Not saying to use them as fast as can make them, just that they see it as valid weapon to use and won't be surprised to see the option for it when they get the aliens bio information and for elfs in command to call to use it at a specific use or time.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Well, if the enemy suddenly exhibits unexpected aggressiveness, we could be in the awkward position where our orbital defense batteries are staring at alien troopships making re-entry directly over their heads and going "WELP" because all their laser cannon assemblies are half-disassembled in the shop that week.
Still, being able to shoot up at the landing forces has its charms, and while the aliens now know to expect us to be ferocious close-up fighters willing to use nuclear demolition charges at the drop of a hat, I think they haven't encountered any of our own laser weaponry yet. So we might actually be able to surprise them by using laser weapons designed around effective principles they aren't prepared to see us use.
Yeah. To an extent, even just forcing the aliens to expend time and effort manufacturing impactors capable of smashing the individual bunkers is worthwhile. And wherever they land, we do NOT want our troops fighting from exposed positions if we can help it. Their laser rifles are too good; we need heavy, durable cover for our soldiers to fight behind.
Okay, at this point you're RPing the space elves a little too hard. The point of fortifications is twofold.
Part one, to reduce the effectiveness of 'blast radius' from kiloton-range and up impactors (strategic bombardment weapons) at actually killing our people and soldiers and at eliminating our ability to fight from positions near the target point. We can't stop them from nuking any given location from orbit, but we can make it a lot more likely that someone 2-3 kilometers from the point of impact will survive and resist if they try to land troops, forcing them to resort to carpet-bombing or outright glassing of areas to be sure they got all the fighting positions. That kind of extremely heavy bombardment means you conquer very little, expend quite a bit of effort, and within certain cultural frameworks will end up looking bad.
Part two, to make sure the aliens cannot do well in ground combat. We've seen that we absolutely can defeat their ground forces at not-totally-insane numerical odds; we want them to be forced to accept that ground combat is a complete nonstarter. We have no idea why these guys are here or what they want, but many of the possible reasons for them to show up become pointless if they cannot defeat us on the ground. They MIGHT respond to that awareness by just trying to exterminate our entire species, but that was always a distinct possibility anyway, so in that case we won't have lost anything by carving our name into their racial memory as "those guys we had to take off and nuke from orbit to be sure of."
In many cases, rapid and decisive defeat of ground forces in some areas combined with effective containment of ground forces in others, such that extreme orbital bombardment fires become a prerequisite for the enemy to advance overland at all, may simply leave the aliens to believe that their objectives are entirely unattainable and that they might as well leave.
It is distinctly possible that the enemy will not be as well prepared to start coming up with such things as we are.
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Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
Sure, but I'm skeptical that the gains on our end would be worth the risk, especially when we have a lot of other options to enhance our military capabilities that wouldn't have the chance of provoking an escalation that our large civilian population would be particularly vulnerable to.
They're not likely to be anywhere nearly as prepared, but we have a massively larger amount of vulnerable targets to that kind of warfare.
Medals for every single orbital trooper.
I wonder if the enemy was expecting this level of resistance?
Well, shit.
Fortifications for everyone, I guess.
Eeesh.
I hope the stockpiles last until our micron-level fans are sufficiently distributed.
That's very good.
All of these plants are camouflaged and dug in, I hope?
Unfortunate, but hopefully, the MLRS will compensate somewhat.
No motivation like an imminent alien invasion, I guess.
Can we give them medals pre-emptively?
Let's hope they'll be a nasty surprise for the landing ships, at least.
I would be in favor of one domestic propaganda action.
Collaborateurs are a known enemy tactic.
Assuming the roll isn't terrible, we'll at least get a Morale boost, which can be very important.
We need to do chemical and biological warfare because as our glorious founder Galchobar proved, only CBN warfare experts have the proper pro democracy mindset, also accidentally dropping some engineered hell virus on a conscript who then takes back to their home world this causing billions of deaths from what should have been a quick expedition would be insanely funnny
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
Yeah. If nothing else, we know that the prior "Game Over" scenario we would've had without the mulligan was the combo of "Civil War with the Fascists" and "Alien Invasion" at the same time.
So one of the best ways the Aliens have to win this war would be to get enough local collaborators to turn things into an Elven Civil War. And our society certainly has had enough hiccups up until this point that if they get a good understanding of our domestic situation and good collaborators, they could probably run a solid propaganda campaign to all those people who have been languishing unemployed and radicalizing.
Setting up propaganda or anti enemy propaganda measures will be good for keeping the population focused on the Aliens as The Enemy.
So one of the best ways the Aliens have to win this war would be to get enough local collaborators to turn things into an Elven Civil War. And our society certainly has had enough hiccups up until this point that if they get a good understanding of our domestic situation and good collaborators, they could probably run a solid propaganda campaign to all those people who have been languishing unemployed and radicalizing.
Setting up propaganda or anti enemy propaganda measures will be good for keeping the population focused on the Aliens as The Enemy.
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The Phoenixian
The Glacier Witch
- Location
- My own little world
One thing to note is that if this, in fact, a "we will be greeted as liberators" situation then the idea that that is the case will probably be behind a lot of the morale of the invaders.
Organizing Department Eight probably benefits more from some potential political cultures of the new aliens than others, but showing that this is no honor, no greater cause in this fight? Will probably go a long way towards degrading the willingness to pursue any conquest or, especially, any occupation force.
There's also a side benefit to it, in that a department focused on propaganda will also push towards an understanding of the Aliens' language and culture to improve its effect, which has the potential to open up a diplomatic front if one presents itself.
Organizing Department Eight probably benefits more from some potential political cultures of the new aliens than others, but showing that this is no honor, no greater cause in this fight? Will probably go a long way towards degrading the willingness to pursue any conquest or, especially, any occupation force.
There's also a side benefit to it, in that a department focused on propaganda will also push towards an understanding of the Aliens' language and culture to improve its effect, which has the potential to open up a diplomatic front if one presents itself.
- Pronouns
- He/They
I have come around to slowing the ground fortification efforts, not because I think they won't won't be very valuable, but because of the enemy strategy. Their ground forces are clearly material-poor and not capable enough to just sweep our own; while their ships are also being bogged down in a campaign for our mining settlements. We can't expect to win there, but I think we can expect that they need that mining (or their own replacements) to sustain a campaign against the planet.
Given that, and the fact that we have already fortified the most critical regions, I think that they won't carry out mass landings in the less critical areas. They will need time to bombard, produce, and/or secure local allies before committing to land conquest. Thus, there is slightly less need to prepare for a land war and more of a need to prepare the population for a potentially long war.
Here's a modification of Preparing for Plan Orange in line with that, which trades out fortification of the Northwest for propaganda. Army hardware development remains critical to fill in the gaps in capabilities, since whenever they do land, we have a plan to counterattack that probably won't achieve surprise.
[] Plan: Mentally Preparing for Plan Orange
-[] Decentralization of Chemical Industry (-40 Mobilization Capacity for 3 Months)
-[] Decentralization of Metallurgical Industries: (-30 Mobilization Capacity for 2 Months)
-[] Redundant Power Grids (-25 Mobilization Capacity for 6 Months)
-[] Type 36 Alternative Variants (-25 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Build Fortified Works in the Southern Sector (-40/2=20 Mobilization Capacity) (Construction)
-[]Domestic Morale Programs (-20 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Anti-Orbital Gun Upgrades(2/2) (-35 Mobilization Capacity)
Given that, and the fact that we have already fortified the most critical regions, I think that they won't carry out mass landings in the less critical areas. They will need time to bombard, produce, and/or secure local allies before committing to land conquest. Thus, there is slightly less need to prepare for a land war and more of a need to prepare the population for a potentially long war.
Here's a modification of Preparing for Plan Orange in line with that, which trades out fortification of the Northwest for propaganda. Army hardware development remains critical to fill in the gaps in capabilities, since whenever they do land, we have a plan to counterattack that probably won't achieve surprise.
[] Plan: Mentally Preparing for Plan Orange
-[] Decentralization of Chemical Industry (-40 Mobilization Capacity for 3 Months)
-[] Decentralization of Metallurgical Industries: (-30 Mobilization Capacity for 2 Months)
-[] Redundant Power Grids (-25 Mobilization Capacity for 6 Months)
-[] Type 36 Alternative Variants (-25 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Build Fortified Works in the Southern Sector (-40/2=20 Mobilization Capacity) (Construction)
-[]Domestic Morale Programs (-20 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Anti-Orbital Gun Upgrades(2/2) (-35 Mobilization Capacity)
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[X]Plan Deny Soft Targets
-[X]Decentralization of Chemical Industry (-40x3)
-[X]Decentralization of Metallurgical Industries (-30x2)
-[X]Redundant Power Grids (-25x6)
-[X]Quantum Computing Systems (-25)
-[X]Build Fortified Works in the North-Western Sector (-25)
-[X]Build Fortified Works in the Southern Sector (-20)
-[X]Anti-Orbital Gun Upgrades(2/2) (-35)
200/200 MC used
Very interesting strategy from the invaders- and one that gives us breathing room. I think we should stick to the plan when it comes to hardening- even if the enemy doesn't seem that interested in just blasting us from orbit they'll almost certainly still wipe out easy targets just out of necessity when they realize they cant just bully us with their ground forces (if they havent already). In addition im quite vindicated in building fortified works. The one decentralization project I'm delaying is armaments, on the basis that we should have munitions sorted for the mid term even if the aliens suddenly reorient and successfully strike those plants, and given the fact that Armaments is both overall less expensive and all front-loaded in cost, I believe it would be the easiest to rebuild if lost outright. Im getting Quantum Computing now since I can fit it in and it has become quite clear that us and the aliens are operating on very different wavelengths. Cracking their comms and figuring out their strategy becomes more vital then ever, and if we are lucky we might be able to get actionable intel on the lands in support of Plan Orange- unless we want to start militarizing civilian cars most of the equipment production projects we haven't already done won't be able to help Plan Orange unless the enemy takes their sweet time up in the orbitals.
Fortification works continues apace, and the anti-orbital gun upgrades are finished as rapidly as possible- that might cause some issues for Plan Orange if the enemy decides to switch gears and sprint towards landing on Dannan, but the need to upgrade the ABGs now before the enemy can get into Dannan Low Orbit remains as critical as it were before.
I'll proceed to analyze the AARs and overall situation in my next post.
-[X]Decentralization of Chemical Industry (-40x3)
-[X]Decentralization of Metallurgical Industries (-30x2)
-[X]Redundant Power Grids (-25x6)
-[X]Quantum Computing Systems (-25)
-[X]Build Fortified Works in the North-Western Sector (-25)
-[X]Build Fortified Works in the Southern Sector (-20)
-[X]Anti-Orbital Gun Upgrades(2/2) (-35)
200/200 MC used
Very interesting strategy from the invaders- and one that gives us breathing room. I think we should stick to the plan when it comes to hardening- even if the enemy doesn't seem that interested in just blasting us from orbit they'll almost certainly still wipe out easy targets just out of necessity when they realize they cant just bully us with their ground forces (if they havent already). In addition im quite vindicated in building fortified works. The one decentralization project I'm delaying is armaments, on the basis that we should have munitions sorted for the mid term even if the aliens suddenly reorient and successfully strike those plants, and given the fact that Armaments is both overall less expensive and all front-loaded in cost, I believe it would be the easiest to rebuild if lost outright. Im getting Quantum Computing now since I can fit it in and it has become quite clear that us and the aliens are operating on very different wavelengths. Cracking their comms and figuring out their strategy becomes more vital then ever, and if we are lucky we might be able to get actionable intel on the lands in support of Plan Orange- unless we want to start militarizing civilian cars most of the equipment production projects we haven't already done won't be able to help Plan Orange unless the enemy takes their sweet time up in the orbitals.
Fortification works continues apace, and the anti-orbital gun upgrades are finished as rapidly as possible- that might cause some issues for Plan Orange if the enemy decides to switch gears and sprint towards landing on Dannan, but the need to upgrade the ABGs now before the enemy can get into Dannan Low Orbit remains as critical as it were before.
I'll proceed to analyze the AARs and overall situation in my next post.
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- Location
- Pennslyvania
- Pronouns
- She/They
[X]Plan Deny Soft Targets
Vote should be open!
Vote should be open!
MordredRaal
Agitating
- Pronouns
- She/They
[X]Plan Deny Soft Targets
A very interesting second engagement, and one I think we can rightfully claim as a victory even if it seems the enemy managed their main operational goal of grabbing prisoners. Poor alien infantry tactics have been confirmed, and the viability of using fortifications and strong points to reduce the comparative technological advantage. The first enemy platoon got wiped out at a high cost despite this due to the equipment mismatch, but surprisingly enough Captain Sionuir spoiling attack managed to cause the most damage with the fewest losses. This is more proof that our doctrine and drills when it comes to infantry combat is straight up superior to theirs. In addition, its noted that their information sharing network is also inferior, with our augmented reality system winning out there- another edge, especially at knife fighting distances. In addition, despite the enemy gaining prisoners we gained something thats probably much more valuable: information on their PD systems and the ability to actually calculate when we should be able to penetrate enemy defenses.
The enemy has revealed their first gambit, and in my honest opinion wasted it. Our partial retreat managed to deflect it somewhat aswell, and despite being prevented from hardening our defenses on the moon properly we still managed to drag them into a down and dirty fight. The weaknesses of the enemy infantry is once again hammered home, although admittedly they're now fighting die-hard stay behind forces in very heavy combat suits. In addition, there seems to be a fundemental flaw in the enemy heavy support: their also all lasers by the looks of it, and that means they struggle to crack hard points and fortified structures. Poke holes, yes, but not much more. However, their weapons are still more powerful than the synods, migating our personal armor (although I imagine it'll still turn KIAs into WIAs). Their own armour isn't actually noticably better than the synods though, promising some more grizzly results when our forces clash in close combat. We've also gained prisoners, and are currently using them to start learning their language. Also, as a side node, some of our guys managed to kill the enemy with their bare hands through power armor. Now that is some radical shit, yo.
Their ability to provide ground support apart from poking holes in things with lasers seems limited, as does their VTOL capacity. The fact that they didnt use their big landers suggests that its something that can only land, meaning its a one use capability, or thats not actually landers. The former is the more dangerous option that we can plan around, so obviously we should do that. This does suggest that once the enemy deploys planetside their ability to transport forces around becomes much more limited.
In addition, it does seem like the enemy intends to take stuff intact. The fact that theyre capturing prisoners might show what their plan is- start communications and form collaborationist elements. It would be the only reasonable path to victory for them once they realise their military might is not strong enough to conquer us outright. I dont think this will be very effective, and if they start seriously going down that route we should be able to deny them. For now we should still focus on making the situation militarily impossible to win for them.
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Stellarengine676
To eternity we shall ride
- Pronouns
- He
[X]Plan Deny Soft Targets
- Pronouns
- He/They
[X] Plan: Mentally Preparing for Plan Orange
-[X] Decentralization of Chemical Industry (-40 Mobilization Capacity for 3 Months)
-[X] Decentralization of Metallurgical Industries: (-30 Mobilization Capacity for 2 Months)
-[X] Redundant Power Grids (-25 Mobilization Capacity for 6 Months)
-[X] Type 36 Alternative Variants (-25 Mobilization Capacity)
-[X] Build Fortified Works in the Southern Sector (-40/2=20 Mobilization Capacity) (Construction)
-[X]Domestic Morale Programs (-20 Mobilization Capacity)
-[X] Anti-Orbital Gun Upgrades(2/2) (-35 Mobilization Capacity)
[X]Plan Failure to Communicate
-[X] Decentralization of Chemical Industry (-40 Mobilization Capacity for 3 Months)
-[X] Decentralization of Metallurgical Industries: (-30 Mobilization Capacity for 2 Months)
-[X] Redundant Power Grids (-25 Mobilization Capacity for 6 Months)
-[X] Type 36 Alternative Variants (-25 Mobilization Capacity)
-[X] Build Fortified Works in the Southern Sector (-40/2=20 Mobilization Capacity) (Construction)
-[X]Domestic Morale Programs (-20 Mobilization Capacity)
-[X] Anti-Orbital Gun Upgrades(2/2) (-35 Mobilization Capacity)
[X]Plan Failure to Communicate
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chaotic-logic
possible impossibility
- Location
- unknown
[X]Plan Deny Soft Targets
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Adronio, by your own analysis, you expect the enemy to be trying to use collaborators against us, correct? Because in that case, I think your plan is very insufficient on the propaganda front. The aliens will have captured at least some equipment compatible with our networks by now, and it is likely that some of the prisoners they've taken will survive and start giving them an "in" on that front.
Fortifications and industrial decentralization are all very well- better than all very well- but we need to think about hardening our people's will to fight. It seems possible but unlikely to me that these aliens intend to open their operations on Danaan with a planet-devastating genocidal bombardment, and much more likely that they are hoping to talk us (or part of us) into surrender. They will almost certainly not just land hundreds of thousands of infantry and obligingly give us a series of land battles like a scaled-up version of the ones our people fought on the moon. They have to know know perfectly well that they're going to run out of infantry a long time before we do at that rate, unless their combat troops are some kind of fast vat-grown slave caste that they can churn out by the million.
So I recommend diverting resources from bunkers to the social warfare front. I tentatively approve of Dessard's plan:
[] Plan: Mentally Preparing for Plan Orange
-[] Decentralization of Chemical Industry (-40 Mobilization Capacity for 3 Months)
-[] Decentralization of Metallurgical Industries: (-30 Mobilization Capacity for 2 Months)
-[] Redundant Power Grids (-25 Mobilization Capacity for 6 Months)
-[] Type 36 Alternative Variants (-25 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Build Fortified Works in the Southern Sector (-40/2=20 Mobilization Capacity) (Construction)
-[] Domestic Morale Programs (-20 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Anti-Orbital Gun Upgrades(2/2) (-35 Mobilization Capacity)
[total here is 195]
And am also working on my own. I want to be prepared to fight a social/propaganda war, to be able to gain insight into enemy strategy, and to keep them from turning parts of our own population against us. Thus, Quantum Computing Systems, Domestic Morale Programs, and Reinforce Internal Networks. That left me with 10 Mobilization Capacity left over, so I went for Found the Defense Engineering Command.
I lost the fortifications and Type 36 variants, but frankly... I don't think we actually need further ground combat unit advantages in order to hold our own against these guys on land, unless they have some really good stuff for ground combat that we haven't seen yet.
[] Plan: Deny Soft Social Targets
-[] Decentralization of Chemical Industry (-40 Mobilization Capacity for 3 Months)
-[] Decentralization of Metallurgical Industries: (-30 Mobilization Capacity for 2 Months)
-[] Redundant Power Grids (-25 Mobilization Capacity for 6 Months)
-[] Found the Defense Engineering Command (-10 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Quantum Computing Systems (-25 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Domestic Morale Programs (-20 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Reinforce Internal Networks (-15 Mobilization Capacity)
-[] Anti-Orbital Gun Upgrades(2/2) (-35 Mobilization Capacity)
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I disagree, forming collaboration stuff is going to take time, and the social situation on the planet is harshly against them. The current general assumption is that this is a genocidal war, and its going to take a lot of work to change that assumption. To put it in another way, we already have defenses in place against this threat- that's just how our society is. If they start to seriously employ a strategy of developing collaborator elements we can react, until then we should focus on preparing against the much more immediate conventional threats.