The Big One

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-08-22 01:11am

I forsee nukes in the coming chapters. It's an axiom that attacking a SAC bomber leads to glowing in the dark. I sure I won't be disappointed.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-08-22 07:15pm

The caliphate is fucked with a razor wire dildo.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-08-23 09:22am

Marisol!!

I demand bloody vengance!

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-08-23 12:04pm

Chapter 18

“Good God. Which country has ceased to exist?”

“They are all still with us. For the moment anyway."

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-23 03:33pm

The Med is going to have 2 CVN-65, 4 CV-41 and 4 CV-9 plus escorts and the amphibious group

Burak Gazan · Post by **Burak Gazan** » 2004-08-23 04:52pm

phongn wrote:The Med is going to have 2 CVN-65, 4 CV-41 and 4 CV-9 plus escorts and the amphibious group

Yowsa!

Cue the Imperial March and get ready for a good-old-fashioned smackdown

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-08-23 05:05pm

phongn wrote:The Med is going to have 2 CVN-65, 4 CV-41 and 4 CV-9 plus escorts and the amphibious group

Poor Model. Fucked again.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-23 06:04pm

I'd wager his troops can put a world of hurt on those Marines -- their doctrine is old and likely badly flawed without the real-world experience our Marines have. Certainly they can't win but they can make the rescue bloody.

Or maybe Model will achieve another escape...

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-08-23 06:11pm

phongn wrote: Or maybe Model will achieve another escape...

with a radioactive dick no less.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-08-23 07:54pm

The Americans are going to find some solution that lets them save face without burning the Caliphate off the face of the Earth, much as everyone would probably like to see that. Maybe they'll claim it was Model's Janissarries acting alone and merely torch Gaza.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-23 08:55pm

RedImperator wrote:The Americans are going to find some solution that lets them save face without burning the Caliphate off the face of the Earth, much as everyone would probably like to see that. Maybe they'll claim it was Model's Janissarries acting alone and merely torch Gaza.

Exactly. The epilogue of TBO notes that the Caliphate exists at least until 1989 so I haven't been expecting them to die under nuclear annihilation.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-08-23 10:35pm

phongn wrote: Exactly. The epilogue of TBO notes that the Caliphate exists at least until 1989 so I haven't been expecting them to die under nuclear annihilation.

Check the latest timeline update. I don't think the Caliphate lasts to 1989
in any REAL form.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-08-23 10:39pm

They last till '72, seems like it'll be the B-70 that kills them, not the BUFF.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-08-23 11:03pm

Yes, curiously, the Caliphate is mentioned as having STARTED an offensive into Algeria but not FINISHING it.

Still, there's the epilogue of The Big One to consider. Though Stuart is well within his rights to say, "I hadn't planned on writing three sequels to The Big One when I wrote that epilogue, so I'm changing it as I see fit."

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-08-24 01:11am

Anyone know if there exists maps of the TBOverse at different times, or even just the modern one?

edit: And hey, what's up with South America? Is there a timeline somewhere?

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-08-24 03:12pm

Is Stuart going to make mention of the X-15 project, which should have been running since 1959? I'm not sure whether it would fall under Air Force or NASA in this universe, given how NASA is looked down on, but either way it should be based out of Edwards Flight Test Center or NASA Flight Research Center...

And if it's mentioned, things are different enough in this universe that the X-15 should be able to make its 200th flight

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-24 05:08pm

Crayz9000 wrote:Is Stuart going to make mention of the X-15 project, which should have been running since 1959? I'm not sure whether it would fall under Air Force or NASA in this universe, given how NASA is looked down on, but either way it should be based out of Edwards Flight Test Center or NASA Flight Research Center...

And if it's mentioned, things are different enough in this universe that the X-15 should be able to make its 200th flight

I have no idea about the X-15, actually. I do know that the Dyna-Soar project gets full funding in this universe, though.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-08-24 07:26pm

Well, if SAC is transitioning to space as the timeline suggests, and their bomber force is going with them, they'll need atmosphere-skipping bombers, and the X-15 was basically THE hypersonic testbed project. In our timeline, we only just touched the realm of powered hypersonic flight again with the X-43A.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-08-24 08:33pm

phongn wrote: Exactly. The epilogue of TBO notes that the Caliphate exists at least until 1989 so I haven't been expecting them to die under nuclear annihilation.

No I went back and checked my epilogue......

you must be thinking of Chipan.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-08-24 08:47pm

MKSheppard wrote:
phongn wrote: Exactly. The epilogue of TBO notes that the Caliphate exists at least until 1989 so I haven't been expecting them to die under nuclear annihilation.
No I went back and checked my epilogue......

you must be thinking of Chipan.

TBO: Epilogue wrote:As Dedmon had feared so many years ago, once the cult of terrorism and suicide bombing had started it was proving terribly hard to root out. The simmering Cold War in the Pacific had been another – and there were rumors that Chipan and the Caliphate states were becoming closely aligned.

If he sticks to the epilogue, the Caliphate isn't destroyed. What shape it's in is very much in doubt. I don't think he'll be sticking to the description of it he wrote in that "Nations of the TBO universe" thread a while back.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-08-24 08:47pm

Crayz9000 wrote:Well, if SAC is transitioning to space as the timeline suggests, and their bomber force is going with them, they'll need atmosphere-skipping bombers, and the X-15 was basically THE hypersonic testbed project. In our timeline, we only just touched the realm of powered hypersonic flight again with the X-43A.

Hrm, maybe you could pop in and ask a question about that, but the Dyna-Soar was something like the next step after the X-15.

MKSheppard wrote:No I went back and checked my epilogue......

you must be thinking of Chipan.

It mentioned ties between Chipan and the Caliphate states.

Temjin · Post by **Temjin** » 2004-08-24 08:49pm

MKSheppard wrote:No I went back and checked my epilogue......

you must be thinking of Chipan.

No, he's right:

TBO Epilogue wrote:and there were rumors that Chipan and the Caliphate states were becoming closely aligned.

Too bad. I wanted to see the Caliphate glow in the dark.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-08-26 03:43pm

Re-reading these "Rules of Engagement" why would the altitude be restricted to below 40 000 feet? Wouldn't it be a crime to be low???

lukexcom · Post by **lukexcom** » 2004-08-26 06:31pm

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Re-reading these "Rules of Engagement" why would the altitude be restricted to below 40 000 feet? Wouldn't it be a crime to be low???

It's because damned McNamara wanted to be rid of bombers out of the inventory once and for all, and what better way than to get them so vulnerable that being shot down is inevitable, and manipulate that to try to show just how "useless" and "vulnerable" those bombers are?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-08-26 06:54pm

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Re-reading these "Rules of Engagement" why would the altitude be restricted to below 40 000 feet? Wouldn't it be a crime to be low???

It probably has something to due with the throttle settings needed to exceed that altitude. The B-58 doesn't have that big a wing to keep down drag, so it may need to go supersonic to exceed 40,000 feet.