Race to the Stars - Comments Thread

[nuclearslurpee]

Reposted in the correct thread... 

PRL xenologists are dismayed that the Japanese are making contact with aliens and investigating their systems, but given that the precise location of the new JP in Grand Bourg is only known to them, there is little that can be done about it. In order to find that JP and keep an eye on Japanese dealings with these Sukabumi, a small set of new scout fighters designed for long-term observation missions is being sent to Grand Bourg. If all goes well, they'll eventually detect a transiting ship and can pinpoint the JP location that way. There exists an alien wreck in the system, under the assumption that it is near the JP the scouts are stationed within sensor range of the wreckage. The operation quickly is a success as it detects both the JP and the Japanese listening post some distance off of the JP.

Okay, that's damn sneaky. I would have gone for the "ask nicely from the bridge of a very large cruiser" plan, but this works too and preserves the PRL cruiser fleet for more suicidal attacks against the Qian aliens instead.

The Consortium will in exchange support the construction of new plasma-drive powered warships and patrol vessels on Taíno by supplying technology, either through license production or delivery of prefabricated ship parts.

License building, I like it. Very Cold War client state feel to it.

All hail the new leader! She will restore Terra to greatness.

Do I detect that you've gone into the DB and renamed the Administrator title? Or is that just a renaming of this character?

The new Terra Prime government is putting resources into creating order among the old European space programs. Supplies for survey ships, returning from year-long journeys, have often been irregular, EU state fuel harvesting programs have had to sustain themselves selling to the open market and various supporting elements are in deteriorated condition. Warships have generally had more luck receiving money and support from the ground. With the Primacy controlling both cruisers, other EU warships of alternate loyalties were forced to submit to their will and had their crews replaced. It was easy to establish control over the old EU space assets, once things started moving everything else just fell into place. The Terra Prime government had something to offer what has been sorely missing for a decade: Order and a promise of stability.

Okay, this is interesting. Terra Prime could potentially come into galactic relevance by replacing the old EU, provided they can leverage their fleet into some kind of offworld colonial presence without antagonizing too many of the major players. I could see an alliance with the Martians happening as TP would like to kick PRL off of Earth and claim sole dominion over the planet, while the MC would love to stick it to the PRL when they have a chance.

A Callistoan explorer runs into some Qian signatures on a planet four jumps from Novokuzneck. Given that the two signatures remain stationary they are assumed to be orbital defense platforms as have been encountered before. Then, surveying the B component, the ship finds a dormant alien construct on planet II and an identical pair of Qian signatures on planet III.

Aside from being thankful that the ship survived a run-in with the Qian, leadership is excited at the prospect of a Qian outpost - two, even - for them to loot all by themselves, as they had missed out on the spoils that came out of Procyon's Rest. The problem is that Qian defense platforms are known to be equipped for missile defense and that their performance is only able to be estimated by second-hand reports of the battle in Procyon. A sufficiently large force to keep up deterrence must also remain in Sol, so not much strike power can be made available. The safe option would be to wait a few years until the next wave of shipbuilding is underway, as it is unlikely any other power is going to discover the location. The desire to gain an advantage now instead of waiting wins out, and it is determined that a force of three frigates will execute a probing attack.

So if I'm reading this right, the construct on Smolensk B-II should be reasonably safe to exploit as long as it is out of range of the Qian on Smolensk B-III? It's risky to be sure, but a mission to drop off some ground units and establish a military-only colony (for now) on the former planet should let exploitation begin. That construct "could" have immense value even beyond any spoils from the Qian bases...

The shipbuilders of Callisto are going a radically different way for their works in this new generation of engines. It is actually an older concept shelved for various reasons until now. In order to maximize the usefulness of each engine, each piece of Gallicite even, the engines must be as flexible as possible. This is achieved by not having a dedicated engine built-in in each ship, many of which may not be relevant for a given mission, and instead creating modular engine blocks designed to attach to a "payload block", an engine-less vessel with all the guns, sensors and missiles a ship would normally carry, using a clamp system. When going on a mission, each thrust block will attach to a relevant payload block, allowing for customized tailoring of the fleet composition. In case of an emergency the thrust block can detach from the payload and leave it behind, either to return and bring a new payload into the fight or to save it's own skin, with thrust blocks certainly outspeeding any possible pursuing warship, keeping the hard-to-replace part of a ship, the engines, safe. This assumes that payload blocks are available in sufficient numbers, considers them disposable to some degree even, all based on the economic assumption that Gallicite is hard to find and must be saved on, whereas other minerals are uncritically plentiful. This has certainly been true historically, and even with the full exploitation of Venus and the Novokuzneck colony growing, is expected to remain a basic economic fact for decades to come.

OOC Note: The tractor beam component in my game is modified to be 1HS instead of 10HS. It still costs 100BP and 10 crew, representing an appropriate overhead for the kind of sophisticated clamping/docking system they are using.

I've never actually seen someone do this in a game, here's hoping the results are spectacular...for someone!

Upgrades to Callistoan combat strength have usually come from advances in missile technology, but the dependency on ordnance stocks and manufacturing, including their consumption of vital resources, are considered severe drawbacks to the current doctrine. Protection of the growing Novokuzneck colony presents a challenge to the navy, as their massed strike doctrine makes it very difficult to protect more than one place at a time.

This is actually an interesting drawback to missiles not usually seen in a typical game. With upwards of half a dozen potential enemies to potentially fight at any one time, it becomes more difficult to maintain the critical mass of missile launchers that are usually not hard to pull together in a game with only a few fairly predictable NPRs to worry about.

I wonder if the Callistoans will at some point consider massing box launchers to give the maximal alpha strike capability, but this seems at odds with the block system as once a payload block has fired its launchers it is a sitting duck if the thrust block has detached.

Notably there are no current plans for aggressive expansion. The regime has great long-term prospects for growth now, holding on to them and expanding the industrial base are the priorities.

A wise policy. The best way to get ahead of your rivals in this case is to let them fall behind on their own, by fighting wars among each other and weakening their own navies while you conserve your own strength. However we will see what the other powers have to say about this...

[Zap0]

@Zap0

Thanks for the awesome story so far.
I really enjoyed reading it in one go!

Glad you like it! That must have taken you a good chunk of the day.

The Consortium will in exchange support the construction of new plasma-drive powered warships and patrol vessels on Taíno by supplying technology, either through license production or delivery of prefabricated ship parts.

License building, I like it. Very Cold War client state feel to it.

Me too. I'd like to do it more, but there isn't really much in Aurora that allows for trade between empires. The only thing you can transfer via button is ground units, but ships, techs, modules and the like, you have to get tricky for with SM or DB editing.

Do I detect that you've gone into the DB and renamed the Administrator title? Or is that just a renaming of this character?

I just renamed the character, would be awkward to have another High King pop up whenever a second level 8 admin spawns! I haven't done much with characters this campaign in general, but it felt appropriate to go pick one to highlight here.

Okay, this is interesting. Terra Prime could potentially come into galactic relevance by replacing the old EU, provided they can leverage their fleet into some kind of offworld colonial presence without antagonizing too many of the major players. I could see an alliance with the Martians happening as TP would like to kick PRL off of Earth and claim sole dominion over the planet, while the MC would love to stick it to the PRL when they have a chance.

Too bad Terra Prime hates offworlders in general, but the Martians in particular! They're the reason much of their heartland fell on hard times when they declared independence, after all. Ironically I see them as a potential ally of the PRL against the Martians. If only both of them didn't see themselves as the rightful heads of Mankind

So if I'm reading this right, the construct on Smolensk B-II should be reasonably safe to exploit as long as it is out of range of the Qian on Smolensk B-III? It's risky to be sure, but a mission to drop off some ground units and establish a military-only colony (for now) on the former planet should let exploitation begin. That construct "could" have immense value even beyond any spoils from the Qian bases...

That's something they're working towards. Only the better part of a decade to go until the sole stabilizer they have has paved the way! :lol:

I've never actually seen someone do this in a game, here's hoping the results are spectacular...for someone!

I've always wanted to try this kind of doctrine, and I'm eager to see how it turns out.

This is actually an interesting drawback to missiles not usually seen in a typical game. With upwards of half a dozen potential enemies to potentially fight at any one time, it becomes more difficult to maintain the critical mass of missile launchers that are usually not hard to pull together in a game with only a few fairly predictable NPRs to worry about.

I wonder if the Callistoans will at some point consider massing box launchers to give the maximal alpha strike capability, but this seems at odds with the block system as once a payload block has fired its launchers it is a sitting duck if the thrust block has detached.

Well, they already have a box launcher doctrine. They're expecting the ability to just ditch a spent box launcher block to be an advantage, each such rack as they're building right now costs only ~180 of each Duranium and Tritanium and packs 85 missiles. Being able to run back to base at their boosted, unburdened speed (15k!) to bring either more missiles or some other module to the fight sounds good. Modules ditched in deep space should also be pretty hard to find if the enemy doesn't know where to look.

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??????? class Missile Block      3 999 tons       16 Crew       475.4 BP       TCS 80    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      Armour 6-22       Shields 0-0       HTK 6      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 1      PPV 59.5
Maint Life 4.90 Years     MSP 74    AFR 128%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 5    5YR 77    Max Repair 20 MSP
Magazine 595   
Kapitan vtorogo ranga    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 55 months    Morale Check Required   


Pavlov Launch Rack (85)     Missile Size: 7    Hangar Reload 132 minutes    MF Reload 22 hours
Ryzkhov Frigate Targeting Dish (4)     Range 28.2m km    Resolution 120
Ryzkhov Bomber Targeting Dish (2)     Range 23.9m km    Resolution 5
Pavlov F Heavy Missile (85)    Speed: 32 086 km/s    End: 13m     Range: 25.1m km    WH: 9    Size: 7    TH: 171/102/51

Ryzkhov Frigate Detection Dish (1)     GPS 1152     Range 24.4m km    Resolution 120

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


...ouch, the missiles in the rack cost more Gallicite than the launch rack in total.

[nuclearslurpee]

Too bad Terra Prime hates offworlders in general, but the Martians in particular! They're the reason much of their heartland fell on hard times when they declared independence, after all. Ironically I see them as a potential ally of the PRL against the Martians. If only both of them didn't see themselves as the rightful heads of Mankind

Once again a perfectly good alliance of convenience is ruined because everyone hates each other.

...ouch, the missiles in the rack cost more Gallicite than the launch rack in total.

That's sure not going to come back and bite anyone in the space rear end...

[StarshipCactus]

I can't remember if you ever said this, but did you change the research rate at all?

[Zap0]

Nope, it's at 100%. My empires are pretty small, with 10-20 research labs on each.

[StarshipCactus]

Thanks. Did you change the survey speed or the terraform speed either?

[Zap0]

Nope, also all at default

[nuclearslurpee]

Posting in the right thread this time... 

the expansion of financial infrastructure on Callisto is what will carry most of the burden - but the expansion of financial centers comes with the opportunity cost of not expanding mines, factories or other infrastructure.

Damn opportunity costs and their insistence on making game mechanics interesting when all we want is to crush our enemies and take their loots.

As an aside this is making me wish we had a mechanic where civilian enterprises could trade with multiple factions based on the highest bidder for their services. It would make an interesting game economy, but also incentivize some factions to take military action against CMCs or even CSLs which might then seek the protection of another power. 1700s-style trade wars, anyone? 

A Terra Prime strike force consisting of both cruisers and most available escorts is sent out to ensure the loyalty of the destroyer squadron on permanent station in the mining system of Bremen. The ships stationed there have been there since before the Independence War (called the Martian Rebellion on Terra now), and although most ships have an understrength crew in the face of irregular supplies and payments, the Primacy wishes to preempt any attempts of their enemies to use the warships stationed here against them, as well as ensure the continued flow of valuable minerals from this system back to Earth. A big show is made out of the old ship's crews being relieved: Not only was there no resistance, the images of freshly trained recruits manning a previously deteriorating flotilla show the restoration of order the Terran Primacy is advertising first hand.

This bold new faction is certainly making a name for itself. Hopefully they can continue to play the game smartly, as while some major powers are slowly moving out in different directions towards extrasolar holdings exclusively the two most powerful factions remain solidly entrenched in Sol.

With the stabilization of the Terran Primacy as a central government of much of Earth, the age of transition comes to a close. Mankind settled new worlds and the distances between their new homes became the dividing lines between them, for travel of goods or people, even on a fast ship, takes days or weeks, leading to governments ruling over single bodies. Earth, Luna, Mars, Callisto, Taíno - all unified planetary governments to some degree. The age of the nation state may not have come entirely to an end, but it certainly has changed forms.

It often strikes me that we broadly lack an effective, uniform term to refer to these new kinds of states which span multiple star systems. One of the classic SA LPs used the term "Supernational Organization" (SNO) but that's the closest I know to a term encompassing all the different empires, consortiums, republics, leagues, and so on. I wonder how the people of this reality refer to such things?

Magneto-Plasma generation designs

Excitement!

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Vallis class Light Cruiser      16 000 tons

Interesting design, offensively it looks fairly well-suited. I'd personally prefer bigger missiles with WH9 but the smaller missiles will be more effective against any point defenses which are always a concern with beam ships. Not entirely sure what the turrets are for, though, they look like dual-purpose mounts but ideally they'd not be used for ship-to-ship combat as long as there's still missiles to be fired, and being dual-purpose they're naturally less effective for point defense. Seems at-odds with the design doctrine but we'll see how it looks in battle.

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Hellhound class Raider (P)      3 000 tons

An interesting design, I'd actually say the fire control is a bit of a weak link there as the autocannon can fire quite far by railgun standards but not very accurately. Another range upgrade would help to keep at least some credible threat at long range against laser ships even as it closes with high speed. Failing that we'll see if the missiles and speed can help it against the PRL and consortium cruisers.

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San Rafael class Patrol Vessel (P)      10 000 tons

For a "patrol" ship I wonder if more fuel might end up being needed especially if these need to fly about frequently to make up for a lack of deep sensor networks in core territories. That said this ship looks heavily packed to the seams and likely will struggle in a serious combat role with limited weapons range. Hopefully the shields, armor, and speed combo will make up for a lot in cases of emergency.

It will be interesting to see what Taino can come up with...granted, box launcher fighters are rarely that exciting to design, but the designers will have a big challenge to determine how to best use those 500 tons to counter or at least deter the big guns of the other factions' heavy ships.

[Hawkeye]

Zwiebel Electronics ASS3-35M (1)     GPS 1512     Range 35.1m km    Resolution 80
Zwiebel Electronics Radiation OmniSensor (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  26.2m km

Do those make the crews tear up?

 
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For the non-German speakers, Zwiebel is German for onion.

[nuclearslurpee]

For the non-German speakers, Zwiebel is German for onion.

"Our sensor systems are unmatched in all of humanity, providing many layers of protection!!" 

[Zap0]

There wasn't any action this update, but I spent a lot of time in the ship designer and microing the various logistics each empire needs to take care of.

I was going to do a DB edit to allow the INL to use or build the various systems that the Martians give them access to, but then I remembered there was a bug where I could add one empire's systems to another empire's ship design! #JustAuroraThings

As an aside this is making me wish we had a mechanic where civilian enterprises could trade with multiple factions based on the highest bidder for their services. It would make an interesting game economy, but also incentivize some factions to take military action against CMCs or even CSLs which might then seek the protection of another power. 1700s-style trade wars, anyone? 

That would actually be amazing, having the civilians in a game like this less strictly tied to one empire or another. Squabbling over trade is absolutely something these empires would have done, especially when everybody was still stuck in Sol.

It often strikes me that we broadly lack an effective, uniform term to refer to these new kinds of states which span multiple star systems. One of the classic SA LPs used the term "Supernational Organization" (SNO) but that's the closest I know to a term encompassing all the different empires, consortiums, republics, leagues, and so on.

I suppose until now our empires were seen as nation states, if upgraded versions with interstellar colonies, with those that don't quite fit the bill being less prevalent. We'll have to wait and see if a term evolves that puts them all in the same category.

I wonder how the people of this reality refer to such things?

It turns out I took that as a writing prompt, but since it's in-universe perspective I'll put it in the next update instead of the comments thread :-)

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Vallis class Light Cruiser      16 000 tons
Interesting design, offensively it looks fairly well-suited. I'd personally prefer bigger missiles with WH9 but the smaller missiles will be more effective against any point defenses which are always a concern with beam ships. Not entirely sure what the turrets are for, though, they look like dual-purpose mounts but ideally they'd not be used for ship-to-ship combat as long as there's still missiles to be fired, and being dual-purpose they're naturally less effective for point defense. Seems at-odds with the design doctrine but we'll see how it looks in battle.

The smaller missiles are there partially to overcome missile defenses more easily as there aren't any other missiles of this type in the fleet, and partially they are this small for marketing reasons to differentiate them from the heavy (and individually expensive) cruise missiles already in use. As ordnance production capacity is a concern with expanding missile usage, having a lower unit cost per missile was framed as not being much additional draw on the factories. Nevermind that you need more of them. The turrets were an easy sell because of their flexibility. Given the lower speed than their expected opponents some measure of beam weaponry seemed required, and without any capability for heavy, long-range guns in the Consortium this seemed the best option. Good dps for the tonnage! Won't have problems tracking! Can serve as supplementary missile defense! Armored turrets give ships additional staying power! Being able to put so many green check marks on the comparison table was advantageous.

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Hellhound class Raider (P)      3 000 tons
An interesting design, I'd actually say the fire control is a bit of a weak link there as the autocannon can fire quite far by railgun standards but not very accurately. Another range upgrade would help to keep at least some credible threat at long range against laser ships even as it closes with high speed. Failing that we'll see if the missiles and speed can help it against the PRL and consortium cruisers.

The firecontrol is actually considered state-of-the-art, with the next levels costing 16k in each, but Terra is already investing into them as it has a good SC scientist and plents of research labs. The next upgrade for these ships is intended to be cap recharge 5, reducing the ROF to 15.

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San Rafael class Patrol Vessel (P)      10 000 tons
For a "patrol" ship I wonder if more fuel might end up being needed especially if these need to fly about frequently to make up for a lack of deep sensor networks in core territories. That said this ship looks heavily packed to the seams and likely will struggle in a serious combat role with limited weapons range. Hopefully the shields, armor, and speed combo will make up for a lot in cases of emergency.

More range would have been nice, but that was a tradeoff that had to be made. There are good gas giants in most settled systems, so I'm envisioning refueling opportunities on most colonies. Their limited weapons range is indeed a heavy drawback, but something they will have to deal with for now. Mars has a noted lack of long-range guns, so that's not an option, and the only MK scientist on Taíno is a retrained biologist still struggling with turning the railgun blueprint into a railgun weapon.

It will be interesting to see what Taino can come up with...granted, box launcher fighters are rarely that exciting to design, but the designers will have a big challenge to determine how to best use those 500 tons to counter or at least deter the big guns of the other factions' heavy ships.

I have the fighter done already, but as it's not that interesting a design I opted not to post it so as to not overload the post with designs. Initially I forgot to remove the bridge and wondered why I could only fit 8 box launchers instead of the 10 that the Eurofighters I made at the start of the game had...
They aren't really meant to go on the offense anywhere (although I guess a carrier could cart them around) and not to defend the system all on their own, but they should provide another obstacle for a would-be attacker to overcome.

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System Defense Craft class Fast Attack Craft      500 tons       7 Crew       85.3 BP       TCS 10    TH 102    EM 0
10260 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 2      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 4.5
Maint Life 2.19 Years     MSP 10    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 3    5YR 42    Max Repair 51.20 MSP
Magazine 30   
Capitán de Corbeta    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 15 days    Morale Check Required   

Interstellar Drives MP System Defense Craft Thruster (1)    Power 102.4    Fuel Use 700.00%    Signature 102.40    Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 61 000 Litres    Range 3.1 billion km (3 days at full power)

Cerberus Launch Rack (10)     Missile Size: 3.0    Hangar Reload 86 minutes    MF Reload 14 hours
Medium-Range Missile Guidance (1)     Range 10.9m km    Resolution 30
Cerberus D ASM (10)    Speed: 27 000 km/s    End: 6.7m     Range: 10.8m km    WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 117/70/35

Medium-Range Missile Acquisition (1)     GPS 256     Range 10.7m km    Resolution 80

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction

Zwiebel Electronics ASS3-35M (1)     GPS 1512     Range 35.1m km    Resolution 80
Zwiebel Electronics Radiation OmniSensor (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  26.2m km

Do those make the crews tear up?

 

For the non-German speakers, Zwiebel is German for onion.

What's so strange about naming electronics companies after fruits and vegetables? If we can have Apple, we can have Zwiebel
I found it funny, so I took it. The company name generator giveth and it taketh away, but in this case it definitely giveth.

[nuclearslurpee]

It turns out I took that as a writing prompt, but since it's in-universe perspective I'll put it in the next update instead of the comments thread :-)

I look forward to it! 

The smaller missiles are there partially to overcome missile defenses more easily as there aren't any other missiles of this type in the fleet, and partially they are this small for marketing reasons to differentiate them from the heavy (and individually expensive) cruise missiles already in use. As ordnance production capacity is a concern with expanding missile usage, having a lower unit cost per missile was framed as not being much additional draw on the factories. Nevermind that you need more of them. The turrets were an easy sell because of their flexibility. Given the lower speed than their expected opponents some measure of beam weaponry seemed required, and without any capability for heavy, long-range guns in the Consortium this seemed the best option. Good dps for the tonnage! Won't have problems tracking! Can serve as supplementary missile defense! Armored turrets give ships additional staying power! Being able to put so many green check marks on the comparison table was advantageous.

I find this blatant display of salesmanship hilarious.

I have the fighter done already, but as it's not that interesting a design I opted not to post it so as to not overload the post with designs. Initially I forgot to remove the bridge and wondered why I could only fit 8 box launchers instead of the 10 that the Eurofighters I made at the start of the game had...
They aren't really meant to go on the offense anywhere (although I guess a carrier could cart them around) and not to defend the system all on their own, but they should provide another obstacle for a would-be attacker to overcome.

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System Defense Craft class Fast Attack Craft      500 tons       7 Crew       85.3 BP       TCS 10    TH 102    EM 0
10260 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 2      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 4.5
Maint Life 2.19 Years     MSP 10    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 3    5YR 42    Max Repair 51.20 MSP
Magazine 30   
Capitán de Corbeta    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 15 days    Morale Check Required   

Interstellar Drives MP System Defense Craft Thruster (1)    Power 102.4    Fuel Use 700.00%    Signature 102.40    Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 61 000 Litres    Range 3.1 billion km (3 days at full power)

Cerberus Launch Rack (10)     Missile Size: 3.0    Hangar Reload 86 minutes    MF Reload 14 hours
Medium-Range Missile Guidance (1)     Range 10.9m km    Resolution 30
Cerberus D ASM (10)    Speed: 27 000 km/s    End: 6.7m     Range: 10.8m km    WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 117/70/35

Medium-Range Missile Acquisition (1)     GPS 256     Range 10.7m km    Resolution 80

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction

Definitely quite short range, so I guess relying on small size to avoid detection until they can close in and launch missiles. Should be a useful deterrent against beam raiders (so, PRL cruisers) but I would worry that a dedicated missile cruiser like the Vallis class would not feel threatened by these. It all depends on the sensors though!

[StarshipCactus]

It is awesome to see you using https://n.bellok.de/wikibox/ It is a great website I think. The tale of the EU is a somewhat tragic tale. Hopefully something great can rise from the ashes, although I don't know how that might work economically. Does the PRL still control the population in mainland China? Maybe they could decide they are not happy with the status quo and join the Terrans, to give them more population and wealth. Maybe minerals if there are still some in storage, although you probably moved all that years ago lol.

[StarshipCactus]

I made one of the battle of Mars 

[Zap0]

Does the PRL still control the population in mainland China? Maybe they could decide they are not happy with the status quo and join the Terrans, to give them more population and wealth.

They still control China, yes. They're definitely aware that they're second class citizens to those on the moon, but the PRL is spending much administrative effort to keep careful control over the population. Then again, 3.3b people are a huge mass of people, some are bound to be less tightly controlled than others...

Maybe minerals if there are still some in storage, although you probably moved all that years ago lol.

Yeah. They have nothing of significance left on Earth, so conquest of China isn't terribly high on Terra Prime's priority list for lack of material reasons.

I made one of the battle of Mars 

That's perfect! I was playing with the thought of going back and making some for the older conflicts, and I think I'm going to stick that right there