Archive through October 14, 2003
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Star Fleet Battles: SFB Proposals Board:
New Rules:
Orbital Defense Platforms:
Archive through October 14, 2003
Crud! Thanks Jeff, I'll move it.
Every one, ignore those to top posts please.
Been lurking for a bit.
Not sure if you have room for one more around here (especially since my memory is EXTREMELY foggy in regards to SFB rules), but let me toss in some suggestions. If nothing else, consider them Input from Starfleet Analysis Division 
1) Recommend that a 2 fighter CAP (with 2 on Standby) be maintained and rotated at appropriate intervals. With the 27 hour day, this will require a 4.5 hour flight once per day per fighter pilot, less if additional pilots are available to rotate duty. This should leave ample time for other duties and ample rest to avoid fatigue.
2) IIRC the planetary phaser arcs correctly, hex sides A, C, and E are covered by only 1 P4? If so, Bases in C and E are prime candidates for a Commando Raid. If successful, this would open a hole in the planetary defenses. Recommend assigning appropriate guards. Using 2 hours off per 1 hour on scheduling, this would require the use of 9 boarding parties per day. If the P4s have overlaping fields of fire, this is unlikely to occur and guards would be better assigned to other duties.
3) After the raid by a G1G, has any analysis been performed to determine if a Ground Base could be damaged/destroyed by a single combat G1 approaching in a similar manner? Loss of one of the P4s or Ftr Bases could seriously compromise the planetary defense.
4) Major Wile, recommend you upload new Rules of Engagement (ROE) to the DefSats. Possibly include orders for one to fire entire drone load instead of volley under specific conditions (which could be a nice surprise for a G1 who thought it was only going to have to deal with a single drone from each Defsat ). If analysis indicates single G1 could deliver sufficient ordnance (i.e. Type IV drones) on target to penetrate base shields, recommend including defensive phaser doctrine in ROE.
5) Possible attack scenario to exercise against would be raid by PFs Squadron (possibly reinforced) supporting attempted landings by G1G(s) in areas C or E. Combined with Commando Raid on target base, this would put multiple enemy marines on target with minimum risk to Klingon Fleet Assets. Especially if goal is to secure Federation Bases to assist in repulsing Federation Counterattack.
6) Recommend attempting to tie defense bases into local planetary power grid if possible. Also, make an emergency requisition for power base(s) (these have batteries, yes?). While its doubtful that Starfleet Command will expedite this request with no attack and/or threat of immenient attack, they could surprise you and have the power base shipped with the next supply run. Extra power will extend the life of the bases, while any battery power will improve reaction time. Even a P4 shot at a departing target will do some damage. And just a single damage on a warp engine of a PF with Boosters could leave him a sitting duck for the F16s in pursuit
7) Someone mentioned the Raid on St Nazirre at one point in the discussions. I believe a better description of the situation might be Guadicanal. Will have to wait and see how things develop.
Craig Tenhoff-
We can prepare a recommendation, but authority to actually change the Rules of Engagement lies (I believe) with Col Knight.
Part of the challenge is the nature of the Opposing Force (OPFOR)...prior to the G1G incursion, it was anticipated that the Ground Warning Stations would detect any OPFOR at 100 hexes and the range vs speed would amount to enough time for the 429th to get to WS3.
The G1G proved conclusively that the concept of early warning was flawed...(at least to the extent of a 'stealth approach').
To be fair, while having a rotating CAP of 2 fighters would have been nice in dealing with the G1G, it may not be the "best way" to deal with an OPFOR composed of starships, fighters and PF's working in cooperation. Col Knight, Maj Wells and Major Harding have (up to the present) concluded that the best place for the fighters are safe and secure in the Hangers and not on active patrol in CAP.
Yours is atleast the 2nd request for rotating CAP of fighters. I would request that you submit a formal proposal detailing the CAP including duty roster (Careful Craig, you just might find yourself assigned as a section leader or flight leader reporting to Major Harding in Flight OPS!)
No guarantee, but It is my opinion that you will get a fair hearing from Col Knight.
OOC-Col Knight requested that I "discuss" with Col Baluda the Safety vs 'Needs of his assignment' issue.
This puts me into a quandry in that the terminology used in this exercise seems (to me) a little odd and confusing.
#1. The 429th was shipped to this planet as a completed PDU(less combat losses enroute).
#2. the 'Home Defense Battalion'under the command of Lt. Col Baluda (per SPP post dated February 28, 2003) which represents the "National Guard" which in turn was the Commanders Option Point Purchases that Col Knight decided on at the begining of the exercise.
I guess where I'm confused is the issue of "integration"...either the 429th is fully combined with the HDB and the tanks, GCV's and trucks are stored/maintained with the 429th bases, or the HDB is independent in that the vehicle park(s) are located away from the 429th facilities.
For example, if the Klingons had not attacked and captured the planet, Col Baluda (presumably) would have his own National Guard PDU (say with Phaser 1's or Phaser 2's instead of Phaser 4's...and if the planet were reinforced by the 429th, both units would form a regiment (or larger) unit.
If part of the "Big Picture" is that the 429th assignment is to provide a fully functional PDU while the HDB is reconstituted to the extent that (if the war is still continuing) the 429th could be redeployed to another planet in the combat zone once Col Baluda's HDB goes online...
To me, that leaves Col Baluda "leading from the front" in the turret of his tank holding onto his communicator since the Home Defense Battalion does not have its own GMG (Ground Military Garrison).
Until or unless the HDB starts to build its own groundbases, Col Baluda's security is limited to the soldiers of whatever tactical unit he attaches himself to in any given tactical situation.
As I see it (and please correct me if I am mistaken) the choice comes down to leaving Col Baluda in command of his unit, or changing the Table or Organization of the 429th to the extent of combining the HDB with the manuver Company of the 429th...and integrating the officers duty stations and ranks.
Why would Col Baluda not be 2nd in the chain of command of the combined PDU? his rank alone would seem to place him above Majors Harding, wells and wile? if he were integrated, his duty station should be in the GMG and Major Ford field commander of the HDB manuver unit...
IMO, the question of integrating the 429th with the HDB is a policy level decision, and not one that I or Col Baluda could make unilaterally.
The EWS should allow enough warning of any single starship or squadrons approach to allow any CAP fighters to 'retire' to the safety of their ground bases. The exception would be vs Cloaked Vessels. However, in that case having two assests on station will allow extra options for dealing with the intruder(s).
Additionally, two CAP fighters, supported by the DEFSATS, can put a LOT of drones into space in a short amount of time, which combined with the DEFSAT phasers and the P-Gs on the F16s possess a credible threat to any small to medium single ship raider.
In either case, the intrusion of the G1G has shown the need for a rotating CAP. The possibility of a similiar intrusion with a Combat G1 to destroy/damage the defenses prior to the main push should not be discounted. While such a mission would probably 'push' the life support to (and possibly past) the limits of such unit, it should not be discounted. The Klingons could assign such a mission as a 'punishment detail' within a PF squadron and/or may not suffer for a lack of volunteers for such a mission, since it would be a n 'honorable' mission with no support against a superior enemy.
Recommend the entire staff submit possible OPFOR forces, scenarios, and contingency plans to deal with such a force. This will give the staff exercise scenarios to train against and will give documented options to review when an actual OPFOR force appears in system.
OPFOR SCENARIO for review
Enemy force constisting of 2 PFs squadrons (1 Combat, 1 Mixed Combat/Marine) attempt to breach defenses and land marines to destroy/capture fixed defeneses. Assume Commando Operation has disabled (but not destroyed) 1 phaser battery.
Response:
1) Maneuver CAP away from OPFOR.
2) Prepare fighter squadron and launch to rendevous with CAP.
3) If possible, load available shuttle as scatterpack (using type VI drones if available).
4) Fighters are to operate within planetary blind zone from OPFOR as much as possible.
5) Attempt to use drone wave from fighters/scatterpack to disrupt OPFOR formation and prevent landings.
6) Rotate squadron for reloading to keep P-Gs on station to prevent close approach to planet.
7) Use DEFSAT phasers defensively to destroy enemy drones.
8) Reinforce disrupted phaser battery with Marines.
Sorry Major Wile, forgot the chain of command.
Col Knight, recommend you review Rules of Engagement and update automated DEFSAT responses.
IIRC there is already a 'automated' ROE for Def sats in the rules for Def sats not controled by a player.
Submit that the Def Sats be placed on "automatic" and allow Col knight to overrule the ROE's for the Def Sats in context of the tactical situation as it unfolds.
Craig,
There is a total of 3 Defense Sats in orbit (not the usual 5). Each with a Drone-B(1 drone/turn, 6 ammo) & 2 P-3 (IIRC).
We have 11 F-4C fighters (and 1 EW Fighter w/o Type-1s), which mean 4 standard Type-1 (12 damage) each, launch rate 1/turn. Speed 32.
So if all are in space when we finally get attacked, we can launch 14 drones a turn (while not shabby) controling all of them might be a problem. Especially if a GWS gets sabotaged.
Captain Tenhoff: Please update you records as they are incorrect. If you take a tour of the Fighter Bases you will find:
The Squadron is divided into two flights:
1. Banshee Flight (5 x F-16M and 1 x F-16EM) station Annapolis.
2. Ghost Flight (6 x F-16M) station Dallas.
Commander’s options include:
o 34 ADD rounds ( 17 each FGB-S)
o 8 extra Deck Crews (4 each FGB-S)
o 8 Ground Attack Pods (4 each FGB-S)
o 4 Trans. Artillery ( 2 each FGB-S)
o 2 Probe Drones (1 each FGB-S)
To staff: I'll give the above a review of the above this evening.
I saw my troops as analogous to state troopers (perhaps reservists) vs. the Army. My people are probably full time in name more than anything else, and would now be fully mobilized.
As the former resistance leader, I'm qualified to point out that my troops are most effective as partisans and geurilla fighters. Integrating them fully in the Fed command structure gives you warm bodies, but not the ability to detach and use their expertise in local topography to go hunt down any potential landing party. I think my boys should be detached for that role.
With regard to my security, the Klingons tried to kill me for several years and never quite succeeded. While my profile has changed when we were liberated, I don't plan to attend any parties for the Governor in the near future for two reasons:
1) I am still hungover from the last party; and
2) I have a lot of work to do getting my boys in shape and ready to do what they do best. Discipline is not at the same level that it was during the occupation.
With that said, I plan to recomend to the Governor that we begin a manhunt for Klingons. The vehicles may be of little use, depending on terrain. So, I would be happy to provide them as reinforcement of key installations if someone would loan me six shuttles (with crew) and the assistance of the DefSat sensors to conduct planetary scans. If I find something, we'll coordinate action.
But frankly, I see no point in devoting more Fed resources to hunting down what may not be there. Let my boys get to work with the above assistance, and the Feds can look to the skies for more Klingons.
Major Ford:
The troops need to get their heads back into the old game - get them equipped, and organized into six search teams. Depending on the shuttles we may get assigned, we can modify the deployment. The vehicles, if they can't be moved quickly as strike assets to deal with heavy resistance, should be assigned to the discretion of the Fed command structure to secure key GCLs. There may be Klingons on our planet again, but we will deal with them smoothly and efficiently. However, keep in mind that a landing party can't capture the planet alone - something else is coming.
Col Baluda: Day one every one is looking. Day two to four about half the number of Star Fleet regulars are searching. Day five it's mostly just your troops.
What you've requested is what I expected all along. Game wise this discussion has taken place on day one.
Remember, if there is any infiltators they might not be Klingons. They might be Klingon subject races or Cartel mercs. Though unlikely they would be human it's not impossible.
There are several very scary (for the players) aspects to the situation.
First, none of you know if a commando team has been dropped or not. This might have been just a "rattle the cage" thing by your friendly (GRIN) monitor.
Second, if one was dropped . . . what is the mission? SPP sent them. SPP knows a lot about what the game allows and does not allow. This is "fiction", which means that some things outside of normal rules are possible, so what could SPP be up to? You can be sure that SPP would not go massive out of bounds (having the team, if it is there, singlehandedly wipe out Colonel Baluda's entire command, for example, or destroy the stockpile of drones and fighter pods at one of the ground fighter bases). So, with all the data that has been provided in various publications about PDUs, and colony planets, and things of that nature . . . what would SPP have as the Commando Team's Goal (if there is a Commando Team).
We actually have several ideas floating around.
#1 Planet side security...or 'What to do about the Klingons?' (if any...) Need a decision on how the 429th is going to handle it.
#2 ROE adjustment to the Def Sat...leave it in Col Knights hands, or change over to automated ROE with Col Knight able to override.
#3 Establish a permanent (rotating) CAP of F16M's or not...
for #1 above, there are some lessor considerations such as deploy the manuver company and keep it in the field indefinitely looking for Klingons who may not be there...
Again for #1 above, deploy the National Guard PDB under Col Baluda reinforced by 6 Admin Shuttles operatining in all 6 hex sides of the planet...
Again for #1 if the manuver units are deployed indefinitely, are they on watch and watch? rotation? do the PDB and the 429th cooperate, integrate or work independently?
We never organized a counter intelligence unit (although it was discussed months ago)...We have literally no data to work with vis a vis the Klingons presence on the planet, and if here, what their intentions are.
If nothing else, we could send the Admin shuttles and the fighters out to scan the planet hex sides on random patrols in the hopes that they "stumble" over the commandos (assuming they are there!)....or revert back to normal watch status and wait for some evidence of enemy activity.
On the question of integration between the 429th and the HDB (home defense battalion).
If the decision is made to keep the units separate and distinct, They should at least have an office and a mail box somewhere....which in turn would be a good place for the new GMG for the HDB...might take months to build or assemble it, but we can start with a tent and a coffee maker and the proverbial "in basket" for the Company clerk.
Col. Knight:
My analysis of our defenses suggests that, assuming a Klingon unit has been placed on the planet, it will endeavor to do strategic rather than tactical damage to the defense of the planet.
There are few targets that could accomplish this, but there are two that are readily apparent:
1) the destruction of a shuttle bay while the fighters are loading would be devastating (a hit & run raid on a box could cause a chain reaction, and while this requires a transporter it could be done if the base is penetrated in another manner). I suggest that the shuttle bays be guarded immediately in the event of an attack. Based on the current operational tempo and loading of the fighter ready racks, an attack NOW would be equally effective; and
2) the destruction of the DefSat control facility, which is not necessarily co-located at a GMG but rather at an isolated, non-GCL location (at least according to the SFB rules). This facility should be guarded, and its layout and location should be reinforced with some of my vehicles (if possible).
Other targets, including an assasination, would have little large-scale impact on a potential attack.
As Colonel Baluda discusses his fear of a commando attack on the fighter bases possibly setting off a chain reaction among the fighters . . . he notices that the "regulars" are very polite to him.
In short, read (R1.28A), specifically the line that says ". . . the "bay" . . . is immune to chain reactions".
Sorry.
Now, a few other notes.
If you keep the fighters flying, even on a rotation, constantly for a long time (you have no idea when the Klingons will come), you WILL suffer negative consequences when the attack comes. If it was possible to keep two fighters in the air(space) constantly, then there would be no such thing as WS-0. And understand that WS-0 is itself an alert level.
The more you keep the fighters operating, the more spares you run through, the more downtime they accumulate a need for. This pretty much applies to the shuttles as well, although not as badly (not as "high performance" as the fighters). At some point you are going to need to drop back to WS-0, and some elements are going to have to drop back (quite literally) to (D18.0), i.e., become combat ineffective while pulling a maintenance routine.
Now, everyone here gets to "play their character", and recommend to Colonel Knight what they think should be done, but if Colonel Knight does not say in essence "yes, do that", it does not happen. If Colonel Knight is asked "should the DefSats be reloaded" and does not allocate the resources for that to happen, the DefSats are not reloaded no matter how many times Tenhoff says he wants to do it.
If the troops are kept pounding the boonies looking for Klingon agents to the exclusion of all else, they may find themselves fighting under the "poor crew" rules when the attack comes (exhaustion).
Colonel Baluda is in essence subordinate to Knight in that while he can say what he thinks should be done with the troops of his battalion, Knight is the one who deploys the assets. Colonel Baluda (or indeed anyone else) might convince him to change the location of some of those assets, but Knight is the one on whose neck all things hang.
A lot of what I am going to be doing here and there is to "stir the pot". Cause things to happen, but if the responses are incorrect, there will be heck to pay when "der tag" comes.
Some people might want to take note of (P2.713). Drones fired from this range will have phaser priority.
Reminder: We have two Casual Shuttle Bases. Caps will opperate from there as both a security mesure and to drill the crews on operations from there. There is 12 "boxes" on each base. Each Cap mission will opperate from a different box each time. If an attack comes it will take considerable effort to hit the two ready racks out of twelve. If they are attacked from the ground it will bare little fruit as it is away from the main bases. We will drill on encomasing those areas and taking out any attacker present. That mission will be call Operation Sling.
I'm still working on some stuff for this. Basically game time is stopped after about 1 week of GT or until further notice from me or SPP.
Mark Baluda, I don't have my SSDs out and don't recall if we have six admins. I would be willing to lend three so that you can rotate between flight missions and ground missions daily.
"immune to chain reactions...."
Good! My Fed technical manual must have been out of date - then again, perhaps I used it to start a small cooking fire.
"three admins...."
Good.
Loren, according to SPP you will need to order that things happen, even if it is just a "make it so" comment after posts.
Col. Baluda, what sort of schedule do you think is advisable. After some time it would be smart to scale down searches eventually to just "Keeping an Eye out". We cannot afford to tie up resources for too long.
I don't want my men pushing it beyond a week.
SPP:
Roughly how large of an area needs to be searched? I reviewed the descriptions of how a commando team would be inserted, but I'm still a little fuzzy on this point. Knowing this might help to determine our chances of finding something and if it is worth keeping personnel in the field for more than a few days.
Raymond Ford:
How much land mass does the planet have?
Computer, what is the current number of replacement Defense Satellites stored in Starfleet Warehouses and of what configuration?
(Reasoning, if Defense Sats do wear out or get blown up from a raid, we might have a spare or two, and they might be photon or phaser instead of Drone, variety is the spice of life. If the Klingons get a report of "They have 3 Drone Sats", come back and then their is 2 with one Photon Sat we could have a little suprise of our own. Just a thought.)
Raymond Ford:
To try to be perhaps a tad more helpful.
The G1G successfully completed in game terms an orbit (although, of course, it did not actually do an orbital insertion because it was moving too fast) around 5/6ths of the planet. Given orbital dynamics, that last sixth is covered by late release as the PF began to leave 'orbit'. The upshot is that the entire surface area of the planet is accessible.
Now, it is unlikely that a Klingon Team landed by HALO directly into the middle of a town or other occupied region, at least in daylight hours. But it IS possible that they landed in such a small hamlet in the dark of night. Their landing equipment is "steerable" (more so than modern HALO parachutes), and they are going to be equipped with highly advanced NVGs (Night Vision Gear), probably with very advanced computer assisted thermal imaging. So it is entirely possible on a colony world rebuilding from Klingon occupation that a Klingon HALO team could land unobserved in the middle of a town on the dark (night) side of the planet. Your average citizen, or even Federation Marine out on a Pass is simply not going to be equipped to spot them when they arrive.
The Klingons KNOW where the population centers on this planet are. And I tried very hard to imply (without stating so directly prior to this point) that the pass was made after midnight over the most populated region (Colonel Knight being jerked out of bed after attending a party at the planetary Governor's mansion was one clue).
But that does not mean that the Klingons (if there are any) came down in that region. Simply that it is possible. In less populated areas they could come down in full daylight and be "unobserved". Advanced camoflage and other things requiring someone to be standing within a few miles and looking directly at them. Highly unlikely in the wilderness areas.
The thousands of decoys which were dropped (making planets think they may be the object of Klingon intentions makes the governors scream for the fleet, and thus has an effect in dispersing Starfleet's assets, making it harder for Starfleet to mount offensive operations against the Empire, and creating weakpoints on the Federation fighting front that Klingon forces can exploit) make finding them even harder as there are simply too many possible landing sites to be quickly investigated. And Colonel Knight by definition has to search the ones that are deemed the most threatening. This is even though he knows the Klingons know he will have to check them first, and therefore can guess that the Klingons will not drop there and so he can ignore them, because the Klingons may figure he will ignore them and land there, so he cannot ignore them (confusing, but read it carefully).
So, the upshot is that the Klingons may have landed a team ANYWHERE on the planet (including landing up to a couple of miles away from shore and then swimming in). With the advanced technologies available to them they can have landed in terrain impossible to use for current (21st Century) HALO jumpers.
Virtually the entire planet is a possibility.
The only things you can be absolutely certain of is that they did not land directly on any of the bases of the battalion. But it IS possible that they landed on the grounds of the Governor's mansion (for example, I am not saying that they did, or even that anyone was landed at all).
And remember (well, maybe you did not read the article or the earlier message), the decoys self-destruct leaving no indication of precisely where they were. So every time Colonel Knight sends a team to investigate one of the thousands of possible sites, they spend an inordinate amount of time simply looking for the trace of a destroyed decoy that is designed to fade into the background. And since some of them did come down in (or over) water . . .
To have any chance of tracking down a team (if one was dropped) Colonel Knight would have to be VERY LUCKY (just happen to send a team to the right site almost immediately when there are only about 25 boarding parties available (the GMG would need to hold two guard itself, all the other bases need their own security, leaving ten regular BPs and the 15 BPs Colonel Baluda's battalion could provide) to make the searchs, each of which will take hours to perform (scanning carefully looking for signs of actual people or the decoy trace).
And finding a decoy trace does not mean you get to stop looking as the decoy trace may have been left by an actual team in an effort to throw off the search.