Jan 25, 2024 6:45 pm
It is 5019u, but the Dawnline Shore is not at war.
It is not truly at peace, but it is certainly not at war. Not how it will be in just a year's time.
Somewhere, in a sunken vault beneath the surface of Mars, there is GALSIM. Union's most secret and sacrosanct department, foretelling possible futures through nigh infinite simulations. Forecast upon forecast say that the Purview and the Trade Baronies will clash within the next century, or within the next two generations.
Some forecasts say a single flashpoint, could accelerate this vision of the future.
No one yet knows knows that such a spark will be struck on New Creighton in less than six months.
These forecasts are not for your eyes. You have never seen them. You have never heard of them. The word GALSIM means nothing to you. While you may look towards tomorrow with a weathereye, you will be as surprised as any other when the time finally comes.
All you know is that today, like any other in recent memory, you each have your command. Your battlegroup. Your staff. Your crew. Your oaths and your duties.
And here, in the Palisaide Strait -- the empty gulf between the Shore's two great star clusters -- Union battlegroups pass within light-days of one another, on their patrols or en route to new postings. Close enough that you might stare at monitors, through telescopes, into thermal maps, looking for the faintest, most distant sign of life. Of a hand you wish you could reach out and clasp. Of a comrade you wish to hail and embrace.
But, there will be time for conviviality later.
Claxons sound. Lights cut to emergency red. Action stations. Set Condition 1-Scarlet throughout the fleet.
Allcomms messages fired instantaneously over the omninet:
>//[ATT(UNS-BB_04421)]:: GOOD LUCK, COMMANDERS.
>//[ATT21]:: SEE YOU ALL ON THE OTHER SIDE.
So, Commanders Hiruki Ito, Desa Accord, and Jhan Dishiria are all a fleet. It is up to y'all how well you feel like knowing each other, but at the very least you absolutely know of one another. Those traits y'all have are probably a good start for the kind of rumors or reputations etc that surround one another.
Your battlegroups probably don't normally travel together, because for now the Shore is not a warzone. You are probably used to patrolling different parts of the Shore, stuff like that. For the war games, you've been put together.
On the other side of the games are:
+++Fleet Commander Otto Steinbeck of the UNS-BB Attenborough, Battlegroup Palladium
+++Commander Grady Burton of the UNS-CV Babylon, Battlegroup Griffin
+++Commander Saanvi Dandekar of the UNS-BB Mariana Trench, Battlegroup Thunder
Mechanically, I as GM am supposed to tell you the following:
Battlegroup Palladium is built around an enemy type called a "Paladin" -- it likes to 1-v-1 people. The Paladin is also supported by "Roughnecks," a ship type that likes to board, and some direct-fire damage-dealers called "Stalwarts." Finally, this battlegroup is home to an ace chassis squadron called a "Vigilant Shepherd" that messes with damage timing. Within the fiction, you're looking at a big mean ironsides kind of ship with a whole slew of marines, some heavy-weapons frigates, and some well-known Lancers.
Battlegroup Griffin is built around an enemy type called a "Breakwater" that is specializes in wings and bombers. It also has what's called "Battlethreads," AI extensions of the main vessel that antagonize you, and "Diluvia" a flexible pool of drone combatants. Within the fiction, you're looking at a carrier with a steady supply of well-supported wings, who will all have a lot of drone, nexus, and legionspace support.
Battlegroup Thunder is built around an enemy type called a "Phantasm" that is all about being hard to hit and stealth maneuvers. It is supported by a template called "Mastermind," representing an especially canny Commander who can pull mean tricks, and a "Daggerflight" -- a suite of escort ships that move fast and cut away at you. Within the fiction, you are looking at a battleship that is using waste heat to make it hard to hit and harder to outmaneuver, with a smart commander onboard, and a division of corvettes under her control.
We'll go through this as slowly as possible without actually grinding to a glacial halt, and I'll do my best to call out every relevant phase of play.
For now, we are doing something called Posture and Uptime. In full, proper gameplay we would use Uptime Actions and play out some scenes leading into the combat deployment. For now, for this test, we will simply use Posture.
Go ahead and, with whatever small flourish you'd like to provide, decide what Posture you are starting this battle with.
Go ahead and keep in mind that your Range band determines how long you Payload attacks will take to hit, and whether you can use certain weapons or abilities. Extreme Range and Long Range both give +1 Accuracy when Charge weapons fire, and +1 Difficulty to all other Single Target attacks. Extreme Range halves the damage of Area Target attacks. Scope Range has no benefits one way or the other.
It is not truly at peace, but it is certainly not at war. Not how it will be in just a year's time.
Somewhere, in a sunken vault beneath the surface of Mars, there is GALSIM. Union's most secret and sacrosanct department, foretelling possible futures through nigh infinite simulations. Forecast upon forecast say that the Purview and the Trade Baronies will clash within the next century, or within the next two generations.
Some forecasts say a single flashpoint, could accelerate this vision of the future.
No one yet knows knows that such a spark will be struck on New Creighton in less than six months.
These forecasts are not for your eyes. You have never seen them. You have never heard of them. The word GALSIM means nothing to you. While you may look towards tomorrow with a weathereye, you will be as surprised as any other when the time finally comes.
All you know is that today, like any other in recent memory, you each have your command. Your battlegroup. Your staff. Your crew. Your oaths and your duties.
And here, in the Palisaide Strait -- the empty gulf between the Shore's two great star clusters -- Union battlegroups pass within light-days of one another, on their patrols or en route to new postings. Close enough that you might stare at monitors, through telescopes, into thermal maps, looking for the faintest, most distant sign of life. Of a hand you wish you could reach out and clasp. Of a comrade you wish to hail and embrace.
But, there will be time for conviviality later.
Claxons sound. Lights cut to emergency red. Action stations. Set Condition 1-Scarlet throughout the fleet.
Allcomms messages fired instantaneously over the omninet:
>//[ATT(UNS-BB_04421)]:: GOOD LUCK, COMMANDERS.
>//[ATT21]:: SEE YOU ALL ON THE OTHER SIDE.
[ +- ] OOC
OOC:
I may or may not keep things on the very light side as far as role-playing goes, if only because this is meant to be a trial run of the combat system and, by extension, the ship-buildling.So, Commanders Hiruki Ito, Desa Accord, and Jhan Dishiria are all a fleet. It is up to y'all how well you feel like knowing each other, but at the very least you absolutely know of one another. Those traits y'all have are probably a good start for the kind of rumors or reputations etc that surround one another.
Your battlegroups probably don't normally travel together, because for now the Shore is not a warzone. You are probably used to patrolling different parts of the Shore, stuff like that. For the war games, you've been put together.
On the other side of the games are:
+++Fleet Commander Otto Steinbeck of the UNS-BB Attenborough, Battlegroup Palladium
+++Commander Grady Burton of the UNS-CV Babylon, Battlegroup Griffin
+++Commander Saanvi Dandekar of the UNS-BB Mariana Trench, Battlegroup Thunder
Mechanically, I as GM am supposed to tell you the following:
Battlegroup Palladium is built around an enemy type called a "Paladin" -- it likes to 1-v-1 people. The Paladin is also supported by "Roughnecks," a ship type that likes to board, and some direct-fire damage-dealers called "Stalwarts." Finally, this battlegroup is home to an ace chassis squadron called a "Vigilant Shepherd" that messes with damage timing. Within the fiction, you're looking at a big mean ironsides kind of ship with a whole slew of marines, some heavy-weapons frigates, and some well-known Lancers.
Battlegroup Griffin is built around an enemy type called a "Breakwater" that is specializes in wings and bombers. It also has what's called "Battlethreads," AI extensions of the main vessel that antagonize you, and "Diluvia" a flexible pool of drone combatants. Within the fiction, you're looking at a carrier with a steady supply of well-supported wings, who will all have a lot of drone, nexus, and legionspace support.
Battlegroup Thunder is built around an enemy type called a "Phantasm" that is all about being hard to hit and stealth maneuvers. It is supported by a template called "Mastermind," representing an especially canny Commander who can pull mean tricks, and a "Daggerflight" -- a suite of escort ships that move fast and cut away at you. Within the fiction, you are looking at a battleship that is using waste heat to make it hard to hit and harder to outmaneuver, with a smart commander onboard, and a division of corvettes under her control.
We'll go through this as slowly as possible without actually grinding to a glacial halt, and I'll do my best to call out every relevant phase of play.
For now, we are doing something called Posture and Uptime. In full, proper gameplay we would use Uptime Actions and play out some scenes leading into the combat deployment. For now, for this test, we will simply use Posture.
Go ahead and, with whatever small flourish you'd like to provide, decide what Posture you are starting this battle with.
CONSERVATIVE POSTURE says:
Your ships spread out and adopt a more defensive, cautious posture for this battle, tempering their speed and directing the saved power to forward shielding, additional systemic redundancies, and boosted processing power for your legion. Your ships deploy at Extreme Range (5). You may use one additional tactic during the first round of combatNOMINAL POSTURE says:
The tactical situation matches the strategic parameters as outlined in your briefing; you order your ships to their nominal trajectories and prepare to engage. Your ships deploy at Long Range (4).AGGRESSIVE POSTURE says:
You command your ships to adopt an aggressive posture. With wings and escorts screaming ahead at maximum speed and your batteries hammering away, your battlegroup punches straight for the core of the enemy fleet, seeking to strike a death blow in defiance of accepted doctrine and old strategies. Your ships deploy at Scope Range (3). During the first round of combat you may only use one maneuver or one tactic.
