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Next book fleet composition spoiler

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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by saber964   » Fri Jun 29, 2018 6:00 pm

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Hear is my speculation on what going to happen to the Sidemore orbital shipyards. First for a few years they will be the the RMN's primary refit and repair yard until the SEM/RMN can get a handle on what kind of shape the Silisian shipyards are in. I.e. how modern or obsolete. Second Sidemore was well on its way to becoming a local industrial power building light warships and merchants. I'm sure that the Haumptman Cartel and Skydomes of Grayson and possibly the Andernime government will be throwing business their way.
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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by SharkHunter   » Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:31 am

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Actually, I'd like to propose a smarter "fleet move" based on current capabilities, plus a little. Remembering that as much as 70% of the SLNs interstellar cargo moves in Manticoran "bottoms" for part of the journey, that's the lifeblood for both the Solarian League and the SEM. With Manticore's defacto control of the majority of wormholes,

Maybe the smart move is to upgrade a healthy percentage of the Manticoran merchant fleet with modules that include a Roland DD or multiple LACs, and a healthy number of missile pods which can be drop-launched on a moments notice. These ships can't be identifiably different from the rest of a convoy, i.e. they aren't HMMAC Wayfarer-light warships, they're pure defense.

A secondary task is to make it possible for all new GhostRider drones to act as Apollo/Mycroft -lite control platforms so that once the bay-launched warship DO launch, they can punch out any opposing ship force with high accuracy as there's still an ammunition limit in play. Thoughts?
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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by Dauntless   » Sat Jun 30, 2018 9:21 am

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to some extent the problem will always be that even lightly armed merchie, i.e. PD and LAC bays will loose room that could be transporting cargo.

few merchies will like the idea and if the ship is navy run (to get around the merchies wanting money, money, money) then it is probably just as easy to use a couple of DDs or CLs as escorts.
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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by ywing14   » Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:09 pm

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I agree with Dauntless, that would cut into the merchant ships bottom line. I find it unlikely they'd want to give up the space. Not to mention it would likely violate the sovereignty of many star nations.
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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by kzt   » Sun Jul 01, 2018 7:55 pm

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If you give up 40 or 80k tons out of 6 million tons it’s just not a big deal. The armed ships are a problem. Which you could deal with by pointing out that if you want our trade you accept our rules.
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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by ywing14   » Sun Jul 01, 2018 8:02 pm

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kzt wrote:If you give up 40 or 80k tons out of 6 million tons it’s just not a big deal. The armed ships are a problem. Which you could deal with by pointing out that if you want our trade you accept our rules.


I disagree it's a big deal. That's a lot of money they can fit into that area. And while yes, you can strong arm people into accepting your armed vessels. I don't believe that's the best way to go about relieving tensions with the SL. Given what they've more or less rammed down the SL's throat. I don't think it would help ramming that down their throat as well. Not to mention in increased crew requirements for the vessels.
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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by SharkHunter   » Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:04 am

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--snipping--
Dauntless wrote:...few merchies will like the idea and if the ship is navy run (to get around the merchies wanting money, money, money) then it is probably just as easy to use a couple of DDs or CLs as escorts.

I think you inadvertently back up my point: there aren't enough DDs or CLs to act as escorts everywhere they are needed. Place a number of merchies in convoy within SLN space, and assume that the LACs can receive the take and manage the notional "mini-Mycroft" pattern of using ghost-rider drones to better the downrange targeting. Make a couple of the LACs Katanas, and you get some superior CM capability as well.

The economic argument loses validity due to insurance and crew/ship replacement cost. You either lose most or all of the convoy (maybe 32 million tons of ship, less cargo) to a raiding task force, OR give up 300-400K-tons of invisible-until needed mini-dragons with long fangs (warship directed Mk-16s). If I am Klaus Hauptman, etc. there's no doubt which choice I would make.
Last edited by SharkHunter on Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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All my posts are YMMV, IMHO, and welcoming polite discussion, extension, and rebuttal. This is the HonorVerse, after all
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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by SharkHunter   » Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:47 am

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Here's an interesting thought for a force mix... A Kammerling with the SagC command deck [and presuming it already has similar counter-missile capabilities], plus 3 Roland DDs sans flag decks for a four-ship mini-squadron, or even a Kammerling + 1 Roland as a minimal force projection unit. No tube launched missiles on the Kammerling but it could still presumably rack and control as many pods as the SagC(?) Highest bang for the buck with both forms of warfighting capability?
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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by Dauntless   » Mon Jul 02, 2018 10:34 am

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navy hulls will always be limited it is true, but an escort is as much a deterent as it is protector, to make the enemy to0 worried to strike in the first place.

LACs even as dangerous as manty LACs are will not have the same effect. mainly due to inability to go anywhere without their carrier be it merchie or CLAC

A couple of lasers/grasers would be enough to scare of most pirates and should in theory make the ship safer and yet we saw that in silesa, a well known pirate zone, that damn few merchies had any weapons.

clearly the merchant companies preferred to send unamred mechines with as much as they could carry, rather then arm them despite the expected saving on insurance you would a expect a ship able to defend itself would offer.

the ex SL places like the verge, while undoubtedly going to be be somewhat chaotic will likely be deemed as less of a threat zone then silesa was, as up until recently FF stomped on any pirates (when they weren't pretending to be the pirates). Silesa only worked as a pirate haven because of how corrupt damn near everyone in power was. undoutably there will be some trouble but I doubt it will be enough to get lots of merchies arming ships when they accepted losses in silesa for over half a century and rarely armed ships there.
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Re: Next book fleet composition spoiler
Post by Brigade XO   » Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:13 am

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Sidemore /Marsh is an existing, fully functional and equiped fleet support base for SEM under treaty terms with the local government. Sidemore has a lot of reasons to continue to be happy with SEM as a client/customer and very friendly guard dog who keeps trouble from their doorstep.
I haven't gone back to see where they are relative to the systems that became part of the Alderman Empire vs part of SEM but that base does "help" keep them from being a semi-passive aquistion of the AE. It also gives Manticore a base which is not potentialy troubled by local bad feelings on the partition of Silesia betwen AE and SEM. They are also, as noted, becoming an economic power in the region and haveing a fleet repair and port-of-call relationship would still make sence if they are going to be a merchant hub as well.

As long as the AE and SEM don't get into a shooting war, Sidemore will do just fine. They are probably going to want to build up some level of SDF (don't depend 100% on anybody to defend you) but not to the level of SDs. That whole SDF idea does work with Manticore as a treaty partner and maintaining a base there.....the system takes responsibility for system safety, customs and some commerce protection which frees of RMN patrol efforts and provides them with a working partnership in general commerce protection.
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