Is there a program you use to generate those ground force org charts? Those are slick!
Looking forward to the next installment, I liked Steve's WH40k campaign and this one looks pretty good also.
Is there a program you use to generate those ground force org charts? Those are slick!
Looking forward to the next installment, I liked Steve's WH40k campaign and this one looks pretty good also.
I make them by hand in paint.net. The first couple times I made them it took a while, but once I figure out how to arrange things the way I want with spacing etc. it goes fairly quickly. I also have a template sheet of all the icons that I copy and paste from.
I too liked Steve's WH40K campaign, and while I'm not trying to emulate his work per se (the railguns are a coincidence, I swear!) I won't deny a certain measure of inspiration was taken.
Is there a program you use to generate those ground force org charts? Those are slick!
Looking forward to the next installment, I liked Steve's WH40k campaign and this one looks pretty good also.
I make them by hand in paint.net. The first couple times I made them it took a while, but once I figure out how to arrange things the way I want with spacing etc. it goes fairly quickly. I also have a template sheet of all the icons that I copy and paste from.
I too liked Steve's WH40K campaign, and while I'm not trying to emulate his work per se (the railguns are a coincidence, I swear!) I won't deny a certain measure of inspiration was taken.
Will you share your icon templates? :D
Hole shab that is some of the best sci fi i have ever read.
I'm seriously enjoying this. It just so happens that my current game is utilizing a very similar tech structure to yours and I find it interesting how our ship designs differ. I guess I like small ships better... I should probably post an update to the Oblivion corvette thread.
I am absolutely loving this! I love how you are mixing and blending different themes to create a really interesting story. Some Roman undertones and some 40k vibes on top, really puts me in mind of Caesar's Legion from Fallout New Vegas. Really hoping to see how your veteran officers develop and build their stories, and yours!
I am enjoying this very much. Good story telling and interesting background for player race.
How do you identify original names of the systems from interrogations? Do you check the database?
Well this is clearly magnificent and I am glad you shared the link to tempt me back over here. The pacing is terrifying of course, but I suppose allowances must be made
I would say Spotlight #1 on weapon development was a particular highlight, some might even say it was an excessively baroque level of detail and all the better for it. ;) That said every update has been scattered with wonderful little gems and nice turns of phrase, it was indeed a treat to read.
Destroyer Squadron 4 (attached): Champion, Covenanter, Cry, Ye Wicked, Final JudgmentAs always my first reaction is to think that Cry, Ye Wicked is two separate ships, one of which has a mildly annoyed crew.
Second Fleet Scouting Force, Frigate Squadron 2: Bat Country, Battery, Blastwave, ExecutorBat Country remains a very interesting name for a ship.
reverberations from the 152 mm weapons batteries firing repeatedly were judged to be excellent for crew morale.It is good to see that even in the 5th millennium people are still using odd numbers because they correspond to how big something would be in imperial units. Standards must be maintained. (https://i.imgur.com/DYAEiOu.gif)
Battles are much more exciting when the enemy actually shoots back. Who knew? Do we have another selection of summaries from an exhaustive and over-detailed Battle Report to look forward to, clearly there are lessons one could learn from the first major battle which wasn't a one-sided massacre, but are the Legion in the mood to learn?
Destroyer Squadron 4 (attached): Champion, Covenanter, Cry, Ye Wicked, Final JudgmentAs always my first reaction is to think that Cry, Ye Wicked is two separate ships, one of which has a mildly annoyed crew.
Second Fleet Scouting Force, Frigate Squadron 2: Bat Country, Battery, Blastwave, ExecutorBat Country remains a very interesting name for a ship.
reverberations from the 152 mm weapons batteries firing repeatedly were judged to be excellent for crew morale.It is good to see that even in the 5th millennium people are still using odd numbers because they correspond to how big something would be in imperial units. Standards must be maintained. (https://i.imgur.com/DYAEiOu.gif)
An Aether Rift seems.. bad? I've not read up on the C# changes in detail to avoid tempting myself back in, but it does seem ominous by name alone.
The traditional economic crunch has been maintained I see, a few years of tightened belts and shuffling bits about until balance is restored to the mining industry.
The JR-1014s do seem a little bit suicide scout, aside from speed the lack of name is a solid clue. If you don't care enough to give something a name you will either have huge number of them, or you don't expect them to last long enough to get attached to them.
Loving this :) Would love to see a 'State of the Navy' type post. Maybe like a breakdown of all the ships you have along with their class and assignments. What does the admiralty think looking back on the first ten years of the trans-newtonian navy and what are their plans for the next ten! Partly I just want to give you ideas for easier posts so I have more to read so I can get my fix! ;)
as sooner or later I must advance the plot in the midst of everything.You really don't. Have the confidence to focus on the good stuff instead of wasting time on such trivial inanities as "plot". ;) :D
I was supposed to have an alert to ping me about new updates on this thread. It failed miserably to work so apologies for missing the last few chapters.
The Hellfires continue to underwhelm, the maintenance requirements on the weapon seem to be crippling it's long-ranged sniping concept. I do look forward to the political fight inside the Legion about this design, there is a case to be made each way. Is the answer a refit with one less gun and the space saved used for larger maintenance storage?
The Osprey-class earning it's name was anice little bit of fillervaluable and useful spotlight, so more of that would be good. As would something on the Legion's underwhelming (and fighter obsessed) Secret Projects division.
as sooner or later I must advance the plot in the midst of everything.You really don't. Have the confidence to focus on the good stuff instead of wasting time on such trivial inanities as "plot". ;) :D
Such barbarism is unfit the flag officers of Duranium Legion, it is clear that such issue should have been decided by duel with swords or pistols
Great update as usual! I am watching with great interest to rise to prominence of the Styx family, between Lord Captain Selene Styx and her growing accolades earned in a high command position, Captain Leto Styx commanding Domination to great effect in the Battle of the Belaire Jump Point and Commander Aion Styx in command of oft argued over Hellfire. Based on that last assignment I suspect that the Styx family may well be highly placed in the pro-Hellfire faction and with their growing influence they are probably lending it considerable political weight.
As for the anti-Hellfire faction, if they keep up these antics then I believe a purge of the officer corp may be in order! ;)
I believe the correct balance has been struck (literally in the case of Admiral Macaria), continue to research particle beams as a long term project while heading for the 203mm rail gun for the next generation. That said I wonder if the Hellfire debate is actually distracting from the real issue with the Legion's fleets - the Bellerophons. The operations in Belaire proved the value of a long ranged sensor, so the capability is valuable, but it is clearly one that the enemy fully understands and targets as a priority. Just on a practical level it is going to get expensive building so many new ships to replace all the losses, so should ship design and building efforts not be focused on either a new improved variant or a wholesale replacement?
the factionalism within the general staff is dangerously close to degenerating into a hockey league.
That aside the latest round of the Hellfire debate was adroitly handled, the Staff and the Admirals far from the front need someway to stay in touch with the realities of combat, what better way than gratuitous physical violence between the senior officers while their staff write increasingly verbose and elaborate reports?
I believe the correct balance has been struck (literally in the case of Admiral Macaria), continue to research particle beams as a long term project while heading for the 203mm rail gun for the next generation. That said I wonder if the Hellfire debate is actually distracting from the real issue with the Legion's fleets - the Bellerophons. The operations in Belaire proved the value of a long ranged sensor, so the capability is valuable, but it is clearly one that the enemy fully understands and targets as a priority. Just on a practical level it is going to get expensive building so many new ships to replace all the losses, so should ship design and building efforts not be focused on either a new improved variant or a wholesale replacement?
I have no way of knowing for sure, but I suspect that it will come out some ways down the line that the members of the high command who are the most vehemently anti-Hellfire, secured their promotions for work that they did designing the Bellerophons when they were junior officers. If so, then they are trying to distract from their own failure to equip it with sufficient defensive systems. Although I am reading this chronicle at the same pace as everyone else and so am not an expert, if I have correctly understood the philosophy of the Legion, then these actions have only compounded the failure, as although personal valor and glory is important, victory or defeat only truly matters when measured as part of the whole. First they failed in their task but far worse was when they then failed in their duty, for when they realized that they had introduced a weakness to the Legion, instead of admitting it and working to correct it they tried to conceal it and their involvement. In so doing they would have knowingly allowed a weakness to remain in the Legion and that is likely unforgivable.
I could be completely wrong or have misunderstood the philosophy of the Legion in some way but I do think that the above explanation is, at the very least, a distinct possibility. Or maybe it will just be an un-provable narrative that the pro-Hellfire faction will use to justify purging their enemies in the officer corps! ;)
I guess we will just have to wait and see if I at least came close. ;D
Were this to happen it would only exacerbate the factionalism tenfold, as you might guess from the proclivity for detailed reports full of statistics and analysis the Legion high command is already a baseball league in all except the sport played. The fighting over precisely which league sport they do not actually play may just tear apart the Legion where lesser debates have failed.If only they were a Cricket league, same ridiculous amounts of statistics but a more majestic pace. As an added advantage the fights amongst senior officers would be conducted under Queensbury Rules so there would be fewer permanent casualties.
Were this to happen it would only exacerbate the factionalism tenfold, as you might guess from the proclivity for detailed reports full of statistics and analysis the Legion high command is already a baseball league in all except the sport played. The fighting over precisely which league sport they do not actually play may just tear apart the Legion where lesser debates have failed.If only they were a Cricket league, same ridiculous amounts of statistics but a more majestic pace. As an added advantage the fights amongst senior officers would be conducted under Queensbury Rules so there would be fewer permanent casualties.
Perhaps a game of brockian ultra cricket?
I think that this engagement soundly proves that the Hellfires are fully up to the task that they were designed for, namely countering any hostile beam ships that out range the Legions main line combatants. It also goes a long way towards proving that the difficulty they suffered in earlier engagements was down to the fact that the squadron was not up to full strength at the time. On the other hand, the battle did further confirm that the current design is lacking in two specific areas, armor and sufficient storage of spare parts and ammunition. Even a marginal increase in both would lead them being far more effective in their intended roll of performing long range gunnery duels.
I am quite surprised by Lord Captain Selene Styx's position on the Hellfire debate. It makes me wonder if she is the black sheep in her family or if that might be her relative, Commander Aion Styx. I also hope that her choice in faction wont wind up being a lodestone around the neck of this rising star!
I am indeed eagerly anticipating the upcoming Naval Conference. Not only what conclusions might be reached but indeed, what changes might be proposed! Perhaps the current generation of jump ships will be replaced with ones with dedicated point defense batteries to free up space for more fire power on the Legions main line ships? Maybe they will try to kill two birds with one stone, moving the large sensors into the jump ships thus freeing the smaller frigates to focus more on what ships of their size are best at, low intensity combat and convoy raiding. Perhaps a parallel line of sensor picket destroyers to work alongside the Charybdis class? Will the conclusions reached point to purely doctrinal and conceptual reform?
Should the jump ships be disarmed entirely and reclassified as mobile jump gates, following the combat ships when moving around in Legion space but staying on the secure side of hostile jump points?
They may decide that the Bellerophons should be detached from the fleet and be held well back before any major engagement. Or maybe a new standing order instructing Bellerophon captains to turn off their ships active sensors once within engagement range so as to not present such an obvious target.
As for the Hellfire debate, maybe the anti-Hellfire faction can be placated by more clearly defining the class as specialist support ships, meant to be brought in when their unique capabilities are called for and not main line combatants?
So many possibilities!
@nuclearslurpee I love this fiction so much! Thank you for writing it. Is there any chance of it continuing even after 1. 13 comes out? Even if means you reboot it for the new patch I would love to read The Official Chronicle of the Second Duranium Legion!
After briefly being amazed that such seemingly-superfluous information had actually been useful in some small capacity,That is indeed one of the most amazing thing to have occured thus far in the story.
Commander Hera Thrace made a note in her report suggesting that the use of boarding marines to commit acts of piracy could be a lucrative source of material rewards for the Legion in future conflicts, perhaps preferable to outright destruction and salvage of civilian vessels.As you note later, piratical raiding will always be popular amongst some.
Here it can be clearly seen just how far off-course Broken Wind was driven due to admittedly poor helmsmanship, the greatest enemy of the Legion or at least its most successful opponent.If only the Legion would devote a fraction of the effort they spend on fighting about Hellfire frigates to training their helm officers all of this could be avoided. But where would the honour, glory or indeed fun be in that course of action?
It is said that there are times when a picture is worth a thousand words. This was not one of those times.Excellent word choice. (https://i.imgur.com/DYAEiOu.gif)
Once again, the fleet closed to a precise distance with no errors at 2249, an accomplishment which was likely to earn Captain Gelanor some measure of honors for her prowess in commanding the famously fickle helm officers of the Legion Navy.This seems to be tempting fate.
As the frigate squadrons were rejoining their parent fleets, an unfortunate miscommunication between the helm officers of the various squadrons led to several destroyers accidentally closing to 172,000 km of the Belaire fleet.Told you it was tempting fate.
Indeed, the only reason a second outbreak of fisticuffs was not had was the equally staunch neutrality of the Lord Admiral, who sharply criticized his subordinate for clear overreach without taking any position on the subject.Disappointing decision by the Lord Admiral. He could have kept his neutrality on the subject while still allowing the fist fight to go ahead.
In other news, expect a shift towards a slightly more majestic posting schedule in the short term as I shall plan only one update midweek next, largely to allow reconstruction of a posting buffer as we will soon turn to the eagerly anticipated Naval Conference which promises to draw great interest from many quarters.Who could possibly object to a more majestically paced schedule being adopted?
Commander Hera Thrace made a note in her report suggesting that the use of boarding marines to commit acts of piracy could be a lucrative source of material rewards for the Legion in future conflicts, perhaps preferable to outright destruction and salvage of civilian vessels.As you note later, piratical raiding will always be popular amongst some.
Here it can be clearly seen just how far off-course Broken Wind was driven due to admittedly poor helmsmanship, the greatest enemy of the Legion or at least its most successful opponent.If only the Legion would devote a fraction of the effort they spend on fighting about Hellfire frigates to training their helm officers all of this could be avoided. But where would the honour, glory or indeed fun be in that course of action?
Once again, the fleet closed to a precise distance with no errors at 2249, an accomplishment which was likely to earn Captain Gelanor some measure of honors for her prowess in commanding the famously fickle helm officers of the Legion Navy.This seems to be tempting fate.As the frigate squadrons were rejoining their parent fleets, an unfortunate miscommunication between the helm officers of the various squadrons led to several destroyers accidentally closing to 172,000 km of the Belaire fleet.Told you it was tempting fate.
In other news, expect a shift towards a slightly more majestic posting schedule in the short term as I shall plan only one update midweek next, largely to allow reconstruction of a posting buffer as we will soon turn to the eagerly anticipated Naval Conference which promises to draw great interest from many quarters.Who could possibly object to a more majestically paced schedule being adopted?
This recent conflict has indeed shifted the terms on the Hellfire debate somewhat, perhaps enough to sway a few waverers though I feel sure the diehards on both sides are far too entrenched at this point to let something as trivial as 'facts' change the opinion. I do look forward to the debate. And by debate I mean fight, ideally a knife fight on a Flash Gordon style spike-covered spinning table while Brian Blessed cheers them on.
On the Bellerophons I would argue that a full squadron is generally an advantage, partly because it allows more space to be covered when there is a need for some recon and partly because they do tend to die alarmingly quickly. At some point the materials saved by squeezing the sensors into a frigate hull will be more than offset by the cost of building so many new ships. Same sensor outfit on a Charybdis sized hull would allow more armour and a few more self defence guns. It would also allow the Excelsior class to be repurposed as independent raiders for hunting down and capturing enemy ships (or just disposed of if the pirate idea does not find favour).
In helmsman school, the helm officers learn about such important concepts, indeed fundamental building blocks of civilization itself, as "right on red". This has caused some understandable confusion when facing the Belaire lasers, as well as some less than understandable confusion among the command officers as to why helm officers abruptly turning to starboard somehow advances the fleet 5,000 km closer to their targets.
In helmsman school, the helm officers learn about such important concepts, indeed fundamental building blocks of civilization itself, as "right on red". This has caused some understandable confusion when facing the Belaire lasers, as well as some less than understandable confusion among the command officers as to why helm officers abruptly turning to starboard somehow advances the fleet 5,000 km closer to their targets.
I wish to suggest that the CO of the navigation school be named Leslie "Left Hand Down a Bit" Phillips, after the infamously poor navigator and hazard to shipping from the Navy Lark.
Another great update as usual! A bit light on the political side but I imagine everyone is on best behavior at the moment and playing their hand close to the chest so that they remain invited too and can lay all their cards down at the Naval Conference. I suspect that soon another round of ammunition will be added to the Hellfire debate, one side claiming that a battle commander saw a need for their capabilities but none were available and that the only solution is to order additional hulls, the other that their lack of staying power has proven that the experiment has failed.
One thing that is beyond doubt is that the Legions officer corp will at least agree that a new, dedicated commerce raider is of vital importance.
The line officers will be adamant that such tasks are beneath them or at the very least, not worth the deployment of the mighty warships that they command, ships meant for battle and glory not poking holes in freighters. The flag officers and the high command will likely realize that it was a minor miracle, combined with the ineptitude of the Belaire navy leadership that the enemy wasn't able to capitalize of the Legions main battle fleets being out of position, distracted by unarmed auxiliaries. If the high command is clever they will also realize that it was not the fault of the fleet commanders that they were out of position, they saw an opportunity to hurt the enemy and seized it like any good Legion officer should. If however, the legion had a small force of dedicated commerce raiders then the opportunity would not have been missed and the main fleets would not have had a reason to be out of position at all.
I do wonder what doctrine will win out for any forth coming raider fleet. Lone hunters? Wolf packs? Higher speed or more stealth? Fewer, more powerful units or smaller but more numerous ones? Will they be designed with powerful sensors so that they can be the navy's next generation of eyes and ears, maybe even replacing the Bellerophons? Only time will tell!
You have taken some unpromising material (blowing up several auxiliary convoys) and made something enjoyable out of it, so good work there.
I think the Commerce Raider debate could get at least as heated as the Hellfire discussions. It is a similar situation in some ways, do you want more standard fleet units or some situationally useful specialists. The 'standard' fleet units are more than capable of serving as ad hoc commerce raiders so it is arguable all the Fleets really need is more ships, having a spare squadron they can despatch to run down such units without compromising the abilities of the rest of the fleet. Specialist raiders can't stand up in the line of battle, or at least not as well, so will have to be carefully managed and held back at some points.
The counter-argument is that a specialist commerce raider would do a better job, it could be faster and with better endurance so it could run down enemy convoys faster and have the speed to escape any hostile fleets. Add in a capability to launch probes through Jump Points and maybe they even could go raiding deep into enemy territory (if the enemy co-operates by not defending their JPs).
Dedicated raiders that could capture enemy ships and drag them home might be the clinching argument. You would not need many of them, most commerce destruction would still be done by the regular fleets, but a single squadron of 'ship snatchers' sounds a useful capability.
In any event, bring on the political infighting for which the Legion is justly famed.
OOC Note: Yes, finally we have arrived at the long-awaited Naval Conference, albeit not in the manner anyone expected I should think. As we prepare ourselves for several updates of fierce debate, mundane technical intricacies, and pointless pontification, what better way to transition to such matters than with a sudden plot twist which is likely to hang over our heads unresolved for the entire duration, driving the readership to demand plot advancement and resolution whilst the author steadfastly insists on writing a political drama spinoff? Then again, perhaps the readership by know expects such things from an author who regularly leaves plot threads hanging while writing about convoy raids and mineral economics, thus this latest development is perhaps not so unexpected as it might first appear? We can only wait and see what the future holds...A masterful use of the Butterfly Effect approach to writing. Lots of people do plot, far too few focus on technical intricacies and mineral economics, so how could I possibly complain about such a correct approach to priorities?
Looks like one side of the Hellfire debate has decided that they werent making their points loud enough...
A masterful use of the Butterfly Effect approach to writing. Lots of people do plot, far too few focus on technical intricacies and mineral economics, so how could I possibly complain about such a correct approach to priorities?
That said you have no forfeited any right to complain about plot advancement (or the lack thereof) and I will remind you of it. ;)
Perhaps - ah, but which side then? Disruptor is a railgun cruiser, perhaps suggesting something, but then again aboard the Disruptor we have (had?) Captain Gelanor, a known Hellfire advocate, Lord Captain Styx who is a fierce opponent, and Lord Admiral Criasus who is a staunch neutralist and is respected by all. Quite a mix here, and thus far no clear way to tell who, if anyone, was targeted - and who, if anyone, was caught in the crossfire. Clearly, much additional speculation and debate is required.Clearly this is the work of the Carrier Strike faction.
Or its a double-bluff by someonePerhaps - ah, but which side then? Disruptor is a railgun cruiser, perhaps suggesting something, but then again aboard the Disruptor we have (had?) Captain Gelanor, a known Hellfire advocate, Lord Captain Styx who is a fierce opponent, and Lord Admiral Criasus who is a staunch neutralist and is respected by all. Quite a mix here, and thus far no clear way to tell who, if anyone, was targeted - and who, if anyone, was caught in the crossfire. Clearly, much additional speculation and debate is required.Clearly this is the work of the Carrier Strike faction.
Of course! This is clearly the Railgun faction, pretending to be the Hellfire faction, making a false flag attack by dressing up as the Carrier Strike faction while blaming it all on the Missile faction. Their cunning plan being to discredit all other possible factions in one elaborate move. It is most cunning.Or its a double-bluff by someonePerhaps - ah, but which side then? Disruptor is a railgun cruiser, perhaps suggesting something, but then again aboard the Disruptor we have (had?) Captain Gelanor, a known Hellfire advocate, Lord Captain Styx who is a fierce opponent, and Lord Admiral Criasus who is a staunch neutralist and is respected by all. Quite a mix here, and thus far no clear way to tell who, if anyone, was targeted - and who, if anyone, was caught in the crossfire. Clearly, much additional speculation and debate is required.Clearly this is the work of the Carrier Strike faction.
Of course! This is clearly the Railgun faction, pretending to be the Hellfire faction, making a false flag attack by dressing up as the Carrier Strike faction while blaming it all on the Missile faction. Their cunning plan being to discredit all other possible factions in one elaborate move. It is most cunning.
The agenda for the Conference looks mouthwatering, I look forward with great interest to seeing how it unfolds. I am also flagging up the conferencejunketschool tripvisit to the dockyards as being a massive security risk, I'll be mildly surprised if all the attendees survive that and nothing blows up.
One notes in passing that perhaps not all of these reasons are necessarily in keeping with the traditions of wisdom and discretion.
One notes in passing that perhaps not all of these reasons are necessarily in keeping with the traditions of wisdom and discretion.
And it is left as an exercise to the reader to figure out which ones?
Ok so I finally went through all of this... And I have a bunch of stuff to say.
Firstly, you put a lot of heart into this and it shows. That's some quality of work right there and it's only 10 years of gameplay that you wrote 5 bloody pages (well maybe a bit less if you cut out the comments :D) about, something I'd never been able to do myself and do not understand how you did it but you did it.
Also loved the particle beam stuff, that was some top-tier technobabble and on top of that illustrated with cool pictures I can only dream of having the patience and talent to draw.
Why there wasn't more of this? The second spotlight honestly felt underwhelming after this one.
I defnitely care more about awesomeness of technological development than whether it was 6 or 8 missiles that impacted against the armor and how the commander of this ship was called, so personally wouldn't mind if less work would go to battle reports and more into things like this in the future.
Speaking of which... You made, rather boring after having done it several times, precursor outpost assault something interesting to read about which was a neat surprise. On the other hand, sometimes your reports felt overdetailed and I struggled to keep track of what was actually happening between all those exact numbers of hits, ranges, amount of ships and commanders listed. If you insist of keeping the detail level the same, at least you could make some of these up to save yourself time and stamina on keeping track of all these details to write about cooler stuff like particle beams or whatever tech comes next, it's not like I'm going to break into your computer and check whether those 6 missiles were indeed 6 and not 10 and then hate on you for lying ;) (unless that's what you are already doing 8))
The one thing I am missing from this AAR, though (and I'm sure it won't come as a surprise for you, you already know my approach well ;)) is more roleplay in terms of how the society of the Legion is shaped and how it evolves and is shaped by the interstellar era, what the aliens it fights actually are and what they want, why are we suffering, from where we came, where are we going, what is the meaning of life (ok maybe it doesn't have to be that extensive... maybe 8)). The conference (as well as some previous debates mentioned for example the never ending drama with particle beams) was a very pleasant surprise and definitely a step in the right direction IMO, loved that part, but it's all about the military forces again, meanwhile I can't help but wonder how the society is shaped, how does the life of an average citizen looks like, what are popular opinions and beliefs, is the population happy with Legion's xenocidal approach or are there rebels opposing it, how Belaire even look like and how their civilisation and morals are shaped, what are Mongolians and what purpose did their ruins serve... (I'm sure xenoarcheologists came up with some conclusions, right?)
If navy is your main focus and point of interest then of course it is fine, we all like different things, but a few spotlights about the topics I listed here and there would be awesome. To close on this, certain aspects of your AAR remind me of "Remembrances of Earth's past" trilogy (from which I'vestolenborroweda lotsome concepts ::)), in the sense that it also had its conferences, politics, famous commanders, naval business (I swear Legion's conference strongly resembles that part from the Dark Forest book when humanity organises space forces and tries to come up with doctrines that'd shape its future for decades to come), but at the same time it had its sociological and philosophical issues and cosmic mysteries to solve, something I am missing here.
All in all, keep up the good work, if you follow my suggestions that's awesome, if not I'm still going to read and enjoy it anyways, currently awaiting the conference to actually happen and I'm kinda hyped I guess.
Side note: found it interesting that the Legion also kinda looks like the one from New Vegas which everyone hates, except this time seems like it went with gender equality so the Caesar's Legion's vibes were weakened a bit, one less reason to hate it but come on, everyone knows NCR is superior and in aurora terms it looks like Invaders might resemble them in this campaign metaphorically - able to throw endless waves of soldiers everywhere and have long-ranged guns compared to Legion's railgun CQB.
So, that's all from me, awaiting new updates. :)
Should I be imagining the Legion high command's members as being akin to Blackadder's General Melchit?
Well written and formated posts. Organizational chart (nice icons representing the ships) and clear galactic map are welcomed additions. Overall very enjoyable and I am looking forward to continuation of the Naval Conference.
Tellingly, none of the Legion’s three currently-active battle fleets was actually organized in this manner at the time of the Naval Conference.I would have been more shocked if anyone was actually following the Legion doctrine manual.
Lord Admiral Agamemnon at this stage requested additional information regarding what Lord Admiral Limos intended to do about this.This entire exchange was just wonderful.
I am now deeply suspicious of Lord Captain Criasus, he appears to be a fan of future-space-PowerPoint and to have views on the tastefulness, or otherwise, of aspect ratios. A man to watch, but only from a safe distance.
Mildly surprised the JR-1014s are getting scrapped, surely hurling them through jump points so they at least gather knowledge would be more in keeping with Legion thinking. Yes it is a suicide mission for the crews, but it is not like anyone in the Admiralty has cared about such things before.
The discussion around the Bellerophon was somewhat limited, I suppose changes in tactics and doctrine could improve their chances of survival but just adds more staff work for the fleet officers trying to use the things. I must also express my concern that a Mk.II with smaller sensors would be a mistake, extra detection range is always valuable and we cannot expect alien technology to stand still or for future foes to have the same technology as our current opponents. A destroyer sized vessel with the same sensors and the extra space devoted to armour and more rail guns remains the best medium term solution.
The dream of independent cruiser squadron operations appears to remain a dream, the ongoing discussion of raiding also appears a hard idea to kill. Both ideas seem to rely on the enemy leaving key Jump Points un-guarded so the Legion can break into rear areas and wreak havoc, as I see it there are two problems with this. 1. It does rely on the enemy being very co-operative and making basic mistakes. 2. If the key jump points are un-guarded, why not just send in a main fleet? Something for discussion in the doctrine sessions I suggest.
I am sure that Admiral Antilochus' indifference to her survey crew's chances of survival have made her deeply popular in the Survey Fleet. I am slashing the odds on her being the next senior Legion officer to have a tragic accident.
Some excellent industrial ostriching from the Legion towards the end, managing to avoid discussion on any of the mineral problems facing the Empire. If nothing else the problems with fuel and gallicite supply should influence doctrinal discussion - if those factors are the limit then does the Legion want a few fast ships or a greater number of slower ships. Yet through great skill they have avoided facing such hard questions so they have more time to argue about the Hellfire. Top work.
Reading through this just now and I'm loving it so far, but one question. What is a TAC Tank or a TACV? I'm looking at your ground forces org table and you've got 2 of those in pretty much every template, but I have no idea what that could even be!
Quote from: Icekiller link=topic=12445. msg152257#msg152257 date=1622231476Reading through this just now and I'm loving it so far, but one question. What is a TAC Tank or a TACV? I'm looking at your ground forces org table and you've got 2 of those in pretty much every template, but I have no idea what that could even be!
I believe those are command vehicles.
Quote from: Icekiller link=topic=12445. msg152257#msg152257 date=1622231476Reading through this just now and I'm loving it so far, but one question. What is a TAC Tank or a TACV? I'm looking at your ground forces org table and you've got 2 of those in pretty much every template, but I have no idea what that could even be!
I believe those are command vehicles.
What is the difference then between the CV and the TACV? Because they both exist in the mechanized formations.
Why does this conference has to give me more and more flashbacks from primary school?Childishvigorous fights oversome random bullsmegvery important matter, everyone hating group assignments (or each other in general), presentations and lectures that are boring yet the discussions afterwards are always a good excuse to start a fight, an impression that some just wanted to do their task cheaply, everyone having their own vision and struggle to compromise... To think one might have to serve on a ship designed by people with that mindset is terrifying to me. :P
Also, particle beams. More particle beams. They're OP, so bring more of them, I tell you.
And one more thing: with Legion being full of "go CQB be close to battle this is time to glory not to hide behind the safety of particle beam range" I'm surprised to this day nobody has thought about trying boarding. Maybe it's because the Legion command only pretends to be so brave while every officer of theirs would smeg their pants at the mere thought of participating in a CQB firefight on board enemy ships? ::)
Anyways, thanks for updates that bring some more roleplay into this.
I think that arming it with particle beams would never by allowed as there is too strong opposition to existence of light combatant armed with this kind of weapon.
It is impressive that all the proposals put forward have some merit. Some have more and some have less but all of them address something that the others don't.
However, one thing that both of those teams address that the others did not is that, in order to grow, the Legion needs to lay the ground work for larger combatant ships. It is interesting that it is these two teams, as hostile as they are to each other, that have correctly identified and filled this need in their plans. If the members of those two teams can come together in pushing for a large combat ship in general they could form a strong voting block. It is also worth noting how widespread the support was for the command cruiser and in particular from LHAdm Macaria who said that it was a better solution than his own teams proposal.
Here is my suggestion/proposal. [...]
Idea of command cruiser is very sound and such ship would be valuable addition to the Legion Navy, but I think that arming it with particle beams would never by allowed as there is too strong opposition to existence of light combatant armed with this kind of weapon. I believe most reasonable would be armament of 102mm batteries to increase survivability of the ship and fleet commander. But arming it with 152mm batteries seem more likely as that will allow Lord Captains to gain glory in direct combat.
I have to say that I am bit surprised by reluctance of many Lord Admirals to accept capital ship design in situation where Legion faced such ships in battle. I suppose that poor performance of Belair Navy gave many Legion officers too much confidence.
I wonder if some kind of scout cruiser would be acceptable for Legion officers as replacement for the scout frigate. Scout cruiser would have better armament that would allow it to participate in battle and increased armour belt would increase its survivability as well.
It also seems that the anti-particle lance hard liners are far fewer in number and influence than we previously thought. In essence, an extreme minority, just an extremely vocal one.
QuoteHowever, one thing that both of those teams address that the others did not is that, in order to grow, the Legion needs to lay the ground work for larger combatant ships. It is interesting that it is these two teams, as hostile as they are to each other, that have correctly identified and filled this need in their plans. If the members of those two teams can come together in pushing for a large combat ship in general they could form a strong voting block. It is also worth noting how widespread the support was for the command cruiser and in particular from LHAdm Macaria who said that it was a better solution than his own teams proposal.
Once against a very insightful observation. Indeed, the general trend does seem to be towards larger ships being a part of the Navy, but there is "some" disagreement as to how a larger ship ought to look.QuoteHere is my suggestion/proposal. [...]Idea of command cruiser is very sound and such ship would be valuable addition to the Legion Navy, but I think that arming it with particle beams would never by allowed as there is too strong opposition to existence of light combatant armed with this kind of weapon. I believe most reasonable would be armament of 102mm batteries to increase survivability of the ship and fleet commander. But arming it with 152mm batteries seem more likely as that will allow Lord Captains to gain glory in direct combat.
Both well-reasoned proposals, however I do feel obligated to point out that the proposed design sketch for the command cruiser does not specify any armament. This is not to say that it could not have any armament, but considering the displacement of propulsion, sensor package, and jump drive on the initial proposal it is an open question whether any tonnage will be left for weapons on this hull. Of course this is not to get too far ahead of ourselves, after all the design itself must be debated in the open assembly at the appropriate session as well, so much can yet change.QuoteI have to say that I am bit surprised by reluctance of many Lord Admirals to accept capital ship design in situation where Legion faced such ships in battle. I suppose that poor performance of Belair Navy gave many Legion officers too much confidence.
As Mr. Foxxonius has noted the reluctance is not so clear-cut, many of the Lords Admiral do want a large ship just of their own preferred design. However you are almost certainly correct that the war against the Belaire has given many officers perhaps more confidence than they ought to possess.
I still feel like I have not been able to put into words the best argument for my proposed compromise. I will attempt to do so now.
At this stage of the conference, enough people have put enough of their cards on the table to form a much better idea of what type of hand they are each playing. The biggest revelation that I have come too is that the true goals of the railgun and particle lance factions are not necessarily in opposition to each other, even though members of both sides might still think that they are. The main goal of the railgun faction, in my eyes, is to ensure that the railgun remains the Legions primary naval weapon system and to ensure that particle lances do not supplant them in that capacity. They put forward the capital ship doctrine, and its complete lack of particle lance armed ships, so that the proponents of those ships would be eager to agree to even a small compromise such as re-adding beam squadrons as optional attachments. What they have yet to fully comprehend is that the particle lance factions true goal has never been to replace railguns as the navy's mainstay weapon system. The goal of the particle lance faction is to prevent this new and relatively underdeveloped technology from being killed in its crib, thus depriving the Legion of the critical new capability of long range gunnery. They seek to achieve this but ensuring, at a minimum, that the naval design board is allowed to iterate on the Hellfire design in order to address its short comings, or possibly even getting an entirely new particle lance armed ship class approved. In so doing, guarantee that particle lances continue to have a place in naval thinking in order to secure continued R&D funding so that the technology can mature into an effective and reliable compliment to the main line railgun ships, not replace them. Like the railgun faction, they submitted a doctrine that went farther than what they actually wanted but to a far greater degree. The aim was to scare the railgun hardliners enough that they would jump at the chance to give them a relatively modest concession in order to prevent the “mixed armaments doctrine” from being seriously considered.
The two sides have agreed to play chicken with each other but have yet to realize that they are lined up in the same direction.
I have a few further points to make, including a plausible and dare I say it, canny reason for the railgun faction to put forward a motion to modestly increase the tonnage of the proposed command cruiser so that the particle lances can be fitted. However it is getting late and I want to make sure that at least these points can be seen well before the next update, so I will post what I have now and come back to it later.
All that being said these are just my musings and I am sure there is plenty about the situation that I don't know. Whether some or any of these things come to pass, I am supper excited to see what the next update brings!
Anyway, this post got stupidly long. I think it is also apparent at this point that I might be a bit over invested in this timeline, given how much time I am spending thinking and writing about it. It just goes to show you how good a job you are doing Nuclearslurpee!
Long live the Duranium Legion!
On which point a bit of firming up thinking around Jump Point Assaults should also be a priority, I am sympathetic to giving commanders extra options by making all squadrons jump capable but it is a lot of tonnage for a capability that has thus far never been required. I think a good compromise would be to discuss the questions does every fleet in the Legion need to be capable of making a Jump Point assault? If nothing else it should provoke some lively 'discussions' and colourful metaphors.
As a famous cartoonist once quipped, "There is no 'over-invested'. There is only 'open AAR' and 'I need to re-read'." ;)
An impressively verbose summary of the Doctrinal options facing the Legion, it is more variations on a theme than radical change though I doubt those involved see it as such. But the fact remains that no-one proposed carrier strike forces, missiles, massive mine fields, stealth ships equipped with hi-radiation population busting bombs or super dreadnoughts.
As has been hinted a degree of compromise involving bits of all options seems best. I will not repeat the Capital Ship discussion as I think some sort of 20kT ship is both likely to happen and be a good start. If pressed I would go with Team Modular, maybe not the exact details but the general concept of fleets having a 'Core' with various add-ons seems sound and a better reflection of how the Legion actually fights.
On which point a bit of firming up thinking around Jump Point Assaults should also be a priority, I am sympathetic to giving commanders extra options by making all squadrons jump capable but it is a lot of tonnage for a capability that has thus far never been required. I think a good compromise would be to discuss the questions does every fleet in the Legion need to be capable of making a Jump Point assault? If nothing else it should provoke some lively 'discussions' and colourful metaphors.
As a famous cartoonist once quipped, "There is no 'over-invested'. There is only 'open AAR' and 'I need to re-read'." ;)
So I just re-read the chronicle as it currently stands. I actually read it a few times just to double check a few things.
Unless I have missed something, all current Legion jump drives have an efficiency factor of five or lower.
Increasing the supported squadron size is the fastest as the research required would be cheap and straightforward.
The second avenue to explore is an increase in jump drive efficiency.
I love the story so far, although I haven't ever tried playing with no missiles, one long ranged enemy with greater speed and your screwed.
I do have a question on the appropriations process though. Is the entire budget in the hands of the military, or is there some sort of legislature, imperial treasury etc? Because if the military controls the budget I can see some problems down the line (the stuff from the conference gets built exactly as ordered but the budget is probably heavily skewed towards military spending at the expense of civilian expenditures (healthcare, education etc)), and if it is controlled by non-military sources then the civvies get a say in what is being built and we get another round of politicking (yay). In either case I can see a bunch of horse trading over defense contracts going on (e.g. the beam faction quietly promising to build beam ships in a dockyard part owned by a wavering admiral's brother or the imperial undersecretary for the treasury being a silent partner in a firm with an interest in railgun research), really the possibilities are endless (which helps you justify stuff in universe if you really want to build something)
The Lords Admiral, now quite put out at the prospect of doing even more group work, nevertheless grudgingly set about the task at hand, being not entirely acrimonious towards one another.In fairness, no-one likes group work.
Perhaps the most sensible objection raised, and thus naturally the one paid least attention to by the majority of the Lords Admiral despite the lack of a strong rebuttal, was that brought up by Lord Admiral Agamemnon Hydra, who noted that the necessity to design and build three 20,000-ton ship classes rather than two would be somewhat challenging for the Legion Navy to pull off in the short term. The best reply was made by Lord Admiral Pandia, who noted that the Legion shipbuilders had not struggled to manage this with the previous ship classes, and thus it would certainly be achievable with the heavy cruiser classes as well. As the majority of the Lords Admiral preferred to minimize discussion of logistics-related topics, the matter was not pressed by the remainder of the assembly.I am sure this absolute contempt for logistics, shipbuilding limits, mining outputs and general industrial capacity will never come back to bite them in any way.
Regrettably, light refreshments were not served.What fresh barbarism is this? Mark my words this is the thin end of the wedge, it'll be the end of civilisation next.
It has taken longer than I hoped to reply to this,
but it is partly your fault for writing such involved and detailed chapters. It is also partly your fault for dragging me back into this black-hole-for-free-time, I've started a new game and am even plotting out an Aurora story. So taking these two things together, it is very clearly your fault.
I am sure this absolute contempt for logistics, shipbuilding limits, mining outputs and general industrial capacity will never come back to bite them in any way.
Regrettably, light refreshments were not served.What fresh barbarism is this? Mark my words this is the thin end of the wedge, it'll be the end of civilisation next.
It is good that the Legion is sticking with Railguns, I say this not out of any particular knowledge of the game but just because they are absolutely the correct weapon system for the personalities and general organisation of the Legion. And that's organisation in the broader society sense, the Legion is robust in it's argument, bordering even on direct, but has honour and integrity, it also revels in violence and bloodshed (Hence why Jump Point assaults are the most 'glorious' thing they can conceive of). Sniping away at a distance with Particles beams against an enemy who cannot shoot back is almost the complete anti-thesis of that way of warfare, only missiles would be a worse fit, so of course they must stick with Railguns. The only better option would be energy weapon fighters, which I understand don't really work in the game-meta but do seem incredibly Legion - a chance to whizz around at high speed and shoot the enemy right in the face, huge losses, lots of explosions (mainly of fighters) and the 'honour and glory' of an individual pilot (or small crew) doing the fighting.
There are few pleasures in life greater than being a bad influence on someone, thus I am quite pleased by these developments and also intrigued by the prospect of a slower-than-real-time Aurora AAR which many would claim to be impossible to pull off.I am pondering tricks to get around this. Or I might just not do an AAR but something lest constrained by the limitations of linear time.
Though on this aside I admit that you may have piqued my curiosity, as we all know Aurora really is not suited for the kind of one-man fighters we usually see in science fiction but while many have tried to design extremely small fighters in bold defiance of Steve I have yet to see any study of feasible one-man fighters or otherwise reducing the crew numbers as much as possible. Thus I have decided to conduct such a study, as to remain on the thread topic we will say this is an unofficial project of the Secret Projects Division or some such.Excellent research, even if the results are disappointing.
As it turns out, one always needs a crew member to work the engine for some reason, so the largest engine we can build requiring only one crew member is the one for which the product of engine size (in HS) and EP boost modifier (which I'll take as 2.0x, on par with current Legion technology) rounds down to 1. A bit of tweaking indicates that the best 1-crew engine available at this tech level is an 18.5 EP drive of size 0.8 with a 1.85x boost, clearly a good deal as we get that extra 0.05x without the corresponding increase in explosion rate.
The bad news is that the railguns let us down rather sadly, as the smallest possible railgun (10 cm, single-shot) still requires 3 crewmen. "Fortunately", beam fire controls can be built to require zero crew if you don't particularly want to hit anything with them, which of course we do not as hitting targets is vastly overrated, as may power plants if we limit them to 0.25 HS or less. With slight adjustments to obtain a nice, round tonnage value we can obtain the following admittedly sad story for the low, low price of four warm bodies - saldy our Lone Wolf hero pilots must share the little glory they will win in such saddening machines.
Thus if our fighter pilots wish to agitate for greater glory they must demand the advent of missile bombers, as both missile FCs and box launchers can be built with no crew requirements, allowing for the far more glorious (with a heaping side helping of self-preserving) design below:Some excellent work from the Secret Projects Division. For the record this is not a dark horror but a wonderful vision of the Legion's future. Yes missiles have a certain not-shooting-in-the-face quality, but as I understand it box launchers have a chance to explode in the new version. So utterly covering the B-21s with box launchers would vastly increase the odds of the launchers exploding, thus providing the requisite amount of risk, danger and thus glory. A larger engine/co-pilot option may be acceptable, provided the probability of a box launcher explosion remains sufficiently high.
B-21 class Superdreadnought (P) 100 tons 1 Crew 19 BP TCS 2 TH 19 EM 0
9340 km/s Armour 1-1 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 0.6
Maint Life 7.40 Years MSP 15 AFR 20% IFR 0.3% 1YR 0 5YR 7 Max Repair 10 MSP
Magazine 4
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP18.50 (1) Power 18.5 Fuel Use 1316.66% Signature 18.50 Explosion 18%
Fuel Capacity 6,000 Litres Range 0.83 billion km (24 hours at full power)
Size 4.0 Box Launcher (1) Missile Size: 4.0 Hangar Reload 100 minutes MF Reload 16 hours
Missile Fire Control FC40-R150 (1) Range 40.8m km Resolution 150
I note that at the cost of near immobility it is possible to balloon this concept up to 500 tons by bolting additional launchers haphazardly to every free surface, though it may be advisable to reluctantly allow for a copilot as the price for a second engine. This would not be all bad as said copilot would no doubt provide endless witty banter during climactic battle scenes.
As I am sure many among the readership are now concerned that the author will seriously attempt to justify the development of missile fighters on the grounds of only requiring one glory-hogging crew member to pilot, I shall offer no reassurances and instead shall leave this as a reminder to them as to what dark horrors said author may be capable of if pressed too far.
I had to look at some previous posts to check on the esteemed officer and I was bit surprised that he is supposed to be intolerant and delusional. :P I also realized that he was demoted in report from 21 May 4009, certainly a clerical error and not an effort to discredit him.
The update itself had perhaps the most fitful germination period of any so far, with a large swathe completely rewritten and generally made more concise. Yes, I know, "more concise" - such words are heresy in this thread, but it is the truth.The mind boggles at what the un-concise version looked like. Perhaps a thing too beautiful for this fallen world.
The result though I think is suitable, while perhaps not too much new information has been revealed it has been presented in a manner that the Lords Admiral can consider in a relative fair and objective manner as they seek some agreement on the future of the particle beam in the Legion Navy.It appears that the Particle Beam is heading towards the 'useful, but not always' box. Perhaps to be promoted up to the 'always useful' as technology advances and the next generation of officers rise up the ranks.
And of course, El Pip will be pleased to note that the light refreshments have made their expected return, and all is now right in the world of the Naval Conference once more.[/i] ;)This is indeed the most important things. We are not savages. (https://i.imgur.com/Z3wSg01.gif)
The mind boggles at what the un-concise version looked like. Perhaps a thing too beautiful for this fallen world.
After delivering the usual exhortations for his colleagues not to behave like schoolchildren - or, failing that, not to behave any worse than schoolchildren
provide a basis of objective facts
were both escorted from the Conference chamber by the Imperial Guards to enjoy an early lunch
First there was a group work and now we had a group work where theteacherLord Admiral Criasus assigns everyone as he pleases and on top of it puts everyone with whom they hate the most. :-X
Also why they eat only "light luncheons"?
Speaking of, to be fair I didn't get the "was not supposed to be traipsing about in Ground Forces research" part. Like, by wearing it he... did not? He just used an already developed product. Does it mean Lord Admirals are all homeless because they are "not supposed to be traipsing about in Construction research"? Well, at least they can live on their ships I guess, though I fear to ask what they eat in order to avoid messing with agriculture research... ???
Anyways, thanks for the update, really liked to see from all the data how op particle beams are 8) and yet how some of theprimary school kidsLord Admirals struggle to get it. And as for the problems with maintenance that caused so much controversy... Almost as if not giving a smeg about logistics came back to haunt Lord Admirals, but of course they won't admit it and instead blame it on particle beams themselves. :D
Tea and biscuits the true fuel of the Duraniam Legion
-Brought to you by BritCo Light Refreshments Incorporated
I have to admit that I was developing slight withdrawal symptoms. :D And of course congratulation for your personal success Dr. nuclearslurpee.
the important thing is; every PhD is a PhD in Light Refreshments, if you play your cards right
My word that was quite the monstrous update, congratulations indeed. You achievement of becoming an academic doctor was unquestionably well deserved if you poured anything like the same effort into it.
I'll be honest I feel somewhat overwhelmed by it, it absolutely deserves a detailed quote-reply fest to highlight and probe it's wonders. But it's 6,500 words and the Pipettes are determined to deny me sleep so it all seems too much. Some small highlights;
- Medals as a way of doing Scientist/Academic ranks, I am stealing that idea it is most clever
- Some excellent pretentious titles
- This trend of scientist trying to get into design will end badly, because it always does. They are not engineers and should not attempt it
- Lord Admiral Gaia Pandia remains a favourite as she fights the good fight to no noticeable impact
- Lord Imperator Daedalus Poseidon is an incredible name in all respects.
- As noted the return of light refreshments raised the tone considerably. And it is inconceivable the Legion could be so successful if they had not been fuelled by tea
- It is pleasing the Legion has enough spare 4" rail gun barrels to use them as props
- "In the grim darkness of the far future there is only Imperial measurements haphazardly converted to metric"
- I remain disappointed the Reactors are quoted in Terrawatts and not GigaBTU/sec
- Proper many year plans are being made, adds a nice touch of verisimilitude to events
There are doubtless many more things I could (and should) have pulled out and admired, alas this meagre gesture will have to suffice.
I am honored to now be among that elite company of AAR authors who have spawned fan art. ;D:-[
Bonus points for excellent flavor. I cannot place my finger on what exactly it is, but the art itself also hits just the right spot somehow. I may have to take this as inspiration for a future Spotlight.
More excellent work and much appreciated.
The first post of the AAR does actually have a flag, which is custom-made by myself albeit since I am lazy it is simply a recoloring of an existing flag (#0011 if curious). Reproduced below:
(https://i.ibb.co/qr5hMDC/Flag-of-the-Duranium-Legion-Imperal-Guard-d.png) (https://imgbb.com/)
[The simplest of the proposed flags is a simple color change, Iron Blue representing the pure fighting spirit of the Legion along with Dark Blood Red the unwavering devotion to Duty and Glory]
(https://i.ibb.co/z5b4ms5/Flag-of-the-Duranium-Legion-Imperal-Guard-h.png) (https://imgbb.com/)
[Above variant with complex border, though only Red on Cream on Blue and Cream]
Maybe Forbiden Knowledge
Given this necessary and vital discussion on vexillology and heraldry it seems somewhat out of place to actually discuss Chapter XXI Part 5, yet as I have little to add artistically I am forced to do so.
I continue to root for Lord Admiral Pandia, there is little doubt the Legion would be infinitely stronger if she was a Lord Grand Admiral. Which may be a bit ambitious, but surely someone could kick Chalcon out of a quiet airlock (honestly, who would miss him?) and promote Pandia in his place to run Industrial Command. I mean they are going off on theirjolly,school tripouting to the Naval Yards after lunch, so that is the ideal time and place for a "tragic" industrial accident.
I suggest this because what is required is someone to promote the idea of getting the designers to consider inter-buildability, sacrificing a bit of the mono-manical focus on the best individual ship and considering the fleet as a whole. If the Agamemnon Plan was for three very closely related designs of 20kT cruiser (Jump, Command and 'standard' variants) which could all be built from the same shipyard, a whole host of problems and objections would surely vanish? Indeed even if the 'Jump' variant proved impossible to inter-build due to the cost/size of the jump drive, the two other variants could surely be inter-buildable. As none of the Lord Admirals from the 'combat' branches would ever lower themselves to consider such base matters it falls to the 'Support' side to make this suggestion and frankly beyond Pandia I have very little faith in any of them.
That said the Styx variant does indeed appear to be a reasonable compromise, though part of me wishes the Lord Imperator had not laid down the law and some abdominal horror had emerged instead. Not that I wish the Legion ill you understand, but because I think it would be interesting.
Speaking of ill-starred ideas, I note the Bellerophons continue to be the spectre at the fleet. I am wondering if the the upcoming session on that particular design, and the follow up session on Fleet Scouting, may provoke more heated discussion than Lord Admiral Criasus can reasonably be expected to tolerate.
In any event it was pleasing that this ended on a double high of both promised artwork and a light luncheon, always important to end on a high note. :)
This one is I think my favorite candidate. It keeps all the rest of the original symbology but adds that oh-so-fetching Legion Blue.
This one is also quite attractive. Perhaps an Imperial banner of some sort, it looks a bit more stoic and brutalist which is good for official government purposes.
Some interesting ideas in this one as well. I am not sure whether it would see acceptance by the Legion high command vexillology office, but in fairness this is because we have not yet actually taken Belaire Prime and so the circumstances ofoccupationliberation remain too vague to settle on a banner I think.
It is quite curious how these things work out, a mundane argument about jump warship doctrine and command ship design somehow leads to prodigious flagchat. Of course none can complain about the wondrously mysterious workings of the universe when the results are as such.
Always and indeed. (https://i.imgur.com/Z3wSg01.gif)
Given this necessary and vital discussion on vexillology and heraldry it seems somewhat out of place to actually discuss Chapter XXI Part 5, yet as I have little to add artistically I am forced to do so.
In any event it was pleasing that this ended on a double high of both promised artwork and a light luncheon, always important to end on a high note. :)
That Blue is indeed quite fetching~ mayhaps the banner of Imperial Military Court? Representing the supreme nature of Imperial justice and authority.
""""<.<'"""" Well I suppouse those admirals are paid to do something every once in a while.That Blue is indeed quite fetching~ mayhaps the banner of Imperial Military Court? Representing the supreme nature of Imperial justice and authority.
scribbles note to self
In seriousness I must make a note of this idea because it would be an excellent bit of fluff accompanying later developments of a particular plot thread. Yes, remember, this AAR does have some kind of plot as a backdrop for the squabbling, which will eventually be advanced if only out of necessity to get us to the next bout of squabbling. ;)
Okay honestly I just drew some stuff XD Come pick the ones you like the most and or tell me what you want to get drawn and i`ll come up with some Vexi~
Fair enough~ can`t wait.........XD So while im doing that I may have went and made a few more flagsOkay honestly I just drew some stuff XD Come pick the ones you like the most and or tell me what you want to get drawn and i`ll come up with some Vexi~
There are some interesting designs here, however I will need to hold further comment until the next update has been published for reasons that will become clear in due time.
*Heh.When only the narrator laughs, that is not a good sign.
as such a design proposal quietly passed from the aforementioned back rooms up to the Legion high command, which readily approved the design with only a few weeks of cursory debate for appearances’ sake.The appearance being of a body that prizes arbitrary delays and paperwork over actually getting something done?
In addition to the vital statistics reproduced in the graphic, the following information may assist the reader in understanding contemporary Legion Navy shipbuilding practices and philosophy:A most pretty picture. My congratulations to the artist.
the major technological limitations were primarily related to the cooling of the engines by conducting waste heat to external surfaces, such that larger engines would require a completely new design even while using the same basic propulsion technology.A discussion on engine cooling, truly the sign of a great writing project. (https://i.imgur.com/DYAEiOu.gif)
Up next, the Lords Admiral shall reconvene to discuss El Pip's third-favorite topic, after mining and logistics. I speak of course of the Bellerophon class and its own troubled history - and future, if any.5th favourite topic actually. 3rd is light refreshments, 4th is 'vigorous debate between senior officers' (i.e. fisticuffs). However the threat of an extended discussion on the Bellerophon-class is indeed a tantalising prospect.
*Heh.When only the narrator laughs, that is not a good sign.
A most pretty picture. My congratulations to the artist.
I was confused when I first looked at the graphical representation of the railgun armament, so provided explanation was appreciated. The picture is of course great and I am always happy to see representation of various ships so I can see how other people imagine their warships.
A discussion on engine cooling, truly the sign of a great writing project.
Absolutely lovely writing that I enjoyed a lot! An inspiration that I hope more of will come soon! Well done.
How where the illustration made? They are fantastic and help spur the imagination.
Thus, the morning session began with remarks from Lord Admiral Gaia PandiaHurrah! Good old Pandia bringing some sense to proceedings.
Not one to be denied twice, Lord High Admiral Antilochus leapt at this second chance to address the question, perhaps too eagerly as her response could be classified as little else but a serious political blunder:As a matter of doctrine Antilochus is probably correct, as mentioned later the Legion just charge as fast as they can at the objective and then shoot the enemy point blank in the face. They are not ones for subtlety or grand manoeuvrers, they are the IJA and not the IJN in this metaphor. Long range sensors may be nice to have, they would certainly make clearing up later easier, but they are not actually needed by the battle fleet.
“We don’t need the bloody sensors!”
As such, a motion was hastily prepared and a voice vote rapidly held, establishing to the tune of thirteen assents and one abstention that the Legion Navy did, indeed, need the bloody sensors.Cowards.
Thus-satisfied with the morning’s accomplishments so far, the Naval Conference was briefly adjourned and light refreshments served.Thus we are reassured that the Legion has not descended into barbarism. (https://i.imgur.com/DYAEiOu.gif)
others among the assembly were quick to point out that the doctrinal failure had led to more than a few stray missiles, and in any case the problem had been resolved through the sacking of those responsible.This sort of 'problem solving' never goes wrong and I am pleased the Lord Admirals are still citing it as a success.
In the grand tradition of Legion Navy ship design, the Lords Admiral settled on the most familiar and conventional solution available, this being to punt the question to the afternoon session.The efforts they will go to in order to avoid just making the Bellerophon replacement a destroyer sized ship is impressive. Despite her unfortunate start with the Imperial Guard I feel Chryson has the best of the argument here, skepticism from the rest notwithstanding. At best I think they designers will be able to manage a properly armoured, decent sensor, but no weapon ship for the redesign, that seems fairly 'emasculating' to use the words of the conference. The other permutations (not armoured enough or too small a sensor) are also unacceptable to Legion doctrine. So just bite the bullet and make it a decent size ship, one which can pick up an auxiliary role when not required by the battle fleet.
Nevertheless, as this particular morning session of the Naval Conference concluded, a rare case of an unambiguous winner was found in the person of Lord Admiral Gaia Pandia.Of course, because she's amazing. (https://i.imgur.com/Z3wSg01.gif)
<!< Whats this?! This is far to quick! Next you'll tell me you'll update again before 2023! Far to fast!
XD
Hurrah! Good old Pandia bringing some sense to proceedings.
As a matter of doctrine Antilochus is probably correct, as mentioned later the Legion just charge as fast as they can at the objective and then shoot the enemy point blank in the face. They are not ones for subtlety or grand manoeuvrers, they are the IJA and not the IJN in this metaphor. Long range sensors may be nice to have, they would certainly make clearing up later easier, but they are not actually needed by the battle fleet.
Cowards.
the idea of doing statistical analysis and assessment seems very contradictory to the "Fly closer so I can shoot them in the face" doctrine of the Legion.
N.B. Comment replies on the bottom of the preceding page, for all two of you who care.[/i] ;)As one of that select and venerated elite, I can assure it was appreciated.
some members of the Legion Navy had been sounding the alarm for a good deal longer than others (most curiously, the earliest proponents of such a rework had originated from the Mining Department of all places).The traditional home of all excellent engineers who's fate is to be overlooked by political types. Though given the terrible consequences of being the subject of political attention being overlooked is often the best option, as the Legion Design Office will doubtless agree.
shipyard spaces were freed on the commissioning of Bad Intentions and Blatant Insult.Legion ship naming policy remains on-point and culturally appropriate.
At this point, the reader could be forgiven for attributing this as a heinous blunder on the part of the ship design staff. Indeed, failing to inform the chosen candidates about each other’s involvement was an oversight with no rational nor strategic basis, and the head of the ship design offices could not expect much in the way of future career advancement.Did he even want career advancement is the question? What better way to avoid unwanted promotion into the political shark pit than this?
neither Lord Grand Admiral Argyron nor Lord High Admiral Macaria were willing to back down and admit error, thus both continued to express their support for the class, however reluctantly and however secretly glowering over having been forced to agree with one another by unforeseen circumstances.Legion Doctrine is clear here - one must continue to blindly and violently support one's original plan, even once it has become apparent it is a bad idea.
This is not to say, of course, that alternatives were not explored by the Conference nevertheless. Perhaps the most compelling revision was presented by Lord Admiral Gaia Pandia, who advocated for a Bellerophon variant which was better-suited for the critical commerce raiding role:I admire the shear gumption in calling the commerce raiding role critical and not even admitting the possiblity that such an outrageous suggestion needs anything as boring or prosaic as evidence.
Lord High Admiral Makedon - with the assistance of his subordinate, Lord Admiral Pothos Aleus - had devised the first primary-carrier-role ship class in Legion Naval history. Perhaps acutely aware of his precarious standing in doing this, Lord High Admiral Makedon was quick to emphasize that this proposal was not necessarily meant to replace the Bellerophons as a mainline fleet scout frigate, but could perhaps be considered as an experimental proposal meriting a squadron’s worth of ships to be constructed as a proof of concept.It does indeed resemble an experimental carrier being too small, with far too few aircraft, a lack of proper facilities and so on. He should have stuck it all on a destroyer sized hull, which would also be too small but would at least address the worst of the criticisms and concerns.
This observation was followed by a period of uncomfortable silence, which was only resolved by Lord Admiral Criasus, who noted that while his colleague’s question held substantive merit for discussion, it would have properly been raised in that morning’s session, and thus the session would regrettably be forced to move on towards more relevant topics. Thus, the Lords Admiralty were once again saved from the introspective horror of feeling a bit silly about themselves by the minutiae of procedure.If the Legion ever find a way to weaponise bureaucracy and use it against their external enemies (instead of their internal rivals) they will conqueror the galaxy in a couple of weeks.
At any rate, with only three sessions left plus the closing remarks, there is perhaps some light now at the end of the tunnel? We shall see.Traditionally the light at the end of the tunnel is the oncoming train. But in deference to our setting, perhaps the light is an opening Aether Rift?
Did he even want career advancement is the question? What better way to avoid unwanted promotion into the political shark pit than this?
I admire the shear gumption in calling the commerce raiding role critical and not even admitting the possiblity that such an outrageous suggestion needs anything as boring or prosaic as evidence.
It does indeed resemble an experimental carrier being too small, with far too few aircraft, a lack of proper facilities and so on. He should have stuck it all on a destroyer sized hull, which would also be too small but would at least address the worst of the criticisms and concerns.
As you noted this is probably the best outcome that was possible given the calibre of the assembled leadership, which is admittedly a fairly low bar to clear. Are the Standard and Raider variants inter-buildable? Look like they might be close, its a BFC, guns and one sensor swap so maybe? A small detail I suppose. Interesting the preference is for upgrades and not new builds, there were other options there (new build Standard IIs for the fleet and refit the older Is into Raider variants for instance) not pursued. The conference is thinking upgrade to their existing fleet and not expansion of the number of available squadrons.
What we really need is the menu for the refreshments , lunches and other meals of the conference, possibly with recipes. This is after all the real purpose of a conference good free meals at public expense
ANNOUNCEMENT:
As one might guess from the conspicuous relocation of this thread to this new subforum, I am intending to move on to another project. This one may or may not have run its course, notably the Naval Conference I would still like to complete someday if only for posterity, but to be frank2.02.1 is out and I want to publish something about it.
I would like to pose one question to the readers, regarding future thread formats: Personally, I always liked the all-in-one-thread format as it preserves the comments alongside the updates and in theory promotes a robust discussion. However, with the Aurora forums being a bit quieter than other AAR forums I frequent, maybe this is not the best approach? What do the readers think? Is this format good, do people prefer to separate each update into its own thread with comments, or to have parallel update and comment threads as Steve and Kurt do? All opinions are welcome and in fact are actively solicited as it will be a little while until I have anything publishable on the new work.
I will also say that I can't really follow along with many stories at once, and with how long AARs tend to be (and my current backlog), I only lightly follow along with the ones I see posted regularly. This might also contribute to the lack of reader response, if I had to guess.
I personally prefer the comments and story seperate. It's not too much of an issue though.
If I'm honest, I prefer a combined thread as it preserves context better than separate threads. The main AAR posts tend to stand out enough to catch my eye. I just want to add that I am sad to see this story coming to an end, I understand why, but I am still sad. More than any other I have seen, this AAR really made me believe it if that makes sense. Full of action and intrigue and dramatis personae. I loved every post.
Either or I guess. Sadly this site lacks thread marks ala space battles and sufficient velocity so you can't have both but oh well.
Sad to hear this coming to a close but it happens. Hope you have fun with your new project, looking foreward to it!
Also if I could ask what other sites are host AAR content like this?
Lack of threadmarks is indeed saddening, although a table of contents can help alleviate the need in theory and I will be trying this out for the next work.
The Paradox AAR forums host a great deal of high-quality work. The culture tends to vary by subforum, I mostly hang out in the HoI3 section which has a very dedicated, active, and close-knit community for such an old title. In the newer game sections it usually pays to follow authors rather than an entire section as the quality of work varies more wildly for the more popular titles. In a different section of the forums you can find Blue Emu's Aurora LPs as well which tend to have a rather laid-back style.
The Something Awful forums also host a number of Let's Plays for Aurora written over the years, and I suppose other games as well. There they have sometimes the opposite problem, the reader response may be so great that there are several pages between updates, which often devolve into a mix of questionable spam and even more questionable fanfiction efforts. Still, the audience engagement at SA has allowed authors to do some very cool concepts beyond even what the community games on this forum or Discord usually can pull off.
Thanks for the response. Sadly Something Awful has cut off access to anons so I can no longer read all the LPs on there, oh well. Good luck!
...Well thats rather bizzare. My guess is trying to encourage people to buy a membership and or chase off people who aren't going to get one? But thats besides the point, thanks for the info.Thanks for the response. Sadly Something Awful has cut off access to anons so I can no longer read all the LPs on there, oh well. Good luck!
I've noticed they seem to do that around this time of year for no good reason. Usually comes back in a couple of months.
Hot damn dude, half of the thread length is this naval conference! That's amazing 🤩
Anyway, sorry for not commenting earlier, always something came in the way of reading this thread. But you've really spun a lovely story here so congratulations and I'm eagerly looking forward for.the next installment.