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

[blue emu]

Exploration of a new jump point in the EG 290 system has led Commander Arnold Kiwi Rimmer in ESN Maxwell to the new system of Gliese 686, and to the discovery of two new habitable or semi-habitable planets, one class 1.4 and one class 4. A M0-V Red Dwarf primary, one rock-ball, three rocky planets, five gas giants, one super-jovian, 67 moons and no asteroids. The class 1.4 world is cold, but has a fairly thick Nitrogen/Oxygen atmosphere which is breathable without special equipment. A good candidate for terraforming, if it turns out that it is not already occupied.

Our fifth (and last) Attitude class Cruiser... the ESN Suspicious... has been completed, and has joined the Battle Fleet on exercises. Rear Admiral Arjyla can assign it when he rejoins us... if I don't hear from him in the next few days, I will distribute the four Carriers and the last Attitude myself.

 

[blue emu]

August 1st, 2031. Money down to 71 bucks and it's about to get worse, because I've fired up our Fighter and Missile factories again, to replace our current 2nd-generation weapons with improved 3rd-generation weapons. Hopefully, we won't slide too far into the hole before I can shut them down again. The +20% economy tech is due in December... it can hardly come too soon.

EDIT:

August 14th, 2031. Treasury dips below zero. We are now officially bankrupt. No penalties apparent yet. Civilian morale still high, Production Efficiency still 100%.

Scientist Bo Mosberg has completed research on Ion Drive Missile Engines. I'll quickly build 2000 or so third-generation Missiles of various sizes, then hastily shut the factories down again. Now that the new Missiles can be designed, I can build the third-generation Fighters as well, and then shut down those factories again, too.

 

[Edzako]

August 1st, 2031. Money down to 71 bucks and it's about to get worse, because I've fired up our Fighter and Missile factories again, to replace our current 2nd-generation weapons with improved 3rd-generation weapons. Hopefully, we won't slide too far into the hole before I can shut them down again. The +20% economy tech is due in December... it can hardly come too soon.

EDIT:

August 14th, 2031. Treasury dips below zero. We are now officially bankrupt. No penalties apparent yet. Civilian morale still high, Production Efficiency still 100%.

Scientist Bo Mosberg has completed research on Ion Drive Missile Engines. I'll quickly build 2000 or so third-generation Missiles of various sizes, then hastily shut the factories down again. Now that the new Missiles can be designed, I can build the third-generation Fighters as well, and then shut down those factories again, too.

I wouldnt worry about budget too much when our very own survival as a species is threathened by Space Seals and Galactic ''Trade'' Empire. Shut down those liberals, with armed forces if it comes to that, it will give them much needed field experience before we embark to liberate Seol from their money.

 

[blue emu]

... when our very own survival as a species is threathened by Space Seals...

Even worse... they're NICARAGUAN Space Seals. Check out their flag.

 

[Edzako]

even worse... They're nicaraguan space seals. Check out their flag.

Red Alert!​

 

[blue emu]

Got our first Stab-hit from our negative bank balance... not bad so far, only a -0.61% penalty to Production Efficiency. Less than 1%. We'll have to see just how bad it gets. It's possible that I can stabilize the budget over the next couple of years, despite the refitting and upgrading of our fleet.

Even so, there are cogent arguments for taking out those Nicaraguan Space Seals, when it becomes feasible. They are holding in their slippery flippers one of the most valuable worlds in this section of the Orion Arm... and what are they using it for? Catching fish and balancing balls on their noses! This, with the fate of the Galaxy hanging in the balance! Surely Humanity could put the world to a more productive use.

 

[GaiusC]

I'd say that the Mountain I class shouldn't have been built in the first place. There was no benefit of building ships that became obsolete almost immediately upon completion. They were not used between sliding off the yards and being slid back for refits.

So, this game is really a highly accurate simulation of real-life

Even worse... they're NICARAGUAN Space Seals. Check out their flag.

I take it that the Marine regiments that will liberate their homeworld will be called Wolverines?

 

[Dewirix]

So, this game is really a highly accurate simulation of real-life

That's pretty much what I thought. The carriers were laid down when a war with the Charlies looked like an imminent possibility and thus minimising time-to-service took precedence over resource efficiency. Now things look more stable and Earth can afford to take a bit more time and plan its upgrade paths.

 

[blue emu]

Bankruptcy stab-hits continue, one every five days. No worries yet, though... the cumulative total still doesn't exceed -1%. I laugh at such feeble penalties.

Our next rush research project really must be Improved Command and Control... allowing us to build Sector Commands, and stack our +Wealth% bonus. I should have done that years ago.

 

[blue emu]

Another Naval dockyard has finished tooling up, and the Attitude class Cruiser ESN Belligerent has begun refitting to the Attitude-II version. This particular upgrade will "only" take a year. Still another Naval dockyard has tooled up to refit our Star class Destroyers to Star-II standards, but that measure will have to wait until the slips are clear of Reptile class Mine-Layers, currently under construction.

 

[GaiusC]

Sector Commander Blue Emu says: Ignore the peasant rabble!

 

[Morrell8]

Colonel Morrell8 of the 1st Heavy Assault Battalion, ZERG force, supports the destruction of the Salami flavoured Nicaraguan seals.

 

[blue emu]

The Vonyx / Xz2 espionage team that we had dispatched to the Charlie home world has finally reported in, with the coordinates of a new star system already known to the Charlies but previously unknown to us. Curiously, the new system of EV Lacertae is directly connected to the already-mapped system of Gliese 48, via a hidden (or "dormant") jump-link. It contains one Mars-like world, another rocky but uninhabitable world, two rock-balls, three gas giants, 69 moons and 92 asteroids. We will send a Scout ship to verify this Intel information when one becomes available.

 

[ForzaA]

Aside from espionage, how does one find hidden/dormant jump links?
Will they always be visible from the other system, say?
Or is it a matter of being lucky while maintaining a scan on the location?
Or... ?

 

[blue emu]

Aside from espionage, how does one find hidden/dormant jump links?
Will they always be visible from the other system, say?
Or is it a matter of being lucky while maintaining a scan on the location?
Or... ?

I'm not sure... still a noob at the game. I suspect that they are usually visible from the other end, or perhaps with "Improved Gravitational Sensors", which is indeed one of the available techs.

The two Admiral class Command Ships have just finished construction, and have been immediately send back into the yards for a 13-month conversion to Admiral-II standards.

Penalties from deficit financing have now reached -1.5%... still nothing to worry about, and our +20% income tech should be done in six more weeks.

 

[calestos]

What are the plans for the two next years?

 

[Capt. Kiwi]

Do you have any way to estimate what the deficit will be after the increase to income?

The descriptions of Improved, Advanced and Phased grav sensors only show an increase in survey points generated per time interval, so it's hard to know what it takes to uncover dormant jump points.

 

[blue emu]

What are the plans for the two next years?

Flexible. I hope to finally get the budget straightened out, and provide a surplus (rather than a deficit) of cash. I hope to upgrade as much of the fleet as possible to the improved versions. I hope to finish the Minelayers and Orbital Fuel Stations, and design and build some Drop Ships for our Ground Forces. I will also be building Sector Commands, and slowly building up our ability to invade a yet-unspecified planet... possibly one inhabited by perfidious Pinnapeds. We might also start building some non-Jump warships to guard systems or "tag along" with our jump-capable warships.

Do you have any way to estimate what the deficit will be after the increase to income?

Not really... I hope to eliminate the monthly "negative growth"... how's THAT for economic double-talk?... and slowly get back to zero. The Sector Commands should also help, since they allow me to stack a second Administrator's +Wealth% bonus on top of the one already given by the Planetary Governor.

========== =========== ========== =========

A research team led by Syber has completed research into Combat Drop Modules, and has started researching Improved Command and Control, to allow us to build Sector Commands. Once the on-going research into +20% Income is completed next month, all available Research Labs will be shifted into Improved Command and Control.

 

[Capt. Kiwi]

Not really... I hope to eliminate the monthly "negative growth"... how's THAT for economic double-talk?... and slowly get back to zero. The Sector Commands should also help, since they allow me to stack a second Administrator's +Wealth% bonus on top of the one already given by the Planetary Governor.

It'll only be when you start using the third derivative that I'll be worried.

Any plans on becoming the autocrat of a whole sector when the research is done? Have you got the admin rating for it?

 

[blue emu]

It'll only be when you start using the third derivative that I'll be worried.

Any plans on becoming the autocrat of a whole sector when the research is done? Have you got the admin rating for it?

I've got the Admin rating for it, but my extremely high +40% Wealth bonus might be more effectively applied to Earth itself rather than to the sector, since I'm not sure that the Sector Governor stacks at 100% value.

The 32nd Engineer Brigade under Brigadier Quift has unearthed an intact Nuclear Pulse Spaceship Engine from one of the Xeno-Archeological dig sites on Sigma Draconis. Unfortunately, this model of engine is already obsolete by our standards... we are using Ion Engines now... so we don't expect to learn anything by dismantling it.