Traveller, The Rise of Empire: A Naval Design, Procurement and Command Quest

[X] OPLAN: Mourning Wall
-[X] Refocus on Xyri. Be prepared for potential incursions from S'Taxu. Honour the lost.
-[X] 4,000 tons
-[X] Prioritising fleet support, command and control and operational extension.

As unimaginable as this loss is, the men and women of the Heimdall were trained military spacers and volunteers-they knew that reaching out into the unknown might end with them sacrificing their safety and their lives for the sake of our consecrated Home, her People, and the discovery of new worlds and civilizations. Based on the Janus After-Action Report, the people of S'taxu are well-armed, well-equipped, and firmly opposed to any interlopers on their territory. To issue any sort of response out of an inflated sense of our own prestige or military might will only lead to more deaths and perhaps our first inter-stellar war. It is true that this crime calls out to all the People's Daughters for justice, but we cannot act rashly, and an invasion force, or even a demand for answers, may have little result but the same weapons that erased the Heimdall being turned on Home itself.

This office advocates instead that we reach out to and attempt alliance with the unknown civilization within the Xyri system. It is likely that a hostile power such as we faced in S'taxu has attempted violence against its other neighbors in addtion to our own encounter, and the Xyrians and their government may have information crucial to planning our next steps against this new threat. Additionally, we have no choice but to place all available combat vessels on the highest possible alerts, stationed at jump-capable points around our borders to ensure that any S'taxui invasion-if it comes-is sent howling back into the deep black.

Our new fleet logistics vessels must take their design cues and doctrine from this tragedy and its aftermath: these vessels must be well-armored, reasonably well-armed, and loaded to bear with all possible fleet support and command technology and systems, including long-range radar, ECM and ECCM systems, munitions resupply, and medical suites. Its large size will allow this "Anchor-class" to serve as the core of our expeditionary and defensive fleets, arming, repairing, and coordinating our Cruisers, Destroyers, and strike craft as they strike out against our foes in distant stars. Finally, this new logistics ship should be highly modular in its carrying capacity; as we prepare our fleets for the dangerous new galaxy we live in, newer multirole designs must be considered in addition to our current fleet; missiles, torpedoes, and other multi-mission munitions will undoubtedly play a role in conflicts to come.
 
We'd gotten the Heimdall's Jump Flash a couple of hours into our stay, but we saw a whole lot happen all at once.
Hmmm… So Heimdall dropped straight onto something. We didn't see a big plume, so it could've been some sort of static defence. No indication of communication.
The S'Taxu system contains significant orbital and space traffic, concentrated around the fourth and fifth planets as well as the seventh and eighth.
OK, I read that as them being more developed than we are, correct? No estimation of how much warships do those guys operate?
We must investigate whether any of the crew survived the Heimdall's destruction.
After a nuclear explosion? I wouldn't count on it.
and operational extension.
Meaning?

Other observations:
  • There was no mission log, but I assume S'Taxu got out welcome package? Could potentially give us an opening.
  • It was a good idea to send scouts in tandem, at least we saw what happened. It might be a good idea to rebuild the scout, if only to have something to send to Xyri or accompany the cruisers to S'Taxu.
  • Send two cruisers as soon as possible to demand answers from the local government, is a good idea, but we might also want to send all the cruisers we've got and Janus.
 
[X] OPLAN: Mourning Wall

I agree with some that we need to determine what just happened, even if we will get are just scraps of data.
 
This office advocates instead that we reach out to and attempt alliance with the unknown civilization within the Xyri system.
Perhaps. At least we'll have an excuse as to why our scouts operated the way they did.
Our new fleet logistics vessels must take their design cues and doctrine from this tragedy and its aftermath: these vessels must be well-armored, reasonably well-armed, and loaded to bear with all possible fleet support and command technology and systems, including long-range radar, ECM and ECCM systems, munitions resupply, and medical suites.
Nah, if logistic support ships end up anywhere near combat then something went wrong. As I see it, these guys shouldn't be armoured or armed, because that stuff has mass.
 
[X] Begin preparations for an invasion. A squadron of four cruisers will be a powerful scouting force and will pave the way for future violence.

Iron and Blood!
 
Nah, if logistic support ships end up anywhere near combat then something went wrong. As I see it, these guys shouldn't be armoured or armed, because that stuff has mass.

It's not a perfect comparison, but modern 21st century command/logistics naval ships like the San Antonio classes from the USN carry roughly 32 missiles on a fused fire support radar system for air defense, and they're looking into adding ground strike cruise mutions too. In my view, making sure the beating hearts of our fleets can defend themselves and get their supplies where they're needed is key-even if we sacrifice a small part of carrying capacity to do it.
 
Nah, if logistic support ships end up anywhere near combat then something went wrong. As I see it, these guys shouldn't be armoured or armed, because that stuff has mass.
Yes, if these guys find themselves under attack something has gone wrong, but remember Murphy's Law. Things will go wrong in war, a lot, and usually in the way that's worst for us. I see it being very worth it to at least make it so these ships can hold off some minimal assault for a time.
 
[X] Refocus on Xyri. Be prepared for potential incursions from S'Taxu. Honour the lost.
[X] 4,000 tons
[X] It should prioritise supply, fuelling and manufacturing of spares.

If our scout was annihilated that quickly, I don't think we're in a position to launch a raid yet. Keep in mind that our ships will trickle in one-by-one, and they likely have a defensive installation orbiting the planet that can respond immediately. If a single cruiser can't win a fight against an alert defensive station, then it'll just be the loss of two more cruisers.

IMO, it's better to ready our defences and plan ahead to build larger warships that can actually break through defences when they arrive.

As for what the support ships should do, I think the "fleet command" ship should be our first real capital ship. Since we don't know when ships will arrive, we'll want to send the logistics ships in the second wave, which means it should focus on non-combat things.
 
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[X] Refocus on Xyri. Be prepared for potential incursions from S'Taxu. Honour the lost.
[X] 4,000 tons
[X] It should prioritise supply, fuelling and manufacturing of spares.
 
[X] We must investigate whether any of the crew survived the Heimdall's destruction. Send two cruisers as soon as possible to demand answers from the local government.

[X] 4,000 tons

[X] It should prioritise supply, fuelling and manufacturing of spares.
 
and they likely have a defensive installation orbiting the planet that can respond immediately.
We can just...not jump to that planet, though. I'm still not sure we should go in at all, mind, but that specific point isn't really an issue.
 
[X] Plan Revisit
-[X] Honor the fallen. There is not much we can do for them now, but it is important to make at least an attempt to investigate their deaths so that our servicemen know that the Navy takes care of their own.
--[X] Send three Interstellar Cruisers and HSWS Janus. Squeeze in at least one government representative on board. The mission is ascertain whether the destruction of our ship was a mistake and open communications if able. The ships are to jump in some distance from S'Taxu, converge and burn in formation to the site where the welcome package was dropped. Do not initiate combat. HSWS Janus is to observe and if things go wrong again, jump to Home to bring in the news.
--[X] Rebuild the lost Interstellar Surveyor.
-[X] Logistic Support Ship should be around 4,000 tons and it should prioritise supply, fuelling and manufacturing of spares.
 
[X] Plan Revisit
-[X] Honor the fallen. There is not much we can do for them now, but it is important to make at least an attempt to investigate their deaths so that our servicemen know that the Navy takes care of their own.
--[X] Send three Interstellar Cruisers and HSWS Janus. Squeeze in at least one government representative on board. The mission is ascertain whether the destruction of our ship was a mistake and open communications if able. The ships are to jump in some distance from S'Taxu, converge and burn in formation to the site where the welcome package was dropped. Do not initiate combat. HSWS Janus is to observe and if things go wrong again, jump to Home to bring in the news.
--[X] Rebuild the lost Interstellar Surveyor.
-[X] Logistic Support Ship should be around 4,000 tons and it should prioritise supply, fuelling and manufacturing of spares.

Changing my vote. To be honest doing nothing at all and sitting on our hands is asking for a political firestorm of MAJOR proportions.
 
[X] OPLAN: Mourning Wall
Until we can solve the jump-coordination problem, I think attempting to engage with the hostiles of Staxu is a bad overall plan. Relatedly, however, we might want to invest in some static defenses around our gravity wells, in case they attempt some sort of distributed incursion.
 
[X] Plan Revisit
-[X] Honor the fallen. There is not much we can do for them now, but it is important to make at least an attempt to investigate their deaths so that our servicemen know that the Navy takes care of their own.
--[X] Send three Interstellar Cruisers and HSWS Janus. Squeeze in at least one government representative on board. The mission is ascertain whether the destruction of our ship was a mistake and open communications if able. The ships are to jump in some distance from S'Taxu, converge and burn in formation to the site where the welcome package was dropped. Do not initiate combat. HSWS Janus is to observe and if things go wrong again, jump to Home to bring in the news.
--[X] Rebuild the lost Interstellar Surveyor.
-[X] Logistic Support Ship should be around 4,000 tons and it should prioritise supply, fuelling and manufacturing of spares.
 
Until we can solve the jump-coordination problem, I think attempting to engage with the hostiles of Staxu is a bad overall plan.
Notice that Plan Revisit goes around this problem by jumping in further so that we've got time to assume proper formation. That of course means these guys have time to react, but in this particular case that is good because there'll be no surprice. At the moment I'm operating under the assumption that the destruction of Heimdall could've been an unfortunate accident. It's a small chance, given that these guys lobbed atomics at an unarmed scout, but it is conceiveable.

On that note, how do nucler missiles interact with point defense in Traveller? Are missiles usually destroyed far enough so that the explosion is not harmful?
 
Relatedly, however, we might want to invest in some static defenses around our gravity wells, in case they attempt some sort of distributed incursion.
I still think ripping the engines out of the Instrasolar Cruisers and setting them up in Lagrange Points around Home would be the simplest solution given they're heavily armed and armored and already built.
 
[x] We must investigate whether any of the crew survived the Heimdall's destruction. Send two cruisers as soon as possible to demand answers from the local government.

[X] 4,000 tons
[X] It should prioritise supply, fuelling and manufacturing of spares.

[X] Plan Revisit
 
We can just...not jump to that planet, though. I'm still not sure we should go in at all, mind, but that specific point isn't really an issue.
That assumes they can't redeploy units to cover the planet we're jumping to.

Also, re. Plan Revisit, my understanding is that we're jumping into gravity wells, so "jump outside the gravity well then burn in" doesn't work?

Edit: after asking section on discord, we can't just aim far away from a body, which means we're either targeting a planet or star. We can avoid likely intercept by directly targeting the star and coming in from above the ecliptic, though, if we want.

Personally, I think that looks like an attempted first strike, since we'd be dropping in a position that bypasses a lot of their defences, which may not put them in a position where they really want to chat.

Edit2: For context, in the Earth-Sun system, 100D puts you right about Earth's orbit. Since this is a blue giant, we're probably jumping in around S'Taxu-2, which would make for a great gravitational slingshot to hit S'Taxu-4 in a way that would be very difficult to counter.
 
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That assumes they can't redeploy units to cover the planet we're jumping to.
I'm not saying they'll be totally unable to respond, but what you originally said was:
and they likely have a defensive installation orbiting the planet that can respond immediately.
"Defensive installation" sounded to me like you meant static defenses, and "respond immediately" is definitely off the table if they have to fly over to us first.
Also, re. Plan Revisit, my understanding is that we're jumping into gravity wells, so "jump outside the gravity well then burn in" doesn't work?
My understanding was that we had to jump outside of the 100-diameter limit, with no maximum distance.
 
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