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Posted: 2007-08-16 07:17pm
by Redleader34
On the retcon, that was rebels, not me. I did not know of such a plan, and if you want to blame me, Its war, and one shuttle. Also, as the poles have said to me, you must seperate OOC and IC information.

The Uche Left Earth a few days after the STMC invaded, enough time to de-code the Monsters, (which use C no less) and brought the alien, as a sort of group science project.

Posted: 2007-08-16 08:27pm
by Thirdfain

After all the incidents earlier involing traffic control, probably not.
Patently absurd; Sol is far and away the most poppulated, industrialized planet in Known Space, and is the administrative and economic center of a half-dozen major empires. It's space is far and away the busiest in the game, and a few minor incidents with pirates and troublemakers would not keep away the massive trade and associated profits.
You've made one important mistake so far; you didn't bother to simulate the presence of Beowulf's fleet. If you did, you could've said 'The FEA ran away' and the two incoming fleets would be none the wiser. I don't think it's enough to give them any real chance of escape, but we'll see.
Actually, I didn't know Beowulf would be attacking when he did- I thought he would be attacking over Nowa Masovie, so I had no plans in placec for this contingency. However, I still have enough forces in position, and you are still deep enough in Polish territory, to ensure an engagement, if not perhaps the decisive one I was hoping for.

Posted: 2007-08-16 08:39pm
by Starglider
Thirdfain wrote:Patently absurd; Sol is far and away the most poppulated, industrialized planet in Known Space, and is the administrative and economic center of a half-dozen major empires. It's space is far and away the busiest in the game, and a few minor incidents with pirates and troublemakers would not keep away the massive trade and associated profits.
'Massive trade and profits?' What? I thought we were talking about Rhoenix's single diplomatic ship waiting a few days to see if someone contacts them?

Rhoenix did you signal the NGTO embassy station? You still have a module reserved on it from earlier, which you can reoccupy if you like - we don't have authority to clear you through Sol traffic control but we can just implicitly get permission from them.

That said I have a feeling that station will be meeting a firey end sooner rather than later.
However, I still have enough forces in position, and you are still deep enough in Polish territory, to ensure an engagement, if not perhaps the decisive one I was hoping for.
Oh there will be an engagement, the only question is whether it will kill all of the attacking ships or just most of them.

Posted: 2007-08-17 02:03pm
by Thirdfain
I've been getting bored, so I'm starting to Paint up some of the ships of the GFRP.

My first effort:

Image


-edit- This vessel's hull paint is set to parade colors. In combat, she'd be somewhat more somber in military black.

Posted: 2007-08-17 02:11pm
by rhoenix
Starglider wrote:'Massive trade and profits?' What? I thought we were talking about Rhoenix's single diplomatic ship waiting a few days to see if someone contacts them?
To be fair, it's an envoy - a diplomatic ship (unarmed), a Shamshir-class fast assault cruiser, a Hel-class Jotun transport ship, and two unarmed heavy transport ships now carrying food and supplies for the people of the Sol system.
Starglider wrote:Rhoenix did you signal the NGTO embassy station? You still have a module reserved on it from earlier, which you can reoccupy if you like - we don't have authority to clear you through Sol traffic control but we can just implicitly get permission from them.
Come to think of it, no, I didn't. I didn't want to enter the Sol system yet due to, shall we say, "increased tensions" from recent incidents. Once acknowledged and given the go-ahead order from someone, the escort will wheel about and go home; the diplomatic ship and the two heavy transports will be the only ones entering the system proper.

Posted: 2007-08-17 02:26pm
by Starglider
rhoenix wrote:two unarmed heavy transport ships now carrying food and supplies for the people of the Sol system.
A couple of ships of food are a minute fraction of Sol's normal daily trade - however the devestated regions in Africa might be able to make good use of this.

I'll do another UCB post shortly, I'm still trying to get a handle on his characters.

Posted: 2007-08-17 05:40pm
by Shinn Langley Soryu
The Powstanie Warszawski class looks incredibly phallic, though my mind's probably in the gutter again.

Anyway, MSPaint ship art? Sounds fun. I've got a large amount of time to try my hand at that, though I need to decide on final designs for my fleet first.

Posted: 2007-08-17 05:53pm
by Thirdfain
Shinn Langley Soryu wrote:The Powstanie Warszawski class looks incredibly phallic, though my mind's probably in the gutter again.

Anyway, MSPaint ship art? Sounds fun. I've got a large amount of time to try my hand at that, though I need to decide on final designs for my fleet first.
Wait until you see the destroyer design...

Posted: 2007-08-17 06:36pm
by Darkevilme
Okay, i'm gonna explain this abomination. I saw thirdfain do a design in paint so i thought it'd be easier to do so with paper and pencil. I was wrong, i ended up editing my rough drawing in paint... nonetheless, thumbnailed so it does not scar your eyes, i bring you the Chamaran big ship of death, the Shikon.

Image

And my promise to do better next time *wonders if bad art skills is a savage beatings offence >.>*

Posted: 2007-08-17 06:47pm
by Thirdfain
We've all got some pretty broad differences in design thought- my 20pt battlecruiser is significantly longer and larger than your 50 point super-BB.

Posted: 2007-08-17 07:47pm
by Tanasinn
Getting familiar with MSpaint, I did a rough representation of the Needle Drone Fightercraft.
Image

The things are stored in and launched from tight racks almost like capship missile launchers. They're often referred to as "flying flak" by the Republic's living fighter/bomber pilots. The drone brains lack the creativity of a living pilot, but they're utterly pitiless and precise pilots. I've not decided on dimensions yet, but they're quite small.

Posted: 2007-08-17 08:34pm
by Darkevilme
How big is the Powstanie class exactly? i cant find a reference to the size on the picture or your oob thirdfain. course that doesnt mean it aint there...

And maybe i'll take advantage of that fact with the Shikons being understimated till they start smashing powstanie's apart left and right with beamcannon blasts...ah one can dream.

Posted: 2007-08-17 08:37pm
by Starglider
Posted. Given the delay and the need to keep things moving I just went for it instead of sending it to Thirdfain for review. However, if any of that is unreasonable let me know and I will edit.

If Thirdfain could confirm whether he's sending a fleet over to defend the minor colony or not, the next post can be White Haven jumping in and opening fire.

EDIT: Incidentally Ruda Slaska is a real mining/industrial town in southern Poland, though I got the name from a rather tragic source.

Of course the recently appointed Duke of Wiesbaden has failed to give serious consideration to the possibility that either the FEA or the Kitaka betrayed the other; after his recent experiences in Kingdom politics he really he should know better.

Posted: 2007-08-17 08:59pm
by Starglider
Some questions from Beowulf:

Q: You said that the message about the Kitaka betrayal wouldn't get there until the Pirate and League fleets were already over the target.

A: Correct. It hasn't got there yet. Thus Vice-Admiral Thuule's pontificating about why neither the FEA or the League have contacted them in the last three hours. He hasn't guessed the truth yet.

Q : If you're doing a surprise attack, wouldn't you stay under EMCON until it's too late for the opposition?

A : Initially they did, for the first part of the trip. But the Polish have an extensive tracking network that picks up anything moving at FTL in their space (as do all other nations in the game, presumably). Thirdfain made it quite clear that shooting out some border outposts only knocks out the outer third or so of the tracking range. Thus the incoming fleets maintained comms silence until they were sure they were being tracked anyway, then tried to pool their data about the tactical situation.

Q : Where are they exactly?

A : At the time of my last post, they're about three-quarters of the way from the Polish border to the original target (probably about 85% of the way from their initial staging points). There won't be any miraculous esapes but I think Thirdfain should lose something (in this case, either a minor colony or complete surprise) for the mistake of not simulating your fleet's presence.

P.S. Thirdfain, could you please confirm the Polish forces in your patrol that killed one of my cruisers.

Posted: 2007-08-18 01:04am
by Academia Nut
Going to be out of touch for a little over a week so I'm just closing down the Straltoc temporarily. I expect when I get back things will have heated up a fair bit, especially when news of the Battle of the Backstab gets out. The Straltoc have this thing about backstabbing... plus with the position of the Kitaka on the map things are bound to heat up between us eventually as the two major powers out in the relatively empty northeast.

Posted: 2007-08-18 02:19pm
by Crossroads Inc.
Dang it! I have unanoced family coming over this weekend... Im ALMOST done with a rather siezable post, but as im off to work, I might not get around to posting till this evening.

Posted: 2007-08-18 08:27pm
by Dark Hellion
I am gonna be out of town for the week. I have my laptop, but I think the last four days I see me gf for 3 months beats out you guys.

Posted: 2007-08-18 08:32pm
by rhoenix
No problem.

I'm still awaiting replies from Covenant and White Haven, as well as Crossroads about my envoy near NGTO headquarters.

I'll patiently wait for my envoy around Sol, since things around there are...busy.

Posted: 2007-08-18 08:33pm
by Thirdfain
Your envoy near White Haven is probably going to have to cancel his visit. See, with in-game travel times as they are, if he left when you posted... well, you'll see.

Posted: 2007-08-18 08:34pm
by Starglider
I've added my attacks to the battles log:

Code: Select all

>>> Kiroter'nah Overflock vs Polish Empire <<<

Location  : Assorted deep space tracking stations on the borders of Polish
            space.
Situation : Kiroter'nah cloak cruisers destroy numerous tracking stations as
            a prelude for a raid into Polish space by four other nations. One
            ship is caught and killed by a patrol force, the other four are
            not intercepted and escape.
Forces    : 1 x Polish 'Husari' class (12 pt), undamaged
            1 x Polish 'Sep' class (10 pt), undamaged
            1 x Polish 'Blyskawica' class (8 pt), undamaged
            1 x Polish 'Wilk' class (4 pt), undamaged
            2 x Polish 'Orzel' class (2 pt), undamaged
            2 x Polish 'Zbik' class (1 pt), undamaged
            4 x Kiroter'nah 'Requiem' class (10 pt), undamaged
            1 x Kiroter'nah 'Requiem' class (10 pt), destroyed
Notes     : Results of the attacks on tracking stations were:
            * K.O.S.C. Euthaniser took out three stations on the south
              border facing the Leauge of Thought.
            * K.O.S.C. Premonition took out two stations further along the
              south border, facing the Kingdom of Isdenestilom (third attack
              aborted due to technical problems).
            * K.O.S.C. Foreboding took out three stations on the north
              border facing the Republic of America, but on the lower (Z-)
              side.
            * K.O.S.C. Apprehension took out two stations directly 'above'
              the centre of Polish space (Z+ axis) but only damaged the
              third and was then destroyed by the Polish 2nd Raiding Division.
            * K.O.S.C. Latent Image took out two stations directly 'below'
              the centre of Polish space (Z- axis - third attack aborted due
              to bad intelligence, target co-ordinates refered to a planned
              station that was never actually built).

Next up, 'Battle of the Backstab', I've got the forces lists but I'd appreciate it if you could confirm your losses (though as I understand it Noble Ire still has some ships in the process of trying to escape).

Posted: 2007-08-18 10:59pm
by rhoenix
Thirdfain wrote:Your envoy near White Haven is probably going to have to cancel his visit. See, with in-game travel times as they are, if he left when you posted... well, you'll see.
You mean "have a front row seat to what's about to happen, and probably be near the attack vector."

Posted: 2007-08-18 11:23pm
by Starglider
rhoenix wrote:You mean "have a front row seat to what's about to happen, and probably be near the attack vector."
There's also an unarmed Chamara diplomatic ship down there somewhere.

Posted: 2007-08-19 12:12am
by Noble Ire
Starglider wrote:Next up, 'Battle of the Backstab', I've got the forces lists but I'd appreciate it if you could confirm your losses (though as I understand it Noble Ire still has some ships in the process of trying to escape).
Hopefully, that battle will be over with soon. I just need to hear from Beowulf on a few points, and then we'll be able to tie things up.

Posted: 2007-08-19 04:10am
by Starglider
Those currently-cloaked blackblades will of course be heading to the orbital colonies (that almost all that system's population lives it) and manufacturing plants to emplace fusion devices on their hulls, ready to detonate as soon as the signal from their parent cruiser is lost. I expect when the defending forces get close we will find out whether Poland is prepared to negotiate with terrorists or not.

I'm guessing the answer is 'no', but that will mean a lot of civillian casualties as soon as the defenders open fire on the Pirate ships.

That said given that they're cloaked, in the short term there's nothing to suggest that those ships are penetrating the system at all - though it would not be unreasonable for the defenders to take a 'better safe than sorry' attitude.

Posted: 2007-08-19 11:59am
by Thirdfain
Cloaks are imperfect. Planting bombs on the hulls of the colonies would be impossible without alerting them, there's no way such a complex close-range interaction would be doable without being detected.