Information I'd love to know

Who's going to supplant Honor as the main protagonist, fueling the same high-octane reader excitement? There are many characters being groomed who can, but doesn't there always have to be "just one" main character, with as many outstanding supporting characters as you'd want?

cthia wrote:Who's going to supplant Honor as the main protagonist, fueling the same high-octane reader excitement? There are many characters being groomed who can, but doesn't there always have to be "just one" main character, with as many outstanding supporting characters as you'd want?

My vote is for Abigail Hearnes!

Of course Meighan Peterson's heroic performance at Hypatia might earn her the title as the New Salamander.

drothgery wrote:

Jonathan_S wrote:The financial and research capabilities enabled by the wormhole were only serious funneled towards the RMN in the last 100 years or so. Basically the Manties don't appear to have really surpassed the IAN until into King Roger's build-up. "Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully" -- the RMN had that, the IAN didn't; so under that pressure the RMN finally surpassed them.

Eh. The RMN didn't make a major investment in its wall of battle or reach rough technological parity with the SLN until King Roger III's build-up, but it seems like the RMN had been involved in Silesia in a big way since the events that led to Saganami's death. Even prior to King Roger's buildup, the RMN was enormous for a single-system polity, it just essentially topped out with its beloved battlecruisers.

Sure it was very powerful for a single-system navy. There just wasn't any evidence that even at last as, say, 1820 PD the RMN's BCs were noticeably better than their IAN counterparts; nor that the RMN outnumbers the IAN even in cruisers. (Nor was there any evidence they were noticeably worse. I'd suspect in that weapons development plateau that by then the two navy's tech and designs were pretty comparable)

Though I'd assume the IAN always kept a solid core of modern wallers in service; can't see them giving up that part of their identity so based on that alone they probably overmatched the RMN until relatively recently when King Roger's buildup spurred both construction and research.

Jonathan_S wrote:

drothgery wrote:Eh. The RMN didn't make a major investment in its wall of battle or reach rough technological parity with the SLN until King Roger III's build-up, but it seems like the RMN had been involved in Silesia in a big way since the events that led to Saganami's death. Even prior to King Roger's buildup, the RMN was enormous for a single-system polity, it just essentially topped out with its beloved battlecruisers.

Sure it was very powerful for a single-system navy. There just wasn't any evidence that even at last as, say, 1820 PD the RMN's BCs were noticeably better than their IAN counterparts; nor that the RMN outnumbers the IAN even in cruisers. (Nor was there any evidence they were noticeably worse. I'd suspect in that weapons development plateau that by then the two navy's tech and designs were pretty comparable)

Though I'd assume the IAN always kept a solid core of modern wallers in service; can't see them giving up that part of their identity so based on that alone they probably overmatched the RMN until relatively recently when King Roger's buildup spurred both construction and research.

The pre-Rodger RMN did have it's 11 old DNs, 11 older BBs, and 3 slightly newer SDs.

But the RMN did have dozens of modern forts protecting it's planets and the Junction.

So the RMN was in reality a single system polity with 6 dozen (or more) capital ships prior to the King Rodger buildup, which was nothing to sneeze at - by anybody but the SLN...

Fox2! wrote:

cthia wrote:My first thought was the lack of wars and their crippling cost. But then, Manty tech was born out of the furnace of struggle and forged in the heat of battle after battle with Haven. The Andermani only danced with pirates -- who hardly could push their navy to great heights. I always suspected the Andermani of stealing Manty secrets. High Espionage. What pages am I missing?

In HAE, doesn't von Rabenstrange admit that the Andies have pretty well penetrated the Manticorans at the dinner he hosts for Honor aboard his flagship?

Jonathan_S wrote:Well yes. But also the Andies were founded by a very successful mercenary fleet commander. To the point he was responsible, back in the day, for getting the very first battleships designed and built (back when they were the ultimate naval force; not the has-been 3rd rate wallers they became a few centuries later). (As RFC said once at a panel, basically the League let him relocate out to the far verge to form his own empire, and take his shiny new BBs with him, in exchange for being the very next in line to buy those BBs from the yard.

So for most of Manticore's existence the question wasn't how are the Andies keeping up with them. It was how -- long before the RMN was even within shouting distance of the tech and numbers of the IAN?

The financial and research capabilities enabled by the wormhole were only serious funneled towards the RMN in the last 100 years or so. Basically the Manties don't appear to have really surpassed the IAN until into King Roger's build-up. "Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully" -- the RMN had that, the IAN didn't; so under that pressure the RMN finally surpassed them.

Which is odd, or at least ironic, since textev had stated the Andermani was apt to one day come head-to-head with the gaping jaws of the League.

TFLYTSNBN wrote:

cthia wrote:Who's going to supplant Honor as the main protagonist, fueling the same high-octane reader excitement? There are many characters being groomed who can, but doesn't there always have to be "just one" main character, with as many outstanding supporting characters as you'd want?

My vote is for Abigail Hearnes!

Of course Meighan Peterson's heroic performance at Hypatia might earn her the title as the New Salamander.

At the very least a substitute teacher.

IAN moles have compromised the RMN in some way but they couldn't keep track of how the Manties were breathing down their necks. They should have heard footsteps. Which might help narrow down the timeline for successfully inserting the moles.

Was it ever mentioned why Young was given a Heavy Cruiser and Honor was given a Light Cruiser?

I know it was Honor's first hyper command, but wasn't Warlock also Young's first? In fact, wasn't it Young's first command of any kind? Honor had a previous command.

don't believe it was ever stated that Warlock was young's first command, though even with his connections I have a hard time believing his poor abilities would have been ignored if he screwed up command of a smaller ship.

Though to be fair providing he never saw combat his skills were merely poor, so a very good XO likely made sure the ship ran well enough that his total unsuitably to be master after god of a RMN ship was missed/ignored.

also to be fair against the average pirate he probably would have held his nerve, it was only when he was in a serious fight and at very real risk of death that his nerve broke.

as to how he got a heavy cruiser? the power of the north hollow files

or the first space lord needed something big for the navy and agreeing to give young a command of a CA was the price that had to be paid.

cthia wrote:Was it ever mentioned why Young was given a Heavy Cruiser and Honor was given a Light Cruiser?

I know it was Honor's first hyper command, but wasn't Warlock also Young's first? In fact, wasn't it Young's first command of any kind? Honor had a previous command.

His connections, most definitely. He had patrons and his father also had people whose thumbs he could screw to get his son any posting he wanted, at least in peace time. Even without the coercion, Pavel was part of the clique inside the RMN that scratched each other's backs, so it's not unreasonable to think the Janacek Admiralty would have promoted him and others like him above people Hamish Alexander and Raoul Courvoisier liked. The thread on Honor, Nimitz and Pavel had some speculation about how anyone ended up on his crew in the first place and I suspect that it was also done the same way. Pavel would surround himself with his cronies and offer positions above the level they should really have had as pay-offs or as a way to hook them into the patronage network. Like him, those would probably lean heavily on their junior officers and enlisteds, which perversely made appointment to Warlock a good idea: you get to do the work that your superior should have done and it'll look good on your file.

Fearless wasn't Honor's first hyper command. That was HMS Hawkwing, which was her second actual command, after LAC 113. Again because of Pavel, the North Hollow files and their cronies, she kept getting pushed down and denied what was really her due. That's how she was only assigned command of an 80-year-old light cruiser instead of being a Capt. (jg) by the time. She was also behind Mike Henke at this time, who also had a case of being kept away from what was really her due, but instead by her own doing.

cthia wrote:Was it ever mentioned why Young was given a Heavy Cruiser and Honor was given a Light Cruiser?

I know it was Honor's first hyper command, but wasn't Warlock also Young's first? In fact, wasn't it Young's first command of any kind? Honor had a previous command.

Pavel Young was Senior Grade Captain*, Honor was a Commander** (two ranks behind). That meant that any ship he would command would be more prestigious than a mere light cruiser.

*It helps when one's father is on the House of Lords' naval committee.

**It doesn't help when a member of the House of Lords' naval committee is interfering with your career.