has a nitrogen-methane atmosphere and could be a target for colonization.  The Yamato’s sensors detect no other jump gates in the system.  Admiral Wallace orders her task group to return to the Denver system and then to proceed to the innermost jump point in the system.  The new system is given the designation Miami.

October 18, 2141, Denver system
Admiral Wallace and her task force jump through the innermost jump point to discover a K4-V system with the usual assortment of planets and asteroids.  The second and third planets are type T and have oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres.  Both are too cold and their atmospheres are too thin, but could be good colonization targets.  The system is given the designation San Diego.  Admiral Wallace orders her task force back to Denver.

October 24, 2141
Having cleared the Denver system and probed the two previously unexplored jump points, Admiral Wallace orders her fleet to return to Bastion to refuel and to give the crews some R&R at the colony. 

November 21, 2141
Two monitors arrive at the jump point from Washington to Detroit.  After refueling from the Fleet Support Vessel waiting there, the monitors jump through to Detroit.  Soon after, the forces under Rear Admiral Bradshaw jump back to the Washington system and set out for Detroit. 

December 5, 2141, Denver System
The listening post in the inner system detects a Dregluk Harpy class DD entering the system through the jump point to the Miami system and sends off a contact report to the ships stationed at the jump point to the Washington system.  The message is then forwarded back to Bastion and the fleet stationed there. 

December 6,2 141, Philadelphia system
Once the newly deployed survey group had finished with its resource survey of New York, it returned to Earth to refuel and to give its crews some R&R.  Once that was complete it was joined by one of the Navy’s new Survey Jump Scouts, and the four ships set out for the Philadelphia system.  The Admiralty was particularly interested close examinations systems formerly under the control of the Obscura.  The Survey Group had been in the Philadelphia system for over ten days conducting its resource survey when one of the survey ships made a momentous discovery.  The innermost planet of the Philadelphia system contains an intact but apparently abandoned alien city.  In addition, the planet itself is a major source of TN resources.  The survey ship commander immediately dispatches word back to the Survey Scout at the jump point, and it then relays the message back to the picket ship at the jump point back to the Solar System. 

December 7, 2141, Earth
The news from the Philadelphia system has electrified both the Admiralty and the Senate.  The government immediately puts together a Xenology team and dispatches it to the Philadelphia system aboard a picket ship, but after that there is little agreement over the proper course of action.  Some in the Senate want to put major defenses in both the San Francisco and the Philadelphia system in preparation for a major effort to exploit the alien city.  Other in Senate agree with the effort, but want to focus more on colonization of Philadelphia A-1.  Still others want to avoid a major effort in that direction now, as they view the effort against the Dregluk as more important, especially as the fleet has confirmed that the Dregluk are coming from beyond the Miami system.  The Consul has not taken a position as of yet and it doesn’t look as if the debate will die down any time soon. 

Late in the day word arrives from Philadelphia that the survey ships have found two asteroids with Obscura listening posts on them.  The Senate approves a military mission to the system to seize the Obscura DSTS’s and to set up a permanent military base and listening post on the innermost planet.  A troop transport begins loading the 2nd Brigade on the 8th. 

December 9, 2141
The survey of the Philadelphia system is complete.  Several significant deposits of resources were found, in addition to the resources on the innermost planet, making this system a likely target for exploitation.  The Survey Group will move on to the Honolulu system, the last known site of Obscura infestation.       

December 10, 2141
With the fleet reassembled at Bastion, the listening post established in the Denver system, and the blocking forces in place to interdict any Dregluk attempt to enter the Washington System, Admiral Law declares Operation Secure Washington to be complete.  Planning for Operation Tracker goes into high gear. 

December 12, 2141, Denver System
The Dregluk Harpy class destroyer ran into a salvo of eighteen Bludgeon III missiles and disintegrated.  Just like the early destroyer, this one did not have its sensors activated and did not seem to be worried about its safety in this formerly secure system.   With the threat eliminated, the 1st LR Missile Group jumps out, to return to Bastion and refuel and rearm. 

Even as the 1st LR Missile Group jumps out, a group of ships jump into the Denver system from Washington.  The group consists of the six frigates of the 1st Frigate Group, and a scout ship.  The scout is bound for the Miami system, where it will lay in wait, hoping to catch sight of the next Dregluk ship that jumps into the system and thus pinpoint its entry point into the Miami system.  The 1st Frigate Group will escort the scout to the jump point to the Miami system and protect it from any Dregluk ships that might appear. 

December 19, 2141, Denver system
The 1st Frigate Group and the scout ship reached the jump point to the Miami system and the frigates immediately jumped through to clear the far side of the jump point.  They find nothing on the far side and send back a frigate to bring the scout forward.  The scout jumps through and immediately sets out for the fifth planet, where it will go to station-keeping speed.  The 1st Frigate Group will remain on station until it arrives. 

December 20, 2141, Miami system
The scout is in place, so the 1st Frigate Group turns back towards Bastion.  It will need to refuel upon jumping back into the Washington system as it doesn’t have enough fuel to make it all the way back, but that is anticipated and there is a hero class support ship waiting at the jump point in the Washington system. 

December 21, 2141
The Xenology team is dropped off on Philadelphia-A I and begins work. 

Or make it a special modifier similar to the various training changes. It just only works for formations made up of HQs and Logistics units and nothing else. Could even make for relatively cheap units; large scale logistics dumps have historically been run by second line units IIRC.

Please don't.  As far as I'm concerned, the whole point to the revised ground unit system is the flexibility it offers.  I don't want "formations made up of HQs and Logistics units and nothing else."  I want the freedom to build whatever units I want -- maybe Ranch Hands (infantry) and Cowboys (cavalry) and Chuck Wagons (logistics vehicles).

Maybe I think every unit should include Jawa Bearers (LOG INF) or that my Tusken Raider Supply Companies need four Armoured Banthas (LAV LV) to guard the ten, twelve, or seventeen Transport Banthas (LOG LV).  (Tusken Raider Supply Companies always travel single file, to hide their numbers.)

My point is, don't backslide to "Supply Companies" and "Logistics Brigades" or any other sort of fixed unit types and/or sizes.

Or make it a special modifier similar to the various training changes. It just only works for formations made up of HQs and Logistics units and nothing else. Could even make for relatively cheap units; large scale logistics dumps have historically been run by second line units IIRC.

really great was 100% what I was asking for

but quick question about this Steve...

will such a logistic formation be flagged as such for the whole battle running? I mean if I have a formation with 75% logistic size - after a few battle turns the logistic units are "used up", some destroyed by combat and there is only a ratio of 55% left (so under 2/3) but the fighting is going on...

will it still be a "logistic formation" for this rule or just a weak combat formation as it was with a lot of logistic units into?  (which would mean it would be better to go 90% or even 95% in the beginning to be sure)

Yes, that is a problem that would have to be addressed. In practical terms though, you would probably create a very logistic heavy formation and then merge with an HQ once it was very small. I need some form of check on logistic size though or the code would start using logistic units from 'normal' formations on the assumption they were logistic formations. Another option is I simply allow the player to flag logistics formations in the same way as supporting formations.