I've added more direct orders to Omarov. However, I think the broad idea (strategically) is not necessarily over ambitious. As of now, we have difficulty finding the enemy and firing the first shots - we also do not know if the enemy operates out of hte three northern systems or if they have a home base beyond them.
Hm. The orders are good, but I still think we should provide her both the new carrier and the other two Aslan ships we gained. Aslan are relatively expensive, it would make sense to use them in field and not just overpay them for a garrison duty.
As for the enemy, we don't have idea who are they institutionally. Are they the state, or a (semi-)rogue state actor, like the intelligence service going too far beyond their state's borders? Maybe they are even pirates, though I doubt it.
And we don't know what is their relation to those northern systems: are they locals, or allies, or conquerers, or the local powers just can say "no" to them.
I mean, it could be that their polity is 20-30 systems in size, but does not really wage a war against us, just has some instituion "acting on their own discretions in near abroad".
We should fight them, and we should learn about them, but it could potentially go very differently, in terms of a larger picture.
Hm. The orders are good, but I still think we should provide her both the new carrier and the other two Aslan ships we gained. Aslan are relatively expensive, it would make sense to use them in field and not just overpay them for a garrison duty.
As for the enemy, we don't have idea who are they institutionally. Are they the state, or a (semi-)rogue state actor, like the intelligence service going too far beyond their state's borders? Maybe they are even pirates, though I doubt it.
And we don't know what is their relation to those northern systems: are they locals, or allies, or conquerers, or the local powers just can say "no" to them.
I mean, it could be that their polity is 20-30 systems in size, but does not really wage a war against us, just has some instituion "acting on their own discretions in near abroad".
We should fight them, and we should learn about them, but it could potentially go very differently, in terms of a larger picture.
I mean, people of those three northern systems could have an opinion about that, if they are not part of the Stealthy Enemy's polity. And if they are, and the Stealthy Enemy is much larger than us, it could also go awkward (if for different reasons).
I'm not sure if we can secure those systems.
We should probably 1) fight the enemy, even if only to punish them and make them wary of attacking us further 2) learn more about them and about those three systems and how they are related. And only if we gauge the we are able to, then 3) capture those systems
It's funny that after 17 years of existence, including several flashpoints, incidents and such, what the HSWS least experienced at and probably worst at, is a ship-to-ship warfare.
Mocking up a 2500 t defence station to see what's possible to transport on a modular conveyor. This carries no offensive weapons, instead relying on a large minefield around the station. We could also use a pair of modular conveyors, one carrying fuel and the other carrying the station, and go up to 3000 tons. That'd let us dock a minelayer and external fuel and armament storage containers to it, which would be nice, as well as including a workshop and UNREP equipment.
Once a larger jump tug comes online, we could upgrade these to a 6,000 ton station. That'd let us install a command bridge, which gives +1 to tactics rolls, a prototype distributed array, which lets us maneuver while using the sensors, and internal hangars and workshops to support more small system defence boats/fighters.
See, I originally made this for 3000 tons, then scaled it down to 2500 tons, and forgot to update it...
It's also technically not a space station, since it has a M-1 drive. This is important because space stations cannot evade in combat, but this can.
On an unrelated note, I've managed to squeeze max power sensors onto a 23.5 ton hull. This is good, because it means we can fit 4 inside a CFA's hangar bay, and deploy them as a big tetrahedron around our formation when it's stationary (and as long as it's moving slowly enough, two CFAs can cover a moving formation).
See, I originally made this for 3000 tons, then scaled it down to 2500 tons, and forgot to update it...
It's also technically not a space station, since it has a M-1 drive. This is important because space stations cannot evade in combat, but this can.
On an unrelated note, I've managed to squeeze max power sensors onto a 23.5 ton hull. This is good, because it means we can fit 4 inside a CFA's hangar bay, and deploy them as a big tetrahedron around our formation when it's stationary (and as long as it's moving slowly enough, two CFAs can cover a moving formation).
Nah, I deserve no credit for originality, it's very much "direct inspiration" (AKA: stealing ). Them and early AEW planes like the TBM-3W shaped my conception of this as an alternative to "we need carriers to do long-range tactical recon" since our carriers aren't optimized for that.
Nah, I deserve no credit for originality, it's very much "direct inspiration" (AKA: stealing ). Them and early AEW planes like the TBM-3W shaped my conception of this as an alternative to "we need carriers to do long-range tactical recon" since our carriers aren't optimized for that.
[X] Plan: Carrier Command
-[X] Construct a jump tug capable of hauling 6k tons in civilian yards
-[X] Another Patrol Carrier (improve the fighters and ship with non-prototype tl10 sensors, if we haven't already) (5,500 tons, 2,837.595Mcr)
-[X] Refit 1xEnhanced Frigate to EWAR Variant with improved sensor capability (and reduced weapons) for use as picket ship. (500 tons, ??? Mcred)
-[X] Excess tonnage used to develop a small EWAR picket that can be carried aboard a CFA or other vessel in the standard 50-ton berthing/hangar as the existing assault shuttle.
-[X] Retain Aslan mercenaries.
-[X] Inquire with the Aslan about acquiring additional technology - especially sensors tech.
-[X] They will urge something else - HSWS command staff will inform the council that this war is likely to be a long one, fought at great distance, and that building the ability to take the war to the enemy and win decisively will take time considering the enemy capabilities, construction times, and our need for additional hulls. We support the continued presence of Vice-Marshall Omarov in Menorb as a recon-in-force but will be recalling them in the near future. We do not currently know the location of the enemy's home system or their industries or shipyards; we will need to construct a series of fortified bases with mines, defense stations, and logistic hubs, to the northern reaches and potentially beyond in order to effectively counter the enemy stealth vessels, locate their bases, and smash their war-making capability.
--[X] Omarov will be ordered to assess the situation in Menorb and act in a moderate manner, considering the need to keep other stations manned and the loss of previous fleet units; she is trusted to make decisions and execute her own tactical plans without meddling or micro-managing from high command beyond the broad strategic directive that we wish to preserve our fleet as we begin work on additional ships and we wish to discover and fix the enemy facilities and home systems for a future campaign. She will be informed that the new patrol carrier will be sent to her, along with additional reinforcements as we can make them available (including further Aslan units).
I'm a bit cautious of the rest of the plan, but I disagree on the construction of new CFA's instead of another patrol carrier. We're going to want more of them for maintenance rotations unless people are planning on only building a one off design and shelving it, with the yard experience going to waste.
[x] Plan: Same General Direction
-[x] Another Patrol Carrier (improve the fighters and ship with non-prototype tl10 sensors, if we haven't already)
-[x] one new "Skirmisher Frigate" - Stealth Armor + Radshields, less overall armor. Switch bay weapon to torpedoes. Add chemical thruster + some fuel. Drop medbay, if necessary.
-[x] refit one flight II frigate into the " prototype sensor picket". Downgrade weapons (switch to torpedo small bay or even pair of torp barbettes). Add the shallow penetration suit and the sensor extension net.
-[x] Retain the services of our 4 Aslan ships.
-[x] Un-mothball the Monitor and add it to Home fleet. Allow usage of Particle beams on it and other ships in case of attack on Home.
-[x] They will urge moderation. We don't know any real targets to strike at. It is not absolutely necessary to strike, either - use your own discretion. If she gets some combat successes and finds the enemy beatable, she may try chasing them around other two known systems. If enemy is more dangerous, maybe posturing and attempting to make a diplomatic contact is better than risking her fleet. If things are even harder, keep to the forward base near the protection of mines. Anyway, we can't micromanage her even at this distance. Keeping her own fleet undestroyed is a primary objective. Getting our crewmembers back is also a primary. Getting enemy ships killed, trophies and prisoners is a secondary. Getitng back our own ships from enemy is also a secondary, maybe less priority than enemy pows/tech/kills. Use her own discretion, again.
--[x] along with the courier, reinforce her with the Patrol Carrier and our two additional Aslan ships. If they can't find Omarov, sit at the forward base.
[X] Plan: Carrier Command
-[X] Construct a jump tug capable of hauling 6k tons in civilian yards
-[X] Another Patrol Carrier (improve the fighters and ship with non-prototype tl10 sensors, if we haven't already) (5,500 tons, 2,837.595Mcr)
-[X] Refit 1xEnhanced Frigate to EWAR Variant with improved sensor capability (and reduced weapons) for use as picket ship. (500 tons, ??? Mcred)
-[X] Excess tonnage used to develop a small EWAR picket that can be carried aboard a CFA or other vessel in the standard 50-ton berthing/hangar as the existing assault shuttle.
-[X] Retain Aslan mercenaries.
-[X] Inquire with the Aslan about acquiring additional technology - especially sensors tech.
-[X] They will urge something else - HSWS command staff will inform the council that this war is likely to be a long one, fought at great distance, and that building the ability to take the war to the enemy and win decisively will take time considering the enemy capabilities, construction times, and our need for additional hulls. We support the continued presence of Vice-Marshall Omarov in Menorb as a recon-in-force but will be recalling them in the near future. We do not currently know the location of the enemy's home system or their industries or shipyards; we will need to construct a series of fortified bases with mines, defense stations, and logistic hubs, to the northern reaches and potentially beyond in order to effectively counter the enemy stealth vessels, locate their bases, and smash their war-making capability.
--[X] Omarov will be ordered to assess the situation in Menorb and act in a moderate manner, considering the need to keep other stations manned and the loss of previous fleet units; she is trusted to make decisions and execute her own tactical plans without meddling or micro-managing from high command beyond the broad strategic directive that we wish to preserve our fleet as we begin work on additional ships and we wish to discover and fix the enemy facilities and home systems for a future campaign. She will be informed that the new patrol carrier will be sent to her, along with additional reinforcements as we can make them available (including further Aslan units).
[x] Plan Retribution
-[x] another patrol carrier
-[x] replacement frigates X2
-[x] They will urge something else - write in
--[x] Give Omarov command authority to pursue hostilities as she sees fit.
--[x] Authorize use of weapons with radioactive effects against targets in vacuum (ships, stations, other)
--[x] Authorize bombardment of industry that could support war effort. (Shipyards, mining, refining, etc) -[x] Ask shipbuilding industry to begin drawing up plans for a 6 jump capable warship. Secondary focus on maximizing speed. Hit and run and raiding are the envisioned use cases for the warship.
[X] OPLAN: Sacred War
-[X] Construct a jump tug capable of hauling 6k tons in civilian yards
-[X] Construct 2xCFA-B Flight II with improved torpedo armament, sensors, and armor. (6k tons, 2800 MCred)
-[X] Refit 1xEhanced Frigate to EWAR Variant with improved sensor capability (and reduced weapons) for use as picket ship. (500 tons, ??? Mcred)
-[X] Excess tonnage used to develop a small EWAR picket that can be carried aboard a CFA or other vessel in the standard 50-ton berthing/hangar as the existing assault shuttle.
-[X] Retain Aslan mercenaries.
-[X] Inquire with the Aslan about acquiring additional technology - especially sensors tech.
-[X] They will urge something else - HSWS command staff will inform the council that this war is likely to be a long one, fought at great distance, and that building the ability to take the war to the enemy and win decisively will take time considering the enemy capabilities, construction times, and our need for additional hulls. We support the continued presence of Vice-Marshall Omarov in Menorb as a recon-in-force but will be recalling them in the near future. We do not currently know the location of the enemy's home system or their industries or shipyards; we will need to construct a series of fortified bases with mines, defense stations, and logistic hubs, to the northern reaches and potentially beyond in order to effectively counter the enemy stealth vessels, locate their bases, and smash their war-making capability.
--[X] Omarov will be ordered to assess the situation in Menorb and act in a moderate manner, considering the need to keep other stations manned and the loss of previous fleet units; she is trusted to make decisions and execute her own tactical plans without meddling or micro-managing from high command beyond the broad strategic directive that we wish to preserve our fleet as we begin work on additional ships and we wish to discover and fix the enemy facilities and home systems for a future campaign. She will be informed that the new patrol carrier will be sent to her, along with additional reinforcements as we can make them available (including further Aslan units).
What is due for construction? Construct a jump tug capable of hauling 6k tons in civilian yards. Construct 2xCFA-B Flight II with improved torpedo armament, sensors, and armor. (6k tons, 2800 MCred). Refit 1xEhanced Frigate to EWAR Variant with improved sensor capability (and reduced weapons) for use as picket ship. (500 tons, ??? Mcred). Excess tonnage used to develop a small EWAR picket that can be carried aboard a CFA or other vessel in the standard 50-ton berthing/hangar as the existing assault shuttle. A courier can take orders North to Vice-Marshall Omarov. What will those orders contain? We support the continued presence of Vice-Marshall Omarov in Menorb as a recon-in-force but will be recalling them in the near future. Omarov will be ordered to assess the situation in Menorb and act in a moderate manner, considering the need to keep other stations manned and the loss of previous fleet units.
Available Budget: 1,731.72MCr Current Dockyard Usage: 21,400/21,500Dtons + 9,400Dtons in civilian yards Current Pilot Usage: 85/100
New Construction
New specifications call for a jump tug, a recovery and deployment vehicle that can transit a parsec of space at a time with a craft docked or towed behind it. It can be built in the already busy civilian yards, and will hardly take two years to complete. It is a masterpiece of functional design, stripped down to absolute utilitarianism.
It even costs less than a billion credits despite its marvellous size compared to our cruiser force. The only thing it would not be able to recover would be the Marine Assault Transport, the as yet undeployed, underutilised massive flagship of the FLF. Meanwhile, the CFA-B also gets the flight II treatment, with a pair of this class laid down in the space freed up by the completion of the Patrol Carrier;
Finally, at a cost of just over 50 million credits, one of the flight II frigates will be refit into the Frigate, Fast EWAR. This new development on the platform adds additional sensor technologies and more sensor operators in order to expand the platforms utility as a picket and defence ship. The trade for this is a halving of the hulls missile tubes, making it a less effective offensive weapon. HSWS Neit is the hull selected for the conversion. A fair price? Time will tell;
Menorb
A report from Menorb arrives in Home on 19y03m01w. In it, Vice-Marshall Omarov writes: Have engaged several enemy ships in the last days while fighting in Menorb. My findings are as follows:
- The enemy is generally able to close to contact on their own terms. They approach after a burn outside the range of effective sensors, running passively in towards a task force. They are difficult to detect as they simply look like a sun-warmed rock until they are close enough to activate their systems and fire the first shots. However it is my understanding that an effectively staffed sensor platform or capital ship would theoretically be capable of detecting the enemy on the approach.
- The enemy is not particularly well-armed for their tonnage. We estimate the principal enemy combat unit to be 3k tons volume while only mounted two to three of their principal radiological weapon systems. They are highly capable and extremely dangerous weapons, that is certainly true, but with so few of them it is difficult for the enemy to effectively disable a larger vessel, such as my own Maha Sona.
- I question the range of the enemy weapon systems. In all engagements thus far the enemy has closed to within 100,000 kilometres before firing, allowing their targets (us) to engage with impunity. Despite attempts to disengage under chemical rocket power, I have yet to see an enemy successfully disengage without taking at least some damage. 9G's of thrust cannot outrun a mass accelerator round.
- Finally, BDA. We successfully disabled an enemy ship, well enough that it couldn't jump away. Unfortunately, it moved into orbit around the Menorb main-world before self-destructing. We can only assume the enemy crew has found a haven there.
For all of Homes Daughters,
Vice-Marshall Omarov
Post Script: I am dispatching part of my forces to the rendezvous point at Sector '01, -02' and am formally requesting what reinforcements can be spared. I have control of the Menorb outer orbitals. I would prefer to retain them.
The Aslan
After a complex series of negotiations, the Aslan reveal that they are perfectly content to sell additional advanced technology to Home and her allies. The question is, as ever, what Home and her allies are willing to pay in response for their military aid.
They are not interested in more money - the HSWS is already paying plenty of that - or in technology in return. What they continue to and have always wanted is additional land grants, more space, more places to grow their clans and families. And it's hardly like Humaniti is using all that space. Home herself is massive, and has barely ten million people on it. What's a few thousand Aslan. Or if not Home, then what about Shambala, that fertile world. After all, Home lays claim to it and is not using it.
Is the HSWS willing to take the Aslan's price to the Council?
[ ] We should propose offering more land on Home.
[ ] We should propose offering the Aslan control of Shambala
[ ] We should make another, different offer.
[ ] We should not take this offer.
In the next few months, additional hulls are coming off the line and freeing up some 9,000Dtons of yard space. What is due for construction?
[ ] Another Patrol Carrier
[ ] More Cruisers
[ ] Replacement Frigates
[ ] Other - write in
Great report from VMar. Omarov. She asks for either a capital ship or something with good sensors, and I think the patrol carrier should fill both roles, the onboard fighters as sensor pickets, and the carrier itself might have the sensor power to burn through. Their stealth is letting them get the first shot, but we're consistently getting the last, to the point of crippling one of their ships.
To be honest I don't love the idea of giving the Aslan more land, that seems risky.
[ ] Plan: plan
-[ ] Two "Skirmisher squadrons". Consisting of: - 2 "Skirmisher Frigates" each (Stealth Armor + Radshields, less overall armor. Switch bay weapon to torpedoes. Add chemical thruster + some fuel. Drop medbay, if necessary.) and 1 "Beagle Frigate" (Stealth Armor + radshilds, less overall armor. Extenstion net + Shallow penetration suit. Downgrade the weapons to a small torpedo bay or a pair of torpedo barbettes, add chemical thruster and some fuel). So, order 6 frigates.
-[ ] We should not take this offer
-[ ] Send reinforcements to Omarov - Carrier, 2 Aslan ships. Also send her a refit EWAR frigate, once it would be ready.
We should send the carrier and potentially also our Marine Assault Transport to help us take and hold ground on Menorb if we decide to annex them for their apparent perfidy.
Would be good to lay down another Patrol Carrier in the yards.
). Them and early AEW planes like the TBM-3W shaped my conception of this as an alternative to "we need carriers to do long-range tactical recon" since our carriers aren't optimized for that.
