tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1014248690808215206.post8746866794197743833..comments2024-03-16T06:33:15.879-07:00Comments on Den of the Lizard King: Dark Nebula 2900 AD - Ships and TechnologyOmer Golan-Joelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09242085820257230639noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1014248690808215206.post-27878977890738278862018-12-15T22:19:48.711-08:002018-12-15T22:19:48.711-08:00Great point! Plus, militarist regimes such as that...Great point! Plus, militarist regimes such as that on Maadin often invest in "prestige" projects, such as building a "white elephant" battleship.<br /><br />There were previous rounds of conflict with the Aslan, but none involved major naval engagements. They were more ground "police actions" against ihatei, with space combat against small ihatei ships, so no lessons learned about actual large-scale naval combat with capital ships.Omer Golan-Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09242085820257230639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1014248690808215206.post-3125074528458098442018-12-15T19:35:59.043-08:002018-12-15T19:35:59.043-08:00The meta-history of the Interstellar Wars is far t...The meta-history of the Interstellar Wars is far too convoluted to address here. The initial idea of the Wars came from a wargame which predates Traveller and what few details exist have been haphazardly added across 40+ years, dozens of products, and several versions. The "Terrans like missile boats" concept is a fairly late addition to the mess. The weapon tables HG2 rules certainly suggested it, but we had to wait for GT to finally state it.<br /><br />A long time part of the IW story, however, has been that two Terran tech breakthrough finally ended the wars; jump3 and the meson gun spinal mount. Spinal-armed capital ships destroyed the ZS Central Fleet and then used the strategic speed afforded them by jump3 to blow open the front which up until then had been limited to the Rim sector. That history and "knowledge", plus the "lessons" it "teaches", will be part of Maadin's cultural "baggage". It doesn't mean they're going to build or even be able to build huge spinal-armed battleships. It does mean they're going to think they should be striving towards building huge spinal-armed battleships and that similar vessels are the "true" arm of decision.<br /><br />What I'm trying to say is this cultural "hangover" Maadin has - plus different hangover associated with the different Aslan culture - means that neither fleet will be optimal. They're not going to sit down with HG2 and TCS, run a spreadsheet a few hundred times, and come out with the perfect TL11 designs. Their ships are going to be designed with budgets, politics, guesses, and cultural blindspots at work than anything else.Bill Cameronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02987843264254276569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1014248690808215206.post-13593472273571045542018-12-14T23:52:11.700-08:002018-12-14T23:52:11.700-08:00I like that! Great points.
If I recall correctly,...I like that! Great points.<br /><br />If I recall correctly, though Terrans in the Interstellar Wars were really into missile boats, compared to the Vilani who had more orthodox vessels. But spinal mounts do have an attractive factor to them, especially to militarist regimes such as the Maadin Confederation. Big guns are appealing. So the pre-war Solomani ships will probably be a combination of missile destroyers and battleships, with little or no intermediate ships.<br /><br />Also keep in mind that there were two previous military conflicts between Solomani and Aslan in the Dark Nebula, though these were mostly at the destroyer/light carrier level rather than on the battleship level. Again, an incentive for light missile ships, without intermediate ships (cruisers), with huge battleships built for prestige purposes and to follow the old Interstellar Wars Terran doctrines.<br /><br />Both navies have very little hands-on experience with cruisers and capital ships, especially the Aslan who never fought a full-scale war against an interstellar foe, but also the local Solomani who follow very old doctrines not necessarily adapted to local conditions.Omer Golan-Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09242085820257230639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1014248690808215206.post-80077518447383660792018-12-14T16:00:10.116-08:002018-12-14T16:00:10.116-08:00Fascinating as always, Mr. Joel. One point regard...Fascinating as always, Mr. Joel. One point regarding the fleets of the opposing powers: We have HG2 and they do not. We know that nuke-tipped missiles are the best weapon system at TL 11 and they do not. Their ships are going to be designed with what they believe are the lessons of the previous wars they've fought. The Solomani are going to copy the ships with which their ancestors beat the Ziru Sirka - large ships armed with spinal mounts. The Aslan are going to build the types of ships which are useful in the constant, small scale, intra-clan, skirmishing. Neither of those types may prove useful in the coming war.<br /><br />The Solomani aren't going to be able to truly copy those Terran battleships, but that doesn't mean they won't try. Their attempt to build/deploy a "real" navy could handicap them in important ways. Look at the South American nations, for example, who would waste almost their entire naval budget on buying a foreign battleship or two. They weren't able to maintain them and often lacked the money to operate them. Those battleships not only couldn't perform many of the duties their navies really needed to do, but the cost of those battleships also meant there weren't enough other ships to perform those duties either. Despite all that, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina still bought those battleships.<br /><br />The Aslan are going to have a similar problem expressed in a very different way. Their experiences mean they want to build/deploy the kinds of "light" forces which a male or two can "man" to gain individual glory/honor and which are good for the constant skirmishing and "dueling" which occur between clans.<br /><br />This doesn't mean that the Solomani will have nothing but spinal-armed battleships and the Aslan will have nothing but tiny, one-"man", fighters. It does suggest that the both navies will be "unbalanced" in some way. With their tonnage tied up in battleships, the Solomani may not have enough "light" or "escort" units and, with their emphasis on individual combat, the Aslan may not have enough "heavy" units to slug it out.<br /><br />Just my 0.02 Cr. Bill Cameronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02987843264254276569noreply@blogger.com