Aurora 4x
C# Fiction => Gyrfalcon's Fiction => Topic started by: Gyrfalcon on June 07, 2021, 07:39:07 AM
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Please post comments here instead of in the main thread.
Some basic information:
Aurora Version - 1.13
Mods used - None
Extra resources used - Shadow's Images, froggiest's Ribbon Set, froggiest's Aurora Government Simulator (partially)
Starting Conditions:
Conventional Start
150% resources on Earth
100% research speed
12 Research Facilities
1 GFCC
1200 Conventional Industry
1 Deep Space Tracking Station
1 Military Academy
1 Naval Headquarters
1 Spaceport
0 military/civilian shipyards
Precursors: ON
Invaders: OFF
Star Swarm: ON
Rakhas: ON
House Rules:
Box Launchers - 1 MSP per 25t of ship. Example: a 500t bomber can carry 16 MSP of box launchers. A 10,000t light cruiser can carry 400 MSP of box launchers.
Jump point technology can only be researched after archeology efforts have begun on Arachne. (Moon #10 - Planet X)
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Always a pleasure to see a new work on this board! ;D
If you're going to use a split AAR/comment thread I would recommend having your own named fiction subforum instead of using the main one, otherwise it is likely that your comment thread will get lost in the shuffle especially if you go some time between updates. This way you can also lock the main AAR thread to prevent idiots like me people from accidentally posting in it.
The premise is certainly interesting, the dynamic between the Children and the Republic has a lot of potential to complicate matters particularly as the Children become increasingly aware of the scale of Republican space activity and perhaps grow jealous that the time and resources are not going towards their own life improvement. Balancing internal division against external threat will be a challenge for the Republic.
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Will definitely read, premise is interesting.
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The premise is amazing, i love it and eagerly await to see where you'll go with it. And is the Jump tech rule inspired by Distant Worlds?
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Off to a promising start, particularly with the traditional style of date-event reporting that used to be popular back in the day...many classic AARs started off with this format.
I particularly like the use of a design that (likely) isn't going to be built such as the Tribal class...it's probably good that you're not building it in terms of practical use, but seeing the projects and concepts that were drawn up but ultimately not accepted for service is a great way to add detail to a world. There's a whole new world of TN military concepts out there and surely some of them are absurd, impractical, and would never see the field but should be proposed by the military all the same for, uhh, realism. And the amusement of the readers of course. :P
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The premise is amazing, i love it and eagerly await to see where you'll go with it. And is the Jump tech rule inspired by Distant Worlds?
Not specifically- it’s my solution as to why humanity will stay and build up in the Solar System a little longer since it forces a few events to occur ahead of building grav survey vessels and the first jumpship.
Since reaching Arachne is the Republic’s main goal, it won’t stay on the backburner forever though.
Off to a promising start, particularly with the traditional style of date-event reporting that used to be popular back in the day...many classic AARs started off with this format.
I particularly like the use of a design that (likely) isn't going to be built such as the Tribal class...it's probably good that you're not building it in terms of practical use, but seeing the projects and concepts that were drawn up but ultimately not accepted for service is a great way to add detail to a world. There's a whole new world of TN military concepts out there and surely some of them are absurd, impractical, and would never see the field but should be proposed by the military all the same for, uhh, realism. And the amusement of the readers of course. :P
There will be RP sections and lore pieces interspaced with the passage of time reports.
As for Project TRIBAL, the goal is to show the massive difference TN materials will make to its mission, though the final design will look far different then the first draft.
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There will be RP sections and lore pieces interspaced with the passage of time reports.
As for Project TRIBAL, the goal is to show the massive difference TN materials will make to its mission, though the final design will look far different then the first draft.
Excellent in both cases.
The Cohort organization looks quite reasonable, but with only 37 supply transports for 60 contubernium the logistics look a bit hairy. Bumping up to 60 supply elements would allow every contubernium to rely on their own dedicated supplies and fill up to the command limit of the Centurions.
The updated Tribal design is certainly a big change from the original proposal. I suspect it will undergo more refinement before being accepted for production, notably a larger engine with lower power efficiency will conserve fuel while giving the same performance. Once the mission planners get their hands on the design they may also recommend some expansion of crew quarters and life support systems to allow for a bit more deployment time once they work out how long the survey sensors will take to actually search an entire gravity well for precious TNEs.
The Pius party gaining prominence is quite concerning as they represent the opposite of progress. However it may be difficult to arrest their rise in the near future, particularly since converting industry from conventional to TN standards will not create as many jobs as the Populares advertise, the expanded industrial capacity being offset by TN-enabled automation for little if any net gain in actual jobs. Hopefully the knock-on benefit of accelerating other construction projects will be sufficient.
Soon we will learn the mysteries which hide on Arachne, then the game will truly begin for the Republic as their view of the universe is transformed.
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Great read! Love the excerpt from the lecture.
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The Cohort organization looks quite reasonable, but with only 37 supply transports for 60 contubernium the logistics look a bit hairy. Bumping up to 60 supply elements would allow every contubernium to rely on their own dedicated supplies and fill up to the command limit of the Centurions.
The updated Tribal design is certainly a big change from the original proposal. I suspect it will undergo more refinement before being accepted for production, notably a larger engine with lower power efficiency will conserve fuel while giving the same performance. Once the mission planners get their hands on the design they may also recommend some expansion of crew quarters and life support systems to allow for a bit more deployment time once they work out how long the survey sensors will take to actually search an entire gravity well for precious TNEs.
The Pius party gaining prominence is quite concerning as they represent the opposite of progress. However it may be difficult to arrest their rise in the near future, particularly since converting industry from conventional to TN standards will not create as many jobs as the Populares advertise, the expanded industrial capacity being offset by TN-enabled automation for little if any net gain in actual jobs. Hopefully the knock-on benefit of accelerating other construction projects will be sufficient.
Soon we will learn the mysteries which hide on Arachne, then the game will truly begin for the Republic as their view of the universe is transformed.
In both cases, those are valid points, and will likely be taken up as revisions of the designs once the Republic has had practical experience. The Cohort's supplies are based on 3x their integral MSP amount. I agree that once the Cohorts actually see combat, the local supplies will be increased to what can be supported.
As for the project TRIBAL survey ship, that one is a bit tricker as they've actually designed the engine now, and with so few research labs, the Republic is likely to just use the current design rather then build it as close to 2,000t as possible. The life support systems will very likely be redesigned after the first overhaul once they have a better understanding of the time needed to survey planets.
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I wonder how much trouble can Crassus with The Children cause. Army would most likely stand against the Pius as it is unlikely that sympathizers would volunteer for military service. Could we see terrorist actions against research centers, assassinations of key scientists?
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Very unlikely - the Pius are the pacifist faction. They’re the ones who believe they’re Aberrant because they (or their ancestors) did something so bad they were exiled from the Children of Gaia and denied paradise. The only way to atone is through service to the Children and obeying the rules of the Disciples - one of the most prominent being non-violence.
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It seems more likely that the Pius faction will try to bring the Children into the picture, hoping that the Children will put a stop to this, so to speak, impropriety. Of course, the Republic has all of the weapons and fighting men, while the Children contribute nothing economically to the benefit of the Republic besides perhaps a market for goods, if that? I don't think they actually pay for anything so they are really worse than useless.
The Victory class sloop seems suitable for local defense and little else, still that is about all you can expect from a ship of this size and tech level. Perhaps a small bumping-up of the tracking speed and/or range on the fire control could be accomplished with the remaining 10 tons but this is really a secondary concern at most.
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It seems more likely that the Pius faction will try to bring the Children into the picture, hoping that the Children will put a stop to this, so to speak, impropriety. Of course, the Republic has all of the weapons and fighting men, while the Children contribute nothing economically to the benefit of the Republic besides perhaps a market for goods, if that? I don't think they actually pay for anything so they are really worse than useless.
Absolutely this. Bringing them in is a very risky gamble for the Pius, the 'idea' of serving the Children (even if honoured more in the breach than the observance) is unlikely to survive the Children moralising at the Republic and everyone working out just what a massive drain on resources they are.
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That is the thing. As I see it, there is not much they can actually do, everything is provided for them. Pius can only hope that they will gain more sympathy votes for next elections to actually make it impossible for other factions to create government. But early exploration of Sol is relatively safe and early success will most likely boost other factions approval.
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It seems more likely that the Pius faction will try to bring the Children into the picture, hoping that the Children will put a stop to this, so to speak, impropriety. Of course, the Republic has all of the weapons and fighting men, while the Children contribute nothing economically to the benefit of the Republic besides perhaps a market for goods, if that? I don't think they actually pay for anything so they are really worse than useless.
The Victory class sloop seems suitable for local defense and little else, still that is about all you can expect from a ship of this size and tech level. Perhaps a small bumping-up of the tracking speed and/or range on the fire control could be accomplished with the remaining 10 tons but this is really a secondary concern at most.
The Project VICTORY design is very much a 'let's launch something and learn from the experience' type of design. That said, this design is far more likely to evolve then TRIBAL as the project is very much on the backburner now with the new government.
As for the situation between the Children and the Romans, this is very much the issue - the Romans know how much of a drain the Children are, but haven't worked out how to cut them loose in a way that wouldn't create a massive humanitarian crisis as billions of people start starving. There are Children who produce food, but its very much on a hobby/personal consumption scale and not on an industrial 'we need to feed everyone' scale.
Before the advent of the Legions, there was the very real possibility that if the Republic closed up shop, they would be literally overwhelmed by starving hordes of Children. Now that calculus is shifting because the cities of the Republic are physically isolated from the Children, and enough troops would allow the Romans to hold off disorganized mobs and keep their population safe. Its why the Optimates (Nationalists) have been pushing even harder then the Tutela (Militarists) to grow the Legions. The Tutela have their eyes fixed higher on 'prevent potential alien attacks', but the Optimates want to cut the Republic free of the Children.
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It was perhaps completely unsurprising that their choice was the Legions of the Roman Empire, which had been considered one of the finest fighting forces of the ancient times and had thematic links to the older Roman Republic, the source of inspiration for the modern incarnation. What they discovered was that up to a certain point, the Legion doctrine meshed well with more modern tactical doctrines that were also considered, lacking mostly a certain degree of flexibility once formations became larger - for example, a classic Legion had no formal subdivision between the company-sized Cohort and the brigade-sized Legion. On a modern battlefield, it was assumed that it would be common that Cohorts would be spread out and would need to be able to organize at a smaller level then the full Legion.
An illuminating point. From my limited understanding of warfare in this era, the lack of intermediate command levels would likely be due to the comparatively rudimentary nature of battlefield communication, which would be accomplished chiefly by visual (flags/banners) or auditory (horns, drums, etc.) signaling. With such relatively simple and restricted command options available to a commander it would be somewhat less taxing to command a larger number of line subformations compared to the cover and maneuver based warfare of the modern system which is largely enabled by vastly improved communications technology and doctrine. Thus, adding such sub-commands is a natural extension of the Roman system to this TN-driven setting.
The Contubernium is armed with seven personal infantry weapons, and one squad support weapon such as a machine gun, mortar or anti-tank weapon. Extra ammunition for this weapon would be carried by the unit as a whole.
An interesting evolution of the Contubernium from a logistics perspective, and in contrast to how modern armies handle this as carrying the extra ammunition is usually a job for a dedicated squad member (or more than one even) I believe, and perhaps this better suits the 2x4 tactical organization as the allows the flexibility for the squad support weapon to be assigned to either team.
Party Goals:
Quaesitors - Construct the first scientific spacecraft and begin exploring the Sol system. Expand the Republic’s R&D capabilities.
Populares - Finish the first phase of TN conversion, begin building new TN industry alongside.
Pius - Limit Legion training to one Legion and two Auxilia Vexilliones, suspend all military research in favor of peaceful avenues.
Interesting tactic from the Pius here, playing the political diplomacy game to gain influence in hopes of moderating the perceived excesses. At least for now this is likely to work out well enough as the priority is on the economy and the exploration of Sol. Perhaps once the offworld TNEs begin flowing in the Pius will be placated if some of these can be shared with the Children, though this cannot be a long-term stable arrangement.
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“Greetings to you, Children of Gaia. Is it time that the Sword of the Righteous be once more unsheathed?” the otherworldly voice answered.
“Yes.” The two said as one.
Uh-oh...
At this point, the Republic’s only glaring weakness is a lack of a Sensor and Control Systems specialist.
I swear this happens every single game, always a Sensors scientist is the one I am missing.
April 10, 378
Poplicola Fabricators is expanded to 2,000t, and Project TRIBAL is made a reality. As will become a standard for the Fleet, as the project moves into reality the class name is updated to match the lead ship of the class. Thus, the first survey craft is the Ellen Louise Mertz-class.
Huzzah! At long last!
Interesting choice of name, is this randomly generated from the Geologists theme or a personal selection?
January 6, 379
To its own fanfare, the Ellen Louise Mertz is launched on this day. Lieutenant Commander Titus Sabucius Bambalio becomes the first officer of the Navy to hold a command. The ship remains in orbit while the last shakedown tests are conducted, including testing her sensor systems on Terra to confirm their operation.
The results of that test changed everything.
Interesting...not sure if this is good news or bad? Presumably Terra has already been surveyed for TNEs otherwise there would be nothing to mine up, so what else could there be to discover?
Looking forward to more, keep 'em coming!
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Random selection from the 'Famous Geologist' list. It allows me to keep using the list for other geosurvey ships later, as they'll simply be named after the lead ship of the new class.
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A large plot twist here, if the Children are indeed building their own Legions then war on Terra is inevitable. However it cannot be said for sure what technology level the Children have, they may be using very outdated (by now) conventional materials and weapon which the Republican Legion(s) can easily defeat. On the other hand they may have help from the mysterious benefactor we the readers have briefly encountered...
The planting of sleeper agents through the re-education facility is concerning to say the least, obviously there is the shock at the surface level that such a thing has been done but also further evidence that the Children are far more sinister and militarized than they have appeared. Building military forces is one thing, but intelligence spookiness is a far more integrated government apparatus that does not just spring up out of nowhere like a military force (albeit a poorly-trained and organized one) could.
The real question now is who - or what - can survive the coming war on Terra.
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Didn't see that twist coming!
This reminds me a little bit about a pulp sci-fi book called The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apocalypse_Troll
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Well, a rogue AI would explain it, or perhaps not so rogue per se but at any rate a source of violent intent quite apart from the Children themselves. That suggests a tech edge but it seems that the Republic has a production advantage having already achieved parity? If that is so, the Seraph has made an error and ought to have attacked as soon as possible before this advantage could be realized. Now the stage is set for a devastating confrontation, but the odds for the protagonists get better with every passing construction cycle.
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Didn't see that twist coming!
This reminds me a little bit about a pulp sci-fi book called The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apocalypse_Troll
Interesting book summary! I'll say that there is no time-travel involved, but there is an asshole AI. He isn't omnicidal, but he isn't nearly the people person that he thinks he is.
Well, a rogue AI would explain it, or perhaps not so rogue per se but at any rate a source of violent intent quite apart from the Children themselves. That suggests a tech edge but it seems that the Republic has a production advantage having already achieved parity? If that is so, the Seraph has made an error and ought to have attacked as soon as possible before this advantage could be realized. Now the stage is set for a devastating confrontation, but the odds for the protagonists get better with every passing construction cycle.
You're correct in your thinking. Seraph believes that it has a technological edge, and it initially had a production edge but started producing units at a later point then the Republic. However, once the Republic got a good look at the tonnage disparity, they've started putting a lot of effort into building up the Legions.
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Lord Seraph is obsessed with the number six, and has used that as a basis of his forces. Six men form a squad. This squad, or a single vehicle is termed a ‘Level I’ unit. Six of these Level I units forms a platoon, or Level II. Six times again becomes a company. This is a Level III, the basic tactical unit of the Sword.
Six companies forms a battalion, the Level IV. Six battalions form a division, the Level V. Finally, six divisions form the corps of the Sword of the Righteous, with Lord Seraph at its apex as the leader of the Level VI.
6-6-6-6-6-6... the Number of the Seraph!
Orbital bomabrdment is going on toniiiight!!
Admittedly, it does not have the same rhythm as the original, but rogue AIs are not known for their cultural aptitude in any case so it is what we have to work with.
While Project HERMES is still in its initial stages, the Navy’s project specifications calls for a design with significantly higher endurance than the Ellen Louise Mertz class - being capable of maintaining its onboard crew for up to five years at a time and sufficient engineering capacity to handle more failures before requiring the crew to return. Three geological sensors are specified, and a dedicated science department to handle the sensors is proposed. The design is meant to be under 4,000t, twice the size of the first generation.
Any plans to also design refits for the old ships, so they are not completely useless so soon after being commissioned?
January 6, 381
A fourth GFCC comes online. Debate is spirited, but eventually it is agreed to construct at least another four GFCC, doubling the Republic’s capabilities again. The catalyst is a new report that had cross-correlated the active sensor readings from the ships in orbit to determine the Sword’s total military hardware tonnage.
Ground Forces Tonnage:
SPQT: 100,246t
Sword: 614,148t
The difference is staggering and continues to fuel the Republic’s breakneck efforts to expand the Legions.
That is...not good news for the Republic. :o
Research is completed on the Vis Armatus powered armor. Between the high-density Duranium used in its construction and the armor itself, a Legionnaire equipped with Vis Armatus armor would be nearly twice as protected as they currently experience
Actually due to the fact that technological gaps tend to scale with the fourth power, they will be about 9 times as protected accounting for the effects of HD duranium tech on the unit hit points as well as armor. If that sounds like a pretty good deal the answer is yes.
December 14, 382
Dr. Servatius completes his life’s work - a full sequencing of the modern human genome. Unfortunately, his great accomplishment is overshadowed by the first shots of the war between the Republic and the Children.
Uh-oh...
December 14, 382
As Seraph learned too late, while it was very possible to inflame the passions and anger of humans, directing the mob once angered sufficiently is an exercise in futility. A number of the agitators go too far in their work, and a massive mob of 50,000 fanatics attack the nearest Roman enclave. After analysis, Seraph concludes that the Sword is not ready to strike and lets the mob fight on its own, using the opportunity to analyze Roman tactics and equipment.
...oh. Okay. This is probably manageable, an unruly mob against power armor laser rifles, shouldn't be too big of a challenge. Being outnumbered 5-to-1 is a concern, but usually in war discipline and organization counts for a lot and the unruly mob of Children likely have none of this. Just make sure to put the Legions with older technology in the front for, um, logistical reasons, yeah...
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January 1, 380
After a frantic last year, the elections are completed. With the looming threat of attack by the Children coupled with the revelation that the Boni party leader had actively colluded with revealing state secrets that would lead to that attack, it is perhaps no surprise that the Boni party has largely collapsed this cycle.
The Boni gained 1 seat, from 7 to 8.
The Pius collapsed from 18 seats to 8, losing 10 seats.
The Populares gained 4 seats, from 20 to 24.
The Quaesitors gained 3 seats, from 29 to 32.
The Optimates lost 2 seats, from 13 to 11.
The Tutela gained 1 seat, from 13 to 14.
Shouldn't that be the PIUS that has largely collapsed in the top paragraph?
Interesting story tho
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Thanks for the catch - you're correct. I was looking at the wrong party name while typing that line.
As for the battle... well, 3rd time is the charm, right? I've already corrupted my save twice because Aurora 1.13 REALLY doesn't like it when you remove races, so I'm thankful that Steve includes backup saves.
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I'm mildly surprised the Pius still got 8 seats, party loyalty is all well and good but there must be limits.
The Seraph AI does at least have limits, not least of which is not being as clever as it thinks it is - being surprised by the mob for example. I also wonder if it has properly accounted for orbital support, though I fear the Republic may be disappointed if it expects too much from the Mjolnir (at least until the next patch ;) )
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Any plans to also design refits for the old ships, so they are not completely useless so soon after being commissioned?
Yes, there will be refits for the Ellen Louise Mertz-class, but at the end of the day, there's only so much you can do with a 2,000t hull. They'll still have a part to play in early geo-surveys, once humanity expands beyond the solar system.
I'm mildly surprised the Pius still got 8 seats, party loyalty is all well and good but there must be limits.
The Seraph AI does at least have limits, not least of which is not being as clever as it thinks it is - being surprised by the mob for example. I also wonder if it has properly accounted for orbital support, though I fear the Republic may be disappointed if it expects too much from the Mjolnir (at least until the next patch ;) )
Well modern politics has shown that no matter what a party does, there will be loyalists that will vote for them, even when the party leader attempts to foment an insurrection. Also, the basis of the Pius is still valid - non-violence and attempting to do good in society. The remaining party leadership rallied around that, but the scandal of having the party leader and multiple senators arrested for treason and murder shook the party badly.
As for the Mjolnir, it does about what I was expecting from fire support - its a single bombardment attack against infantry, so its like swatting flies with a sledgehammer. There might be a big difference if a 40kt battleship let loose its entire broadside.
That said, it was also just about the only way the Navy could contribute to what is happening on Terra right now, and it allows the Legions and Navy to practice orbital bombardment doctrines.
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More!
I really appreciate the scenes, for a lack of a better description, and the mystery of Seraph and its motives really hooked me. The building suspense has me on the edge of my seat.
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And so it begins 8)
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Exciting times on Terra.
I expect that the Seraph will be in for a nasty surprise upon learning that the recovered scraps it has analyzed were from the pre-TN Legionnaires, although the PWI will still pose a threat to the power armored soldiers. Overconfidence will get the best of this rogue AI, especially combined with a decision to delay another year and allow the Romans to further upgrade their Legions.
But now, the war is upon us, so we shall see how this all works out.
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You would think Seraph would be a bit more cautious, after all it has been a longer gap than usual between purges so its enemies will have had more time to advance.
Then again it is an insane rogue AI, if it could think properly then it wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
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Well in Seraph's worldview, it is the most advanced creation of the most advanced society that Earth has ever seen. Its interactions with the Children have reinforced that the dominant culture is (deliberately) far less advanced then societies were just before the Collapse. The possibility that the Romans are just as advanced as Seraph are miniscule. The possibility that they are now far more advanced is laughable.
Its recovered information from the Five Days War reinforced that the basic Legionnaire was less well equipped then Seraph's forces. and they suffered extensive casualties in the fighting. Delaying too long would allow the Romans to recover and expand their numbers.
In a meta sense, the windows where Seraph has a chance has (probably) mostly closed at this point. While it isn't aware of the massive edge that TN technology gives the Romans, they also significantly expanded their unit production from 2 GFTC (when Seraph first began building up units) to eight. A few years at that level of production and the Legions would be impossible to crack.
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This whole recent post feels like it needs to be like three times longer~ super cool can`t wait for more!~
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So far it is a pretty dominant war for the Romans. The advantage in losses is already a big deal, but it is likely that soon Sword morale will fail and many breakthroughs will occur. The loss of most of their heavy armor will also hurt the Sword badly.
While the presentation as it is works fine for me I would not say no to a more detailed report either. :)
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The Romans are generating 3-5 breakthroughs a cycle currently, even from units not set to frontline assault. This is mostly an outgrowth of the fact that they’re 2-2.5x as large as the units they’re hitting. The combat mechanics favor the larger attacker pretty heavily.
I’ll be doing a meta analysis here when the war is over with my thoughts on the process.
As for more detail, is there anything specific you’re looking for? I’m afraid breakdowns by unit are difficult to add because of how many entries are involved right now. The Romans have 12 types of infantry alone involved in combat because of the different generations. Maybe one of the tools can provide automated analysis from the database?
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While the presentation as it is works fine for me I would not say no to a more detailed report either. :)
Of course you wouldn't. :D
I honestly don't think additional breakdowns would add anything at this stage, for the ongoing battle I think this level is entirely appropriate. For the post-war analysis I think a bit more detail about which units did well, what worked and what didn't, this could be either in-universe or meta- analysing the game. Or both! Even better if the two analyses reach different conclusions due to the difference between what the Romans 'see' and what we as players know about the game.
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As for more detail, is there anything specific you’re looking for? I’m afraid breakdowns by unit are difficult to add because of how many entries are involved right now. The Romans have 12 types of infantry alone involved in combat because of the different generations. Maybe one of the tools can provide automated analysis from the database?
I would never suggest taking such a burden on yourself or any author. Some people will do this anyways and have fun, mad though they may be, but for most this is too much grognarding I think. Again, it bears repeating that the current approach is entirely fine and good if that is how you prefer to approach it.
However from the narrative side, if you wanted to pursue it, highlighting a specific formation or commander and adding a narrative (which may or may not be closely tied to the actual game events) can be a fun way to add narrative depth. Highlighting a specific event (in-game or imagined) is another approach, for example the attack/counterattack which led to destruction of most of the Sword's remaining tank forces on Day 4 would be ripe for expansion, as a significant tank battle a la Prokhorovka for example.
Of course, I must emphasize that you should do absolutely nothing on my account. ;) As the author the story is entirely yours, and as readers we enjoy it in whatever form it takes. All I offer are ideas to stimulate the imagination. Also sometimes I make bad jokes.
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Well, the good news for data analysis (no worries, I like doing it as well, I just don't want to spend forever on the process) is that I can find and export the information needed from the database. Where I'm currently struggling is how to take a line like below:
8x Chosen 6x Purified 6x Purified (Anti-tank Weapon) 5x Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon) 5x Direct Combat Supplies 4x M808 Scorpion MBT 4x YGGDRASIL Mark IX Mantis Combat Walker 4x Chosen (Squad Support Weapon) 3x Purified (Squad Support Weapon) 1x M650 Mastodon APC
As one cell in Excel and getting it split into rows such as
And then get Excel to sort things so that I have one column for Chosen (with the correct values), one column for Purified. The problem is that the logging in the database sorts from highest to lowest number of kills, so one turn the first value might be Chosen, and the next it might be Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon).
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Well, the good news for data analysis (no worries, I like doing it as well, I just don't want to spend forever on the process) is that I can find and export the information needed from the database. Where I'm currently struggling is how to take a line like below:
8x Chosen 6x Purified 6x Purified (Anti-tank Weapon) 5x Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon) 5x Direct Combat Supplies 4x M808 Scorpion MBT 4x YGGDRASIL Mark IX Mantis Combat Walker 4x Chosen (Squad Support Weapon) 3x Purified (Squad Support Weapon) 1x M650 Mastodon APC
As one cell in Excel and getting it split into rows such as
And then get Excel to sort things so that I have one column for Chosen (with the correct values), one column for Purified. The problem is that the logging in the database sorts from highest to lowest number of kills, so one turn the first value might be Chosen, and the next it might be Chosen (Anti-Tank Weapon).
As always there is an Excel formula to solve that. For once not a massively complicated one, link below explains it better than I can;
https://exceljet.net/formula/split-text-with-delimiter
Very fortunately the Aurora database puts a double space between each item, so " " can be used as the delimiter and the formula in the link above will split it all up.
If you then want to further split said bits up (so turn a single cell saying 8 Chosen into two cells, one say 8 the other saying Chosen) then this will do it;
https://exceljet.net/formula/split-text-and-numbers
Of course you doubtless could combine the two and produce a single super formula that will utterly baffle future-you when you look at it and have no idea what is going on. Depends how efficient you want to be. ;)
Why yes I have had to manipulate wonky single string datasets and wrangle them into Excel, how ever did you guess?
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After Action Report - OR - Why did this game die?
There were two major reasons why the game ended up dying. The first and major one was Wrath of the Righteous dropping and losing several months of gaming time to the siren call of Pathfinder. By the time I was fully done with the game, I had lost the thread and motivation to continue this one.
The second was that early game ground combat is far different in Aurora C# vs Aurora VB. In the old system, you would see surprise results that you could write your narrative around, like a Heavy Assault Battalion losing 23% effectiveness while mauling a Low Tech Infantry division. That provided opportunity to write a narrative around the division's desperate ploy to entrap and destroy a company of TN-equipped tanks.
Unfortunately, in C# you don't see that sort of behavior. Generally two armies grind against each other as individual blocks until one side fails. The result is always mathematically predictable once you know the inputs, down to the losses you can expect to receive.
Combat is also surprising - during the 5 Days War, I was expecting the mobs of PWL/Light Infantry Armor with no tech bonuses to die quickly against Personal Weapons, better armor and CAP weapons. Instead, they were tarpitting the Legions quite effectively. I had planned to deploy similar mobs in the battle between the Legions and the Sword, but reconsidered as I think they might very well have tipped the war in the Sword's favor.
Orbital bombardment was another disappointment. I was expecting a bit more oomph then I saw from the Mjolnir platforms - they rarely scored hits or even kills, and their attacks were less effective then the artillery formations. It taught me that if I want to make use of orbital fire support, to only bother using my biggest beam warships.
Finally, I also learned that C# ground combat really needs to be organized at a far higher level then Battalions - something that I was holding on to from VB Aurora. My next game will use Regiments/Brigades as the smallest tactical unit as there is too much busy work in organizing all the battalions in a division, particularly when dealing with replenishing damaged units.
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Hope you start a new game soon, with the new version out as well. This was an interesting setup!
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I’m just waiting on the next release as the ground forces changes there are pretty substantial for QoL.