They are a new thing, not something where you have to do a massive overhaul of the entire Apollo/Firehawk/Orca to fit in their capability.
Good to know. Though I imagine we'll have to build a factory or three for the things.
Definitely, the primary thing the Tactical Air Laser talks about in terms of its advantages is the benefit of lasers in dealing with deflection shooting. An Orca should not be engaging deflection shooting against anything barring maybe Venoms (and even that's iffy), maybe Vertigos if we improve on the Orca's sensor suite with the new stealth disruptor (now there is a piece of kit we really want to make onto the Orca refit).
Also, this.
The Orca is
primarily a CAS aircraft by design and in doctrinal role. Efforts to make it more survivable against air attack still having to contend with the reality that it is not and will never be a dogfighter or supersonic energy-maneuver fighter. It's a futuristic attack helicopter, not a futuristic air superiority fighter.
As such, obvious improvements
in its role include:
1) A better weapon for potting light vehicles and bunkers with, especially something that gives it more combat endurance than its existing missiles.
Already covered: Rotary Railguns!
2) A means of engaging the enemy's low-end aviation (Carryalls, Venoms) with reasonable confidence, and of at least
credibly threatening high-end enemy aircraft (Vertigos, Banshees). This means the enemy cannot operate its own low-end aircraft freely when Orcas are present (which they usually are), and that their
high-end aircraft cannot simply reap unlimited slaughter from a force of unescorted Orcas. That's good enough- the goal here is not to make the Orcas our main vehicle of air superiority, but to make them
no longer a soft spot in our overall aerial lineup.
Solution: QMAAMs!
3) Greater survivability against Nod's primary air defense weapons: lasers and missiles.
Solution: Antilaser ablatives and missile defense systems!
Note that the Orca probably
doesn't need the high-performance heat dissipation systems for its laser point defense, assuming it gets point defense. The reason is simple: anti-air missiles are expensive and are not normally fired in massive barrages. Given that the Orcas are the "low" end of our own "high-low" mix, if Nod is forced to unload massive numbers of missiles to shoot down one Orca, then we're already ahead of the game, because that means the other Orcas are free to continue the mission and lay down fire on enemy ground emplacements, probably including the ones that shot down their buddy.
In conclusion, the specific projects we need to develop for the Orca project are
Point Defense Lasers and
QMAAMs. It would be
DESIRABLE to include the counter-stealth systems in the refit, though, because the numerous Orcas are likely to be used for reconnaissance and 'outrider' operations, and as such, enabling them to see through stealth systems is helpful. It also makes Orcas a much more effective counter to Nod's new stealth artillery platforms.
It is a choice with benefits on both sides. Either you can retire at the end of this plan, or at the end of next plan. But you are going to retire.
If you retire at the end of this plan, Seo Thoki will have 1. Fewer chances to flame out. 2. More time to implement his own ideas. 3. A bigger bonus and a more settled position when critical decisions are being made.
On the other hand, you can retire at the end of next plan. Seo Thoki will have had more chances to earn good traits, but also more chances to take risks and flame out or have a major scandal. Additionally he will have lower bonuses and less influence as an individual who is just about to take his seat in 2062.
To be clear, if I understand you, if Granger waits longer to retire, Thoki will have more bonuses
as chief administrator of Treasury, but will confer lesser bonuses between then and now? Or am I confused? Because you're talking about "more chances to earn good traits" and "lower bonuses" at the same time and it's a little confusing.
I'm also confused about how Thoki gets more time to implement his own ideas if we retire in a year and a half than in
five and a half.
I dunno, I like the part where Seo Thoki would have a bigger bonus and a more stable position. Good traits won't help if he doesn't have a stable political footing.
I say we retire Granger after the end of this plan.
I'm withholding judgment because I don't think I intuitively understand how parts of this are supposed to work.
is there any chance for us to use Liquid Tib powerplants with our current plans?
Sure we have other options for power generation but i'm thinking getting GDI to actually start using Liquid T could also aid research for other options, as the -10 political rating seems too big for just the bonus power.
Nod uses liquid tiberium to build power plants on a logistical shoestring, so Liquid Tiberium Power Plants would probably be
very efficient to build in terms of Progress/Resource requirements. Given that we're likely to be building them with Tiberium dice, which are rolling +35's instead of our usual +15 or so, that makes them very powerful in their own right, potentially.
The -10 Political Support is under no obligation to be "balanced" with the rewards of the option; that's a measure of how many GDI politicians (and to some extent, citizens) will be
deeply pissed off. They'll be pissed off that Treasury is experimenting with the same substance that before Tib War III left most of Australia uninhabitable in a gigantic explosion.
I'm... a little concerned we haven't touched Microgeneration part 2?
Like, I get it's not the most efficient source of power in the long term. But it also hardens the grid against accidents or enemy action, and NOD is starting to ramp up and come out in force. And power production is, like, the target of opportunity in a lot of cases.
Though, it looks like a couple plans touch on that this turn, which is nice. I'll look through and see which I prefer to vote for.
Heavy Industry dice are
very hard to come by, so we rarely want to spend resources on something strictly optional. With us depending on Heavy Industry for most of our Energy and Capital Goods requirements, it's hard to justify peeling dice loose for 'it would be nice to have' projects.
