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

Capt. Kiwi

Nights? Warm. Days? Young.

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.921

Dewirix said:

Assuming they'll run from contact, might be worth surrounding them on four sides, lighting them up with active sensors on three sides and preparing to fight them on the fourth.

Click to expand...

As long as any one of our forces is able to deal with them, that's a good plan. Hunting probably is a good analogy here, and we want to flush them out of cover into the sights of our fleet. We don't want them running straight through one of our noise-making detachments, though.

What we must avoid at all costs is driving them further away from the planet - we need them in our tracking station's scopes, or we might lose them forever. The biggest risk is probably that in surrounding one target, we alert the other and it flees away from our ships, into the void. You're going to want to take that into account.

 

Dewirix

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.922

I was working on the assumption that they're civilian ships that will run away from contact. We can use three active sensor ships as beaters to flush them out towards the rest of the fleet, which can be pretty much every other ship you have.

Of couse, if that doesn't work it could get a bit dicey for the beaters.

 

blue emu

GroFAZ

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.923

Darkrenown said:

Can you actually use these Genetic Modification Centers you keep finding?

Also, is there any benefit to making Mars more earth-like or is class 0 as good as it gets? It still seems fairly chilly.

Click to expand...

Once I reach class-0 the population limits are removed, and Mars can support any number of colonists without using any life-support infrastructure. So yes... at that point, further modifications would only be for role-play purposes.

I can use those genetic modification centers, yes... but at my current tech level, I will probably get more mileage out of terraforming instead. All installations require labor to run them, so any people used for running a genetic modification center will be unavailable to run a terraforming installation.

 

Capt. Kiwi

Nights? Warm. Days? Young.

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.924

Dewirix said:

I was working on the assumption that they're civilian ships that will run away from contact. We can use three active sensor ships as beaters to flush them out towards the rest of the fleet, which can be pretty much every other ship you have.

Of couse, if that doesn't work it could get a bit dicey for the beaters.

Click to expand...

Apparently Prix commercial ships have a fondness for ramming manoeuvres. Any detachment would at least need to be able to stop them, even if our assumptions are right.

 

Darkrenown

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.925

blue emu said:

Naturally, the more groups that I divide into, the better my chances of intercepting them... but the weaker the intercepting group will be.

Click to expand...

If the ships are unarmed/out of ammo as they appear to be, weaker groups should be fine. I say use at least 4 groups

Edit: For ramming attacks, they'll run into PD missile/Gauss range if they try to ram, I think that plus the ASM should be plenty even with the fleet in quarters.
We could also use the fighters in separate groups and or/send them ahead for the groups for the initial strikes.

 

Dewirix

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.926

Capt. Kiwi said:

Apparently Prix commercial ships have a fondness for ramming manoeuvres. Any detachment would at least need to be able to stop them, even if our assumptions are right.

Click to expand...

I know they like to ram unarmed vessels, but I'm not sure they'd try the same against warships. Fortunately I'm in a scout somewhere far away, so I don't have a problem with risking our sensor-equipped ships like this.

 

blue emu

GroFAZ

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.927

One half of our fleet has taken up position in the inner system, without provoking any reaction from the Prix. Now we are just waiting for the other detachment to reach position in the outer system.

 

blue emu

GroFAZ

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.928

The detachment of warships has "turned the corner", outflanking the first Prix ship, and is now headed for its position directly outward of the Prix. Still no indication that we've been spotted.

 

Capt. Kiwi

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.929

What sort of distance are we maintaining from the first target? And how far does that leave us from the second one?

 

blue emu

GroFAZ

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.930

Cool... Scientist Bo Mosberg has finished the hardware design for the first of our new series of jump drives (the 15,000-ton model). It's 500 tons lighter than the model it replaces.

Still moving into position in the Wolf 294 system.

Capt. Kiwi said:

What sort of distance are we maintaining from the first target? And how far does that leave us from the second one?

Click to expand...

Closest approach so far about 1.5 b-km. Further than that from target #2.

 

blue emu

GroFAZ

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.931

In position.

I think I'll set the outermost fleet in motion first, since they're further away. Still haven't decided whether to split into smaller groups... it may depend on just how long it takes the Prix to spot me.

 

Capt. Kiwi

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.932

Hmm... I'd be most worried about Chakar 001 bolting out to the left of screen. If you're going to split, it should probably be the Red Orchestra task force to head Chakar 001 off if it does that.

 

Dewirix

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.933

Capt. Kiwi said:

Hmm... I'd be most worried about Chakar 001 bolting out to the left of screen. If you're going to split, it should probably be the Red Orchestra task force to head Chakar 001 off if it does that.

Click to expand...

I think Red Orchestra is just a scout. We're looking for the Combined Fleet #1 & #2 and the Decoy fleets. Not sure I can make them out in that screenie.

 

Capt. Kiwi

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.934

Dewirix said:

I think Red Orchestra is just a scout. We're looking for the Combined Fleet #1 & #2 and the Decoy fleets. Not sure I can make them out in that screenie.

Click to expand...

That's alright then. As long as we're never closer to Chakar 001 than 003, it shouldn't bolt.

 

blue emu

GroFAZ

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.935

Both fleet detachments are now in motion. Range to target about 1 b-km. Still no reaction.

 

Capt. Kiwi

Nights? Warm. Days? Young.

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.936

We'we going to kill the Pwix!

 

blue emu

GroFAZ

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.937

Capt. Kiwi said:

We'we going to kill the Pwix!

Click to expand...

We'll need to get a hell of a lot closer than this... still, we're creeping up on him. 600 m-km away, now.

 

Capt. Kiwi

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.938

Yeah, we're still six times too far for even the bombardment rounds to get him. Which is an interesting idea - are we going to try hitting him with them? Or have we not got any with us?

 

S

stamasd

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.939

blue emu said:

If it's signifigantly faster than the Prix, it can explore the system with near-impunity, since it would take about three Prix Cruisers, converging on it from different directions, to bring it into engagement range.

Click to expand...

I used to think that my 12500km/s recon FACs were pretty much invulnerable, since they would be able to outrun anything...

...until one ran into a patrol of Precursor FACs.

 

blue emu

GroFAZ

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• Jun 14, 2011

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• #5.940

Capt. Kiwi said:

Yeah, we're still six times too far for even the bombardment rounds to get him. Which is an interesting idea - are we going to try hitting him with them? Or have we not got any with us?

Click to expand...

We brought a couple of salvos... but I'd much rather try to get close enough for more than one ship to fire, and if he spots us and runs, THEN use the bombardment ammo to try and cripple an engine so we can catch him.

So far, so good...