Defense of Lynx, the system

I suspect Lynx is weakly defended. It has better access to the Lynx Terminus picket force(and Home Fleet) than the rest of the Quadrant, by a large margin. I wouldn't expect to see more than basic LAC and pod-based system defenses.

In time, it may prove to be a suitable place to install a more discreet shipyard slash R&D facility.

JeffEngel wrote:

Theemile wrote:
There's the telling statement. If there was any specific buildup of construction or mobile hardware at Lynx (system), it would have been mentioned, or at least considered by Monica, OFS and Manpower when planning the wormhole op.

It would appear to be an easy grab to get RMN hardware (If any was there) and a thorn immediately in your side if there was a significant amount of firepower there. It would be a perfect assault base for any in-quadrant forces which would be used to try to retake the terminus, so any planner would attempt to neutralize it.

Yet it was never brought up. So I doubt any forts or a mini-heasphaetus was constructed there. The LAC basing, probably; the small cruiser level force, yes; but nothing bigger, Or Monica would have had to plan to deal with it - because let's face it, a 2nd SD or BC Squadron in quadrant with RMN pods would have allowed the RMN to easily clear the wormhole BEFORE the SLN could react, especially if it was stationed at Lynx - and no matter how manpower spun it, Monica's admirals weren't dumb enough not to do a thorough threat assessment of their own for an op that big.

Well - they may not have had the intelligence on a system that wasn't that close to them, at all prominent, or directly and immediately a part of the operation. And scouting it would have been a dangerous hint to offer Manticore about their intentions.

All that said, I agree - the absence of mention can be read as implicitly meaning that the system had nothing confirmed that would significantly bear on the operation, and nothing suspected with enough confidence or of enough strength to matter.

It does bring up another notion though - Hyper-capable defenses for Lynx could themselves serve as a small reserve for the terminus or for the Quadrant, albeit, again, not one that is immediately available. At worst, a destroyer or light cruiser there would be able, fairly quickly, to monitor or harass an enemy force that had seized the terminus.

Once again, absence of data may say much. If one ship could blow an op (The biggest op that Monica had ever mounted), and there was the remotest possibility that it MIGHT be there, it would have to be included in the Op plan - so either they knew the level of the defenses at Lynx and the Terminus, or had plans to find out as silently as possible (a freighter should be able to see what was in orbit at Lynx), yet there was no mention of an abort probability. So I say they had a fairly good idea what was there.

There already was a CL picket (3 or 4 CL/DDs iirc) at the terminus, so they obviously weren't concerned about them.

I admit, I have trouble understanding how Lynx system got classified old kingdom, but talbott as a whole is new empire. The old kingdom portion of talbott, should be the planetless star that actually holds the terminus. Lynx is merely the nearest inhabited planet, and after the Constitution was voted isn't even the regional capital.

With Spindle being the more or less region capital, any mobile forces will stay stationed there and then be detached on an ad hoc basis, wherever reinforcements might be needed.

The forces at the terminus are probably fairly light, so to speak with Home Fleet, and other terminus task forces only a junction transit (or two) away. Emphasis on cruiser range, unlikely to have battlecruisers or wallers unless directly threatened.

Somtaaw wrote:I admit, I have trouble understanding how Lynx system got classified old kingdom, but talbott as a whole is new empire. The old kingdom portion of talbott, should be the planetless star that actually holds the terminus. Lynx is merely the nearest inhabited planet, and after the Constitution was voted isn't even the regional capital.

With Spindle being the more or less region capital, any mobile forces will stay stationed there and then be detached on an ad hoc basis, wherever reinforcements might be needed.

Lynx the system got to be part of the Old Star Kingdom instead for two reasons: timing and distance. At four lightyears from the terminus, it's fairly close, and if you check a map, it's stretching the Quadrant to try to include Lynx in it. As for timing, Lynx was asking for membership immediately, before Harvest Joy even returned to Manticore. The annexation movement for the Cluster was months in the making and started a bit after Harvest Joy's return.

So it's a bit of a stretch to include it in the Old Star Kingdom, but it'd've been more of one to include it in the Talbott Quadrant, both astrographically and historically.

None of that rules out including Lynx under the defensive umbrella of the Talbott Station now though.

JeffEngel wrote:

Hutch wrote:Hmmm...if I was the SLN and I wanted to hit Manticore at it's weakest spot....Hmmmmm

Indeed, yes. It's the most vulnerable part of the Old Star Kingdom and doesn't likely have the defenses Spindle does. Then again, it still probably has more defenses than they can handle short of investing (and losing) far more wallers than it merits.

It would be a major PR coup to get one of the planets of the OSK to surrender, but then what? There doesn't seem to be much practical strategic gain. There's apparently no significant infrastructure or fleet there for raiders to destroy, and you couldn't hold it unless you've got a fleet capable of dealing with the one that'll be coming over from the Terminus. In which case, you should probably be attacking them there, without giving up the advantage of surprise.

There is no heavy picket force on the Lynx terminus. They disappeared when the forts came online. Now they probably still have ??? ships, but I would not put it past DD/DB. The entire SLN if they attacked those forts would pretty much vanish.

Lynx the planet

1) Has no critical infrastructure.
2) No peer with long range missiles
3) From 2), would assume no more than LAC's/PODs with a fort or two being built for fire control.

Relax wrote:There is no heavy picket force on the Lynx terminus. They disappeared when the forts came online. Now they probably still have ??? ships, but I would not put it past DD/DB. The entire SLN if they attacked those forts would pretty much vanish.

Concur completely.

Lynx the planet

1) Has no critical infrastructure.
2) No peer with long range missiles
3) From 2), would assume no more than LAC's/PODs with a fort or two being built for fire control.

I tend to disagree, since Lynx is a Full member of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, and one thing we know for certain is that Queen Elizabeth II takes her duty to defend her citizens in the SK very seriously.

So it's at least a BC Squadron and more likely a SD(p) Squadron, not because Lynx is a prime target, but because this is part of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, and the SKM defends itself.

IMHO as always. YMMV.

Somtaaw wrote:I admit, I have trouble understanding how Lynx system got classified old kingdom, but talbott as a whole is new empire. The old kingdom portion of talbott, should be the planetless star that actually holds the terminus. Lynx is merely the nearest inhabited planet, and after the Constitution was voted isn't even the regional capital.

Lynx got admitted to the Old Kingdom because they asked. They asked as soon as the Lynx Terminus was discovered, and were admitted to the Star Kingdom of Manticore before the Talbott Cluster started asking. In fact, if I recall correctly, Lynx sent the request back on the ship that explored the terminus.

Lynx was never part of the Talbott Cluster. The Talbott Cluster was near Lynx; it did not include Lynx. Just as Monica, Selkirk, Saltash, Foshee, Chomanand, and numerous other systems were near but not in the Talbott Cluster. The Talbott Cluster was a specific group of stars with economic and political ties.

Hutch wrote:

Relax wrote:
1) Has no critical infrastructure.
2) No peer with long range missiles
3) From 2), would assume no more than LAC's/PODs with a fort or two being built for fire control.

So it's at least a BC Squadron and more likely a SD(p) Squadron, not because Lynx is a prime target, but because this is part of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, and the SKM defends itself.

IMHO as always. YMMV.

There is no way there is an SD'P squadron. Those are rare birds needing to stay concentrated. Lack of peer enemy would not require SD'P either. I will give you BC squadron or two up until the forts they are building come online. Yea, I assumed they were building forts.

Relax wrote:
1) Has no critical infrastructure.
2) No peer with long range missiles
3) From 2), would assume no more than LAC's/PODs with a fort or two being built for fire control.

Hutch wrote:So it's at least a BC Squadron and more likely a SD(p) Squadron, not because Lynx is a prime target, but because this is part of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, and the SKM defends itself.

IMHO as always. YMMV.

Relax wrote:There is no way there is an SD'P squadron. Those are rare birds needing to stay concentrated. Lack of peer enemy would not require SD'P either. I will give you BC squadron or two up until the forts they are building come online. Yea, I assumed they were building forts.

Maybe some of the older/legacy SDs/SDPs .. or maybe Lynx-the-inhabited-system got the legacy DNs that weren't at Marsh. Quite possibly some BCPs.
If it's a legacy SD/DN that's still in-service until replacement SDPs can be built, it probably wouldn't be that much harder to use them to help train Lynx native spacers.

But there is definitely going to be a reasonably strong mobile force in-system. Not anywhere near as strong as the permanent Trevor's Star detachment, but likely a force more than capable of holding its own against anyone that hasn't had tech-transfers from Manticore/Manticoran Allied systems.
Even some of the few Legacy DN/SDs remaining in RMN service would be more than sufficient to defend the patch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Even a squadron or two of Legacy DN/SDs, along with escorting elements, would be sufficient to shut down any conceivable attacker or raider short of the Republic cutting loose a squadron or two of SDPs and support elements for the ~year out there and back. At least, until Oyster Bay and the MAlign were added to threat assessments.
Probably a semi-permanent detached task group or task force from Home Fleet, as far as administrative concerns go.

I'm not sure about forts yet though. They probably planned to install at least a couple forts, in addition to bigger, more advanced grav arrays than what was already there. However, I suspect that Lynx-the-wormhole-terminus had a somewhat higher priority, at least under High Ridge, and then war with Haven probably caused major disruptions in the plan, not counting the change-in-government disruptions and changes. After all, Lynx-the-inhabited-system would have been in a similar, albeit weaker, position as Trevor's Star and San Martino, as regards its importance and position as regards the High Ridge Government, other than perhaps the PR value, so lots of show, and little substance.