[OOC] Million Exploding Suns Spectacle - Space Battle RPG

[WilsonTurner]

Gonna add some smaller ships now- perhaps another Light Cruiser, perhaps a regular Cruiser, and an Attack Corvette. Maybe a Carrier, too.

[WilsonTurner]

Come on, really?

[Durandal]

What is has happened?

[TheUnknowable]

I'm thinking of joining. My basic idea is to only have fighters, stations, and carriers. All fighters are either fragile anti-fighter cheap-o ships or lightly armored Kamikazes. Carriers are slow, lumbering things with lots of shields and armor, and stations are basically carriers with a large kinetic energy weapon. Basically, I'd just "warp" into an area, and send in waves of kamikaze ships at larger ships and bases, then send in the fighters as cleanup.

[Durandal]

I'm thinking of joining. My basic idea is to only have fighters, stations, and carriers. All fighters are either fragile anti-fighter cheap-o ships or lightly armored Kamikazes. Carriers are slow, lumbering things with lots of shields and armor, and stations are basically carriers with a large kinetic energy weapon. Basically, I'd just "warp" into an area, and send in waves of kamikaze ships at larger ships and bases, then send in the fighters as cleanup.

@TheUnknowable

Thanks for the tips. :P

[TheUnknowable]

<Snipped quote by TheUnknowable>

Thanks for the tips. :P

@Durandal

Thanks for telling you how every hard target and most of your fleet will be torn to shreds if you are in a system when I get there? Ok. You're welcome.

[TheUnknowable]

The Daughters of Kakki

The Sisterhood of Kolkek

---

Faction Overview

Legend tells of the great Deity Kakki who found a world amongst the stars and settled there, naming it after herself. There, with her seven males she produced seven daughters. She built a great fleet of hives and taught her daughters all they could learn of science. When she was ready, she gave her territory to her seven daughters, her eldest getting her homeworld, the others getting the nearby moons and planets. Kakki then took her fleet, by some accounts over 2000 hives strong, and returned to the land taken from her, to drive out all of her enemies that lived there. She left her Daughters with only two rules. One, do not harm a fellow sister, and two, the only rightful rulers of the worlds are Queens, like her and her Daughters (female descendants).
Kolkek was the youngest of the Daughters, and as such was given a large asteroid where Kakki had a mining base. She used her authority over the belt to build many ships, and to spread to the other nearby systems. To the present day, her daughters own the most widespread areas, going further from their homeworld than all of the others, sharing their systems with the others only after they have gotten the easiest mineral deposits. This has made them the second richest of the Sisterhoods, second only to Kork, who's Daughters exercise control over a hundred worlds with breathable air, letting them breed more quickly than any other.
The Daughters of Kakki are large Insectoid beings of great intelligence. The Sisterhood of Kolkek expands by sending all soon-to-be queens out with a station and fleet of their own, the number of Hive depending on the riches of their Mother. These new Queens must conquer or colonize a new system or territory, claiming it as their own. If they win, then they get whatever they conquer. If they lose, they were too weak to be a real Queen.

Technology Overview

The Daughters have unparalleled gravity control technology, given to them by Kakki herself. Their ships drive themselves by distorting space around them, and turn by placing the gravity well to the side. They use gravity wells to redirect enemy fire at their hives, Nests (Space Stations), and worlds. The nests use gravity to pull matter from stars. Their FTL travel is also built off of this, with Hive warping space around themselves for travel, and Nests rupturing space to create tunnels to other areas.
They also have a good degree of control over plasma due to mining stars for raw materials.

Spacecraft Overview

Name: Stinger
Dimensions: 3m (L), 1m (H), 1m (W)
Battle Points:

Spacecraft Attributes
Hull: 1
Powerplant: 5
Shields: 0
Speed: 99
Manuverability: 30
Sensors: 5
Weapons
Fusion Bomb Core: 400kt yield
Power: 15

General Description: Upon creation, they are sent towards the outer edge of system, and begin to accelerate, using gravity to pull them forward. Should the system come under attack, they are told to impact with the enemy ships. They use poor forms of our FTL drives, traveling up to 20c to travel to their target, conserving their kinetic energy while moving FTL.

Name: Soldiers
Dimensions: 3m (L), 2m (H), 3m (W)
Battle Points:

Spacecraft Attributes
Hull: 5
Powerplant: 7
Shields: 2
Speed: 60
Manuverability: 40
Sensors: 5
Weapons
Gravity contained Antimatter charge x8
Power: 4

Accelerated Plasma Beam X2: A miniature particle collide
Power: 1

Other:
Plasma shell shields: Plasma is contained within an EM field, absorbing energy and plasma based attacks but doing little against kinetic attacks. Hull armor made of ultra-dense, layered alloys forged under intense pressure.

General Description: Possible mates are sent to fly against an enemy to prove the value of their genetic code. They use poor forms of our FTL drives, traveling up to 2c, adjusting their speed to whatever suits their desires.

[Durandal]

<Snipped quote by Durandal>

Thanks for telling you how every hard target and most of your fleet will be torn to shreds if you are in a system when I get there? Ok. You're welcome.

@TheUnknowable

Can't tell if you're miffed pr not. If you are, I was just jibing at the fact that usually people don't post their tactics for others to see so no offence meant.

[WilsonTurner]

So essentially, you're saying you have next to no defense against energy weapons of any kind, besides hard armor? Anti-grav shields?

Also, even 10g's ain't much when it comes to ships that are flying at even 10% sublight. And gravshields won't be that great to begin with against high-velocity weapons- one can take a pistol a fire a round into the air, and it'll take quite a while for it to come back down. Multiply that speed by a greeaaaattt deal, and it'll still hit your ships. HG Turrets won't be quite as useful, of course, but you'd take a beating nonetheless. That, and sublight missiles will still impact your hull- and shields are MUCH safer when it comes to Devastators.

Swarms won't be quite as effective as you may think- just you watch. I've already got tactics ready.

Gravity makes things fall at, what, under 10 meters a second? Even ten times Earth normal is like saying you can accelerate things in your gravguns to up to a 1000m/s. Lightspeed is 3.00E8, or 300,000,000 m/s. A ship moving at 10% sublight means that it'd be moving at 30,000,000 m/s. And 10% sublight is not the slowest my ships will be going- a Cirrus will be able to reach 70% sublight, which would be extreme fast. Any more than that and a Cirrus's structure will start to break apart. A Dreadnought, given a long enough time, could reach the same, but it'd even be likely to reach 20% sublight without too terribly much trouble. A cruiser, too, would be able to reach 20% sublight without much trouble.

So
Lightspeed:
3.00x10^8 or 3.00E8 or 300,000,000 m/s.

The max acceleration of your swarms:
78.4m/s

If you have an anti-grav shield that extends up to 1km away from your ship, then your rounds will have so many seconds before it clears the well and doesn't accelerate anymore. Basic math says that at 78.4m/s acceleration + 1 km or 1000m, then you'll be able to reach 784,000m/s

In other words...
Your swarms will be moving so slow that one of my fleets could pick off the majority of them before you even get in range to start scanning for weakspots. By the time you reach my shields, you will be dead. Might want to revise your math- and your weaponry/acceleration. Having a field that generates heavy, heavy antigravity for a very large area would not be cost-efficient, or energy-efficient.

That and I have nuclear weapons. If you're ramming, you're GOING to clump. Firing one missile could mean taking out an ungodly amount of yours in one shot. Combined with disrupter cannons and railgun/missile turrets, you're not going to do too well.

I mean not to offend- this is some math.

The distance from Earth-> the Moon (which is well within Earth's gravitational pull) is 384,400 km. Going at 784km/s, you'd make it in about... oh, I'd say a good deal over 384 hours? But then you'd smash into it with the force of a powerful cruise missile, if PD didn't already pick you off when you were way out.

You have next to no true adaptivity for your fleet. I can choose to hammer a fleet, to try and disable them, board them, stay just outside of range while Cirruses sneak in and blow out your engines/reactors/somethingvital of your command ships.

Weapons will not be restricted to a few hundred kilometers. Sensors and weapons will reach a LONG ways. That's space. Gunspam don't work too well when they're small, easily destroyed, and might take out their brothers in their splodiness.

[TheUnknowable]

<Snipped quote by TheUnknowable>

Can't tell if you're miffed pr not. If you are, I was just jibing at the fact that usually people don't post their tactics for others to see so no offence meant.

@Durandal

Just messing with you.

So essentially, you're saying you have next to no defense against energy weapons of any kind, besides hard armor? Anti-grav shields?

Also, even 10g's ain't much when it comes to ships that are flying at even 10% sublight. And gravshields won't be that great to begin with against high-velocity weapons- one can take a pistol a fire a round into the air, and it'll take quite a while for it to come back down. Multiply that speed by a greeaaaattt deal, and it'll still hit your ships. HG Turrets won't be quite as useful, of course, but you'd take a beating nonetheless. That, and sublight missiles will still impact your hull- and shields are MUCH safer when it comes to Devastators.

Swarms won't be quite as effective as you may think- just you watch. I've already got tactics ready.

Gravity makes things fall at, what, under 10 meters a second? Even ten times Earth normal is like saying you can accelerate things in your gravguns to up to a 1000m/s. Lightspeed is 3.00E8, or 300,000,000 m/s. A ship moving at 10% sublight means that it'd be moving at 30,000,000 m/s. And 10% sublight is not the slowest my ships will be going- a Cirrus will be able to reach 70% sublight, which would be extreme fast. Any more than that and a Cirrus's structure will start to break apart. A Dreadnought, given a long enough time, could reach the same, but it'd even be likely to reach 20% sublight without too terribly much trouble. A cruiser, too, would be able to reach 20% sublight without much trouble.

So
Lightspeed:
3.00x10^8 or 3.00E8 or 300,000,000 m/s.

The max acceleration of your swarms:
78.4m/s

If you have an anti-grav shield that extends up to 1km away from your ship, then your rounds will have so many seconds before it clears the well and doesn't accelerate anymore. Basic math says that at 78.4m/s acceleration + 1 km or 1000m, then you'll be able to reach 784,000m/s

In other words...
Your swarms will be moving so slow that one of my fleets could pick off the majority of them before you even get in range to start scanning for weakspots. By the time you reach my shields, you will be dead. Might want to revise your math- and your weaponry/acceleration. Having a field that generates heavy, heavy antigravity for a very large area would not be cost-efficient, or energy-efficient.

That and I have nuclear weapons. If you're ramming, you're GOING to clump. Firing one missile could mean taking out an ungodly amount of yours in one shot. Combined with disrupter cannons and railgun/missile turrets, you're not going to do too well.

I mean not to offend- this is some math.

The distance from Earth-> the Moon (which is well within Earth's gravitational pull) is 384,400 km. Going at 784km/s, you'd make it in about... oh, I'd say a good deal over 384 hours? But then you'd smash into it with the force of a powerful cruise missile, if PD didn't already pick you off when you were way out.

You have next to no true adaptivity for your fleet. I can choose to hammer a fleet, to try and disable them, board them, stay just outside of range while Cirruses sneak in and blow out your engines/reactors/somethingvital of your command ships.

Weapons will not be restricted to a few hundred kilometers. Sensors and weapons will reach a LONG ways. That's space. Gunspam don't work too well when they're small, easily destroyed, and might take out their brothers in their splodiness.

@WilsonTurner

To effectively use this, they'd have to accelerate for extremely long periods of time. What I was thinking was heading from, say, Mars orbit to Earth, accelerating at 8g the whole way.
Calculator for this
at the end you would be traveling 6,626,000 m/s, about 2% the speed of light. That much kinetic energy, plus a nuclear explosion, would do some damage, but yes, at the speeds you are talking about, they could be picked off.

I'll fix it by giving them inertial dampeners so they can accelerate faster and low grade warp drives.

Everyone else's ships are just so fast, mine, which would work fine IRL, are terrible in the RP.

Edit: That should be better.

[Durandal]

Good to know :)

[WilsonTurner]

I think making more mobile carriers would be vital for your strategy.
Quite simply, even if you launched them through a massively long field of grav to get them to reach extreme speeds, to hit someone coming in from the edge of a system, then you may not even hit them. An actual warp drive wouldn't be good- I believe we agreed in the PM that we'd use a tramline system, where true FTL is unattainable, but there are lines between different systems that allow a special drive to take a ship to the other system. This would mean that a special device detects the area where a tramline would start/end, and activating another would essentially launch the ship along the line to the opposite side.

But I'm telling you- you're not going to want super-long-range swarms to throw at people. We'll detect them, we'll have plenty of time to spread out or simply move too far out of course to be hit, or to prepare for arrival. I would suggest more Formic-style instead of launching large swarms too far to ever be recovered.

Each battle could have you wasting a crapton of resources and soldiers for absolutely nothing- they may not even hit a single ship by the time they arrive. And if you're within range for your gravgun to launch your ships at me with reasonable timing... I'll be able to SHOOT you. It'd be dangerclose for you. Tbh, regular fighters and bombers would probably work better. If I were going for something you are- which I'm actually going to have, in a few scenarios with smaller battles (where a couple destroyers, a cruiser, and a carrier are used, with the rest of the battle being centered around fighters and bombers) then Attack Corvettes (like the tank if fighters are regular cars) would be supporting flight wings of fighters to clear the way for bombers.

That and I can fire a sublight Devastator missile that would probably wipe out all the enemy fighter-things that would hit my ships.

like I said- it's not going to be effective. Formic swarms from Ender's Games would be more effective, or traditional roles in space form. Simply launching a bunch of ships like that would be costly and lengthy.

And if you do blow up parts of my fleet- then the Cirruses will most certainly make sure that your big carrierstation will burn.

You're simply launching a field of nukes at us. I can do that with pinpoint accuracy much faster and easier with a Devastator or a regular nuke. Set it in this spot with a sensor drone, and when the sensor drone detects stuff passing it, it'll set a tiny timer to go off. By the time the first pass the nuke, the nuke would've begun exploding. At that speed, it's like that the explosion may take out all the first ones- and the ones that are rapidly approaching the inferno, incinerating those too, which might detonate and catch even more of yours in the field.

You're playing a real risky game, by trying to just fire a bunch of big bombs with some amount of control at someone. You'd take a long time to actually fire them off- while a sublight Devastator can reach speeds higher than yours in moments- and they'd be easy to see and everything.

Are you sure that you don't want to change it or anything? Cause... I mean, I would grind them up and spit them out. The warhead will make each one a little expensive, for their size, but they don't really have anything going for them. You're firing a shotgun in space with a massive barrel, except you'd need to fire at extreme, extreme range in order for you to get the shot out before the gun gets blown up.

[Durandal]

I just noticed my ships are more heavily defended than I previously thought. Going to be expensive for me to field any large amount :/

[TheUnknowable]

Actually, they can turn with gravity wells, so they would actually be able to turn. Theoretically, I could even make them Drones, start them out of the system, and have them accelerate at 100Gs or more in system. Or I could send them flying in circles around a nearby star, then warp them in after they get to .99c or something. I guess I'll do that if I need to, no meat-pilots required.

Also, it seems like y'all made up a bunch of rules while I wasn't looking and now you're trying to use them against me.

1) Where does it say no ftl?
2) There are OP ships, but we don't know how OP they are because there's no real numbers on your ships.
3) Real life tech (warp drive) isn't allowed?

Can you explain these rules to me so that I can create a civilization that would have a chance? I feel like I'm arguing real life tech against a Trekky.

[WilsonTurner]

Ok, thought Willy agreed to it, but he never responded to it.

I'll go ahead and propose something:

FTL is possible, but the energy requirements for a pure system-to-system jump over a long distance would bleed a ship's reactors dry, and then tear itself apart as the ship slowly exits the warp across several lightyears. 100 lightyears? Never. However, it'd be much more likely that, say, if solar systems are an average of five to twelve lightyears apart, the maximum distance a regular spaceship can go is, say, 20 lightyears, max, and then they have to wait, let the drives cool down, and go again. Micro-jumping is obviously much less demanding, as is sublight.

FTL weapons I would not recommend. It's one thing to load a cargo ship up with water [which would both serve as the fuel and the mass], and then RC it to hit something really far away at the max sublight its drives can go, and to have cannons spitting out FTL weapons. Energy weapons might be feasible for that, simply because a laser going at sublight or FTL won't demolish half a moon.

Limited FTL will allow tactical jumps and all that, but would prevent someone from simply going from one's homeworld to another, regardless of any defenses or occupied systems in the way.

And also- FTL shreds a ship if in a gravity well. Say, the acceleration within the affecting force of gravity screws up the drive while it powers up, and turns the ship into a lightyear-long debris field.



This is combat and tactics in space- well, what use are tactics when you go anywhere and everywhere in an instant without penalty, and where there is very little need for 'tactics' when you can simply appear elsewhere? You won't be able to bombard the surface accurately at all from outside the gravity well- and a gravity well for a planet is MASSIVE, when you actually think about it. The area of the gravity well is so much more than the size of the planet itself. Look at the above image as an example.

That way, 'trapping' people between orbital satellite defenses or asteroid fortresses between a fleet above, on the edge of the gravity well, with the trapped fleet stuck in between, unable to FTL, well, that's incentive for a desperate battle for freedom or to conquer. Would be much better for the story, anyways, since you guys like using that to say no to something.

Having characters sweat from being trapped between two powerful forces, individually weaker but more powerful combined, after being confident that they'd easily break the defenses, well, that'd be pretty cool to write, I think.

@WilsonTurner

[Durandal]

Meet the Callax Hive! *points to Character tab*. Unfinished but...meh.

[WilsonTurner]

I'd call it OP if OP wasn't allowed. Most of your ships seem to be armed with an insta-kill if things go wrong.

Good thing I specialize in sublight missiles. You get close, and BOOOOOOOOM
Your point-defense won't have time to even recognize the missiles before they impact.

[Durandal]

I'd call it OP if OP wasn't allowed. Most of your ships seem to be armed with an insta-kill if things go wrong.

Good thing I specialize in sublight missiles. You get close, and BOOOOOOOOM
Your point-defense won't have time to even recognize the missiles before they impact.

@WilsonTurner

Actually, only one of my ships has a weapon tha can effectively insta-kill. The other near insta-kill are directional batteries or laser pointers that can be (however inefficiently) aim-dodged. Besides, that just means my ships will be very expensive.

Edit: Not to mention the 95-power weapon results in the death of the ship using it.

[WilsonTurner]

In that case...



Also, if we're NOT going with tramlines, you guys are pooped fo sure.

[Durandal]

Also, if we're NOT going with tramlines, you guys are pooped fo sure.

@WilsonTurner

In what way?