Re: [VVerse] Trickier FTL gates

At 11:27 AM -0500 2/1/05, Grant A. Ladue wrote:
>   I still say though that any "wormhole" or "gate" system that would
allow
>  large numbers of unmanned weapons to pass through it effectively
eliminates
>  the usefulness of fixed defenses.  First you send through huge 
>numbers of very

If you can send weapons through one way, I can send them the other. 
And it comes down to who has more to send. If I'm next to my home 
planet and I have nearby fixed positions, I've got a super short 
logistics train and you have a super long logistics train. In this 
case think of the entire Normandy defenses condensed down to one 
small area against the Overlord forces. Because it's a point as 
opposed to a long border, the fixed defenses gain benefit from 
interlocking fire.

You and I or someone else (John Atkinson) need to play a game of 
Dirtside or Full Thrust with Fixed defenses and you run a mobile 
force. Then you'll see about the problem of just expecting technology 
alone to win the day. It takes more than just saying you'll launch a 
bunch of missiles. Against a weaker foe it's the different tech 
levels. Against a foe that you have parity with, it all depends on if 
you bring what you need to crack the nut to the table. And even then 
you'll pay the butchers bill one hundred fold.

>  small seeker weapons to wipe out the minefield, then a bunch of 
>nukes to knock
>  out the weapons positions with EMP effect, then missile swarms to
overwhelm
>  point defenses and knock out any remaining sensors and exposed
positions. 
>  Repeat until there is a hole in the defenses sufficient for a manned
fleet to
>  move through with impunity.	Nova cannon type weapons only make this
easier.

What stops other NUKEs from being sent back through at you?
>
>    Conversly, mobile fleets are far less vulnerable to this type of
attack
>  because they aren't "fixed" near the wormhole and as the volume of
space that

And they have to be there to do the job. They're also more expensive. 
Which is back to where my point of fixed defense platforms would be 
cheaper for the same tech level and more armor and weapons.

>    I would think the best way to defend a gate point would be to have
a small
>  number of fixed defenses with a significant fleet able to back them
up.  The
>  trick is to have enough defensive positions to be able to hold up the
enemy
>  for your fleet to arrive, but not so many that the other side feels
the need
>  to build specific weapons systems to obliterate them.

Personally, I'd build some hulking huge asteroids that are in some 
kind of stationary defense around the jump point (gate), Some smaller 
ones in from the the FTL limit from the star and then some more in 
from the most likely transit point from the Jump point (gate). There 
would also be a number of hulking huge asteroids at the various 
Lagrange points around the system for additional long base sensor 
resolution and as refueling points for system patrol craft and 
fighter basing. Then there would be the home fleet and the core 
planet defenses.

The basic Hulking huge asteroid is bigger than a dreadnought has 
super strong hull, no drives, no ftl, lots of armor and more beam 
weapons, fighters and missiles/torpedos/screens than you can stuff in 
anything remotely mobile.

A 200 mass station with no drives and engines has an additional 60 
mass left over assuming you give a 200 mass ship NAC style mobility 
(Thrust 4) and average hull with 140 for weapons. Ramp up the 
integrity to Super and you have 100 points for weapons, but 100 
damage points. Sure it can't maneuver, but it's like the NSL ships, 
why maneuver if you can pound your foe senseless when he gets into 
range? The only trick is that with a station you have to place 
weapons on 360 mounts or pay more for all around protection. But, 
given the preference for not giving the enemy a base to fire at you 
with, when you're guarding a wormhole junction, you'll have your 
closest stations with arcs only on the wormhole to prevent them being 
used against your other stations if they're captured somehow.

Pay a bit more for more mass and armor and you can build some 
freaking huge stations that don't move, but pack a whallop. The 
amount of damage they can soak up is staggering.
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