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Other Games / Re: Aurora - The Dwarf Fortress of 4X Games
« on: August 13, 2011, 04:46:54 pm »
What, second page? This thread must live!
With the new version, I've started a new campaign where I'm not using any missiles; both to increase the difficulty and to simplify logistics.
I've learned a lot about beam warship design from the experience (for instance, It seems that power to capacitors is evenly split between weapons, even if some weapons are already full; I had planned for ships that could only fire their PD *or* their anti-ship beams to save space on power plants, but that class was a disastrous failure), and it turns out that a purely beam armed fleet has massive point defense capability. The only time missiles ever managed to hit my ships was when the precursors resorted to firing 52 missile salvos of 50,000+ km/s antimissiles at my ship, and even then I was completely swatting some of the salvos. Admitedly all I've fought so far are precursors and an NPR with laughably low tech (their ships had half the speed of mine), and only one ship loss ever when I stumbled into range of a beam armed planetary fortress by mismanaging the time settings.
I didn't want to build fleets for every colony though, so I decided to try planetary fighter bases. After some early experimenting with carriers I decided to stick with heavy battlegroups for mobile forces, though, and other than one obsolete old carrier for transporting fighters to new colonies my fleet is exclusively beam armed heavy cruisers.
If you're curious, long and detailed schematics in the spoiler block!
With the new version, I've started a new campaign where I'm not using any missiles; both to increase the difficulty and to simplify logistics.
I've learned a lot about beam warship design from the experience (for instance, It seems that power to capacitors is evenly split between weapons, even if some weapons are already full; I had planned for ships that could only fire their PD *or* their anti-ship beams to save space on power plants, but that class was a disastrous failure), and it turns out that a purely beam armed fleet has massive point defense capability. The only time missiles ever managed to hit my ships was when the precursors resorted to firing 52 missile salvos of 50,000+ km/s antimissiles at my ship, and even then I was completely swatting some of the salvos. Admitedly all I've fought so far are precursors and an NPR with laughably low tech (their ships had half the speed of mine), and only one ship loss ever when I stumbled into range of a beam armed planetary fortress by mismanaging the time settings.
I didn't want to build fleets for every colony though, so I decided to try planetary fighter bases. After some early experimenting with carriers I decided to stick with heavy battlegroups for mobile forces, though, and other than one obsolete old carrier for transporting fighters to new colonies my fleet is exclusively beam armed heavy cruisers.
If you're curious, long and detailed schematics in the spoiler block!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Ships of the Imperial Fleet, 2093
The Guderian was the first beam cruiser design, with all of the earlier beam destroyers now being long scrapped. It was also the previously mentioned ship where I experimented on an either/or power distribution system, effectively giving all of its weapons ROF 15 instead of 10. Additionally, the Empire was always short on Corundium for mines, and the Guderians cost nearly 900 corundium each, which halted mine production for years; in the end railguns were crash developed as a new primary weapon system to try and reduce Corundium costs; this is why despite being a 30 year old design the Guderian is still in active service; and it may be best to develop a refit to new tech levels while keeping the existing laser weapons rather than replacing them with new construction.
The point defense laser turrets use the reduced fire rate laser option and the turret buffs in the 5.5x to great effect; each quad turret is only 9.8 HS, and with their impressive range can be pressed into service as extremely effective anti-ship and (theoretically) anti-fighter weapons.
The Guderian II was an attempt to use Railgun weapons to lower the Corundium cost without sacrificing combat ability. The railguns are larger and in order to fit a comparable armament the ship has less armor and shorter range than its predecessor despite increases in armor technology. And it still costs a lot of corundium; the point defense lasers with their high range and capacitor rate (to compensate for the 1/4 fire rate) turned out to be the biggest use of Corundium. Still, the design is an overall success; The railguns are arguably more powerful than the older lasers despite a lower fire rate, with nearly 3x the total damage and less reduction due to range; the design also costs more than 200 corundium less, though more minerals in total, than the Guderian I.
Plans are in place for a Guderian III, using newer tech and shorter range point defense lasers to reduce Corundium costs even further; however, with the war against the Wurzburg Kingdom now over military buildup is currently paused.
The Greece serves the role of Jump and command ship for the fleet. Its powerful sensors are able to detect enemies while on offensive deployment away from planetary tracking stations, and its point defense capability is a much appreciated addition to any fleet, though without a long range fire control or ECCM they are not very effective as anti-ship weapons.
The fleet also has various fuel tankers troop transports, and survey ships, but all are unarmed.
Both fighter base and carrier (though in practice it serves more as a transport than a combat carrier) are very old designs, with no pressing need to refit either. Currently, 10 Tigris protect Earth, and 3 each the colonies of Dawn and Liberty. Plans have been made to increase the garrison of Dawn as it has grown into a major manufacturing center, and there are also plans to add a garrison to the new colony growing up around the Archaeological dig in Epsilon Eridani.
The oldest fighter design, there are 52 Falcons on Earth, and the only reason they're still around is it costs nothing to maintain them for an emergency. Slower and shorter range than newer fighters, combat doctrine calls for them to be held in reserve and for anti-missile defense of Earth in the worst case situation of an attack on the homeworld.
Arguably the most combat capable fighter ever built, the Falcon II was also the most expensive (even more so than the newest generation of the Eagle Eye scout fighter) and were unfortunately designed shortly before the massive corundium shortages that plagued the Empire during construction of the Guderian class. As a result, only 78 of the fighters were ever built, which are now all located to the Dawn garrison on the theory that they can take best advantage of their long range when operating as a group.
Just as designers attempted to use railguns to make a more practical cruiser, the same strategy was employed with fighters, likely with more success. Though they have less than a third the range of the Eagle II, the Kestrel can inflict nearly three times as much damage, and costs barely more than half as much as a Falcon II, including no corrundium whatsoever. They were sufficiently cheap that 130 were produced in the short time before development of the Kestrel II.
A purely evolutionary upgrade to the Kestrel, the Kestrel II boasts slightly increased weapons and fuel range, and forms the backbone of planetary garrisons in Sol and on new colonies.
Third in the series of scouting fighters, the Eagle Eye provides active sensor coverage for fighter squadrons. As the fighters are only intended to serve in defense of planetary colonies, long range, low resolution sensors were not deemed necessary.
During the Wurzburg War, a major flaw in the fighter defense concept was revealed; while capable of defending the world they were stationed on, the fighters lacked the range to control the actual system. Future fighter designs will likely seek to drastically increase the small crafts' range in order to remedy this shortcoming, if a way can be found to do so without greatly handicapping combat capability. Electronic warfare components for small craft have also recently been developed.
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Guderian class Cruiser 12,000 tons 1145 Crew 3562 BP TCS 240 TH 1200 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 11-46 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 82.8
Maint Life 5.22 Years MSP 1855 AFR 115% IFR 1.6% 1YR 114 5YR 1704 Max Repair 193 MSP
Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E4 (12) Power 100 Fuel Use 40% Signature 100 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 210,000 Litres Range 78.8 billion km (182 days at full power)
Heavy Laser Cannon (4) Range 384,000km TS: 6250 km/s Power 10-5 RM 6 ROF 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 8 7 6 5
Quad Light Laser Cannon II Turret (6x4) Range 180,000km TS: 20000 km/s Power 12-6 RM 6 ROF 10 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1
Point Defense Fire Control (2) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 20000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Primary Fire Control (1) Max Range: 384,000 km TS: 5000 km/s 97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
Primary Fusion Reactor (5) Total Power Output 50 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR9-R1 (1) GPS 84 Range 9.2m km Resolution 1
ECCM-1 (1) ECM 10
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposesThe Guderian was the first beam cruiser design, with all of the earlier beam destroyers now being long scrapped. It was also the previously mentioned ship where I experimented on an either/or power distribution system, effectively giving all of its weapons ROF 15 instead of 10. Additionally, the Empire was always short on Corundium for mines, and the Guderians cost nearly 900 corundium each, which halted mine production for years; in the end railguns were crash developed as a new primary weapon system to try and reduce Corundium costs; this is why despite being a 30 year old design the Guderian is still in active service; and it may be best to develop a refit to new tech levels while keeping the existing laser weapons rather than replacing them with new construction.
The point defense laser turrets use the reduced fire rate laser option and the turret buffs in the 5.5x to great effect; each quad turret is only 9.8 HS, and with their impressive range can be pressed into service as extremely effective anti-ship and (theoretically) anti-fighter weapons.
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Guderian II class Cruiser 12,000 tons 1269 Crew 3838.8 BP TCS 240 TH 1200 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 10-46 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 94.8
Maint Life 5.09 Years MSP 1999 AFR 115% IFR 1.6% 1YR 129 5YR 1928 Max Repair 193 MSP
Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E4 (12) Power 100 Fuel Use 40% Signature 100 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 155,000 Litres Range 58.1 billion km (134 days at full power)
Quad Light Laser Cannon II Turret (6x4) Range 180,000km TS: 20000 km/s Power 12-6 RM 6 ROF 10 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1
Spinal Railcannon (4x4) Range 384,000km TS: 6250 km/s Power 21-6 RM 6 ROF 20 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 4 4
Point Defense Fire Control (2) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 20000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Primary Fire Control (1) Max Range: 384,000 km TS: 5000 km/s 97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
Primary Fusion Reactor (6) Total Power Output 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR9-R1 (1) GPS 84 Range 9.2m km Resolution 1
ECCM-2 (1) ECM 20
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposesThe Guderian II was an attempt to use Railgun weapons to lower the Corundium cost without sacrificing combat ability. The railguns are larger and in order to fit a comparable armament the ship has less armor and shorter range than its predecessor despite increases in armor technology. And it still costs a lot of corundium; the point defense lasers with their high range and capacitor rate (to compensate for the 1/4 fire rate) turned out to be the biggest use of Corundium. Still, the design is an overall success; The railguns are arguably more powerful than the older lasers despite a lower fire rate, with nearly 3x the total damage and less reduction due to range; the design also costs more than 200 corundium less, though more minerals in total, than the Guderian I.
Plans are in place for a Guderian III, using newer tech and shorter range point defense lasers to reduce Corundium costs even further; however, with the war against the Wurzburg Kingdom now over military buildup is currently paused.
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Greece class Jump Cruiser 12,000 tons 1056 Crew 3380.6 BP TCS 240 TH 1200 EM 0
5000 km/s JR 4-50 Armour 11-46 Shields 0-0 Sensors 56/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 49
Maint Life 3.54 Years MSP 1761 AFR 115% IFR 1.6% 1YR 216 5YR 3241 Max Repair 484 MSP
J12000(4-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 12000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 4
Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E4 (12) Power 100 Fuel Use 40% Signature 100 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 210,000 Litres Range 78.8 billion km (182 days at full power)
Quad Light Laser Cannon II Turret (5x4) Range 96,000km TS: 20000 km/s Power 12-6 RM 6 ROF 10 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 0
Point Defense Fire Control (1) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 20000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Primary Fusion Reactor (3) Total Power Output 30 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR429-R120 (1) GPS 33600 Range 429.4m km Resolution 120
Thermal Sensor TH4-56 (1) Sensitivity 56 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 56m km
ECM 20
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposesThe Greece serves the role of Jump and command ship for the fleet. Its powerful sensors are able to detect enemies while on offensive deployment away from planetary tracking stations, and its point defense capability is a much appreciated addition to any fleet, though without a long range fire control or ECCM they are not very effective as anti-ship weapons.
The fleet also has various fuel tankers troop transports, and survey ships, but all are unarmed.
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Tigris class Fighter Base 9,850 tons 235 Crew 965.8 BP TCS 197 TH 0 EM 0
Armour 5-40 Sensors 1/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Hangar Deck Capacity 9000 tons
Strike Group
26x Kestrel II Fighter Speed: 12000 km/s Size: 6
4x Eagle Eye III Scout Fighter Speed: 12000 km/s Size: 6
This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 4 sections Code: [Select]
New York II class Carrier 11,750 tons 371 Crew 1168.4 BP TCS 235 TH 250 EM 0
1063 km/s Armour 1-46 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 0
Maint Life 12.39 Years MSP 621 AFR 110% IFR 1.5% 1YR 7 5YR 112 Max Repair 62 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 9000 tons
Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E0.4 (1) Power 250 Fuel Use 4% Signature 250 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 382.7 billion km (4166 days at full power)
Strike Group
26x Kestrel II Fighter Speed: 12000 km/s Size: 6
4x Eagle Eye III Scout Fighter Speed: 12000 km/s Size: 6
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposesBoth fighter base and carrier (though in practice it serves more as a transport than a combat carrier) are very old designs, with no pressing need to refit either. Currently, 10 Tigris protect Earth, and 3 each the colonies of Dawn and Liberty. Plans have been made to increase the garrison of Dawn as it has grown into a major manufacturing center, and there are also plans to add a garrison to the new colony growing up around the Archaeological dig in Epsilon Eridani.
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Falcon class Fighter 300 tons 9 Crew 80.5 BP TCS 6 TH 53 EM 0
8833 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 2
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 60% IFR 0.8% 1YR 10 5YR 150 Max Repair 38 MSP
FTR Magneto-plasma Drive E600 (1) Power 52.8 Fuel Use 6000% Signature 52.8 Armour 0 Exp 50%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 1.0 billion km (31 hours at full power)
Light Laser Cannon (1) Range 120,000km TS: 8833 km/s Power 3-1 RM 4 ROF 15 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Fighter Fire Control (1) Max Range: 128,000 km TS: 16000 km/s 92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Fighter Reactor (1) Total Power Output 1.2 Armour 0 Exp 5%
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposesThe oldest fighter design, there are 52 Falcons on Earth, and the only reason they're still around is it costs nothing to maintain them for an emergency. Slower and shorter range than newer fighters, combat doctrine calls for them to be held in reserve and for anti-missile defense of Earth in the worst case situation of an attack on the homeworld.
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Falcon II class Fighter 300 tons 9 Crew 144.5 BP TCS 6 TH 72 EM 0
12000 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 2
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 60% IFR 0.8% 1YR 19 5YR 285 Max Repair 72 MSP
FTR Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E560 (1) Power 72 Fuel Use 5600% Signature 72 Armour 0 Exp 80%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 1.1 billion km (24 hours at full power)
Light Laser Cannon II (1) Range 180,000km TS: 12000 km/s Power 3-1.5 RM 6 ROF 10 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1
Fighter Targeting Computer (1) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 20000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Fighter Reactor II (1) Total Power Output 1.6 Armour 0 Exp 5%
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposesArguably the most combat capable fighter ever built, the Falcon II was also the most expensive (even more so than the newest generation of the Eagle Eye scout fighter) and were unfortunately designed shortly before the massive corundium shortages that plagued the Empire during construction of the Guderian class. As a result, only 78 of the fighters were ever built, which are now all located to the Dawn garrison on the theory that they can take best advantage of their long range when operating as a group.
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Kestrel class Fighter 300 tons 12 Crew 77.5 BP TCS 6 TH 72 EM 0
12000 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 60% IFR 0.8% 1YR 7 5YR 109 Max Repair 25 MSP
FTR Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E560 (1) Power 72 Fuel Use 5600% Signature 72 Armour 0 Exp 80%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 1.1 billion km (24 hours at full power)
Fighter Railgun (1x4) Range 50,000km TS: 12000 km/s Power 3-3 RM 5 ROF 5 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Fighter Small Targeting Computer (1) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 12000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Fighter Reactor (3) Total Power Output 3 Armour 0 Exp 5%
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposesJust as designers attempted to use railguns to make a more practical cruiser, the same strategy was employed with fighters, likely with more success. Though they have less than a third the range of the Eagle II, the Kestrel can inflict nearly three times as much damage, and costs barely more than half as much as a Falcon II, including no corrundium whatsoever. They were sufficiently cheap that 130 were produced in the short time before development of the Kestrel II.
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Kestrel II class Fighter 300 tons 12 Crew 85.1 BP TCS 6 TH 72 EM 0
12000 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 60% IFR 0.8% 1YR 8 5YR 116 Max Repair 31 MSP
FTR Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E560 (1) Power 72 Fuel Use 5600% Signature 72 Armour 0 Exp 80%
Fuel Capacity 15,000 Litres Range 1.6 billion km (37 hours at full power)
Fighter Railgun II (1x4) Range 60,000km TS: 12000 km/s Power 3-3 RM 6 ROF 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Fighter Small Targeting Computer (1) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 12000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Fighter Reactor (3) Total Power Output 3 Armour 0 Exp 5%
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposesA purely evolutionary upgrade to the Kestrel, the Kestrel II boasts slightly increased weapons and fuel range, and forms the backbone of planetary garrisons in Sol and on new colonies.
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Eagle Eye III class Scout Fighter 300 tons 8 Crew 139.1 BP TCS 6 TH 72 EM 0
12000 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 60% IFR 0.8% 1YR 31 5YR 460 Max Repair 112 MSP
FTR Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E560 (1) Power 72 Fuel Use 5600% Signature 72 Armour 0 Exp 80%
Fuel Capacity 30,000 Litres Range 3.2 billion km (3 days at full power)
Fighter Sensor Suite (1) GPS 112 Range 15.7m km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposesThird in the series of scouting fighters, the Eagle Eye provides active sensor coverage for fighter squadrons. As the fighters are only intended to serve in defense of planetary colonies, long range, low resolution sensors were not deemed necessary.
During the Wurzburg War, a major flaw in the fighter defense concept was revealed; while capable of defending the world they were stationed on, the fighters lacked the range to control the actual system. Future fighter designs will likely seek to drastically increase the small crafts' range in order to remedy this shortcoming, if a way can be found to do so without greatly handicapping combat capability. Electronic warfare components for small craft have also recently been developed.
(That's why I'm pushing for a DSTS base on Ceres.)