Ad Astra! ... an Aurora Forum Game, run by blue emu

[blue emu]

The reason that it's taking so long is that the game has shifted me down to 20 second "action immanent" turns, regardless of which turn-button I press. This might take a while...

[TheLoneGunman]

The reason that it's taking so long is that the game has shifted me down to 20 second "action immanent" turns, regardless of which turn-button I press. This might take a while...

We're with you Great Emu! One nail-biting twenty second increment at a time!

[blue emu]

... he's turned around and is now steering course 210 degrees instead of 49 degrees (which was his closing trajectory). What the heck is going on? If he had first turned on his active sensor and then reversed course, I would assume that he had fired off a salvo of missiles and wanted to stand off out of our range while they ran in... but my instruments picked up no sign of sensor emissions. Could this be a commercial Prix ship, whose sensors are so poor that he only noticed us just now?

[TheExecuter]

He's picked us up on passive sensors?

We must pursue regardless...Our goal is the destruction of the Prix...

[Lord Strange]

.....Bzzzt
"We now go Live (yes, I know speed of light and all that, but shush) on board ESN John Paul Jones under the command of Vice Admiral Edzako with our reporter Johnny Khan. Johnny, you are live on Pan-Humanity Station. What is the situation on-board as our fleet approaches the Precursors?"

"Highly tense Joanne. This is the first major fleet engagement of the Space Era, and so eagerness to prove the utility of fleet and its cost is mixed with fear of the unknown. The men and woman have been exchanging banter about the forthcoming engagement to avoid the terror of death in a cold cold vacuum. Most of it resolves about the Naval codename for the foe, which I cannot repeat until the 10 o'clock news hour. As for the commanders, now is the chance to test their theories, their crews and themselves in the heat of battle. Success will bring everlasting glory and new technology, failure may doom much of humanity. It is suggested that we'll be engaging in a matter of hours, possibly less. At that time we will switch to video only. Stay with us here on PHS to watch history unfold among the stars"

[blue emu]

He's picked us up on passive sensors?

That's the obvious conclusion... but why is he running away? Course 210 is almost directly away from us. You would expect a Prix warship to close in, not run away. I am starting to believe that this new ship isn't a warship at all... which still leaves the REAL Prix warship (the one than whacked Guillaume HJ) unaccounted-for. It's around here somewhere.

We must pursue regardless...Our goal is the destruction of the Prix...

Assuming that this ship is indeed a commercial vessel, I would prefer to take out his warship(s) first, and only then hunt down the civilian ship(s).

[Stuckenschmidt]

That's the obvious conclusion... but why is he running away? Course 210 is almost directly away from us. You would expect a Prix warship to close in, not run away. I am starting to believe that this new ship isn't a warship at all... which still leaves the REAL Prix warship (the one than whacked Guillaume HJ) unaccounted-for. It's around here somewhere.

Assuming that this ship is indeed a commercial vessel, I would prefer to take out his warship(s) first, and only then hunt down the civilian ship(s).

Where does his course lead him? Planet? Jump point?

[ForzaA]

Or, considering that he MAY have been firing missiles already, he's returning home to reload? Or merely standing off after launching the first salvo?

[Nisco]

Since the commercial ship now have spotted us and is running away the warship may now approach on us. I think we should continue the plan.

[Polar Mongoose]

That's the obvious conclusion... but why is he running away? Course 210 is almost directly away from us. You would expect a Prix warship to close in, not run away. I am starting to believe that this new ship isn't a warship at all... which still leaves the REAL Prix warship (the one than whacked Guillaume HJ) unaccounted-for. It's around here somewhere.

Perhaps they out range us and are trying to keep at a distance where they can fire and we cannot return fire.

[blue emu]

Or, considering that he MAY have been firing missiles already, he's returning home to reload? Or merely standing off after launching the first salvo?

What did he use for a target solution? He never turned on any active sensors. Unless he is relying entirely on homing warheads, he can't possibly hit us without a target solution (normally provided by a combination of active sensors and fire control computers).

Where does his course lead him? Planet? Jump point?

I don't know where the jump points ARE... our scout was killed before he could survey the system. Course 210 degrees does NOT take him directly towards any planet or wreck.

Perhaps they out range us and are trying to keep at a distance where they can fire and we cannot return fire.

Then why hasn't he turned on his active sensors to obtain a firing solution? He cannot shoot without one... not unless he's relying entirely on Homing Missiles.

Since the commercial ship now have spotted us and is running away the warship may now approach on us. I think we should continue the plan.

This is my own feeling. I'm a bit mystified as to what's going on... but I still see no reason to abort our intended plan.

[Stuckenschmidt]

I don't know where the jump points ARE... our scout was killed before he could survey the system. Course 210 degrees does NOT take him directly towards any planet or wreck.

Just a thought:

How probable is it, that the AI is retreating into the void just for the lulz without real "destination"? Since he is not heading for a planet, it maybe means he is on the way to a jump point. And that reinforcement is on its way to help him.

[ForzaA]

What did he use for a target solution? He never turned on any active sensors. Unless he is relying entirely on homing warheads, he can't possibly hit us without a target solution (normally provided by a combination of active sensors and fire control computers).

You never saw him turn on an active sensor, in any case; or is that impossible to miss?

[Polar Mongoose]

What did he use for a target solution? He never turned on any active sensors. Unless he is relying entirely on homing warheads, he can't possibly hit us without a target solution (normally provided by a combination of active sensors and fire control computers).

Can really strong passive sensors provide a target solution? Or does it have to be active sensors, no matter how close they get?

[Tvrtko I]

Damn the torpedoes (missiles), full speed ahead!

[blue emu]

Here's the current situation:



... our Fleet is continuing as planned towards the wreckage field in orbit around the habitable planet. The Prix ship is apparently fleeing. Very odd... even their civilian ships have a tendency to close in and try to ram rather than running.

If action is not immanent after all... I wonder if I should recover and refuel the Fighters?

How probable is it, that the AI is retreating into the void just for the lulz without real "destination"? Since he is not heading for a planet, it maybe means he is on the way to a jump point. And that reinforcement is on its way to help him.

As far as I know, Prix don't jump. It is possible that he's retreating towards friendly in-system forces... but I still want to check out the space surrounding that habitable planet first. It remains the most likely place to find a Prix warship.

Can really strong passive sensors provide a target solution?

Not to my knowledge, no. It requires a "ping" from an active sensor.

You never saw him turn on an active sensor, in any case; or is that impossible to miss?

In order to obtain a firing solution, he must bounce a "ping" off of me that is strong enough to travel all the way back to him, and still be detectable. Since it has to travel distance X to reach me, and distance 2*X to reach me and then return to him, the inverse square law indicates that the "ping" will be four times as strong when it reaches me as when it returns to him. It's hard to believe that he heard it and I didn't. I've got both of my Command Cruisers (AWACS ships) along, remember. They've got pretty good sensors.

Naturally, he could be just "blind firing" Homing Missiles at us, and relying on them to aquire their own targets once they get close to us... I guess we'll find out in half an hour or so. That's about how long I would expect them to take to run-in.

[Sapphire]

This is very tense

[blue emu]

This is very tense

It's particularly tense because I don't have a clue what's happening. Is this a Military ship, or Civilian? Did he just attack us with Homing Missiles and then stand off, or did he just notice us now and start fleeing?

Well... when in doubt, stick to the plan. We are still headed for the junk-yard in orbit around Wolf 294 A-II.

[TheLoneGunman]

Glorious Blue GröFaZ,

What is our plan if the Prix refuse combat?

Do we recover the wrecks and leave?

[blue emu]

What is our plan if the Prix refuse combat?

That would be very annoying. We probably have enough force to defeat a pair of Prix warships. I'm not at all certain that we have enough to force them to battle if they don't want to fight... they are more than twice as fast as us, remember. Covering a wreckage-recovery operation would be similarly tense, since we would have at least six civilian ships to guard, and their large size and hot signatures would make them natural targets.

I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. It's still possible that the Prix warship(s) actually WANT a fight, and are just out-of-position at the moment.