The 13th Tribe Book II: A Symphony of War

[fnord]

Well, that left a mark, and was worth the wait. Not the first time geological features copped some wear and tear in this crazy rocket ride, but aforementioned geology actually survived this time (unlike when the planet Atlantis was on disappeared into an artifical Negative Space Wedgie).

[Sky Captain]

Those power plants are going to be toast! IIRC only human ships capable of close air support are BC 304 and various fighters.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Hehehe well the UNSC have a good few divisions of Marines deployed in defensive positions, a Corps-strength formation as a reserve...and the Spartans on stand by. Plus two divisions of Terran Marines and their (as yet unseen!) ground combat equipment. And air support.

As for human ships capable of close fire support...well the BC-304's are the only ones designed for it, doens't mean they're the only ones that can do it. And don't forget we've got all of the batshit-crazy ideas people from the Combined Fleet - Apollo, Tigh, Fireman, SHarpshooter...

[fnord]

In UNSC terms, how far above their weight do the Terran booties punch? A full echelon? If so, that would make either Terran division roughly equivalent to a UNSC corps in their own right.

Will we get to see any pinpoint orbital bombardment on-screen? Phoenix flattening ICBM fields in book 1 didn't count.

Is there any significant personnel exchange between the Tau'ri and Kobolian forces? Frinstance, some Kobolian officers and NCOs aboard HMS Dreadnought to help build the RN's tribal knowledge of driving battlestar-scale ships?

[Natzo]

The Covies pulled the Adama Maneuver.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Hehehe well the UNSC have a good few divisions of Marines deployed in defensive positions, a Corps-strength formation as a reserve...and the Spartans on stand by. Plus two divisions of Terran Marines and their (as yet unseen!) ground combat equipment. And air support.

As for human ships capable of close fire support...well the BC-304's are the only ones designed for it, doens't mean they're the only ones that can do it. And don't forget we've got all of the batshit-crazy ideas people from the Combined Fleet - Apollo, Tigh, Fireman, SHarpshooter...

Whatever happens, they have got.
Beaming and ring technology.
The Covies have not.

[DKeith2011]

Beaming is a big trump card for the Alliance.

Depending on the accuracy, any large vehicle could have a grenade or 2 beamed into the crew compartment. Not like they don't have a track record with that sort of thing.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I was thinking more of nuke, actually...

[DKeith2011]

Those too.

[fnord]

Well, if the Covvie vehicle in question is far enough back from the forward edge of battle, neither your troops nor the vehicle's crew would notice too much of a difference between the choices of banger.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I'm going to run on the assumption that Covenant battlefield ECM is enough to block beaming systems and that their warship shields do as well (I've gotta throw them a bone somehow) - the canon is spotty about Asgard beaming through shields. The Daedalus had to drop shields to beam up Sheppard and Co from one of Michael's bases in early season 5m but elsewhere it doesn't matter. So, to avoid too much of a beaming curbstomp, no beaming through Covenant shields.

As for deploying nukes against the ground forces, that's a nope. In Fall of Reach it's expressly stated that using nukes on the surface (or in orbit even) would cause an EMP that would disable either the S-MAC's (bad) or the surface generators (meaning no Fortress Shield, also bad). They have plenty of other weaponry in their arsenal though.

The Terran Marines are not massively superior to the UNSC counterparts, it's mainly in the prevalence of better body armour and energy weapons which improve logistics. The UNSC bunch have a lot more combat experience however, especially against the Covenant. The Terran bunch have only really deployed against Ba'al;s sort-of Cylon forces in Act One (that was their first combat deployment after all).

And yes, the Adama Maneuver was the inspiration for Nial Decalnee's plan.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Of course it was.

[DKeith2011]

I might have found some starting points for a couple of the new Tau'ri ships.

American supercarriers
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Spaceshi ... S-210.html

British dreadnought
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Spaceshi ... S-102.html

Still working on the Russian design.

[swelch51]

I prefer these ones:

My favorite is the carrier from CoD: Infinite Warfare. It’s what I think of when I think of an American origin space aircraft carrier.

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/e3xxb

This one looks intriguing too. Maybe as a British or Russian design:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/stargate-emp ... oly-render

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I might have found some starting points for a couple of the new Tau'ri ships.

American supercarriers
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Spaceshi ... S-210.html

British dreadnought
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Spaceshi ... S-102.html

Still working on the Russian design.

The attack carrier actually looks like a Tau'ri design. The superdreadnaught, ironically enough, looks more Kobolian, but still cool. I might get the latter for my Star Cruiser(2300AD)game.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I might have found some starting points for a couple of the new Tau'ri ships.

American supercarriers
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Spaceshi ... S-210.html

British dreadnought
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Spaceshi ... S-102.html

Still working on the Russian design.

Nice finds! The dreadnought model is certainly viable as a starting point for the British battlewagon, as that's the same general hull form I envisage, though mine is wider and flatter.

As for the carrier...I get a very Tau'ri/Asgard mashup vibe from it, especially with those big vanes rising above/below the hanger decks. I haven't really put a lot of thought into the Yankee supercarriers as they aren't really a factor in this story (nor the Russian ships either) but I vaguely envisaged the American ships as being large flattened cylinders, with longitudinal landing decks and broadside launch decks (taking ideas from Battlestars, but having it all within one armoured hull rather than outriding pods. That Oriskaney-class is a real fun design though. The long forward neck definitely fits with American SG!Verse designs though.

[fnord]

Dang, so we won't see Kirk, J.A., commanding Enterprise in action this book?

[Eternal_Freedom]

Probably not, if only because the first one finished will be the USS Yorktown.

[swelch51]

<r>This is what I envision for Tau'ri American carriers:<br/>
<br/>
<URL url="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/e3xx ... </URL><br/>
<br/>
Another possible variant:<br/>
<br/>
<URL url="https://www.moddb.com/mods/stargate-emp ... <LINK_TEXT text="https://www.moddb.com/mods/stargate-emp ... oly-render">https://www.moddb.com/mods/stargate-emp ... </URL><br/>
<br/>
This might look good for the British or Russians:<br/>
<br/>
<URL url="http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/UNSA_T ... </URL><br/>
<br/>
Regardless of what you think about the game, CoD Infinite Warfare has some awesome looking ships!</r>

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Dang, so we won't see Kirk, J.A., commanding Enterprise in action this book?

J.T., fnord.

Phil, may I suggest tracking down Roger McBride Allen's novel Hostile Powers? While not as well-written as its prequel. The Torch Of Honor, it does describe just the carrier I think you're looking for(albeit on the Brit/ROK side). It would also make sense that the Tau'ri, especially the Royal and US Navies, would incorporate some Kobolian design features in their newer builds.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Probably not, if only because the first one finished will be the USS Yorktown.

Two ironies here. Roddenberry originally intended for the hero ship to be named Yorktown, and the Enterprise-A was originally named Yorktown.

[fnord]

Dang, so we won't see Kirk, J.A., commanding Enterprise in action this book?

J.T., fnord.

Phil, may I suggest tracking down Roger McBride Allen's novel Hostile Powers? While not as well-written as its prequel. The Torch Of Honor, it does describe just the carrier I think you're looking for(albeit on the Brit/ROK side). It would also make sense that the Tau'ri, especially the Royal and US Navies, would incorporate some Kobolian design features in their newer builds.

Cinnabar, I was referring to the real-life USN officer, not the fictional Starfleet one.

As for incorporating Kobolian bitz into Tau'ri designs, that makes a hell of a lot of sense - they can learn from the mistakes the Kobolian mob made and then go make a bunch of brand-new ones.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Cinnabar, I was referring to the real-life USN officer, not the fictional Starfleet one.

Forgot about him. My bad, fnord.

[fnord]

If he does land the spot, he'll probably (be expecting to) cop a lot of stick.

Not sure if I got an answer to this earlier, but here goes again. E_F has said that Kobolian crews are mostly homogeneous - Terran crews on Terran ships and likewise for Colonials. Is there an exchange program with the Tau'ri?

[Eternal_Freedom]

Oooook this is what happens when I spend a day in work away from the forum.

swelch51: I appreciate the thought my friend but none of those links worked for me. Sorry.

Cinnabar: I knew Yorktown was the original name for TOS's main ship, and while I suspect the latter Yorktown is where the Ent-A mysteriously appeared from I can't recall if it was ever confirmed.

Fnord: There isn't an exchange program per-se, but there is a reasonable overlap as Elysium Base over Earth is a joint command.