Redesigning and Exploring

Yesterdays blip at the end of the session seems to have sorted itself out and I'm back in action. The first thing I need to do is research a higher level of EM sensor sensitivity the design below which I thought was a fire control is actually an active sensor which is huge:

Active Sensor Strength: 210 Sensitivity Modifier: 50%
Sensor Size: 10 HS Sensor HTK: 1
Primary Mode: Resolution: 1 Maximum Range: 1,050,000 km
Chance of destruction by electronic damage: 100%
Cost: 210 Crew: 50
Materials Required: 52.5x Duranium 157.5x Uridium

Development Cost for Project: 2100RP

By improving my EM tech I can design a smaller and probably more powerful version and also a fire control to go with it.

Also a glaring error in my Sunstrike command craft there was no active sensor to detect the missiles until it was too late so all you newbies take this onboard and don't make my mistake.

Another thing I've learnt the hard way is if you have a tanker with a fleet make sure the tanker can hold enough fuel to refuel the whole fleet and then return to a refuel point. I though the Gormus had enough capacity but found it's just a little short.

23rd February 2050

The gravsurvey completes in Upsilon Andromedea system no unexplored jump points are found.

28th April 2050

A friendly state of military cooperation is negotiated with the Peoples Republic of Gienah. This is due to the excellent abilities of our diplomacy teams.

2nd June 2050

The geosurvey team complete the survey of Iapetus.

Only a short update tonight need some rest before a hectic weekend. Should find time to play tomorrow night.

Oh dear let's try to get out of here!!!

10th August 2049

Well after last nights disastrous battle it's time to at least attempt an escape all craft are ordered to head towards the Sol jump point at full speed maybe they will give up the chase if we try to escape.

At 20:26 a salvo of 20 missiles hit Sunstrike this is our eyes in the system so things are really getting bad. Somehow the Sunstrike survives but three of it's five engines require repair as does it's active sensor. Also it splits from the main fleet it's speed has dropped to 2020 km/s. Going to try and pick up any lifepods on the way past.

New thermal contact more missiles the damage is 6 per missile!!!

Fly Swatter MK 2 is destroyed 235 survivors make it to the life pods unfortunately Commodore Dylan Mcdonald is killed by a direct hit to the bridge.

Oh dear more missiles this must be the attack on Broadsword 005 which is destroyed with 108 survivors who will float in space for eternity.

The Sunstrike is still heading towards the Sol jump point maybe one ship may have a chance.

At 20:53 the Sunstrike repairs it's engines and increases it's speed to 2424 km/s at 21:36 another missile salvo is picked up on thermal sensors.

At 21:37 the final Terran ship is destroyed leaving another 123 survivors with no hope of rescue.

Things didn't go well but more info has been gathered to help us prepare better next time also numerous people on the forums have been giving me helpful tips.

Lets review what we know:

The alien missiles do 6 points of damage each and are fired in salvos of 20 which totals 120 damage they travel at 32,000 km/s and the range is just over 60,000 kms. All ship speeds are estimated at 5625 and the Anubis has a tonnage of 24,000. They also have ECM which cut our missile range in half.

A radical redesign and rethink is required and also a push in our tech to match or even exceed them. We will return and the lessons learned will make them wish they never met us!!!

I think the best idea is decide on the fleet composition then work on each ship individually I also need to go through all the fantastic info in the forum post and put it to good use.

Ok going through the forum info the following needs to be looked at:

Research Meson Focusing Tech
Aim for firecontrols on beam weapons with double the range of the weapons
Research Gauss Tech for antimissile defence
Research next tech for Armor
Active sensors required on all anti-missile ships
Also a small anti-missile active sensor on the Sunstrike
Look at CIWs on all craft
Use at least 4 levels of armor more if possible
Research and design anti-missiles and launchers
Make the anti-ship missile fire control range as large as possible to help futureproof as new missiles are designed
Also research ECCM to help counter the enemy ECM
Use 10cm Meson instead of 12cm
Fleets needs more ships at least a tonnage equal or more if higher tech level
80+ tons is recommended
Use 12 layers of armor on Command ships and Fleet scouts and all other important ships

Lots to think about and in the meantime we are still surveying new systems and building up our empire.

The following new missile is designed:

Missile Size: 2 MSP (0.1 HS) Warhead: 4 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 11
Speed: 21000 km/s Endurance: 48 minutes Range: 60.5m km
Cost Per Missile: 1.7241
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 231% 3k km/s 77% 5k km/s 46.2% 10k km/s 23.1%
Materials Required: 1x Tritanium 0.4741x Gallicite Fuel x1174

Development Cost for Project: 172RP

Also the following fire control is designed to work with this new missile design:

Active Sensor Strength: 42 Sensitivity Modifier: 50%
Sensor Size: 2 HS Sensor HTK: 1
Primary Mode: Resolution: 200 Maximum Range: 126,000,000 km
Chance of destruction by electronic damage: 100%
Cost: 42 Crew: 10
Materials Required: 10.5x Duranium 31.5x Uridium

Development Cost for Project: 420RP

The following sensor is designed for anti-missile use:

Active Sensor Strength: 210 Sensitivity Modifier: 50%
Sensor Size: 10 HS Sensor HTK: 1
Primary Mode: Resolution: 1 Maximum Range: 1,050,000 km
Chance of destruction by electronic damage: 100%
Cost: 210 Crew: 50
Materials Required: 52.5x Duranium 157.5x Uridium

Development Cost for Project: 2100RP

A design is also put together for a size 1 anti-missile missile:

Missile Size: 1 MSP (0.05 HS) Warhead: 1 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 17
Speed: 31100 km/s Endurance: 11 minutes Range: 20.3m km
Cost Per Missile: 0.9429
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 528.7% 3k km/s 170% 5k km/s 105.7% 10k km/s 52.9%
Materials Required: 0.25x Tritanium 0.4305x Gallicite Fuel x197.25

Development Cost for Project: 94RP

Missile launcer to go with them:

Maximum Missile Size: 1 Rate of Fire: 10 seconds
Launcher Size: 1 HS Launcher HTK: 0
Cost Per Launcher: 6 Crew Per Launcher: 10
Materials Required: 1.5x Duranium 4.5x Tritanium

Development Cost for Project: 60RP

Also a new beam fire control for the anti-missile mesons:

Fire Control S03 48-6000 Anti-Missile Mesons MK 2

50% Accuracy at Range: 48,000 km Tracking Speed: 6000 km/s
Size: 3 HS HTK: 1 Cost: 43 Crew: 15
Chance of destruction by electronic damage: 100%
Materials Required: 10.75x Duranium 32.25x Uridium

Development Cost for Project: 430RP

20th August 2049

Commander Louis Wilson is captured by the Tau Ceti aliens maybe that means there is some hope however slim for the survivors. Not sure how this capture will effect the game though.

25th August 2049

Message received from the Peoples Republic of Gienah that we are now regard us as a friendly empire we also have access to there future geological survey data. We also receive that 108 crew from the ill fated Broadsword 005 have perished.

1st Spetember 2049

The salvage ship Scrap Merchant 001 completes and is given orders to salvage the wrecks in the Luyten 726-8 system and see what info we can find. It may help us in our fight against the Tau Ceti aliens.

13th October 2049

The first ship is salvaged and minerals are found and a scan of the tech data and 680 research points are gained towards magazine feed system efficiency. The Scrap Mechant 001 is told to salvage the next wreck.

20th October 2049

The second wreck only yields minerals but a civilian colony craft is spotted delivering colonists to Luyten 726-8 A II. The final wreck can now be salvaged.

22nd October 2049

More minerals and 60 research points towards small craft ECCM. For now Scrap Merchant returns to dock at Earth to download all data salvaged from the wrecks.

1st December 2049

The supply of Tritanium on Earth has run out but we still have a good size stockpile although mining colonies are going to be needed sooner rather than later.

3rd December 2049

The decision is made to build a jump gate to the Tau Ceti system this will negate the need for a jump tender and not restrict combat ship size for the fleet. Once the system is taken then a gate can be constructed on the other side.

2nd February 2049

Time seems to have stopped moving and I've read on the forums this happens when the AI are having battles and all that can be done is to wait till it resolves and events affect the player again. So I'll just have to wait.

Going to call it a night and leave the game running hopefully by tomorrow they will have sorted out there differences.

Whatever happened to the Tau Ceti aliens? Pt 2

After posting on the forums the problem encountered yesterday has been sorted and a MK 2 version of the Gateway military jump tender has been designed:

Gateway MK 2 class Jump Tender 5400 tons 392 Crew 713.4 BP TCS 108 TH 240 EM 0
2222 km/s JR 4-50 Armour 6-27 Shields 0-0 Sensors 25/25/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 58% IFR: 0.8% Maint Capacity 1330 MSP Max Repair 144 MSP Est Time: 5.14 Years

J5500(4-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 5500 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 4
Ion Engine E8 Military (4) Power 60 Fuel Use 80% Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres Range 83.3 billion km (434 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR75-R150 (1) GPS 15000 Range 75.0m km Resolution 150
Thermal Sensor TH5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km
EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

Once the MK 1 has been retrofitted we can finally probe the Tau Ceti system. Also a second survey group has been put together to allow exploration of two systems at a time and the jump gate linking Luyten 726-8 with Gliese 892. Colonisation of Luyten 726-8 A II will now commence as the system has lots of minable minerals which will be required as time moves on.

12th September 2048

Survey group 1 discovers the Gliese 96 system and a survey is started. Survey group 2 are ordered to complete the survey of EZ Aquarii.

15th September 2048

Research completes into active grav sensor 21 which allows us to design sensors with greater ranges and sensitivity. Based on this new tech the following active sensor is designed:

Active Sensor Strength: 210 Sensitivity Modifier: 50%
Sensor Size: 10 HS Sensor HTK: 1
Primary Mode: Resolution: 200 Maximum Range: 210,000,000 km
Chance of destruction by electronic damage: 100%
Cost: 210 Crew: 50
Materials Required: 52.5x Duranium 157.5x Uridium

Development Cost for Project: 2100RP

Once research completes this will replace the current active sensors on all ships and PDC's.

24th September 2048

Survey group 2 discover the Ross 780 system and a grav and geosurvey is started.

4th October 2048

The first jump point is found in the Ross 780 system.

19th October 2048

The retooling to the Gateway MK 2 completes and the refit is started this should complete by June 2049. Hopefully the new sensors can be installed on the Sunstrike command craft this will make our chance of detecting the aliens in the Tau Ceti system much better.

30th October 2048

The first unexplored jump point is found in the Gleise 96 system.

20th November 2048

The Paradise terraforming ship completes and moves to Mar to start terraforming operations.

21st November 2048

Two new jump points found in the Ross 780 system. Also terraforming starts on Mars with the addition of Oxygen to the atmosphere.

Oops just realised you need to build jump gates at both sides of a jump point oh well as I said before this is all a learning curve and anyone reading this will hopefully not make the same mistake.

15th January 2049

The survey of Ross 780 system completes and three unexplored jump points are discovered. The geosurvey results are as follows:

Rocky Planets: 2 Surveyed: 2
Gas Giants: 2 Surveyed: 2
Moons: 24 Surveyed: 24
Asteroids: 36 Surveyed: 0

Ross 780-A I
Sorium 290,820,000 Acc: 1

Ross 780-A III
Boronide 627,264 Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 17,438,980 Acc: 0.8
Uridium 6,718,464 Acc: 0.1

17th February 2049

Survey completes of Gleise 96 one unexplored jump point is found again the mineral survey is below:

Rocky Planets: 3 Surveyed: 2
Gas Giants: 4 Surveyed: 4
Moons: 79 Surveyed: 69
Asteroids: 114 Surveyed: 0

Gleise 96-A V - Moon 23
Uridium 571,536 Acc: 0.9

Gleise 96-A VI - Moon 15
Duranium 2,860,832 Acc: 0.8
Corbomite 5,184,729 Acc: 1
Boronide 3,136,441 Acc: 0.6

13th May 2049

Survey group 1 discovered the Upsilon Andromedae system and we finally find a colonisable planet. The second planet orbiting the B star has a colony cost of 2.05 which is very good I will aim to colonise as soon as possible the only downside is the distance from the home system which will make defense difficult.

27th June 2049

The retrofit of the Gateway military jump tender completes and the exploration of the Tau Ceti system can now begin. The Gateway craft is given order to proceed to the Tau Ceti jump point.

3rd August 2049

finally the Tau Ceti jump point is transitted by a fleet of four craft. On entering the system the immediate area around the Sol jump point is quiet nothing detected. The fleet starts moving towards the planetary systems.

7th August 2049

Halfway to the waypoint set and still no sign of contact.

10th August 2049

Active sensors have picked up a Spider class alien craft at a range of 144 m/km at 20:04 a new contact is picked up a Marshal class alien craft. At 20:17 we detect and open fire on an Anubis alien craft the estimated tonnage is 24,000. I've managed to target the Anubis but due to there ECM my fire range has been reduced to 57,600,000k km so we are closing range. At 63,000,000 k km we pick up a new thermal contact strength 16 which I think may be missiles on the system map it shows up as 16 * 20 so I guess it's 20 missiles damn. There closing fast at 31,799 km/s. The missiles hit at 20:44 and all where aimed at the Gateway which is damaged and detaches from the fleet but it's not destroyed. We are still out of range not sure why my anti-missile ship didn't shoot any down. At 20:45 another 20 missiles are picked up and still I'm unable to target them with my anti-missile ship.

At 20:45 the Gateway craft is destroyed and 147 survivors make it to the lifepods including Commander Louis Wilson. This now means we have now way to return to Sol so things are looking bad. 20 more missiles detected at 20:46 and the crew are starting to panic.

Well thats 's all for tonight I have tons of questions but at least I've experienced my first real combat.

Whatever happened to the Tau Ceti aliens?

4th February 2047

In the last post the NN 3106 system was fully surveyed and designs have been put together for military and commercial jump tenders. Also currently under construction is the jump gate construction ship. The plan is to build a jump gate to allow easy access to the Luyten 726-8 system and start colonisation plans on Luyten 726-8 A II. Also once the military jump tender is complete a small force will probe the Tau Ceti system and see what out nearest neighbours are upto.

27th February 2047

Survey 1 explores jump point 3 in the Gliese 2 system and discovers EG 381 system again no colonisable targets. A gravsurvey is started.

3rd March 2047

First jump point found in EG 381.

16th April 2047

Another jump point found in EG 381 and research completes on the Sorium Harvester.

3rd May 2047

A third jump point is found in EG 381.

22nd May 2047

Two more jump points found the total is now five.

12th June 2047

Two new Light Seeker MK 2 gravsurvey ships complete at the shipyard.

2nd July 2047

The survey is nearly complete and another jump point was found.

3rd July 2047

The gravsurvey completed in EG 381 and seven unexplored jump points have been found.

16th July 2047

Not sure if this is a good move but the decison to allow trade access to the peoples republic of Gienah has been made.

12th August 2047

The final unexplored jump point in Gliese 2 is explored leading to Mu Cassiopeiae. Another system devoid of colonisable worlds but at least there are some bodies for a geosurvey.

27th August 2047

Work is started on the first jump gate linking the Sol system to Luyten 726-8.

13th September 2047

The first jump point is found in Mu Cassiopeiae. Also a second survey group is forming at the Sol system.

3rd November 2047

Work begins on The Paradise terraforming craft at the Isherwood Shipyard also another jump point is found in the Mu Cassiopeiae.

21st February 2048

The commercial jump tender The Underbelly 001 completes and work begins on the Scrap Merchant salvage ship so the wrecks in Luyten 726-8 can be salvaged.

22nd March 2048

The jumpgate linking Sol with Luyten 726-8 completes and orders are given to build a gate linking Luyten 726-8 to Gliese 892.

26th May 2048

The gravsurvey of Mu Cassiopeiae completes with two unexplored jump points discovered.

8th July 2048

The military jump tender Gateway is completed and CommanderCallum Parkes is assigned preparations are made to transit into the Tau Ceti system.

20th July 2048

System Protection Fleet 1 transits the Tau Ceti jump point this will be the first time in 12 years and I have no idea what we will find on the other side.

Things have gone a little wrong and it's too late to play around and solve the problem so I'm going to leave it for tonight.

Exploration and Jumpgate Construction

16th September 2045

The survey group have begun a survey of the newly discovered O. Struve 547 system and the Gormus has returned to Earth to ressuply. Another Gormus is ordered at the shipyard so in the long run a secon survey fleet can be completed.

The research labs on Earth are hard at work studying terraforming and Stellerator fusion technology which are due to complete in 2046 and 2054 respectively.

The newly designed missiles are being manufactured in the ordnance factories so we are prepared if the Tau Ceti aliens reappear.

Communications are ongoing with the the Peoples Republic of Gienah and things are currently looking favourable.

To help ease our mineral issues a mass driver will be built on Ganymede and more automines will be setup. Also to encourage some civilian shipping Mars will be colonised.

So lots to be getting on with and who knows what other challenges may appear.

Civilian administrator Ben Burgess is tasked with coordinating the colonisation of Mars and Hercules 002 and 003 start transporting infrastructure.

24th September 2045

The survey goup in O. Struve 547find not one but two jump points. This will lead to further exploration possibilities for the Terran Federation.

2nd October 2045

Another two jump points discovered.

7th October 2045

A civilian mining colony is established on Pluto and Williamson Transport and Trading launches a colony ship this is the first civilian expansion I have seen. Katherine Iqbal is made into the planetary governor.

10th October 2045

Wow another two jump points discovered this is system is a real springboard for exploration. Eighteen days later another two are discovered bringing the total to eight!!!

21st November 2045

A civilian mining colony is established on Iapetus which is a moon orbiting Saturn Matthew Clayton is assigned as the governor.

18th January 2045

A geosurvey team on Mars discovers 100,000 tons of Tritanium at an accessability level of 0.7 but it's a start the orbital survey discovered nothing. The current population on Mars is 0.61m and can currently support 1.38m.

29th March 2046

A ninth jump point is discovered this is becoming a real system gateway.

10th May 2046

A commercial jump tender is designed and Avondale commercial shipyard is retooled in readiness. The ship specs are as follows:

The Underbelly class Jump Tender 24950 tons 361 Crew 652.2 BP TCS 499 TH 1050 EM 0
2104 km/s JR 3-25(C) Armour 1-76 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Maint Capacity 1016 MSP Max Repair 225 MSP

JC50K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 50500 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine E0.8 Commercial (7) Power 150 Fuel Use 8% Signature 150 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 90.2 billion km (496 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

25th May 2046

Mass drivers are finally set-up on Ganymede and Earth so the mineral shortages can be dealt with.

10th June 2046

The geological survey of Mars completes and only 200,000 tons of Tritanium have been discovered the survey team has been moved to Iapetus. Also the shipyard has finished retooling for the Jump Gate Construction ship and production is started straightaway.

27th June 2046

Another mineral Uridium has run out on Earth this mineral is used in Used in sensors and fire control systems. We still have plenty in the stockpile for the timebeing.

21st July 2046

Finally the gravitational survey of O. Sturve 547 is completed and a total of nine unexplored jump points are found.

19th August 2046

The second unexplored jump point is transited by the survey fleet this leads to NN 3106 system this system is just a single star with a spectral class of M6-V. A gravsurvey is started.

5th September 2046

Completion of the terraforming module a terraforming ship design will now be started.

The Paradise class Terraformer 32550 tons 358 Crew 855.6 BP TCS 651 TH 750 EM 0
1152 km/s Armour 1-90 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Maint Capacity 1016 MSP Max Repair 500 MSP
Terraformer: 1 module(s) producing 0.001 atm per annum

Ion Engine E0.8 Commercial (5) Power 150 Fuel Use 8% Signature 150 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 34.6 billion km (347 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

4th October 2046

The first jump point is found in the NN 3106 system.

14th October 2046

The Gateway military jump tender is completed:

Gateway class Jump Tender 4100 tons 298 Crew 510.8 BP TCS 82 TH 240 EM 0
2926 km/s JR 4-50 Armour 6-22 Shields 0-0 Sensors 25/25/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 134% IFR: 1.9% Maint Capacity 78 MSP Max Repair 144 MSP Est Time: 0.4 Years

J5500(4-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 5500 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 4
Ion Engine E8 Military (4) Power 60 Fuel Use 80% Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 27.4 billion km (108 days at full power)

Thermal Sensor TH5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km
EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

production is started for two to allow us to create a military presence in systems beyond Sol.

5th December 2046

The Peoples Republic Of Gienah has now granted us trade access not too sure what this means but it's better than hostilitys.

29th December 2046

A second jump point is found in the NN 3106 system and the gravsurvey is now complete. All survey craft a ordered to move to the third unexplored jump point in the Gliese 2 system.

29th January 2047

Another fantastic breakthrough research completes into Stellarator Fusion this gives us access to the tech branch of the Magneto-Plasma drive the research cost for this is 20000 which is very high so won't complete anytime soon.

Well thats all for now it's getting very late but I've had a blast as usual and it's also been very productive. Hopefully update again tomorrow.

Refits And More Defense

Current Date: 1st January 2043

This session I will continue with the refits to latest tech and based on the tips from Hawkeye on the forum improve my attack strength with better missiles so I have some chance if the Tau Ceti menace attack.

To improve our missiles research is started on warhead strength 4 which will complete on the 12th of April 2044.

The minerals on Earth are now starting to deplete although I still have plenty in stockpiles but the mining operations on our mining colonies need to be stepped up.

I have run out of Corbomite which is used for advanced shields, stealth systems and electronic warfare systems.

2043 was not a very eventful year but the majority of the ships in the fleet are now refitted to the current tech levels. In 2044 we are going to design a salvage ship so we can salvage the three unknown craft in the Luyten 726-8 system. We are also going to design a jump gate construction ship to connect Sol with Luyten 726-8.

The details of the construction ship are as follows:

Builder class Construction Ship 61500 tons 733 Crew 1517.6 BP TCS 1230 TH 1200 EM 0

975 km/s Armour 1-138 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0

Maint Capacity 15 MSP Max Repair 38 MSP

Jump Gate Construction Ship: 180 days

Ion Engine E0.8 Commercial (8) Power 150 Fuel Use 8% Signature 150 Armour 0 Exp 1%

Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 18.3 billion km (217 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

We don't currently have a shipyard of this capacity so that will also be set in action.

The salvage craft design is completed shortly after:

Scrap Merchant class Salvager 28600 tons 591 Crew 811.4 BP TCS 572 TH 900 EM 0

1573 km/s Armour 1-83 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0

Maint Capacity 18 MSP Max Repair 200 MSP

Salvager: 2 module(s) capable of salvaging 1000 tons per day

Ion Engine E0.8 Commercial (6) Power 150 Fuel Use 8% Signature 150 Armour 0 Exp 1%

Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 78.7 billion km (578 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

In June 2044 a survey is started of the Kruger 60 system.

The geosurvey is completed very quickly:

Rocky Planets: 5 Surveyed: 5

Gas Giants: 4 Surveyed: 4

Moons: 18 Surveyed: 18

Asteroids: 0 Surveyed: 0

Kruger 60-B I

Uridium 577,600 Acc: 1

Kruger 60-B V - Moon 7

Mercassium 282 Acc: 1

As you can see the system has very few minerals. Just checked for some reason the moons haven't been surveyed odd. The first jump point is found in Kruger 60 on the 24th of August.

On the 2nd of November the survey is completed of Kruger 60 and only one jump point is discovered. New Horizon 002 explores the unknown jump point. This jump point leads to Groombridge 34 which is a system with two stars and three terrestrial bodies only one is possibly colonisable with a cost of 3.37.

At last on the 21st of November 2044 the Wolf 47 system is explored and orbiting the second star are two terrestrial moons with colony costs of 2.20 and 2.39. A survey of the system is quickly started.

Whilst carrying out a geosurvey of Wolf 47-B III Moon 13 an EM signature of 39884 is detected and it seems we have found a new alien race. No ships have been detected but all ships in the system are ordered to return to the Gliese 892 jump point. No chances are to be taken after the last contact we had with an alien race. we are currently neutral so a diplomatic team is assigned the task of communication with the aliens.

By the 21st of December we have made trivial progress in our attempts at communication. Also on this day New Horizon 002 completes the exploration of the jump points in Gliese 892 and enters the Gliese 2 system there are no planetary bodies just a star with a spectral class of M2-V.

We are making quite good progress in our communication attempts hopefully they might let us colonise the other planet in there system.

On the 6th of January 2045 a thermal contact with a reading of 50 is picked up 900,000 km from the Gliese 892 jump point in Wolf 47. The contact is designated Revenge 001 by our intelligence service. New Horizon 001 activates it's active sensor to gather more information.

The ship is very small and from our intel seems less advanced than our ships. The estimated tonnage is 1000 tons with a speed of 2500 km/s. It has a sensor with a strength of 10 and a resolution of 51. The max range is 5.1m km it has a GPS of 510. Chances are it's just come to check us out but the worry is what other ships may be hiding.

The alien ship is heading our way. All craft except New Horizon 001 commanded by 1st Commodore Isabelle Donnelly transit the jump point back to Gliese 892.

At 19:18 on the 6th of January the alien contact starts moving away. Commodore Donnelly decides to follow at 21:13 the contact is lost.

Using the new tech all missiles are redesigned the PDC based missiles are:

Missile Size: 4 MSP (0.2 HS) Warhead: 6 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 13

Speed: 26100 km/s Endurance: 16 minutes Range: 25.3m km

Cost Per Missile: 3.313

Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 339.3% 3k km/s 104% 5k km/s 67.9% 10k km/s 33.9%

Materials Required: 1.5x Tritanium 1.7381x Gallicite Fuel x1123.5

Development Cost for Project: 331RP

The ship based anti-ship missile is as follows:

Missile Size: 2 MSP (0.1 HS) Warhead: 4 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 11

Speed: 22400 km/s Endurance: 19 minutes Range: 25.1m km

Cost Per Missile: 1.7707

Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 246.4% 3k km/s 77% 5k km/s 49.3% 10k km/s 24.6%

Materials Required: 1x Tritanium 0.5207x Gallicite Fuel x557.5

Development Cost for Project: 177RP

The welcoming committee becomes a little larger on the 10th of January with six ships. Two Fletcher class at 6250 tons, two vikings at 6300 tons, a Prince Of Wales at 6300 tons and a Churchill at 12600 tons.

Commodore Donnelly decides to make an exit to the Gliese 892 system rather than cause any tension. The two viking craft and the Prince Of Wales follow shortly after. The combat ships in the Sol system are given orders to move to the Luyten 726-8 jump point.

The ships in the Gliese 892 system are given orders to stand there ground as currently the aliens do not know the location of the Sol system. Kate Wallace after speaking to the military heads of staff realises that there is no way to get any combat ships to the Gliese 892 system as the tonnage of the ships is too high for the current level of military jump drive. All available research labs are given orders to complete jump drive efficiency 5 and this should complete by the 3rd of September this year.

After a short while the aliens disappear. On the 16th of January major progress is made in the communication attempts. On the 7th of February the alien race identifies itself as the Peoples Republic of Gienah. Hopefully now friendly relations can be fostered.

On the 10th of March we discover our second unexplored jump point in Gliese 2 and a third on is found on the 26th of March.

A fourth jump point is found on the 4th of July.

On the 6th of July the St John commercial shipyard completes its capacity expansion to 61632 which allow it to build the Jump Gate builder design.

On the 30th of July the gravsurvey of Gliese 2 completes and the system has four unexplored jump points.

All survey craft are given order to meet at the first unexplored jump point they will then refuel and the Gormus will return to Earth for a refuel and resupply.

New Horizon 001 will maintain a presence at the Wolf 47 jump point.

New Horizon 002 jumps into the O. Struve 547 system on the 16th of September 2045 this is the twelfth system explored since 2025.

Well that's all for this update we are making steady progress with the Peoples Republic Of Gineah so hopefully we may gain an ally.

Stay tuned for more adventures in space.

Making Plans To Defend Sol

I'm now going to start planning the first combat fleet to protect Sol the only intel we have on the alien race encountered is all ships have an estimated speed of 5625 the Anubis and Marshal class had thermal signatures of 2700 this data was gathered in 2036 and it's now 2038 so chances are there tech will have improved. None of our current craft have a thermal signature anywhere near 2700. We have found a wreck of an Anubis with a tonnage of 24,000.

The aim will be to create military ships using the cutting edge of our technology.

First step is to create missiles that have as high as possible chance of hitting craft at speeds of 6000 km/s plus.

The missile design is called the Deathbringer and has stats as follows:

Missile Size: 2 MSP (0.1 HS) Warhead: 1 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 12

Speed: 22000 km/s Endurance: 21 minutes Range: 28.3m km

Cost Per Missile: 1.0324

Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 264% 3k km/s 84% 5k km/s 52.8% 10k km/s 26.4%

Materials Required: 0.25x Tritanium 0.5574x Gallicite Fuel x628.25

Development Cost for Project: 103RP

I also need to create size 2 missile launchers and magazines which need to be armoured based on the tips from the forum.

The best missile launcher design based on current tech is:

Maximum Missile Size: 2 Rate of Fire: 20 seconds

Launcher Size: 2 HS Launcher HTK: 1

Cost Per Launcher: 12 Crew Per Launcher: 20

Materials Required: 3x Duranium 9x Tritanium

Development Cost for Project: 120RP

The following magazine is also designed:

Capacity: 110 Internal Armour: 2.62 HS Explosion Chance: 20

Magazine Size: 10 HS Magazine HTK: 8

Cost: 65.72 Crew: 15

Materials Required: 28.22x Duranium 0x Neutronium 37.5x Tritanium

Development Cost for Project: 657RP

The first new ship design is a Missile Cruiser designed to sit at potentially hostile jump point and monitor for any enemy activity.

This will be in a fleet with a command ship and some Anti-Missile ships. The fleet composition will be as follows:

Command Ship Fleet Leader (Role to coordinate attacks and monitor jump point activity):

Sunstrike class Command Ship 4950 tons 376 Crew 705.4 BP TCS 99 TH 320 EM 0

3232 km/s Armour 6-25 Shields 0-0 Sensors 25/25/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 0

Annual Failure Rate: 65% IFR: 0.9% Maint Capacity 267 MSP Max Repair 150 MSP Est Time: 1.86 Years

Flag Bridge

Nuclear Pulse Engine E9 Military (8) Power 40 Fuel Use 90% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%

Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 40.4 billion km (144 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR75-R150 (1) GPS 15000 Range 75.0m km Resolution 150

Thermal Sensor TH5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

4 * Missile Cruisers:

Broadsword System Protector class Missile Cruiser 4650 tons 288 Crew 529 BP TCS 93 TH 160 EM 0

1720 km/s Armour 4-24 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 8

Annual Failure Rate: 86% IFR: 1.2% Maint Capacity 142 MSP Max Repair 32 MSP Est Time: 2.71 Years

Magazine 608

Nuclear Pulse Engine E9 Military (4) Power 40 Fuel Use 90% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%

Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 21.5 billion km (144 days at full power)

Size 2 Missile Launcher ASM (4) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 20

Missile Fire Control FC96-R200 (1) Range 96.0m km Resolution 200

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purpose

2 * AMM Ships

The first fleet will be tasked to keep a close eye on the Tau Ceti jump point.

The geo team on Triton have found a fantastic 200,000 tons of Duranium so we are definately okay for this mineral for the forseeable future.

In July 2040 the decision is made to explore at least two systems away from Sol. The first system due for a survey is Luyten 726-8 which was partially explored in the past.

On the 1st of November Kai Riley is given the role of Sector Governor with the following bonuses of Mining 15%, Shipbuilding 20%, Pop Growth 25% and Terraforming 20%.

A new jump point is discovered on the 10th of November 2040.

To allow the survey team to move forward in it's current survey of local systems a design is created for a tanker and maintenance supply this will be a commercial ship with a jump engine.

This is the design:

Gormus class Replenishment Ship 15600 tons 264 Crew 461.8 BP TCS 312 TH 400 EM 0

1282 km/s JR 2-25(C) Armour 1-55 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0

Maint Capacity 8019 MSP Max Repair 56 MSP

JC22K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 22500 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2

Nuclear Pulse Engine E0.9 Commercial (4) Power 100 Fuel Use 9% Signature 100 Armour 0 Exp 1%

Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 512.8 billion km (4629 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

On the 2nd of March 2041 the survey of Luyten 726-8 completes and only one unexplored jump point is discovered. This jump point is explored and leads to Gliese 892. This system is also devoid of any colonisable planets the lowest colony cost is 10.52.

On the 30th of June 2041 the geosurvey of Luyten 726-8 completes with the following results:

Rocky Planets: 6 Surveyed: 6

Gas Giants: 3 Surveyed: 3

Moons: 58 Surveyed: 58

Asteroids: 85 Surveyed: 0

Luyten 726-8-B I

Duranium 302,580,000 Acc: 0.1

Neutronium 162,562,500 Acc: 0.1

Corbomite 220,522,500 Acc: 0.8

Boronide 225,000,000 Acc: 0.1

Luyten 726-8-A I

Duranium 79,380,000 Acc: 0.4

Tritanium 3,802,500 Acc: 0.1

Mercassium 126,562,500 Acc: 0.1

Vendarite 147,622,500 Acc: 0.1

Luyten 726-8-B II

Duranium 340,605,000 Acc: 0.1

Neutronium 39,690,000 Acc: 0.1

Mercassium 22,500 Acc: 0.1

Luyten 726-8-A III

Duranium 1,789,832 Acc: 0.1

Neutronium 2,396,304 Acc: 0.5

Corbomite 1,893,376 Acc: 0.1

Vendarite 1,664,100 Acc: 1

Uridium 28,430,220 Acc: 0.1

Gallicite 12,432,680 Acc: 0.1

Luyten 726-8-A V

Sorium 118,000 Acc: 0.7

Luyten 726-8-B V - Moon 6

Boronide 34,969 Acc: 0.8

Mercassium 48,400 Acc: 0.7

Sorium 131,769 Acc: 0.9

Luyten 726-8-A V - Moon 14

Neutronium 36,869,180 Acc: 0.1

Corbomite 35,808,260 Acc: 0.1

Tritanium 4,460,544 Acc: 0.1

Luyten 726-8-B V - Moon 16

Corbomite 7,569 Acc: 1

Luyten 726-8-B V - Moon 22

Neutronium 462,400 Acc: 1

Boronide 67,600 Acc: 0.5

Luyten 726-8-A V - Moon 23

Duranium 1,445,000 Acc: 0.9

Vendarite 10,000 Acc: 1

On the 15th of July 2041 Kai Riley makes the decision to colonise Luyten 726-8 A II and the Hercules freighters start transporting infrastructure to build up a small colony. The cost is 404 infrastructure per million population.

Sarah Taylor is assigned as the Governor of Luyten 726-8 A II as she is the only applicant with a terraforming bonus which will come in handy later.

On the 10th of September the first unexplored jump point is found in the Gliese 892 system. A second one is discovered on the 29th of December.

On the 9th of January 2042 the design is completed for the area defence craft:

Fly Swatter class Area Defence Cruiser 4700 tons 536 Crew 462.2 BP TCS 94 TH 160 EM 0

1702 km/s Armour 1-24 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 48

Annual Failure Rate: 58% IFR: 0.8% Maint Capacity 184 MSP Max Repair 30 MSP Est Time: 4.08 Years

Nuclear Pulse Engine E9 Military (4) Power 40 Fuel Use 90% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%

Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 42.6 billion km (289 days at full power)

Twin R4/C3 Meson Cannon Turret (4x2) Range 20,000km TS: 15000 km/s Power 8-6 RM 4 ROF 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Fire Control S04 10-16000 Anti-Missile Mesons (1) Max Range: 20,000 km TS: 16000 km/s 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (4) Total Power Output 36 Armour 0 Exp 5%

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

Research into the field of jump gates also begins on the 9th of January. What an eventful day a third jump point is found in Gliese 892.

A fantastic breakthrough is made on the 14th of February 2042 ion engine tech research is completed all ships will ultimately be refitted with this new faster more efficient engine.

On the 30th of August 2042 the eighth new system is discovered this system is called Kruger 60 and still no really good colonisable systems.

The geosurvey of Gliese 892 completes on the 10th of September 2042 the results are as follows:

Rocky Planets: 4 Surveyed: 4

Gas Giants: 4 Surveyed: 4

Moons: 85 Surveyed: 85

Asteroids: 4 Surveyed: 0

Gliese 892-A I

Duranium 34,031,250 Acc: 0.3

Corbomite 13,140,630 Acc: 0.5

Tritanium 26,265,620 Acc: 0.1

Boronide 147,015,600 Acc: 0.2

Gliese 892-A II

Duranium 32,514,050 Acc: 0.1

Boronide 4,875,264 Acc: 0.1

Sorium 81,432,580 Acc: 0.1

Gliese 892-A IX - Moon 21

Mercassium 4,120,900 Acc: 0.1

Gallicite 4,857,616 Acc: 0.1

Gliese 892-A XI

Sorium 350,000 Acc: 0.3

Gliese 892-A XII - Moon 4

Duranium 130,050 Acc: 0.8

Corbomite 50,625 Acc: 0.4

Vendarite 230,400 Acc: 1

Sorium 435,600 Acc: 0.7

Gliese 892-A XII - Moon 7

Duranium 57,802,750 Acc: 0.1

Tritanium 5,914,624 Acc: 0.3

Boronide 6,885,376 Acc: 0.1

Vendarite 11,943,940 Acc: 0.1

Sorium 12,845,060 Acc: 1

Gallicite 9,437,184 Acc: 0.1

Gliese 892-A XII - Moon 31

Mercassium 906 Acc: 1

Vendarite 566 Acc: 1

Gliese 892-A XII - Moon 32

Duranium 58,190,470 Acc: 0.9

Uridium 5,934,096 Acc: 0.1

Corundium 30,276 Acc: 0.1

It's now the 1st of January 2043 and all ships are in the Sol system awaiting a refit to the latest designs. Further exploration is planned and also a scout mission to Tau Ceti to see what the situation is with our potential alien neighbours. This will take place once we complete research on jump gate construction. The protection level on Earth is now 504 and we have plenty of missiles so things seem to be looking fine at the moment but who knows what the future might hold.....

Thanks for reading hope it's enjoyable and helps in some small way. The more I play this game the more amazed I am with the scope and sheer fun.