RainOfSteel
SOC-14 1K
I've had some thoughts lately about what happens during invasions of strategically important star systems, ones which, for whatever reason, are considered "cannot be lost" locations. I would tend to believe that Capital would likely be first on the list, Depot systems would be next, and other worlds, ones of still high importance, like High Population worlds, would be next.
Most of these worlds will have been under Imperial control for some time, in some cases, for centuries. This provides for plenty of time to install massive layers of defenses.
But first among these, I would think, would be the meson gun. Giant meson guns buried beneath the crust of a planet or moon would be able to fire at orbiting invading vessels with relative impunity. By using gravity generators to prevent densitometer location, and keeping the fusion power plants located far away to prevent neutrino detection, these buried weapons would be quite difficult to locate, maybe even impossible.
Further, it is entirely reasonable to assume that a ground-based weapon system can be built much larger and more powerful than a starship based weapon system, these underground meson guns would, IMO, be much larger and possess much greater range than anything aboard an invading fleet at the same TL.
So, by way of example, in the MTU, the invading Vargr fleets enter Depot/Corridor (after the Corridor Fleets have departed to aid Lucan).
Somewhere between 1000 and 2000 buried giant meson cannons open fire on the invading fleet from well beyond their return-fire range (even should the Vargr somehow have a method of locating those buried meson cannons, the increased range of the oversized weapons prevent them from being fired upon during the initial engagement).
I sort of envision titanic fleet casualties being inflicted, so vast as to render the invading fleet impotent. Anything that did get into orbit would be chopped to bits, anything on the ground would get blown to pieces by, say, indirect strikes from several thousand buried meson gun bays, well capable of striking anywhere on the planet's surface to destroy ground troops.
Even if my idea of over-size increased-range meson cannons doesn't wash, and only type-T meson spinal mounts are considered, I still think that the invading fleet would have little chance of successfully targeting them, hidden as they were. In this case, as well as in the first above, I think an invading fleet would be savaged (and there would be more type-T spinal guns, say somewhere between 4000 and 8000, given that they'd be less expensive than my speculative oversized meson cannons). Even with far fewer guns, say only 500 to 1000, I think that in a few combat turns, an invading fleet would still see significant casualties, especially given the inability of that invading fleet to effect return fire.
Of course, the expense involved means only a few systems are built-up this way, as noted above.
Can anyone think of a way that an invading fleet could somehow survive such a barrage of meson fire? Meson Screens and Needle configurations alone will not help enough, I think. Or should I just pretend that no one would ever think of defending a planet in this manner?
Sincerely,
Chris O.
Most of these worlds will have been under Imperial control for some time, in some cases, for centuries. This provides for plenty of time to install massive layers of defenses.
But first among these, I would think, would be the meson gun. Giant meson guns buried beneath the crust of a planet or moon would be able to fire at orbiting invading vessels with relative impunity. By using gravity generators to prevent densitometer location, and keeping the fusion power plants located far away to prevent neutrino detection, these buried weapons would be quite difficult to locate, maybe even impossible.
Further, it is entirely reasonable to assume that a ground-based weapon system can be built much larger and more powerful than a starship based weapon system, these underground meson guns would, IMO, be much larger and possess much greater range than anything aboard an invading fleet at the same TL.
So, by way of example, in the MTU, the invading Vargr fleets enter Depot/Corridor (after the Corridor Fleets have departed to aid Lucan).
Somewhere between 1000 and 2000 buried giant meson cannons open fire on the invading fleet from well beyond their return-fire range (even should the Vargr somehow have a method of locating those buried meson cannons, the increased range of the oversized weapons prevent them from being fired upon during the initial engagement).
I sort of envision titanic fleet casualties being inflicted, so vast as to render the invading fleet impotent. Anything that did get into orbit would be chopped to bits, anything on the ground would get blown to pieces by, say, indirect strikes from several thousand buried meson gun bays, well capable of striking anywhere on the planet's surface to destroy ground troops.
Even if my idea of over-size increased-range meson cannons doesn't wash, and only type-T meson spinal mounts are considered, I still think that the invading fleet would have little chance of successfully targeting them, hidden as they were. In this case, as well as in the first above, I think an invading fleet would be savaged (and there would be more type-T spinal guns, say somewhere between 4000 and 8000, given that they'd be less expensive than my speculative oversized meson cannons). Even with far fewer guns, say only 500 to 1000, I think that in a few combat turns, an invading fleet would still see significant casualties, especially given the inability of that invading fleet to effect return fire.
Of course, the expense involved means only a few systems are built-up this way, as noted above.
Can anyone think of a way that an invading fleet could somehow survive such a barrage of meson fire? Meson Screens and Needle configurations alone will not help enough, I think. Or should I just pretend that no one would ever think of defending a planet in this manner?
Sincerely,
Chris O.
