RFC has said things aren't all going to go our way this year. Losing a Rottweiller or a KHVII would be one way to accomplish that without losing the mission. Also, I'm uncomfortable thinking of the KHVII's and Rottweillers as being an irresistible force. I think the Dohlarans are going to fight hard to keep the ICN out of Gorath Bay. This is their capital, their country. They won't know they're up against an “irresistible” force until the KHVII's go into the Bay and destroy most, if not all, of the defensive installations. RFC's been consistent in portraying the COGA fighting man as a tough and courageous fighter.
I expect the ICN to be hurt in Gorath Bay. I also expect them to be totally victorious there with major consequences for the Jihad. I think the most likely agent of hurt will be Katyusha rockets. My thoughts on how the Katyushas wil be effective and a possible scenario on how mines might come into play follow. I attach no guesstimate on the probability of the scenario actually coming to be but it was fun to build Lyanehl and Elwoulhd's conversation.
I will cast votes for the St Khylman breechloader and the crank galley gunboats as being creative in case anyone's keeping score
A “creative” mine scenario:
Two Dohlarans, Lyanehl and Elwoulhd, senior artificers working for Lt Zhwaygair, are making replacement ammo for Dreadnought and complaining about Charisian armor. “We can't touch 'em.” Elwoulhd grumbled.
“Aye, but the new shells have got the cursed galleons afraid to come near us,” Lyanehl replied trying to keep his partner's spirits up
Elwoulhd nodded, “I don't know 'bout that but, ya know how a ship heels when she turns, maybe we could get a shot below the armor at their wooden hulls then, during the turn.”
“Aye, but gonna be pretty painful to get that shot,” Lyanehl agreed.
Elwoulhd pauses and looks at the rows shells standing on the floor around them. “Hmmm..., Lyanehl, I think I might have a way to get these beauties into those cursed heretics' hulls.”
Lyanehl looks up, “Ehh?” His mate was looking at the shells but he knew his mind was elsewhere.
“What we do,” Elwoulhd said softly, “is build a wooden framework to hold and float one or two shells and then we rig 'em with one of those fuses they use on the Kau Yungs.”
Lyanehl glances around to make sure none of the Inquisition monitors is in earshot.
Elwoulhd leans closer, “Then..., we anchor the frame to the bottom below the surface so the Shan-wei worshippin' devils won't see 'em. We'll blow some mighty big holes through those copper-plated hulls as they come sailin' in all high'n'mighty.”
Lyanehl sits back, “Elwoulhd, I think you best be gettin' over to talk to Lt Zhwaygair right quick on that one. Maybe you can call 'em “Admiral's Eggbaskets.”
Owl's filters disregard Zhwaygair talking about the new "eggbasket" so Sarmouth gets no warning of the nasty surprise waiting for him.
And even if Sarmouth knows they're there, how's he gonna disable them? He can't get Schooners in without turning them into piles of splinters and the eggbaskets are rigged with rugged contact fuses.
The real threat
Katyushas, which actually exist, may be used in the harbor's defense. They'd be quite simple to use as area defense weapons. Their max range of 4000 yds means much of the area of the approach lanes can be covered. (that's an assumption because the map has no scale.
)
Put the launchers in place and leave them with only a 2 or 3 person firing crew. Launchers can be concealed and protected by placing them behind batteries, in deep holes with protective covers. Installations behind civilian homes or in the open away from batteries might not even require covers. Levelling the battery will have no long-term effects because rubble from the battery can be quickly removed from the protective covers. The ICN won't have any idea they're there and even if they do, a hole is a pretty tough target to level.
Each launcher's impact zone is marked with a small buoy. The launch crew fires when a ship is at or close to the buoy. They are watching only their buoy so things are kept simple. Extra false decoy buoys can be dropped to make the buoy's function unknown until it's too late.
