SDN Worlds 4 Commentary Thread VII

[Steve]

And we are on to our seventh OOC thread.

[Simon_Jester]

Subject: SDN Worlds 4 Commentary Thread VI

[modhat on]

From what I can tell (again the timeline for the MEH invasion is a bit muddled because several posts are not dated) from the OMINOUS the Eoghan and Ascendant forces of the Sol Distraction fleet were in system since June 3rd while the Byz/Brag forces seem to arrive sometime June 4th.

What is this based on?

As a beginning point for assessing your proposed timeline, Dark Hellion, I want to know what solid pieces of evidence you've used to construct it. Then we can talk in more detail.

[modhat off]

[Shroom Man 777]

12:04am June Second. 22 Major Warships, 100 Simple troop transports, 100 gunboats, and 212Million Soldiers went to war.

[Agent Sorchus]

12:04am June Second. 22 Major Warships, 100 Simple troop transports, 100 gunboats, and 212Million Soldiers went to war.

To be fair to Dark Hellion, that is just the Eoghan Ominous forces that are headed to Xena. That is an eleventh of the Eoghan Forces (space) and nearly a third of the Eoghan ground contingent.

And DH is probably right that I didn't date the post that has Eoghan forces show up at SOL. I forgot to put a location on that post already.

I've missed a fair bit, LIFE decided to take a bite out of my time. I'm going to get back into all the stuff I've missed and get responses up soon. FAIR enough to say I have a sketch of a response to downfall, but need to reread all the stuff I've skimmed.

[Simon_Jester]

[Modhat on]

I think the best thing at the moment, if we want to clear up the timing issue, is to get all the information we actually *have* on the timing together in one place.

I created a googledoc for this purpose:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/181Y ... t?hl=en_US

Anyone who wants to contribute to it, fine. I don't want highly specific stuff with paragraph after paragraph of text, I just want a clue as to who arrives when to do what.

[Modhat off]

[Force Lord]

Poor Kierger. Never will be able to sleep well from now on.

[Dark Hellion]

Alright, I am going to try to cover several points with this post. If I miss something just bring it up.

First, I'd like to preface that I have no real investment in the whole multiverse idea. I came up with it while spitballing ideas on the half hour walk to school and only chose it because it used some existing things that CN and other players had come up with and allowed for the most freedom of choice from players (though admitted probably too much). Since it seems that most players are happy with using the Downfall continuity I am perfectly comfortable with working it into continuity.

[modhat on]

From what I can tell (again the timeline for the MEH invasion is a bit muddled because several posts are not dated) from the OMINOUS the Eoghan and Ascendant forces of the Sol Distraction fleet were in system since June 3rd while the Byz/Brag forces seem to arrive sometime June 4th.

What is this based on?

As a beginning point for assessing your proposed timeline, Dark Hellion, I want to know what solid pieces of evidence you've used to construct it. Then we can talk in more detail.

[modhat off]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear about this but I did not intend to imply that the timeline given was what was going to happen but simply wanted to lay out my plans in vacuum so that others could spot check it and we could work to bringing continuity in line. Hopefully the rest of this post will address most of your concerns.

The Eoghan and Atlanteans arrived at Sol on June 2. Their purpose there is to basically harass and harry the defenders to prevent them from reinforcing Xena, not directly engage them in a giant decisive battle, because the EUC/Atlantean force is not big enough to simply smash the defenders aside. They force the Sol fleet to stay in Sol, the Sol fleet cannot reinforce their allies in Xena who are getting killed because if they leave the system, Sol will be defenseless from the Eoghans and Nova-Atlanteans.

They did stand there for a day or two waiting for reinforcements. OMINOUS was meant to back them up right after affairs at Xena were over. However, while OMINOUS was ready to reinforce them, the Chamarran-Centralist negotiations delayed them.

The Ascendants went first before the rest of OMINOUS, in response to the Eoghan calls for reinforcements.

To be fair to Dark Hellion, that is just the Eoghan Ominous forces that are headed to Xena. That is an eleventh of the Eoghan Forces (space) and nearly a third of the Eoghan ground contingent.

And DH is probably right that I didn't date the post that has Eoghan forces show up at SOL. I forgot to put a location on that post already.

Ok, I am cool with this. As Sorchus said his post wasn't dated and I thought that it was happening after the resolution of Xena. This may actually work out better anyway. Sorchus has said that he plans on engaging the escaping MEH refugee ships while I plan on ensuring that any unarmed ship is allowed free passage. We could probably explain many of the hours of inactivity as a resulting standoff between my forces and his until the Emissary deadline passes. After that he can have at the refugees as much as Simon allowed him, my forces won't care anymore considering that they plan on killing every living thing left in the system. This should fill a big chunk of the time needed for the Byzantines to get there.

It would also make more sense for the Xylyx to begin attacking MEH listening posts and assets after or simultaneously when the SHITS (and OMINOUS) begin their first attacks, because that would distract the MEH and disallow them from reacting to Xylyx incursions.

My impression was that it was common military knowledge by May 31st that the MEHN was effectively paralyzed. They couldn't afford to leave any of their systems for fear that the enemy would simply bypass them and crush their planets. The Emissaries have been preparing to attack the MEH for longer than any other faction, well before the BEEEF and OMINOUS and have been in the sectors immediately south for over a year at that point. This is why the Emissaries are entering at 12am June 1st. We have observed the generic capabilities of his ships through our joint "anti-piracy" patrols (which didn't get much written because of CN's departure), have observed his planetary defenses via our mercenary operations, and have been observing his reaction to Ork incursions for months. We have a pretty detailed understanding of the MEH's strategic situation and feel certain that they cannot make any meaningful reactions but to hunker in the Sol System. By destroying the out of system defenses we further paralyze them within the Solar System by blinding them to our fleet positioning and forcing the MEHN to protect only their most vital assets (Earth III and the Uranus transit hub) for fear of spreading too thin. Additionally, the assault on the Farthing worlds was very telling of the MEH's inability to reliable react to naval incursion.

Because of all this the Emissaries feel they can attack right when the Coalition ultimatum expires without fear of any major MEH reaction.

And I'm glad that you're cool with Downfall, and are also talking to us about this without, I dunno, threatening to unleash a vast conspiracy of robots at people's countries for some totally not-personal reasons or something. You're a real mensch, man.

You seem to be suggesting that I am not already playing a vast robot conspiracy who threaten other people's countries for impersonal reasons.

And I am totally cool with Downfall and a lot of players have already made actions to tie up the continuity issues since my first objection.

Finally, I am going to post my fleet here and I'll try to update the googledoc later tonight. I'll also probably be on AIM from 10pm CST til 2am or so. My AIM ID is Zionpopsickle8 so if anyone is on and wants to throw me an invite or whatever (I don't use AIM that often because of my irrational hatred of text and instant messages) go ahead.

Emissary Sol Attack Fleet:

8 Class A Heavy Battleships (3200 points)
8 Class B Heavy Battleships (4000 points)
20 Alpha Class Battleships (6000 points)
40 Beta Class Battleships (12,000 points)
20 01 Class Cruisers (3000 points)
4 10 Class Assault Carriers (600 points)
5 11 Class Planetary Assault Vessels (375 points)
40 Hexa Class Heavy Frigates (3000 points)
60 Deca Class Frigates (3000 points)

Total: 34,975 Points

Hopefully this clears up some of the problems.

[Simon_Jester]

Ok, I am cool with this. As Sorchus said his post wasn't dated and I thought that it was happening after the resolution of Xena. This may actually work out better anyway. Sorchus has said that he plans on engaging the escaping MEH refugee ships while I plan on ensuring that any unarmed ship is allowed free passage. We could probably explain many of the hours of inactivity as a resulting standoff between my forces and his until the Emissary deadline passes. After that he can have at the refugees as much as Simon allowed him, my forces won't care anymore considering that they plan on killing every living thing left in the system. This should fill a big chunk of the time needed for the Byzantines to get there...

My impression was that it was common military knowledge by May 31st that the MEHN was effectively paralyzed. They couldn't afford to leave any of their systems for fear that the enemy would simply bypass them and crush their planets. The Emissaries have been preparing to attack the MEH for longer than any other faction, well before the BEEEF and OMINOUS and have been in the sectors immediately south for over a year at that point. This is why the Emissaries are entering at 12am June 1st...

Because of all this the Emissaries feel they can attack right when the Coalition ultimatum expires without fear of any major MEH reaction.

What displeases me about all of this is that you are essentially proposing that everyone else have to agree to "no, by the time we get to Sol, the robots have already destroyed everything." Because that's basically the implication here- the force you're proposing to concentrate is that large.

I would be more content with that if you'd been more involved during the writing of the fall of the MEH, rather than (in essence) trying to swoop in after everyone else has written things and, effectively, contradict them.

You wrote yourself doing a few things first, then sat on your laurels while many others wrote many things. This puts several players in a difficult position if we accept that the Emissaries did indeed attack Sol simultaneously with the human attack on Wolf and Alpha Centauri, and the OMINOUS attack on Xena, and that the Emissaries are trying to exterminate all life in Sol system.

Which, realistically, would trigger the events of Downfall a lot sooner, override Downfall and all posts subsequent to it, and leave everyone else in the game standing around and saying "well, fuck."

I don't like that, and I don't see an easy way to reconcile the interests of the rest of the players with your desire to "have already attacked" Sol before anyone else shows up in force.

And I am totally cool with Downfall and a lot of players have already made actions to tie up the continuity issues since my first objection.

Yes, which means we really need to work out some mutually satisfactory arrangement that doesn't leave you totally out in the cold either... Hmm.

[Dark Hellion]

What displeases me about all of this is that you are essentially proposing that everyone else have to agree to "no, by the time we get to Sol, the robots have already destroyed everything." Because that's basically the implication here- the force you're proposing to concentrate is that large.

I would be more content with that if you'd been more involved during the writing of the fall of the MEH, rather than (in essence) trying to swoop in after everyone else has written things and, effectively, contradict them.

You wrote yourself doing a few things first, then sat on your laurels while many others wrote many things. This puts several players in a difficult position if we accept that the Emissaries did indeed attack Sol simultaneously with the human attack on Wolf and Alpha Centauri, and the OMINOUS attack on Xena, and that the Emissaries are trying to exterminate all life in Sol system.

Which, realistically, would trigger the events of Downfall a lot sooner, override Downfall and all posts subsequent to it, and leave everyone else in the game standing around and saying "well, fuck."

I don't like that, and I don't see an easy way to reconcile the interests of the rest of the players with your desire to "have already attacked" Sol before anyone else shows up in force.

Woah, hold your horses there. I never said that the robots would have destroyed everything by the time others get there. First, I know my force is large enough to do so which is why I plan to give a 36 hour ultimatum for unconditional surrender. This both sucks up a big chunk of the time I am alone in system and allows Siege and Tanasinn to accept refugees and maintain that continuity. Second, unlike the SHITS and the rest of the OMINOUS the Emissaries aren't in a hurry to overrun the MEH. They are far more concerned with being systematic and ensuring that any MEH holding is utterly annihilated. So any planetary bombardment is going to be a very long process as they plan to blast the ever-loving fuck outta them. Also, I would assume that numerous members of the OMINOUS are going to object to the planetary bombardment and start sending dirty messages to the fleet and there is probably going to be some arguing about these actions.

From what I can tell so far, I think I have June 1st til 3rd tied up with the ultimatum and any kind of tension that Sorchus would like to write with me. June 3rd til Downfall (do we have a date on it yet?) seems to be the place that needs to be filled in. I see a couple of things that can do so. As I said I plan to be very thorough with any bombardment I conduct so every target I hit should take numerous hours. Arguments with the other OMINOUS forces could probably fill up several more hours. Finally, Downfall does not mention the fate of the Solar Defense Fleet or as Forcelord has pointed out in PMs the MEHs superweapon. My fleet engaging these forces could probably be used to explain my absence from the Downfall events.

[Shroom Man 777]

Hmm... though if the Sol Fleet dies fighting the Xylyx, then the OMINOUS doesn't have anyone left to fight. Unless they take on the Xylyx themselves?

[Simon_Jester]

Don't forget Dr. Androidbik's superweapon. Surely the MEH will use it to fight the army of huge robots.

[Ryan Thunder]

Hmm... though if the Sol Fleet dies fighting the Xylyx, then the OMINOUS doesn't have anyone left to fight.

Which means that the Chamarrans and Centralites may actually stand a chance of doing some serious damage even if we allow them to be too late to stop Rus' genocide and the results of that.

I like that.

[Darkevilme]

Hmm... though if the Sol Fleet dies fighting the Xylyx, then the OMINOUS doesn't have anyone left to fight.

Which means that the Chamarrans and Centralites may actually stand a chance of doing some serious damage even if we allow them to be too late to stop Rus' genocide and the results of that.

I like that.

Except the Centralites are not on our Trusted list at the moment cause they failed to follow a simple term in our agreement known as 'do not bring friends'

[Ryan Thunder]

Except the Centralites are not on our Trusted list at the moment cause they failed to follow a simple term in our agreement known as 'do not bring friends'

Enemy of your enemies and what not.

[KlavoHunter]

I blame this wholly on Kierger forgetting to mention he'd be bringing the rest of his coalition cobelligerents to Sol. Maybe if he wasn't doped up to the topmost neurons on Sex Panther and toxoplasmosa gondii...

[White Haven]

Let me know if there's anything that needs correcting with the Saint, Fin. I wanted to get the post out there since I know a few people are waiting on it, and the Saint bits are relatively minor details that only concern her and a couple fictional characters.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

It looks good. I was busy sleeping. 12hrs time difference from Eastern time ya know?

[Shroom Man 777]

Oh my god. Bart Blade. BART BLADE!

Thank you, Mayabirdies. That was wonderful. My night was crummy, but then I read that and I laughed. At Bart Blade.

Epaulette is the bestest friend anyone could ask. Ever.

[White Haven]

Bart! BART! BAAAAART!

[Darkevilme]

Just to check. Is anyone else planning on writing something in the area around Earth-4 and that is likely to affect Chamarran actions? If not I'll write my next post for the running of the Byzantines.

[KhorneFlakes]

My prompt response to Mayabird's new post was to laugh. And then let out a long HUUUUUUUUUURR. In amusement.

Dear god the Refuge is funny.

[White Haven]

Affect, no, but the Sixth's engagement would have radiated sufficiently to be obvious to a blind man on the wrong side of Pluto.

[Shroom Man 777]

Just to check. Is anyone else planning on writing something in the area around Earth-4 and that is likely to affect Chamarran actions? If not I'll write my next post for the running of the Byzantines.

I myself am waiting to see what the others do before posting Bragstuff.

[Siege]

Is the Holy Empire with the Byzantines or not? It seems prudent to establish this now.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

The short answer: Yes. The long answer, I haven't gotten around to writing up just yet. Uni just started up again, after all.