History differences
- Thread starter Murph
- Start date
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Do you mean changes to the 2000-2300 history, or what happens during 2300 and 2320?
2320AD Lite should be available soon, and it does cover quite a bit of this ground.
Basically, however:
Kafer War ended in a stalemate, with Humans occupying (loosely) Gamma Serpentis. Occupation made possible by Pentapod-produced bioweapon that was deployed in secret. Memetic engineering on Earth convinced populace to not exterminate the Kafers.
Casualties exteremly heavy down French Arm
Five new colony worlds
Beta Aquilae cluster found to be home of vanished alien race, only disappeared just over 300 years ago.
Pentapods have sealed off their region of space.
Increased Pentapod contact
Fourth Rio Plata War
Mexican Civil War
Second Central Asian War
Independence of Freihafen, Adlerhorst, Heidelsheimat, Neubayern
Increased exploration to find new resources left depleted by the war.
Colin
2320AD Writer and Line Editor
Basically, however:
Kafer War ended in a stalemate, with Humans occupying (loosely) Gamma Serpentis. Occupation made possible by Pentapod-produced bioweapon that was deployed in secret. Memetic engineering on Earth convinced populace to not exterminate the Kafers.
Casualties exteremly heavy down French Arm
Five new colony worlds
Beta Aquilae cluster found to be home of vanished alien race, only disappeared just over 300 years ago.
Pentapods have sealed off their region of space.
Increased Pentapod contact
Fourth Rio Plata War
Mexican Civil War
Second Central Asian War
Independence of Freihafen, Adlerhorst, Heidelsheimat, Neubayern
Increased exploration to find new resources left depleted by the war.
Colin
2320AD Writer and Line Editor
It's really more of a teaser. It's in layout right now, and it looks pretty good. I just have to finish up the data for the various arms.
2320AD Lite includes: Introduction, Background (abridged), Character Generations (abridged, includes Colonist Core class, does not include Quick Character Generation), some weapons, some equipment, 2 ships, a couple of vehicles, info on Aurore, some detail on all the alien races, more on Kafers, and some other stuff...
Stay tuned.
Colin Dunn
2320AD guy
2320AD Lite includes: Introduction, Background (abridged), Character Generations (abridged, includes Colonist Core class, does not include Quick Character Generation), some weapons, some equipment, 2 ships, a couple of vehicles, info on Aurore, some detail on all the alien races, more on Kafers, and some other stuff...
Stay tuned.
Colin Dunn
2320AD guy
Well then...guess it's time to wrap up all my current adventures and get the players ready to dust off their old PCs from 2300 AD. I had a blast with 2300...lookin' forward to the new stompin' grounds. Colin, you may have mentioned it before, but will there be anything for converting PCs from GDW's system to T20 system? Not that I really need that...just thought I'd ask.
Let's see...what shall I inflict on my players? Ah...how about the PCs are hired to serve as as part of a humanitarian relief effort to Gamma Serpentis....(fade to evil chortling).
Let's see...what shall I inflict on my players? Ah...how about the PCs are hired to serve as as part of a humanitarian relief effort to Gamma Serpentis....(fade to evil chortling).
The Kafer civil war is one of the reasons for the current stalemate, though it is the death of the Over-Suzerain that causes it, rather than Triumphant Destiny. It's in the book somewhere. Hmm... From the section on Kafers:
There is very little known of the worlds beyond Gamma Serpentis. The Human fleets stopped at the Kafer homeworld as much out of exhaustion as the completion of their strategic goal. From reports filtering out from Ylii space, the remaining Kafer Suzerains are embroiled in some sort of war, though the war appears to be largely contained to starship battles and occasional surface sorties. The aging Suzerains from the time of the war are battling to stay in power, and to increase the size of their holdings.
There is a reference somewhere else to the effect that the internal struggles are dying down, as the remaining Kafers fall into line behind one leader. That possibility of the Kafer Wars resuming thus grows...
There is very little known of the worlds beyond Gamma Serpentis. The Human fleets stopped at the Kafer homeworld as much out of exhaustion as the completion of their strategic goal. From reports filtering out from Ylii space, the remaining Kafer Suzerains are embroiled in some sort of war, though the war appears to be largely contained to starship battles and occasional surface sorties. The aging Suzerains from the time of the war are battling to stay in power, and to increase the size of their holdings.
There is a reference somewhere else to the effect that the internal struggles are dying down, as the remaining Kafers fall into line behind one leader. That possibility of the Kafer Wars resuming thus grows...
If thier Ylii slave techs figure out a stutterwarp tug, you could see them coming in along the American Arm, by the same route the AAVF gets to the Ylii worlds. Of course, that would mean they would have to take the Ylii worlds first. Which fits their plans quite nicely.
With tugs, they could bypass the fortifications at Gamma Serpentis entirely.
With tugs, they could bypass the fortifications at Gamma Serpentis entirely.
epicenter00
SOC-13
Colin,
I'm curious if the Kafers are going to have faster ships or missiles. Or are you ditching 2300's ship combat system? If not, the Kafers just going to show up to the American Arm for the biggest turkey shoot in 2320 under the missiles of the fastest navy around - not very dramatic.
The Kafers would have never gotten as far as they did in their initial Invasion if the Americans were heavily involved. Speed wins in Star Cruiser and Kafer ships are probably the second best examples of how to make utterly ineffective ships that look impressive (after the French - what were they thinking with those battleships). A combination between a lack of Fire Directors, slow speed, and (worst of all) slow missiles made them a laughable foe in 2300 if you were fighting with "real" ships like Suffren or Kennedy class cruisers.
Speed is advantageous, but not dominating.
A Kennedy (and Suffrens, Nelsons etc., even the Richelieu) can outpace Kafer missiles, but eventually they'd have to break contact.
Generally most combat eventually comes to broadsides, missiles just don't have the punch to do the entire job. Space combat seems to be trying to get the best odds during the close contact.
A Kennedy (and Suffrens, Nelsons etc., even the Richelieu) can outpace Kafer missiles, but eventually they'd have to break contact.
Generally most combat eventually comes to broadsides, missiles just don't have the punch to do the entire job. Space combat seems to be trying to get the best odds during the close contact.
epicenter00
SOC-13
BMonnery - I seem to be arguing with you like I'm some disagreeable git, but it's not my intention to seem so contrary to everything you post, so my apologies if I come across that way.
In my experience with 2300 space, the advantage of the speed (like the Kennedy-class) was entirely everything. Fast ships carrying detonation missiles are pretty much death on a stick. SIM-14s (Hyde One-Shots) are not Ritage-1s. Firing 10x2 detonation lasers, five at a time pretty much puts a damper in anyone's day, and there 15 more where that came from! With their lack of fire directors and abyssmal Crew Quality, the Kafers aren't going to shoot down many. With their lack of remote stations, Kafer ships can't really use 'surround' tactics on cruisers either, trust me I tried for a very long time to make the Kafers a viable threat in space battles. Kafers simply are not a threat in "Star Cruiser" unless you're slower than Kafer missiles.
Granted, Alpha BBs (and to the lesser extent Delta BBs and Beta BCs) can shrug off many of the hits due to high armor value, ships like Episilons are simply kill marks waiting to be painted on the hull. Cruiser task forces do usually have to break contact, in my experience it's because they ran out of missiles before the Kafers ran out of ships, and it's unlikely in the extreme that any of the cruisers get hit by anything the Kafers might try and do. So certainly, the Kafers might have invaded a number of colony worlds when the cruisers ran out of missiles. It's almost like Mongols fighting Knights Templar, the cruisers will be back when they get more missiles.
What the cruisers do in damage before they leave is sufficient to cripple any of the Kafer Task Forces described in the Invasion supplement. A return engagement after the cruisers get restocked with more SIM-14s (or Ritage-2s) would be enough to finish most Kafer fleets off entirely, considering Kafers seem to also have this issue with not repairing vessels.
EDIT: A few errors.
In my experience with 2300 space, the advantage of the speed (like the Kennedy-class) was entirely everything. Fast ships carrying detonation missiles are pretty much death on a stick. SIM-14s (Hyde One-Shots) are not Ritage-1s. Firing 10x2 detonation lasers, five at a time pretty much puts a damper in anyone's day, and there 15 more where that came from! With their lack of fire directors and abyssmal Crew Quality, the Kafers aren't going to shoot down many. With their lack of remote stations, Kafer ships can't really use 'surround' tactics on cruisers either, trust me I tried for a very long time to make the Kafers a viable threat in space battles. Kafers simply are not a threat in "Star Cruiser" unless you're slower than Kafer missiles.
Granted, Alpha BBs (and to the lesser extent Delta BBs and Beta BCs) can shrug off many of the hits due to high armor value, ships like Episilons are simply kill marks waiting to be painted on the hull. Cruiser task forces do usually have to break contact, in my experience it's because they ran out of missiles before the Kafers ran out of ships, and it's unlikely in the extreme that any of the cruisers get hit by anything the Kafers might try and do. So certainly, the Kafers might have invaded a number of colony worlds when the cruisers ran out of missiles. It's almost like Mongols fighting Knights Templar, the cruisers will be back when they get more missiles.
What the cruisers do in damage before they leave is sufficient to cripple any of the Kafer Task Forces described in the Invasion supplement. A return engagement after the cruisers get restocked with more SIM-14s (or Ritage-2s) would be enough to finish most Kafer fleets off entirely, considering Kafers seem to also have this issue with not repairing vessels.
EDIT: A few errors.
Depends if you enforce the sensor rules or not.
If you do, the Kennedy ends up retreating from a Kafer Battleship at 7 hexes a turn in order to stay away from her fighters. This will quickly result in broken contacts.
The Kennedys SIM-14 strikes suffer the -2 penalty from TBM if using their own sensor data (or -3 if the contact is broken and the missile is on AI, in both cases they miss the +2 TC bonus).
Of her complement of 20 missiles, 16 will simply miss in this situation, even against the lateral profile (of going in against the radial profile they will all miss).
The range is open and so the Kafers are likely smart and will on average shoot down 1/4 to 1/3 of the vampires, the screens will essentially stop 90% of the first missile in a salvoes damage (and none of the rest), and the armour will stop 80% of the remaining damage.
The upshot is, for 20 missiles expended, in 5 salvoes:
12 Missiles will be shot down
6 Missiles will miss
2 Missiles will hit, both in different salvoes
Of the 20 strikes, 18 are stopped by the screens, 1 is stopped by the armour and 1 either pierces or hits a surface feature.
If you push into 15 hexes or closer, and accept incoming Kafer missiles (bearing in mind the Kennedy can oppose them with upto 8 guns, hitting 40% of the time), you still loose the same 12 due to PD, but 4 instead of 2 will hit) you get a slightly better result.
The fact is, a lone Kennedy doesn't have the missile power to stop a Kafer.
If you do, the Kennedy ends up retreating from a Kafer Battleship at 7 hexes a turn in order to stay away from her fighters. This will quickly result in broken contacts.
The Kennedys SIM-14 strikes suffer the -2 penalty from TBM if using their own sensor data (or -3 if the contact is broken and the missile is on AI, in both cases they miss the +2 TC bonus).
Of her complement of 20 missiles, 16 will simply miss in this situation, even against the lateral profile (of going in against the radial profile they will all miss).
The range is open and so the Kafers are likely smart and will on average shoot down 1/4 to 1/3 of the vampires, the screens will essentially stop 90% of the first missile in a salvoes damage (and none of the rest), and the armour will stop 80% of the remaining damage.
The upshot is, for 20 missiles expended, in 5 salvoes:
12 Missiles will be shot down
6 Missiles will miss
2 Missiles will hit, both in different salvoes
Of the 20 strikes, 18 are stopped by the screens, 1 is stopped by the armour and 1 either pierces or hits a surface feature.
If you push into 15 hexes or closer, and accept incoming Kafer missiles (bearing in mind the Kennedy can oppose them with upto 8 guns, hitting 40% of the time), you still loose the same 12 due to PD, but 4 instead of 2 will hit) you get a slightly better result.
The fact is, a lone Kennedy doesn't have the missile power to stop a Kafer.
Kennedy-class ship names:
USS John F. Kennedy, USS Thomas Jefferson, USS Ronald Reagan (lost 2307), USS Jane Kostek, USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Colin Powell, USS Gordon Miller, USS George Washington, USS Jennifer Marlowe, USS Ernest White, USS Foxx Travis, USS Julia Pemberton (lost 2305), USS Calvin Morrison (lost 2309), USS John Bigthorn, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (lost 2305), USS Chakra Bindi, USS Alison Chandra
From Chapter 17, Starships, Spacecraft and Spacestations, 2320AD
USS John F. Kennedy, USS Thomas Jefferson, USS Ronald Reagan (lost 2307), USS Jane Kostek, USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Colin Powell, USS Gordon Miller, USS George Washington, USS Jennifer Marlowe, USS Ernest White, USS Foxx Travis, USS Julia Pemberton (lost 2305), USS Calvin Morrison (lost 2309), USS John Bigthorn, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (lost 2305), USS Chakra Bindi, USS Alison Chandra
From Chapter 17, Starships, Spacecraft and Spacestations, 2320AD
