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C# Fiction => General C# Fiction => Topic started by: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 09:12:19 AM

Title: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 09:12:19 AM

Table of Contents
Campaign Background (You are here)
The Royal Manticoran Navy (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162020#msg162020)
The Royal Manticoran Marine Corps (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162033#msg162033)
Chapter One: Beginnings (1585) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162150#msg162150)
Chapter Two: The Mysterious Visitor (1586-1587) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162397#msg162397)
Chapter Three: Growing Pains (1587-1588) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162511#msg162511)
Interlude One: The Prussian Princess (1589) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162588#msg162588)
Chapter Four: Changes (1588-1589) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162687#msg162687)
Chapter Five: Kingdom Under Siege (1589-1590) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162724#msg162724)
Chapter Six: The Battle for Hennesy (1590) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162814#msg162814)
Chapter Seven: New Discoveries (1590-1591) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162949#msg162949)

Campaign Setup
Random Stars, Human NPRs, All Spoilers, Realistic Promotions, Limited Research Administration, Inexperienced Fleet Penalties, Commander Political Bonuses
30% NPR Generation Chance, 30% Ruin Generation Chance
1250 million pop w/ default Tech and Build Points
Starting Year: 1585 Post-Diaspora, 97 AL by the Manticoran local calendar
Custom Starting System

UPDATE: 27 September 2022:
As of the current game year (1591) there are 3 player races and 1 (human) NPR. The Star Kingdom of Manticore and Andermani Empire have been revealed. The identity of the third player race and NPR is a surprise. I expect to add additional player races as needed for the narrative.

Campaign Background and System Information
The Manticore binary system was first discovered in 526 PD by a university research program searching for Earth-like planets around twin main sequence stars. It quickly became the focus of an entire semester for the class of graduate students who located and catalogued its fourteen planets, naming each one after creatures from a popular fantasy roleplaying game. The system exceeded the study's wildest expectations as the researchers discovered not one, but three habitable planets with what appeared to be diverse human compatible biospheres.

As exciting as the discovery was on paper, the Manticore system lay more than 500 light years to the galactic north of Sol, thus practical realities made manned exploration or settlement a non-starter in those early centuries of humanity's pre-FTL diaspora. The system remained an academic curiosity for several centuries, even as colonial ventures began to seek farther and farther afield for useable real estate. Eventually, it came to the attention of an eccentric billionaire named Roger Winton who acquired the rights to the system for a bargain price. The academic and business communities thought he was mad to attempt a journey of almost seven hundred years in cryostasis, but Roger was a visionary who saw the future potential of the system and felt it was worth the risks.

In 1416, the colony ship Jason finally arrived to find employees of Roger Winton's company, Manticore Colony LTD, waiting for them. Over the intervening centuries, humanity had developed rudimentary FTL travel and now the journey from Earth to Manticore could be measured in mere years rather than lifetimes. Many of the colonists were shocked to discover that Roger Winton had planned for exactly this eventuality, leaving behind a trusted executive and the remainder of his assets with instructions covering a wide range of possible future scenarios. In this case, once travel to the system became feasible, the company had sent ahead volunteers to prepare the colony site and a small fleet of armed frigates to discourage any claim jumpers that might appear. These frigates were the humble beginnings of what would one day become the Royal Manticoran Navy.

Relatively easy access to the industrial, technological, and population base of Earth and her more mature daughter colonies provided the Board of Directors with opportunities few had dared to imagine when they initially set out to the farthest reaches of the frontier. But an influx of new settlers, bolstered by a generous immigration policy, threatened to overwhelm the small group of original shareholders. Determined to maintain control of *their* system, the Board voted to reorganize its nominally democratic structure into a constitutional monarchy, headed by Roger Winton as King Roger I. All of the original colonists were ennobled with hereditary aristocratic titles based on those of Old Earth's United Kingdom and given vast grants of land and mineral resources relative to their initial financial contributions. Thus, the Star Kingdom of Manticore was born.

The current year is 1585 and celebrations are being planned for the Kingdom's centennial. The current reigning monarch is Edward I, a great grandson of Roger Winton, who took the throne when his father Michael abdicated in 1542.

The system population has exploded due to immigration and now surpasses 1.2 billion spread across all three habitable planets and two lunar mining sites.

Author's Note: I have recreated the Manticore system as closely as possible based on the information available in Jayne's Intelligence Review: The Royal Manticoran Navy, House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion, and the limitations of Aurora. There are several discrepancies between the books, so I've given precedence to House of Steel as the more recently published source. Since Aurora does not model binary systems with a common center of mass, I had to have Manticore B orbit Manticore A but managed to keep the distance and eccentricity accurate to the listed values. I rerolled the minerals on Sphinx to match its book description (incredibly rich deposits, but low accessibility). To compensate, I removed the randomly generated minerals from uninhabited terrestrial bodies but kept any that were generated on moons.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/ManticoreA.PNG)

The planet Manticore remains the system capital and its primary industrial, technological, and financial hub with more than 764 million inhabitants at present. It has rich reserves of mineral resources and a pleasant temperate climate. His Majesty's Space Station Hephaestus serves as the primary orbital shipyard and fleet base for the Royal Manticoran Navy.

Manticore Installations
Population: 764.77m
Naval Shipyard Capacity: 147,755 tons
Commercial Shipyard Capacity: 255,000 tons
Repair Yard Capacity: 56,000 tons
Maintenance Capacity: 406,250 tons
Research Facility: 30
Construction Factory: 800
Mine: 600
Fuel Refinery: 190
Maintenance Facility: 325
Financial Centre: 300
Deep Space Tracking Station: 4
Mass Driver: 1
Military Academy: 2
Naval Headquarters: 1
Spaceport: 1

Manticore Survey Report
Duranium 261,997 Acc 1
Neutronium 75,478 Acc 0.6
Corbomite 61,858 Acc 0.7
Tritanium 74,497 Acc 1
Boronide 89,397 Acc 1
Mercassium 214,719 Acc 0.4
Vendarite 264,419 Acc 0.4
Sorium 140,647 Acc 1
Uridium 150,838 Acc 0.8
Corundium 93,438 Acc 0.8
Gallicite 68,858 Acc 0.7

His Majesty's Space Station Hephaestus
1x Battlecruiser Yard of 28000 tons with a single slip
1x Heavy Cruiser Yard of 19000 tons with two slips
1x Light Cruiser Yard of 12000 tons with two slips
2x Destroyer Yards of 7200 tons with a total of eight slips
1x Repair Yard of 28000 tons with two slips

The second inhabited planet around the primary star is called Sphinx. It is a cold, mountainous planet whose Alpine Forests are home to many exotic and dangerous predators such as the Hexapuma and Peak Bear. Sphinx has vast reserves of mineral resources, but its harsh environment and terrain make them almost impossible to excavate profitably. Sphinx is the second most populated planet in the Star Kingdom with 375 million inhabitants, mostly scattered on small family homesteads throughout the bush, but some clustered in large population centers. Sphinx serves as a secondary industrial center, notably manufacturing missiles and small craft for the Navy. It is orbited by His Majesty's Space Station Vulcan which presently has a small yard of 1000 tons with two slipways tooled to build marine assault pinnaces.

Sphinx
Population: 375.29m
Naval Shipyard Capacity: 2,000 tons
Research Facility: 17
Construction Factory: 100
Ordnance Factory: 250
Fighter Factory: 100
Mine: 200
Fuel Refinery: 10
Financial Centre: 200
Deep Space Tracking Station: 2
Mass Driver: 1
Refuelling Station: 1
Ordnance Transfer Station: 1

Sphinx Survey Report
Duranium 2,474,505 Acc 0.1
Neutronium 18,578,162 Acc 0.1
Corbomite 13,596,439 Acc 0.1
Tritanium 1,933,205 Acc 0.1
Boronide 29,163,214 Acc 0.1
Mercassium 1,706,731 Acc 0.1
Vendarite 10,946,300 Acc 0.1
Sorium 11,604,099 Acc 0.1
Uridium 2,783,819 Acc 0.1
Corundium 34,918,638 Acc 0.1
Gallicite 3,523,272 Acc 0.1

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/ManticoreB.PNG)

Despite its pleasant appearance, Gryphon is actually the least habitable of the Star Kingdom's three planets due to its axial tilt which results in massive seasonal temperature fluctuations and extreme weather patterns. Apocalyptic storms are commonplace on Gryphon year-round dumping massive quantities of wind, rain, snow, hail, and sometimes even dust. Most of Gryphon's 110 million people live in several large, fortified cities that support its limited industry and maintenance facilities for the RMN's 2nd Fleet which is based in orbit. Still, the planet has a certain appeal to rugged individualists who fancy themselves the descendants of old earth's pioneers. Disparagingly referred to as "Highlanders" by the more civilized city folk, these modern-day mountain men have a contrary libertarian bent and despise the local nobility, while, strangely, possessing an almost fanatical patriotic loyalty to the Kingdom and the House of Winton. Gryphon has a thriving adventure tourism industry and, in its calmer months, is a popular destination for hunters, fishermen, and snow sports enthusiasts. It hosts the primary training facilities for the Royal Manticoran Marine Corps.

Gryphon
Population: 110.13m
Maintenance Capacity: 125,000 tons
Research Facility: 3
Ground Force Construction Complex: 10
Construction Factory: 100
Mine: 200
Fuel Refinery: 100
Maintenance Facility: 100
Deep Space Tracking Station: 2
Mass Driver: 1
Refuelling Station: 1
Ordnance Transfer Station: 1

Gryphon Survey Report
Boronide 1,355,818 Acc 0.6
Vendarite 2,533,320 Acc 1
Sorium 509,283 Acc 0.8
Uridium 564,315 Acc 0.4

In addition to these inhabited planets there are two mostly automated mining colonies, each having 100 automines and a mass driver:

Egg Survey Report
Vendarite 357,601 Acc 0.1
Corundium 4,656,934 Acc 0.9

Naga Survey Report
Tritanium 7,617,570 Acc 0.9
Vendarite 435,573 Acc 0.8
Sorium 5,904,897 Acc 0.1

Before rising to the throne, King Edward achieved the rank of Captain in the Royal Manticoran Navy and briefly commanded the heavy cruiser HMS Sphinx. At the time, the Navy was seen as a waste of resources, leaving the new King as one of its few proponents in the government. A large faction in Parliament sought to shut the whole thing down, arguing that local space had become increasingly civilized since the Star Kingdom's founding and the population of the system was now too large to be truly threatened by mere pirates. Anyway, it would be cheaper to pay off any theoretical raiders who might happen to come along in the next hundred years than to indefinitely maintain the Navy's unnecessary heavy warships.

That all changed in 1543 when the Earth based megacorporation Axelrod of Terra dispatched a small mercenary army to subjugate the system. Axelrod had been reviewing old survey data searching for signs of newly theorized "wormholes" that would allow instantaneous transit between distant points in space. While wormholes appeared to be fairly common, what they found in Manticore's survey data was something else entirely: a dense cluster of wormholes, no more than 1 billion kilometers apart. Axelrod's scientists theorized that this "Wormhole Junction" might allow ships to travel from one side of the explored galaxy to the other in mere days rather than years or decades. So, the megacorporation attempted to conquer the remote technologically and socially backward system to gain control of this resource for its shareholders.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/ManticoreSystem.PNG)

Author's Note: Aurora limits the distance jump points can exist from the star, so the Manticore Wormhole Junction is slightly closer to Manticore A than depicted in the source material. This setup has the JPs between 4 and 6 billion kilometers, which was the maximum distance allowed. This will be slightly detrimental to early expansion but should provide ample opportunities to play with the new DSP and freighter transshipment features.

The Battle of Manticore (1543) proved to be a decisive victory for the Royal Navy, not only on the field but in Parliament. The anti-military faction found themselves firmly on the wrong side of public sentiment as a patriotic fervor swept the Kingdom. Many in the Commons lost their seats to vocally pro-Navy politicians and the Lords quickly realized which side of the bread was buttered. King Edward was given carte blanche to institute his reforms, expand the Kingdom's military-industrial capability and fulfill his long-held dream of replacing almost all of the outdated foreign surplus warships with new locally designed and built models.

At the same time, the Kingdom offered generous incentives (including lands and titles) to any astrophysicists in the new field of Wormhole Studies who were willing to relocate and perform a close examination of the Manticore Wormhole Junction. It has taken the better part of forty years, but their research has finally borne fruit and the Kingdom has recently constructed a small fleet of survey cruisers equipped with these new "wormhole" drives. King Edward intends to send the cruisers through the wormholes as part of the Kingdom's centennial celebration, to herald in what he hopes will be the dawn of a new golden age of human space exploration.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/RaceScreen.PNG)

A Brief Genealogy of the House of Winton in 1585

Roger I - reigned from 1485-1489

Elizabeth I - reigned from 1489-1521

Michael I - reigned from 1521-1542

Edward I - reigned from 1542-present

- Crown Prince Richard Winton, Lt. JG, Royal Manticoran Navy (deceased - Battle of Manticore 1543)

- Crown Princess Sophie Winton

- Michael Winton - Commander, Royal Manticoran Navy, CO HMS Donnelly

- Edward Winton - age 8
- Catherine Winton - age 7

- Richard Winton - Duke of Winton-Serisberg

- William Winton-Serisburg - age 4 (twins)
- Samantha Winton-Serisburg - age 4 (twins)

- Elizabeth Winton - Lt, Royal Manticoran Navy, XO HMS Gargoyle

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 01:25:51 PM

The Royal Manticoran Navy of 1585

Historically, the Royal Manticoran Navy has been little more than a system defense force with only a handful of ships and limited opportunities for advancement or command. Higher postings were handed out based on nobility and nepotism rather than merit. This situation has begun to change under King Edward’s reforms, at least in the lower ranks, but competition for the handful of available Captain billets remains fierce. The flag ranks are presently held by an aristocratic Old Guard, most of whom are resentful of the growing role of commoners in the officer corps and unwilling to cede their own power.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/RMN-Ranks1585.PNG)

The senior uniformed commander of the RMN is 1st Space Lord Admiral Sir Michael Summervale, Duke of Cromarty, a close confidant of the King who is generally in agreement with his views on the future of the Navy.

The 1st Space Lord is assisted by a pair of deputies:
2nd Space Lord Vice Admiral Anson Laidlaw, who heads the Bureau of Planning
3rd Space Lord Vice Admiral Hamish Lawrence, who heads the Bureau of Ships

Operational Command of the RMN is divided into two Fleet Districts: Manticore and Gryphon, which contain the Home Fleet and 2nd Fleet, based at their respective planets.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/RMN-Organization1585.PNG)

The Royal Manticoran Navy’s OOB in January 1585:

Home Fleet: Admiral Godfrey Howard, Earl of Greenlake Commanding
3x BC Triumph: HMS Invincible (Flag), HMS Triumph, HMS Victory
2x CA Kodiak: HMS Hexapuma, HMS Kodiak,
2x CA Manticore: HMS Gryphon, HMS Manticore
2x CL Donnelly: HMS Donnelly, HMS Heissman
4x DD Salamander: HMS Aphrodite, HMS Damocles, HMS Eriyne, HMS Fenris

2nd Fleet: Admiral Alice Guiliani Commanding
3x BC Triumph: HMS Nike (Flag), HMS Swiftsure, HMS Vanguard
2x CA Kodiak: HMS Sabrepike, HMS Treecat
2x CL Casey: HMS Casey, HMS Locatelli
4x DD Salamander: HMS Draco, HMS Roc, HMS Salamander, HMS Wyvern

Detached Light Forces
8x DD Gallant: HMS Galahad, HMS Galatea, HMS Gallant, HMS Gargoyle, HMS Gawain, HMS Glorious, HMS Goliath, HMS Grizzly
8x FF Amphitrite: HMS Akheron, HMS Amphitrite, HMS Amymone, HMS Andromeda, HMS Antheia, HMS Arete, HMS Argonaut, HMS Ariadne

Royal Manticoran Fleet Auxilia: Rear Admiral Oscar Cortez Commanding
2x FSV Anubis
2x CO Apollo
2x CS Orpheus
10x FT Clydesdale (25000 ton capacity)
5x FT Vega (62500 tons capacity)

Survey Command: Rear Admiral Peter Sorbanne Commanding
6x CS Pathfinder: HMS Discoverer, HMS Explorer, HMS Pathfinder, HMS Pioneer, HMS Trailblazer, HMS Wayfarer

Author's Note: Realistic sizes of Honorverse ships present a problem in Aurora, but not as much as you might think due to the difference between the source material using loaded mass and Aurora using hydrogen displacement tons. Jayne's Intelligence Review: The Royal Manticoran Navy states that the average density of a fully loaded Honorverse ship is 0.25. From this we can get a rough estimate of their volume and thus displacement based on the provided masses. Using this method on HMS Casey gives an Aurora size of ~20433 dtons. There are certainly people who build light cruisers that size in Aurora, but my preference is to start with somewhat smaller ships and let them grow organically over the course of the campaign, so I divided this value in half and made the Casey 10250 dtons. From there, it was a matter of keeping the relative sizes between the various RMN classes roughly lore appropriate. I checked myself where numbers were available, such as the Triumph class, which in the lore is about 2.6x the mass of Casey. My version came out at 28k dtons which is pretty close. Overall, this means that later in the campaign small ships could reach lore appropriate sizes. The real problem comes at the huge jump between battlecruisers and capital ships. Keeping this at lore accurate scale puts BBs around 200k dtons, which isn't impossible, but not practical for the smallest capital ships. I will probably make battleships 2x the size of battlecruisers rather than 5x and work up from there.

Selected Excerpts from Jayne’s Fighting Ships of the Haven Sector: 1583-1584

Historically, the Royal Manticoran Navy has adhered to the traditional balanced weapons mix of missiles for long range combat, energy weapons for close combat and autocannon for point defense. Other than a questionable flirtation with Energy Torpedoes on small combatants, both locally built and refitted surplus hulls tended to follow the collective wisdom of the galaxy’s premier naval establishments. After the Battle of Manticore, however, King Edward began to advocate for much heavier missile broadsides at the expense of energy armament. Manticore’s recent construction takes this philosophy to questionable extremes.

Likewise, point defense capabilities have always been designed with a “mirror” combat in mind as ships are intended to engage with opponents in the same weight class. This has rendered missiles largely useless in such duels as neither side can deal appreciable damage to the other until they reach energy range. Manticore has taken a much more aggressive approach to missile combat. The phrase “eggshells armed with hammers” comes to mind. Few of Manticore’s modern ships can stand up to their own missile broadsides. It remains to be seen whether this gambit will succeed or prove to be the RMN’s tactical Achilles heel.

Triumph-class Battlecruiser
Frequent readers of Jayne’s will be intimately familiar with the RMN’s Triumph-class battlecruisers which have been in service now for well over a hundred years. Originally built as the Solarian Lexington-class, Manticore’s “battlecruisers” were already small and thoroughly outdated by the standards of the time when they were acquired from Frontier Fleet’s surplus. Nonetheless, they possess a laudable battle record against the RMN’s traditional adversaries.

Although Manticore has not, yet, managed to construct anything the size of a Triumph, they have performed extensive refits on their older ships. Most notably, since our last issue they have replaced the impeller nodes with homegrown ones designed for their heavy cruisers bringing their speed up to the fleet standard 4500 km/s.

Code: [Select]

Triumph- class Battlecruiser      28,000 tons       858 Crew       3,843.6 BP       TCS 560    TH 2,520    EM 0
4500 km/s      Armour 8-82       Shields 0-0       HTK 146      Sensors 6/0/0/0      DCR 24      PPV 160.4
Maint Life 2.56 Years     MSP 2,059    AFR 261%    IFR 3.6%    1YR 441    5YR 6,609    Max Repair 420 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 1,000 tons     Magazine 216    
Captain    Control Rating 3   BRG   AUX   CIC   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Flight Crew Berths 20    Morale Check Required    

NG60-840 Warship Impeller Drive (3)    Power 2520    Fuel Use 75.74%    Signature 840    Explosion 14%
Fuel Capacity 1,918,000 Litres    Range 16.3 billion km (41 days at full power)

15cm Near Ultraviolet Laser Mk1 (16)    Range 180,000km     TS: 4,500 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 10       
100mm Point Defense Autocannon Mk 2 (16x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4,500 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
AN/CAT-3a Beam Fire Control System (2)     Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 4,500 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
AN/CDT-3a Point Defense Fire Control System (2)     Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4,500 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Rukes MFR-48 Gaseous Fission Reactor (2)     Total Power Output 96.2    Exp 5%

HLS-6 Solarian Horizontal Launch Cell System (36)     Missile Size: 6    Hangar Reload 122 minutes    MF Reload 20 hours
AN/CAT-3a Missile Fire Control System (3)     Range 13m km    Resolution 10
Mark 6A Cruiser Weight Missile (36)    Speed: 17,933 km/s    End: 9.4m     Range: 10.1m km    WH: 9    Size: 6    TH: 95/57/28

AN/SSL-3a Ship Tracking Array (1)     GPS 1680     Range 24.9m km    Resolution 140
AN/SML-3a Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 12     Range 4.8m km    MCR 430.9k km    Resolution 1
AN/SPG-3a Gravitic Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km

Strike Group
2x Ares Pinnace   Speed: 7013 km/s    Size: 9.98

Two of the Triumphs, HMS Invincible and HMS Nike, have been outfitted as command ships by closing up their boat bays and remodeling them into flag decks. They also carry a more extensive sensor and electronics suite but are otherwise identical to their peers.

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AN/SSL-3c Ship Tracking Array (1)     GPS 16800     Range 78.6m km    Resolution 140
AN/SML-3b Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 48     Range 9.6m km    MCR 861.7k km    Resolution 1
AN/SPG-3b Gravitic Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33.5m km
AN/SPE-3b Emissions Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33.5m km

Manticore-class Heavy Cruisers
Nowhere is the RMN’s deviation from traditional doctrine more obvious than by comparing the armaments of their Manticore and Kodiak class heavy cruisers. The Manticore is an older class and mounts the extensive energy armament expected of a true warship, including a pair of Energy Torpedoes in each broadside. It has six missile tubes with sufficient magazine space for nine salvos, perfectly respectable for a ship of this size.

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Manticore class Heavy Cruiser      18,620 tons       533 Crew       2,557.7 BP       TCS 372    TH 1,680    EM 0
4511 km/s      Armour 8-62       Shields 0-0       HTK 106      Sensors 6/0/0/0      DCR 19      PPV 75.4
Maint Life 3.22 Years     MSP 1,731    AFR 146%    IFR 2.0%    1YR 252    5YR 3,785    Max Repair 420 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 500 tons     Magazine 325    
Captain    Control Rating 3   BRG   AUX   CIC   
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 10    Morale Check Required    

NG60-840 Warship Impeller Drive (2)    Power 1680    Fuel Use 75.74%    Signature 840    Explosion 14%
Fuel Capacity 1,416,000 Litres    Range 18.1 billion km (46 days at full power)

15cm Near Ultraviolet Laser Mk1 (6)    Range 180,000km     TS: 4,511 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 10       
15cm Energy Torpedo Launcher (4)    Range 60,000km     TS: 4,511 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 10,000 km    ROF 10       
100mm Point Defense Autocannon Mk 2 (5x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4,511 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
AN/CAT-3a Beam Fire Control System (1)     Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 4,500 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
AN/CDT-3a Point Defense Fire Control System (1)     Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4,500 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Rukes MFR-24 Gaseous Fission Reactor (2)     Total Power Output 49.1    Exp 5%

Mod 6a Missile Launcher (6)     Missile Size: 6    Rate of Fire 735
AN/CAT-3a Missile Fire Control System (1)     Range 13m km    Resolution 10
Mark 6A Cruiser Weight Missile (54)    Speed: 17,933 km/s    End: 9.4m     Range: 10.1m km    WH: 9    Size: 6    TH: 95/57/28

AN/SML-3a Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 12     Range 4.8m km    MCR 430.9k km    Resolution 1
AN/SSL-3a Ship Tracking Array (1)     GPS 1680     Range 24.9m km    Resolution 140
AN/SPG-3a Gravitic Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km

Strike Group
1x Ares Pinnace   Speed: 7013 km/s    Size: 9.98

Kodiak-class Heavy Cruiser
By contrast, the newer Kodiak sacrifices more than half its energy armament to mount an astounding FOURTEEN Mod 6a missile launchers. Despite dedicating 45% more space to magazines the Kodiak can fire only six salvos before it will be forced to fall back on its pitiful laser batteries. Also note that while the Kodiak has a slightly improved point defense suite over its predecessor it cannot hope to defend itself from another Kodiak. The RMN intends to screen these heavy cruisers with destroyers to provide additional point defense capability as needed.

Code: [Select]

Kodiak class Heavy Cruiser      18,650 tons       508 Crew       2,567.4 BP       TCS 373    TH 1,680    EM 0
4504 km/s      Armour 8-62       Shields 0-0       HTK 102      Sensors 6/0/0/0      DCR 19      PPV 71.6
Maint Life 3.07 Years     MSP 1,634    AFR 146%    IFR 2.0%    1YR 260    5YR 3,906    Max Repair 420 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 500 tons     Magazine 509    
Captain    Control Rating 3   BRG   AUX   CIC   
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 10    Morale Check Required    

NG60-840 Warship Impeller Drive (2)    Power 1680    Fuel Use 75.74%    Signature 840    Explosion 14%
Fuel Capacity 1,422,000 Litres    Range 18.1 billion km (46 days at full power)

15cm Near Ultraviolet Laser Mk1 (4)    Range 180,000km     TS: 4,504 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 10       
100mm Point Defense Autocannon Mk 2 (6x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4,504 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
AN/CAT-3a Beam Fire Control System (1)     Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 4,500 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Rukes MFR-24 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 24.5    Exp 5%
Rukes MFR-9 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 9.3    Exp 5%

Mod 6a Missile Launcher (14)     Missile Size: 6    Rate of Fire 735
AN/CAT-3a Missile Fire Control System (2)     Range 13m km    Resolution 10
Mark 6A Cruiser Weight Missile (84)    Speed: 17,933 km/s    End: 9.4m     Range: 10.1m km    WH: 9    Size: 6    TH: 95/57/28

AN/SML-3a Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 12     Range 4.8m km    MCR 430.9k km    Resolution 1
AN/SSL-3a Ship Tracking Array (1)     GPS 1680     Range 24.9m km    Resolution 140
AN/SPG-3a Gravitic Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km

Strike Group
1x Ares Pinnace   Speed: 7013 km/s    Size: 9.98

Casey-class Light Cruiser
It’s well known that HMS Casey (CL-01) was built more as a technology prototype for Manticore’s new shipbuilding industry than out of any real need for a heavier reconnaissance platform. Her success in the Battle of Manticore, where she destroyed a battlecruiser three times her size at close quarters, was down to the unexpected and, frankly, irrational presence of capital grade Energy Torpedoes on a light cruiser. The RMN itself decided this was probably a bad idea and removed two of the torpedo generators in the second flight HMS Locatelli to make room for additional missile launchers and magazine space. Casey was later refitted to this same standard.

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Casey class Light Cruiser      10,250 tons       274 Crew       1,325 BP       TCS 205    TH 924    EM 0
4507 km/s      Armour 5-42       Shields 0-0       HTK 65      Sensors 6/0/0/0      DCR 10      PPV 35.6
Maint Life 3.59 Years     MSP 807    AFR 84%    IFR 1.2%    1YR 97    5YR 1,448    Max Repair 231 MSP
Magazine 147    
Commander    Control Rating 2   BRG   AUX   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required    

NG42-462 Efficent Impeller Drive (2)    Power 924    Fuel Use 49.54%    Signature 462    Explosion 11%
Fuel Capacity 751,000 Litres    Range 26.6 billion km (68 days at full power)

15cm Energy Torpedo Launcher (2)    Range 60,000km     TS: 4,507 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 10,000 km    ROF 10       
10cm Near Ultraviolet Laser Mk1 (2)    Range 90,000km     TS: 4,507 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
100mm Point Defense Autocannon Mk 2 (4x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4,507 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
AN/CAT-3a Beam Fire Control System (1)     Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 4,500 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Rukes MFR-24 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 24.5    Exp 5%
Rukes MFR-9 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 9.3    Exp 5%

Mod 4a Missile Launcher (6)     Missile Size: 4    Rate of Fire 600
AN/CAT-3a Missile Fire Control System (1)     Range 13m km    Resolution 10
Mark 4A Light Warship Missile (36)    Speed: 18,200 km/s    End: 9.3m     Range: 10.2m km    WH: 6    Size: 4    TH: 91/54/27

AN/SML-3a Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 12     Range 4.8m km    MCR 430.9k km    Resolution 1
AN/SSL-3a Ship Tracking Array (1)     GPS 1680     Range 24.9m km    Resolution 140
AN/SPG-3a Gravitic Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km

Donnelly-class Light Cruiser
The RMN’s second attempt at building a light cruiser exemplifies the new naval doctrine taken to extremes. Significantly larger than a Casey, the Donnelly class is also slower, with shorter legs and no more armour than a destroyer. She also mounts no energy weapons. None at all. Instead, the Donnelly’s are armed with twelve of the new Mod 4a light missile launchers and a reasonably deep magazine capacity of seven salvos. One minor point in the Donnelly’s favor is that it carries the same defensive suite as the larger Kodiak heavy cruisers, which should allow it to shrug off missile attacks from larger more traditionally armed enemies.

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Donnelly class Light Cruiser      10,800 tons       294 Crew       1,452.9 BP       TCS 216    TH 972    EM 0
4500 km/s      Armour 4-43       Shields 0-0       HTK 71      Sensors 6/0/0/0      DCR 10      PPV 37.2
Maint Life 4.24 Years     MSP 840    AFR 93%    IFR 1.3%    1YR 75    5YR 1,124    Max Repair 162 MSP
Magazine 337    
Commander    Control Rating 3   BRG   AUX   CIC   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required    

NG27-324 Light Warship Impeller Drive (3)    Power 972    Fuel Use 76.80%    Signature 324    Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 1,014,000 Litres    Range 22 billion km (56 days at full power)

100mm Point Defense Autocannon Mk 2 (6x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4,500 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
AN/CDT-3a Point Defense Fire Control System (1)     Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4,500 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Rukes MFR-24 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 24.5    Exp 5%

Mod 4a Missile Launcher (12)     Missile Size: 4    Rate of Fire 600
AN/CAT-3a Missile Fire Control System (1)     Range 13m km    Resolution 10
Mark 4A Light Warship Missile (84)    Speed: 18,200 km/s    End: 9.3m     Range: 10.2m km    WH: 6    Size: 4    TH: 91/54/27

AN/SLL-3a LAC Tracking Array (1)     GPS 360     Range 17.9m km    Resolution 10
AN/SML-3a Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 12     Range 4.8m km    MCR 430.9k km    Resolution 1
AN/SPG-3a Gravitic Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km

Salamander-class Destroyer
An older design that has received extensive refits, the Salamanders are intended as close escorts for the RMN’s heavier warships. To better serve this role, all of their energy armament has been replaced with point defense autocannons. First Space Lord Summervale is on record saying, “Destroyers have no bloody business getting into energy range anyway”, a sentiment we believe will win him no friends among the galaxy’s more traditional flag officers and destroyer captains.

Code: [Select]

Salamander class Destroyer      7,200 tons       216 Crew       966.3 BP       TCS 144    TH 648    EM 0
4500 km/s      Armour 4-33       Shields 0-0       HTK 48      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 6      PPV 33.6
Maint Life 4.29 Years     MSP 603    AFR 69%    IFR 1.0%    1YR 53    5YR 790    Max Repair 162 MSP
Magazine 147    
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 2   BRG   AUX   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Morale Check Required    

NG27-324 Light Warship Impeller Drive (2)    Power 648    Fuel Use 76.80%    Signature 324    Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 502,000 Litres    Range 16.3 billion km (42 days at full power)

100mm Point Defense Autocannon Mk 2 (8x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4,500 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
AN/CDT-3a Point Defense Fire Control System (1)     Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4,500 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Rukes MFR-24 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 24.5    Exp 5%

Mod 4a Missile Launcher (6)     Missile Size: 4    Rate of Fire 600
AN/CAT-3a Missile Fire Control System (1)     Range 13m km    Resolution 10
Mark 4A Light Warship Missile (36)    Speed: 18,200 km/s    End: 9.3m     Range: 10.2m km    WH: 6    Size: 4    TH: 91/54/27

AN/SSL-3a Ship Tracking Array (1)     GPS 1680     Range 24.9m km    Resolution 140
AN/SML-3a Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 12     Range 4.8m km    MCR 430.9k km    Resolution 1

Gallant-class Destroyer
Here at last, someone in the RMN Bureau of Ships has managed to produce something like a reasonably balanced design. Their latest destroyers, alternatively known as Gallants or G class, are intended to serve as escorts for the commercial traffic that may soon be flowing through the Manticore Wormhole Junction. It has a lower top speed than their other warships but a long endurance and range.

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Gallant class Destroyer      7,200 tons       214 Crew       973.5 BP       TCS 144    TH 462    EM 0
3208 km/s      Armour 4-33       Shields 0-0       HTK 50      Sensors 18/0/0/0      DCR 6      PPV 33.6
Maint Life 4.04 Years     MSP 607    AFR 69%    IFR 1.0%    1YR 59    5YR 892    Max Repair 231 MSP
Magazine 147    
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 2   BRG   AUX   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required    

NG42-462 Efficent Impeller Drive (1)    Power 462    Fuel Use 49.54%    Signature 462    Explosion 11%
Fuel Capacity 602,000 Litres    Range 30.4 billion km (109 days at full power)

10cm Near Ultraviolet Laser Mk1 (4)    Range 90,000km     TS: 3,208 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
100mm Point Defense Autocannon Mk 2 (4x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 3,208 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
AN/CAT-3a Beam Fire Control System (1)     Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 4,500 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Rukes MFR-24 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 24.5    Exp 5%

Mod 4a Missile Launcher (6)     Missile Size: 4    Rate of Fire 600
AN/CAT-3a Missile Fire Control System (1)     Range 13m km    Resolution 10
Mark 4A Light Warship Missile (36)    Speed: 18,200 km/s    End: 9.3m     Range: 10.2m km    WH: 6    Size: 4    TH: 91/54/27

AN/SLL-3a LAC Tracking Array (1)     GPS 360     Range 17.9m km    Resolution 10
AN/SML-3a Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 12     Range 4.8m km    MCR 430.9k km    Resolution 1
AN/SPG-3b Gravitic Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33.5m km

Amphitrite-class Frigate
Intended for long range reconnaissance, pickets and light patrol duties, the RMN’s latest frigate design is fast and lightly armed with a defensive weapons suite and carries a similar sensor package to the much larger Triumph class command battlecruisers.

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Amphitrite class Frigate      5,000 tons       129 Crew       652.7 BP       TCS 100    TH 462    EM 0
4620 km/s      Armour 2-26       Shields 0-0       HTK 31      Sensors 18/18/0/0      DCR 3      PPV 13.8
Maint Life 4.08 Years     MSP 744    AFR 67%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 72    5YR 1,075    Max Repair 231 MSP
Magazine 32    
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Morale Check Required    

NG42-462 Efficent Impeller Drive (1)    Power 462    Fuel Use 49.54%    Signature 462    Explosion 11%
Fuel Capacity 471,000 Litres    Range 34.2 billion km (85 days at full power)

100mm Point Defense Autocannon Mk 2 (3x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 4,620 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5       
AN/CDT-3b Point Defense Fire Control System (1)     Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4,800 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Rukes MFR-9 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 9.3    Exp 5%

Mod 4ax External Missile Rail (8)     Missile Size: 4    Hangar Reload 100 minutes    MF Reload 16 hours
AN/CAT-3a Missile Fire Control System (1)     Range 13m km    Resolution 10
Mark 4A Light Warship Missile (8)    Speed: 18,200 km/s    End: 9.3m     Range: 10.2m km    WH: 6    Size: 4    TH: 91/54/27

AN/SSL-3b Ship Tracking Array (1)     GPS 6000     Range 49.7m km    Resolution 100
AN/SML-3a Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 12     Range 4.8m km    MCR 430.9k km    Resolution 1
AN/SPG-3b Gravitic Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33.5m km
AN/SPE-3b Emissions Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33.5m km

Pathfinder-class Survey Cruiser
The newest ship class in the RMN’s arsenal, the Pathfinders are not warships at all. 20% larger than a Donnelly light cruiser this ship carries survey sensors and a prototype “wormhole transit device” which is intended to transport itself and other similarly sized ships through a wormhole. This capability will allow the RMN to explore the systems beyond the Manticore Wormhole Junction and project force through them using its lighter combatants if necessary.

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Pathfinder class Survey Cruiser      12,000 tons       313 Crew       1,551.7 BP       TCS 240    TH 768    EM 0
3200 km/s    JR 3-50      Armour 1-46       Shields 0-0       HTK 68      Sensors 6/6/2/2      DCR 12      PPV 0
Maint Life 4.02 Years     MSP 1,669    AFR 96%    IFR 1.3%    1YR 165    5YR 2,482    Max Repair 396.8 MSP
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 2   BRG   AUX   
Intended Deployment Time: 30 months    Morale Check Required    

J12000.0(3-50) Military Wormhole Transit Device     Max Ship Size 12000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3

NG48-384 High Efficiency Impeller Drive (2)    Power 768    Fuel Use 20.90%    Signature 384    Explosion 8%
Fuel Capacity 1,013,000 Litres    Range 72.7 billion km (262 days at full power)

AN/SML-3a Missile Tracking Array (1)     GPS 12     Range 4.8m km    MCR 430.9k km    Resolution 1
AN/SPG-3a Gravitic Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km
AN/SPE-3a Emissions Detection Array (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km
Geological Survey Sensors (2)   2 Survey Points Per Hour
Gravitational Survey Sensors (2)   2 Survey Points Per Hour

Next: The Royal Manticoran Marine Corps (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162033#msg162033)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Warer on September 06, 2022, 06:54:24 PM

This is stupidly awesome.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 08:58:45 PM

Author's Note: This should be the last setup post. Expect a gameplay update to follow later this week.

The Royal Manticoran Marine Corps of 1585

The Star Kingdom of Manticore has no standing Army. Each inhabited planet is responsible for maintaining its own small Planetary Guard, a force mostly composed of reservists with a solid core of career officers and NCOs. The Guards respond to natural disasters and other local disturbances, having never actually been needed for defense with the Kingdom's planetary populations safe behind the "Duranium Wall" of the RMN.

Sometimes, though, the Navy needs boots on the ground, whether boarding hostile ships or raiding pirate strongholds, and those duties fall to the Royal Manticoran Marine Corps.

The primary organizational unit of the RMMC is the Regiment, commanded by a Colonel. The RMMC is a pure infantry force at present, but its regiments are intended to bring significant concentrated firepower in a small, easily transportable package. Each regiment is fully equipped with powered armour and built around a core of heavy weapons companies.

RMMC Regiment
Transport Size: 12,499 tons
Build Cost: 356.4 BP
1x RMMC Regimental HQ
120x RMMC Plasma Gunner (LAV)
120x RMMC Light Tri-barrel (CAP)
964x RMMC Rifleman (IPW)
30x RMMC Heavy Tri-barrel (HCAP)
30x RMMC Heavy Plasma Gun (MLAV)
136x Supplies

At present there are 4 such regiments stationed on each inhabited planet with members mostly drawn from the local population, a regiment assigned to each mining colony, and two extra "training regiments" at the RMMC facility on Gryphon.

RMMC personnel also maintain and oversee the day-to-day operation of the Star Kingdom's planetary defense batteries, two on each planet and one on each mining colony. Each battery is commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel.

Planetary Defense Battery
Transport Size: 4,743 tons
Build Cost: 628.1 BP
1x HQ5K
13x 15cm NUL Planetary Defense Cannon

In addition to these forces, the RMMC provides a company of marines and a flight of Ares-class assault pinnaces to each RMN heavy cruiser and battlecruiser division.

Boarding Platoon
Transport Size: 250 tons
Build Cost: 18.9 BP
26x Marine Rifleman (B)
10x Marine Gunner (B)

Code: [Select]

Ares class Pinnace      500 tons       2 Crew       51.2 BP       TCS 10    TH 70    EM 0
7013 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 2      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 99%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 16    5YR 244    Max Repair 35 MSP
Troop Capacity 250 tons     Boarding Capable    
Lieutenant (SG)    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 1 days    Morale Check Required    

NG3.5-70 Pinnace Impeller Drive (1)    Power 70    Fuel Use 764.95%    Signature 70    Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 0.47 billion km (18 hours at full power)

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Troop Transport for auto-assignment purposes

Finally, as an arm of the Navy, the RMMC is expected to handle its own transport and logistics needs. For this purpose, it has two Anzio-class Troop Transports, unarmed and unarmored vessels capable of carrying two full marine regiments.

Code: [Select]

Anzio class Troop Transport      45,000 tons       275 Crew       1,101.4 BP       TCS 900    TH 1,800    EM 0
2000 km/s      Armour 1-112       Shields 0-0       HTK 103      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 1      PPV 0
MSP 15    Max Repair 80 MSP
Troop Capacity 25,000 tons     Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 1    
Lieutenant (SG)    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    

NG60-300 Commercial Impeller Drive  Power 1800    Fuel Use 5.77%    Signature 300    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 295,000 Litres    Range 20.4 billion km (118 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Troop Transport for auto-assignment purposes

Next - Chapter One: Beginnings (1585) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162150#msg162150)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Pedroig on September 06, 2022, 09:14:53 PM

For those of us who have to find to time to play, not to mention, customize systems, would one be willing to share their starting db for the Honorverse?

I like your conversion concept from Weber to Walmsley on tonnage.

(editted cause I just realized this is in Fiction, apologies.)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 09:34:56 PM

Quote from: Pedroig on September 06, 2022, 09:14:53 PM

For those of us who have to find to time to play, not to mention, customize systems, would one be willing to share their starting db for the Honorverse?

I've added a database containing just the custom system to my Manticore Assets Pack post which can be found here: http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13074.msg162036#msg162036

If you want the whole starting setup, I do have a database backup with everything and would be happy to send it to you.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Steve Walmsley on September 07, 2022, 02:41:39 AM

Looks like a huge amount of research and effort has gone into this!

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: backstab on September 07, 2022, 04:04:26 AM

Wow , awesome work.. it’s making me get off my ass and try a few ideas I’ve had floating around

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: nuclearslurpee on September 07, 2022, 07:39:28 AM

Interesting! It is about time that we had an Honorverse AAR around here, not only is it a key inspiration for Aurora (IIRC) but more importantly this means we finally have an AAR which will feature a heavy dose of missile warfare, something sorely lacking in these beams- and conventional starts-obsessed AAR forums these days (not that those things are bad, either, but variety is the spice of life and the AAR board both).

Also, congrats on becoming the rare AAR to receive an actual comment from Steve himself! :o :o :o

Quote from: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 09:12:19 AM

Campaign SetupAll Spoilers except Invaders

Still don't understand why people turn off Invaders but leave Rakhas on. At least the former provide salvage, the latter just exist to annoy people.

Quote

At the moment there are no NPRs active. For a similar game I ran in 1.13, I added the Andermani Empire and Republic of Haven as NPRs, but I am debating having at least one of them be player controlled this time. Either way, I will add some NPRs soon.

On thing I've tried is unchecking the "New Races Generate as NPRs" option, so that you can start with only one player race but then add more through random generation events, so the game grows into a multi-faction game over time but you have the NPRs to provide an early opponent. Plus that way you don't have to spend months doing several custom faction setups all in one go.

Quote

Campaign Background and System Information
That all changed in 1543 when the Earth based megacorporation Axelrod of Terra dispatched a small mercenary army to subjugate the system. Axelrod had been reviewing old survey data searching for signs of newly theorized "wormholes" that would allow instantaneous transit between distant points in space. While wormholes appeared to be fairly common, what they found in Manticore's survey data was something else entirely: a dense cluster of wormholes, no more than 1 billion kilometers apart. Axelrod's scientists theorized that this "Wormhole Junction" might allow ships to travel from one side of the explored galaxy to the other in mere days rather than years or decades. So, the megacorporation attempted to conquer the remote technologically and socially backward system to gain control of this resource for its shareholders.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/ManticoreSystem.PNG)

Author's Note: Aurora limits the distance jump points can exist from the star, so the Manticore Wormhole Junction is slightly closer to Manticore A than depicted in the source material. This setup has the JPs between 4 and 6 billion kilometers, which was the maximum distance allowed. This will be slightly detrimental to early expansion but should provide ample opportunities to play with the new DSP and freighter transshipment features.

A very interesting setup that you don't see in normal Aurora games!

Quote from: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 01:25:51 PM

The Royal Manticoran Navy of 1585

Author's Note: Realistic sizes of Honorverse ships present a problem in Aurora, but not as much as you might think due to the difference between the source material using loaded mass and Aurora using hydrogen displacement tons. Jayne's Intelligence Review: The Royal Manticoran Navy states that the average density of a fully loaded Honorverse ship is 0.25. From this we can get a rough estimate of their volume and thus displacement based on the provided masses. Using this method on HMS Casey gives an Aurora size of ~20433 dtons. There are certainly people who build light cruisers that size in Aurora, but my preference is to start with somewhat smaller ships and let them grow organically over the course of the campaign, so I divided this value in half and made the Casey 10250 dtons. From there, it was a matter of keeping the relative sizes between the various RMN classes roughly lore appropriate. I checked myself where numbers were available, such as the Triumph class, which in the lore is about 2.6x the mass of Casey. My version came out at 28k dtons which is pretty close. Overall, this means that later in the campaign small ships could reach lore appropriate sizes. The real problem comes at the huge jump between battlecruisers and capital ships. Keeping this at lore accurate scale puts BBs around 200k dtons, which isn't impossible, but not practical for the smallest capital ships. I will probably make battleships 2x the size of battlecruisers rather than 5x and work up from there.

Usually, my approach has been to get the components approximately right and then worry about tonnage. This can work fairly well, for example, in a WH40K setup if you take some licenses and use "batteries" rather than number of guns as the balancing metric. Usually with the Aurora component mechanics this ends up leading to a reasonably workable tonnage mark while preserving most of the essential flavor.

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Historically, the Royal Manticoran Navy has adhered to the traditional balanced weapons mix of missiles for long range combat, energy weapons for close combat and autocannon for point defense. Other than a questionable flirtation with Energy Torpedoes on small combatants, both locally built and refitted surplus hulls tended to follow the collective wisdom of the galaxy’s premier naval establishments. After the Battle of Manticore, however, King Edward began to advocate for much heavier missile broadsides at the expense of energy armament. Manticore’s recent construction takes this philosophy to questionable extremes.

Eeeexcellent.

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Likewise, point defense capabilities have always been designed with a “mirror” combat in mind as ships are intended to engage with opponents in the same weight class. This has rendered missiles largely useless in such duels as neither side can deal appreciable damage to the other until they reach energy range. Manticore has taken a much more aggressive approach to missile combat. The phrase “eggshells armed with hammers” comes to mind. Few of Manticore’s modern ships can stand up to their own missile broadsides. It remains to be seen whether this gambit will succeed or prove to be the RMN’s tactical Achilles heel.

It might take a while (probably requires multiple player factions to really test), but I want to see this get to a point where the box launcher "meta" becomes the dominant strategic flavor and factions race to develop effective counters. Mainly I think there is a lot of unexplored space here as players usually shy away from such "exploitative" tactics.

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Kodiak-class Heavy Cruiser

Extensive use of reduced-size launchers? ;D ;D ;D

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Her success in the Battle of Manticore, where she destroyed a battlecruiser three times her size at close quarters, was down to the unexpected and, frankly, irrational presence of capital grade Energy Torpedoes on a light cruiser. The RMN itself decided this was probably a bad idea and removed two of the torpedo generators in the second flight HMS Locatelli to make room for additional missile launchers and magazine space.

Cowards.

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Gallant-class Destroyer
Here at last, someone in the RMN Bureau of Ships has managed to produce something like a reasonably balanced design. Their latest destroyers, alternatively known as Gallants or G class, are intended to serve as escorts for the commercial traffic that may soon be flowing through the Manticore Wormhole Junction. It has a lower top speed than their other warships but a long endurance and range.

These are likely to be the first ships to engage the new spoiler race, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out...

Quote from: Warer on September 06, 2022, 06:54:24 PM

This is stupidly awesome.

It is also intelligently awesome, truly there is something for everyone here.

Quote from: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 08:58:45 PM

RMMC Regiment
Transport Size: 12,499 tons

The one true base formation size for VB6 enjoyers who must grudgingly accept the new realities of C# ground combat. I approve.

This being said, with only 50,000 tons of regiments to begin (plus STOs and boarding platoons) the RMN will be very hard pressed to carry out any actual ground combat operations anytime soon. Building up the ground forces takes a very long time in C#.

Quote from: Pedroig on September 06, 2022, 09:14:53 PM

I like your conversion concept from Weber to Walmsley on tonnage.

I like this phrase, "Walmsley Tonnage" and will endeavor to use it elsewhere.

Quote from: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 09:34:56 PM

I've added a database containing just the custom system to my Manticore Assets Pack post which can be found here: http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13074.msg162036#msg162036

If you want the whole starting setup, I do have a database backup with everything and would be happy to send it to you.

I think if you attached the starting DB to the OP it would be appreciated, not just now but also for posterity - especially if someone, someday figures out how to import old DB saves into new versions as this is a very neat scenario with a lot of work put in.

Quote from: Steve Walmsley on September 07, 2022, 02:41:39 AM

Looks like a huge amount of research and effort has gone into this!

Looks like your last WH40K campaign has a worthy challenger! ;D

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on September 07, 2022, 11:09:12 AM

Quote from: nuclearslurpee on September 07, 2022, 07:39:28 AM

Interesting! It is about time that we had an Honorverse AAR around here, not only is it a key inspiration for Aurora (IIRC) but more importantly this means we finally have an AAR which will feature a heavy dose of missile warfare.

When I started playing VB6 Aurora, one of my favorite things was how the missile battles felt so much like I was commanding ships in the Honorverse. I've remained a proponent of launcher armed large ships even as most of the community has shifted away to beams, fighters and box launchers just because it's my preferred flavor of space combat.

Quote from: nuclearslurpee on September 07, 2022, 07:39:28 AM

Still don't understand why people turn off Invaders but leave Rakhas on. At least the former provide salvage, the latter just exist to annoy people.

I actually like the Rakhas because they present additional opportunities for ground combat. I normally play with all spoilers on, but I just haven't figured out a good way to theme the Invaders in this one yet. Can always turn them on later.

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On thing I've tried is unchecking the "New Races Generate as NPRs" option...so the game grows into a multi-faction game over time...that way you don't have to spend months doing several custom faction setups all in one go.

That's genius, actually. I've never messed with that option; I think I forgot it existed. I've been wanting to do a non-Sol multi-faction game for a while, but the setup for several factions is so daunting if you aren't doing conventional starts. I'm thinking very seriously about adding the Andermani as a player race because 1) Chinese Space Prussians is a concept I find really amusing. 2) There is way less source material on them than the other major factions. 3) Although they're allied to Manticore now in this era of the books, I think they make a great antagonist in a rival imperialists power struggle. I would also be down for a People's Republic of Haven but it's about 200 years early. The OG Republic of Haven feels too "nice" to be interesting, unless they decide later the Star Kingdom has become too expansionist in a role reversal of the original timeline.

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A very interesting setup that you don't see in normal Aurora games!

Yes! I'm very excited about the wormhole junction. The JPs are far enough apart that you can't defend them all with a big fortress but close enough together to make setting up a forward Deep Space base very practical. And, thanks to our newest friends, I won't be tempted to doom stack the whole fleet there away from the planets.

Quote from: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 01:25:51 PM

Usually, my approach has been to get the components approximately right and then worry about tonnage. This can work fairly well, for example, in a WH40K setup if you take some licenses and use "batteries" rather than number of guns as the balancing metric. Usually with the Aurora component mechanics this ends up leading to a reasonably workable tonnage mark while preserving most of the essential flavor.

I sort of did both. I started with HMS Casey because it was the only ship from the era that I could find a reasonably complete set of statistics on. I worked out my rough estimate of the Aurora tonnage and then built out its official weapons package in the ship designer. I was hoping to hit somewhere in the range of 6-8k dtons for a destroyer, as I've found that's my personal sweet spot, so was very pleased the Casey worked out so nicely at ~10000.

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It might take a while (probably requires multiple player factions to really test), but I want to see this get to a point where the box launcher "meta" becomes the dominant strategic flavor and factions race to develop effective counters. Mainly I think there is a lot of unexplored space here as players usually shy away from such "exploitative" tactics.

I really like the later Honorverse concept of the flat pack missile pod limpeted to every flat surface of the hull so I could definitely see that sort of thing coming out if there is a missile arms race.

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Extensive use of reduced-size launchers? ;D ;D ;D

This is a light load of 40% launchers for me. My current non-AAR 2.1 game has 7000-ton destroyers with 20 size 4 launchers. I've come to generally prefer small reloadable launchers with tiny magazines (1-3 shots) over box launchers for the ease of reloading with a basic fleet collier. My overall experience in C# has been that if you put up less than two hundred missiles against any halfway decent opponent, you're just wasting galicite, but I realized recently that I've been using very bad settings in the Missile Optimizer and making objectively terrible missiles all this time. So, this game is going to be a bit of an experiment to see how I manage with less tubes.

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Cowards

I do honestly kind of regret this change but I was afraid that 4 launchers on a CL were just wasted space. Not that 6 is much better, but I might at least land a hit on something armed with say... a couple of railguns.

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These are likely to be the first ships to engage the new spoiler race, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out...

Yes, very exciting. :)

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This being said, with only 50,000 tons of regiments to begin (plus STOs and boarding platoons) the RMN will be very hard pressed to carry out any actual ground combat operations anytime soon.

I have 16 of these regiments, so 200000 tons, but only two transports, which is a bit of a problem that they'll have to tackle before they go on any interstellar adventures. Fortunately, I didn't start with any commercial jump tenders either, so I have a window of a couple years to build more before they'll be needed.

That said, I'll probably create the Royal Manticoran Army in the future, once it becomes clear there is a need for bulk ground troops and armoured vehicles. In the lore, they created the Army basically the first time they needed to occupy a planet and realized the RMMC lacked the manpower for an occupation.

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especially if someone, someday figures out how to import old DB saves into new versions as this is a very neat scenario with a lot of work put in

I would be very happy if someone just created an import/export function for custom systems. I think this would be much more straight forward than import/export of an entire game. It could import the stars and planets into the current game with a new system ID, no races or anything. I've been tempted to write something like that for personal use since I have now built this system from scratch in 1.13, 2.0 and 2.1. I've gotten pretty fast at setting it up.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on September 10, 2022, 01:31:32 PM

Chapter One: Beginnings (1585)

On January 26th, 1585, at precisely 6:20 PM Landing Standard Time, the survey cruiser HMS Pathfinder became the first manned vessel to transit through the Manticore Wormhole Junction. Intense radiation scrambled her sensors, filling the bridge screens with static. When it cleared, she detected an F7V star at 140 light minutes, orbited by five terrestrial planets, six moons and three dozen asteroids. Sheets of ice covered two of the larger planets from poles to equator. Both had nitrogen dominant atmospheres near standard density, but no life capable of oxygen photosynthesis.

Five minutes after her initial transit, HMS Pathfinder reversed course and reactivated the wormhole device.

Aboard the Royal Manticoran Auxiliary Ship Anubis, Rear Admiral Peter Sorbanne, CO of Survey Command, and his staff exchanged high fives as the cruiser reappeared. Some of his peers had scoffed when Sorbanne moved his flag to the hulking, unarmored supply vessel—-perhaps even tittered, a bit. Now, he proved the efficiency of being on the scene. Within minutes, he parcelled out the light forces under his command and dispatched a squadron to probe each of the remaining wormholes.

On her third transit, HMS Pathfinder travelled in company with HMS Amphitrite, HMS Goliath and HMS Gargoyle. They followed standard procedure to the letter. After all, it was the first time anyone had used it. The small frigate raced ahead to scan the inner planets for signs of life or advanced technology with its powerful sensors while the destroyers followed with the vulnerable survey cruiser at best speed.

A small gathering of King Edward’s closest advisers erupted in cheers when the news finally reached Mount Royal Palace four hours later. First Space Lord Sir Michael Summervale proposed a toast to the future of the Kingdom. Then, Prime Minister Gregory Webster, Duke of New Texas, insisted on drinking to the King’s health. One toast followed another until the “live” feed ended and the King, now nearing his 97th birthday, had dozed off in his favorite armchair.

As the King’s stamina faded in recent years, the mantle of championing his political agenda passed to his grandson, Prince Richard. At 32 T-years old, the Duke of Winton-Serisburg was already a force to be reckoned with in the Lords and de facto leader of the Crown Loyalists, who, for the moment, governed in coalition with the Centrists. Both parties supported the expansion of the Star Kingdom to suitable worlds beyond the Wormhole Junction, a position which was strongly disputed by the opposition. The three men stayed until the early hours of the morning, discussing the possibilities in Pathfinder’s report, and how best to apply their individual levers of power.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Basilisk.PNG)
These orbits seem just a bit unstable

Over the next week, Survey Command obtained long range scans of all five neighboring systems. None showed an Earth-like world, but all had at least one main sequence dwarf star with multiple planets. The second wormhole led to a wide trinary system almost three hundred light hours across. The third, a fairly typical K7 system. Most impressive was the fourth system, which contained fourteen planets orbiting a single F0 subgiant. These included seven gas giants with an astounding one hundred and fifty-one moons between them, many in the habitable zone. After that, the fifth system’s four small terrestrial planets seemed almost disappointing.

The Admiralty expected to receive geological survey data on the smaller systems within six months. In the meantime, the Crown and Landing University sponsored a contest asking citizens to submit and vote on names for the first system discovered by HMS Pathfinder.

On February 19th, HMS Akheron, a frigate picketing the Junction, detected a faint fluctuation in the background radiation of the fourth wormhole. Followed shortly by the unexpected reappearance of the survey cruiser HMS Explorer. Lieutenant Commander Megan Alquezar refused to provide a reason for her vessel’s unscheduled return, insisting on an immediate face-to-face meeting with Rear Admiral Sorbanne.

Several hours later, a lieutenant from the Office of Naval Intelligence entered the First Space Lord’s private box at Hopewell Field during the second half of the Naval Academy’s All Star soccer game. Paparazzi photos of the young woman escorting Admiral Summervale to an unmarked aircar shot to the top of every news feed in the Star Kingdom. Public traffic records obtained by the media showed the car had flown directly from the Field to Mount Royal Palace. Heated arguments about the nature of the crisis erupted across the planetary net. The only thing everyone seemed to agree on was that nothing short of Armageddon could pull the Duke of Cromarty away while the Marines were up 2-0.

By the time the government had located and briefed all the necessary parties, it had entirely lost control the news cycle. Outlandish theories dominated the airwaves right up to the start of Prime Minister New Texas’s press conference. Yesterday, the announcement that HMS Explorer had located ruins believed to be of advanced alien origin, would have been astounding enough. Today, headlines speculated if the government was covering up something more sinister.

Despite the Prime Minister’s repeated assurances that the Navy had found no live aliens, less savory publications capitalized on the hype with clickbait articles quoting anonymous sources. The aptly named tabloid Nosey News of Yawata Crossing insisted its highly placed informant had seen pictures of a “vast alien armada.” Pundits for the opposition Liberal Party accused the government of encouraging such nonsense to drum up support for increased military spending in the current budget negotiations.

Somewhere during all the confusion, official communications began referring to the system as Trevor’s Star, although no one could ever determine where the name originated or who Trevor was. The name appeared in the Admiralty’s dispatch to Survey Command authorizing the immediate release of HMS Wayfarer to begin a gravitational survey. Until now, the Navy had held that cruiser in reserve to provide emergency transit capability if needed.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/TrevorsStar.PNG)

In late May, the public naming contest wrapped up and the first system surveyed by HMS Pathfinder publicly christened Basilisk. The Sphinxian teenager who suggested the name received a scholarship for her small contribution to science and an invitation to Mount Royal Palace for a photo-op with the King. Government bureaucrats breathed a collective sigh of relief and quietly agreed not to hold any more such contests. Calling the Kingdom’s most probable future colony site Stary McStarface would have been simply untenable.

The business and academic communities of the Star Kingdom focused on future commercial exploitation of the new systems. Parliament awarded small research grants to a variety of projects including orbital terraforming and fuel harvesting modules, tractor beams and small fusion reactors. At BuShips, the Office of Weapon Development expanded to two teams researching both 20cm Lasers and Fusion-boosted warheads simultaneously. They promised to complete both within the five-year timeline proposed for the development of the RMN’s new, much more powerful, Nike-class battlecruisers.

A minor scandal broke out in the Lords over the deployment of the new C45 Wormhole Transit Device. The Drewson Cartel, a commercial shipbuilding concern, received a lucrative contract for the construction of a 28000-ton vessel equipped with the device. The Navy intended to permanently station this new ship at the Junction to provide transit capability for freighters and colony expeditions to the new systems. Unfortunately, the Cartel only had one yard, which was already contracted to build a third Anubis-class fleet support vessel. That project wouldn’t be complete until late next year, significantly delaying production of the tender.

This resulted in days of finger pointing, mudslinging and accusations over whose cousin worked for which consulting firm. Finally, Richard Winton proposed to license smaller industrial concerns to fabricate the individual components needed for the new ship, including the Wormhole Transit Device. They could ship these to the Drewson Cartel Yard for final assembly. This met with general approval.

BuShips, meanwhile, finalized a new destroyer design. Based on the Gallant hull, the new Heroic-class looked identical on cursory examination but sacrificed a 10cm laser battery from each broadside to make room for a small flag deck. The Admiralty intended its new destroyers to serve as leaders for the escort squadrons and provide additional opportunities for young officers to gain task group command experience. HMSS Hephaestus had a destroyer yard with four empty slipways available, so construction began immediately on an initial flight, with the possibility of more to follow.

One by one, the survey squadrons reported in. Each cruiser transmitted its geological information before proceeding to RMAS Anubis for refuel and resupply, then returned to its assigned system to begin gravitational surveys. Since they had discovered no threats in any of the target systems, the escorting destroyers returned to Manticore for overhaul and much needed shore leave.

By October, geological survey data had been obtained on each of neighboring five systems. During previous months the government had come up with names for all of them: Basilisk, Gregor, Matapan, Trevor’s Star and Hennesy.

A vigorous debate began in Parliament over the immediate annexation of Basilisk. Although neither of the promising worlds with water and atmospheres possessed useful concentrations of minerals, the rest of the system turned out to be a veritable goldmine. Basilisk I and Basilisk II - Moon 2, both small barren worlds, were obvious candidates for colonization. Either could retain an atmosphere if the proposed terraforming modules produced one.

A rare alliance of Liberals and Conservatives opposed the annexation. They argued that the Star Kingdom barely had enough population to run its existing industry. It made no sense to colonize remote barren planets when rich mineral reserves remained on all three major habitable worlds. Annexing a foreign system would also double the amount of territory that needed to be defended by the Royal Navy, requiring even more excessive military spending. No matter how rich the proposed colony might one day become, it would take decades to pay for itself.

In testament to the political will of Prince Richard and Prime Minister New Texas, the proposal that ultimately passed the Lords included an amendment for the annexation of Trevor’s Star. It stipulated that the Star Kingdom would establish a new colony on Basilisk I, named Medusa in keeping with the mythological theme, as soon as was practical. Basilisk II - Moon 2, named Pegasus, would follow at a later date. Finally, the Navy would establish a scientific outpost on Trevor’s Star I to study the alien ruins, with colonists to follow once they deemed it safe.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Basilisk-SV.PNG)

Medusa Survey Report
Duranium 4,147,200 Acc 0.9
Neutronium 4,096 Acc 0.5
Corbomite 331,776 Acc 0.9
Tritanium 112,896 Acc 0.8
Boronide 2,073,600 Acc 1
Mercassium 350,464 Acc 0.6
Vendarite 1,183,744 Acc 0.7
Sorium 112,896 Acc 0.8
Uridium 1,327,104 Acc 1
Corundium 1,048,576 Acc 0.6

Pegasus Survey Report
Duranium 88,200 Acc 1
Neutronium 1,600 Acc 0.8
Tritanium 250,000 Acc 0.5
Boronide 302,500 Acc 0.5
Corundium 10,000 Acc 0.7
Gallicite 902,500 Acc 0.6

Trevor's Star I Survey Report
(Ruined Settlement)
Duranium 14,450,688 Acc 1
Corbomite 11,289,600 Acc 0.1
Tritanium 1,016,064 Acc 0.6
Boronide 16,646,400 Acc 0.9
Vendarite 186,624 Acc 0.1
Uridium 18,662,400 Acc 0.1

By the end of the year, Survey Command had discovered four wormholes in the surrounding systems.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Year1-MAP.PNG)

A total of 16 new ships were under construction including 2 CAs, 2 CLs, 8 DDs, 1 FSV, 1 TT and 2 more colony ships.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Year1-ShipConstruction.PNG)

Next - Chapter Two: The Mysterious Visitor (1586-1587) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162397#msg162397)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Warer on September 11, 2022, 05:12:16 AM

Sorry don't really have much to say, this is just really well written fiction. Though I wonder when the TREE CAT MENACE will appear to MENACE the fair people of the VILE Star Kingdom of Manticore?

Also can't wait to see how you handle the Nikes, the part of Aurora I interact with most is the ship design. On that note the reason I think most people prefer beams to missiles these days, beyond all the changes to beams that everyone wanted to play with, as opposed to all stripe of missile launchers is the ammo problem, especially with box launchers. If a box launcher ship fires off all its missiles and doesn't win then you either have maintenance ships and colliers along to reload or back 10b+ kilometers to the nearest colony with enough of both to rearm them, or maybe if they're small enough stick them in a commercial carrier-collier? With reloadable missile launchers I think its the fear that the ""low"" number of launchers won't be able to penetrate the enemies PD, at which point your ships a glorified bowling ball I suppouse.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: nuclearslurpee on September 11, 2022, 02:51:26 PM

Heehee, Stary McStaryface ;D

Interesting goings-on around the Manticore system, though it does seem like a lot of it is going to become fodder for later plot arcs. As is typical in most early game periods the name of the game is rapid expansion until the interesting parts begin.

Quote from: Warer on September 11, 2022, 05:12:16 AM

Also can't wait to see how you handle the Nikes, the part of Aurora I interact with most is the ship design. On that note the reason I think most people prefer beams to missiles these days, beyond all the changes to beams that everyone wanted to play with, as opposed to all stripe of missile launchers is the ammo problem, especially with box launchers. If a box launcher ship fires off all its missiles and doesn't win then you either have maintenance ships and colliers along to reload or back 10b+ kilometers to the nearest colony with enough of both to rearm them, or maybe if they're small enough stick them in a commercial carrier-collier? With reloadable missile launchers I think its the fear that the ""low"" number of launchers won't be able to penetrate the enemies PD, at which point your ships a glorified bowling ball I suppouse.

There is a certain school of thought that the best compromise may actually be to use 30% launchers instead of box launchers, since these can be reloaded from colliers after firing.

Otherwise, even if you use 30% launchers you are losing not just 50% of the salvo size compared to box launchers but in practice clsoer to 1/3 to 1/4 the size is generated depending on magazine sizes. Magazines are the real evil in Aurora missile combat in the tactical picture, but strategically you often need magazines to provide staying power in a missile duel as reloading from colliers is not always feasible during an encounter.

The big thing that 30% launchers benefit from is strategic superiority. If you can concentrate enough firepower in one place that the enemy PD is overwhelmed either way, then having more total missiles ready to fire makes a big difference in your ability to exploit the advantage. With box launchers it is one shot and done (unless of course you use fighters).

Reloadable launchers also have a place in anti-fighter defenses, but against the NPRs it is pretty rare that this ever matters.

The long and short of it is that there's a lot of fun options to explore with missile combat at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels, but since most people and especially most authAARs play against NPRs it is pretty rare to see this explored much as NPRs are helpless against basically anything besides standard-size launchers.

Title: Manticore Defiant Chapter Two: A Mysterious Visitor
Post by: rainyday on September 16, 2022, 08:45:42 PM

Chapter Two: The Mysterious Visitor (1586-1587 PD)

Christmas 1585 came in the middle of a scorching summer on Jason Bay, the planet Manticore caring little for the proprieties of Old Earth’s holidays. The royal family fled to their private retreat on Triton Island, a few hours by air-car from the capital. All the King’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren attended, including Princess Elizabeth, who had spent most of the last year deployed to Basilisk aboard HMS Gargoyle.

Rumors circulated in the media on Saint Sylvester’s Day that the King had taken ill and would remain on the island for some time to recover. One week later, an official announcement aired across all three inhabited planets, stating that King Edward Roger Timothy Winton I had died in his sleep. His reign was the longest in the Star Kingdom’s brief history, his dedication to the Navy and the Wormhole Project unwavering. Crowds packed the streets around King Michael’s Cathedral for miles on the day of his funeral.

Fewer people turned out to watch the Bishop of Landing crown Queen Sophie I. The common folk thought well enough of Sophie for her altruism and philanthropy, but no one expected her to be a strong or influential ruler like her father. The new Queen had always been shy and reserved, preferring privacy to the spotlight of national attention thrust upon her after her elder brother's death in the Battle of Manticore. Most felt the balance of power in the Kingdom would shift strongly to the Lords.

The Royal Manticoran Navy issued the Queen Sophie I Coronation Medal to all active-duty personnel to commemorate the occasion. Three vertical stripes represented the three inhabited planets of the Star Kingdom: red for Manticore, purple for Sphinx, and green for Gryphon. It symbolized unity in the new era.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/QueenSophieMedal.PNG)

The RMN’s combat forces spent the year 1586 engaged in routine duties around the home system. Training exercises and maneuvers broke up some of the monotony. Survey Command saw the only real activity, just as dull, but more stressful. Rear Admiral Sorbanne pushed his subordinates hard to wrap up gravitational surveys of all five systems by the end of the year. As soon as each one finished, the ships assigned to it refueled at RMAS Anubis and went to assist in the much larger Basilisk and Trevor’s Star systems.

Parliament established the Interstellar Resettlement Committee, which began organizing the extensive bureaucracy needed to vet and train volunteers for the new Medusa colony. It approved an initial list of two hundred thousand names and instructed those selected to be ready to relocate by the end of the year.

In mid-August, the Drewson Cartel completed RMAS Isis, the new fleet support vessel. After her shakedown cruise, Isis took on fuel and supplies at Manticore and moved out to the Wormhole Junction to relieve RMAS Anubis. Meanwhile, the Cartel began assembling the prefabricated parts of the transit tender. They announced the work would be complete in October. The Admiralty intended the new ship, RMAS Arrowhead, to be permanently stationed at the Junction to provide transit for freighters and colony ships.

A large convoy assembled in Manticore Orbit: 10 Clydesdale-class freighters, 2 Orpheus-class colony ships, the Marine Corps transport Monte Cassino and the RMN’s 3rd Destroyer Division. Between them they carried a hundred units of infrastructure, two hundred thousand colonists, and two marine regiments. As soon as the builders deemed Arrowhead flight worthy, the entire group set out for Medusa.

HMS Wayfarer, returning from Trevor’s Star to refuel, met the convoy at the Basilisk wormhole to transit its military escort. This revealed a large and heretofore overlooked problem in the Admiralty’s plan for the Gallant and Heroic class destroyer escort divisions. BuShips considered scrapping the destroyer leaders, already about 30% complete in the yards, and instead have each division led by a light cruiser with a dedicated wormhole transit device. Unfortunately, the size of the device made such a design impractical. For now, one of the precious survey cruisers would be assigned to the Junction Fleet to provide military transits.

The convoy reached Medusa and began unloading on December 18th, elevating the Star Kingdom to a true interstellar polity. It would return to Manticore for a second load of infrastructure and colonists, along with a pair of STO laser batteries.

On January 1st, 1587, the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, consisting of the RMN’s four light cruisers, arrived to relieve the long-suffering trio of frigates assigned to escort the Junction Fleet. The older Casey-class ships remained in Manticore, while the newer Donnelly-class CLs proceeded into Basilisk and took up station above Medusa.

The full gravitational survey of Basilisk completed a few weeks later and all active survey cruisers returned to Manticore to overhaul and rotate their crews. Survey Command intended to begin probing new wormholes before the end of the year.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Year2-MAP.PNG)

February 26th, 1587 5:08 AM
Lieutenant Tyler Meares almost jumped out of his skin when a shrill keening alarm shattered the silence in Perimeter Security’s Central Control Room aboard Her Majesty’s Space Station Hephaestus. His book reader clattered to the floor as he spun his chair to face the huge holotank in the center of the space. His night watch crew preferred to sit in the dark, so the tank’s soft white glow provided the only light in the room. Now it had taken on a decidedly crimson sheen from a single blinking red icon deep within the plot.

“Contact,” one of his spacers reported, shouting to be heard over the alarm. “Reading one gravitic footprint at 1-5-3 million kilometers. Bearing 5 degrees. Steady at 4-1-6-3 km/s. No IFF signal. Emissions don’t match anything in the database.”

Tyler scowled at the red icon. 153 million kilometers from the planet was well inside Manticore A’s hyperlimit. The sensitive gravitics arrays should have detected the hyper footprint of any ship entering the system via traditional FTL long before it got so close.

He turned back to his own station and pulled up the duty rotation for Response Alpha. His job was to report anything strange that appeared on the sensor net and this was definitely strange. Probably a glitch. But if it wasn’t… He pulled out his uni-link and punched in the code for HMS Kodiak.

No one answered.

“Oh come on,” he muttered, dialing Kodiak again. “You’re ready-60. Someone had better be awake over there.” Tyler had entered the Naval Academy brimming with excitement for the possibilities that lay beyond the Wormhole Junction, but after five T-years, he was thoroughly disillusioned. Watching his classmates with names and connections receive prestigious postings, even command slots, aboard ships, while he, with top scores, was stuck here had burned out every ounce of enthusiasm. Now, he was simply disgusted by it all. He dialed the code a third time.

“Yeah?” A woman’s voice growled. “What do you want?”

“This is Lieutenant Meares with Perimeter Security. We have a… situation here. Case Echo. Patching it through to your board.” He gestured for the rating to set up the connection with Kodiak’s computers.

“Do you always have to run these drills in the middle of the night?” The woman asked.

“It’s not a drill.” Tyler grated. “Look at the feed.”

After a long period of silence and one vulgar curse word, the line went dead.

Forty-five minutes later, HMS Kodiak broke orbit, accompanied by the destroyer HMS Damocles, on an intercept course. The unidentified ship was on a direct vector for Manticore and hadn't responded to challenges. From the gravitics footprint, it appeared to be a Light Attack Craft. LACs were too small to travel through hyperspace, so ONI believed that it must have transited undetected through one of the wormholes.

At 9:29am, the contact, designated Arbalest 001, detected the incoming cruiser and reversed course, heading away at its top observed speed of 4163 km/s. The Manticoran ships, travelling at 4500 km/s, would overtake it in about five hours.

At 1:34pm, the Arbalest dropped off the planetary sensor net, leading to considerable consternation in the Admiralty’s War Room. In the forty-four years since the Battle of Manticore, the RMN had become complacent about defense in the home system. The bulk of its mobile forces were concentrated in Home Fleet, orbiting Manticore, and 2nd Fleet, orbiting Gryphon, with a few forward deployed out at the Wormhole Junction. Sphinx, currently on the opposite side of the primary, didn’t have a single warship in orbit to protect the vulnerable HMSS Vulcan or the planet's significant population. Likewise, all the Kingdom’s Vega-class freighters were outbound to Roc’s lagrange point for an insystem jump to Gryphon, unescorted.

First Space Lord Summervale quickly passed orders to remedy these shortcomings. He sent HMS Andromeda to join Kodiak’s small task force, which was proceeding along the Arbalest’s last known vector. The frigate’s powerful gravitic sensors should help them reestablish contact. Since the frigates were the fastest thing in the RMN’s arsenal, he also sent a pair of them racing out to catch the Bulk Cargo Fleet. The cruiser HMS Hexapuma followed at best speed. Finally, the destroyers HMS Gawain and HMS Galahad were ordered to Sphinx.

While HMS Andromeda rushed out to meet her, HMS Kodiak played an endless game of cat and mouse with the mysterious Arbalest. Periodically, the smaller ship would pulse its active sensor, possibly to check if the cruiser was still in pursuit. The first time this happened the LAC had doubled back towards the planet confirming the First Space Lord’s fear that it might slip past and cause havoc elsewhere. Each active sensor pulse appeared in an unexpected location, forcing Kodiak to reorient time and again.

Finally, at 9:43pm, sixteen hours into the ordeal, HMS Andromeda picked up the Arbalest on her gravitics. The LAC was caught between the two RMN forces. Andromeda’s crew rushed to action stations and charged. As expected, the LAC turned to run, attempting to thread a rapidly narrowing gap between the Manticoran ships.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/FleetRedeployments.PNG)

Captain Pryce Dunne of HMS Kodiak hadn’t left the bridge for over eighteen hours. Exhausted and strung out on coffee was a bad way to fight, but he refused to miss one second of the most exciting day of his entire Navy career. He could almost taste the much coveted Combat Action ribbon. Only the light units of the RMN, frigates and destroyers, sometimes managed to get in scraps with pirates on outsystem patrols. The cruisers and battlecruisers orbited Manticore and did endless drills.

“Guns,” he called to his tactical officer. “Synchronize our targeting system with Damocles. I want a full broadside from both ships as soon as we get into missile range.”

“Sir,” said his pedantic XO, Hal Bachfish. “We don't know if the target is armed or hostile. It’s skittish, sure, but until we know whose over there the rules of engagement stipulate that we attempt to disable them for boarding.”

Dunne ground his teeth. Bachfish was right, of course. He was always right. A constant thorn in the Captain’s side, ever ready to quote some asinine rule or regulation. Dunne, a scion of the upper nobility, firmly believed that rules were meant for other people. Peasants. Like Bachfish. Then again, if an investigation later determined the mystery vessel was unarmed and carrying civilians, he didn’t want that stain on his service record.

“Fine,” he said. “Helm close to 100 thousand kilometers. Cynthia, shoot to disable. But, if they do *anything* suspicious, fire missiles.”

“Aye, Captain.” Lieutenant Commander Cynthia Colenso gave him a thumbs up from the tactical station. She sounded almost as excited for an opportunity to fire the guns as Dunne himself.

It took another twenty minutes to close to beam range during which Kodiak’s sensors gained an active lock on the Arbalest confirming its size at 901 tons. A LAC wasn’t exactly a prestigious kill, but, as the old saying went, you shouldn’t look in a horse’s mouth. Whatever a horse was.

“Incoming!” Someone called out at the same time something rang against the heavy cruiser’s hull. “We're taking autocannon fire!”

“Guns!” Dunne barked. They were beyond the range of any Manticoran autocannon. Awfully far even for Kodiak’s lasers. Inconceivable for a LAC to mount such a big gun. It must be built around the thing. The ship rattled again as another burst raked her thick armor.

Cynthia’s finger punched the big red button on her console.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/DunneMissiles.PNG)

Fourteen missiles streaked out from HMS Kodiak’s tubes and another six from HMS Damocles. They flashed across space in less than five seconds. Later, detailed tactical analysis would reveal that three were shot down by the Arbalest’s point defense. Two more simply missed the wildly evading LAC. Fifteen struck home. The nuclear fireball briefly blinded Kodiak’s sensors.

Perhaps twenty missiles was a bit excessive. The bean counters at BuShips would surely try to rake him over the coals for “unnecessary ordnance expenditures.” It would be worth it though. Dunne had finally gotten to shoot something. The whole reason he’d joined the Navy in the first place.

“Uh, Captain?” The slight edge in Cynthia’s voice pulled him back from his fancies. “That’s no LAC.”

Dunne looked down at his display. At the center of the expanding cloud of debris sat the wreck of a light cruiser.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/MysteriousVisitor.PNG)

Next - Chapter Three: Growing Pains (1587-1588) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162511#msg162511)

Title: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Three: Growing Pains
Post by: rainyday on September 22, 2022, 10:57:05 AM

Chapter Three: Growing Pains (1587-1588)

The Office of Naval Intelligence’s report on the mysterious light cruiser contained more questions than answers. It utilized advanced stealth systems, far beyond anything known to the Star Kingdom, but its other capabilities were comparable to RMN ships. Unfortunately, HMS Kodiak’s missile salvo had breached the hull and vaporized everything inside, frustrating efforts to retrieve bodies or computer cores. Nothing else could be gleaned from the wreck without taking it apart, and Manticore lacked the technology to do so. HMS Andromeda lurked nearby under tight emissions control for several months hoping to catch anyone who might come looking for the missing ship, but saw nothing.

ONI carefully avoided pointing fingers, but some members of the Lords were less circumspect. After all, everyone knew the Andermani Empire ran the most extensive intelligence apparatus in the Haven Sector. They had stealth technology and operated stealth ships for both reconnaissance and information gathering. Manticore had enjoyed positive relations with the Andermani for decades, but since the ascension of Gustav III the Empire’s foreign policy had become even more aggressive. These days the Andermani had no interest in friends, only clients, and Manticore regarded its large neighbor with significant distrust.

The Andermani embassy denied any involvement, of course. It even produced evidence purporting to show a similar stealth ship being destroyed by the Imperial Andermani Navy in Nimbalkar. That didn’t stop Parliament from issuing a formal complaint to Potsdam or declaring that no Andermani ships would be welcome in Manticoran Space until the Empire apologized and made reparations. If the Star Kingdom found more stealth ships, the Royal Manticoran Marine Corps would seize them and intern their crews. Emperor Gustav III didn’t bother to dignify this threat with a response.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Andermani.PNG)

In 1587, the Navy launched twelve new warships: four Gallant-class destroyers, four Heroic-class destroyers, two heavy cruisers and two light cruisers.

In November, Lieutenant Tyler Meares received orders to report aboard the light cruiser HMS Marcello and assume the post of Tactical Officer. More proof, in his mind, that advancement in the RMN was based on nothing more than name recognition. Lacking noble birth, it had taken mention in several high-profile reports, including one read into the Parliamentary record, to get him aboard a ship. Still, Tactical Officer was the fast track to command.

Countess New Dijon of the Progressive Party rallied a powerful faction in the Lords to oppose an appropriations bill authorizing the construction of two more Kodiak-class heavy cruisers. The Countess presented a series of reports from the Bureau of Ship’s own Logistics Command full of dire economic stats. At present, the RMN fielded 673,000 tons of military shipping supported by only 458 maintenance facilities, each capable of supplying 1250 tons. This represented an annual maintenance shortfall in excess of 100,000 tons. If the Navy couldn’t maintain 15% of its existing force, how could it possibly justify building more ships?

Worse, the maintenance facilities already consumed more than 60% of the Kingdom’s annual gallicite production. Building enough to meet the Navy’s current demand would make the situation decidedly worse, leaving little gallicite for new construction or ordnance production. The Star Kingdom desperately needed more freighters to meet its needs in Basilisk. Commercial construction would boost revenues and help to ramp up out-system mining ventures, while more warships would only drain the economy.

The Navy’s supporters, including Prince Richard, countered that Parliament’s saber rattling towards the Andermani had increased external threat to the Star Kingdom. The Imperial Navy had multiple battleships, as well as battlecruisers and heavy cruisers. If the Emperor planned to attack Manticore, the Royal Navy would be hard pressed to stop him with its current resources.

This argument was persuasive, until the Countess delivered her coup de grâce, a recent BuShips report on the Kingdom’s current fuel situation. Naval exercises working up the new construction and continuous trips to Medusa had almost exhausted reserves. Current fuel production barely met the demands of the merchant marine, much less the Navy, and orbital fuel harvesting tech wouldn’t be available for some years yet.

These reports taken together made the Navy’s planners appear incompetent at best, or dangerously negligent at worst. They would bankrupt the Kingdom in short order if allowed to continue on the present course. This soundbite played heavily in the media, souring public opinion. It also led the Conservative Association to break with the majority coalition and vote in opposition, a worrying trend for the New Texas government.

In the end, Parliament issued a complete moratorium on warship construction. It created a Committee for Military Fiscal Responsibility, headed by Countess New Dijon herself, to monitor the current maintenance, fuel and gallicite crises. At its very first meeting, the Committee already started discussing the need to mothball or scrap existing ships, though no such extreme actions were taken. Yet. It agreed to provide some funds for additional maintenance facilities and fuel refineries, and suggested that if the Navy wanted more ships, it should build survey cruisers.

In response, BuShips launched a witch-hunt in Logistics Command, heavily scrutinizing any officer with suspected Progressive or Liberal sympathies. Several found themselves reassigned from comfortable desk jobs on HMSS Hephaestus to ships bound for Basilisk and Trevor’s Star. Despite this crackdown, they failed to discover the identity of Countess New Dijon’s informant(s).

The Royal Manticoran Marine Corps evaded Parliament’s ire and continued steady growth throughout the year. It recruited six new regiments, bringing its total to twenty-two, and constructed two new Anzio-class transports. The RMMC now fielded 320000 tons of forces and 100000 tons of transport capacity.

Survey Command resumed active operations in October. Its first target was Trevor’s Star. One of the unexplored wormholes there lay inside the orbit of the potential colony planet, just three hundred million kilometers from the primary. This seemed the most likely origin of the aliens who had previously inhabited the planet and the Star Kingdom wanted it investigated as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the 2nd Survey Squadron would start in Matapan.

On November 4th, HMS Discoverer transited from Matapan into Yorik, a system with a brown dwarf primary orbited by two gas giants and a handful of barren moons. The disappointment only grew after the survey determined none of the bodies had useful mineral concentrations.

The 1st Survey Squadron, led by HMS Wayfarer, had better luck in Trevor’s Star. They transited the innermost wormhole on November 8th and discovered a system with multiple terrestrial planets. One had a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere that was too dense for humans. That planet’s meager mineral resources weren’t worth the trouble of terraforming it, but the 2nd and 3rd planets might be useful mining sites for the future Trevor’s Star colony. The squadron found no sign of aliens.

Hancock-A II
Duranium 56,448 Acc 0.7
Neutronium 129,600 Acc 1
Corbomite 451,584 Acc 0.7
Tritanium 2,143,296 Acc 1
Vendarite 1,272,384 Acc 0.3
Sorium 4,562,496 Acc 0.1
Uridium 2,509,056 Acc 0.4
Corundium 4,981,824 Acc 0.1

Hancock-A III
Corbomite 17,424 Acc 0.7
Boronide 11,664 Acc 0.8
Mercassium 360,000 Acc 0.9
Sorium 104,976 Acc 0.7
Uridium 285,156 Acc 0.9

HMS Pathfinder, presently assigned to the Junction Fleet, waited in Trevor’s Star until HMS Explorer returned to report an all clear from Hancock. Then, she transited back to Manticore to inform the Admiralty. The Colony Fleet had been sitting in orbit for some time because of the fuel crisis, but now the Interstellar Resettlement Committee ordered it to Trevor’s Star. The Fleet carried two hundred thousand settlers, infrastructure to support them and two RMMC Regiments.

Hoping to encourage civilian entrepreneurship, Parliament granted Gower Industries mining rights to a remote asteroid in Manticore-B’s Gorgon Belt. The agreement included a contract for the government to purchase every ton of minerals it produced.

Asteroid #268
Duranium 11,862 Acc 1
Mercassium 7,615 Acc 1
Vendarite 9,103 Acc 1

Despite the ban on military construction, civilian shipbuilding concerns continued to operate at full capacity. Two Orpheus-class colony ships joined their siblings in January 1588, followed shortly by two Vega-class bulk freighters. What the Kingdom really needed though were more Clydesdale class freighters. The Vegas were too large for the current wormhole tenders, which limited their use to the home system. Deliveries to Medusa and the new Trevor’s Star colony had to be handled by smaller ships and there simply weren’t enough of those to move both infrastructure and industry. The commercial yards were undergoing continuous expansion and new freighters being laid down as quickly as possible.

Someone at the Admiralty suggested building an enormous space warehouse at the Wormhole Junction to speed up cargo transfers from in-system to out-system freighters. The RMN had already been floating the idea of a forward base with maintenance and recreation facilities for its own use. Since BuShips had nothing better to do, it ran with the idea and began drafting plans for a variety of deep space facilities. After all, Parliament hadn’t told them not to build space stations.

By May 1588, Survey Command had discovered seven new systems, but of those only Hancock seemed to have much potential. The rest lacked useful planets or sufficient resources to make near-term expansion profitable.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Map-1588.PNG)

After a very boring probe of the empty Candor system beyond Gregor, the 1st Survey Squadron returned to Manticore to refuel. Its next assignment was to investigate the final two unexplored wormholes, located in Hennesy. At five billion kilometers from Manticore-A, the Hennesy terminus was the most remote of the Manticore Wormhole Junction. It lay almost a billion kilometers beyond the Basilisk terminus and over five hundred million from Matapan, its nearest neighbor.

Dispirited by the lackluster outcomes of previous surveys, the crews of the 1st Survey Squadron had little hope of a productive find in Hennesy. They just wanted to wrap up the mission and get home to their families. A probe of the first wormhole affirmed their negativity, revealing a planetless brown dwarf system. However, their hopes for an early homecoming shattered when HMS Ariadne transited the second wormhole to find six planets and eighty-six moons orbiting a solitary red dwarf.

Standard operating procedure called for the frigates to sweep the innermost planet with their sensors and then work outward. Only after they cleared every body would the vulnerable survey cruisers leave the wormhole terminus and begin their geological surveys. This process would take weeks and none of the commanders wanted to wait weeks, so they agreed to violate the procedure. Not for the first time. The dirty secret of the 1st Survey Squadron’s remarkable efficiency was that they often ignored procedure, sometimes even split up to work multiple systems at the same time. The commanders agreed this deceit was necessary to meet Rear Admiral Sorbanne’s grueling schedules.

HMS Ariadne and HMS Akheron, the squadron’s frigates, would move to the inner system and begin sweeping the terrestrial planets as planned. Meanwhile, HMS Explorer and HMS Wayfarer laid in courses for the outermost gas giants. Dozens of barren, inhospitable moons orbited both of them, but those seemed unlikely to harbor threats and getting a head start on surveying them appealed to everyone.

A week later, Lieutenant Commander Eldridge Underwood, Eli to everyone but his mom, woke from a sound sleep to the frantic chirping of his uni-link. He answered the device and snapped instantly awake at the stream of incoherent babble issuing from it. Despite his best efforts to calm the hysterical Midshipman, he still had no idea what was happening as he threw on yesterday’s uniform and raced to HMS Ariadne’s bridge.

He found the young officer and two enlisted members of the crew hovering over the communications console. They were wide eyed and pale and starring directly into the viewscreen. No one acknowledged his arrival or responded to his request for a report.

With growing concern, Eli squeezed in beside them and felt his own heart leap into his throat. The message header read HMS Wayfarer. The timestamp, just far enough back for the message to reach them at light speed. Playback had stopped leaving the video frozen on a scene of pure carnage. Fires burned on HMS Wayfarer’s small bridge, bodies sprawled in the darkness, and standing in clear view of the camera was a monster from the darkest pit of Hell.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/SWARM.png)

Next - Interlude One: The Prussian Princess (1589) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162588#msg162588)

Title: Manticore Defiant: Interlude One: The Prussian Princess (1589)
Post by: rainyday on September 24, 2022, 07:30:28 PM

March 9th, 1589 - Magdeburg III, Magdeburg System

“Frau Feldmarschall!” a young man in the black tunic of the Totenkopf Hussars shoved through the airlock flaps and came to rigid attention. “The guards have caught a Tintenfische outside the camp. It is demanding to speak with you.”

Ruiyu Anderman looked up sharply from her tablet. “Jun,” she chided. “You know I dislike that name.”

“Entschuldigung, Frau Feldmarshcall.” The boy looked away from her steel gaze, a properly chagrined expression on his face. “What should I tell them to do with it?”

Ruiyu sighed. War required a certain amount of dehumanization. Without it, soldiers would balk, especially in the face of grueling one-sided butchery like the Andermani invasion of Magdeburg III. She knew that. She also knew that letting it go too far was a recipe for atrocity. Especially here, when the enemy wasn’t human at all. The Leif didn’t look human, act human, or communicate in a way most humans understood as speech. All too easy to start thinking of them as the bug-eyed monsters of science fiction holo dramas, rather than people.

“I will speak with them,” Ruiyu said, standing up and crossing to the airlock. “Have a xenolinguist meet me there.”

Jun barked an affirmative, saluted and held open the airlock flap for her. She took a breathing mask from the row on the wall and fitted it snugly over her face. Magdeburg III was a super Earth, 21000 kilometers in diameter, with gravity forty percent higher than Terran standard and a very dense nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. It was otherwise shirtsleeves habitable, though the high gravity and sweltering tropical humidity made it extremely unpleasant for a Potsdam native like herself.

Beads of sweat immediately coalesced under the high collar of her uniform jacket, the color still known as Prussian Blue despite being made from alien sea snails. By Magdeburg III’s solar cycle it was a brisk autumn day here in the northern hemisphere, only a few miles from the Leif’s largest settlement. The thermometer on the outside of the prefabricated structure read 39C.

Jun trotted off on his errand as Ruiyu turned and strode down the long row of identical structures towards the main gate. He must be miserable in this heat, but the Totenkopf Hussars would no more show weakness or surrender to practicality than she would. Most of the soldiers she passed had no such scruples. After months on this planet, they had all stripped down to loose trousers and tank tops of a breathable linen-like fiber.

Beyond the buildings, neat lines of Schützenpanzer Büffel and Panzerkampfwagen Nashorn vehicles flanked the encampment, and farther still a tall wire fence dotted with watchtowers encircled it. Her soldiers had cleared the massive tree analogs that covered most of Magdeburg III’s surface for miles around, but she could still see the vague outline of them towering on the horizon.

Ruiyu had received her orders from the Emperor himself, hand delivered by courier to the Imperial Army’s training facility on Nimbalkar. Even she didn't question an order with the Imperial seal. But she had spent many nights during the past six months comforting herself with the knowledge that as soon as her boots touched Potsdam’s soil again, she was going to find which one of her nephew’s pet staff officers had suggested dropping the entire I. Panzerbrigade into a godforsaken jungle to hunt arboreal natives armed with spears and strangle him with his own entrails. She didn’t care if he was Generaloberst. Royal blood had to come with some perks.

A moment savoring that mental image yet again brought her to the gate. The group of soldiers surrounding the Leif were part of the perimeter guard in full climate controlled power armor. They looked wary, but it gratified her to see they weren’t holding the alien at gunpoint. Not exactly.

The Leif was taller than an average human with a bald egg-shaped head perched atop a vaguely humanoid torso, but all similarity ended there. Below their chest was a writhing mass of long prehensile limbs, like thick ropey tentacles, which the Leif used to swing through their homeworld’s dense jungle canopies. They also had a pair of short sensory tentacles sprouting from the center of their face, looking almost like a fleshy mustache, on either side of a disturbing vertical mouth slit.

Ruiyu saw Jun hurrying up with the xenolinguist, who held what appeared to be a small bagpipe. She halted outside the circle of guards and waited for them.

As soon as the Leif saw her, they made a dramatic gesture with their tentacles. For all she knew, it might have been a bow, a salute, or their equivalent of flipping the bird. She wouldn’t hold it against them if it was. The Leif’s technological level was analogous to Old Earth’s medieval period. There were over four hundred million of them and their only crime was living on a planet with rich mineral deposits. For that, she had killed probably twenty or thirty thousand of them and they, in return, had scratched up the paint on some of her tanks.

“I am Kaiserlicher Feldmarschall Ruiyu Anderman,” she said making a formal bow to the Leif. “You wished to speak with me?”

A series of ear-rending squawks and screeches emitted from the bagpipe-like device as the xenolinguist did his best to translate her German. She hoped it didn’t come out as something offensive. Until this mission, the Imperial Army hardly considered xenolinguistics a prestigious specialty. It attracted a few nerds who spent their enlistment hanging out in ruins staring at graffiti but, as far as she knew, no humans had ever interacted with a live alien until her brigade landed here.

Fortunately, the Leif squawked back and, even more fortunately, no one covered their ears, although there were a few pained grimaces from those not in power armor.

“Greetings Feldmarschall,” the linguist translated. “I am High Marshal Naresh, Supreme Commander of the Leif Coalition. I have come alone to offer our unconditional surrender and beg you to show mercy to my people.”

“On behalf of His Imperial Majesty Gustav III, I accept your surrender,” she replied. Then added, “The Leif have fought bravely and with much honor against impossible odds. You have my personal assurance that no harm will come to you or your civilians.”

Despite the vast gulf of body language, she thought Naresh looked a bit skeptical at the translation, but he waggled his tentacles again. “There are many among my people who believe you are gods, descended from Heaven with your metal beasts to punish us for some transgression. But the learned say you are beings like us. That you came from another world and your magic is technology beyond our comprehension.”

“We are not gods,” Ruiyu said, a little too forcefully. “Your planet is now part of the Andermani Empire. Your people will become citizens. We will share our technology, our medicines, our agricultural techniques. Someday, the Leif will travel between the stars with us.”

She meant to keep that promise. For all his critics, Uncle Gustav had always seen himself as a benevolent conqueror. He brought modern technology to backwards frontier planets whose own governments, corporate overlords, or vestiges of fate kept destitute. Starting with Kuan Yin, the world now called Potsdam, within a generation most of the people regarded him as their savior. Ruiyu believed in his dream, had shed more than a bit of her own blood for it, and would not watch while her nephew’s advisers turned the star nation she’d fought for into another Spanish or Belgian Empire. That would not happen here. At least, not while she was still breathing.

Magdeberg-A III Survey Report
Duranium 1,273,428 Acc 1
Neutronium 297,542 Acc 0.8
Corbomite 208,157 Acc 0.6
Tritanium 291,249 Acc 0.7
Boronide 257,071 Acc 0.4
Mercassium 353,635 Acc 0.9
Vendarite 200,942 Acc 0.8
Sorium 303,242 Acc 0.8
Uridium 597,271 Acc 0.4
Corundium 255,564 Acc 0.5
Gallicite 243,264 Acc 0.5

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/1PanzerBrigade.PNG)

Next - Chapter Four: Changes (1588-1589) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162687#msg162687)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant Chapter Two: A Mysterious Visitor
Post by: nuclearslurpee on September 24, 2022, 10:37:27 PM

Quote from: rainyday on September 16, 2022, 08:45:42 PM

Perhaps twenty missiles was a bit excessive. The bean counters at BuShips would surely try to rake him over the coals for “unnecessary ordnance expenditures.” It would be worth it though. Dunne had finally gotten to shoot something. The whole reason he’d joined the Navy in the first place.

Maxim 37: there is no "overkill."

I like this Captain Dunne, he will go far. Or at least, he would go far in any Navy I ever ran.

Quote

Dunne looked down at his display. At the center of the expanding cloud of debris sat the wreck of a light cruiser.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/MysteriousVisitor.PNG)

That's... a lot of cloaking tech. Bit scary honestly.

Quote

Countess New Dijon of the Progressive Party

Now there's a name for you!

Quote

These reports taken together made the Navy’s planners appear incompetent at best, or dangerously negligent at worst.

Truly the sign of a high-quality AAR. (https://i.imgur.com/Z3wSg01.gif)

Quote

The Royal Manticoran Marine Corps evaded Parliament’s ire and continued steady growth throughout the year.

The hidden benefits of being nearly 100% reliant on a single mineral that almost nobody else needs for anything.

Quote from: rainyday on September 24, 2022, 07:30:28 PM

Manticore Defiant: Interlude One

Listen here, you can't just leave us hanging like this when a survey squadron is being overrun by evil aliens!

Quote

Author's Note: A little bonus chapter today. I know things have been going slow so far, but I promise next week's Manticore update is... explosive. I've added a couple new player races and a couple human NPRs to spice things up, but it's taking a while for them to meet. Manticore's development has been slow since they started with such limited jump tech and the new research option. Things have actually been a lot more exciting for the Andermani.

I've noticed something similar in my own AAR. Starting with very limited jump and survey resources makes for a rather slow start - which of course mandates an interesting starting setup to generate some early-game interest, which you've got in spades here so far even without the very rude cliffhanger + intermission nonsense. :P

It is seeming like the Aldermani Empire will be rather aggressive and thus a likely opponent in battle once some wormhole path is found between the two nations. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing, since Manticore being overwhelmed by massive battleships might be a tad desultory of an ending. But if they win...

Keep it coming, time is always a bit short but I do try to keep up with this one!

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant
Post by: rainyday on September 25, 2022, 12:08:17 AM

Quote from: nuclearslurpee on September 24, 2022, 10:37:27 PM

I like this Captain Dunne, he will go far. Or at least, he would go far in any Navy I ever ran.

Indeed. We will be seeing much more of Captain Dunne and HMS Kodiak in the coming chapters.

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That's... a lot of cloaking tech. Bit scary honestly.

Fortunately, this inspired me to build a lot of small resolution sensors and fire controls which have come in very handy for... reasons.

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I've noticed something similar in my own AAR. Starting with very limited jump and survey resources makes for a rather slow start - which of course mandates an interesting starting setup to generate some early-game interest, which you've got in spades here

I really like the "first jump into the unknown" flavor of starting scenario but it does make early expansion slower. Lack of jump capability has been a real struggle. Particularly with the Limited Research Administration (love it, by the way, I usually limited myself to ~5ish labs per project so the new setting is somewhat familiar but *really* makes you appreciate a good scientist). I am pretty desperate for a bigger jump drive and higher efficiency. Not to mention all the other jump drive niceties. Or Ion Engines. Or engine boost. It's agonizing at times. I've also had a horrible shortage of C/P scientists which is why fuel harvesters are taking most of a decade to get online.

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It is seeming like the Aldermani Empire will be rather aggressive and thus a likely opponent in battle once some wormhole path is found between the two nations. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing, since Manticore being overwhelmed by massive battleships might be a tad desultory of an ending. But if they win...

Well, they have to defy something. It's in the title. I'm hoping for a bit more colonial struggle on the frontier and less full-on battleship invasion, but, you know, a lot depends on where and how they end up connecting and whether Parliament hurts the Emperor's feelings with nasty notes or a lack of light refreshments. ;D It's a bit concerning because the Empire gained a large population boost through this conquest. If they can industrialize the Leif, it might snowball their economy and put Manticore in a tough spot if it comes to blows.

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Keep it coming, time is always a bit short but I do try to keep up with this one!

Glad you're enjoying it.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant
Post by: Black on September 25, 2022, 02:39:24 AM

Quote from: rainyday on September 25, 2022, 12:08:17 AM

Indeed. We will be seeing much more of Captain Dunne and HMS Kodiak in the coming chapters.

Hopefully it will not be in a sense of seeing lot of small pieces from the explosion of the HMS Kodiak...

Quote from: rainyday on September 25, 2022, 12:08:17 AM

Well, they have to defy something. It's in the title. I'm hoping for a bit more colonial struggle on the frontier and less full-on battleship invasion, but, you know, a lot depends on where and how they end up connecting and whether Parliament hurts the Emperor's feelings with nasty notes or a lack of light refreshments. ;D It's a bit concerning because the Empire gained a large population boost through this conquest. If they can industrialize the Leif, it might snowball their economy and put Manticore in a tough spot if it comes to blows.

You can always rename the topic to Andermani Ascendant: A Star Empire AAR. ;D We can follow the career of Feldmarschall Ruiyu Anderman.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant
Post by: nuclearslurpee on September 25, 2022, 10:13:44 AM

Quote from: rainyday on September 25, 2022, 12:08:17 AM

I really like the "first jump into the unknown" flavor of starting scenario but it does make early expansion slower. Lack of jump capability has been a real struggle. Particularly with the Limited Research Administration (love it, by the way, I usually limited myself to ~5ish labs per project so the new setting is somewhat familiar but *really* makes you appreciate a good scientist). I am pretty desperate for a bigger jump drive and higher efficiency. Not to mention all the other jump drive niceties. Or Ion Engines. Or engine boost. It's agonizing at times. I've also had a horrible shortage of C/P scientists which is why fuel harvesters are taking most of a decade to get online.

I'm pretty sure it is hardcoded into the EXE that the player race always starts with one 10% P/P scientist, no C/P scientists and five B/G scientists including at least three with >20% skill. :P

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but, you know, a lot depends on where and how they end up connecting and whether Parliament hurts the Emperor's feelings with nasty notes or a lack of light refreshments. ;D

Truly the most dire of insults.

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It's a bit concerning because the Empire gained a large population boost through this conquest. If they can industrialize the Leif, it might snowball their economy and put Manticore in a tough spot if it comes to blows.

"Unfortunately", Aurora does not really place a downside on too-rapid expansion like some 4Xs do, so unless you roleplay the political instability in some way it is basically just free population for the Andermani.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: Interlude One: The Prussian Princess (1589)
Post by: El Pip on September 25, 2022, 02:28:43 PM

Quote from: rainyday on September 24, 2022, 07:30:28 PM

Countess New Dijon of the Progressive Party

By any argument the original Dijon was one too many, so I have absolutely no sympathy for Manticore on this. They chose to ignore the warnings and start a New Dijon so cannot complain about the predictably awful consequences?

Here we see the secret power of light refreshments, regular exposure to a wide array of condiments would make it clear quite how awful Dijon mustard (and thus Dijon) is and so no-on would dream of starting a New Dijon.

Quote from: rainyday on September 24, 2022, 07:30:28 PM

she would not watch while her nephew’s advisers turned the star nation she’d fought for into another Spanish or Belgian Empire. That would not happen here. Not while she was breathing.

Well quite, given the choice not breathing does indeed seem the superior alternative.

Title: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Four: Changes (1588-1589)
Post by: rainyday on September 30, 2022, 01:20:45 PM

Chapter Four: Changes (1588-1589)

[ 14 July 1588, Admiralty Building, City of Landing, Manticore ]

“Admiral Summervale.” Lady Suzanne Descroix, Countess New Dijon, freshly appointed Defense Minister for the Star Kingdom of Manticore flashed a politician’s smile as the First Space Lord entered her office. “Please sit down.”

Sir Michael Summervale sat stiffly and eyed her across the vast expanse of polished Sphinxian crown oak. The desk could have made a passable conference table. No knickknacks or family photos cluttered its surface, not even the ever present piles of hardcopy that seemed to materialize on flat surfaces throughout the Admiralty Building. He had a vague memory of his father telling him once never to trust anyone with an empty workspace.

“I want to hear your thoughts on the Wayfarer Incident.”

Summervale shrugged. “Internal disciplinary affairs aren’t really my department. I understand that Vice Admiral Sorbanne dropped the court martial and settled for beaching the commanders with half pay.” He’d also heard that decision came from this very office, on account of Lt. Commander Chandler’s family being large donors to the Liberal Party. He didn’t disagree with it though. He might even have intervened himself before it went much farther.

“I meant your thoughts regarding the military’s readiness to defend this star system. I believe that *is* your department?”

“Ah, that. You’ve read ONI’s reports?” At her brisk nod he mentally adjusted his summary. “They identified at least a hundred unique gravitic signatures in Wayfarer’s sensor data, but we only got active readings on a couple dozen Light Attack Craft. They also detected a pulse from in system three times more powerful than any of our active sensors. ONI is calling that a battlecruiser, but it’s just as likely to be a fancy scout frigate. What I am certain of is that we can stop them if necessary. Our Home Fleet out masses ONI’s worst case estimate of their total strength.”

The Countess considered him for a moment. “That’s reassuring. Do you believe an invasion is imminent?”

“No ma’am. Not imminent.” Summervale produced a tablet from his briefcase, opened the local wormhole map and activated the device’s holo projector. “This is Aral.” He pointed at one of the glowing spheres. “That’s what we’re calling the system where the aliens attacked Wayfarer. The wormhole there is only about six billion kilometers from the Manticore-Hennesy terminus. If they are native to that system, and know about wormholes, then they probably already know where we are. That means either they don’t have that technology, they don’t intend to attack us, or what we stumbled into is a large exploration fleet. I favor the latter explanation myself. In that case, we don’t know where they’re from, how quickly they can receive reinforcements, or how long it’ll take them to track us down. Or if they’ll even bother.”

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Map-1588.PNG)

“So you don’t share ONI’s concern our frigates were followed?”

Summervale shook his head. “After they saw what happened to Wayfarer’s crew, the survey commanders gave the alien fleet a very wide berth on their way back to rendezvous at the wormhole terminus. Given how aggressively they went after Wayfarer, I believe the aliens would attack any ship they detected, rather than following it. They’re almost twice as fast as our ships so they could have overtaken and destroyed the frigates easily. It’s my opinion that they don’t know where we are and will need to grav survey both Aral and Hennesy, then investigate several wormholes to find us. Six months at least. That’s my conservative estimate. It could take years.”

New Dijon frowned. “So what’s your plan? We sit and wait for them to attack?”

“My preference would be to send a large fleet to secure Wayfarer and retrieve her crew for burials. Show these aliens that we will respond to aggression with overwhelming force. Unfortunately, our options are limited because the survey cruisers can only transit ships under 12000 tons. 50% of our total combat strength is stuck in Manticore.”

“You’re saying our most expensive ships are completely useless?”

“The RMN is a system defense force. It isn’t meant to go on ‘imperialist expeditionary adventures.’”

Her lips quirked ever so slightly. “So we defend.”

“We defend,” Summervale agreed. “Again, my preference would be to defend the Hennesy terminus, where we could see enemies approaching and make good use of our missiles, but our present capabilities make that impractical. Vice Admiral Sorbanne is vehemently opposed to detaching another survey cruiser for military duty and I agree with his reasoning. That means we’ll have to defend the terminus on this side.”

She wasn’t going to like his next point and he could hardly blame her. “While I endorsed King Edward’s doctrinal reforms, and still agree missiles are the weapon of the future, it has left our modern construction woefully ill suited for the present situation. Any close defense, or assault, of a wormhole terminus will be a back alley knife fight. We’re going to be stretched very thin on older ships.”

New Dijon scowled fiercely, leaned back and crossed her arms. “I seem to recall six battlecruisers eating up an unreasonable percentage of our maintenance supplies. I’m no tactician, but I expect their large laser batteries and heavy armor would excel in that environment.”

“Tactically, yes, you’re right. Strategically, it’s a nonstarter. Over the years we’ve hobbled the battlecruisers. In their present configuration, they only carry stores for three months. That’s enough time to intercept an enemy fleet threatening our planets, but inadequate for any kind of forward deployment.”

New Dijon grunted, stood up and crossed to the window, gazing out at Landing’s skyline. Her voice was icy when she finally spoke. “You’ve already admitted that 50% of our warship tonnage is useless for offensive operations and now you’re telling me 25% are nothing more than glorified defense platforms?”

“Yes, I suppose that’s one way to put it.”

She turned back to face him. “You understand this situation is unacceptable? The government expects me to reign in the Navy’s excesses. Those battlecruisers are nothing but excess. They’re expensive props for you and your fellow Admirals to strut around and feel important. I want them dealt with. Reimagined or replaced with units that can actually do their jobs.”

Summervale nodded. “I anticipated that, so I asked BuShips to develop several options, including a quick refit plan to extend the battlecruisers’ deployment time for wormhole defense. However, the… more conservative… elements of the Navy are justifiably reluctant to tear them open when aliens might arrive tomorrow.”

New Dijon sighed and slumped back down in her chair. “At least they’ll reassure our planetary population when word of an imminent alien invasion leaks out.”

“It’s now all bad news. In fact, I have a plan to deal with several of these problems.” Summervale flicked the screen of his tablet and the map vanished, replaced by a wireframe schematic of a large warship. “The Weapons Development Board has its best propulsion people working on those new missile boosters, but as soon as they’re done, I’d like to redirect them to develop a larger wormhole transit device. It’s critical for the fleet to have an independent transit capability usable by all of our ships. Unfortunately, with current technology, we expect it to be the size of a destroyer. It’ll take years to research, retool a shipyard and actually build a ship big enough to carry it. Frankly, I don’t think we can wait. A friend in BuShips mocked this up. I think you’ll like it.”

Off-Topic: show

“Basically, we carve the guts out of a battlecruiser, then stuff the wormhole transit device inside. They had to take out a couple reactors, the boat bay, and all offensive weaponry to make it fit, but her armor, engines and point defense suite are intact, so the new class can accompany our heavy warships, even in combat situations.”

New Dijon leaned forward to study the text floating in the air beside the design. After a moment, a genuine smile lit her face. “I’m impressed. This is exactly the sort of outside the box thinking we need, Admiral.”

“Good, because there’s more.” Summervale flicked his tablet again and another much smaller ship appeared. “While I was discussing our needs with my friend, she showed me this. Some junior officers at BuShips were playing around with it. This is a pinnace equipped with a miniature wormhole transit device. You know we have a serious communication problem with the new colonies. Especially Chimera, since it doesn’t get as much traffic as Medusa. That’ll become a nightmare if we deploy warships several hops down the chain. They call this a dispatch boat. It’s fast, cheap, small enough to be carried on our cruisers and has enough supplies to sit on a wormhole to relay messages.”

Off-Topic: show

“Your research team might be a bit put out after they spend years developing a giant wormhole transit device and you immediately tell them to miniaturize it.” New Dijon chuckled. “But the military and civilian implications are huge.”

“I agree.” He still had one other item on his agenda. Now was the time. “I understand your frustration with the current state of our military, but in light of a possible existential threat to the Kingdom’s existence, I’d like to ask Parliament for an exception to the warship construction ban.”

New Dijon’s expression hardened. “Why?”

“We have a desperate need for energy armed light picket ships to guard wormhole termini. I’ve sent CruDiv 5 for now, uh, that’s the Casey-class light cruisers, but nothing else in our fleet has the right combination of size, armament and endurance for the task. I asked BuShips to develop a beam heavy destroyer based on the hull of our Salamander-class, so that we can switch them with refits if necessary, but I would advise against converting our dedicated point defense units until we’re certain the aliens don’t use missiles.”

“Believe it or not, my goal has never been to destroy the Navy. I just want our limited resources well allocated, to ensure we have the right tools for our job. It’s clear from your report that we don’t have them. I want to remedy that efficiently, but not at the expense of useful capabilities. Otherwise we’ll always be chasing our tails after the latest crisis.”

Summervale smiled. “Good. I hoped you’d say that.” He swiped the schematic again and a new ship appeared. “BuShips calls this the Mercury-class destroyer. It has the same energy armament as one of our Kodiak-class heavy cruisers for one third of the price. Being based on existing hulls will minimize retooling time, but I suggest we have Hephaestus start the first flight as soon as possible.”

Off-Topic: show

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The 1st Survey Squadron returned home after a long arduous retreat to find a Kingdom already in turmoil, and not from anything so straightforward as an alien invasion. Instead, the Queen had thrown a metaphorical hand grenade into the House of Lords with her annual Landing Day Address. Unlike King Edward’s fiery patriotic speeches, Queen Sophie’s was full of drivel about the responsibilities of the nobility. She spoke eloquently on the need for increased social spending to ensure every citizen of the Kingdom, from the noblest to the poorest, enjoyed a decent standard of living, excellent education and equal access to opportunities.

The Crown Loyalist party imploded. Although they liked to portray themselves as moderates beside the reactionary Conservative Association, the only real difference in most of their beliefs was whether the monarch should hold absolute power or share it with them. Now their absolute certainty in the monarch’s superiority shattered, and many defected outright. Other, more principled individuals, held their noses and caucused with the Liberal Opposition in favor of the Queen’s agenda. Both outcomes heralded doom for the Centrist coalition.

In June, the Queen called upon the Duke of Winter Mount to form a new government. The Liberals and Progressives, with their Crown Loyalist allies, had a clear majority in the Commons, although the situation in the Lords was murkier since many Lords professed to remain independent of political parties. This led to a reshuffling of the Royal Council with many long serving allies of King Edward and New Texas being ousted in favor of fresh blood.

Everyone, Sir Michael Summervale most of all, was surprised when Countess New Dijon asked the First Space Lord to remain in his post, to provide “stability and continuity” for the Navy. That she said it with a straight face while taking an ax to the other appointed leadership did not improve their frosty working relationship.

The discovery of hostile aliens and loss of a survey cruiser hardly amounted to a ripple in the chaos. The new government exercised firmer control of the media narrative. Their spokespeople promised to do everything necessary to ensure the Kingdom’s safety, while daytime talk programs debated whether the incident resulted from a misunderstanding and experts argued over the best way to establish peaceful communications with the new species.

Meanwhile, the RMN prepared for war. The First Space Lord dispatched the Casey-class light cruisers to picket the Hennesy wormhole and replaced the frigates in the Junction Fleet with heavy cruisers. BuShips started construction on four new Mercury-class destroyers and the Royal Marines deployed another planetary defense battery to each inhabited planet in the system.

It soon became clear to even the most paranoid staffers at ONI that an attack wasn’t imminent. Admiral Summervale’s conservative six months ticked by without incident. Then four more. Most people breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps the aliens didn’t have wormhole technology after all. Or, perhaps they just had better things to do.

The civilian shipbuilding cartels continued to churn out freighters as quickly as possible, producing a Vega and three Clydesdales during this year. The Ship-to-Ship Tractor Beam technology finally matured and the Royal Auxilia ordered an experimental tug ship called Sisyphus. BuShip’s Weapon Development Board also made several exciting developments into Sidewall Generators, 20cm Laser Focal Size, and Active Sensor Strength 16.

On the morning of May 23rd 1589, the Defense Minister was alone in her office when the First Space Lord barged in without an appointment. His gruff warhorse face held a grim expression as he spoke the words that had haunted both of their nightmares for so long. “They’re here.”

Next - Chapter Five: Kingdom Under Siege (1589-1590) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162724#msg162724)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: El Pip on September 30, 2022, 02:14:35 PM

I must admit after that update I am absolutely rooting for the aliens, looking at the Manitcore political scene nuking the planet from orbit appears the only way to be sure. ;)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Black on September 30, 2022, 03:21:30 PM

Quote from: El Pip on September 30, 2022, 02:14:35 PM

I must admit after that update I am absolutely rooting for the aliens, looking at the Manitcore political scene nuking the planet from orbit appears the only way to be sure. ;)

Well, I suppose this mirror books to some extent as at certain phases I think most readers were rooting for Havenite characters. :)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Warer on September 30, 2022, 04:16:33 PM

Quote from: El Pip on September 30, 2022, 02:14:35 PM

I must admit after that update I am absolutely rooting for the aliens, looking at the Manitcore political scene nuking the planet from orbit appears the only way to be sure. ;)

Quote from: Black on September 30, 2022, 03:21:30 PM

Quote from: El Pip on September 30, 2022, 02:14:35 PM
I must admit after that update I am absolutely rooting for the aliens, looking at the Manitcore political scene nuking the planet from orbit appears the only way to be sure. ;)

Well, I suppose this mirror books to some extent as at certain phases I think most readers were rooting for Havenite characters. :)

I quite like how Manticorian politics are going though? Seems to me things are going pretty great? I don't see the problem at all, much less one deserving of nukes.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Gyrfalcon on October 01, 2022, 12:35:00 AM

Weber unfortunately uses the books to give his political views. Liberals are mealy-mouthed idiots who want to slash military budgets in the face of imminent war when they aren’t outright cowards. Conservatives are power-hungry and corrupt when they aren’t outright traitors. Only the cleverness and steely-eyed determination of Crown loyalists save the Kingdom (over and over) because an enlightened dictator is the best method of rule.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Warer on October 01, 2022, 02:53:18 AM

Quote from: Gyrfalcon on October 01, 2022, 12:35:00 AM

Weber unfortunately uses the books to give his political views. Liberals are mealy-mouthed idiots who want to slash military budgets in the face of imminent war when they aren’t outright cowards. Conservatives are power-hungry and corrupt when they aren’t outright traitors. Only the cleverness and steely-eyed determination of Crown loyalists save the Kingdom (over and over) because an enlightened dictator is the best method of rule.

Sounds about right. But this story isn't like that at all, for one the Loyalists just imploded and the primary liberal character New Dijon is the best character.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on October 01, 2022, 08:45:56 AM

Quote from: Black on September 30, 2022, 03:21:30 PM

Well, I suppose this mirror books to some extent as at certain phases I think most readers were rooting for Havenite characters. :)

I feel like at some point even Weber decided to root for the Havenites. He started focusing on them more and more and adding a bunch of cool sympathetic characters. I'm pretty sure I was rooting for Theisman and Tourville by the end of the first War and definitely during the second one.

Quote from: Gyrfalcon on October 01, 2022, 12:35:00 AM

Weber unfortunately uses the books to give his political views. Liberals are mealy-mouthed idiots who want to slash military budgets in the face of imminent war when they aren’t outright cowards. Conservatives are power-hungry and corrupt when they aren’t outright traitors. Only the cleverness and steely-eyed determination of Crown loyalists save the Kingdom (over and over) because an enlightened dictator is the best method of rule.

Yeah. I feel like he's gotten better over the years, but maybe that's because other people are writing most of the books now. The first few are so heavy handed with the politics and moralizing it's painful to read at a times, which is a shame because those have some of the best space battles.

I hope it's clear that my portrayal of the Star Kingdom's various political factions here are a tongue-in-cheek imitation of the source material.

Quote from: Warer on October 01, 2022, 02:53:18 AM

Sounds about right. But this story isn't like that at all, for one the Loyalists just imploded and the primary liberal character New Dijon is the best character.

I'm glad you're still enjoying the story. :)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Pedroig on October 01, 2022, 09:05:03 AM

Quote from: Gyrfalcon on October 01, 2022, 12:35:00 AM

Weber unfortunately uses the books to give his political views. Liberals are mealy-mouthed idiots who want to slash military budgets in the face of imminent war when they aren’t outright cowards. Conservatives are power-hungry and corrupt when they aren’t outright traitors. Only the cleverness and steely-eyed determination of Crown loyalists save the Kingdom (over and over) because an enlightened dictator is the best method of rule.

Perhaps realize that in works of FICTION, tropes are used quite often. A more accurate portrayal of Weber's works would be that he writes very strong Pro-Military Bias in the political structure of his Science Fiction MILITARY works. It's almost like it moves the story and provides some internal conflict to enhance the external threats...

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From a literary perspective, there are some significant advantages in writing about monarchial governments, of course. It allows the writer to focus more directly on individual strong characters whose decisions have immediate impact and who become personally responsible for the outcomes of those decisions. It's clearly not impossible to come up with characters and situations where both that focus and that responsibility can also be achieved in non-monarchial systems, and I've done that, too.

Also note, that rarely do his Monarchs have absolute rule, there tend to be ways of them requiring working with the people, directly or indirectly, and have non-violent ways of being muted or deposed in the structure of governance.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Four: Changes (1588-1589)
Post by: nuclearslurpee on October 01, 2022, 04:07:37 PM

Quote from: rainyday on September 30, 2022, 01:20:45 PM

The initial draft of this chapter covered 3 years, but it ended up incredibly long

You say this as it if was a bad thing.

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I decided to split the manuscript in half

Coward.

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I promise you won't have to wait six years for the rest.

Coward. :P

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Lady Suzanne Descroix, Countess New Dijon,

It gets better and better. I look forward to seeing her name continue to elongate with every new chapter, and perhaps occasionally within a chapter to boot.

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He had a vague memory of his father telling him once never to trust anyone with an empty workspace.

Possibly the greatest lesson a father can pass down to his son. (https://i.imgur.com/DYAEiOu.gif)

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New Dijon grunted, stood up and crossed to the window, gazing out at Landing’s skyline. Her voice was icy when she finally spoke. “You’ve already admitted that 50% of our warship tonnage is useless for offensive operations and now you’re telling me 25% are nothing more than glorified defense platforms?”

“Yes, I suppose that’s one way to put it.”

This man will go far in the Department of Saying What They Mean. Whether a successful career in this department is particularly meaningful elsewhere is another question entirely.

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Swiftsure class Jump Battlecruiser

New Dijon leaned forward to study the text floating in the air beside the design. After a moment, a genuine smile lit her face. “I’m impressed. This is exactly the sort of outside the box thinking we need, Admiral.”

Well, now we - and more importantly, the admiralty - know that Countess Condiment is easily impressed, surely a useful piece of information for future budget appropriations and such.

I also note approvingly the proliferation of the Offtopic tag method for presenting ship design specifications, as it is truly the modern and superior mode of presentation. (https://i.imgur.com/Z3wSg01.gif)

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Marathon class Dispatch Boat (P)

I highly recommend finding at least 10-20 tons to put some very small, basic sensors on that thing. That way when the sneaky alien attacks and destroys the pinnace, it will at least be able to spot them far enough in advance to send a panicked radio message through the wormhole before it goes kablooie.

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The 1st Survey Squadron returned home after a long arduous retreat to find a Kingdom already in turmoil, and not from anything so straightforward as an alien invasion. Instead, the Queen had thrown a metaphorical hand grenade into the House of Lords with her annual Landing Day Address.

The turmoil is understandable, as any proper Queen would know to throw a literal hand grenade instead. Much more effective. (https://i.imgur.com/8zKpsXh.png)

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and the Royal Marines deployed another planetary defense battery to each inhabited planet in the system.

The Marines had better make sure their guns have sufficient depression to target the House of Lords, otherwise they are not doing a proper job of defending their planets from threats.

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On the morning of May 23rd 1589, the Defense Minister was alone in her office when the First Space Lord barged in without an appointment. His gruff warhorse face held a grim expression as he spoke the words that had haunted both of their nightmares for so long. “They’re here.”

Author's Note: I am so sorry to leave you all with another cliff hanger.

Is it really a cliffhanger if we can see it coming from a mile away? :P

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I will try my very best to have the second half of this installment up this weekend.

Why, what's the rush? :P

----

Quote from: El Pip on September 30, 2022, 02:14:35 PM

I must admit after that update I am absolutely rooting for the aliens, looking at the Manitcore political scene nuking the planet from orbit appears the only way to be sure. ;)

I feel like this is the case in every AAR, frankly the aliens never actually win in these things and everybody loves a good underdog story.

Quote from: Warer on October 01, 2022, 02:53:18 AM

Sounds about right. But this story isn't like that at all, for one the Loyalists just imploded and the primary liberal condiment New Dijon is the worst condiment.

I've made the necessary corrections, no need to thank me. :P

Quote from: rainyday on October 01, 2022, 08:45:56 AM

I hope it's clear that my portrayal of the Star Kingdom's various political factions here are a tongue-in-cheek imitation of the source material.

I am unsure that there is any other kind of portrayal of politics in an Aurora AAR that is not tongue-in-cheek imitation of the source material. Except possibly the WH40K AARs, as there is not really any way to be more tongue-in-cheek about Warhammer than, well, Warhammer.

Aside from this I'll avoid wading into the muck and mire of political discussion on an Aurora AAR board, suffice to say that the current work does an excellent job of entertaining without preaching and this we can all agree is an excellent approach. (https://i.imgur.com/DYAEiOu.gif)

I look forward to the next chapter in six ~~years~~ minutes.

Title: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Five: Kingdom Under Siege (1589-1590)
Post by: rainyday on October 02, 2022, 12:00:42 PM

Chapter Five: Kingdom Under Siege (1589-1590)

29 May 1589

HMS Casey and her division mate HMS Locatelli had been at Readiness Two, with their weapons charged, nodes hot, and all stations manned for over ten months. This had put an immense strain on their hardware and personnel. In the beginning, no one begrudged the grueling duty schedules or increased maintenance requirements because every spacer knew they were the Star Kingdom’s first line of defense. Now, they were utterly exhausted and ready to rotate home for some well-deserved rest and recreation.

Any other crew would have gotten sloppy. Fatigued people often cut corners or lapsed in vigilance through no fault of their own. But Commander Nikos Franklin ran the tightest ship in the RMN. Where his peers considered assignment to an aging light cruiser undesirable, he felt only tremendous pride. HMS Casey was the service’s most decorated command, with a rich storied past and unmatched battle honors. He believed living up to that legend was his duty and expected nothing less than perfection.

Some officers can attain such performance through sheer charisma, instilling a sense of comaraderie and loyalty that inspires their subordinates to go above and beyond. Commander Franklin was not one of those. Everyone on his ship despised him. They knew their CO might appear anywhere, anytime, seemingly materializing out of thin air to peer over their shoulders and offer unsolicited feedback or criticism. He never stopped talking about the important mission, or forcing them to run rigorous daily combat drills, as if there wasn’t enough work. Phrases like “meddling busybody”, or even less charitably, “slave driver” were applied liberally outside his hearing.

But when seven alien LACs shot out of the wormhole, not a single member of the bridge crew was slacking.

ONI’s analysis showed they got off a missile launch in under five seconds. A remarkable feat for a Navy with so little actual combat experience. Tarnished somewhat by the fact that nine of the twelve missiles missed. Through no fault of the junior officer who fired, ONI hastened to add, because the aliens’ speed and electronic countermeasures rendered the Mark 4A Light Missile only 40% effective under idea circumstances, which these were assuredly not.

Both light cruisers unleashed their beam armaments on full rapid-fire, cycling as fast as their capacitors could recharge. Energy torpedoes tore gaping wounds in the enemies’ flanks, lasers stabbed through their armor, and then autocannon switched to offensive mode hammered the gaps. The LACs turned to run, but the Manticoran vessels charged after them, spitting death, and one by one the alien craft died under heavy bombardment. The enemy, their sensors confused by the wormhole transit, hadn’t fired a shot.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/CaseyvsSwarm.PNG)

Careful analysis of the debris uncovered a shocking truth. The LACs weren’t ships at all. They were living organisms, space going creatures capable of traveling through wormholes. The Star Kingdom’s scientific community, staggered by the implications, would debate them for years to come. Meanwhile, ONI wondered what had happened to the horrifying humanoid monsters who boarded Wayfarer and slaughtered her crew.

The scouts’ arrival ended the era of uncertainty at the Admiralty. The RMN trained to defend the home system and the strategic situation, limited to one wormhole terminus, was simple enough. Mere hours after the incursion, they dispatched CruDiv 2, the heavy cruisers HMS Kodiak and HMS Hexapuma, reinforced by the older energy armed cruiser HMS Gryphon, to join the Hennesy picket. By seniority, this placed Captain Pryce Dunne in overall command.

Concern that the invaders might discover an alternate, unknown route between Aral and the other wormhole chains meant parceling out frigates to monitor those termini as well. Between accompanying survey squadrons, escorting convoys, picketing various wormholes and defending colonies, the RMN’s light units were stretched thin, and some had already gone dangerously long without overhauling. The Admiralty was juggling deployments as best it could, but the situation was unsustainable.

In response, BuShips developed the Mark 1 Gravitic Detection Buoy and Active Sensor Buoy 4R14, stationary drones with almost unlimited endurance that could be launched from standard Mod 4 missile tubes. HMS Galactica filled her magazines with probes and set out to deploy them at each of the Wormhole Junction termini. If the program proved successful, the Admiralty intended to extend coverage to other systems.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/WormholeBuoys.png)

Two months after the initial incursion, seven more LAC sized aliens appeared. This time, their translation vector put them squarely under the guns of CruDiv 2. The heavy cruisers were slower off the mark but just as effective. This time the battle lasted forty-five seconds, and the Manticoran ships again received no damage. The Kodiaks’ outstanding performance boded well for the Mercury-class destroyers.

First Space Lord Summervale waited for the other shoe to drop, and it happened on August 12th, when HMS Kodiak detected two creatures emerging from the wormhole. Not LACs this time. Her active sensors pegged them at 9300 and 22500 tons hydrogen displacement. The larger beast was even bigger than the Manticoran heavy cruisers, though CruDiv 2 enjoyed a 5:3 advantage in tonnage. Still, it was the RMN’s first proper battle in fifty years.

Captain Dunne brought his ships to action stations, and all three opened fire. Unlike in previous encounters, these intruders recovered rapidly from the transit effect and started shooting back. ONI later concluded the creatures spat, farted, or otherwise emitted globules of a greenish substance that could burn through duranium at a hundred thousand kilometers. Really, this was no more unlikely than cruiser sized aliens living in vacuum. However, it would spark an intense debate in military and academic circles about how and why such an extreme defense mechanism might have evolved. That question would haunt xenobiologists’ imaginations for decades.

At the moment, the strange green goo splattered across HMS Gryphon, striking at least sixteen times and dropping her armor to 90%. In response, the heavy cruiser savaged the smaller alien with a vicious salvo of energy torpedoes that ripped it apart. The larger one, caught under the combined firepower of HMS Kodiak and HMS Hexapuma, soon followed it to the grave.

This decisive victory catapulted Pryce Dunne to celebrity status overnight. The Liberal government needed to show the public that their tough stance on military spending hadn’t harmed the Navy’s ability to defend the Kingdom. A rakish aristocrat wasn’t their first choice for a hero, but they couldn’t pass up a good publicity campaign when one dropped into their lap. It didn’t hurt that his face was straight out of a recruiting poster.

In the battle’s aftermath, Captain Dunne received the Order of Gallantry, a promotion to Commodore, and command of the entire Junction Fleet, including the wormhole tenders, support vessels, their escorts, picket ships, and any theoretical future bases. In reality, it amounted to a couple cruiser divisions, but to him it seemed better than being appointed CO of Home Fleet. The action happened out there.

Research projects continued to deliver results in rapid succession: Maintenance Modules, Research Rate 240 RP, Maximum Engine Power x2.5, Terraforming Modules, Fusion Boosted Warheads, 20cm Plasma Carronades, Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactors and Max Tracking Time for Bonus vs Missiles: 30 Seconds were all developed during this period. The propulsion division at BuShips switched gears to work on wormhole transit devices.

Proposals for a new missile series incorporating the upgraded engine and warhead technology floated around the Admiralty, but gallicite was still in short supply. They deemed present stockpiles sufficient, since the RMN hadn’t fired many missiles yet. Mass production and deployment could wait for mining to ramp up in Basilisk.

Commodore Dunne’s mettle was tested again in October 1589 when another heavy cruiser sized alien arrived. For the moment, he retained direct command of HMS Kodiak. She and her consorts in CruDiv 2 engaged and destroyed the intruder without incident.

Late that year, four Mercury-class destroyers—Mercury, Venus, Terra, and Mars—completed their builder’s trials and set out to relieve the heavy cruisers. Since the defenses seemed to be holding, Parliament declined to fund a second flight. The new ships proved their worth almost immediately by destroying a pair of cruiser sized adversaries.

The incursions’ increasing frequency suggested the aliens had now taken full control of the wormhole chain beyond Hennesy. One faction in ONI argued the creatures lacked intelligence and were just migrating. This explained why they kept lumbering into the Navy’s guns and hadn’t attacked in force.

The Royal Manticoran Marine Corps demonstrated a modified reconnaissance drone capable of scanning planetary surfaces for hidden mineral deposits. They began training specialized Survey Companies intending to deploy them throughout the system late next year. The Marines also launched another pair of transports: Ancona and Asiago. This gave them six such vessels with a combined capacity of 150,000 tons. They decided not to build more Anzio-class ships for now.

The civilian yards continued to churn out freighters, completing two Vegas and three Clydesdales this year. These brought the total up to eight of the larger Vega-class, capable of moving 500,000 tons but limited to operations in the Manticore system, and sixteen smaller Clydesdale-class, with a capacity of 400,000 tons. The Royal Merchant Marine also had four Orpheus-class colony ships which could carry 400,000 passengers. These were ferrying people to Medusa.

In June, the reconstituted 1st Survey Squadron made up of the survey cruisers HMS Explorer and HMS Pioneer, accompanied by the frigates HMS Amphitrite and HMS Antheia, set out to finish the geological survey in Reevesport and probe the wormholes there. They found large, high accessibility deposits of Neutronium, Corbomite, and Corundium on the third planet. The system also had several promising comets. Next, they transited into a system called Poicters, which had seven planets, eighty-two moons and over two hundred asteroids. The second world had water and a nitrogen atmosphere with trace amounts of oxygen.

It had now been seven months since the last attack. ONI wanted to send a frigate to check if the aliens had moved on. The animal migration theory had gained a lot of traction and if the creatures weren’t intelligent, they wouldn’t have posted guards. The First Space Lord reminded them that something had boarded Wayfarer and killed her crew.

Finally, the Admiralty decided on a course of action. HMS Gryphon was due to rotate back to the Hennesy terminus in August. First, she would go to Sphinx, detach her marine assault pinnace, and take two Mark 1 Wormhole Probes into her boat bay for transport. This new shuttle sized drone had enough conventional thrust to hurl itself through an open wormhole.

Off-Topic: show

Although the strategic situation hadn’t changed, dispatch boats would be ready soon and BuShips expected to have HMS Swiftsure converted next year. The Admiralty decided it was time to reconnoiter the Hennesy system, determine if the aliens were still present, and attempt to establish a beachhead for future operations. All six light cruisers had just completed overhauls, so orders were dispatched sending them to the terminus, along with a destroyer escort division, and HMS Trailblazer to provide transit.

On October 14th, HMS Trailblazer sent the first probe into Hennesy. It broadcast back active sensor recordings for several seconds before disintegrating in a cloud of corrosive spit. Obviously, the creatures were smart enough to guard the wormhole after all. ONI spent several hours trying to make sense of the brief jumbled data. In the end, they determined that forty-five of the LAC sized aliens waited almost on top of the terminus. They identified three unique subspecies, all of which had been seen before. During the original Wayfarer analysis, ONI labeled each enemy ship class after a city from Old Earth’s Australia continent and this convention stuck so their final report stated the OpForce included 30 Brisbanes, 11 Adelaides and 4 Melbournes.

The First Space Lord was content to settle back into a defensive posture. Commodore Dunne was not. The Admiralty had tasked him with leading the expeditionary force and he had planned to transfer his flag to HMS Donnelly, still commanded by Crown Prince Michael. Having the future King of Manticore as flag captain while he led the Kingdom to a glorious victory over the alien menace could only be good for his career. He refused to abandon the operation when faced with a few mere animals.

The Commodore called his staff and captains to a meeting aboard HMS Kodiak to discuss the issue. Together, the forty-five aliens totalled only 31500 tons. They would enjoy the advantage of the wormhole transit, which Manticore had used to devastating effect. It would scramble his force’s sensors for critical minutes, during which the beasts would be free to ravage his ships. But he had over four times their displacement. True, the Donnellys hardly counted, since their only short-range weapons were a few autocannon, but they would add to the confusion.

To his credit, no Manticoran had ever assaulted a wormhole. No human anywhere had. The Naval Academy didn’t have training for this. There were no established doctrine or rules to follow. He would write the book. The staff estimated they would lose several ships in those critical first minutes, but enough should survive to finish the job. Losing ships would be a tremendous blow to the Navy, but since Wayfarer’s crew, the aliens had killed no one in the fighting. Most captains agreed a few casualties would help solidify the public’s opinion of the RMN as valiant defenders of the Kingdom. Noone expected *their* ship would be among those destroyed.

In the end, the tactic that developed was slightly more complicated than crash translating everything into Hennesy and hoping for the best. HMS Trailblazer’s wormhole transit device could drop three ships about fifty thousand kilometers from the terminus. One of those would have to be Trailblazer herself, whose low speed of 3200 km/s and complete lack of armor made her a significant liability, since they would be well within range of the alien’s spit weapon. That couldn’t be helped. HMS Trailblazer’s CO, as a mere Lieutenant Commander, wasn’t invited to the meeting and therefore had no say in this plan.

Commander Nikos Franklin settled the question of which ships should make up the vanguard by volunteering HMS Casey. It was only proper for his historic ship to lead the charge. As it had the heaviest armor and energy weapons, the other Captains agreed. CruDiv 5 would accompany HMS Trailblazer into Hennesy and move away from the terminus. With luck, the aliens would pursue. Then, the expeditionary force could drop in behind them.

With this decided, Commodore Dunne adjourned the meeting, had his chief of staff dispatch orders for HMS Pathfinder to join the fleet, and wrote up a hasty proposal to send to the Admiralty.

The First Space Lord rejected the plan outright, calling it absurd and reckless. However, Defense Minister New Dijon had become enamored with Commodore Dunne’s recent wave of successes and overruled him. The operation would go forward as planned at the Commodore’s discretion.

The Junction Fleet - October 1590

CruDiv 1: HMS Manticore, HMS Gryphon (Hennesy wormhole terminus)

CruDiv 2: HMS Kodiak, HMS Hexapuma (Hennesy wormhole terminus)

CruDiv 4: HMS Condor Owl, HMS Peak Bear (Basilisk wormhole terminus)

Transit Tenders: RMAS Arrowhead, RMAS Alyssum, HMS Pathfinder (Basilisk wormhole terminus)

Expeditionary Force - October 1590

CruRon 2 (Light) - HMS Casey, HMS Locatelli, HMS Donnelly, HMS Heissman, HMS Marcello, HMS Shapira

DesDiv 6 (Escort) - HMS Honourable, HMS Galahad, HMS Gargoyle, HMS Grizzly

DesDiv 7 (Beam) - HMS Mercury, HMS Venus, HMS Terra, HMS Mars

FrigDiv 1.2 - HMS Akheron, HMS Amymone

Attached Survey Cruiser: HMS Trailblazer.

Total Tonnage: 129,300 tons

Next - Chapter Six: The Battle for Hennesy (1590) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162814#msg162814)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Gyrfalcon on October 03, 2022, 02:04:43 AM

Quote from: Pedroig on October 01, 2022, 09:05:03 AM

Perhaps realize that in works of FICTION, tropes are used quite often. A more accurate portrayal of Weber's works would be that he writes very strong Pro-Military Bias in the political structure of his Science Fiction MILITARY works. It's almost like it moves the story and provides some internal conflict to enhance the external threats...

*gasp* No, you don't say?! I thought the Honorverse were historical novels!

Okay, sarcasm aside - tropes are tropes because they come up so often. They can be used like a sledgehammer or scalpel, or subverted in various ways. Weber tends towards the sledgehammer approach with his early books. That doesn't take away that they're fun stories to read, but I do tend to skim the political sections because he's too heavy-handed with his depictions.

To directly contrast, I enjoy rainyday's Countess New Dijon because while she starts with the Liberal base point of scrap the expensive fleet ships, she's then shown to have good, cognizant reasons to want to do so - the battlecruisers are expensive hanger queens that are only useful if Manticore itself is under direct threat as their range, lack of jump capability and short deployment times strictly limit their effectiveness. (And yes, she can appreciate that her own party is partly at fault for that).

edit: That said, Dunne is about to solve the fleet's maintenance issue. I hope getting the Crown Prince killed doesn't throw the Kingdom into succession turmoil.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Black on October 03, 2022, 04:22:25 PM

Quote from: Gyrfalcon on October 03, 2022, 02:04:43 AM

edit: That said, Dunne is about to solve the fleet's maintenance issue. I hope getting the Crown Prince killed doesn't throw the Kingdom into succession turmoil.

This will be complete destruction of Manticoran Expeditionary Force most likely. I wonder how this will affect the government. It was after all Countess New Dijon, who overruled First Space Lord.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Five: Kingdom Under Siege (1589-1590)
Post by: nuclearslurpee on October 07, 2022, 07:22:55 PM

Quote from: rainyday on October 02, 2022, 12:00:42 PM

Careful analysis of the debris uncovered a shocking truth. The LACs weren’t ships at all. They were living organisms, space going creatures capable of traveling through wormholes. The Star Kingdom’s scientific community, staggered by the implications, would debate them for years to come. Meanwhile, ONI wondered what had happened to the horrifying humanoid monsters who boarded Wayfarer and slaughtered her crew.

We need a suitable in-universe name for these baddies. Naturally I assume that they will become known as "the swarm" due to whispered rumors amongst the rank and file crew members as is tradition.

Quote

By seniority, this placed Captain Pryce Dunne in overall command.

Oh good, now we know that there will be shooting of things. ;D

Quote

Two months after the initial incursion, seven more LAC sized aliens appeared. This time, their translation vector put them squarely under the guns of CruDiv 2. The heavy cruisers were slower off the mark but just as effective. This time the battle lasted forty-five seconds, and the Manticoran ships again received no damage.

At some point, one begins to suspect that these ships may not be transit-addled, but rather unarmed, and the early successes are not necessarily indicative of future results...

Quote

Unlike in previous encounters, these intruders recovered rapidly from the transit effect and started shooting back.

Ah, yep.

Quote

ONI later concluded the creatures [...] farted

Hee hee.

Quote

Really, this was no more unlikely than cruiser sized aliens living in vacuum.

Indeed.

Quote

Late that year, four Mercury-class destroyers—Mercury, Venus, Terra, and Mars—completed their builder’s trials and set out to relieve the heavy cruisers. Since the defenses seemed to be holding, Parliament declined to fund a second flight.

This is what those outside of politics immediately recognize as famous last words.

Quote

Mark 1 WH Probe class Sensor Platform

For roleplay reasons, you could probably get away with putting a minimum-size jump drive on this thing, although it would admittedly double the cost but it is not as if you need very many nor do you need much of a sorium stockpile I am sure.

Quote

ONI spent several hours trying to make sense of the brief jumbled data. In the end, they determined that forty-five of the LAC sized aliens waited almost on top of the terminus. They identified three unique subspecies, all of which had been seen before.

Okay, I guess they do have armaments then. Or, given the nature of the adversary, arms?

Quote

Having the future King of Manticore as flag captain while he led the Kingdom to a glorious victory over the alien menace could only be good for his career.

Having the future King of Manticore as a casualty while he led the Kingdom to an ignominious defeat at the hands of the alien menace, on the other hand, could certainly be something other than good for his career.

Quote

Losing ships would be a tremendous blow to the Navy,

It would be a net benefit as this would convince Parliament that more ships are needed. At least I foresee this justification being given in a court-martial proceeding in the near future.

Quote

Most captains agreed a few casualties would help solidify the public’s opinion of the RMN as valiant defenders of the Kingdom. Noone expected *their* ship would be among those destroyed.

A timeless classic, this one. :P

Quote

HMS Trailblazer’s CO, as a mere Lieutenant Commander, wasn’t invited to the meeting and therefore had no say in this plan.

And another, you're really on a roll with this sequence here.

Quote

The First Space Lord rejected the plan outright, calling it absurd and reckless.

Thank God, there is at least one sane person somewhere in the chain of command.

Quote

However, Defense Minister New Dijon had become enamored with Commodore Dunne’s recent wave of successes and overruled him. The operation would go forward as planned at the Commodore’s discretion.

...and only one, apparently. :-\

I suspect that the good Commodore is going to discover that his plan is a tad less than optimal, as the majority of the fleet will find themselves transit-addled for perhaps a minute or more due to lack of squadron jump capabilities. This is likely to be a very expensive learning experience for the RMN, albeit it sounds like it will have the useful side effect of purging some of the less sensible commanders from the chain of command.

Quote from: Gyrfalcon on October 03, 2022, 02:04:43 AM

edit: That said, Dunne is about to solve the fleet's maintenance issue. I hope getting the Crown Prince killed doesn't throw the Kingdom into succession turmoil.

Indeed.

Quote from: Black on October 03, 2022, 04:22:25 PM

This will be complete destruction of Manticoran Expeditionary Force most likely. I wonder how this will affect the government. It was after all Countess New Dijon, who overruled First Space Lord.

Clearly our author is Weber in disguise and this is actually yet another roundabout proof that monarchism is the one true way of government. (https://i.imgur.com/Z3wSg01.gif)

Title: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Six: The Battle for Hennesy (1590)
Post by: rainyday on October 08, 2022, 11:59:15 AM

WARNING: This Chapter contains major spoilers for the more... unique capabilities of the Star Swarm. If you have not fought them and would prefer to be surprised, you may want to skip this chapter. I will provide a spoiler free summary of the outcome in the first paragraph of Chapter Seven.

Chapter Six: The Battle for Hennesy (1590)

15 October 1590

“Good hunting, Casey,” Commodore Dunne said on his private link with Commander Franklin. “See you on the other side.”

Watching the green icons of vanguard force wink out, he thought of a more sinister interpretation for his last words, and leaned back with a sigh. Earl Greenlake said the most important duty of any Admiral was to appear confident and dispense inspirational speeches. That tracked with the type of holo-dramas Dunne enjoyed, but it was hard and he always put his foot in his mouth somehow.

Which was a shame, because HMS Donnelly needed some confidence and inspiration now. The tension in her cramped Combat Information Center was palpable. Serving with the Junction Fleet, he had forgotten how raw most RMN personnel were. Despite the Admiralty’s best efforts to disperse veteran NCOs throughout the fleet, there weren’t enough, and it would never be the same as lived experience.

“Contact! Multiple contacts!” The petty officer overseeing CIC’s sensor stations called out. “Ten, twenty, no… it’s all of them, sir!” His voice had risen to a squeak by the end of the report.

Dunne’s eyes snapped to central the plot where forty-five red icons had just appeared in the middle of his formation. Days of contingency planning and he had never even considered this one! Did they butcher Casey so fast and decide to launch a counterattack? Surely not! But then, what were they doing?

It didn’t matter. He slammed a finger onto the comm switch. “Scatter! I repeat, scatter! Fire at will!” Releasing the button, he turned to his staff tactical officer. “Linda, contact Captain Ainspan. Tell him to bring the heavy cruisers into our tacnet.”

Outside, the Junction Fleet reacted with reflexes honed by years of sporadic invasions. HMS Manticore fired first. Her energy torpedoes enveloped the nearest alien, and it vanished in an inferno of hot plasma. The rest of the units followed a moment later with their full beam broadsides, inflicting fifteen penetrating hits across seven targets.

“Missiles free!” Dunne said. Parliament had restricted using missiles for close wormhole defense, but with so many enemies, the fleet needed every bit of firepower it could muster. He could face the wrath of a Liberal budget committee if it prevented damage to his ships.

As soon as he gave the order, salvos began flying in rapid succession. Most started twenty to fifty thousand kilometers from their targets, so the streak of their drives flashed across the plot in seconds. Nuclear fireballs blossomed among the pack of creatures, killing six of them and maiming two more.

Crown Prince Michael kept his squadron together as they broke free and raced to open the distance. Captain DuChene of HMS Hexapuma, present commander of CruDiv 2, shadowed them, keeping her Kodiaks between the aliens and the lightly armored Donnellys. She needn’t have bothered, since the invaders were running away from the terminus at full speed in the opposite direction. CruDiv 1 and the destroyers were in pursuit, trying to keep the creatures in range of their autocannon. The constant stream of energy and metal took out six more enemies.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/BattleOfManticore.PNG)

Why were the aliens in Manticore? Unless… could they have spooked at the sudden arrival of vanguard force and stampeded into the wormhole? A lemming response? These little ones had never stuck him as being especially intelligent. The move had brought them under the guns of his heaviest warships and cost them thirty percent of their strength in the opening minute.

HMS Gryphon’s Forward Weapons Division erupted into chaos as a massive, unexplained power surge shorted every piece of electronic equipment in the primary compartment. Computer terminals literally exploded, showering the crew with sparks, jagged bits of plastic and scraps of molecular circuitry. Acrid white smoke filled the air. The pulse of energy flooded past safety systems in battle override and fed back into a plasma conduit, which ruptured under the strain and vaporized a dozen spacers at neighboring stations.

“Commodore!” the petty officer manning communications called. “Gryphon reports she’s lost beam fire control. They have casualties. Captain Ross is requesting permission to withdraw to missile range.”

“Yes, yes, of course!” Dunne stared at the small schematic of HMS Gryphon on his console, flashing orange with battle damage despite the computer’s estimate of 98% armor integrity. He turned to his tactical officer. “What’s happening over there? What did they hit us with?”

“Report from Mars!” a different tech said. “Her beam fire control is out too, sir. Unknown number of casualties.”

“Tell them,” Dunne began and then punched the comm key again. “All ships, fall back! Open the range to 100k!”

“I think it’s those Adelaides, sir.” His tactical officer said from his side. “They’re generating a directional microwave pulse that’s overloading our electronic systems.”

Of course they were. If aliens could shoot duranium melting goo out of their butts, why not electronics destroying microwave pulses? Dunne scowled at the plot. Out of the forty-five creatures, only eleven had been Adelaides, but the more numerous Brisbanes had taken the brunt of his fleet’s undirected fire. Eight of the little monsters remained. “Do we know what the Melbournes do?”

“No, sir.”

Lovely. The clump of aliens had come to a halt fifty thousand kilometers “northeast” of the Hennesy wormhole terminus. For the moment, they only clustered around their wounded companions instead of pursing his ships. How could such stupid creatures pose such a massive threat to the Kingdom?

He pressed the comm stud again. “Beam units form up on HMS Manticore and withdraw to 160k. Focus fire on Adelaides and Melbournes.”

A hundred and sixty thousand kilometers put the fleet well out of the alien weapons’ range but also beyond the effective range of its own lasers. The beasts declined to pursue even as his retreating ships killed five more of them.

Dunne looked to his left where a display showed Crown Prince Michael seated on the bridge. “Your Highness, how soon can your squadron launch another missile salvo?”

“Seven minutes.”

Seven minutes might as well be eternity if the aliens changed their minds and came after his beam ships. Dunne made a note for his after action report. Weight of fire might be of paramount importance in a fight between equal tech warships, but perhaps a ten minute reload cycle was pushing reduced size launchers too far.

“Target the remaining Adelaides and fire when ready.”

“Four of them.” Prince Michael said. Then, at Dunne’s raised eyebrow, he added. “The Donnelly class has one missile telemetry unit. We can’t split our launch between multiple targets like your Kodiaks.”

There were six Adelaides left. After this, Dunne planned to have harsh words with someone at BuShips. “Very well. Target four of them. Coordinate with the destroyers so they take the rest.”

For seven minutes, the beam armed warships fired ineffective potshots. Except for HMS Kodiak, who picked off both an Adelaide and a Melbourne. Dunne mentally added another commendation to Cynthia Colenso’s file. He hated to lose her, but HMS Kodiak’s tactical officer was long overdue for a promotion. Maybe even her own ship. He ought to have enough clout at the Admiralty to accomplish that.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/BoM2.PNG)

Forty-eight missiles streaked out from the light cruiser squadron, followed by twenty-four from the Mercury class destroyers. Every salvo killed its target, eliminating the rest of the Adelaides. Dunne smiled when he saw HMS Mars had fired the shot that took out the final one, payback for her dead and injured spacers.

Seventeen Brisbanes and a Melbourne remained. They still had some fight in them despite taking damage. He pressed the comm stud again. “Beam units, advance to energy range and engage.”

The Manticoran cruisers’ and destroyers’ lasers stabbed out with a vengeance as they closed, killing five more creatures. HMS Manticore led the charge and her schematic flashed orange as the aliens concentrated their return fire. No internal damage or electronics failures this time, but her armor dropped at an alarming rate.

“Captain Ainspan,” Dunne said. “Fall back. Kodiak, Hexapuma take the lead.”

HMS Manticore decelerated and reversed course. Finally, the enemy reacted. The fifteen survivors surged after the retreating heavy cruiser at their full 8226 km/s. Like wild animals that scented blood, they raced through CruDiv 2’s autocannon kill zone, oblivious to the trail of corpses they left behind, and honed in on the hapless injured ship, hammering it again and again with globules of goo as the schematic flashed crimson damage reports.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/BoM3.PNG)

“Oh my God,” his tactical officer whispered.

Dunne stared in horror at the expanding cloud of debris obscuring the heavy cruiser’s aft hammerhead.

“Manticore just lost her aft impeller ring, sir! Her maximum speed’s down to 2250 km/s.”

“Kill those Brisbanes!” An unnecessary order, as Kodiak and Hexapuma were doing everything in their power to aid their wounded comrade. Moments later, the final alien vanished in a fury of laser and autocannon fire.

But were they in time to save HMS Manticore?

Damage Control Petty Officer 1st Class Rebeka Eremenko and her team watched the monitors in horrified anticipation as HMS Manticore’s armor integrity dropped. Most of the heavy cruiser’s crew had seen a little action during Junction deployments, but the ship had never taken serious damage. No drill or simulation could have prepared them for what would happen next.

Crimson indicators flared across the board as enemy fire penetrated. The division's junior lieutenant flew into action. “Hull breach in Engineering Seven and Eight! Fuel Storage Two is venting!”

“On it!” Rebeka called and hustled her spacers into the corridor. They had only gone a dozen meters when an explosion rocked the ship so hard it hurled the entire damage control party to the deck. A whoosh of fire shot over their heads before dissipating into nothing. The vacuum indicator on her skinsuit’s heads-up display lit as she climbed back to her feet.

“Eremenko?” the lieutenant asked.

“Alive, sir. That an alpha node?”

“I think so.” The young officer’s voice sounded as unsteady as she felt. “Something set off a chain reaction and took out the whole ring. Acceleration dropped 50%. Computers are out. I can’t raise the engine room. Go back and do a visual inspection. Be careful. The hull’s peeled open like a can of near-tuna.”

“Aye, sir.” Rebeka waved her team forward. “Come on lads. Ya heard the boss. Move your butts!”

The scene awaiting them aft was straight out of a low budget horror film. Not the mangled bodies or twisted wreckage — she had expected those. It was the pulsating green alien slime everywhere and the unnerving sight of whatever it touched vaporizing in little puffs, then flash freezing into glittering crystals that rained down to the deck and crunched under foot. The stuff ate through everything: bulkheads, consoles, power conduits, people. Worse, it was moving straight towards the cruiser’s vitals.

Casey-Rosewood didn’t teach a class on stopping toxic alien goo from eating your ship. Maybe next term. If someone thought of something clever fast enough to save HMS Manticore. What though? Vacuum had no effect. The gunk could eat through blast doors in under a minute. There were supplies for acid spills in Engineering Stores, but they weren’t stocked by the ton!

Rebeka keyed her uni-link. “Engine room’s gone, sir. Open to space, like ya said. And full of alien goop.”

“Sorry PO,” the lieutenant said. “Say again?”

“Alien goop, sir. I reckon that’s the technical term. Acid or something. It’s eating holes in the…”

HMS Manticore bucked again and Rebeka scrambled for a handhold to avoid being hurled face first in the mass of green sludge. Two members of her team weren’t so lucky. One man fell into the ooze and became a cloud. Another just brushed against it and dropped to the deck, screaming.

Rebeka raced to his side, hauling him up and handing him off to an uninjured spacer. From this position, she could see through shattered bulkheads fifty meters forward to the boat bay where green gunk clung to the marine assault pinnace and chewed its way with relentless indifference through the flight operations machine shop.

Feeling a growing sense of horror and desperation, she keyed her uni-link. “LT?”

“Eremenko, thank God.” The kid’s voice sounded haggard. “I thought we lost you when the beta ring went. We have a problem.”

That comment should win the Star Kingdom’s award for understatement of the century. “We’ve a lotta problems, sir, but we aren’t gonna have any in forty-five seconds ‘less ya call the bridge and tell ‘em corrosive alien slime is eating into the primary magazine!”

“What?”

“Alien slime! Burning into the magazine!”

“Worse than that.”

Worse than alien goo that had detonated two impeller rings getting into forty-eight heavy warheads? “Alright, sir. I’m listening.”

“It’s the aft fusion bottle. Automatic jettison failed. Control runs are out. The readings are crazy. I don't know what's happening. But It could go any second. Someone has to trigger the manual override.”

Yeah, that was worse. “You call the TO, sir. I’ll do the reactor.”

At least the trip was quick, thanks to holes in the deck and bulkheads. One look into the control room confirmed her worst fears. Everybody was dead and the alien gunk had coalesced in a giant blob around the magnetic bottle, which sparked and flickered continuously under relentless assault. The miniature star inside flared and flashed, its fuel lines and regulators disintegrated. Either could overload the field and then HMS Manticore, and everyone aboard her, would die.

Rebeka found the manual emergency release mechanism. That panel was armored enough to survive a direct hit from a missile, but a mass of goo clung to the outside, ablating layers as she watched. She didn’t have time to think. No time to find help or tools. She lunged for the box, flung it open, and pulled the ejection lever with her other hand in one motion. The pain was incredible. Worse than she’d imagined. The reactor was going into space when she lost consciousness.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/HMSManticoreAftermath.PNG)

“Hold position at 100k,” Commodore Dunne told Captain DuChene of HMS Hexapuma. “I want every small craft performing search and rescue operations. We’ll send over the assault pinnaces with damage control parties and then use them to evacuate wounded through…”

An ear-rending squeal of static interrupted the transmission, and someone spat out a curse as the main plot filled with snow. Dunne waited in horror for the interference to dissipate and heaved an audible sigh of relief when HMS Manticore’s icon reappeared.

“What was that!?” He snarled at the image of Captain Ainspan filling a quarter of his display.

“That was the aft reactor safety kicking in and jettisoning a malfunctioning fusion bottle.”

“I’d like some warning before the next part of your ship explodes! Good Lord, man! What if our shuttles were there?”

Ainspan looked sheepish. “Sorry, sir. All the instrumentation back there is out. I believe anything that could explode has. The… um… alien bioweapon seems to have halted amidships. I believe the immediate crisis is over, but half my ship is gone and I have enormous casualties.”

“Commodore?” a communications tech called. “Pathfinder is asking if you want someone to look for Casey?”

In the chaos of the last twenty minutes, Commodore Dunne had completely forgotten the vanguard force. “Yes, of course. Have Akheron transit, assess the state of affairs in Hennesy, and contact Commander Franklin, if possible.”

Miraculously, HMS Casey and her consorts were unharmed. Confused, but who wasn’t? Finding no opposition, Franklin had drawn his ships up on the terminus to wait for the rest of the Expeditionary Fleet. When they didn’t arrive on schedule, he suspected the missing aliens might have gone into the wormhole, but feared sending a ship back into an active firefight might cause an accident.

Since Akheron saw no opposition on her long range gravitics, Commodore Dunne ordered Crown Prince Michael to take his squadron and the Mercury-class destroyers into Hennesy and hold that terminus. He returned to Kodiak to oversee the Junction Fleet’s recovery effort.

The final tally was one hundred and fifty lives lost in a skirmish grandiosely known thereafter as the Second Battle of Manticore. One hundred and twenty-eight of those from HMS Manticore alone, a fifth of her complement. Fourteen had died aboard HMS Gryphon and another eight on HMS Mars.

It took days to restore power to the damaged heavy cruiser’s beta impeller ring and patch one of her propellant tanks while RMAS Anubis made the slow journey from Manticore with additional fuel, maintenance supplies and a load of yard dogs from HMSS Hephaestus to relieve the exhausted crew. The survivors evacuated to Kodiak and Hexapuma for transport home. Their battered ship was two months limping into space dock and BuShips estimated she would remain there until July.

On December 2nd 1590, the same day that HMS Manticore arrived in orbit, First Space Lord Sir Michael Summervale knighted Commodore Dunne for his continued success in battle and initiated him to the Order of King Roger. The ceremony was broadcast throughout the Star Kingdom and included prestigous awards for many of the fleet’s leaders and key personnel. Despite the high honors bestowed upon him, Dunne remained uncharacteristically subdued throughout the presentation, contemplating the high price his people had paid in blood.

Some hours later, Captain Marius Ainspan of HMS Manticore, who had earlier received the Distinguished Service Order for valor in command of the heavy cruiser division and tireless effort to save his ship during the days following the battle, arrived at the RMN’s Bassingford Medical Center with a small box tucked into his pocket.

In a narrow room on the fourth floor, he found Petty Officer 1st Class Rebeka Eremenko propped up on a pile of pillows, swathed in bandages, with a regen cast encasing the remains of her right arm. She faced the window, looking out on the park that ajoined the center’s grounds. Her hazel eyes widened with alarm when she saw who the visitor was and she tried, unsuccessfully, to sit up straighter.

“As you were, PO.” Captain Ainspan pulled up a chair beside the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I lost a bar fight with a Kodiak Max, sir. Biggun too. I think the regen hurts more than the acid. I’m a good candidate, though. Doc says I’ll be right as rain in no time.” She looked back at the window. “Just lying here, thinking about walking on that grass. Hugging a tree. Ya know, sir? It’s years since I’ve been home. Near death experience makes ya regret spending so much of your life in the void.”

“I hope you aren’t thinking of giving it up forever.”

“Oh, no sir! Just wanting more time dirtside is all.”

“Well, I’d say the Navy owes you an extended leave. If BuPers won’t give you a ride to Gryphon, I’ll buy a commercial ticket myself.” Captain Ainspan smiled. “And after that? Well, it’s not the Attica Mountains, but I recall there’s decent hiking around the Naval Academy. The weather is certainly nicer. Not that you Highlanders care.”

Eremenko turned back towards him with a confused frown. “Captain?”

“You missed the awards ceremony, so I brought this to you.” He took the box from his pocket and presented it with a small flourish. Inside was a silver cross on a dark blue ribbon.

The young woman’s eyes widened even further. “The Osterman Cross? No, sir! Lorelei Osterman was a hero. She saved the Star Kingdom! That’s not for me, sir! It must've been a mistake at BuPers.”

“You saved 425 people on HMS Manticore. Maybe twice, with that magazine warning. Plus, you came as close as someone in our line of work can to throwing yourself on a grenade to save your crewmates. That makes you a hero in my book. And my wife’s.” Ainspan shrugged. “Besides, the Queen read your name on holo-vision and everything. She’d be terribly upset if you refused now.”

“The Queen, sir?” Rebeka wilted. “I wouldn't want to upset her! But... sir, what do I do?”

“First, concentrate on healing. Then, a few months’ rest on Gryphon. After that, it's back to school, Lieutenant.”

Author's Notes: The Osterman Cross is the highest award given to enlisted personnel in the RMN and always comes with a commission. This is only the second time it has been handed out to date. The original was after the First Battle of Manticore. Anyway, I figured with all the highfalutin noble Admirals and Captains making a right mess of the Navy, this story could use its very own mustang Sharpe character to straighten them all out. ;D

Sad to see you all had such low expectations for Commodore Dunne. Shame. Or you all very much overestimated the AI in C# which is still dumb as bricks. Sadly, the Navy's budget problems will continue unabated.

Next - Chapter Seven: New Discoveries (1590-1591) (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=13085.msg162949#msg162949)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Six: The Battle for Hennesy (1590)
Post by: nuclearslurpee on October 09, 2022, 10:39:10 AM

Quote from: rainyday on October 08, 2022, 11:59:15 AM

Why were the aliens in Manticore? Unless… could they have spooked at the sudden arrival of vanguard force and stampeded into the wormhole? A lemming response?

This may be the most colorful and accurate term for the Aurora tactical AI yet. Well played.

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Of course they were. If aliens could shoot duranium melting goo out of their butts,

I am glad this is now officially canon.

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why not electronics destroying microwave pulses?

Game mechanics aside, bioelectrical EM pulses would be rather effective at disabling biological enemies, albeit in Aurora crew casualties from such a pulse are remarkably light.

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Computer terminals literally exploded, showering the crew with sparks, jagged bits of plastic and scraps of molecular circuitry.

Sci-fi standards must, after all, be maintained.

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How could such stupid creatures pose such a massive threat to the Kingdom?

One might note that it takes one to know one, in general.

And in fairness, we already know that the stupid creatures back home pose an even more massive threat, particularly the ones in Parliament with names like Baronet Nouveau Heinz Ketchup.

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Dunne looked to his left where a display showed Crown Prince Michael seated on the bridge. “Your Highness, how soon can your squadron launch another missile salvo?”

“Seven minutes.”

Seven minutes might as well be eternity if the aliens changed their minds and came after his beam ships. Dunne made a note for his after action report. Weight of fire might be of paramount importance in a fight between equal tech warships, but perhaps a ten minute reload cycle was pushing reduced size launchers too far.

Thus highlighting one of the lesser-known roles of full-size launchers. Most are familiar with the use for AMMs, of course, but the need for fast-firing launchers for anti-fighter/FAC work is rather less common of knowledge.

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Miraculously, HMS Casey and her consorts were unharmed. Confused, but who wasn’t?

Indeed. It's not that you'd expect dumb aliens to think through and realize that they have better odds defending a wormhole assault than trying one themselves, but you'd certainly expect them to be too dumb to think about trying one themselves in the first place. The operative word being "think".

OOC: It is a persistent flaw in the game's tactical AI, simply put the AI has no ability at all to consider any threat it cannot actually see unless the Danger Rating™ for a system is sufficiently high enough to give it a clue, if even then. Notably, it has no idea about things like "the enemy might be defending this wormhole we have not yet attacked through" or "the enemy fleet destroyed the last 7 frigate squadrons we sent with no losses, but the 8th will do the job for sure!"

If there is one thing I wish the AI in Aurora were capable of, it would be basic reconnaissance. Send a small scout through the jump point before assuming it's all clear, run a sensor scan of the inner system before you send another hapless squadron to Planet Hell, and so on. If the scout dies without finding anything, it found something all right. This more than any other single change would help curtail the persistent lemming infestation in this galaxy and the others.

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Despite the high honors bestowed upon him, Dunne remained uncharacteristically subdued throughout the presentation, contemplating the high price his people had paid in blood.

Here, the RMN's inexperience in the ways of space warfare are showing themselves. In the future, the price paid today will be considered a steep discount. That future, of course, is whenever they fight against another player-controlled race. (https://i.imgur.com/DYAEiOu.gif)

Quote

Author's Notes: The Osterman Cross is the highest award given to enlisted personnel in the RMN and always comes with a commission. This is only the second time it has been handed out to date. The original was after the First Battle of Manticore. Anyway, I figured with all the highfalutin noble Admirals and Captains making a right mess of the Navy, this story could use its very own mustang Sharpe character to straighten them all out. ;D

Indeed. Perhaps not all hope is lost for the RMN after all.

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Sad to see you all had such low expectations for Commodore Dunne. Shame.

In our collective defense, he is a damn lucky bastard as no one had predicted that his foolhardy jump point assault plan would be preempted by an even stupider one.

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Or you all very much overestimated the AI in C# which is still dumb as bricks.

On this point we have no good defense to offer.

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Sadly, the Navy's budget problems will continue unabated.

At least something good has come out of this, then.

In any case, an absolutely thrilling battle if perhaps the casualty rates have been a bit overblown by the propaganda department. ;) And now that the threat to Manticore is assuredly over we can return to more important matters like the elongation of the Countess New Dijon's entirely overblown titles. (https://i.imgur.com/Z3wSg01.gif)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on October 09, 2022, 12:09:57 PM

I was trying to get the new update out before responding to the comments since I didn't want to inadvertently give away the outcome. This was another massive chapter, coming in around 3500 words and it was a ~~bear~~ Kodiak Max to write because while it lasted about a billion five second increments the battle itself was really not very exciting. Almost 300ktons of ships taking out 30k like shooting fish in a barrel. I did three drafts from Dunne's POV or jumping around between various named characters who were present trying to make it more dramatic before I realized the most interesting part for me while playing was HMS Manticore's dilemma. The main thought in my head at the time was "oh no my base magazine neutralization tech" ;D So I decided to focus part of the chapter on that and then when I combined it with my earlier drafts it got ridiculously long, and this was the best I could do after judicious editing. The worst part for our damage control crew is that the whole incident aboard their ship took about two minutes after the shooting stopped, so, like me, they couldn't do much but watch in horror as stuff exploded around them.

Quote from: Gyrfalcon on October 03, 2022, 02:04:43 AM

To directly contrast, I enjoy rainyday's Countess New Dijon because while she starts with the Liberal base point of scrap the expensive fleet ships, she's then shown to have good, cognizant reasons to want to do so - the battlecruisers are expensive hanger queens that are only useful if Manticore itself is under direct threat as their range, lack of jump capability and short deployment times strictly limit their effectiveness.

The battlecruisers are a source of much political conflict in the Manticore Ascendant books. On the surface, the idea that this small nation has these six giant expensive battlecruisers does seem pretty ludicrous and Weber uses that in his usual way. The part that makes it silly is that in the Honorverse the *bad guys* also have battlecruisers. Apparently because the Solarian League is so corrupt it just sells surplus military gear to anyone. Every two-bit pirate and mercenary has them. The Volsung Mercenaries had *three* newer Solarian battlecruisers than Manticore and the Quintessence in the latest book has several as well. The no military faction never acknowledges this reality just like the no war faction in the older books never acknowledges Haven being the aggressor. It also makes you wonder how expensive the maintenance and logistics for such a ship could really be in GDP terms if non-state actors can afford keep and crew so many of them.

Quote from: nuclearslurpee on October 07, 2022, 07:22:55 PM

We need a suitable in-universe name for these baddies. Naturally I assume that they will become known as "the swarm" due to whispered rumors amongst the rank and file crew members as is tradition.

Indeed. This will probably come up in the next chapter as they can't just keep calling them "the aliens" forever.

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At some point, one begins to suspect that these ships may not be transit-addled, but rather unarmed

The LACs are armed for sure, but the 22000-ton ships that keep coming are unarmed military engine salvage ships. The Swarm Queen is absolutely desperate to salvage the Raider light cruiser in the Manticore system. According to the Game Log, the Hive has produced nothing but salvage ships since they discovered it and keeps sending them, occasionally with a single destroyer for escort, to the wreck despite the fact every single one has been destroyed at the jump point. This has basically neutered what was a Large Swarm since it seems like they won't make any more armed ships for as long as that wreck exists. I'm trying to hurry and salvage it myself to unstick the AI. Yes, this does mean Dunne got his big promotion for shooting down an unarmed ship.

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For roleplay reasons, you could probably get away with putting a minimum-size jump drive on this thing

That's a good idea. I might do that in the Mark 2 Wormhole Probe if I ever build one.

Quote from: nuclearslurpee on October 09, 2022, 10:39:10 AM

OOC: It is a persistent flaw in the game's tactical AI, simply put the AI has no ability at all to consider any threat it cannot actually see unless the Danger Rating™ for a system is sufficiently high enough to give it a clue, if even then. Notably, it has no idea about things like "the enemy might be defending this wormhole we have not yet attacked through" or "the enemy fleet destroyed the last 7 frigate squadrons we sent with no losses, but the 8th will do the job for sure!"

I had a suspicion this might happen when I realized how low the tonnage of the enemy group was. I thought they might stupidly run into the wormhole when the main force came through, despite the fact it would be in jump shock for minutes and they could easily win. I've seen the AI do that sort of thing before. What makes it especially silly is they were only there guarding the wormhole because somewhere in the AI code it *knew* that JP led into my territory and I've killed enough of their ships for it to have a danger rating. That didn't get to the retreat code though.

One other small thing that would make battles with the Swarm in particular absolutely devastating is if they detached damage ships. I really don't understand why the AI doesn't do this when it's automatic for the player (even when I don't want it). They could have inflicted way more damage on me if they had actually engaged my ships and not sat around at 1 km/s for most of the battle. I learned this in my previous 2.x game. It doesn't matter if there are 45 of them when you only need to hit one to make them all stop moving.

Quote

Here, the RMN's inexperience in the ways of space warfare are showing themselves.

Well, for this generation of the RMN's flag officers these are the first casualties they've ever had, so perhaps it'll make some of them reevaluate their willingness to charge blindly into wormholes. ;)

Quote

In our collective defense, he is a damn lucky bastard as no one had predicted that his foolhardy jump point assault plan would be preempted by an even stupider one.

Indeed. Attacking into that wormhole was a major gamble and I was prepared for it to go poorly, I just thought it would be more interesting to read than several more chapters of shooting unarmed salvage ships, which there will be plenty more of in the next chapter anyway.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: nuclearslurpee on October 09, 2022, 01:58:35 PM

Quote from: rainyday on October 09, 2022, 12:09:57 PM

One other small thing that would make battles with the Swarm in particular absolutely devastating is if they detached damage ships. I really don't understand why the AI doesn't do this when it's automatic for the player (even when I don't want it). They could have inflicted way more damage on me if they had actually engaged my ships and not sat around at 1 km/s for most of the battle. I learned this in my previous 2.x game. It doesn't matter if there are 45 of them when you only need to hit one to make them all stop moving.

This one may be worth a bug report as it should be a relatively simple fix.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on October 09, 2022, 03:09:20 PM

I was looking in my Lieutenants list for people with high engineering skill and struck gold here. Now I just have to find her an assignment where she can be on hand as a foil for Commodore Dunne until she gets her own ship in a couple years. ;D

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Eremenko.png)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Six: The Battle for Hennesy (1590)
Post by: Icecoon on October 10, 2022, 01:52:35 PM

Amazing writing and an amazing story.

Dunne is a hot headed officer who is having massive luck so far.
If he would proceed with the mission according to the plan, there would be a lot more casualties. ;D

I'm rooting for Rebeka Eremenko to get her own ship :)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Six: The Battle for Hennesy (1590)
Post by: rainyday on October 10, 2022, 02:12:25 PM

Quote from: Icecoon on October 10, 2022, 01:52:35 PM

Amazing writing and an amazing story.

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it.

Quote

Dunne is a hot headed officer who is having massive luck so far.

Yeah, the Star Kingdom thinks they're doing so well right now with all these "heroic victories" that Dunne is winning, but he hasn't even been in a real fight yet. The first time they run into a small Precursor base, it's going to be a rude awakening. Not to mention any of the other player races. The ongoing fuel crisis has been limiting offensive operations and expansion quite a bit but expect some exciting developments in the next few chapters. :)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Garfunkel on October 12, 2022, 08:48:13 PM

Excellent story so far, I'm eagerly waiting for more!

Title: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Seven: New Discoveries (1590-1591)
Post by: rainyday on October 15, 2022, 08:31:41 PM

Chapter Seven: New Discoveries (1590-1591)

The Office of Naval Intelligence report on Second Manticore contained nothing but speculation. Why had the enemy sallied forth and given up their strong defensive position? Did they panic? Did they assume the Star Kingdom left its terminus unguarded? Was it possible for humans to comprehend the workings of an alien mind? The only real conclusion it drew was obvious. The creatures didn’t know about Commodore Dunne’s fleet, and its massed firepower overwhelmed them. A decisive, if puzzling, victory for the Royal Manticoran Navy.

On November 30th 1590, HMS Akheron detected multiple gravitic signatures approaching the Hennesy terminus from Aral. This new alien group appeared identical to the one destroyed in Manticore: thirty Brisbanes, eleven Adelaides and four Melbournes. Facing them was Commander His Royal Highness Michael Winton’s force of six light cruisers, three destroyers and two frigates. The Manticoran ships maintained tight emissions control, and the enemy appeared oblivious to their presence.

At eight million kilometers, HMS Donnelly lit up her active sensors, and her consorts launched ninety-four missiles before accelerating away on a perpendicular heading. The aliens reacted by first attempting to flee, then milling about in confusion after the warheads detonated in their midst. The Manticorans held the range open for the next forty minutes, emptying their magazines of three hundred and eighty-eight Mark 4 Light Missiles.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/Hennesy1.png)

It wasn’t enough. Fifteen Brisbane type creatures survived the onslaught. All bore terrible wounds, but most appeared combat capable.

To finish the job, HMS Casey led the Mercury-class destroyers in a valiant charge. Together, they destroyed the remaining aliens, but the light cruiser took significant damage in the exchange. She lost an impeller, multiple weapon mounts, and fifty-four members of her crew. Fortunately, she could still limp back to space dock.

This battle left the Hennesy Defense Force severely under strength. Down to only four ships with energy armaments and without a single missile among them. But the RMN refused to fall back from its hard won beachhead unless it had no choice. None of the crews slept easy during the two weeks it took the collier RMAS Apollo to arrive with reloads.

Even the Lords hesitated to call Crown Prince Michael to personally account for his “excessive ordnance expenditures.” Anyway, he was off in Hennesy, while the First Space Lord and Defense Minister were both available and more politically expedient punching bags. The hearings lasted for days and the continued poor performance of the Mark 4 Light Missile became a major sticking point for both sides.

Summervale argued that if Parliament wanted the Navy to use fewer missiles, it should give them more effective ones. The proposed Mark 7 Light Missile offered a fifty percent improvement in hit rate against the fast moving alien targets. This sounded much better in BuShips’ slide deck than in reality, a point raised by several Lords who noted their performance would go from abysmal to merely bad. They questioned whether the money should instead be spent refitting all the Navy’s missile ships with energy weapons. After all, laser beams were free and had a proven track record.

Defense Minister New Dijon responded with a passionate speech about the inherent value of human lives. Replacing missiles was far cheaper than replacing the brave men and women of the RMN. This appealed to her Liberal and Progressive colleagues, who proposed and passed a bill to develop the needed ordnance. Privately, the Conservatives questioned her math skills. The outrageous price tag attached to new missiles could put a lot of peasants through Casey-Rosewood’s bootcamp. Saying that out loud, however, would be political suicide in the Commons.

Most of the Star Kingdom’s media accepted the government narrative on the threat posed by the alien invaders. In the aftermath of the two battles, they ran stories on the mysterious “Swarm” and the brave naval officers who opposed them. However, as the first half of 1591 passed without further attacks, a contrarian viewpoint reemerged, questioning whether the creatures were hostile or even sentient.

A group of pundits got their hands on several heavily redacted ONI reports pushing the ‘migratory animal’ theory. They noted the RMN had fired first in every encounter and accused the Navy of provoking the docile space whales by using them for target practice. Particularly damning was Commodore Dunne’s own Parliamentary testimony in which he referred to the poor things as “lemmings.” Few citizens gave this any credence, as two hundred human deaths were too fresh in the public consciousness, but it resonated with a vocal segment of the Liberal base who pressured the government to end the senseless slaughter.

With military usage down, more fuel was available for the cargo fleet. It transported several loads of construction factories to Medusa to enable on-site manufacturing of infrastructure and free up freight capacity for more important industry. This also meant the colony ships could resume shipping settlers.

Meanwhile, the Vega-class bulk freighters busied themselves with replacing the automated mines on Gryphon’s moon Egg with manned ones. The existing equipment was then hauled to the junction for transshipment to the Gallicite rich dwarf planet Basilisk VI. At the moment, that world’s orbit placed it only four days from the Basilisk-Manticore terminus, making it ideal for the purpose.

Drewson Cartel Yard #1 received a contract to build the experimental tug ship Sisyphus, which began construction from prefabricated parts in February. The firm that made them retooled to produce the Admiralty’s new large wormhole transit devices for installation in HMS Swiftsure and HMS Victory.

Sphinx’s small craft factories produced a trial run of four Marathon-class dispatch boats. The Admiralty sent one to each of Medusa, Chimera, Hennesy, and Manticore. For now, they would only carry priority military and government messages. Civilian mail and packages would continue to be delivered by the intermittent freighter traffic.

In March, the Royal Manticoran Marine Corps completed training four Geosurvey Companies. It deployed two to Sphinx and kept the others at Gryphon. The Kingdom had high hopes of finding additional minerals on both worlds. Unfortunately, the ground survey of Sphinx turned up nothing. The team on Gryphon found an unknown deposit of eleven million tons of Mercassium with good accessibility. Manticore’s existing deposits were poor, so this would be beneficial in the long term. After this, the Gryphon team relocated to Basilisk.

Midshipwoman Rebeka Eremenko reported to the Royal Naval Academy in May to begin a rigorous, accelerated officer training program. Because of her previous rating and experience, BuPers put her in the Engineering Track. She had hoped for Tactical, as that was the more likely path to eventual command, but her first weeks dashed those daydreams. The RMN didn’t have many warships, and it surely wasn’t planning to give one to the likes of her.

Some people, even instructors, thought she walked on water. Others seemed scandalized by breathing the same air as a yeoman’s daughter from the Gryphon Highlands. She couldn’t decide which reaction was worse. But she figured if another 20-year-old noble brat turned up his nose when she entered a room, she might break it, and that would ruin everything, promised commission or no. So, she kept her head down, concentrated on her studies, and limited social interactions as much as possible.

In June, the new survey cruisers HMS Traveler and HMS Wanderer passed their acceptance trials. At the moment, Survey Squadron 1 was in Hancock beyond Trevor’s Star, while the rest of the ships were undergoing overhaul or on long-term military deployments. The Admiralty designated the fresh ships Survey Squadron 2 and sent them to Minorca, an unsurveyed system in the Matapan chain.

HMS Wanderer won a friendly competition between their crews by finding the Squadron's first wormhole. Its terminus lay only a few million kilometers from her present position, so she called HMS Amphitrite to perform an immediate probe. The frigate transited into a two planet system with a G2 primary. The outermost world was a Cold Desert with a nitrogen oxygen atmosphere and minimal hydrosphere. It was the most habitable planet discovered to date.

The new government had promoted Vice Admiral Sorbanne to Second Space Lord during its reshuffling of the Admiralty. Although this took him out of Survey Command, they still reported to him through the Bureau of Planning, and the aftermath of the Wayfarer Incident was fresh on everyone’s minds. Unwilling to risk her ship or career, Lieutenant Commander Ernestine Alexander, niece to the current Earl White Haven, sent Amphitrite on ahead to investigate.

On July 4th, the frigate detected a small population signature including 3800 tons of ground forces. With great trepidation, she crept into orbit and her crew breathed a collective sigh of relief when no shots came. They expected pirates or smugglers, but found roughly two thousand bipedal lizard-like aliens in a settlement on the planet’s southern continent. It appeared to be a military force with modern, high-tech weaponry. However, the Manticoran sensors saw no signs of space flight capability and it was unclear how the soldiers had gotten here.

While HMS Amphitrite attempted to communicate with the oblivious natives, HMS Wanderer surveyed the planets. The habitable world held enormous concentrations of Neutronium, Boronide and Corundium, and was also a good candidate for ground survey. Perhaps the alien troops were staking a claim to the minerals? This didn’t seem likely as their settlement was far from the best deposits.

HMS Wanderer popped back into Minorca just long enough for Lieutenant Commander Alexander to send HMS Traveler scurrying home with her report. Then returned to the inhabited system, which she had named Hyperion, to continue communication attempts and search for wormholes. It was imperative for the Star Kingdom to determine where these new aliens originated as soon as possible.

Oblivious to the excitement in Minorca, the Admiralty organized a powerful reconnaissance mission to Hennesy. The new transit capable battlecruiser HMS Swiftsure, escorted by four heavy cruisers, would go looking for the unusually quiet Swarm. If it found nothing, they would proceed to the Aral terminus, investigate it with a wormhole probe and, at Commodore Dunne’s discretion, search that system as well.

The probe detected a powerful Swarm force on the Aral side of the wormhole. It included four heavy cruiser sized aliens of an unknown type designated Sydney, four light cruiser sized Hobarts, nineteen of the more common LAC-sized creatures and seven Perths. The latter had not been seen since Wayfarer’s sensor data. ONI speculated they might belong to the mysterious boarders, although the relationship between those humanoid beings and the large space going ones was still unclear.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/AralProbe.png)

The enemy fleet displaced just under 130k tons, slightly more than the reconnaissance squadron. The RMN had more than enough firepower to sweep them aside. Still, several factors made an assault infeasible. First, the Kingdom didn't have enough fuel to send such a large force. Second, there was a non-zero risk of losing both wormhole transit devices and stranding the heavy warships in a remote alien-controlled system. Third, a full-blown invasion against the Swarm’s home would outrage a small portion of the population and likely cause protests just in time for the Commons elections.

Any such operation would have to wait.

The Kingdom’s researchers finished several high-profile projects this year including: Mark 7 Light Missiles, Mark 8 Heavy Missiles, Ordnance Production 12 BP, Planetary Sensor Strength 300, Sorium Harvesters and Xenoarchaeology Equipment.

Now that the long awaited Sorium Harvesters were available, civilian industry constructed two massive refinery platforms, each containing a hundred harvesting modules. RMAS Sisyphus towed them out to the gas giant Draco. Between them, the stations’ annual production was over 2/3rds the entire output of the planet Manticore, which should go far towards easing the fuel crisis.

20 December 1591

“Ma’am,” the young woman at HMS Wanderer’s communications station said into the silence of her bridge. “We’re receiving a tight beam transmission from directly ahead. They’re broadcasting in the clear.”

Lieutenant Commander Ernestine Alexander clamped down the sudden surge of adrenaline and tried to keep her voice steady. “Put it on my display. And signal Amphitrite.”

Were they about to meet the mobile forces of the lizard-like aliens on Hyperion II?

No. The figure who appeared was a human man in his early thirties with clear Old Earth Chinese ancestry. He wore a sharply tailored white uniform with red piping and a tall peaked cap.

“Guten Tag,” he said, sending her confusion into the stratosphere. Then, he switched to English with a heavy German accent. “Manticoran light cruiser, I am Korvettenkapitän Lizhu Fiedler of His Imperial Majesty’s Survey Ship Führung-2. Please forgive our intrusion. My vessel is unarmed. We are on a peaceful exploration mission and just arrived here through a wormhole. If you tell us where we are—for my report—we will leave immediately.”

Andermani. He had to be. And the main plot showed no contacts anywhere. “Is this a bi-directional link? Put me on.”

“Yes ma’am. Hot mic.”

“Korvettenkapitän,” she only stumbled a little over the word. “I am Lieutenant Commander Alexander of Her Majesty’s Ship Wanderer. You’ve arrived in the neutral system of Hyperion.” She mentally counted the seconds until she saw him relax just a little. Twenty! That meant his ship was right on top of her command. But where? Muting the audio, she said, “Active sensors.”

If the Andermani was lying about his vessel being unarmed, he might take exception to the aggressive action and blow her out of space. Still, this was the first contact between Manticoran and Andermani vessels in a decade. Every scrap of information she could glean on their capabilities would be valuable.

“There it is!” Chief Johnson said from the sensor station. “One ship at 3 million kilometers. Computer reads it as four thousand tons.”

Which might still be a battlecruiser given what ONI suspected of these people’s stealth tech. “Actives off.”

The man on her display held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Really, Commander. There is no need for hostility. We are only mapping wormholes.”

Time to toss the dice. She unmuted the microphone. “As are we, Korvettenkapitän. And I would love to see yours.”

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: nuclearslurpee on October 17, 2022, 01:53:29 PM

Quote from: rainyday on October 15, 2022, 08:31:41 PM

None of the crews slept easy during the two weeks it took the collier RMAS Apollo to arrive with reloads.

There should be a head rolling for this. It is one thing to make a terrible battle plan, or to only survive an encounter through sheer dumb luck, but flubbing the logistics timetable so badly is utterly unforgivable.

Quote

Anyway, he was off in Hennesy, while the First Space Lord and Defense Minister were both available and more politically expedient punching bags.

Political expediency makes the world go 'round.

Not all the worlds, though. Just this one. Which is why the politicians only cared to search as far as this world for their punching bags.

Quote

Defense Minister New Dijon

I cannot speak as to the minister herself, but her name and title have clearly been on a diet as this is perhaps only half as glorious overlong as we have previously seen. Clearly the lowest point of this update.

Quote

Privately, the Conservatives questioned her math skills. The outrageous price tag attached to new missiles could put a lot of peasants through Casey-Rosewood’s bootcamp. Saying that out loud, however, would be political suicide in the Commons.

They are just saying what ~~we are all~~ absolutely no one was thinking.

Quote

In the aftermath of the two battles, they ran stories on the mysterious “Swarm” and the brave naval officers who opposed them.

As is tradition. (https://i.imgur.com/DYAEiOu.gif)

Quote

But she figured if another 20-year-old noble brat turned up his nose when she entered a room, she might break it, and that would ruin everything, promised commission or no

She is clearly enlisted into the wrong Navy, as there are others in the Auroraverse which would be glad to have a commander of her pugilistic proclivities if only for, um, historical interest. ;D

Quote

On July 4th, the frigate detected a small population signature including 3800 tons of ground forces. With great trepidation, she crept into orbit and her crew breathed a collective sigh of relief when no shots came. They expected pirates or smugglers, but found roughly two thousand bipedal lizard-like aliens in a settlement on the planet’s southern continent. It appeared to be a military force with modern, high-tech weaponry. However, the Manticoran sensors saw no signs of space flight capability and it was unclear how the soldiers had gotten here.

Their ships are in orbit, but you can't see them because they are painted purple.

Quote

While HMS Amphitrite attempted to communicate with the oblivious natives,

"Wait, but why? Just invade them already!" - some Andermani general, probably

Quote

Third, a full-blown invasion against the Swarm’s home would outrage a small portion of the population and likely cause protests just in time for the Commons elections.

As much as some of the Admiralty would dearly wish to believe that politics is simply war by other means, we all know the real, horrible truth.

Quote

“Korvettenkapitän,” she only stumbled a little over the word. “I am Lieutenant Commander Alexander of Her Majesty’s Ship Wanderer. You’ve arrived in the neutral system of Hyperion.”

The word "neutral" in that sentence will prove to be a grave political error, I suspect. Now the Andermani know they can claim it without even having to fight a war first, what is left to stop them?

...this just in, I am hearing that some fringe theorists claim that "logistics" might cause some difficulty, not sure what that is all about though.

Quote

Time to toss the dice. She unmuted the microphone. “As are we, Korvettenkapitän. And I would love to see yours.”

The remainder of this AAR will be a slightly-above-average rom-com with political elements. That's right, people, we're starting in on the Star Wars prequels now.

Enjoyable as always, rainyday, keep it up, only at a reasonable pace of course. ;)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on October 18, 2022, 11:38:46 AM

Quote from: nuclearslurpee on October 17, 2022, 01:53:29 PM

The remainder of this AAR will be a slightly-above-average rom-com with political elements. That's right, people, we're starting in on the Star Wars prequels now.

Yes, in hindsight, that was certainly a sentence to end the update with. :D But, you know, two survey ship commanders from opposing nations on long multi-year deployments, unable to seek companionship among their own crews because regulations, carrying on a clandestine romance over decades whenever their paths should cross at the fringes of explored space. Not saying that's going to happen, but... I'd read that.

Quote

Enjoyable as always, rainyday, keep it up, only at a reasonable pace of course. ;)

I will say the current pace is challenging. I thought updating once a week would be reasonable but there were several long updates in a row including that two-parter, which have made it a real struggle to get them out. Unfortunately, given my tendency to ramble about politics, it's also been challenging to fit more than one year into an update. And since I'd like this to cover a fairly long timespan, it's already going to take forever at one year a week.

I have Chapter Eight (1592) finished, a draft of Interlude Two, and part of Chapter Nine (1593 and maybe 1594, if I'm lucky). The current plan is to complete the decade, then post up a full Overview of both the Manticore and Andermani Empires at the start of 1595 with maps, colony installations, ship totals and fleet deployments.

After that, I may take a short break to recover and actually play the game a bit before starting in on "Book Two" which should have a bit more structured plot and antagonists.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Vastrat on October 18, 2022, 01:42:34 PM

Excellent story, keep up the good work and be sure to pace yourself so you don't burn out. Looking forward to reading more.

Title: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Eight: Meetings (1592)
Post by: rainyday on October 25, 2022, 09:37:35 AM

21 December 1591

“Your food is certainly much better than ours,” Korvettenkapitän Fiedler said, folding his napkin and placing it beside his empty plate. “You must have resupplied recently.”

Lieutenant Commander Ernestine Alexander took another sip of the rich Potsdam red her guest had presented as a gift, while she thought about her answer. “Wanderer is large enough to host an extensive hydroponics suite.”

“Of course,” Fiedler said. “Brilliant. Führung-2 is a good ship, but the Empire values minimalism and efficiency.”

“You’ve been out here awhile?” Alexander asked. Her head was starting to hurt from the subtle intrigues. Or maybe that was the wine.

Fiedler seemed all but oblivious to the game they were playing. Which she suspected meant he was very good at it. The Andermani flashed his easy smile and answered without hesitation. “Four years.”

“Four years!?” Alexander choked out before she could stop herself.

“Minimalism and efficiency.” Fiedler shrugged. “Expanding the Empire’s knowledge of wormholes is a crucial mission. My crew and I understand this. Sometimes personal sacrifice is necessary for the long-term good of the Empire. You are certain the Star Kingdom will not object to us working in this system?”

“We don’t have any permanent presence here. I can’t promise that won’t change in the future.” Hyperion was only three transits from Manticore. “And your government won’t object to us poking around Sachsen?”

“Poking around? No. Provided you do not settle or mine there. I must warn you that a gang of pirates has holed up in the mountains of Sachsen B-II. Our Schlachtgeschwader defeated their mobile forces, but they have surface to orbit weapons and will not hesitate to fire on your ship if it gets too close.”

“Human pirates?”

Fiedler’s brow furrowed. “What else? Little gray men?”

Alexander smiled and sat her wineglass down. “Perhaps I should go easy on this.”

She would bet the entire White Haven estate the Andermani had contact with aliens based on that deflection alone.

“It is an excellent vintage,” Fiedler said, pouring more into his own glass. “If you choose to explore beyond Sachsen, the Empire will not protest. However, we would consider bringing armed ships through a stabilized wormhole a violation of Andermani territory and respond in force.”

Alexander blinked at him. “A what?”

“You do not have this?” Fiedler asked, sounding surprised. “A stabilized wormhole is permanently open. Any ship can pass through without a transit device. You will recognize it when you see one.”

“That sounds useful. Can you tell me more? So that we know what to avoid?”

“Of course.”

***

Ernestine Alexander escorted Korvettenkapitän Fiedler to his shuttle and then headed straight for the bridge. She watched the Andermani survey frigate crawl away at a meager 2000 km/s until it vanished from HMS Wanderer’s sensors. Then, ordered her navigator to transit the wormhole to Sachsen.

She found the system exactly as he described it, a wide binary of hot white stars orbited by massive super earths and gas giants. Sachsen B-II, the only world suited for habitation, had higher gravity than Sphinx and a mountainous terrain covered in dense jungle foliage. The wrecks of ten LACs floated near the planet. At the range of twelve light hours, her sensors couldn’t confirm whether those were of human or alien origin.

HMS Wanderer spent about half an hour collecting sensor data, then transited back to Hyperion and set off on a least time course for Manticore. She did not detect Führung-2 sitting just five million kilometers off the wormhole terminus. Nor did she see the frigate transit into Sachsen and race away towards New Berlin.

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/ManticoreHyperion.png)

As usual, the Star Kingdom’s political establishment struggled to reach a consensus on the new species in Hyperion. The Conservatives advocated for an isolationist policy. Ignoring the system would prevent another alien entanglement the Kingdom couldn’t afford. Progressives wanted to send a diplomatic mission. Friendly contact with an interstellar civilization could bring fantastic benefits. The Liberals, entrenched in the business community, had an eye for the planet’s mineral wealth and potential as a trading hub.

An Andermani presence posed unexpected complications, but the plan was already in motion before that news arrived. The Diplomatic Corps would send a team, accompanied by experts in xenolinguistics and xenoanthropology, to contact and negotiate with the new species. While they did that, the 3rd and 4th Geosurvey Companies would undertake a quiet search for additional mineral deposits.

HMS Wanderer’s return was fortuitous because it meant the Admiralty didn’t need to shake loose another survey cruiser for the mission. She took the diplomatic team aboard and headed back to Hyperion. The marine corps transport Monte Cassino accompanied her, as did the transit tender RMAS Arrowhead, HMS Amphitrite and HMS Ariadne. The slow commercial ships would require months to make the journey.

Meanwhile, the Admiralty settled on a refit plan for the remaining Triumph-class battlecruisers. The RMN needed powerful close range energy weapons platforms, so the R92 specification sacrificed missile cells for increased endurance and a battery of 20cm Energy Torpedo generators. A minor upgrade, it should take about a month per ship and BuShips planned to have them converted mid-year.

Off-Topic: show

The Geosurvey Companies found fourteen million tons of Gallicite on Basilisk II, but the deposit’s low accessibility made it unprofitable for mining. The marines moved to Medusa to wait for a future expedition.

14 June 1592

“My Lords. My Lords, please.” Prime Minister Winter Mount mumbled, wringing his wrinkled hands in frustration.

Prince Richard Winton-Serisburg wondered yet again why his mother picked someone with so little backbone for the Kingdom’s most important political role. Unless utter dysfunction in the Lords was her goal. Still, he couldn’t blame the man for staying out of this shouting match. Michael was in rare form today, even by the standards of the infamous Winton temper.

“I didn’t know there were so many gutless cowards in the whole Star Kingdom!” The Crown Prince roared. “And yet here you all sit. On the Royal Council. Grandfather is turning over in his grave.”

“Your Highness,” Baron Tweenriver, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said in a tight voice. “We all grieve for the lives lost on Hyperion II…”

“Do you!? Because all I hear are platitudes and excuses! Those monsters butchered two hundred of our people. Worse than animals. How can you, any of you, look at those images and then sit here talking about their rights?”

“It is their planet,” Countess Fairburn, Secretary of BioScience, said. “We should never have been there.”

“That makes it okay? It’s our fault? Because we tried talking to them?”

“And exploiting their minerals.”

Michael’s nostrils flared. “I don’t have to listen to this.” He shoved his chair away from the table and stood, glowering at everyone before biting out “Good day, My Lords” and stormed from the chamber.

Long minutes passed before anyone spoke again.

“Much of the military agrees with him,” New Dijon said, breaking the silence. “Especially the Marines. It was mostly their people who were… killed.”

“I’m not sure that I disagree with him,” Winter Mount said, wringing his hands. “What happened was horrible. Truly. But the precedent! He’s talking about a genocide. We can’t just purge a whole species from a planet! No matter what they did. The voters won’t stand for it. They’ll claim it was always about the minerals. The optics would be terrible.”

“Your voters, maybe.” Richard said. “I think if we released more of the details. Perhaps some images. Heavily censored, of course. The public might support at least a limited intervention. The settlement is a military outpost. It’s not like we would be killing alien civilians or children.”

“A military outpost,” Tweenriver said. “Which implies a much larger military somewhere else. You want to start a full-blown war with these people?”

“The Andermani won’t hesitate to remove a hostile force,” New Dijon said. “They will take the planet and it’ll give them a foothold that much closer to Manticore. Having a forward base of our own in the region to block their expansion towards us would be expedient.”

“There’s a quote for the history books.” Countess Fairburn said, in a voice that dripped acid. “‘The genocide was expedient.’ - Suzanne Descroix, Defense Minister, Star Empire of Manticore.”

New Dijon shot her fellow Progressive a dark look across the table.

“In my mind, the Andermani presence is more reason to stay out.” Tweenriver said. “We don’t need more trouble with the Emperor. Not after our Conservative colleagues’ fiasco a few years ago. ”

The Council debate continued long into the evening, with no resolution in sight.

***

The government had to announce the massacre to the media, but provided few details. Public opinion split with some groups condemning the expedition to an inhabited planet and others condemning the lack of response to the murders. Crown Prince Michael fanned the flames of the latter with several appearances on popular talk programs where he presented images from HMS Wayfarer and Hyperion II as evidence of the threat posed by aliens and castigated the Liberals for being too soft in their approach to the problem.

In September, Survey Squadron 1, which had spent the past year exploring the systems of Nuada, Yalta and Santander, beyond Basilisk, was on the way home to refuel. Twenty million kilometers from the Nuada-Basilisk terminus, HMS Andromeda picked up a gravitic signature shadowing the group. Her computer flagged it as Arbalest 002 with high confidence.

HMS Arete stayed in formation with the survey cruisers, while Andromeda broke off to drive the Arbalest away. The mysterious ship fled and the Manticoran frigate gave chase. With only a few hundred km/s advantage, she would need several days to bring the target into missile range. Just before that happened, the Arbalest vanished, despite being well inside Andromeda’s sensor envelope. The frigate failed to reestablish contact even after a thorough search of the area. Eventually, she left to rejoin her squadron.

The Star Kingdom’s researchers completed several important projects this year: Maintenance Support per Facility: 1600 tons, Salvage Module 500, Fuel Production: 48000 liters, and 25cm Energy Torpedoes.

Late in October, CruRon 2, the six light cruisers led by HMS Donnelly, left Manticore orbit. They had orders to undertake an extensive training exercise in Manticore-B’s Unicorn Asteroid Belt. The squadron proceeded to Manticore-A’s LP1, near the gas giant Roc, and jumped out precisely on schedule.

They did not emerge at Titan’s LP2, as expected. Instead, they appeared at LP3, trailing the rogue planet Fenris. Over six billion kilometers from Gryphon and just over seven billion from the Manticore Wormhole Junction. Waiting for them were five Anzio-class Marine Corps transports.

The entire force moved to the Matapan terminus where it rendezvoused with HMS Trailblazer, whose official orders put her in Hennesy, RMAS Arrowhead and RMAS Osiris. They topped off their tanks from the support vessel and then transited, watched only by the local sensor buoys.

By the time anyone on Manticore noticed they were missing, it was far too late to recall them.

The ad hoc task force arrived above Hyperion on December 10th. Eight full marine regiments, a small army of almost twenty-thousand personnel and five hundred heavy weapons, descended on the alien outpost before the creatures even knew they were in orbit. The lizard-like aliens put up a fierce resistance, but numbers told, and when the shooting stopped four days later not a single one survived.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Garfunkel on October 25, 2022, 09:01:31 PM

Excellent update!

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Gyrfalcon on October 26, 2022, 02:27:07 AM

Oof. In principal, a lot of people should be cashiered for that stunt - as it basically constituted a mutiny. The question is, who lead it (probably the Crown Prince), and how much of a political embarrassment is the Royal Family willing to put up with?

I'm betting that this all gets quietly swept under the rug, but it does raise questions of what will happen when he takes the throne as he's obviously a military hardliner.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: Chapter Eight: Meetings (1592)
Post by: nuclearslurpee on October 27, 2022, 10:10:13 PM

Quote from: rainyday on October 25, 2022, 09:37:35 AM

“It is an excellent vintage,” Fiedler said, pouring more into his own glass. “If you choose to explore beyond Sachsen, the Empire will not protest. However, we would consider bringing armed ships through a stabilized wormhole a violation of Andermani territory and respond in force.”

Alexander blinked at him. “A what?”

Oh dear. Here LCDR Alexander is just giving away the game here. Once the good Korvettenkapitän has reported to his superiors, the Andermani will know just how technologically backwards and weak the Manticore are - and ripe for the taking!

Oh wait, never mind, this just in, the Andermani BCs are still uesless hunks of duranium. :P

Quote

(http://rainydaygaming.com/posts/aars/starkingdom/assets/ManticoreHyperion.png)

I see you are a fan of the classic galaxy map organization scheme known as "Chaos". Thankfully since this is not a Warhammer AAR I will allow this travesty to continue, but you have been warned.

Quote

Meanwhile, the Admiralty settled on a refit plan for the remaining Triumph-class battlecruisers. The RMN needed powerful close range energy weapons platforms, so the R92 specification sacrificed missile cells for increased endurance and a battery of 20cm Energy Torpedo generators. A minor upgrade, it should take about a month per ship and BuShips planned to have them converted mid-year.

Sadly, yet another missile-based fleet slowly but surely is bent to the iron will and siren call of the beam weapons cabal.

Quote

Prince Richard Winton-Serisburg wondered yet again why his mother picked someone with so little backbone for the Kingdom’s most important political role. Unless utter dysfunction in the Lords was her goal.

It is a worthy goal. (https://i.imgur.com/Z3wSg01.gif)

Quote

“That makes it okay? It’s our fault? Because we tried talking to them?”

“And exploiting their minerals.”

Ah, yes, there's always some little kicker like that, isn't there?

Quote

New Dijon

I must protest the continued shortening of her name in the strongest possible terms. Good day, sir!! *thumps hat on table*

Quote

Winter Mount

Actually wait I'm interested again.

Quote

“‘The genocide was expedient.’ - Suzanne Descroix, Defense Minister, Star Empire of Manticore.”

See, this is the kind of naming scheme we need in this troubled day and age. I applaud the heroic efforts of The Right Honourable Madam Countess Fairburn, Secretary of BioScience, Star Empire of Manticore, Esq. Jr. Etc.

Quote

The government had to announce the massacre to the media, but provided few details. Public opinion split with some groups condemning the expedition to an inhabited planet and others condemning the lack of response to the murders. Crown Prince Michael fanned the flames of the latter with several appearances on popular talk programs where he presented images from HMS Wayfarer and Hyperion II as evidence of the threat posed by aliens and castigated the Liberals for being too soft in their approach to the problem.

Maybe we should just shoot some railguns at them, maybe 300-400 casualties, and call it even? I mean, come on, it's not like the aliens are controlled by an idiotic and/or homocidal hive intelligence with vapor for brains that would literally pursue a never-ending war of extinction over a dust-up at a minor outpost, right? Right, Steve? :P

Quote

HMS Arete stayed in formation with the survey cruisers, while Andromeda broke off to drive the Arbalest away. The mysterious ship fled and the Manticoran frigate gave chase. With only a few hundred km/s advantage, she would need several days to bring the target into missile range. Just before that happened, the Arbalest vanished, despite being well inside Andromeda’s sensor envelope. The frigate failed to reestablish contact even after a thorough search of the area. Eventually, she left to rejoin her squadron.

Uh-oh...

Quote

Eight full marine regiments, a small army of almost ten-thousand personnel and five hundred heavy weapons,

Seems a bit small of a count, really. ~~Far be it from me to nitpick about ground OOBs, of course~~ Ha.

Checking the setup posts for the RMMC regimental order, looks like there's some 1,400 individual units plus the HQ, and if we cared at all about realism in space (and this is Honorverse, so maybe a little bit? :P ) I'd guess that each CAP/LAV is a two-soldier team, 3 for the HCAP, 4 for the MAV, so really more like 1,654 combat soldiers. For the logistics elements you can make it up as you like but I'd say at least a driver + loader per unit (I usually assume these are light, unarmored trucks and not just a bunch of guys hauling 10-ton cargo crates on foot), so that plus a HQ staff means probably around 300 at least for the regimental forward support echelon. So really closer to 1,900 soldiers per regiment at a minimum, times eight and we've just airdropped north of 15,000 which is well about the "almost ten-thousand" quoted. Probably even more since I am trying to lowball here.

Basically what we have here is that someone in the administration is trying to fudge the numbers to make this horrific mutiny look not as bad as it really is. I agree with Gryfalcon's assessment of the principles here, and urge the Admiralty to stand on principle for once in their lily-livered, spineless careers.

Of course, as a fellow ~~historian~~ fiction writer I do recognize that one can only work with the surviving records, so I applaud this fine update in any case. :)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on November 03, 2022, 11:44:41 AM

I just wanted to drop a quick post to say that there won't be an update this week. I'm doing some travelling and expect to have the next chapter ready around the 12th. I'll then go straight into the second decade. I'd hoped the "break" would fall between parts and line up nicely with the trip but then Victoria 3 happened.

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Pedroig on November 24, 2022, 06:20:14 PM

The 24th checks in... ;)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: rainyday on November 28, 2022, 11:20:41 AM

Quote from: Pedroig on November 24, 2022, 06:20:14 PM

The 24th checks in... ;)

Well, I didn't say the 12th of which month. ;)

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: Pedroig on November 28, 2022, 06:11:53 PM

Quote from: rainyday on November 28, 2022, 11:20:41 AM

Quote from: Pedroig on November 24, 2022, 06:20:14 PM
The 24th checks in... ;)

Well, I didn't say the 12th of which month. ;)

Touche' good sir, Touche'

;D

Title: Re: Manticore Defiant: A Star Kingdom AAR
Post by: nuclearslurpee on November 28, 2022, 07:00:14 PM

Quote from: rainyday on November 28, 2022, 11:20:41 AM

Quote from: Pedroig on November 24, 2022, 06:20:14 PM
The 24th checks in... ;)

Well, I didn't say the 12th of which month. ;)

This is the way. (https://i.imgur.com/Z3wSg01.gif)

Aurora 4x

C# Fiction => General C# Fiction => Topic started by: rainyday on September 06, 2022, 09:12:19 AM