[LP CYOA] Epic

[Esquilax]

No, we won't need to conquer it. The goal is Carneus Alpha, the shortest route to which lies through the fortress-system.

What do you propose as an alternative? I don't care about Bainur itself, I just think that if we manage to wipe out Delta with Senya's force, conquering the planet will force them into making an emotional decision by assaulting the planet and revealing the location of Epsilon Squadron. Take note of this:

As for Armada Alpha, they should depart from the League’s home systems and begin heading towards the core to lie in wait for us.

Consider that if we destroy Delta and take Bainur, they may no longer be content to lie in wait for us. With Delta destroyed and hopefully Beta and Gamma not around yet, this might be enough to make them act rashly - at the very least, it will be enough to draw Epsilon out of hiding. To be honest, I'd prefer not to go where they're waiting for us - that would be fighting on their terms. Let them fight on ours.

 

[Baltika9]

Exactly, that was the original plan: the threat to Bainur diverts Epsilon's attention (because the last rhing our siege fleet needs is an Armada popping up in their rear) and draws them out. They are then promptly dispatched by the Adrahasis-Senya broteam who are now in position to offer support to the siege or set up more ambushes.

I see no reason to actually capture Bainur through a ground invasion unless it somehow advantages the enemy. Hell, if we want to just piss off the League, make a propaganda video of the Imperial Fleet bombing it into smithereens and move on.

The only reason for occupation I see is this

Unless we're setting up some kind of ambush for Alpha and the council on the planet, which I can totally understand: once the Nine are on a planet with Tree Ean, they're p. much fucked.

and even then it is too iffy: how will we lure the council to the surface, etc...

Why do that when we can board their ship/ANNIHILATION CANNON them?

 

[ScubaV]

So, yeah, I'm good with the original plan Esquilax posted, except I want to team up Adrasteia and Hasting for reasons I stated earlier.

A catfight followed by some steamy girl-on-girl?

Lambchop19, so is a configuration like this something you're looking for? Also, I'd like to point out that whether we're outnumbered at Gelmark or not really depends on the sort of firepower that we're bringing along. In the sort of plan that I think you'd prefer, we would be outnumbered, but we'd of course have Anhur-Shu to really level the playing field:

Gelmark (led by Senya)

2nd fleet (Kadowaki)
3rd fleet (Senya, Grimrock)
Raven's Lance (Berith)
7th fleet (Hasting)
Serpent's Wings (Jheverg)

My reasoning for these picks is that this smaller force is greatly bolstered by Senya's presence and the black hole cannon he possesses. Jheverg might be a fanatic and a hothead, but he is also doggedly loyal to Senya, so I see actually see relatively few personality issues going on with him. Grimrock can keep Hasting in check, and it's important that Senya is around to monitor Kadowaki given how discontented he is. Hasting is also the only one we've got who's familiar with the command of Delta, so she might have an idea of what sort of tricks he'll have up his sleeve.

Given the element of surprise and Senya already being accustomed to fighting Imperial-style opponents, I believe we've got the tools here to take on Delta despite the advantages of number and being so well dug-in.

Tejat A (led by Grand-Marshall Ean)

1st Fleet (Harlsen)
Dragon's Guard (Adrahasis)
4th fleet (Kuran)
Emperor's Sword (Adrasteia)
5th Fleet (Richardson)
Devourer's Hammer (Rahuk)
6th fleet (Fennel)
Wolf's Shield (Vermilis)

Once they realize that the forces at Gelmark have been taken out by Senya and we've come after one of their important worlds, they're definitely going to be drawn out into a fight against us. And we better be fucking sure that we have the numbers to take them on. A planetary assault seems like a great use of Ean's skills, and when it comes to actual space combat, Adrahasis will be more than capable of showing him the ropes.

I know that Rahuk and Vermilis might try to overcompensate in an attempt to regain their honour, but we need Rahuk's massive army and I believe that Ean has the dominant force of personality to rein them in. Hell, if he managed to rein Adrasteia in, I'm pretty confident he can keep Rahuk and Vermilis from acting foolishly.

Also, if we successfully draw Alpha into a fight on Bainur (not hard if Delta is toast), then if we can work some tactics to get Ean to knock off a few Council members, we would be in a great position.

What do you bros think?

This is the plan I agree with most so far, except swap Kadowaki with another Terran fleet.

Some things I think are essential:
1. Separate Ean and Senya and pair Adrahasis with Ean. These are our three best leaders, we need at least one with each group. Ean lacks space combat experience and Adrahasis is best suited to bring him up to speed.
2. Put Senya with a small armada and Ean/Bel-Air with the large one. Senya can solo shit as we saw earlier, he just needs a bit of backup. The other two can work more tactical wizardry with larger numbers.
3. Separate Kadowaki from Hastings and Hastings from Adrasteia. As Lambchop said, treave wouldn't have shown us their interactions if it didn't have some potential ramifications. Keep the potentially traitorous lovers apart and keep the cat-fighters apart (these two are not going to become BFF's over the course of one battle, regardless of what Baltika dreams).

Apart from that I don't particularly care which group goes where or the finer details of armada makeup. I'll let the more dedicated Codexians hash that out.

Anyone crazy enough to try to tally the upgrade votes? I'm curious as to where they stand.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Baltika9: Again, the text of the choice to attack the prize world mentions us "holding" it. It's not like it was our idea. And who says we have to lure them to the surface? Sure, it'd be nice, but we could always have Ean board their ship, or just blow up the solar system, or crush their forces and offer them their lives if they surrender. There are a lot of options and the ball would be in our court - as opposed to us walking right into the ambush we know they are setting for us near the center of the galaxy...

Also, I might note that it may not be too good an idea to rely too much on our fancy tech when dealing with the League's Council. They know about how the nanites work. They've forbidden nanotech research, but who's to say they haven't researched on their own and unlocked every ounce of their own potential? It may be that they could shield themselves from black holes and annihilation cannons with their combined telekinesis. (Though I wonder for how long given the voices "battery-like" tendency to run out.) Something to consider.

 

[Baltika9]

I can't believe I forgot: Ean has mind reading skills, which means Kadowaki (whom I for some reason want to call Kawasaki) can't pull shit on him, being a regular human and all. Putting Bel-Air with Ean is actually a pretty good idea, as per Scuba's arguments.

In that case: Hasting needs to come with Grimrock, who'll be able to shut down her bullshit pretty quickly, making this battlefleet the natural choice for Gelmark. Let me draw up a roster.

 

[Baltika9]

I propose a slight alteration of Esquilax 's plan, which I also vote for.

Battlefleet Ean- Tejat A:
Full-on heavy invasion force to make the League crap their pants.
Emperor's Sword- 1st Fleet, the heavy hitters.
Dragon's Guard- 2nd Fleet, the command team. Place Ean with this group so he can keep his mind on Kadowaki and coordinate with Adrahasis.
Devourer's Hammer- 5th Fleet, let these two do their gung-ho stuff. (I'd love to put Ean on the same ship as Richardson, though).
Wolf's Shield- 4th Fleet, since all legions need a fleet with them. Personally, I'd like for another enthusiast like Richardson. But this pair shouldn't have conflicts, the Admiral was probably offended with Jherveg's threat, understandably so.

Battlefleet Hoshikawa, Gelmark:
The mobile light-fighters with good drone-suppression capabilities. Senya should be able to pull most of the weight. The good thing here is that Berith will keep Jherveg in check and Grimrock will do the same for Hasting.

Raven's Lance- 7th Fleet, Berith is the Empire's calmer commander to Hasting's firebrand, this pair should be fine.
Serpent's Wing- 6th Fleet, and pair the devout one with the Federation's diplomat for minimum conflict.

Leaving the 3rd Fleet with Senya and Grimrock to do what they do best: solo shit and be the big damned heroes.


The big risk with this plan is that whomever is coming to reinforce this sector may notice how little forces Battlefllet Hoshikawa has and hit us when we least expect it.

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Baltika9, I like your plan, but why we are sending so few forces to Gelmak? Are we going to just black-hole their fleet, the space-fortresses and call it a day? I do think anihilating or taking Gelmak first is vital, it smells of Desperate Last Stand Here where our enemies can just hide behind the Star Fortresses and resist to the death. But would't a big fleet be better or it would be playing their game?

Thanks to Blackholes, through, we won't need so much firepower (until the final fight with The Masters, that is). I think investing in resistance and mobility is vital for now when we're fighting thousands of big ships, but firepower will come forth when it is time to fight the Masters. As it is, I think only perhaps the Council of Nine can put up some black-hole blocking shit (Devourer is too busy being Spaghettified in Uranus), but once they show up we sic Ean on them.

On the mecha equipment, I flip-flop to:
III - Drones are going to be good here, give us more versatility
VII - We need more armor, our mech is a glass-cannon for now. Also, extra ramming FTW!
VIII (UPGRADE) - Gravity Wings afford us extra versatility, mobility AND even some defense.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I propose a slight alteration of Esquilax 's plan, which I also vote for.

Battlefleet Ean- Tejat A:
Full-on heavy invasion force to make the League crap their pants.
Emperor's Sword- 1st Fleet, the heavy hitters.
Dragon's Guard- 2nd Fleet, the command team. Place Ean with this group so he can keep his mind on Kadowaki and coordinate with Adrahasis.
Devourer's Hammer- 5th Fleet, let these two do their gung-ho stuff. (I'd love to put Ean on the same ship as Richardson, though).
Wolf's Shield- 4th Fleet, since all legions need a fleet with them. Personally, I'd like for another enthusiast like Richardson. But this pair shouldn't have conflicts, the Admiral was probably offended with Jherveg's threat, understandably so.

Battlefleet Hoshikawa, Gelmark:
The mobile light-fighters with good drone-suppression capabilities. Senya should be able to pull most of the weight. The good thing here is that Berith will keep Jherveg in check and Grimrock will do the same for Hasting.

Raven's Lance- 7th Fleet, Berith is the Empire's calmer commander to Hasting's firebrand, this pair should be fine.
Serpent's Wing- 6th Fleet, and pair the devout one with the Federation's diplomat for minimum conflict.

Leaving the 3rd Fleet with Senya and Grimrock to do what they do best: solo shit and be the big damned heroes.


The big risk with this plan is that whomever is coming to reinforce this sector may notice how little forces Battlefllet Hoshikawa has and hit us when we least expect it.

For a second there I thought you were only sending 2 fleets witth Senya's to Gelmark.

My one uncertainty is Kadowaki with the command fleet. His fleet is the second largest in the federation with 6000 combat frames.

I vote B with the Baltikan plan quoted above.

 

[treave]

Bainur is something akin to a resort world. Stunningly beautiful and pristine. As for why the League would prioritise it so much, it is a playground of their VIPs and at any time you can find plenty of important people from all over the Star League. If you're lucky you might even catch their President vacationing there. Now, the Council itself doesn't really give a shit, but the system they've created in segregating the fleets by place of origin means that if Bainur is seriously threatened they will need to act to dispel the threat or really lose face and possibly face a mutiny from the affected fleets.

It's actually a bit more complex than this but that's about the gist of it. You can decide how to handle the Bainur situation if you send Senya there. If not it'll be up to whoever's commanding the force that heads there.

Edit: Also, two tips. First, do check Epsilon's fleet strength again. There's a reason they called it a fleet and not an armada. Second, I didn't say Gelmark is their most fortified system in the region.

That would probably be Carneus Beta. Naturally.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Hmm. You know, we really should have a little say if Ean is there. After all, he was our first project...
edit: though I suppose we've built his personality through our choices, so that's sort of like getting say...

 

[Baltika9]

Baltika9, I like your plan, but why we are sending so few forces to Gelmak? Are we going to just black-hole their fleet, the space-fortresses and call it a day? I do think anihilating or taking Gelmak first is vital, it smells of Desperate Last Stand Here where our enemies can just hide behind the Star Fortresses and resist to the death. But would't a big fleet be better or it would be playing their game?

Battlefleet Ean is heading there to scare the shit out of the League as a whole and make them diverg their forces. Meanwhile, Senya uses his ANNIHILATION CANNON! to annihilate (hurr) the fortress, the fleets accompanying him providing drone protection.

You can decide how to handle the Bainur situation if you send Senya there. If not it'll be up to whoever's commanding the force that heads there.

I trust Bel-Air and Ean to make a sufficiently cunning and moral decision.

 

[treave]

It is a pity we don't have Shulgi on our side, isn't it?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I trust Bel-Air and Ean to make a sufficiently cunning and moral decision.

Hell, yeah! Isn't this what we wanted since the beginning? Ean as the leader of a massive war-fleet conquering the galaxy?

 

[Baltika9]

Huge pity, yes. I'm still pissed at that derp.

The reason I'm so wary of Epsilon is not the size, it's the fifty thousand CFs they're packing. And the fact that any force designated "expeditionary" was made for self-sustainment, resilience and speed.

Although we did overlook one important fact: a fleet their size is unlikely to engage a fleet the size of Ean's. Unfortunately, I do not see a perfect answer here.

More likely than not, they will insted choose to troll Senya's group. Adrahasis' cloacking expertise would work wonders here for a double-ambush, but we need him to coach Ean. But if his fleet takes Bainur, they will be able to reinforce us. Maybe we should take Adrasteia's group with us for extra firepower and resilience, what do you guys think?

All things considered, we absolutely need the degen-field to protect against mobile enemies, like drones and CFs, hence flopping my upgrade choices to IV, VII, IX

 

[Esquilax]

I think that ScubaV's suggestions are great and I like the modifications to the roster Baltika9 had in mind. Let's go with that.

The reason I'm so wary of Epsilon is not the size, it's the fifty thousand CFs they're packing. And the fact that any force designated "expeditionary" was made for self-sustainment, resilience and speed.

Although we did overlook one important fact: a fleet their size is unlikely to engage a fleet the size of Ean's. Unfortunately, I do not see a perfect answer here.

I disagree - this whole plan is designed to draw our enemies out to come to us. Once the Star League realizes that no reinforcements from Delta are forthcoming after Senya black holes them into oblivion and we have an enormous army occupying one of their important worlds, they're going to have to come after us. At this point, they have a few options:

1. Wait for Beta and Gamma to arrive, at which point our forces will have time to dig and prepare themselves, and potentially for Adrahasis to prepare some nasty ambushes for them.
2. Bring Epsilon in to attack us. This is also good, because a fast, extremely mobile force that could hit our battleships in an ambush and we don't know the location of will reveal themselves to us. 50,000 CF's is no joke, but we'll have the numbers to deal with them.
3. Divert Alpha Armada from their destination towards the core to come after us. I find this the least likely, because in the event of a last stand, they're probably going to want to fortify at Carneus Beta. it could happen if we make them desperate/angry enough, I don't think that taking one of their planets (the Council doesn't really give a fuck anyways) and taking out one of their Armadas is going to be sufficient to make the big boys come out and play just yet.
4. They do nothing. The arrogant Council ends up humiliated and the morale of their forces plummets. Given the hubris of the Star League's leaders, I think them retaliating will be a given.

Also, I would like to consider a few things considering treave's comments about Carneus Beta:

Gelmark is one of the League’s fortress systems. Sector Armada Delta is stationed there at the moment, but it provides us with one of the quickest routes to Carneus Beta, allowing us to get there within four jumps.
...
Finally, Tejat A is an uninhabited system and the most remote. However, it allows us to reach one of the League’s prize-worlds, Bainur, within two jumps. From there, we can reach Gelmark and Dormungan with just one jump each, or reach Carneus Beta with five.”
...
As for Armada Alpha, they should depart from the League’s home systems and begin heading towards the core to lie in wait for us.

Carneus Beta will be closest to Senya's forces, and it's most likely that Alpha Armada is heading there at the moment unless events in Bainur change their mind. Nevertheless, four jumps is still relatively far away even from Gelmark, so of course Alpha Armada is going to get there first. To make matters worse, we'll lose the element of surprise after we hit Delta Armada, so that makes reaching the system even less attractive right now.

We're probably better off trying to link up with Ean's forces after the assault on Gelmark. We'll cross that bridge once we reach it, though.

Baltika9, as for your flops on systems, outline which you want to upgrade. I have to say, we gotta go for the Slave Familiars on this one. Being able to warp our fire will be a huge asset in a battlefield full of space-fortresses, not to mention against the Masters. I think the versatility is too good to pass up. And we want the Reactive Energy Armor - we need some sort of ability to take damage, because we will get hit in these coming fights. We can't just avoid a million drones, so we have to be able to soak up damage to a certain extent.

The degen field is cool, but I don't see it's usefulness extending to our fight against the Masters.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I do like the ring slaves now that treave explained them a bit, still...
gravity wings >>> everything and were the reason we were able to push Marduk into Uranus. :whydoesnoonelistentilitstoolate:
homing lasers to kill drones and CFs.
energy armor adds extra protection - and the gravity wings add protection too. no more "glass cannon".

But yeah, rings + upgrade and armor is a good combo too.

Though we could always go with:
Annihilation cannon; slaves (no upgrade obviously); energy armor.

 

[Baltika9]

Baltika9, as for your flops on systems, outline which you want to upgrade. I have to say, we gotta go for the Slave Familiars on this one. Being able to warp our fire will be a huge asset in a battlefield full of space-fortresses, not to mention against the Masters. I think the versatility is too good to pass up. And we want the Reactive Energy Armor - we need some sort of ability to take damage, because we will get hit in these coming fights. We can't just avoid a million drones, so we have to be able to soak up damage to a certain extent.

The degen field is cool, but I don't see it's usefulness extending to our fight against the Masters.

I'm voting for the degen field, the armor and ANNIHILATION CANNON! Now that we committed Senya to taking down two armadas and a fortress system with limited support (the two legions accompanying us have the least amounts of superheavy and heavy ships), there's no way I'm budging from upgraded firepower: I'd rather we have the ability to wipe out a huge chunk of their forces with one blast than perform Circue du Soleil-style acrobatics in a prolonged conflict.
Our best bet here is to completely overpower Delta and the fortresses ASAP: Beta and Gamma are just a week out, and Epsilon is lurking about, waiting for the best time to troll.

Our ultimate goal should be to get our fleet into the Masters' dimension with minimal losses. The less and shorter they fight, the better.

As for the Masters: I'm sure they'll have their own gadgets we can use the degen field on, plus it will allow Senya to practice this ability so he can later use it on foot.
And no one said that we won't be getting another upgrade before we trip the rift, we are playing a supergenius after all.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I'd rather we have the ability to wipe out a huge chunk of their forces with one blast than perform Circue du Soleil-style acrobatics in a prolonged conflict.

Keep in mind that we already upgraded the black hole gun to the point to where it can destroy planets and kill 50,000 ships in a few minutes. I think one enemy fleet and few moon sized fortresses should be doable.

Really, what we need to worry about is actually getting close enough to the enemy to deliver our killing blow. Remember, black holes have a very limited range.

The enemy believes in "Imperial style" doctrine - advancing with support of heavy firepower. And with 20 moon forts and 1000000 drones to keep us pinned down, he sure has the heavy firepower part. The way to defeat him is to flank him and take out his heavy firepower first.

This can be accomplished with one of 2 upgrades imho: the wormhole upgrade and the gravity wings. The ring slaves might be another option, but we'd have to wait a while for them to reach their target and they run the risk of being intercepted by the enemy and, oh, 1000000 drones.

The reason why I picked the wings is because they are multipurpose - enhancing defense and offense as well as speed, and maneuverability. Eliminating the 'glass cannon' disadvantage. The wormhole upgrade runs the risk of the Masters screwing with our heads during the battle, but I still think it's a pretty viable option.

As for the cannon upgrade, I see it as a somewhat viable alternative to flanking:

The cannon can destroy a star system if the resulting explosion is not controlled. Given that even ship sensors don't usually pick up things accurately way on the other end of the solar system, it is a good way of mutual suicide if you let things blow for maximum radius. Firing randomly and recklessly is also a very good way of getting your own fleet killed with this weapon. The collision can be manipulated in such a way that the burst of energy is funneled in a limited direction, essentially making it a very powerful directed energy weapon with a large AoE. The range of the initial part of the attack (black holes) will be limited because the two black holes will inevitably collide once they travel far enough, but the energy released can travel very far before dissipating. Black holes aren't ideal as suppressive fire because they travel slower than particle beams and take longer to charge up. Suppressive fire needs high volume and rate of fire, and you just aren't going to get enough with these. They have a great AoE and blow through almost everything, but the smaller sized ones also dissipate rather quickly, meaning that if you are firing very quick, weak shots they have inferior range.

Sounds good, but keep in mind the fortresses have "very big guns". Usually big guns translate into long range and that would make sense given their commander's battle doctrine. If the AoE of the anhillation cannon is greater than the range of the fortress, I'm all for it. It would be very effective against the drones, at least at the beginning of the fight before the enemy realizes what we can do, shits his pants, and spreads his forces out.

 

[Baltika9]

This outlines the use of the ANNIHILATION CANNON!

The cannon can destroy a star system if the resulting explosion is not controlled. Given that even ship sensors don't usually pick up things accurately way on the other end of the solar system, it is a good way of mutual suicide if you let things blow for maximum radius. Firing randomly and recklessly is also a very good way of getting your own fleet killed with this weapon. The collision can be manipulated in such a way that the burst of energy is funneled in a limited direction, essentially making it a very powerful directed energy weapon with a large AoE. The range of the initial part of the attack (black holes) will be limited because the two black holes will inevitably collide once they travel far enough, but the energy released can travel very far before dissipating. Black holes aren't ideal as suppressive fire because they travel slower than particle beams and take longer to charge up. Suppressive fire needs high volume and rate of fire, and you just aren't going to get enough with these. They have a great AoE and blow through almost everything, but the smaller sized ones also dissipate rather quickly, meaning that if you are firing very quick, weak shots they have inferior range.

Basically, we can use it as an excellent opening shot for the battle to pretty much fuck up the enemy's forces and send them into disarray so long as we are at a decent distance and properly control our shot. From then on, we can use weaker charges to bust their fortresses (as opposed to our current cannon requiring a fully charged shot to accomplish the same); in any siege, we absolutely must have superior firepower.

The way to defeat him is to flank him and take out his heavy firepower first.

And this is where our lightly-equipped forces won't do shit to the enemy: Battlefleet Hoshikawa (obvious reference to Battlefleet Gothic) has the least amount of heavy weaponry out of all possible combinations, they are built specifically for light support and agility. If we want to have a chance at quickly busting through the fortress-system, we must either have heavy firepower on the CF or substitute one legion with Adrasteia's. Otherwise we'll be throwing pinballs at a steel wall.

 

[Storyfag]

I propose a slight alteration of Esquilax 's plan, which I also vote for.

Battlefleet Ean- Tejat A:
Full-on heavy invasion force to make the League crap their pants.
Emperor's Sword- 1st Fleet, the heavy hitters.
Dragon's Guard- 2nd Fleet, the command team. Place Ean with this group so he can keep his mind on Kadowaki and coordinate with Adrahasis.
Devourer's Hammer- 5th Fleet, let these two do their gung-ho stuff. (I'd love to put Ean on the same ship as Richardson, though).
Wolf's Shield- 4th Fleet, since all legions need a fleet with them. Personally, I'd like for another enthusiast like Richardson. But this pair shouldn't have conflicts, the Admiral was probably offended with Jherveg's threat, understandably so.

Battlefleet Hoshikawa, Gelmark:
The mobile light-fighters with good drone-suppression capabilities. Senya should be able to pull most of the weight. The good thing here is that Berith will keep Jherveg in check and Grimrock will do the same for Hasting.

Raven's Lance- 7th Fleet, Berith is the Empire's calmer commander to Hasting's firebrand, this pair should be fine.
Serpent's Wing- 6th Fleet, and pair the devout one with the Federation's diplomat for minimum conflict.

Leaving the 3rd Fleet with Senya and Grimrock to do what they do best: solo shit and be the big damned heroes.


The big risk with this plan is that whomever is coming to reinforce this sector may notice how little forces Battlefllet Hoshikawa has and hit us when we least expect it.

I vote B with the Baltikan plan quoted above

 

[TOME]

I disagree on Baltika's plan. Ean and Adrahasis can pull tactical wizardry out of their asses, but who is going to command the other fleet while Senya is black holing the enemy? Hasting won't work with Berith, Jheverg or Fennel unless she is in command, and Jheverg and Berith won't work under her. It is going to be chaos unless Senya sits back and take the reins. But that means no Anhur-Shu and no chance to win.

Fake edit: Well fuck. Grimrock is there. Never mind.

Baltika9, Esquilax, Lambchop19, could you guys clarify what are the objectives for each mission? As I understood it from your posts, it is to blow the hell up fortress system but then conquer and try to hold a fucking planet? It should be the other way around. If it is possible to conquer and occupy a few fortresses, then we should do so and form a base for repairs and stuff. Defending a fortress is much easier than defending a planet so it shouldn't tie our forces too much.

How are we going to conquer a planet or get the council down there? We are bound to take heavy losses on the ground due to guerilla warfare. And it is going to take one enemy ship out of slipspace to nuke Ean or who ever went down to the planet. Bad plan. How about we just make our way to the planet and hold it as hostige, sending down a nuke every now and then? If it really is full of VIPs, the League must send an armada to distract our fleet (which we want) while their spec-op try to get some of them out, or face possible mutiny.

Real edit: Flopping to III, VII, VIII.

 

[TOME]

Tally:
storyfag III, IV, VII
esquilax III, VII, III
m4davis II, III, IV
TBS III, VII, VIII
ScubaV II, IV, VI
Smashing II, III, II
Baltika9 III, IV, VII
LC19 VI, VII, VIII
TOME III, VII, VIII
Kayerts III, III, VII
Jester III, VIII, IX

II - 3, III - 9, VI - 2, VII -7, IX - 1
II - 1 , III - 2, IV - 4, VIII - 4

 

[Baltika9]

So, uh, how are we planning to break the fortress?
We gotta have either sn upgraded cannon or a heavier legion, brod, otherwise this will drag on for too long.

 

[Esquilax]

Baltika9, our cannon is already upgraded, it's a planet-buster ffs! It's already at fortress-busting levels. We've got plenty of options, either with the Slave Familiars, or Lambchop's Gravity Wings suggestion to get ourselves into position. MOAR POWER!! on the cannon is cool and all, but the black hole gun is plenty powerful as is.

Also, two tips. First, do check Epsilon's fleet strength again. There's a reason they called it a fleet and not an armada.

I don't understand; what's the difference between a fleet and an armada?

Baltika9, Esquilax, Lambchop19, could you guys clarify what are the objectives for each mission? As I understood it from your posts, it is to blow the hell up fortress system but then conquer and try to hold a fucking planet? It should be the other way around. If it is possible to conquer and occupy a few fortresses, then we should do so and form a base for repairs and stuff. Defending a fortress is much easier than defending a planet so it shouldn't tie our forces too much.

Blowing up a planet does nothing for us strategically: it doesn't draw our enemies in, particularly Epsilon fleet, and it doesn't force their hand to reclaim the planet after we've taken Gelmark. The whole point of this plan is to ideally lure Epsilon fleet out of hiding once we've destroyed their forces at Gelmark. Beta and Gamma are still due to arrive in League space, and Alpha is unlikely to be drawn into battle this early in the game, so Epsilon seems like the most likely bet. Since they are a mobile force who we don't know the location of, forcing them into a defensive battle to retake the planet will neutralize their advantages of maneuverability.

How are we going to conquer a planet or get the council down there? We are bound to take heavy losses on the ground due to guerilla warfare. And it is going to take one enemy ship out of slipspace to nuke Ean or who ever went down to the planet. Bad plan. How about we just make our way to the planet and hold it as hostige, sending down a nuke every now and then? If it really is full of VIPs, the League must send an armada to distract our fleet (which we want) while their spec-op try to get some of them out, or face possible mutiny.

Uh, how are we going to hold the planet hostage if we nuke the place? If I hold someone hostage, I can't exactly make a list of demands to the police after I shoot them in the head. Besides, Ean definitely won't nuke a planet full of innocent people, so it's not going to happen.

I think conquering the planet will actually be relatively easy. Once Ean is on the ground, he can probably take out most of the planet's defenses quickly, so this won't be a problem. And as for them nuking the planet, I find it extremely unlikely: the Council might not give a shit about the planet in the grand scheme of things, but they still need to keep their war machine running and their morale high. Destroying a planet that's full of their political leaders is definitely not conducive to that.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

TOME, Gelmark is far too heavily entrenched for us to take and hold. If we were to try and invade, it would take the entire fleet and it would take too much time. We'd wind up getting caught with our pants down when the enemy reinforcements arrive and we still haven't taken the planets.

Our goal is to obliterate the entire fortress system, planets and all. We break their ships. We break their spirits. We break them. By the time we are done, the only place they'll have left to run to after we draw them out at Bainur (again, due to the fact that one of their fleets might mutiny if they don't take it back) will be Carneus Beta.

edit:

Besides, Ean definitely won't nuke a planet full of innocent people, so it's not going to happen.

You are probably right. Ean is no Shulgi, though he has murdered millions for "the greater good" before. The entire gieloth-hybrid race in fact when he ate the tree. He'd have to have no other option though.