Posted by: StarshipCactus
« on: February 16, 2023, 03:36:53 AM »Well that can't be good. I hope one of those hidden Jump Points the Colonial Union has leads to their space so they can launch an attack if the new threat declares on the Alliance.
Posted by: Voltbot
« on: February 11, 2023, 07:06:48 AM »Well... It escalated quite quickly. I'm afraid that it's gonna work out the same as with WW2 German population. Even after surviving mass bombardment they didn't revolt. Only troops in the streets of Berlin finally stopped the war.
Posted by: Kurt
« on: February 06, 2023, 07:47:16 PM »Everyone, I'm back home and doing well, although my mobility is limited and I can't sit at the computer for any length of time.
Over the next several weeks I expect to be able to spend increasing amounts of time in front of the computer and should be able to get back to posting at some point.
Thanks for the well-wishing. I appreciate the support!
Kurt
Over the next several weeks I expect to be able to spend increasing amounts of time in front of the computer and should be able to get back to posting at some point.
Thanks for the well-wishing. I appreciate the support!
Kurt
Posted by: Hawkeye
« on: February 01, 2023, 01:15:15 PM »Take care, your health comes first - always!
Posted by: Zed 6
« on: February 01, 2023, 10:30:54 AM »Get well soon. Great fiction!
Posted by: StarshipCactus
« on: February 01, 2023, 02:24:04 AM »Best wishes for your health.
Posted by: Gyrfalcon
« on: February 01, 2023, 01:31:21 AM »Sorry to hear that - get well soon!
Posted by: ZimRathbone
« on: January 31, 2023, 09:42:46 PM »Take care of yourself Kurt - we'll still be here when you recover!
Posted by: Andrew
« on: January 31, 2023, 06:36:10 PM »Best wishes for a speedy recovery
Posted by: Kurt
« on: January 31, 2023, 02:26:44 PM »Everyone, there is going to be a bit of an interruption in the Cold War Campaign. I have some health issues that have to be dealt with and I won't have access to my computer for a while. I should be back in about a week or so, maybe a bit longer.
I fully intend to return to writing this campaign, but it may be a while before I can sit at the computer for any length of time.
Kurt
I fully intend to return to writing this campaign, but it may be a while before I can sit at the computer for any length of time.
Kurt
Posted by: StarshipCactus
« on: January 23, 2023, 02:37:15 AM »They don't have much of a military left at this point lol. Well, ground forces aside. Can you bombard ground forces from orbit and avoid killing civilians? I wonder what % of the population or military you need to kill to make them surrender?
Posted by: Kurt
« on: January 22, 2023, 10:34:39 AM »Wonder whether it'll be a coup or a racial suicide for the Lothari.
So far their military has been willing to commit suicide rather than disobey orders.
Posted by: Garfunkel
« on: January 22, 2023, 06:28:16 AM »Wonder whether it'll be a coup or a racial suicide for the Lothari.
Posted by: Kurt
« on: January 03, 2023, 09:51:42 AM »1) Kill the destroyers
2) Kill the pods with a small craft strike
The pods also cost a LOT, the fleet did not have full loads for the destroyers. It is likely that the pod strike cost as much as half a dozen battlecruisers. They are also now unavailable to destroy WP defenses. Also in this case the fighters of the Alliance fleet would probably have been enough to win the battle.
From what I recall deployment and activation is somewhat slow so if the enemy don't attack a fixed point you are defending then using them is hard. They also have targeting limitation unless under direct control of the ship launching them, which limits the number you can deploy,
The pods in this case cost almost as much as twelve fully loaded missile battlecruisers of the latest Alliance design. They are quicker to build, of course, and don't cost anything to support, which is a significant concern for the Alliance as their maintenance percentage is currently at 42%, which isn't excessively high, but when it gets over 50% it becomes difficult to do everything they need to do. And, as you note, they are difficult to use effectively and it is entirely possible that you could waste a lot of them if the enemy does something unexpected.
You are also correct to point out that there is an opportunity cost involved. The primary use of SBM pods is to eliminate or weaken warp point defenses, and by using them here the Alliance won't have them to penetrate the Lothari warp point. However, the Alliance is vast and there are a lot of pods being shipped to the front lines, some of which will be ready for use next month.
Posted by: Kurt
« on: January 03, 2023, 09:44:00 AM »So, is there a tactical counter to SBM pod spam? Because basically 15 destroyers wiped out an entire fleet on their own - if they had a full complement of pods, it would have been a total wipe.
You are correct, but a couple of notes. Using pod ships like that requires pre-planning and the enemy sticking to your plan. The pods have to be deployed from drive-field down ships, then activated, at which time they follow their program. If the Lothari had done something unexpected, it would have resulted in wasting some or all of the pods. Also, if the Lothari had been able to send in enough fighters to overwhelm the Alliance's fighter force, they could have kept their own fleet out of range of the pods and used their fighters to pick them off, or damage or destroy the Alliance fleet.
Basically, the Alliance had the perfect setup for the use of the pod ships. The Lothari weren't expecting them and had never used them themselves, so they weren't watching for them in spite of the fact that they knew what they existed. The Lothari were coming for the Alliance fleet, allowing the Alliance to sit on the defensive, which gave the pod ships time to deploy their pods and program them. The Lothari then acted predictably, which the Alliance took advantage of.
In a more fluid situation, where the enemy is aware of the existence and use of pod-layers, it becomes much more difficult to use them effectively. If this was a meeting battle in deep space, then the enemy would have seen the pod-laying destroyers drop their drive fields and would have been able to react. The only plausible reason for this activity in deep space would have been to either arm/rearm gunboats or deploy cargo from a cargo hold. This would allow the enemy to retreat from the pod-layers, or to vector in fighters to attack the drive-field down ships.
I generally try to avoid having everything go right for one side, but in this case the Lothari are arrogant and convinced of their superiority, and desperate as well. They fell right into the trap.
Kurt
