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[USEC_OFFICER]

Greetings commanders. Admiraal-van-die-Vloot Darkuk Voncourse has seen fit to provide you with the following ships for your scouting duties.

Spoiler: Small Ships (click to show/hide)

USEC "Watchful Vigilance", "Daring Escape", "Floating Coffin"
Boat 1-S F-Class
Defence: 2
Integ: 1
Fuel Com: 0.5
Fuel Cap: 10

Weapons:
Energy 1-L
Range: 3
Attack: 2

Extras:
Lacks a Hyperdrive.
Scout Sensors.

Description: Lightly armed and armoured the 1-S is designed as a cheap scout ship for the USEC, until larger and more useful ships can be made. The F-Class is designed for fleet operations, and thus lacks a hyperdrive to save on space, power and materials. Most crew members referred to it as the 'Fucked' class, for obvious reasons.

USEC "Driller", "Dick Shafter"
Boat 1-TD
Defence: 3
Integ: 1
Fuel Com: 0.5
Fuel Cap: 8

Weapons:
Energy 1-LP
Range: 5
Attack: 2

Extras:
1-B Torpedoes x5

Description: An updated version of an older torpedo craft from after Dous Novella, with enough torpedoes for around five barrages. The 2-TD would replace the laser pulse cannon for a conventional one, to help reduce costs.

Spoiler: Medium Ships (click to show/hide)

USEC "Magnum", "Dashing Brilliance", "Resolute", "Space Falcon"
Frigate 1-L M-Class
Defence: 5
Integ: 3
Fuel Com: 1
Fuel Cap: 15

Weapons:
Energy 1-LP
Range: 5
Attack: 2

Missile 1-SR Launchers x2
Range: 0
Attack: 8

Extras:
None

Description: The 1-L is a lighter frigate design, with a larger emphasis on speed and hit-and-run tactics. The M-Class follows this design with the inclusion of two short range missile launchers. To include enough room for the missiles, the railgun has been swapped for additional armour and a laser pulse cannon, giving the M-Class a long ranged option.

USEC "Strike Breaker", "Blunt Instrument", "Spitfire"
Frigate 1-Bl N-Class
Defence: 6
Integ: 3
Fuel Com: 1
Fuel Cap: 12

Weapons:
Cannon 1-R
Range: 2
Attack: 5

Energy 1-LD
Range: 3
Attack: 4

Extras:
1-Bl Mines x2

Description: The 1-Bl frigate is designed to fight on or near the main battle-line, providing support and cover to larger battleships. As such the design boasts two dual laser cannons for shooting down mines and torpedoes. However the M-Class swaps one of these cannons for a cargo bay full of mines, to cover retreats or choke up gravity wells and other vital points.

Spoiler: Large Ships (click to show/hide)

USEC "Admiral Wilson", "General Ted"
Aux #5737
Defence: 8
Integ: 4
Fuel Com: 2
Fuel Cap: 20

Weapons:
WMC-4
Range: 1
Attack: 12

Cannon 1-R x2
Range: 2
Attack: 5

Extras:
None.

Description: While most pre-war USEC vessels were unfit for combat, many still saw use in the fleets of the USEC and Union. The Aux #5737 features an experimental energy weapon fitted onto an old but reliable large frigate body. While no longer in production, these vessels will serve on the front lines until they finally break down.

USEC "Western Fields"
Aux #53286
Defence: 10
Integ: 5
Fuel Com: 2
Fuel Cap: 24

Weapons:
Aeon "Shark" Fighters x3
Range: 0
Attack: 16

Extras:
None.

Description: The USEC "Western Fields" was hastily constructed by the planet Quverous when it declared independence. Admiral Darkuk seized the vessel shortly after completion and pressed its crew into service. Aeon "Shark" fighters feature powerful, short-ranged cannons for chewing up enemy ships.

Spoiler: Torpedoes and Mines (click to show/hide)

1-B Torpedo
Attack: 10
Defence: 2
Fuel Con: 0.1
Fuel Cap: 1

1-Bl Mines
Attack: 10
Defence: 3

While the firepower might seem excessive, the enemy's scouts have engaged our forces in several nearby systems. Every ship you destroy is one less ship to worry about.

You may place your ships anywhere above the white, dotted line. The only other restriction is that your scout ships lack a hyperdrive, and therefore must be placed on the same hex as a ship from the medium or large category, since they are capable of ferrying the scouts through hyperspace. Where you place your ships and how you divide control of them is up to you three. You could attempt to divide the fleet up equally, based on size or speciality, or however else you want.

As always, feel free to ask for clarification if needed. Otherwise, best of luck to you!

[Lenglon]

i'm interested in the Boat 1-TD. do either of you have a preferred ship or collection of ships?

I think the best start point is (04, 03)
turn one use one accel to get into the planet's grav well, turn two use a second accel to leave the grav well with 1 free accel from the grav well.

assuming symmetry, i think they can deploy anywhere in (XX, 16+). so i would expect them to try something similar and by the end of turn 3 be at (09, 11). from deploying at (09,16) and doing a slingshot move.

that will result in them going very, very fast directly at us. if we want to do that as well, and force a short-range fight, then we can be at (07,09) by the end of turn 3.

GM: what accel do we get from the star at (07,09)? is it (+0, +0, +1), (-1, +0, +0), or (-1, +0, +1)?

i'm not sure if that kind of high-speed engagement is optimal for us, I dont know what their fleet composition is like.

GWG, doomblade, any bright ideas?

edit: come to think of it...

GM: same question, but for (08,08) and (10.08)

[GreatWyrmGold]

I think it would make sense to give one player each of the Large Ships and one player command of the Medium ships. The Scouts should go with the Large ships, probably the Vigilance with the Wilson and the Driller with the Fields. As for positioning, putting the ships near (4,3) sounds good, but let's consider spreading out some.

[Lenglon]

your suggestion is internally fair, and gives each player a roughly equal amount of power GWG, but our goal is to win, and we're all teammates. our strength compared to each other is irrelevent.

i think we would be better off putting under each player's command the ships that will work most naturally together. for this reason i think the strike breaker and wilson should be under the same command (although i dont want it).

I've been plotting out a couple possible scouting routes. and it's really easy to underestimate how much momentum is going to change this game. the route i'm currently looking at is:

(04,03) (0, 0, 0) + (0, -1, 0) -> (04, 04) (0, -1, 0) + (-1, -1, 0) -> (05, 06) (-1, -2, 0) + (0, 0, 0) -> (06, 09) (-1, -2, 0) + (0, +1, 0) -> (07, 10) (-1, -1, 0) + (0, +1,+1) -> (09, 10) (-1, 0, +1) + (0, 2, 0) -> (11, 08) (-1, +2, +1) + (0, -1, -1) -> (12, 08) (-1, +1, 0)=(0, 0, +1)

problem is, although that covers a large area fast, and gets the ship out afterwards, it uses a lot of fuel and there isn't a good way to abort the run early if they come in at high speed.

plotting the route out though was very much worthwhile practice, and i think we're going to need to plan at least 5 turns in advance for each move we make in  these early stages. that question i asked the GM last post is going to be critical for planning things, although i managed to avoid them in that plot. in terms of overall strategy, we may want to position our main force behind the star at (09, 05), at the end of three turns we can get them all the way from there to (08, 12) with a momentum of (0, -4, -1), although it cuts mighty close to the star...

GM: if you start a turn at (09, 08), with a momentum of (0, -2, 0), accelerate by (0, 0, -1), and have the sun accelerate you by (0, -2, 0), do you die from hitting the sun? although you dont go directly across it you clip it pretty darn close. how close can we clip the sun without dying?

reminder of previous unanswered questions:

GM: what acceleration do you get from the spots around the sun at: (07, 09), (08, 08), and (10, 08)?

EDIT:

i just noticed this quote from the main thread:

Perfect. You'll be fighting for the Union in the upcoming scenario, since they start with more ships than the USEC.

bolding mine

we need to be carefull with our ships, i'm guessing that we have a quality advantage while they have a quantity advantage.

[USEC_OFFICER]

GM: if you start a turn at (09, 08), with a momentum of (0, -2, 0), accelerate by (0, 0, -1), and have the sun accelerate you by (0, -2, 0), do you die from hitting the sun? although you dont go directly across it you clip it pretty darn close. how close can we clip the sun without dying?

You would definitively die from hitting the sun. As a general rule I'm going with, if you clip the sun graphic, you'll definitively die from getting too close (the line is obviously being drawn from the center of the starting/destination hex).

GM: what acceleration do you get from the spots around the sun at: (07, 09), (08, 08), and (10, 08)?

After a bit of thought, I've gone with this:

Probably not the most logical way to do it, but it's consistent at least. So (07, 09) gives (-1, 0, 0), (08, 08) gives (0, -1, 0) and (10, 08) gives (0, 0, -1).

Hope that helps.

[Lenglon]

thanks.

ok, (08, 06) can in three turns get us to (10, 12) from a standing still start with 2 fuel spent and a momentum of (-2, -2, 0)

GM: can we transfer fuel from one ship to another? or lose fuel from battle damage? i don't understand why the fuel system isn't simplified to always consuming one point per move.

GM: do mines detonate on friendly ships? or do they check for IFF signals?

GM: how hard are mines to detect?

GM: if mines are deployed by a ship that is moving, do they retain that ship's momentum or are they stationary?

GM: if mines are stationary, are they affected by gravity?

GM: if mines end up with both friendlies and enemies in their hex, do they hit everyone or just the enemies?

and yeah, i think the ships i'm most interested in are the small ships. where is doomblade?

[Radio Controlled]

thanks.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

ok, (08, 06) can in three turns get us to (10, 12) from a standing still start with 2 fuel spent and a momentum of (-2, -2, 0)

GM: can we transfer fuel from one ship to another? or lose fuel from battle damage? i don't understand why the fuel system isn't simplified to always consuming one point per move.

GM: do mines detonate on friendly ships? or do they check for IFF signals?

GM: how hard are mines to detect?

GM: if mines are deployed by a ship that is moving, do they retain that ship's momentum or are they stationary?

GM: if mines are stationary, are they affected by gravity?

GM: if mines end up with both friendlies and enemies in their hex, do they hit everyone or just the enemies?

and yeah, i think the ships i'm most interested in are the small ships. where is doomblade?

Check main thread, he posted about mines there.

[Lenglon]

did, doesn't have the details i'm asking for. i need specifics to be able to use them, not generalities.

EDIT:

never mind, saw the bottom section. still need to answer the fuel question but yeah.

[USEC_OFFICER]

GM: do mines detonate on friendly ships? or do they check for IFF signals?

GM: how hard are mines to detect?

GM: if mines are deployed by a ship that is moving, do they retain that ship's momentum or are they stationary?

GM: if mines are stationary, are they affected by gravity?

GM: if mines end up with both friendlies and enemies in their hex, do they hit everyone or just the enemies?

Ugh... I haven't written up the rules for mines/torpedoes, have I? It should be up sometime today.

GM: can we transfer fuel from one ship to another? or lose fuel from battle damage? i don't understand why the fuel system isn't simplified to always consuming one point per move.

The next mission will feature tankers which have special equipment to quickly transfer fuel between ships. However you cannot transfer fuel between ships normally (which is not to say that it's physically impossible, only something that's too risky and complicated to attempt on a battlefield).

You cannot lose fuel from battle damage mostly for simplicity's sake. Fluff-wise it's because the fuel is pressurized hydrogen, and (thanks to several layers of self-sealing material) tank ruptures tend to be either minor, or catastrophic. The middle ground is quite small.

[Lenglon]

um, that chart of star acceleration... is it upside down? or is the other one, from the movement demonstration upside down?

[USEC_OFFICER]

um, that chart of star acceleration... is it upside down? or is the other one, from the movement demonstration upside down?

I'm sorry, can you elaborate? I might have goofed up somewhere, I can't tell where.

[Lenglon]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

^{Figure-1: Example of movement with a velocity of (2,1,0)}
to defence is then calculated, and the table is consulted.

<sup>Figure-3: Acceleration due to a planet's gravity well.

Figure-5: Acceleration due to a sun's gravity well.</sup>

the one on the top is upside down relative to the rest. is it (UpLeft, UpMid, UpRight) or (DownRight, DownMid, DownLeft)?

I was being stupid, please ignore the question, sorry.
EDIT: not double-posting
anyways, where is doomblade? we kinda need him. we also need to figure a general battle plan and suchlike. i'm leaning towards going ahead and having our small scout do that high-speed scout run i charted out earlier. it'll cost it about a quarter of its fuel but it ends in a good position and will give us the basic info we need without revealing our main forces. our main group i'd like to have spend two fuel, one to accelerate towards the sun and one to stop a short distance away. if our enemies bunker up we can bomb them into oblivion using torpedos and mines. if they run one or two ships in to scout, we can use the star's accel to ensure they cannot escape. if they charge us with their entire force, we'll have control of the engagement ranges for each ship.

[Doomblade187]

I'm right here. I've been slow with forum stuff recently. I personally suggest we send our minelayers/hit'n run ships over to the sun, as to enable a fast and easy retreat, helping us scout it out. I suggest the outer orbit, as to give us more room to maneuver.

[Lenglon]

i've been fiddling with plotting out the star's orbits, and i can't seem to find a way to make it happen. planets can be orbited easilly enough, but so far my tests have always resulted in either being flung back out of orbit or crashing into the star. if you can find a stable orbit for the star i'd be delighted.

that lack of a stable orbit is why i'm leaning more towards keeping them behind the star.

[Doomblade187]

Can someone go over how to form stable orbits?