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NewMars
Mar 10, 2013

Neruz posted:

Bloody hell! After the utter chaos that was making a boarding attempt without understanding how boarding works now we're going to send good men to die around mars making an interplanetary assault without understanding how interplanetary assaults work? How about we just detonate the cruiser while its en-route and save ourselves the effort.

: Planetary assaults are simple. Show up, Blow up alien fleet, nuke alien structures from orbit. This is rocket science, yes, but it's not hard. The real problem is the defenses: we know what part of them is likely to be. Given the size of their colony there, they likely have a defensive battery armed with weapons similar to those seen. This is bad. The good news is that given the relative isolation of the planet and the size of fleets seen so far aside from the initial invasion, they likely have little to no actual forces in orbit. The better news is that unless a fleet is already in flight to there, they cannot possibly reinforce it before we get there. The best news is that taking the planet will likely cut them off from attacking earth directly, or at least make it much harder.

...But that all means nothing unless we can take out that defensive battery. We're gonna need a lot of ships. They're basically built like a light cruiser, except with the warp drive replaced by many, many guns. We can win, but someone's gonna bite it big time. A lot of someone's. Then we have to worry about holding the place (which should be less of a concern given that we can probably just put the whole fleet there, what with the moon being pretty much unreachable by them and having it's own defensive battery.)

....What? I have like, the highest leadership score in the fleet.

NewMars fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Aug 30, 2014

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Bloodly
Nov 3, 2008

Not as strong as you'd expect.
You don't think they'll have a Starbase, do you?

Neruz
Jul 23, 2012

A paragon of manliness
That's my bloody point; how about we get some slightly better defenses on our ships before we start trying to stare down planetary defense batteries.

NewMars
Mar 10, 2013

Bloodly posted:

You don't think they'll have a Starbase, do you?

: Intelligence tells us that with the size of the colony, they cannot possibly have a starbase.


Neruz posted:

That's my bloody point; how about we get some slightly better defenses on our ships before we start trying to stare down planetary defense batteries.

Uh, we already got better defenses on the ships. Did you read the fleet admiral's update? We lost nothing in the last two battles. The time to strike may not be now, but it is soon.

The Lone Badger
Sep 24, 2007

Neruz posted:

That's my bloody point; how about we get some slightly better defenses on our ships before we start trying to stare down planetary defense batteries.

Like heavy cruisers. I mean, "light cruisers", even the name is derogatory. Let's get some serious steel before we try to venture out there.

NewMars
Mar 10, 2013

The Lone Badger posted:

Like heavy cruisers. I mean, "light cruisers", even the name is derogatory. Let's get some serious steel before we try to venture out there.

: That's gonna take a long, long time. We just got a light cruiser. Now, factor in how long it will take to research those and then build one. And I mean, long enough that by the time we get them they may very well have a starbase. Besides, the main function of cruisers is to shuttle around other ships. Heavy cruisers are better on their own, but not really enough to make them real offensive draws. Battlecruisers and battleships, now...

Edit: They are better then I thought, but what I said still holds true.

NewMars fucked around with this message at 08:23 on Aug 30, 2014

Neruz
Jul 23, 2012

A paragon of manliness

NewMars posted:

Uh, we already got better defenses on the ships. Did you read the fleet admiral's update? We lost nothing in the last two battles. The time to strike may not be now, but it is soon.

We have 'better' defenses, we do not have 'good' defenses. To call our shield tech 'experimental' would be giving it too much credit.

We don't need to rush straight to Mars just because we can see they have a base there; we've known they probably had a base there for quite some time now. They can keep their base for a while longer, there won't be an apocalypse if we wait a few months to improve our defenses a bit futher before we go poke the beehive.

Veloxyll
May 3, 2011

Fuck you say?!

Plus we might want to have enough ships to defend the moon as well as attack Mars.

Nice to see that the troops are responding well to their new training tactics. Turns out they're more effective when they have ammo in their guns. Who knew!

What are Phase Rays, I don't believe we've got those listed.
I'd have to look at the Reaper's power levels to see if a Reaper-S is viable or if we need bigger power plants.

Is there any way to just rip that alien frigate apart for SCIENCE?

because their combat performance does not seem to be up to 2-3 destroyers worth of time.

Edit: How are the Reapers doing on closing to attack. Could they still function well enough with less speed or?

Veloxyll fucked around with this message at 09:21 on Aug 30, 2014

Mightypeon
Oct 10, 2013

Putin apologist- assume all uncited claims are from Russia Today or directly from FSB.

key phrases: Poor plucky little Russia, Spheres of influence, The West is Worse, they was asking for it.
See, I told you that flaming ballistic chainsaw bayonets work!

Also, do Aliens actually bleed red? Is "let make Mars more red with Alien blood and rampant communism" a good battle cry?

occipitallobe
Jul 16, 2012

Veloxyll posted:

Plus we might want to have enough ships to defend the moon as well as attack Mars.

Nice to see that the troops are responding well to their new training tactics. Turns out they're more effective when they have ammo in their guns. Who knew!

What are Phase Rays, I don't believe we've got those listed.
I'd have to look at the Reaper's power levels to see if a Reaper-S is viable or if we need bigger power plants.

Is there any way to just rip that alien frigate apart for SCIENCE?

because their combat performance does not seem to be up to 2-3 destroyers worth of time.

Edit: How are the Reapers doing on closing to attack. Could they still function well enough with less speed or?

Unfortunately, no. In order to stop it draining valuable repair resources (as a general rule I lose ~90% of a ship in a battle, but we've held together remarkably well so far) I junked it. I'm not sure how to prioritize one ship being repaired over another (or even whether or not that's possible), and the alien ship design is pretty bad per hammer.

Phase Rays are alien weapons - we actually have the technical know-how to build them, but we lack the necessary power generation - they require antimatter power sources to run from. I'll put them up in an 'alien weapon section' of the upcoming tech post.

Godna
Feb 4, 2013

occipitallobe posted:

September 30, 2017 to April 18, 2018
Later on, boarders gain control of an alien Light Cruiser. Moments later, missile slam into it, killing everyone aboard. (I honestly didn't expect my boarders to succeed, but I got their shields/structure down faster than I anticipated). Sol Skaft fireman carries four of his crewman and a captive alien back into the shuttle, saving many lives.


Now that is how it's done! :black101: Now, I need to have some words...I don't know quite with who, but Someone is going to answer for this.

Also I have a question as Captain do my skills in Tactical improve the rest of my ship's skill or does Tactical have the highest effect (meaning I'd be best assigned to another ship

Now then if Manstrong calls this a trial by fire...


Mightypeon posted:

See, I told you that flaming ballistic chainsaw bayonets work!
Also, do Aliens actually bleed red? Is "let make Mars more red with Alien blood and rampant communism" a good battle cry?

No,...but they sure bleed a helluva lot. When I was getting out of there I just grabbed the one that was bleeding the least...didn't want to slip on the blood you see...I wouldn't be surprised if half of the repair time wasn't just cleaning the blood out. While I was promising a blood bath I was NOT expecting it to be literal

Godna fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Aug 30, 2014

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.
So is it impossible to use a ship unless it's fully repaired? Also, by junking it, did we just gain some hammers, or can we also strip the weapons/technology/exotic materials off of it?

Either way, I think the boarding shuttles have paid off in a big way. Are there any technologies we can research that make them more effective?

occipitallobe
Jul 16, 2012

Godna posted:

Now that is how it's done! :black101: Now, I need to have some words...I don't know quite with who, but Someone is going to answer for this.

Also I have a question as Captain do my skills in Tactical improve the rest of my ship's skill or does Tactical have the highest effect (meaning I'd be best assigned to another ship

Now then if Manstrong calls this a trial by fire...


No,...but they sure bleed a helluva lot. When I was getting out of there I just grabbed the one that was bleeding the least...didn't want to slip on the blood you see...I wouldn't be surprised if half of the repair time wasn't just cleaning the blood out. While I was promising a blood bath I was NOT expecting it to be literal

Ships work like so: The three officers are the only ones who directly impact the ship's operations (with Navigation, Tactical, and Engineering). Any given captain improves (or lowers) his officers skills based on a combination of his Leadership + the skill in question. So fantastic leadership is the most important thing by far for a captain, as much as the other three skills combined.

Tactical is good for weapons, boarding, and missile speed. Navigation makes ships move faster in battle - something that we basically never use (also it doesn't actually seem to grant greater warp capacity as far as I can tell, making really good Navigation next to useless). Lastly, Engineering is good for defense - better shields, ECM, and lower repair costs/time. If you're really looking to optimize your fleet (which I never really tended to do) you want to shove your Tactical specialists into ships with the best weapons, your Engineering specialists into whatever the aliens tend to focus, and your Navigation dudes wherever.

Later on, Admirals give a leadership bonus to captains based on the size of their fleet and their Leadership score - so admirals don't give a flying gently caress about anything but Leadership.

Captain Bravo posted:

So is it impossible to use a ship unless it's fully repaired? Also, by junking it, did we just gain some hammers, or can we also strip the weapons/technology/exotic materials off of it?

Either way, I think the boarding shuttles have paid off in a big way. Are there any technologies we can research that make them more effective?

We get a few hammers, but more importantly we get some of the exotic materials used to build it. And yeah, we can improve boarding technology, though not in the same way we improve missiles. Once we research new boarding tech our old boarding vessels will become obsolete.

It's not impossible to use a ship if it's damaged, but the ship in question had all of its phase rays disabled, making it more-or-less useless.

Godna
Feb 4, 2013
So considering I've a really good tactical skill and room to grow for leadership...Looks like This captain will be leading from the front line!:black101:

NewMars
Mar 10, 2013
: On the other hand, that makes me admiral material. And I'm fine with being admiral.

Godna
Feb 4, 2013
:patriot: And may our various and many gods help us all

Ratoslov
Feb 15, 2012

Now prepare yourselves! You're the guests of honor at the Greatest Kung Fu Cannibal BBQ Ever!

Please to be making Armstrong an Admiral. PLEASE.

Also, please to be assigning Ratoslovich manuals in Russian. Ratoslovich's English is- er- not good.

Captain Bravo
Feb 16, 2011

An Emergency Shitpost
has been deployed...

...but experts warn it is
just a drop in the ocean.

occipitallobe posted:

It's not impossible to use a ship if it's damaged, but the ship in question had all of its phase rays disabled, making it more-or-less useless.

It was a light cruiser, though, so wouldn't it have been most effective to just strip the junked weapons and use it as a warp barge?

Yaoi Gagarin
Feb 20, 2014

I suggest we launch a reconnaissance mission to Mars. We don't need to launch a full assault and actually take the planet, just send the light cruiser and maybe some screens and see what we can see, and then run home. Does that provide us anything useful in this game?

I, being the first man in space, of course volunteer to captain a ship on this expedition. First man in Mars orbit, baby! I mean, it is of course a team effort, Comrades.

(I can do that right? Being a commander?)

Delta Green
Nov 2, 2012

NewMars posted:

: On the other hand, that makes me admiral material. And I'm fine with being admiral.

… ON ONE HAND, YOU WOULD NOT COMMAND ANY SHIPS DIRECTLY.

ON THE OTHER, YOU WOULD HAVE COUNTLESS MORE LIVES TO WASTE FOR YOUR OWN PITIFUL EXISTENCE.

A HARD DECISION.

NO, WAIT. I CAN'T TOLERATE HAVING YOU OFFICIALLY IN COMMAND OF ME IN ANYWAY.

ONE LETTER TO FLEET HIGHCOM LOST IN THE DATASTREAM. REX MANSTRONG'S PROMOTION TO ADMIRAL INDEFINITELY POST-PONED.

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011
Ahaha, I was gonna ask for a rename but it already has the right name. Beautiful.

Although if you want new ones, I always liked the more grandiose naming schemes of some Sci Fi, names like "Lives Last Whispers" or "Silence of Violence" or "We Will Burn Your Young" and whatnot.
Gives the right message to the enemy, as well as hopefully giving their translators fits.

Deceitful Penguin fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Aug 31, 2014

Rogue Norwegian
Apr 6, 2011
Freefall 2 is kind of weak as a name. Can you rename Sam's ship the Savage Chicken

Veloxyll
May 3, 2011

Fuck you say?!

Captain Bravo posted:

It was a light cruiser, though, so wouldn't it have been most effective to just strip the junked weapons and use it as a warp barge?

Nah, he torpedoed the cruiser a turn after he captured it. The ship we succesfully captured was a frigate.

Morrow
Oct 31, 2010
What happened to Flex Plexico?

Mordukai
Jan 27, 2009
Sign me up as the worst, most incompetent officer you have available, name him Mordukai "Marquis" de Sade, then promote him until he can captain a ship.
Ship name should be "Noblesse oblige"

It's high time we teach these alien peasants their proper place.

Mordukai fucked around with this message at 13:08 on Sep 3, 2014

moosecow333
Mar 15, 2007

Super-Duper Supermen!
Sign me up as Richard 'Not The Face!' Lionhat. I'd preferably like to be some-what competent, but failing that, put me down to who ever you wish.

Slaan
Mar 16, 2009



ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH
I, too, shall defend mankind as Frye "Belgian" French an high Leadership officer, from France. He is well known amongst the officer ranks to be the best drat chicken and waffles chef amongst the Corps. His chicken and waffles are so praise-worthy that his men and women's very combat effectiveness is increased!

Affi
Dec 18, 2005

Break bread wit the enemy

X GON GIVE IT TO YA
Several months after his ship blew up a ragged Af Eee walks into moon base Gingrich, dragging behind him a dead alien sort of like Will Smith in independence day. When asked how the hell he survived three months on the moons surface with no air supply he replies "Don't think about it."

Signing up again with the survivor trait please!

occipitallobe
Jul 16, 2012

Yeah, sorry this took so long. I was travelling for a few days, and then I had all sorts of stuff I needed to take care of on coming back. Meant to get this done earlier but it got put on the backburner.

- - - - - -

Report on Order Technology (re: Bureau of Ship Design), April 22 2018

Greetings, esteemed members of the Committee for Logistical Affairs. With the relative slowdown in technology breakthroughs, and the increased allocation of our budget to ship construction, the first report on our ships and ship design has been delivered. It is hoped it will remain relevant for some time to come.

- - - - - - - -
STRUCTURE
- - - - - - - -

At present we have two sorts of structure. For the purposes of this report though, I will not be listing obsolete technology in detail but rather noting the existence of obsolete technologies at the end of the report. (Note - for modifications I will put their abbreviation in brackets next to their name. That abbreviation will be what shows up on the ship design)

Reinforced Structure: The new structural design brought to us from one of the new multinationals dedicated to providing R&D for the war. Tremendously efficient compared to ordinary structure, Reinforced Structure is now standard on all our ships. Cost 0.6 hammers per ton.



Also notably we have five different modifications we can use on our structure. Note that Damage Control Stations and Extended Fuel Tanks can be used with any of the other technologies, including each other. However, the remaining three thermal venting technologies are all mutually exclusive.

Damage Control Stations (DC): Developed in anticipation of long campaigns across the solar system. These stations weaken the structure but increase the ease of repair - mainly by making the entire structure more accessible to repair personnel. Of course, said accessibility shafts do make it weaker.



Extended Coolant Tanks (ExtCool): Tucking in large tanks of coolant has its advantages - in any battle the ship will be able to have twice the thermal load before overheating. Of course, putting these throughout the hull, along with ways to remove it from the ship weakens the structural integrity of the ship.



Integrated Heat Exchangers (Vnt3): The latest and most sophisticated venting design. The heat removed in terms of structural efficiency lost is the best in durability per MMBTU/h. Heat venting is increased from 50% to a theoretical 70% (in which 100% is equivalent to unprotected venting).




Shielded Exhaust Ports (Vnt2): A more efficient version of the original thermal vents, making the ship less susceptible to damage.



Thermal Venting (Vnt1): Highly inefficient in terms of structural integrity, but still the most powerful option for venting heat.


- - - - - - - -
ARMOR
- - - - - - - -

Likewise, we have four kinds of armor but only one is meaningfully useful on modern ships.

Ceramic Plating: The most sophisticated modern armor. Better in quite literally every way compared to prior armor.




360 Degree Armor Coverage (360): Mitigates weaknesses in rear armor by distributing armor more evenly. May be a useful option for ships that intend to get in close to the enemy and are attacked from the rear. Note that we have no examples of the aliens attempting to flank our ships.




- - - - - - - -
DRIVES
- - - - - - - -

Fusion Thrusters: The only non-chemical drives we have available, and the only drives for modern ships that can move them from planet to moon.



Afterburner (AB): Increases speed by 50%, but has an equally drastic effect on turn rate. Excellent for vessels that require extreme closeness for maximum effectiveness.



Attitude Thrusters (Att): Increases turn rate dramatically but has a 15% reduction on speed. Perhaps useful for ships that tend to get mobbed by smaller ships in th efuture.

- - - - - - - -
POWER
- - - - - - - -









(tagged as "safe")



(tagged as "large")

- - - - - - - -
SHIELDING
- - - - - - - -

Gravity Shields: Our answer to the alien shields. Expensive and large, but worth it. (The Gravity Shield has a base mass of 250 tons plus 1 ton per 60 tons the ship in question weighs. It's not a very good module for frigates, decent for destroyers, and mandatory on everything larger than a destroyer).



Ray Shielding(RayShld): Makes our shields more effective against enemy beam weapons, but consequently deplete faster and recharge slower.



- - - - - - - -
RADIATORS
- - - - - - - -

External Radiator Panels: Still preferred by the fleet - any ship that has its radiator panels knocked off isn't too far from being destroyed wholesale.



Reinforced Radiator Panels: At present not of great use, though this may change in the future. Radiates less heat in return for more structural strength.



- - - - - - - -
ECM & RADAR
- - - - - - - -

ECM & Radar follow a similar pattern to shields - each unit has a base tonnage and then an additional number based on the size of the ship. I'm not actually sure what this formula is - I think it's base tonnage + x% of maximum ship mass, though.

Pulsed ECM Emitter: The weakest ECM emitter. An excellent choice for smaller ships.



Constant ECM Emitter: The second-tier ECM emitter. A good choice for middling ships.



Adaptive ECM Emitter: The top-of-the-line ECM emitter. Too large for any of our current warships beyond Light Cruisers to equip reasonably, and even then it's something of a stretch.



Fire Control Radar: The top-of-the-line radar.



Active Sensors: Better than Passive Sensors, make it easier to be hit by enemy ships in comparison however.



Passive Sensors: Useful to have on any ship due to the ability to aid in evaluating enemy vessels.



- - - - - - - -
WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY
- - - - - - - -

Missile Launcher: The humble missile launcher. Backbone of Earth's frigate fleet, and still the mainstay when it comes to fighting the aliens. Reliable, powerful, and as-of-yet not obsolete.



Fast Missiles (Fast): An increase in the speed of our missiles. By making our launchers more powerful, we can have our missiles arrive earlier. A must for any modern missile-armed ships.



Smart BPL Warhead: The only current-generation warhead we have. Tremendously effective.



Countermissile Battery: A crucial tool for defending our ships against enemy inbound missiles.



Countermissile: Ammunition for Countermissile Batteries.



Proton Beam: The present mainstay of the beam-armed fleet. The most well-rounded weapon available to us.



Ion Pulse Cannon: More effective at bypassing armor. Not as used as the Proton Cannon, but still a viable beam option.



Adaptive Optics(adapt): Useful at making our ships more effective at long-range.



Heavy Mount (Hvy): A heavier mount. Does more damage. Consumes considerably more power, though. Better at penetrating armor (I think).



Point-Defense Cluster (PD): Useful for producing point-defense weapons. An alternative to countermissiles.



Extended Firing Arc (240): Perhaps a useful asset for ships that find themselves in close combat.



360 Degree Firing Arc: (360): Useful for ships that find themselves consistently flanked.



Shuttle Bay: The only way for us to capture ships at present. Any ship with a shuttle bay will find itself dominated by that bay.



Boarding Shuttle: A repurposed shuttle to board alien ships. Not terribly effective, but it's what we've got.




Phase Ray (EXPERIMENTAL): We have managed to replicate the alien Phase Ray in laboratory conditions. However, the Phase Ray itself requires significantly more power output than our present fusion reactors and capacitators can provide - without Antimatter Reactors we will be unable to use them in battlefield conditions.



- - - - - - - -
OBSOLETE TECHNOLOGIES
- - - - - - - -

Structure
Steel Plating
Titanium Plating
Multilayer Plating
Light Missile Launchers
Chemical Laser
30mm Minigun
Phase Ray Small
Fusion Plasma Blaster
Mass Driver
Small Fusion Laser
All Warheads apart from Smart BPL Warhead

occipitallobe
Jul 16, 2012

Rogue Norwegian posted:

Freefall 2 is kind of weak as a name. Can you rename Sam's ship the Savage Chicken

Done.

Morrow posted:

What happened to Flex Plexico?

He is currently serving under Captain Reinaldo Paredes on the Light Cruiser "The Graft Wagon". (Notably, a Light Cruiser is generally a safe posting. They have no weapons and are kitted out with a shitload of defense tech - they're also the first ship that can actually run from battle in the event things go south).

Mordukai posted:

Sign me up as the worst, most incompetent officer you have available, name him Mordukai "Marquis" de Sade, then promote him until he can captain a ship.
Ship name should be "Noblesse oblige"

It's high time we teach these alien peasants their proper place.




Slaan posted:

I, too, shall defend mankind as Frye "Belgian" French an high Leadership officer, from France. He is well known amongst the officer ranks to be the best drat chicken and waffles chef amongst the Corps. His chicken and waffles are so praise-worthy that his men and women's very combat effectiveness is increased!




moosecow333 posted:

Sign me up as Richard 'Not The Face!' Lionhat. I'd preferably like to be some-what competent, but failing that, put me down to who ever you wish.



Affi posted:

Several months after his ship blew up a ragged Af Eee walks into moon base Gingrich, dragging behind him a dead alien sort of like Will Smith in independence day. When asked how the hell he survived three months on the moons surface with no air supply he replies "Don't think about it."

Signing up again with the survivor trait please!



After his miraculous (though most say suspicious) survival, Af Eee is promoted to Lieutenant from Ensign in order to propitiate the moon gods by acknowledging their champion.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous
This game borrows a lot of its mechanics from Master of Orion 2, doesn't it?

occipitallobe
Jul 16, 2012

Strategic Direction in 2018 - Regarding the Inner System:

The Committee has several choices. Having established a moonbase and fortified it, it seems likely that we can fight off any alien attack.

As such, the next goal (and indeed, the only goal we can reach) is Mars. Some admirals call for an immediate assault, using the Light Cruisers we have available, but that strategy has the simple deficiency that we do not know what fortifications the aliens have established at the moon. The largest assault the aliens have put forward so far is estimated to have the strength of four of their frigates. Comparably, an alien starbase would have the combat strength of fifteen frigates - and would be able to engage on us first, firing weapons to thin out our fleet before we can fire.

Given that four frigates is generally enough to take down one of our frigates every two rounds, we can reasonably anticipate to lose two frigates or one destroyer every round - or more - if we assault an enemy starbase. Note that assuming present trends hold true, we would be unable to destroy an enemy starbase without missiles, even now missiles provide the decisive edge when our fleet engages that of the aliens.

Given that it can take four to six combat rounds for missiles to reach an enemy starbase (depending of course on where a ship is in the formation), we could be looking at losing twelve frigates quite reasonably as a cost for taking Mars.

As such, the Fleet is seeking higher direction. We need a strategy for taking back the Solar System, and hard decisions have to be made. If we delay, the enemy defenses will only get stronger - there is the possibility that our ability to overwhelm them will increase more quickly than their ability to defend their positions, however. As the fleet gets bigger, the comparative advantage defenses offer are lowered.

Here are the strategic options offered.

Delay Taking Mars Until Directed To Do So: The Council will likely instruct us to take Mars at some point. We should undertake to do this only when we are instructed to do so - spend as much time as possible building up the fleet and preparing it for combat. Use overwhelming force at the last minute to win the battle. Colonization will be a must, of course, but we should aim to minimize casualties.

Attack Mars as Soon As We Can: Once we have sufficient Light Cruisers, launch an immediate attack on Mars. It will be bloodier, but possession of the inner system will make it easier to defend Earth. Besides, many of our frigates will become obsolete - losses in that area might not be as devastating as we might think.

Third Option: If the Committee desires to offer a third option - a point at which we should attack Mars (describe the number of ships necessary, or perhaps the number of ships using various techs), feel free to write in and describe it.

occipitallobe
Jul 16, 2012

my dad posted:

This game borrows a lot of its mechanics from Master of Orion 2, doesn't it?

Yeah. Honestly, I don't find that the turning mechanics are all that meaningful. Some ships want to close in, others want to keep their distance, and unless you gently caress up somehow turning should never be an important or pivotal part of battle. Sometimes you can flank enemy ships, but generally speaking the weight of your fire tends to decide things long before you close in or flank.

Most of your battles tend to be more about picking the right place to fight at the right time, and designing your ships so that whatever challenges you're likely to meet (really, a balance between overheating and being destroyed is one of the major points of friction in ship design) can be overcome without excessive losses to your fleet entirely. I tend to click through the battles fairly quickly, so long as you're meticulous about shooting missiles at the right guys at the right time everything else is pretty simple.

Agean90
Jun 28, 2008


Attack! and try to board and capture the alien starbase while your at it.

Valcione
Sep 12, 2007
For All Brave Silpheed Pilots


The ghost of animes past demands hot-blooded action! Attack!

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
: We should Attack at once! I mean, what is the bloody point of having this fleet if we aren't going to use it to give Johnny Alien a right good thumping? Besides, Mars is prime real estate. Once we've cleaned out the alien riff-raff we can get to work building high-class institutions for high-class people. Fawlty Towers can be born again...on Mars!

NewMars
Mar 10, 2013
: Listen, I've already made my position on this clear. Strike hard, strike now and strike with glory!

Supersonic Shine
Oct 13, 2012
Rush Mars! Casualties today will prevent casualties tomorrow.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Attack! ATTACK! ATTTTTACK!

I will personally lead the charge and seek the sweet embrace of noble death among the stars! Of course, we also need to save Mars, naturally. But also, death.

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Neruz
Jul 23, 2012

A paragon of manliness
*Adjusts his Akubra to the side a little*

Alrighty then, sounds like its time to go off and see how many men we can get killed! If things start to go south I'll see if I can work out what the space combat equivilant of taping some tin with water cans to a rifle so it fires automatically is to cover the retreat.

Come on boys, lets go get shot attacking Mars!

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