Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Internal Communications

Q. Confederation Navy officers are aware that at times in their career they may be explorers or diplomats as well as warriors.

R. I think one reason that the Navy sends liaison officers, is to assess the local situation, units, and commanders.

S. They can't be fobbed off with subordinates, but can insist that the comms case must be handed directly to the local commander, or head of government.

T. More nefariously, if the Navy ever plans to move against Solomani Security, they won't be able to pick up on it by any change of communications protocol.

U. It's also a way to move around crucial officers, without attracting attention.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Internal Communications

V. The ecks boat network, or what remains of it, probably is centred on Home, and at a minimum, has four main lines of communications, to each sector capitol.

W. Cannibalization tends to rule out expansion.

X. Non replacement indicates contraction.

Y. Or, more likely, trying to maintain those four lines, but with increasingly greater time lag.

Z. You have yo wonder at what point it becomes irreparably broken, or everyone agrees to dismantle it.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Internal Communications

1. I just picked out the following, as seeming the best positioned to act as a sector administrative hub, which is not quite the same as ruling from there, just sending out directives, whether bureaucratic or military.

2. Some are not technologically advanced, but their somewhat independence and nearby naval base are not to be underestimated assets.

3. Kaig/Nemo (Magyar 0413)

4. Castine/Castine (Canopus 2007)

5. Omaha/Gamma Leonis (Neworld 1212)

6. Pesacce/Vald (Alpha Crucis 2129)

7. While direct connections between the Confederation and the Imperium have been severed, there should be some form of a line of communications between them, like a hotline to prevent misunderstandings.

8. So, a subsidiary ecks boat route to Mirabilis/Capella (Solomani Rim 1332).

9. A diplomatic flagged ecks boat would transit to Iilike/Dingir (Solomani Rim 1429), and one of the Imperium's could do the same.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Internal Communications

A. No, Mirabilis would be the launching point of a drive towards Terra, so you wouldn't want to make it easy for the Imperium to have a look what's happening there.

B. You do it from Baraka/Capella (Solomani Rim 1636) to Sarpedon/Capella (Solomani Rim 1533).

C. Home/Aldebaran (Aldebaran 1009) - Canaan/Aldebaran (Aldebaran 1206) - Bleak/Aldebaran (Aldebaran 1303) - Vyborg/Capella (Solomani Rim 1540) - Baraka/Capella (Solomani Rim 1636) - Sarpedon/Capella (Solomani Rim 1533).

D. Each leg requires a jump factor four starship.

E. If you have ambassadors in each other's capitols, you have to wonder how they communicate with their governments.

F. I would guess a limited number of special courier vessels along restricted spacelanes.

 

[Condottiere]

Home - Euxene - Gir - Ivraie - Hypericum - Alcemena - Baxter Station - Castine

Home - Euxene - Gir - Teilhard - Pieri - Gursky - Piccione - Roen - Ghoryana - Creighton - Enbaum - Uebelhor - Kriss - Packard - Kano - Kaig

Home - Legrange - Orient - Europa - Orizaba - Rudaki - Strelwell - Hogarth - Kostov - Omaha

Home - Legrange - Orient - Europa - Swelter - Mu'izzi - New Fenris - Balboa - Torrens - Basilicus - Yano - Darina - Tajio - Psion - Pesacce

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Internal Communications

G. I don't think the Confederation Courier Service (CCS) works.

H. Trying to plot a route to different sectors shows vast expanses of empty hexes

I. As an example, you need starships capable of crossing four parsecs to reach Home from core or trailing directions.

J. Information thus moves between the Confederation’s major worlds at an average speed of two parsecs per week.

K. In a really roundabout way.

 

[Nelphine]

I think this is a SUPER interesting topic that I haven't seen covered before. Defining where xboats will go, and where you need other courier systems to go - and the idea of 'safe diplomat' routes, opens up all kinds of intrigue and infrastructure questions.

 

[Condottiere]

The Imperium did send a Tigress class superdreadnought to Cronor to pick up their ambassador's corpse.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Internal Communications

M. Rationalization of the ecks boat network would/is inevitable.

N. Since you can't replace outworn and/or broken down equipment, you'd try to start sharing routes between the known four primaries and the subsidiary line to the Imperium.

O. Though I think in terms of maintenance resources, beyond the hundred tonne ecks boat and the kilotonne tender, whether personnel, costs, or spaceyard space allocated to aforesaid spacecraft, annually or unexpected repairs, that may be undefined and discretionary.

P. Flight crews would be dependent on number of spacecraft and frequency of use.

Q. Political policy could forbid the allocation of money to purchase new spacecraft to replace old ecks boats and tenders, as well as spare parts for annual maintenance and repairs.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Internal Communications

R. Electronics wise, sensors, bridge and computer, probably easy to maintain them with three dee printers

S. You have a two tonne power plant, eighteen and three quarter tonne jump drive factor four/budget-increased size, and twenty tonne mail distribution array.

T. These are commercial, off the shelf components.

U. There probably is a black market for stripping the eighteen and three quarter tonne jump drive factor four from Scout Service ecks boats, smuggled into the Confederation from the Imperium, and then inventoried as spare parts.

V. The Navy could probably find sufficiently outputted power plants in any number of junkyards.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Internal Communications

V. for the tender, ten tonne manoeuvre drive, thirty tonne jump drive factor one, thirty tonne power plant, and twenty tonne mail distribution array.

W. In theory, you could get a jump shuttle to move the tender, and the Navy has enough capacity to do that for non jump capable spacecraft.

X. You can always install multiple modules of manoeuvre drives and power plants for the same effect., diverted from inventory.

Y. The ecks boat itself becomes the bottleneck.

Z. Especially, it's jump drive.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap and Battleship Building Programmes

1. I calculated what the building programme the Royal Navy should have had late Victorian to mid Twentieth Century.

2. I came up with three first class battleships and one first class cruiser, laid down per annum, until Nineteen Fourteen.

3. Nineteen Oh Six, first class cruiser would be a dreadnought armoured cruiser.

4. So, the Confederation Navy should adhere to that three to one ratio to determine how many battlecruisers and battleships they lay down per year.

5. Assuming twelve capitol ships are ordered per annum, that would be nine battleships and three battlecruisers.

6. Heavyish cruisers would not be constructed, as you would assume that the battlecruisers would fulfill any roles that they would normally be assigned to.

7. You would need the evolved protected cruiser, the light cruiser, to make up the difference.

8. Shifting downwards, super destroyers to cover the gap between light cruisers and destroyers.

9. Probably two naval tenders per annum.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap and Battleship Building Programmes

A. What's the point of a battlecruiser, since it's just a squishy copy of an actual battleship?

B. Reconnaissance in force, commerce raider, commerce protection, power projection, and presence.

C. Going by Fighting Ships of the Solomani, making up the numbers for the line of battle.

D. In theory, it's cheaper, or less resource usage, to have a battlecruiser running around, taking over first class cruiser missions.

E. In peacetime, it's a great way to bluff.

F. The crunch comes when you actually are in a full blown war.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap and Battleship Building Programmes

G. For trade protection, chasing down commerce raiders with about equivalent warships, on a one to one confrontation, things can go sideways; Sidney versus Kormoran.

H. And if you do catch them with any number of first class cruisers, and they happen to be a battlecruiser, with or without escorts, they could try to outrun you, or it's going to be a bloodbath; pursuit of Goeben and Breslau.

I. You never try to fight the enemy on even terms, as luck and capability then have a greater effect; Battle of Coronel.

J. With bigger guns, and reasonable range finding, battlecruisers can dictate the range against most cruisers, whose own guns might not reach them, and if they do, have little effect; Battle of Falkland Islands.

K. You don't necessarily need to be facing a battlecruiser, as anything with bigger guns could chew up smaller starwarships; Battle of the River Plate.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap and Battleship Building Programmes

L. Historically, If you lower the speed potential of a battlecruiser, you can convert that to armour protection.

M. Unlike Traveller, performance isn't linear in real life.

N. Size inflation allows a comfortable fit for optimal protection and firepower, with an acceptable high mobility.

O. In theory, the Queen Elizabeths, with better engines, might have hit twenty eight knots, turning them from fast dreadnoughts to intermediate fast battleships.

P. Eliminating the need for a really fast capitol ship, by compromising a little on other performance aspects.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap and Battleship Building Programmes

Q. And then there are second class examples of cruisers and battleships.

R. In Traveller, these tend to be last generation teched starwarships.

S. If there are, the Confederation Navy doesn't have many of those still commissioned.

T. Since they jumped straight from technological level thirteen Zeus battlecruisers direct to quarter megatonne technological level fourteen Promethii fast dreadnoughts, it seems unlikely they ever constructed second class battleships, and even a Prometheus currently wouldn't be considered second rate, despite it's age.

U. Exceptionally, if they had captured one, or acquired it from a member navy.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap and Battleship Building Programmes

V. The Confederation must have decided that once they breached technological level fourteen, they would be strong enough to confront the Imperium.

W. Their starwarship building programme(s) seemed planned to cover gaps in their capabilities.

X. While the quarter megatonne Prometheus class is obviously meant to be the cornerstone of the lie of battle, the Normandy class heavy cruiser was to take over some of the battlecruiser roles, as they would likely be making up the bulk of the line of battle.

Y. At half of the Normandy's eighty kilotonnes, the forty kilotonne Beijing class would take over the deep strike missions.

Z. Twenty kilotonnes seems to have been skipped, but you have the ten kilotonne Madrid class light cruiser, and the five kilotonne disappointing Dingir class deep strike destroyers, that in theory would have accompanied the Beijings.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap and Battleship Building Programmes

1. The Confederation Navy doesn't build second class battleships.

2. To be fair, I rather doubt that the Imperium Navy does either.

3. However, you do have the hundred kilotonne Sylea class battleship, which contradicts that.

4. Usually, a second class battleship had a ten inch main armament, compared to then current norm of twelve, and tended be slighter faster and lighter.

5. In theory, that could apply to the Scharnhorsts (eleven inches, thirty two kilotonnes), and the Dunkerques (thirteen inches, twenty six and a half kilotonnes).

6. The Kokirrak class has a factor five meson gun, while the Plankwell class has a factor four.

7. If factor one is considered a cruiser gun, that probably leaves factors two and three for ten to twelve inch variants.

8. While it would be disputable, I'd say factor one is a nine (point two) inch gun.

9. Which would be standard on a first class (armoured) cruiser.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap and Battleship Building Programmes

A. The meson gun could be analogous to a more howitzer type effect.

B. Ignores hull armour, which would like penetrating the deck.

C. The particle accelerator spinal mount in a more flat trajectory.

D. It's capped at factor eight times eight dice.

E. Compared to meson gun factor four times six dice, at around the same volume.

F. You could consider the difference being a smaller high explosive charge in an armour piercing shell, though for the particle accelerator you could almost half damage in highly armoured starwarship.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap and Battleship Building Programmes

G. In theory, a really powerful particle accelerator might be a better choice for a battlecruiser.

H. Since it would be powerful enough to smash through cruiser armour schemes, and outrange a meson gunned battleship.

I. Doctrine, at least what I assume would be for the current Confederation Navy, would be to avoid being in a position where the battlecruiser would need to get into an exchange of gunfire with a battleship.

J. And if it's unavoidable, to be able to make a knockout shot, rather than get into a battle of attrition, which battleships are designed for.

K. Also, logistically, it's easier to mount the same main armament as the current generation of battleships.