The Stargate Command Campaign

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

Stargate Command Campaign



Meanwhile, in yet another alternate reality…

After the discovery of the Stargate in 1994 and the activation of Stargate Command (SGC) in the following year, the U.S. Air Force embarked on a deadly campaign of covert operations against the belligerent Goa’uld race, successfully gathering examples of advanced alien technology while assassinating several Goa’uld system lords. Air Force generals quickly realized that the Stargate network, while incredibly convenient for exploring the galaxy, was woefully insufficient for prosecuting a strategic offensive against an alien race. Stargate Command therefore embarked on a program of rapid spacecraft development, catalyzed by a fortuitous alliance with the technologically-advanced Asgard race from the distant Othala galaxy. While the program initially proceeded in secret, the construction of 112,500-ton Daedalus-class battlecruisers could not be hidden from the world, and the United States was soon forced to reveal the secret of the Stargate to the Russians, British, French, and Chinese in a high-level diplomatic summit.

While the other four powers were not happy about playing second fiddle to the U.S. military, there was no other option save to be cut off from advanced alien technology entirely. As such, an agreement was eventually struck which would see the other four nations incorporate their own armies into the SGC chain of command alongside the majority of active U.S. Army formations, in exchange for equal access to technology and participation in the emerging SGC space fleet. The United States, for their part, were not thrilled to give up valuable military secrets to other countries, particularly Russia and China, but the threat from the Goa’uld was far more pressing, to say nothing of other potentially hostile races yet to be encountered. This campaign begins in the year 2000. The battlecruiser construction program proceeded rapidly and in fact expanded into other projects, such as the Odysseus-class survey cruisers and the Nelson-class escort cruisers, described below.

Politically, there have been some positive knock-on effects from this sudden onset of international cooperation, besides the general proliferation of technology throughout society to improve quality of life. The increase in military spending required for the British and French to integrate with the SGC force structure has renewed the strength of NATO, as some in the United States were beginning to tire of carrying a disproportionate share of the load, and provided a modest economic stimulus in the developing European Union. Meanwhile, adjustments to the US-style organization and command philosophy has pushed the Russians and Chinese to crack down on corruption in their military ranks and to develop a modern NCO corps. Russia in particular has benefitted from the combination of reducing corruption and improving standards of living, leading to unprecedented political stability in the post-Soviet era. This political stability was robust enough to survive an attempted coup in 1999, led by ambitious ex-KGB officers backed by shadowy Russian oligarchs.

Game Settings:
Random Stars, 1024 maximum systems, 60/12 local system generation settings
20% global survey speed, 150% global difficulty
Starting population 2 billion, 50% local research rate modifier, Limited Research Administration
5 NPRS @ 25-50 LY, all spoilers except Rakhas, 30% ruins generation
10% new race generation chance, set to generate as player races
Roughly doubled initial RP and BP, shipyards and maintenance facilities configured to match

It should go without saying that this will be a very non-canon setting. Random Stars is on so pray to your preferred Goa’uld that there is not a game-breaking bug this time.


Ship Designs

The Daedalus-class battlecruisers make up the core of the Tau’ri fleet. It is a multi-purpose class armed with four powerful Asgard beam weapons, 32 railgun batteries, 16 VLS missile tubes launching Mark VIII tactical nuclear missiles, and a strike group of 16 F-302 interceptors. The beam weapons and neutrino-ion hyperdrive are fully Asgard technology, which the Tau’ri are able to build but cannot yet create designs of the same tech level. Due to the mismatch of racial technologies, the power input to the Asgard components is limited, reducing the rate of fire for the beam weapons as well as the squadron jump capabilities of the hyperdrive unit. Six units are in service: USS Daedalus, USS Odyssey, RFS Korolev, USS Apollo, PRCS Sun Tzu, USS George Hammond.

BC-304 Daedalus class Battlecruiser     112,500 tons      3,151 Crew      20,293.4 BP      TCS 2,250   TH 9,000   EM 12,780
4000 km/s   JR 3-50     Armour 5-207      Shields 426-426      HTK 686     Sensors 33/66/0/0     DCR 125     PPV 280
Maint Life 2.15 Years    MSP 27,742   AFR 810%   IFR 11.2%   1YR 8,071   5YR 121,069   Max Repair 6432.6 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 8,000 tons    Magazine 2,208   
Colonel   Control Rating 3   BRG   AUX   ENG   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months   Flight Crew Berths 160   Morale Check Required   

Asgard Neutrino-Ion Hyperdrive    Max Ship Size 112800 tons   Distance 50k km    Squadron Size 3

General Electric ID60-GE-02 SM750 Warship Ion Drive (12)   Power 9000.0   Fuel Use 24.49%   Signature 750.00   Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 5,000,000 Litres   Range 32.7 billion km (94 days at full power)
AN/SHQ-421 Asgard-Delta Shield Generator (6)    Recharge Time 426 seconds (1 per second)

Asgard Plasma Beam Weapon (4)   Range 240,000km    TS: 4,000 km/s    Power 37-3.25   ROF 60     
BAE Systems 5"/38 Railgun Battery Mk 29 (32x4)   Range 80,000km    TS: 4,000 km/s    Power 6-3    RM 40,000 km   ROF 10     
Asgard Targeting System (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 4,000 km/s
AN/SPQ-426 Battery Targeting System (4)    Max Range: 128,000 km   TS: 4,000 km/s
Asgard Power Core (2)    Total Power Output 26.2   Exp 5%
General Atomics R24 Zero Point Module Mk 5 (4)    Total Power Output 96.2   Exp 5%

Lockheed Martin Mark 32 VLS Missile Tube (16)    Missile Size: 6.00   Rate of Fire 40
AN/SPG-422 Missile Guidance System (4)    Range 79.6m km   Resolution 100
AIM-120ES Air-to-Air Missile (256)   Speed: 40,000 km/s   End: 0.6m    Range: 1.4m km   WH: 1   Size: 1
Mark VIII Tactical Missile (320)   Speed: 25,000 km/s   End: 32.2m    Range: 48.3m km   WH: 9   Size: 6

AN/SPW-463 Missile Warning System (1)    GPS 63    Range 14.9m km   MCR 1.3m km   Resolution 1
AN/SPS-427 Warship Search Aedar (1)    GPS 12600    Range 97.5m km   Resolution 100
AN/SLQ-466 Warship Counter-Aedar (1)    Sensitivity 66    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  64.2m km
AN/SAY-433 Warship Thermal Sensor (1)    Sensitivity 33.00    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  45.4m km

Strike Group
16x F-302 Interceptor   Speed: 8007 km/s   Size: 9.99

Long-range strike capability is provided by the F-302 multi-role interceptor, armed with four AIM-120ES missiles (the -S suffix denotes an adapted model for deep space combat) and nose-mounted twin railguns. As a multi-role class, the F-302 may suffer from a lack of specialization as it does not excel in any single combat role.

F-302 class Interceptor     500 tons      6 Crew      112.2 BP      TCS 10   TH 80   EM 0
8007 km/s     Armour 1-5      Shields 0-0      HTK 2     Sensors 2/2/0/0     DCR 0     PPV 3.35
Maint Life 2.08 Years    MSP 45   AFR 100%   IFR 1.4%   1YR 14   5YR 208   Max Repair 40.00 MSP
Magazine 4   
Major   Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days   Morale Check Required   

Rolls-Royce ID03-RR-01 Gremlin Ion Drive (1)   Power 80.0   Fuel Use 600.00%   Signature 80.00   Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 23,000 Litres   Range 1.38 billion km (47 hours at full power)

BAE Systems 5" Twin Nose Railgun Mk 21 (1x2)   Range 64,000km    TS: 8,007 km/s    Power 3.0-3    RM 40,000 km   ROF 5     
AN/APQ-413 Railgun Fire Control (1)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 8,000 km/s
General Atomics R3 Naquadah Reactor Mk 5 (1)    Total Power Output 3   Exp 10%

External Launch Rail (4)    Missile Size: 1   Hangar Reload 50 minutes   MF Reload 8 hours
AN/APG-402 Missile Guidance System (1)    Range 5.4m km   Resolution 1
AIM-120ES Air-to-Air Missile (4)   Speed: 40,000 km/s   End: 0.6m    Range: 1.4m km   WH: 1   Size: 1

AN/APS-411 Interceptor Search Aedar (1)    GPS 11    Range 6.1m km   MCR 545.7k km   Resolution 1
AN/ARY-403 Interceptor RF Scanner (1)    Sensitivity 2.2    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11.7m km
AN/AAY-404 Interceptor IR Scanner (1)    Sensitivity 2.2    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11.7m km

Recent astronautical engineering efforts of the Tau’ri have led to the introduction of the Odysseus-class survey cruiser. Constructed entirely from Earth-designed components, the Odysseus class costs only half as much to build as the Daedalus class although it is not nearly as capable in combat, armed with only two dozen railgun batteries and lacking any missile tubes or plasma beam weapons. Rather, the Odysseus cruisers are able to carry out deep space surveys by deploying their 8-craft complement, providing resupply and protection for the small and vulnerable survey wing. Four of these have been constructed: USS Odysseus, HMS Royal Sovereign, USS Hercules, and FNS Jeanne d’Arc.

SC-404 Odysseus class Survey Cruiser     112,500 tons      2,359 Crew      9,523.9 BP      TCS 2,250   TH 4,500   EM 8,520
2000 km/s   JR 2-25(C)     Armour 3-207      Shields 284-426      HTK 667     Sensors 132/66/0/0     DCR 250     PPV 120
Maint Life 8.21 Years    MSP 17,512   AFR 405%   IFR 5.6%   1YR 462   5YR 6,926   Max Repair 285.8 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 8,000 tons    Magazine 144   
Colonel   Control Rating 3   BRG   AUX   ENG   
Intended Deployment Time: 72 months   Flight Crew Berths 160   Morale Check Required   

United Gravitics ZP01-UG-04 Zero-Point Hyperdrive    Max Ship Size 112500 tons   Distance 25k km    Squadron Size 2

General Electric ID60-GE-03 SM375 Efficiency Ion Drive (12)   Power 4500.0   Fuel Use 4.33%   Signature 375.00   Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 4,000,000 Litres   Range 147.8 billion km (855 days at full power)
AN/SHQ-421 Asgard-Delta Shield Generator (4)    Recharge Time 426 seconds (0.7 per second)

BAE Systems 5"/38 Railgun Battery Mk 29 (24x4)   Range 80,000km    TS: 4,000 km/s    Power 6-3    RM 40,000 km   ROF 10     
AN/SPQ-426 Battery Targeting System (3)    Max Range: 128,000 km   TS: 4,000 km/s
General Atomics R24 Zero Point Module Mk 5 (3)    Total Power Output 72.2   Exp 5%

AN/DSC-288 Dial Home Buoy (36)   Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0   Size: 4

AN/SPS-427 Warship Search Aedar (1)    GPS 12600    Range 97.5m km   Resolution 100
AN/SPW-463 Missile Warning System (1)    GPS 63    Range 14.9m km   MCR 1.3m km   Resolution 1
AN/SLQ-466 Warship Counter-Aedar (1)    Sensitivity 66    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  64.2m km
AN/SAS-432 Infrared Search Array (1)    Sensitivity 132    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  90.8m km

Strike Group
3x S-405E Athena Geological Survey Craft   Speed: 3001 km/s   Size: 19.99
3x S-405V Apollo Gravitational Survey Craft   Speed: 3001 km/s   Size: 19.99
2x S-405R Argonaut Survey Scout   Speed: 3001 km/s   Size: 19.99

The survey wing of an Odysseus-class cruiser is made up of three classes sharing a common base hull. The Athena and Apollo-class survey craft are equipped with geological and gravitational survey sensors, respectively, while the Argonaut-class survey scouts instead possess general-purpose sensors and a communications buoy laying system for establishing lines of communication into new star systems. All survey craft are equipped with self-jump hyperdrives allowing for independent survey operations as long as the target star systems are near enough to whatever system the Odysseus-class mothership watches over.

S-405E Athena class Geological Survey Craft     1,000 tons      25 Crew      173.2 BP      TCS 20   TH 60   EM 0
3001 km/s   JR 1-50     Armour 1-8      Shields 0-0      HTK 7     Sensors 2/2/0/1     DCR 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 6.46 Years    MSP 104   AFR 16%   IFR 0.2%   1YR 4   5YR 64   Max Repair 100 MSP
Major   Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months   Morale Check Required   

United Gravitics HN02-UG-05 Naquadah Hyperdrive    Max Ship Size 1020.0 tons   Distance 50k km    Squadron Size 1

Pratt & Whitney  ID06-PW-06 Seraph Ion Drive (1)   Power 60.0   Fuel Use 36.54%   Signature 60.00   Explosion 7%
Fuel Capacity 85,000 Litres   Range 41.9 billion km (161 days at full power)

AN/BPN-401 Navigational Aedar (1)    GPS 210    Range 12.6m km   Resolution 100
AN/ARY-403 Interceptor RF Scanner (1)    Sensitivity 2.2    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11.7m km
AN/AAY-404 Interceptor IR Scanner (1)    Sensitivity 2.2    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11.7m km
Geological Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour

S-405V Apollo class Gravitational Survey Craft     1,000 tons      25 Crew      173.2 BP      TCS 20   TH 60   EM 0
3001 km/s   JR 1-50     Armour 1-8      Shields 0-0      HTK 7     Sensors 2/2/1/0     DCR 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 6.46 Years    MSP 104   AFR 16%   IFR 0.2%   1YR 4   5YR 64   Max Repair 100 MSP
Major   Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months   Morale Check Required   

United Gravitics HN02-UG-05 Naquadah Hyperdrive    Max Ship Size 1020.0 tons   Distance 50k km    Squadron Size 1

Pratt & Whitney  ID06-PW-06 Seraph Ion Drive (1)   Power 60.0   Fuel Use 36.54%   Signature 60.00   Explosion 7%
Fuel Capacity 85,000 Litres   Range 41.9 billion km (161 days at full power)

AN/BPN-401 Navigational Aedar (1)    GPS 210    Range 12.6m km   Resolution 100
AN/ARY-403 Interceptor RF Scanner (1)    Sensitivity 2.2    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11.7m km
AN/AAY-404 Interceptor IR Scanner (1)    Sensitivity 2.2    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11.7m km
Gravitational Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour

S-405R Argonaut class Survey Scout     1,000 tons      22 Crew      126.2 BP      TCS 20   TH 60   EM 0
3001 km/s   JR 1-50     Armour 1-8      Shields 0-0      HTK 8     Sensors 5/5/0/0     DCR 0     PPV 1.2
Maint Life 5.82 Years    MSP 39   AFR 16%   IFR 0.2%   1YR 2   5YR 29   Max Repair 31.5 MSP
Magazine 40   
Major   Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months   Morale Check Required   

United Gravitics HN02-UG-05 Naquadah Hyperdrive    Max Ship Size 1020.0 tons   Distance 50k km    Squadron Size 1

Pratt & Whitney  ID06-PW-06 Seraph Ion Drive (1)   Power 60.0   Fuel Use 36.54%   Signature 60.00   Explosion 7%
Fuel Capacity 85,000 Litres   Range 41.9 billion km (161 days at full power)

Buoy Ejection System Mk 4 (1)    Missile Size: 4.0   Rate of Fire 1500
Buoy Control System Mk 1 (1)    Range 2.5m km   Resolution 1
AN/DSC-288 Dial Home Buoy (10)   Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0   Size: 4

AN/APS-431 Small Search Aedar (1)    GPS 3150    Range 48.7m km   Resolution 100
AN/AAY-407 Small IR Sensor (1)    Sensitivity 5.5    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18.5m km
AN/ARY-406 Small RF Scanner (1)    Sensitivity 5.5    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18.5m km

The most recent innovation by SGC engineers is the Nelson-class escort cruiser. Only half the size as its older siblings, the Nelson class is designed for long-haul escort missions as a deterrent against raiders from Goa’uld or other hostile races which might prey on Tau’ri convoys. Despite its small size, the Nelson class retains respectable combat capabilities, mounting the same railgun armament as the Odysseus class, three-quarters of the missile launchers as the Daedalus class, and a full strike group of 16 F-302 interceptors to eliminate enemy raiders before they can get close to a vulnerable convoy. The Nelson class is also the first SGC warship to mount components designed and manufactured by the Russians, in the form of the 2K50 Molniya beam weapons and the accompanying power plants, which are pale imitations of the Asgard beam weapons but provide an important long-range artillery capability nevertheless. The chief weakness of the Nelson class is its staying power, with only half the shielding and missile magazine capacity as the larger Daedalus class the Nelsons are not expected to stand in the line of battle against a serious alien attack fleet. Four of these are in service: the HMS Nelson, RFS Kirov, FNS Napoleon, and PRCS Zheng He, and the SGC expects ships of the class to be in high demand for the coming years.

EC-410 Nelson class Escort Cruiser     56,250 tons      1,292 Crew      6,167.3 BP      TCS 1,125   TH 2,250   EM 6,390
2000 km/s     Armour 4-130      Shields 213-426      HTK 370     Sensors 33/11/0/0     DCR 50     PPV 198
Maint Life 5.54 Years    MSP 5,991   AFR 506%   IFR 7.0%   1YR 329   5YR 4,931   Max Repair 126 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 8,000 tons    Magazine 822   
Colonel   Control Rating 3   BRG   AUX   ENG   
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months   Flight Crew Berths 160   Morale Check Required   

General Electric ID60-GE-03 SM375 Efficiency Ion Drive (6)   Power 2250.0   Fuel Use 4.33%   Signature 375.00   Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 2,250,000 Litres   Range 166.3 billion km (962 days at full power)
AN/SHQ-421 Asgard-Delta Shield Generator (3)    Recharge Time 426 seconds (0.5 per second)

Novator 2K50 Molniya Beam Weapon (4)   Range 200,000km    TS: 4,000 km/s    Power 10-3.5   ROF 15     
BAE Systems 5"/38 Railgun Battery Mk 29 (24x4)   Range 80,000km    TS: 4,000 km/s    Power 6-3    RM 40,000 km   ROF 10     
Asgard Targeting System (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 4,000 km/s
AN/SPQ-426 Battery Targeting System (3)    Max Range: 128,000 km   TS: 4,000 km/s
General Atomics R24 Zero Point Module Mk 5 (3)    Total Power Output 72.2   Exp 5%
Minatom PKT-7 Zero Point Mirror Cell (2)    Total Power Output 14.5   Exp 7%

Lockheed Martin Mark 32 VLS Missile Tube (12)    Missile Size: 6.00   Rate of Fire 40
AN/SPG-422 Missile Guidance System (3)    Range 79.6m km   Resolution 100
AIM-120ES Air-to-Air Missile (128)   Speed: 40,000 km/s   End: 0.6m    Range: 1.4m km   WH: 1   Size: 1
Mark VIII Tactical Missile (112)   Speed: 25,000 km/s   End: 32.2m    Range: 48.3m km   WH: 9   Size: 6

AN/SPS-427 Warship Search Aedar (1)    GPS 12600    Range 97.5m km   Resolution 100
AN/SPW-463 Missile Warning System (1)    GPS 63    Range 14.9m km   MCR 1.3m km   Resolution 1
AN/SLQ-434 Warship Counter-Aedar (1)    Sensitivity 11.0    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  26.2m km
AN/SAY-433 Warship Thermal Sensor (1)    Sensitivity 33.00    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  45.4m km

Strike Group
16x F-302 Interceptor   Speed: 8007 km/s   Size: 9.99

The SGC has also authorized a number of auxiliary and commercial vessels to be designed and constructed to support the expansion of the Tau’ri. Fleet auxiliaries share the design number sequence of the military class designs. The D-406 Dionysus-class diplomatic ship is a small (11,000-ton) long-range vessel intended to hold position in or near alien systems to facilitate diplomatic negotiations. The 45,000-ton U-407 (‘U’ for utility) Custer-class troop transport allows the SGC to relocate up to 25,000 tons of soldiers and equipment to distant worlds, either without relying on the limited and vulnerable stargates or to establish a military presence on planets outside of the stargate network. The U-408 Challenge-class auxiliary tender of similar size is able to transport ships without their own hyperdrive units through hyperspace, and also carries maintenance supplies to provide support to military ships in the field. Finally, the U-409 Mender-class salvager is the largest ship in the auxiliary fleet at nearly 75,000 tons displacement, and is equipped with twin salvage crane arms to collect and transport up to 25,000 tons of wreckage to a planet where it can be scrapped for raw materials.

SGC Auxiliary Fleet:
2x D-406 Dionysus-class Diplomatic Ships: USS Dionysus, USS Ariadne
4x U-407 Custer-class Troop Transports: USS Cabell, USS Crockett, USS Custer, USS Lubbock
4x U-408 Challenge class Auxiliary Tender: USS Carib, USS Challenge, USS Hamul, USS Wateree
2x U-409 Mender class Salvager: USS Alcor, USS Mender

Additional commercial ship classes have been developed outside the direct purview of the SGC to fill the need for bulk transport of goods and people through Tau’ri space. These are briefly summarized below:

10x United States class Colony Ship: 250,000 tons infrastructure + 50,000 colonists capacity, 66,728 tons
10x San Diego class Freighter: 25,000 tons cargo capacity, 42,054 tons
5x Reigate class Tanker: 25,000,000 liters fuel capacity, 42,059 tons
5x Mountain class Asteroid Miner: 15 orbital mining modules, 105,933 tons


Ground Forces

The SGC controls a multinational force based on the US Army’s novel brigade combat team (BCT) structure. NATO members France and the UK can easily adapt to the US-style organization and equipment, but lack the manpower and funding to raise significant formations armed with new technology, so have each contributed one division under a joint forces corps. Russia and China, while able to field a large force with the new technology in principle, will take some time to fully integrate with the US-style organization and command structure, so each has raised one understrength corps built around their most elite fighting formations. The non-US fraction of the SGC-controlled army is expected to increase over time, probably through training and deployment of light garrison forces at extrasolar colonies in the near future.

Three types of BCT are deployed. The Infantry BCT is the lightest type, requiring less than 10,000 tons of transport capacity to deploy 810 riflemen, 234 heavy weapons, 60 utility vehicles, and other supporting elements to an area of operations. The Kodiak BCT is the medium type based on recent developments of the Kodiak armored vehicle series, intended to strike a balance between the light, easily-deployable infantry and the powerful but logistically-demanding armored units. These are built around 810 riflemen and 202 Kodiak combat vehicles, supported by 60 utility vehicles, requiring just over 12,000 tons of transport capacity to deploy. Finally, the heaviest Armored BCT requires 12,500 tons of transport capacity to deploy, and consists of 71 Abrams main battle tanks, 44 Bradley fighting vehicles including specialist variants, 240 riflemen, 18 M270A4 multiple launch rocket systems, and 60 utility vehicles.

Brigade combat teams are further organized into divisions, which provide divisional artillery and other support for 2-3 BCTs each. The more common infantry division type supports the BCTs with 54 towed artillery pieces, 24 MIM-104GS Patriot SAM systems, 18 Grizzly heavy construction vehicles, and 24 utility vehicles along with the division headquarters. A few divisions are based on the armored division type, bringing to bear 54 Cataphract self-propelled howitzers and 18 multiple-launch rocket systems to provide a greater weight of supporting fire. While the armored division also includes 24 Patriot systems and 60 utility vehicles, it lacks the battlefield construction equipment of the infantry division and is therefore poorly suited for defensive missions. Divisions are in turn organized under Corps formations, which provide similar support to an infantry division but with a larger complement of 54 construction vehicles. In addition to controlling 2-4 divisions, a Corps may control independent BCTs, construction brigades of 72 construction vehicles, and sustainment group formations stocked with munitions to support extended campaigns.

Author’s note: since anti-air in Aurora is completely useless, the Patriot batteries are modeled with small Gauss turrets, which do after all provide air defense capability after a fashion.

In addition to the main combat and support troops, the SGC also maintains a robust Special Operations Command (SOC). Besides the basic logistics elements and the 75th US Army Rangers Regiment, three unique formation types fall under SOC command. Ground Survey Divisions equipped with 112 M5A1 G.E.O.R.G.E. vehicles are raised to conduct geological surveys of specially-identified planets and moons in search of valuable minerals which cannot be found from an orbital survey. The similar Xenoarcheology Divisions are equipped with 112 M5A2 X.E.N.A. vehicles and are specially trained for excavation and translation of alien ruins, which can then be salvaged by construction brigades if any valuable installations or materials might be found. Finally, four surface defense brigades have been raised, which operate ground-based versions of the Asgard Plasma Beam Weapons as well as specially-developed 8-inch heavy railgun batteries. The surface defense brigades each possess a dozen of these weapons, evenly split between the two types, as well as supporting elements for air defense and field fortification.

The order of battle, including multinational formations under control of the US Army for SGC operations, is given below:

SGC Army Forces Command (FORSCOM)
   Third Army (US Central, ARCENT)
      I Corps
         7th Infantry Division (2x SBCT)
         25th Infantry Division (1x SBCT, 3x IBCT)
         593rd Sustainment Group
      III Corps
         1st Armored Division (3x ABCT)
         1st Cavalry Division (3x ABCT)
         1st Infantry Division (2x ABCT)
         4th Infantry Division (2x SBCT, 1x ABCT)
         3rd Cavalry Regiment ‘Brave Rifles’ (SBCT)
         13th Sustainment Group
      XVIII Airborne Corps
         3rd Infantry Division (2x ABCT)
         10th Mountain Division (3x IBCT)
         82nd Airborne Division (3x IBCT)
         101st Airborne Division (3x IBCT)
      3x Army Engineer Brigade
      3x Theater Sustainment Command
   Seventh Army (Europe, AREUR)
      V Corps
         2nd Cavalry Regiment ‘Dragoons’ (SBCT)
         173rd Airborne Brigade ‘Sky Soldiers’ (IBCT)
         3rd Sustainment Group
      European Joint Forces Corps
         1st Armée de Terre Division (FR) (1x ABCT, 1x SBCT, 1x IBCT)
         3rd (UK) Mechanised Division (1x ABCT, 1x SBCT, 1x IBCT)
         Joint Forces Sustainment Group
      8th Guards Combined Arms Army (RU)
         2nd Taman Guards Motor Rifle Division (2x SBCT, 1x ABCT)
         4th Kantemir Guards Tank Division (2x ABCT, 1x SBCT)
         118th Material Support Brigade
      130th Army Engineer Brigade
      2x Theater Sustainment Command
   Eighth Army (Pacific, ARPAC)
      1st Group Army (PRC)
         1st Amphibious Infantry Division (2x IBCT)
         6th Armored Division (1x ABCT, 1x SBCT)
         72nd Logistics Brigade
      2nd Infantry Division (2x SBCT)
      1x Theater Sustainment Command
   Special Operations Command (SGCSOC)
      75th US Army Rangers Regiment
      2x Ground Survey Division
      2x Xenoarcheology Division
      4x Surface Defense Brigade
      528th Sustainment Group
   3rd Infantry Regiment ‘The Old Guard’ (IBCT)

These forces require a total spaceborne transport requirement of over 1,450,000 tons to deploy off-world, although it is unlikely that the entire SGC-controlled army will be deployed to a single planet all at once, aside from Earth of course.

----

OOC Notes: This is intended to be a “for-fun” AAR campaign in which I will try and probably fail to resist the urge to be extremely detailed, as the high-detail work I am trying to save until 2.2 comes out, so I will be keeping the entire AAR in a single thread including comments. As always in these threads, comments are not only welcomed but coveted, as the author has a fragile ego and requires constant validation from internet strangers. 

This is a reboot of a Stargate-themed campaign I started and quickly aborted in 1.13, primarily because controlling survey parasites was agonizingly painful. I hope the squadron feature added in 2.0+ will make a difference here, but if not the survey speed is 20% of normal so at least I will not have to deal with it as often.

One last note of minor interest: usually I do not start an AAR without first generating a buffer of a few updates, partially in a futile attempt to maintain the mythical "update schedule" and partially to ensure that the setting is interesting enough. I am not doing that this time around as I am bored of waiting for 2.2 and want to write something, so we will see how this unprecedented change of pace works out. Hopefully well.

[Andrew]

Looking forward to it.
The British Division should probably not be Royal Army Division as it is the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy but the British Army not the Royal Army, Possibly the Guards Division which is made of the various Guards Cavalry and Infantry Regiments and is a solid name, the Guards Armoured Division was a notable force in WW2, othewise 7th Armoured or 51st Highland Divisions are also fairly renowned division level formations for the British army

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

Looking forward to it.
The British Division should probably not be Royal Army Division as it is the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy but the British Army not the Royal Army, Possibly the Guards Division which is made of the various Guards Cavalry and Infantry Regiments and is a solid name, the Guards Armoured Division was a notable force in WW2, othewise 7th Armoured or 51st Highland Divisions are also fairly renowned division level formations for the British army

I think I will change this. I copied the ground OOB from my 1.13 notes so I don't remember some of the decisions made way back then.

[Garfunkel]

 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division (UK) is a bit tautological 

Looking forward to this!

[El Pip]

The SGC has gone very chunky with it's ships which is always nice to see. Might this mean more focus on individual ships, as there are fewer of them? I also wonder which way they will go when the mixed armament proves ineffective, because 16 sz6 launchers seems like a recipe for firing a lot of missiles to very little effect (at least under current rules).

Much to look forward to.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

3rd (UK) Mechanised Division (UK) is a bit tautological 

Looking forward to this!

Our secret weapon is tautology! And editing! Our two secret weapons are tautology and editing! And funny comment replies! Our three secret weapons are... I'll go again... 

The SGC has gone very chunky with it's ships which is always nice to see. Might this mean more focus on individual ships, as there are fewer of them?

I'm not yet entirely sure how this will work out, yet. Not to spoil the next update but my general observation is that the battlecruisers tend to operate in pairs more so than individually, even so it is different writing of a pair of cruisers than several squadrons. One thing I do admittedly regret is that we do not have the 2.2 changes that allow NPRs to also build large warships in some cases, however I am trying to get new races to generate as player races so hopefully eventually an "NPR" with big ships will appear?

I also wonder which way they will go when the mixed armament proves ineffective, because 16 sz6 launchers seems like a recipe for firing a lot of missiles to very little effect (at least under current rules).

This remains to be seen. The downside of the missile armament is as you say, however if missiles are considered a secondary weapon with specialized uses then maybe they will prove useful still? Alternatively maybe the space is better to use for more F-302s, as a back-of-envelope calculation seems to suggest the hangar space could be roughly doubled by tearing out the missiles, but we must be careful not to cross the streams and become a BSG campaign instead. Although perhaps Battlestars vs Ori is what everyone truly wants to see happen? It is an Ori deception...

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

1 Jan 2000

The first order of business for the SGC fleet was to survey the Sol system for mineral sources and hyperspace jump points which could allow access to nearby star systems. A shocking find was announced on 26 February, as Major Chaing Shu Huan radioed his superiors aboard HMS Royal Sovereign and was immediately forwarded to the SGC command office on Earth. Major Huan, commanding an Athena-class geosurvey craft, had located the ruins of what had once been an extensive alien city sprawling across the surface of Mars. This precipitated the first major offworld military expedition by spaceborne transports in human history, with the SG-33 and 34 xenoarcheology divisions deployed to Mars, accompanied by the US 7th Infantry Division with two Kodiak BCTs and the SG-904 surface defense brigade. While the Solar system was generally considered safe from alien influences, the SGC had learned from experience with the Stargate project not to take any chances. The xenoarcheologists reported on 29 April that the ruins showed evidence that the race known from the Stargate project as the Ancients had been present, although the colony proper was not Ancient in origin. Over 150 installations remained intact and could be recovered by skilled construction teams, prompting the SGC to deploy the three engineering brigades of the Third Army to Mars, which immediately set about restoring the indicated facilities.

Aside from this startling discovery, the geological survey of Sol revealed several suitable colony sites, including Luna which would provide a strategic corundium reserve in addition to being relatively easy to terraform. Earth-based mining corporations eagerly awaited the survey results, wasting no time establishing for-profit enterprises on suitable bodies throughout the solar system. Major Alphonso Hikes reported strange anomalies in the geosurvey of Venus, which could not be resolved by orbital sensors, leading to the deployment of the SG-31 ground survey division to investigate. Curiously, survey craft commanders reported gaseous sorium within the atmospheres of the gas giant planets Jupiter and Neptune. In the long term, these could provide a valuable fuel source for Tau’ri ships, although the SGC had not anticipated this find and thus lacked any technology that could be used to extract these reserves.

Solar System Colonies:
 Venus (ground survey 5 Apr 2000)
    Duranium 36,927,043 → 60,611,147   Acc 0.8 → 0.9
    Boronide 27,089,110   Acc 0.6
    Corundium 14,079,305   Acc 0.1
   *Neutronium 11,079,578   Acc 0.1
   *Mercassium 21,155,584   Acc 0.1
 Luna (populated colony, 1 Feb 2000)
    Neutronium 1,652,202   Acc 0.2
    Boronide 754,292   Acc 0.2
    Corundium 188,573   Acc 0.9
 Mars (military expedition, 26 Feb 2000)
   Ruined City
 Borrelly (asteroid miners, 25 Jun 2000)
    Neutronium 37,338   Acc 0.9
    Mercassium 30,201   Acc 0.9
    Vendarite 15,780   Acc 1
 Machholz (asteroid miners, 25 Feb 2000)
    Duranium 48,711   Acc 0.8
    Tritanium 5,951   Acc 1
    Mercassium 41,801   Acc 0.8
    Vendarite 22,509   Acc 0.7
    Corundium 25,036   Acc 0.9
 Reinmuth (asteroid miners, 11 Apr 2000)
    Neutronium 59,153   Acc 0.8
    Sorium 12,013   Acc 0.5
    Uridium 32,396   Acc 0.9
    Corundium 25,273   Acc 1
 Van Biesbroeck (asteroid miners, 15 Mar 2000)
    Neutronium 12,418   Acc 0.8
    Boronide 71,930   Acc 0.8
    Gallicite 26,852   Acc 0.9
 Wild (asteroid miners, 4 Apr 2000)
    Duranium 99,849   Acc 0.7
    Corbomite 7,410   Acc 0.5
    Sorium 40,748   Acc 0.8
    Corundium 18,671   Acc 0.9
 Chernykh (Farkas Group CMC, 1 Jul 2000)
    Tritanium 19,671   Acc 0.9
    Gallicite 27,809   Acc 1
 Encke (Aksyonov Minerals & Ores CMC, 9 Mar 2000)
   Duranium 63,569   Acc 0.8

Results from the gravitational survey took somewhat longer to materialize, but proved interesting as well. On 30 March, Major Alonzo Abdul discovered a pair of jump points just beyond the orbit of Neptune in close mutual proximity, barely two billion km apart despite being nearly five billion km distant from Sol itself. The cluster of jump points grew larger on 4 June, with a third discovered in the same general area, but this time within the orbit of Uranus and therefore less than three billion km from the sun. The fourth and final jump point in Sol was found on 15 June, roughly in a line with the first two jump points at a similar distance. With the completion of the geological and gravitational surveys on 23 October, the SGC assigned jump point probing missions to each of the four Odysseus-class survey cruisers, which departed from Earth orbit on 9 December after recovering their survey groups. The first survey cruiser to arrive on station was the USS Odysseus, which arrived at the innermost jump point on Christmas Day, 2000. She transited through and emerged in the Abydos system, 635 million km from the blue-white giant primary and, more importantly, only 193 million km from the third planet from that star, from which emanated massive thermal and EM emissions indicating the presence of an alien population on the planet.



The thermal and EM signatures from the alien planet corresponded to a population about 150% to 200% the size of Earth’s, thus Abydos III was almost certainly an alien homeworld. Colonel Gregorio Newmann immediately called home, recommending that the SGC send a Dionysus-class diplomatic ship to the Abydos system to decipher the alien language and begin diplomatic overtures. WIth an alien race scarcely three billion km from Earth, good relations would be imperative if humanity was to avoid fighting an existential war in their home system. Odysseus would remain on the jump point to Sol, to provide the diplomatic ship with hyperdrive support to enter the system and then as an escort, at least until communications could be established.


3 Jan 2001

The diplomatic ship Dionysus arrived in Abydos on this date. In the intervening period, Odysseus had received unintelligible communications from the aliens, and had been briefly approached by a squadron of four contacts, designated Taiho-class and assumed to be the aliens’ version of scout ships. Currently, a 72,000-ton ship was positioned at the jump point, surrounded by what appeared to be several smaller escort ships. The mission of the alien squadron was unknown to the officers of the Odysseus, as the largest alien ship appeared to be ignoring the big cruiser and operating some sort of massive machinery mounted on its hull. Over the past nine days, sensor officers aboard Odysseus had detected numerous intermittent active sensor signatures emitted from various ships around Abydos III, and had identified around forty unique signatures including the ships which had approached or were currently positioned on the jump point. Back in the solar system, SGC officers were concerned about a Taiho-class scout which had transited on 31 December, but until communications were established there was no nice way to ask the aliens to leave, and SGC leadership preferred to hold off on asking in a not-so-nice way for the moment. In any case, as the aliens seemed patient enough and not overly hostile, Odysseus was recalled to the Sol side of the jump point, seeking to ensure that the aliens did not feel threatened while leaving the Dionysus to its work.

A group of alien ships jumped into Sol on 5 January, composed of eight ships each in the ~7,700-ton displacement range. Again, without communications established there was no polite way to ask the aliens what they were doing in Sol or to kindly cut it out. The Soryu-class contact, the largest of the group, did seem content to hold position at the jump point under the watchful eye of Odysseus, suggesting that perhaps this was their version of a diplomatic mission. However, the remaining group of seven ships proceeded in-system, sparking concern at SGC headquarters. As the aliens seemed to be heading for Saturn, the battlecruiser USS Daedalus was dispatched to meet them and ensure they did not try to do anything too suspicious during their visit. This, along with the later appearance of a Hyuga-class ship which darted off in the direction of the nearest gravitational survey location, indicated to the SGC that the aliens had decided to survey the solar system. As such, a spot of rudeness prevailed, and orders were given for Odysseus to release her survey crafts back into Abydos to return the favor.

Communications were finally established with the Abydos aliens, who introduced themselves as the Danakreg Commonwealth, on 23 January. The SGC quickly filed a diplomatic request that the Danakreg leave the solar system, which was received on 28 January and immediately rejected. The Danakreg, however, had no problem issuing immediate demands that the Tau’ri leave the Abydos system at the same time. While Earth was not in the business of giving in to impetuous demands made by blowhard alien races, in this case the survey groups in Abydos were reluctantly withdrawn for their own safety, as the SGC feared that hostilities were imminent. Upgrading the previous request to a demand on 2 February was similarly rejected by the Danakreg, who claimed that the system was important to them and that they would “defend” it, a form of rhetoric which struck several Russian members of the SGC as oddly familiar. As a precautionary measure, the USS Odyssey was deployed to Jupiter to join her sister ship, Daedalus, and reconstitute the 1st Fast Attack Wing opposite the Danakreg survey force in Jovian orbit.

In the coming days and weeks, a fierce debate would rage within the halls of the SGC and in the political houses of the member nations as to whether a preemptive strike against the Danakreg force in Sol was warranted or even ethical. As such, the SGC’s contingency planning teams would be working overtime for the foreseeable future.

----

Nearly forgotten in the excitement of a new alien contact were the other three survey cruisers dispatched to probe jump points. HMS Royal Sovereign transited to the Chulak system on 6 January, a binary system with eight planets orbiting the system primary including three which were nearly habitable worlds. The second star in the system was orbited by two gas giants, an uninhabitable dwarf planet, and two asteroid belts, although with an average distance of around 25 billion km from the primary travel between the two stars would only be possible by way of the Lagrange points around each star. Royal Sovereign dispatched one of her survey scouts to ensure that none of the nearly-habitable planets was considered habitable by another alien race before starting the usual system surveys.

Later the same day, USS Hercules discovered the Simarka system, a binary star system with only two planets and a moon orbiting the stars, none worth noting. The primary interest in this system would be the results of the gravitational survey. Finally, FNS Jeanne d’Arc emerged in the Argos system on 12 January, finding no less than five near-habitable bodies within half a million km of the star, with a total of ten planets and 28 moons in orbit. A preliminary scouting run indicated no alien presence in the system, and the surveys were initiated in short order. For Hercules and Jeanne d’Arc, life in space was comparatively peaceful, or boring in the words of many crewmen aboard those cruisers.

For the Royal Sovereign, things were somewhat less peaceful. The Argonaut-class survey scout deployed to clear the system reported a pair of alien contacts in excess of 16,000 tons each in orbit of Chulak VI. Unlike the situation in Abydos, no strong thermal or EM signature was detected from the planet surface, indicating that the alien ships were not protecting a significant population but rather a small outpost or listening station. As it continued to approach, the scout observed EM emissions from missile warning sensors from both ships, confirming that they were military in nature. As the aliens had not moved to intercept, the scout’s commander decided to approach planetary orbit in hopes of establishing friendly relations. This proved unwise, as the scout suddenly found itself blown to pieces by twenty small nuclear missiles, similar in yield to the AIM-120ES missiles mounted on F-302 interceptors. Clearly, the aliens in Chulak were considerably more antagonistic than those in Abydos. Royal Sovereign called Earth for directions, and meanwhile dispatched her second Argonaut to recover the survivors from the first scout’s untimely demise, while carefully keeping a safe distance from their prickly alien neighbors. The planet’s orbital trajectory would eventually allow a safe recovery of the life pods from the wreckage.

Back on Earth, the discovery of another, hostile alien race within a single hyperspace jump from Sol was causing conniptions among the generals of the SGC. As the situation was clearly intolerable, with the relatively friendly Abydos aliens causing enough problems already, a forceful military response was the clear and preferred option. The 2nd Fast Attack Wing, consisting of the battlecruisers RFS Korolev and USS Apollo, was dispatched to the Chulak system to deal with the emerging threat and clear the system for survey operations. The one silver lining to be found was that the Chulak aliens had not opened communications and made grandiose proclamations about their abject superiority to the Tau’ri; therefore, at least the aliens were not Goa’uld.

Ruminations about the identity of the Chulak aliens quickly took a backseat to real, pressing concerns. On 3 February 2001, a massive Danakreg force approached the Abydos-Sol jump point. On arrival, the Danakreg ships destroyed the Tau’ri communications buoy stationed at the jump point. Five seconds later, a Danakreg Nagato-class destroyer fired at and destroyed the diplomatic ship Dionysus. Stargate Command was officially at war.

----

OOC Notes: I will admit, the rapid pace of updates so far is blistering and perhaps unbecoming, but as it has been a three-day weekend in the USA there is not much else to be expected and as such I will make no apologies. Things have heated up pretty quickly, which I suppose is only to be expected when the first new system contains an NPR. Maybe someday Steve will create a diplomatic AI that can handle the concept of “borders”? This aside, so far Stargate Command has a 50% rate of discovering new aliens in new star systems. Clearly this is a lore-accurate AAR, that is my story and I will be sticking to it. 

[El Pip]

I thought I would have weeks to digest the previous chapter, yet here we are again. We are indeed in the territory of behaviour unbecoming an AAR author.

Putting such thoughts to one side things are proceeding at an excellent pace, I for one am delighted to have skipped the "what are jump points, are their aliens, etc" portion that many AARs feel the need to include. Some may argue that two hostile aliens on the doorstep is excessive, but who am I to argue with a "lore-accurate AAR"?

It is a nice touch that Abydos is the first inhabited system, I feel I already know what the Danakreg home planet should be like - sand, souks, people being hit with sticks while looking at the distant Pyramids with a single tear in their eye, that sort of thing. They probably won't, but that is the image I have. Also after destroying the Dionysus I now have them pegged as miserable puritans.

I'd say something about the Chulak but there is little to say at present, naturally one has suspicions though and if correct I do look forward to how they are incorporated into this lore-accurate work.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

I thought I would have weeks to digest the previous chapter, yet here we are again. We are indeed in the territory of behaviour unbecoming an AAR author.

Rules exist to be broken if the author is sufficiently bored, after all.

Putting such thoughts to one side things are proceeding at an excellent pace, I for one am delighted to have skipped the "what are jump points, are their aliens, etc" portion that many AARs feel the need to include. Some may argue that two hostile aliens on the doorstep is excessive, but who am I to argue with a "lore-accurate AAR"?

My planned next AAR project will skip not only the "what are...?" lore but the entire start of the game and start at a suitably exciting point in the middle

It is a nice touch that Abydos is the first inhabited system, I feel I already know what the Danakreg home planet should be like - sand, souks, people being hit with sticks while looking at the distant Pyramids with a single tear in their eye, that sort of thing. They probably won't, but that is the image I have. Also after destroying the Dionysus I now have them pegged as miserable puritans.

I anticipate that someone on Abydos will be getting hit, presumably with sticks, after the next few updates. Whether that is related to the content of the next few updates remains to be seen, I just think given what we know of the nature of sapient species it is a safe bet.

I'd say something about the Chulak but there is little to say at present, naturally one has suspicions though and if correct I do look forward to how they are incorporated into this lore-accurate work.

Indeed.

I do have the spoiler races laid out as lore-related, possibly even lore-accurate but in an alternate reality who can say for sure? I do have Rakhas turned off as they are annoying and, I suspect, still buggy, so there goes the opportunity for roving bands of Jaffa raiders to appear.

And on that terribly disappointing note, it is time to turn once more to our intrepid heroes and discover how it might be possible to fight a war without the admiralty descending into perpetual arguments, fisticuffs, and ill-advised design studies...

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

3 Feb 2001, 01:17:15

In war, it is very often the case that numerous things happen in very short order, sowing confusion and chaos. The opening moments of the Tau’ri-Danakreg war were no exception to this rule.

In the Abydos system, three Apollo-class survey craft were trapped behind the jump point, now invested by nearly 400,000 tons of Danakreg warships with more expected to arrive. While the combined displacement of the Daedalus-class battlecruisers could comfortably outmatch this force, trying to force the jump point would be risky at best, particularly as the Danakreg combat vessels had displayed a fleet speed in excess of 5,800 km/s, suggesting a comfortable technological advantage over the Daedalus and its mere 4,000 km/s top speed. Thus, the survey ships remaining in-system could not expect relief in the very near future, and without communications back to Earth after the Danakreg had destroyed the dial-home buoy at the jump point, the best the survey ships could do would be to hide in the outer system and hope to avoid detection for as long as possible.

At the jump point to Abydos, the USS Odysseus was the only SGC unit within 1.6 billion km and would be forced to hold the jump point until reinforcements could arrive. The Danakreg Soryu-class diplomatic ship was rapidly fleeing the jump point and heading towards the outer system, so would have to be left alone as Odysseus was too slow to catch up and lacked any F-302s to intercept the fleeing alien vessel. As such, Odysseus was ordered to raise shields and hold position for as long as possible, dispatching her remaining survey ships and scouts back to Earth so they might remain intact in the event of her own destruction.

In Saturn orbit, the USS Daedalus raised shields and launched fighters. The Danakreg Hyuga-class survey ship was in Titan orbit, 1,220,000 km distant and would be intercepted immediately. The seven-ship escort squadron had moved off to 10 million km distance and was continuing to retreat out-system from Daedalus, and would probably be able to fight off a mere sixteen interceptors without much difficulty, so Colonel Burt Vandyke elected to remain in Saturn orbit and await the arrival of the USS Odyssey, at which point the 1st Fast Attack Wing would be reformed. The Hyuga-class survey ship was destroyed without incident at 01:20:15, with 52 Danakreg survivors recovered.

In Earth orbit, a flurry of orders were being issued. Odyssey was dispatched towards Saturn to reinforce Daedalus, in case the Danakreg escort squadron decided to attack rather than continue retreating. The 3rd Fast Attack Wing, consisting of the battlecruisers PRCS Sun Tzu and USS George Hammond, was ordered to proceed at full speed to the Abydos jump point to reinforce or relieve Odysseus. The four escort cruisers would remain close to home, but with raised shields and active sensors pulsing in case any Danakreg ships in Sol attempted a sneak attack on Earth. The 1st Patrol Wing, consisting of the HMS Nelson and RFS Kirov, would remain in Earth orbit, while the 2nd Patrol Wing would move to Mars to secure the valuable ruins site, composed of the FNS Napoleon and PRCS Zheng He. On Earth itself, two shipyards totaling six 1,000-ton slipways, presently tooled to construct survey craft, were ordered to retool to produce additional F-302 interceptors, the only spacecraft available to the SGC which could match or exceed the Danakreg fleet speed.

Finally, in deep space near the jump point to the Chulak system, the 2nd Fast Attack Wing was ordered to turn around and make for the Abydos jump point at top speed. As the hostile aliens in Chulak had shown no inclination towards aggression, nor a sufficient presence to seriously threaten the Sol system, they would have to be left alone for the foreseeable future. The HMS Royal Sovereign was authorized to attempt survey efforts at her commander’s discretion, as long as the sixth planet and its moons were given a wide exclusion zone to prevent further losses among her small craft complement.

----

At 0143 hours, the USS Daedalus opened fire on the retreating Danakreg escort squadron fleeing Saturn orbit with four waves of sixteen Mark VIII tactical nuclear missiles, based on analysis of recently-acquired tactical data suggesting that the escorts might be vulnerable to missile attack. Even before missile launch, the exercise proved informative, as the Danakreg warships were revealed to have a minimal level of electronic countermeasures (ECM) installed. Out of 64 missiles fired, two scored hits on a Mogami-class escort, one missed, and the remainder were shot down by point defense fire. The marginal results were disappointing at the moment, but indicated that a larger volley from multiple battlecruisers would be able to overwhelm the Danakreg ships, which was a promising finding.

This relative failure of the missile attack did have a rather unfortunate side-effect, as the Danakreg squadron came about and set a course towards the Daedalus. This posed a problem, as USS Odyssey was still 1.2 billion km out from Saturn and the Daedalus lacked the firepower to deal with the Danakreg squadron by herself. Sensor readings indicated that the Danakreg ships used heavy laser weapons, which would comfortably outrange the railguns on the battlecruisers and would inflict heavy losses on the F-302s as they tried to close to combat range. Daedalus was therefore forced to retreat from Saturn, hoping to reunite with her wingmate before being overtaken by Danakreg forces. Fortunately, the Danakreg ships moved off again shortly thereafter, but with nothing in Saturn orbit worth defending Daedalus would proceed to rendezvous with Odyssey before returning rather than risk a losing battle on her own. The Danakreg squadron fell off from active sensors at 0430 hours, and for the moment would remain at large in the solar system.

At 1542 hours, the Soryu-class diplomatic ship approached the jump point to Abydos. While the USS Odysseus was present at the jump point, and could have easily intercepted the enemy vessel before it could escape through the warp point, the SGC still held out slim hopes for a diplomatic resolution and killing diplomats would not be conducive to such a goal. Therefore, the diplomatic ship was allowed to return to Abydos, albeit over loud protests from Colonel Newmann aboard the Odysseus.

The Danakreg escort squadron reappeared on 6 February, on a direct course for the jump point to Abydos and the USS Odysseus. Being even less capable than the Daedalus-class battlecruisers and lacking a fighter wing, Odysseus was forced to move off the jump point and allow the Danakreg squadron to approach. The Danakreg ships fired on the dial-home buoy at the jump point, destroying it, and rather than jumping out of Sol seemed content to remain on the jump point. Curiously, the rest of the Danakreg fleet known to be investing the other side of the jump point did not enter Sol, though certainly not for lack of opportunity. This presented the SGC fleet with an excellent chance to strike a decisive blow.


8 Feb 2001: Investment of the Sol-Abydos Jump Point

In addition to the main Danakreg escort squadron, seven ships displacing some 54,000 tons altogether, a Taiho-class scout was holding position 120 million km from the jump point, opposite the USS Odysseus. As Fast Attack Wing 3 closed within 750 million km of the jump point, the PRCS Sun Tzu and USS George Hammond launched their fighter squadrons totaling 32 F-302 interceptors, intending to ambush and destroy the Taiho before the fast attack wings closed to combat range. The scout was not known to mount any sensors capable of detecting fighter-sized craft at even 1 million km, so an ambush was likely to achieve total surprise.


The tactical situation near the Abydos jump point at 10:46:30 on 8 February 2001, prior to the first attack run of the 121st and 122nd Strike Fighter Wings.

While the Taiho did not react to the approaching fighters, the Danakreg escort squadron apparently had tired of waiting for something to happen, and moved on 9 February at 1030 hours to attack the USS Odysseus stationed 2 million km from the jump point. Odysseus was forced to flee the jump point, and an attempt by the approaching fighters to distract the enemy ships by pulsing their active sensors accomplished nothing. Finally, with little choice and faced with imminent destruction in any case, Odysseus turned to face her pursuers and advanced into enemy fire. Unfortunately, her crew members were mostly trained for survey operations, not desperate last-ditch combat, and took nearly 30 seconds after the order to fire was given to actually compute targeting solutions and open fire. As such, by the time she opened fire, Odysseus had lost her entire shield strength and already began taking internal damage. The railgun crews tried their best, but were only able to savage the armor belts of three Danakreg ships, with no apparent internal damage dealt.

Fortunately, the spirited counterattack was sufficient to scare off the Danakreg squadron for a few moments, buying time to recharge her shields while the enemy ships regrouped. The Danakreg made a second pass, and this time through preparation and clever maneuvering Odysseus was able to close in and deal heavy damage to one of the Mogami-class escorts, reducing its speed by 50% and forcing it to drop out of formation while the rest of the Danakreg ships retreated again. The Mogami class was by now known to be armed with rapid-fire point defense cannons and represented the primary anti-missile capability of the Danakreg escort classes, so this would severely increase the Danakreg vulnerability to missile strikes from SGC battlecruisers. The Danakreg came about once more for a third pass at the feisty survey cruiser, less their damaged comrade, and this time were far more careful not to let the crippled cruiser outmaneuver them. Odysseus went to her grave without firing another shot, with 485 survivors escaping to life pods from her original complement of 2,359.

By this point, the Taiho-class scout had detected the incoming Tau’ri fighters, and was desperately attempting to evade the incoming force. This forced the fighter wings into a stern chase, but with a speed advantage in excess of 2000 km/s against an unarmed scout ship, the outcome was never in doubt. The Taiho only took 26 hits before exploding violently, leaving only 42 survivors to be recovered and taken aboard the battlecruisers of the 3rd Fast Attack Wing for interrogation.

Seven hours later, a second ship of the Taiho class was detected traveling away from the jump point in the direction of the wreckage of the first one. With the destruction of Odysseus, the SGC fleet no longer had sensor coverage of the jump point, raising the concern that any number of ships may have jumped into Sol undetected. As the fighters of the 3rd Fast Attack Wing had not yet been recovered, and would need to refuel, the 1st Fast Attack Wing, consisting of the USS Daedalus and USS Odyssey and by this point only 630 million km from the jump point, were ordered to launch fighters to intercept the new enemy scout ship. Colonel Vandyke aboard the Daedalus elected to launch only half of his fighters, since the Taiho class was now confirmed to be unarmed, holding the 102nd aboard Odyssey in reserve in case further lurking Danakreg vessels were detected.


Tactical situation near the Sol-Abydos jump point at 17:58:30 on 9 February 2001, immediately after the 121st and 122nd Strike Fighter Wings had been recovered by their respective motherships and shortly after the launch of the 101st SFW.

Before the fighters could reach their assigned position, the 3rd Fast Attack Wing came within sensor range of the jump point, detecting the Taiho along with the six remaining ships of the Danakreg escort squadron, noting that the badly-damaged Mogami-class point defense ship had apparently retreated to Abydos for repairs. Seeing this, the fighters were recalled to their carrier, and the Fast Attack Wings were ordered to close to near-extreme missile range of 45 million km and to prepare to receive firing orders. This proved an unnecessary degree of caution, if wise nevertheless, as the Danakreg force set course away from the jump point, towards the outer system, rather than face down half a dozen Daedalus-class battlecruisers outside of their laser range.

A second Danakreg escort squadron jumped into the Sol system at 0343 hours on 11 February, while the 1st Fast Attack Wing was still getting into position. These ships remained in the system for perhaps 15 minutes, wandering about near the jump point, before retreating back to Abydos. While no apparent damage was done, the generals back on Earth began to worry that the Danakreg were preparing for a much larger jump point assault, which the SGC fleet would be hard-pressed to defend against. As such, once all three fast attack wings were in position at 1037 hours, the battlecruisers were ordered to converge on the jump point, hoping to intercept any new squadrons that might be sent through and dissuade the Danakreg from making any offensive movements. By 1345 hours, the jump point to Abydos was fully invested by the SGC fleet, although the Danakreg squadron in the outer system would remain a concern for some time. The last known position of the enemy ships was some 300 million km from the jump point, well beyond the range of the F-302s in a stern chase especially with the current enemy position unknown.

At midnight on 12 February, with no signs of further Danakreg incursions and only intermittent passive sensor contacts with the loose escort squadron in the outer system, the 1st Fast Attack Wing was detailed to recover the survivors from the destruction of Odysseus. In the short term, taking on the survivors would lead to cramped quarters for a while, but in exchange the 1st would be at the front of the line to return to Earth for rotation and overhaul, provided that the Danakreg did not do anything terribly stupid in the next few days, weeks, or months.

----

OOC Notes: The war has started, and where proper AAR etiquette demands a majestic pace where every battle takes up at least one update on its own, here we have compressed an incredible nine days of dispersed operations into a few paragraphs. Truly this AAR is an affront to good sense and an abomination to most religions to boot, but then again one could argue that this is only the most lore-accurate approach to take?

The SGC is now faced with two daunting challenges. On one hand, it seems probable that a significant jump point defense must be mounted indefinitely, given the likelihood that assaulting the jump point is a poor tactical decision, which presents long-term logistical difficulties. On the other hand, far more pressing is the fact that running through five-day increments is a likely path to being ambushed by a massive invasion force which immediately moves 5 million km away from the jump point and recovers from jump shock in the space of a single sub-increment. Truly daunting stuff, the question is whether the SGC will be up for the challenge?

[Garfunkel]

Great update! And yes, a terrible choice to make too 

[El Pip]

My planned next AAR project will skip not only the "what are...?" lore but the entire start of the game and start at a suitably exciting point in the middle

A prospect to excite the imagination and tempt the senses.

And on that terribly disappointing note, it is time to turn once more to our intrepid heroes and discover how it might be possible to fight a war without the admiralty descending into perpetual arguments, fisticuffs, and ill-advised design studies...

Badly. I assume such a war would be fought incredibly badly due to the inferior quality of such an admiralty. Next you'll be saying they don't even break up meetings with light refreshment breaks. :shudder:

On Earth itself, two shipyards totaling six 1,000-ton slipways, presently tooled to construct survey craft, were ordered to retool to produce additional F-302 interceptors, the only spacecraft available to the SGC which could match or exceed the Danakreg fleet speed.

I can see the logic (panic) but being the only ship that can get close to the enemy there will be pressure for lots of "Get in close and shot it with your nose rail guns" while being neither fast nor armoured. This does not bode well for the long term life expectancy of future F-302 pilots.

As the hostile aliens in Chulak had shown no inclination towards aggression, nor a sufficient presence to seriously threaten the Sol system, they would have to be left alone for the foreseeable future.

For entirely lore-accurate reasons I feel this gamble will pay off.

The marginal results were disappointing at the moment, but indicated that a larger volley from multiple battlecruisers would be able to overwhelm the Danakreg ships, which was a promising finding.

This plan could get very expensive in gallcite and fuel, very quickly.

Sensor readings indicated that the Danakreg ships used heavy laser weapons, which would comfortably outrange the railguns on the battlecruisers and would inflict heavy losses on the F-302s as they tried to close to combat range.

The news just gets better and better. Still there is a solution to this;

"Knowing their weakness, I sent wave after wave of F-302s at them until they ran out of missiles and shut down." SGC Admiral Z. Brannigan discussing strategy.

the SGC still held out slim hopes for a diplomatic resolution and killing diplomats would not be conducive to such a goal. Therefore, the diplomatic ship was allowed to return to Abydos

Cowards.

The heroic (ish) death of the Odysseus could prompt a major rethink on survey ship design and doctrine. That was a large loss of crew and will be expensive to replace, yet by definition exploration and survey ships will always be running such risks.

but in exchange the 1st would be at the front of the line to return to Earth for rotation and overhaul, provided that the Danakreg did not do anything terribly stupid in the next few days, weeks, or months.

Let us hope the enemy co-operates.

OOC Notes: The war has started, and where proper AAR etiquette demands a majestic pace where every battle takes up at least one update on its own, here we have compressed an incredible nine days of dispersed operations into a few paragraphs. Truly this AAR is an affront to good sense and an abomination to most religions to boot, but then again one could argue that this is only the most lore-accurate approach to take?

I approve of this heretical approach to battle reporting, partly because it is lore accurate, partly because it means we make much faster progress but mostly because good sense is often over-rated and deserves to be affronted.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

Badly. I assume such a war would be fought incredibly badly due to the inferior quality of such an admiralty. Next you'll be saying they don't even break up meetings with light refreshment breaks. :shudder:

Nothing quite so dramatic, there are some lines that simply should not be crossed after all.

I can see the logic (panic) but being the only ship that can get close to the enemy there will be pressure for lots of "Get in close and shot it with your nose rail guns" while being neither fast nor armoured. This does not bode well for the long term life expectancy of future F-302 pilots.

Fortunately, the F-302s are also armed with AIM-120 missiles, which do not pack a huge punch but at 64 per squadron can be used to punch through Danakreg PD and do some damage. Otherwise, there is no good short-term solution to the problem of inferior speed + range against the superior technology of the Danakreg. There is also some value in having planet-based F-302 wings so that the escort cruisers can be freed up for secondary duties at some point.

For entirely lore-accurate reasons I feel this gamble will pay off.

Indeed. 

This plan could get very expensive in gallcite and fuel, very quickly.

To be fair, this is true for all of the plans, and the "lose all of our ships in long-range laser duels" plan has some other flaws which prevents it from seeing serious acceptance.

The news just gets better and better. Still there is a solution to this;

"Knowing their weakness, I sent wave after wave of F-302s at them until they ran out of missiles and shut down." SGC Admiral Z. Brannigan discussing strategy.

In true SGC Admiral General Z. Brannigan plan fashion, this plan does not work when the enemy does not use missiles. Frankly, if they used missiles this would all be over very quickly and we could proceed to the hitting with sticks phase of the AAR.

The heroic (ish) death of the Odysseus could prompt a major rethink on survey ship design and doctrine. That was a large loss of crew and will be expensive to replace, yet by definition exploration and survey ships will always be running such risks.

On one hand, there is the argument that the survey cruisers were not intended to hold jump points against military forces. On the other hand, there is the argument that things would hardly have gone better for a survey cruiser intercepted in deep space by a similar enemy force, which rather defeats the point of the existing armaments which were really intended for defense against small missile salvos while recovering survey craft and evacuating the area. The question then becomes how much should the SGC ship design office overreact and make the next iteration proof against small squadrons of beam-armed attackers? In other navies this might prompt a lengthy conference of some sort...

Let us hope the enemy co-operates.

But if they do something stupid, then we've got them dead to rights! ...right? 

I approve of this heretical approach to battle reporting, partly because it is lore accurate, partly because it means we make much faster progress but mostly because good sense is often over-rated and deserves to be affronted.

Indeed.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

14:52:35, 26 January 2001
Chulak system, aboard S-405R Argonaut 4

Major Leonardo Kouns looked up from the report his sensor officer had given him. “And you’re absolutely certain of this?”

“There’s no doubt about it, Sir,” replied the young lieutenant, standing stiffly at attention.

“Right, then. At ease, Lieutenant.” The officer loosened up slightly as Major Kouns took a deep breath and pressed the intercom button on his desk. “Comms, get Colonel Overly on the horn.”

----

09:14:50, 5 February 2001
Chulak system, jump point to Sol, aboard SC-02 HMS Royal Sovereign

Colonel Everette Overly looked up at Major Kouns, who was standing in front of his desk at attention. “At ease, Major,” he said. The major relaxed visibly, and after a few seconds the colonel motioned at the debriefing report on the desk. “Now, you’re absolutely certain of this? Every word?”

“No doubt in my mind, Sir,” replied the major, “My sensor techs triple-checked all the analysis, and I even looked at the data myself to be absolutely sure.”

Colonel Overly looked at the major. “Right then. But you had better be absolutely sure, Major!” He pointed an admonishing finger at his subordinate, “This will change damn near everything when it reaches SGC.”

Taking a deep breath, the colonel jabbed the intercom button on his desk. “Comms, this is Overly. Get General Marchand on the horn.”

----

09:31:25, 5 February 2001
Sol system, SGC headquarters

The door to General of the Fleet Christophe Marchand’s office swung open, as the general dismissed an assortment of visiting dignitaries from the first of many meetings on his schedule that day. Seeing the sergeant dutifully standing at attention, the general shook one last hand before turning and inquiring “Yes, Walter, what can I do for you?”

“This came in for you from Colonel Overly during your meeting, Sir.” The sergeant handed over the document in his hand and dutifully saluted.

General Marchand skimmed over the first page of the comms report in his hand, then suddenly did a double take and looked up at the sergeant, eyebrow arched in disbelief. “And he’s absolutely certain of this?!”

“That’s what he said, Sir.”

The general looked back at the report. “Unbelievable,” he murmured. After a moment, he looked up again and assumed an air of command befitting his position. “Right then. Sergeant, clear my schedule and get the President on the horn.”

----

13 February 2001, 12:30:00

The Danakreg escort force, trapped in the Sol system for the past two days, finally made their move in an attempt to push through the jump point and reach home. The six SGC battlecruisers at the jump point would have none of this, and launched a full spread of Mark VIII missiles at the Danakreg squadron as it closed within 34 million km, followed by a second spread forty seconds later to clean up any mess left behind. The Danakreg squadron turned to retreat, but as the maximum range of the SGC missiles was over 48 million km there was no hope of escape for the hostile aliens. In case nearly 200 tactical nuclear missiles was not enough to do the job, the 1st Fast Attack Wing was dispatched from the jump point to mop up any survivors. Although the SGC battlecruisers had a speed disadvantage worse than 1,800 km/s, any surviving Danakreg ships were expected to be heavily damaged and traveling at a fraction of their usual speed, so even the slower battlecruisers would be able to catch up in a reasonable amount of time.

The results of the first strike were encouraging and disappointing all at once. Encouraging, because the wave of missiles scored 48 hits spread across all six Danakreg ships, scoring 56% accuracy with only eleven shot down by point defense fire. Furthermore, two of the Danakreg ships lost engines, notably including the Mogami-class point defense escort which was left dead in space after six penetrating hits. Disappointing, because despite the numerous hits by powerful nuclear missiles, all six targets were left alive. Fortunately, the fleet captains had expected this which was why a second wave of missiles was bearing down on the same targets. The second wave met a ragged Danakreg force which had split into three sections, with the two engine-damaged vessels attempting to flee at best speeds while the remaining force turned back toward their assailants. 67 hits were scored with 72% accuracy and only three missiles shot down by much-reduced Danakreg point defense, destroying three ships and leaving the remainder limping away at half-speed.

Seeing these results, Colonel Burt Vandyke aboard the USS Daedalus decided to order another wave of missile fire to take out the remaining heavily-damaged ships, hoping to avoid taking unnecessary damage in a close-range confrontation and more importantly wishing to return to the jump point as soon as possible in case of an enemy assault. Eight missiles were targeted on each surviving enemy vessel, four each from Daedalus and Odyssey for a total of two dozen missiles in flight. This had substantially the desired effect, with two of the remaining targets eliminated and the survivor, a Kongo-class laser-armed escort, left dead in space. Satisfied that a stern chase had been averted and the remaining ship was unlikely to have any effective weapons remaining, Colonel Vandyke dispatched the Odyssey to the jump point while his own ship would eliminate the remaining Kongo and collect the Danakreg life pods. Despite sparse laser fire from the Kongo and its two intact weapons emplacements, this proceeded without difficulty, and Daedalus had returned to the jump point by 2200 hours.

After this, a Taiho-class scout remained active, bouncing about Sol in the very general vicinity of the jump point, but well out of range and on an unpredictable course precluding fighter interception. While annoying, this posed no serious threat to continued SGC operations in Sol, which along with continued production of reserve F-302 fighters would allow the SGC to loosen colonial defense orders and deploy some ships for secondary missions of sufficient importance. Meanwhile, the two salvage ships of the SGC would certainly be kept busy for the next few months.


14 February 2001, 04:18:05

The Danakreg Commonwealth was apparently eager to demonstrate their continued concern for the good health of the Tau’ri economy, as a new escort squadron of seven ships, matching the original composition of the previous two squadrons encountered, jumped into Sol with the presumed intent to provide the salvage ship crews with additional job security. The six battlecruisers on the jump point were happy to collaborate on this joint economic stimulus, scrambling their fighter wings and opening fire as soon as their crews could get to action stations. Twenty-five seconds later, seven new Danakreg wrecks were littered about the jump point, and with the increasing number of Danakreg captives being accumulated the colony ship United Kingdom was dispatched to serve as a makeshift detention center until more suitable accommodations could be arranged.


25 February 2001, 12:47:00

This date marked the destruction of the Taiho 002 Danakreg scout ship, and thus the first time in over a month that Sol had been free of alien presence. Colonel Burt Vandyke had observed a change in the flight pattern of the Taiho-class scout, suggesting that it was attempting to run to the jump point and retreating on detection of the SGC vessels. The colonel had put this observation to the test by dispatching his 101st Strike Fighter Wing to a position along the expected trajectory of the Danakreg ship, and had been proven right in short order. Now, the Danakreg would not be able to keep tabs on Tau’ri movements, including salvage operations and rotation of the battlecruisers back to Earth for maintenance and shore leave.

Apparently, the Danakreg objected to this loss of surveillance capability, as a new Taiho-class scout jumped into Sol four and a half hours later. While the scout emerged from hyperspace some 115,000 km from the jump point, clearly seeking to evade the massed railgun fire of the battlecruisers, This was within easy interception range for the 102nd Strike Fighter Wing and the unarmed scout was promptly dispatched. Another attempt was made on 12 March, with the same net effect with the 111th doing the honors. By this point, since the SGC had only detected four unique Taiho-class contacts, there was some hope that the Danakreg had run out of scouts and would give up trying to reconnoiter the jump point.

----

15:30:40, 20 March 2001
Chulak system, aboard SC-02 HMS Royal Sovereign

Colonel Everette Overly stood on the bridge, overseeing his officers as they ran through final checklists prior to beginning their approach. As the commotion settled and the eyes of the officers looked up to their commander, he turned to his executive officer. “Mr. Pélissier, report.”

“All systems are go, Sir.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pélissier.” The colonel took a deep breath, about to give the order, then paused before turning to the chief sensor officer. “And we’re absolutely certain?” he asked.

“Yes sir,” the officer replied, glancing over the active scan report on his terminal once more, just to be, indeed, absolutely certain. “Our own scans confirm it, Napoleon and Zheng He confirm. That’s a triple-check, Sir, there’s no doubt about it.”

“Very well, thank you, Lieutenant.” The colonel nodded, and the officer turned back to his station. Colonel Overly exhaled heavily, knowing there was no use putting things off any longer, and gave the order.

“Engage.”

----

OOC Notes:
BC-03 RFS Korolev attacked ES Kuma 006 with BAE Systems 5"/38 Railgun Battery Mk 29.   Range 20,143 km   Chance to Hit 96%   Shots 128   Damage per hit 2   The target was destroyed by 121 hits   New Target Speed 1 km/s
Aurora is fun. 

So, what have we learned today? Well, if you have a crushing 15-to-1 tonnage superiority, apparently it is possible to get a few missiles through the enemy point defense screen. There you go, kids, another valuable lesson in spaceship tactics from Dr. Slurpee!

And in other news, we have our first proper cliffhanger of the AAR… well, perhaps “proper” is not quite the word, indeed some in the audience may even have already guessed the substance of it - but then, perhaps not, so we shall just have to find out together. In the meantime, let us appreciate this crafty writer’s technique which is surely not a shoddy excuse to stretch material across extra chapters purely to meet some imaginary word count requirement, obviously any such accusation would be blatantly untrue.

Finally, I would be remiss not to celebrate an important milestone, as this update marks the first of the AAR without a visual aid for the less textually-inclined members of the readership. Some might consider it horrifying that we have come so far, so quickly, but others of greater estimability and erudition will celebrate this moment as we all should. 

[Garfunkel]

From one recent PhD graduate to another, allow me to say 'Lovely Update Herr Doktor'

Off-Topic: show

Mine got confirmed/awarded literally last Friday, 9th of June!