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

[blue emu]

Naval construction and refit:

All of our Mountain and Mountain-II class Light Carriers are now refitted to Mountain-III Assault Carriers.

All of our Admiral-II class Battle Management Vessels are now refitted to Admiral-III class.

All of our Attitude-II class Light Cruisers are now refitted to Attitude-III class, and a more heavily-armed and better-protected non-jump version is under construction.

All of our Battle class Heavy Cruisers are now refitted to Battle-II class.

Two naval yards are tooling up to build a more heavily-armed and better-protected non-jump version of the Hero class Battlecruiser (Hero-II NJ). It will have a main armament of sixteen size-6 missile tubes, doubled magazine stowage, increased fuel stowage, increased speed, thicker armor, improved shields, improved CIWS, and enhanced sensors and fire controls as well as other improvements.

The last two Star-II class destroyers are being refitted to Star-III class Destroyer Escorts.

The Culverin class Monitor is being refitted to Culverin-II class.

Our three Reptile class Mine Layers are being refitted to much improved Reptile-II versions.

EDIT:

 

[Capt. Kiwi]

Retired at 61?

I guess discovering Moria and the first alien ruins, and fighting dangerous battles comes with its perks.

I'll take a new character, whatever will see me in a big warship again the quickest.

 

[blue emu]

Retired at 61?

I guess discovering Moria and the first alien ruins, and fighting dangerous battles comes with its perks.

I'll take a new character, whatever will see me in a big warship again the quickest.

There are new warships under construction, to bulk out our Navy with some non-jump vessels... so you should be back in action soon enough.

 

[Dewirix]

There are new warships under construction, to bulk out our Navy with some non-jump vessels... so you should be back in action soon enough.

Given a sufficiently broad definition of action - I haven't fired a shot yet!

 

[blue emu]

Given a sufficiently broad definition of action - I haven't fired a shot yet!

With our current fleet set-up the Fighters see most of the action and score most of the kills.

Unfortunately, after the First Battle of Wolf 294 and the "Massacre of Innocents" in which we lost 49 of our 60 Fighters, almost no-one is willing to fly them anymore... despite the fact that our modern Fighters are four times faster, half the size (and therefore twice as difficult to detect by radar), eight times harder to hit with a missile, and much better armed. Captain Felix Sylvestris is one of the few players willing to fly them.

 

[Dewirix]

With our current fleet set-up the Fighters see most of the action and score most of the kills.

It wasn't a complaint so much as an observation. They also serve and all that.

Personally, I'm glad to trade a chance at glory/an early death for a bit more survivability and a decent anti-missile defence.

 

[Ayeshteni]

With our current fleet set-up the Fighters see most of the action and score most of the kills.

Unfortunately, after the First Battle of Wolf 294 and the "Massacre of Innocents" in which we lost 49 of our 60 Fighters, almost no-one is willing to fly them anymore... despite the fact that our modern Fighters are four times faster, half the size (and therefore twice as difficult to detect by radar), eight times harder to hit with a missile, and much better armed. Captain Felix Sylvestris is one of the few players willing to fly them.

I'll be happy to shift from an obsolent Decoy ship to a fighter if it possible.

Aye.

 

[OrangeYoshi]

With our current fleet set-up the Fighters see most of the action and score most of the kills.

Unfortunately, after the First Battle of Wolf 294 and the "Massacre of Innocents" in which we lost 49 of our 60 Fighters, almost no-one is willing to fly them anymore... despite the fact that our modern Fighters are four times faster, half the size (and therefore twice as difficult to detect by radar), eight times harder to hit with a missile, and much better armed. Captain Felix Sylvestris is one of the few players willing to fly them.

I had originally wanted a fighter, but I cazme in right after Wolf 294 when I believe it was stated that no more PCs would be flying fighters. If that's changed, I'd love to take a fighter.

 

[Raaritsgozilla]

I'll be happy to shift from an obsolent Decoy ship to a fighter if it possible.

Aye.

This. Again...

 

[Edzako]

It wasn't a complaint so much as an observation. They also serve and all that.

Personally, I'm glad to trade a chance at glory/an early death for a bit more survivability and a decent anti-missile defence.

I concur (from inside my heavily armoured Battlecruiser)

 

[blue emu]

@CatKnight:

You have been re-assigned from the Hercules class Tug ESNG Nine Lives:

Hercules class Fleet Tug 53550 tons 914 Crew 1761.6 BP TCS 1071 TH 2000 EM 0
1867 km/s JR 2-25 Armour 1-126 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control 1 PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 21 MSP
Tractor Beam

JC56K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 56000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Nuclear Pulse Engine E0.8 (20) Power 100 Fuel Use 8% Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 63.0 billion km (390 days at full power)

This ship is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

... to the new Atlas class Tug ESNG Eight Lives Left:

Atlas class Tug 98000 tons 1841 Crew 8517.5996 BP TCS 1960 TH 5836.25 EM 0
8507 km/s JR 2-25 Armour 1-189 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control 1 PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 54 MSP
Tractor Beam

JC99K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 99000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E0.78 (58) Power 287.5 Fuel Use 7.8% Armour 0 Exp 2%
Fuel Capacity 1,300,000 Litres Range 306.1 billion km (416 days at full power)

CIWS-200 (1x6) Range 1000 km TS: 20000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit

This ship is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

The new ship is four and a half times faster (8,705 kps vs 1,867 kps), with engines over eight times more powerful (58 x PWR-287.5 vs 20 x PWR-100), and with an operational range nearly five times greater (306 b-km vs 63 b-km).

 

[trajan]

With all these old fogies retiring I've gotta be moving up the chain of command. When do I get promoted to chief of naval operations?

 

[blue emu]

There are indeed some staff positions open... but also two warship positions available. Octavian Doreius just retired as well.

 

[stamasd]

I concur (from inside my heavily armoured Battlecruiser)

Well... as Jutland proved, battlecruisers weren't armored nearly enough.

 

[blue emu]

Thanks to our recent round of refits, both the First Fleet and Second Fleet... with each fleet consisting of three Battle Cruisers, three Fleet Carriers, three Heavy Cruisers, three Assault Carriers, three Light Cruisers, one Destroyer Escort (with two more still refitting), four PD Frigates, two Fast Recon Vessels, and one or two Battle Management Vessels plus supporting ships (Monitors, Ammunition Tenders, etc)... now move at over 7200 kps instead of the previous 4000 kps.

 

[blue emu]

The ruined city on Lacaille 9352 A-III has been surveyed, and has been found to contain 140 TL-4 xenoarcheological sites. Guards are already in place, and Engineers are being transported in to unearth the ruins.

 

[Dewirix]

The ruined city on Lacaille 9352 A-III has been surveyed, and has been found to contain 140 TL-4 xenoarcheological sites. Guards are already in place, and Engineers are being transported in to unearth the ruins.

That's not a bad haul, all things considered. We'd have been happy with it before we found El Dorado. Should be good for at least a couple of new techs and some facilities. Have you got freighters to hand to lift them clear of the fighting?

 

[blue emu]

That's not a bad haul, all things considered. We'd have been happy with it before we found El Dorado. Should be good for at least a couple of new techs and some facilities. Have you got freighters to hand to lift them clear of the fighting?

That part will need a bit of set-up, since my first jump-capable Freighters are still under construction and Lacaille 9352 is not yet linked into our Jump Gate network. I guess I`ll have to temporarily attach a Colony Ship to the Freighters... Colony Ships have jump drives and are marginally larger than the non-jump Freighters.

 

[blue emu]

The first one hundred and five of our new Super-Streak Fighters have been built on Earth... more than enough to fully equip two Fleet Carriers. We will wait until we have enough Super-Streaks for a third Carrier wing before sending out another anti-Prix mission, since I would prefer that all three Strike wings in a fleet have similar range and speed characteristics... both the First Fleet and Second Fleet have three Fleet Carriers each. We are finally within a dozen pilots of having all 282 of our Streak Fighters crewed... and now they are obsolete and being replaced

All missile-armed ships have received the new seventh-generation missiles (the G-model). Only a handful of our ships are still in refit... unfortunately, this number includes four of our six Destroyers (refitting to Destroyer Escorts) and all three of our Reptile Mine Layer / Bombardment Ships (refitting to Fleet speed, at last).

 

[blue emu]

Our Mine Layers have finished refit, and have been reclassed as Monitors. The boost to fleet speed means that they are finally able to take part in general fleet engagements.

Reptile II class Monitor 13,950 tons 1883 Crew 3451.6 BP TCS 279 TH 724.5 EM 450
7419 km/s Armour 1-51 Shields 15-250 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 15 PPV 111
Annual Failure Rate: 103% IFR: 1.4% Maint Capacity 2320 MSP Max Repair 252 MSP Est Time: 3.72 Years
Magazine 609

Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E7.8 (18) Power 115 Fuel Use 78% Signature 40.25 Armour 0 Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres Range 124.1 billion km (193 days at full power)
Delta R250/17.5 Shields (6) Total Fuel Cost 105 Litres per day

Size 1 Missile Launcher (3) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
Size 36 2051 Missile Launcher (3) Missile Size 36 Rate of Fire 270
Missile PD Fire Control 2053 FC24-R1 (50%) (1) Range 24.2m km Resolution 1
Missile Fire Control 2053 FC211-R100 (50%) (1) Range 211.7m km Resolution 100
Size 36 2054 MIRV Drone (9) Speed: 11,100 km/s End: 234.4m Range: 160.6m km WH: 9 Size: 36 TH: 18 / 11 / 5
Size 36 2054 MIRV-II Drone (6) Speed: 11,100 km/s End: 234.4m Range: 160.6m km WH: 9 Size: 36 TH: 18 / 11 / 5
Size 1-G 2053 AAM (69) Speed: 66,500 km/s End: 2.2m Range: 9m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 487 / 292 / 146

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Don't be fooled by the pitiful to-hit numbers of TH: 18 / 11 / 5 ... those refer to the missile bus. The MIRV warheads themselves have to-hit numbers of TH: 406 / 243 / 121.