Wanton use of nukes and the path to galactic conquest!

Trigger1112 · Post by **Trigger1112** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 14:50

I would humbly like to remind Steve that i have considerable experience piloting Capital Ships and would do well in a Panther, Tyr (even if combat mostly involves controlled collisions [ external image ] ), or anything else M6-sized or larger.

P.S. +1 for the video

borgrel · Post by **borgrel** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 17:12

/me votes for the panther, fast, 3 wings of fighters, its SPLIT!!! plus it looks cooler.

*pointedly ignores nanook and the claustrophobic feeling from reading those realy (cough) rules*

*edit* OMG!! the irc me works.......hahahaha

NUKLEAR-SLUG · Post by **NUKLEAR-SLUG** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 17:29

bones_ayres wrote:Me thinks the opening action during the attempt on the Tyr would be an event worthy of trying another video NS?
I need a training guide for a similar op in my own game!

I strongly suspect the opening action will look largely akin to the kind of thing that would make Macross feel inadequate..

Prev chapter<->Next chapter
126 - Panther

Current indications are that the Tyr is heading westward which puts it deeper into Terran space and that complicates matters so for the time being I'm going to leave 'Looky Looky' to keep tabs on it's movements. If we can establish a pattern to it's patrols then we ought to be able to identify a suitable place to ambush it that will give us the best chance for success. Preferably somewhere well away from any other Terran patrols would be good as it's not the sort of target you want to be going after with additional distractions poking their noses in.

For now tho that means we're clear to make a move against the Panther instead and that's probably no bad thing anyway. It's been a fair while since the boys have been out in the field so a training mission would definitely not go amiss to keep minds sharp. While we'll be treating this as a Pre-Tyr 'excercise' so to speak that doesn't in anyway mean we won't be taking this seriously. The Panther would be a useful addition to the fleet and even without any supporting fighters, and with a minimal amount of anti-fighter weaponry onboard, I'm under no illusion that it's still a potent threat. For one thing it has a large amount of fast firing weaponry in the form of PBE in addition to the couple flaks onboard so that poses a danger to the boarding crews as they head in. Hopefully it'll be a little busy defending itself and we won't have problems.

For only one target I'm bringing quite a lot of hardware along for this mission. 'Night Hawk' will be providing the necessary fighter support for the mission, although for the shield suppression itself only Purple wing will be heading in as only they really have the shielding to withstand punishment from flak fire. Remaining wings will be held on standby just in case we get any unexpected guests turning up that need dealing with.

Earlier scans revealed that in addition to rolling with no backup the Panther is also a little undershielded, only 3.2Gj. Now I've done my maths and a full 8x spread of Hammer torpedoes will dish out a grand total of 2.4Gj of damage so, in the fortunate event that all connect, that will nicely reduce the panthers shields by 75% and in the process make Purple wings job a whole lot easier. All of which means 'Providence' has a special, albeit very brief role in this mission. Fire one Hammer barrage and head home. 'Bitter Wind' will of course be providing troop deployment and once Purple wing gets the shields under control will be sending the troops on their way.

Operation: Hello Kitty!

Unfortunately 'Bitter Wind' turns out to be too slow to be able to keep up with the Panther which is busy patrolling around the sector so instead I order it to jump to the north gate and park there making full use of the 75Km range of it's boarding pods. Meantime Purple wing manage to close to contact with no problems so without further ado we kick things off..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/126-1.jpg

.. Just the one salvo as requested, but just in case temptation rears it's ugly head as I still recall the Black Hole Sun incident, I remind 'Providence' to stand down the tubes and head home anyway. With the torpedoes closing into target Purple wing gets the go ahead and makes their move on the Panther just as the torpedoes reach terminal range. Not all of them hit of course, but then I wasn't expecting them to, but six of the eight do manage to breach the Panthers point defnse and reach their objective and even that is sufficient to knock about 50% off the Panthers shields which is still a significant headstart. 'Bitter Wind' has already been given free reign to launch pods at his discretion and as Purple wing manage to bring the shields down to 4% the pods are away..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/126-2.jpg

.. Boarding pods aren't particularly slow, I'd know as I've been in more than a few, but it takes a little while for even boarding pods to cross over 60Km of space which leaves Purple wing having to bear the brunt of the Panthers displeasure. Eventually they do get there tho but unfortunately the Panthers close in point defense proves to be a little more efficient than I'd hoped for despite being tied up trying to take down Purple wing. Two of the pods get taken out by PBE fire resulting in only two making it to the hull along with just eight of the original twenty troops. I'm not sure eight will be sufficient to take this Panther down but, like it or not, we're committed now so we'll have to wait and see..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/126-3.gif

.. and as it turns out my fears were unjustified, the troops have learnt their lessons well and with some of the more experienced vets like Daron there to lead the way the ship falls with no casualties during the capture operation and with only 7% hull damage incurred. As an added bonus even the jumpdrive survives the firefight which will make recovery a whole lot simpler.

Unfortunately it wasn't an entirely clean operation, but then it would be unrealistic not to expect at least some casualties when you're attempting to capture a fully armed and active capital ship, but with good planning and operation execution we came off fairly lightly overall I feel. Three troopers lost when their boarding pods were intercepted by PBE fire..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/126-4.gif

.. and one loss to Purple wing when 'Slimoblitz' got locked up by a flak turret that he couldn't shake. A shame really as he'd been with Purple wing for a long time, but it just goes to show that war makes no favourites and when your time comes..

Time: 10-20:50
Credits: 5,587,004
Teladianium: 66,873
Ore: 450,000

berth · Post by **berth** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 18:01

*Daron Slamer takes a moment to remember the fallen*

So chief, more grog for the rest of us, then. Swings and roundabouts, eh?

EmperorJon · Post by **EmperorJon** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 18:10

Glad Blue Wing wasn't involved... Flak eats Novas for breakfast!

eldyranx3 · Post by **eldyranx3** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 19:16

Well played! Those must be some crack troops for only eight to take the ship with no casualties and minimal hull loss. But I cant help but wonder if the Split M7 hybrid carrier will fulfill the same role as the Teladi M2 Phoenix.

EmperorJon · Post by **EmperorJon** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 19:26

It sure is faster though!

plawolf · Post by **plawolf** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 20:34

Now the questions becomes, who gets to fly this beasty? Can it be me? Can it be me? I think I asked first.

Knetter_Gek · Post by **Knetter_Gek** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 22:44

EmperorJon wrote:It sure is faster though!

In this particular case though, so is getting out and walking...

Still, nice op there.

Snowship · Post by **Snowship** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 23:11

Congrats Commander Steve

And I'm still alive, Praise Mighty Xaar

I thought I'd been killed back in Legends home...

Bring on those two-eyed Earthlings

-Taimanckatslot

Olterin · Post by **Olterin** » Sat, 19. Dec 09, 23:20

Masterpiece of a capture, that Panther was.

Eagerly awaiting the Tyr capturing operation. I must admit, sitting behind 6GJ worth of shielding does make one feel safer than the poor fighter jockeys who'll be taking the brunt of the enemy fire.

... Not that I'm ungrateful for commanding such a fine ship as the Aquilo.

"Right, men, go back to your work, we'll be maintaining combat alert at crucial stations, everyone else can go get a good night's sleep - you will need it"

Mr. Reeves · Post by **Mr. Reeves** » Sun, 20. Dec 09, 01:32

What a smooth op NS. The panther is a fine ship. I fly one myself.

IBL up front. CIG top and bottom. FAA on sides. EBC rear.

Limbo365 · Post by **Limbo365** » Sun, 20. Dec 09, 03:14

EmperorJon wrote:Glad Blue Wing wasn't involved... Flak eats Novas for breakfast!

Damn blue wing has changed since my day!

EmperorJon · Post by **EmperorJon** » Sun, 20. Dec 09, 08:44

What are you doing on the forums at quarter past 3 in the morning?

And how has blue wing changed?

And what am I doing on the forums at quarter to 8 in the morning?

Gothsheep · Post by **Gothsheep** » Sun, 20. Dec 09, 08:52

Wow, only 8 out of the 20 marines survived? That's a pretty harsh blow. I guess operation: Tyrs of a Clown will have to wait a while longer.

Maybe we should go meet up with the Goner. Hanging out with the no-armed peacenik Earth-worshipers might give you good cover when it's eventually time to start messing up Terra's stuff.

TBV · Post by **TBV** » Sun, 20. Dec 09, 10:51

Slimoblitz is proud to have served, and falling in the capture of such a fine ship is no shame.

Tiedyeguy · Post by **Tiedyeguy** » Sun, 20. Dec 09, 12:05

I do believe I was the first to request a Panther quite a ways back... IIRC, somewhere within a few weeks of Steve's Raptor Capture (say that 10 times fast!)

simo98 · Post by **simo98** » Sun, 20. Dec 09, 12:09

A lurker here, signing up for duty (just managed to catch up over the past few days

)

Race: Split
Ship Name: "Death Or Glory"
Ship: Anything shooty, happy with an M5, Happier with an M7

(Also wouldn't mind flying khaak/Xenon)
Weapons: Good old fashioned HEPT's if they fit, otherwise whatever i can get my greasy little pirate mitts on, 2 IRE's and pointed stick if need be.
Missiles: Wasps, and a couple of reasonable sized warheads if i can fit them, preferably big enough to put a dent in something, but not quite big enough to clear out my shields and hull in one misfire

Fire Percent: 35%

Great story NS, a round of fuel to the prolonged life of the pirate king!

Apollo303 · Post by **Apollo303** » Sun, 20. Dec 09, 15:00

Kudos to `Looky Looky`..... and to `Slimoblitz`, may your entity dance amongst the gods lights, oh and lemme know where the BIG ships are, i wanna get my name up there in lights

Great going N-S can`t wait to see how you handle that Tyr !!

plawolf · Post by **plawolf** » Mon, 21. Dec 09, 02:02

Tiedyeguy wrote:I do believe I was the first to request a Panther quite a ways back... IIRC, somewhere within a few weeks of Steve's Raptor Capture (say that 10 times fast!)

Well she should go to the one who asked first, apologies if that was you, I just asked out of the spur of the moment when N-S said he was going after one as thats my ship of choice in my game and I didn't remember anyone anyone else asking for me before.

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Wanton use of nukes and the path to galactic conquest!