[Buckshee Rounds]

Members of the project team have confirmed that both the GTD Temeraire and GTL Fortune were two of the ships in the battlegroup that defected post-mission.

wtf?

[MatthTheGeek]

Wherever that comes from, it's definitely wrong. Might date back from pre-AoA DC.

[The E]

Should be cleared up now.

[crizza]

It is, thank you

[Mars]

Oh geez, the buntu with a Titan class destroyer.

THAT would be interesting, if they actually used it.

[The E]

It would be, if they had one.

[Asteroth]

I could have sworn I saw the Temeraire jump out with the rest of the defectors at the end of AoA. I just assumed it was just being used in that mysterious project.

[Mars]

Nope, just the Sanctuary and Admiral Bay, and your wingmen, jump out on screen.

[LordPomposity]

So, speaking of Titans...

wtf was the Imperieuse doing during Aristeia? It's stated during the course of the mission that all major GTVA assets are tied down elsewhere--but we later find out that the Imperieuse was hiding in the Oort Cloud since the end of the blitz, and she would have had a couple weeks to be resupplied by the time the Agincourt reached the jump gate. Why not destroy the Indus and Yangtze and prevent the Agincourt from falling into UEF hands?

[MatthTheGeek]

Hiding something like the Imperieuse requires some tactical sacrifices. I'd expect a total or nearly total communication blackout. Maybe they just couldn't warn em.

[Luis Dias]

They were waiting for bigger fish to fry. Widen the net. Watch the rats being joyful while GTVA played with them. And when four Karunas showed their backside, nham nham nham.

[The E]

Exactly. Preventing the capture of the Agincourt would have been a good thing, but it would also mean that the Imp would have only scored 2 kills. The way Steele used the Imp was a deliberate gamble to not only bag an entire UEF task force, but also deliver a crushing blow to the already fragile fleet morale.

[MatthTheGeek]

Are 4 Karunas really more valuable than an Anemoi ? Let alone one Anemoi and 2 frigate kills in bonus. Or even the Big T, which was pretty vulnerable during that op. I don't think so.

[crizza]

The problem is, that the Imp could not kill the Big T on her own and that her beams would be most likely jammed.

[MatthTheGeek]

That's what the wargods thought in DE. Look how well that served em.

The tag trick that happened in DE would likely have happened in Aristeia prior to our hypothetical deployment of the Imperieuse.

Not to mention that the Imp is a battle carrier with full fighter/bomber complement. The Big T's bays were dry at that point.

[Mars]

Destroy to destroyer battles are probably something the GTVA wants to avoid if they can help it, better to risk 3 or 4 corvettes and a few squadrons than put yourself at equal risk to the enemy.

4 Karunas and a Sanctus is basically like losing two destroyers for the UEF, from what I understand, so yes, a very big deal.

[LordPomposity]

I think I recall the briefing for "The Plunder" as referring to an Anemoi as "more valuable than any destroyer". Hyperbole to boost morale, perhaps, but I doubt it was a complete fabrication on the part of the speaker. Denying one to the enemy while at the same time preserving it for yourself has to count for quite a lot.

Plus, by deploying the Imperieuse early in during the battle at the jump gate instead of setting the trap at Saturn, the GTVA could have avoided:

+Heavy damage to most of Serkr Team
+The destruction of the Medea (a Diomedes is serious business, right?)
+Moderate damage to the Hood

Plus:
+The capture of a Deimos and an Aeolus
+The destruction of or severe damage to four Deimoses
+Moderate damage to the Carthage
+The destruction of THE CARTHAGE'S ENTIRE AIR WING DOWN TO THE LAST FIGHTER. That's not the type of thing that does wonders for a ship's morale, no matter how much Fed ass gets kicked as a result.

And possibly most important of all:
+The need to play insanely dangerous games with the Vasudans to get the GTVA's warships resupplied.

All that for a net gain of two Karunas and two Sanctusesiiae's destroyed (assuming the Indus was mission-killed and will have to be scrapped, which I think is a pretty safe bet). Letting the Altan Orde and Katana off the hook for the moment doesn't really seem like such a bad idea.

Of course the trump card of this argument is that having the Imperieuse jump in and zomgwtfhaxbeamrape everything twenty seconds in to Aristeia would have made for a pretty awful campaign.

[Mars]

It just says "incredibly valuable" so I think its safe to say that a Raynor or Titan is probably more valuable.

[Luis Dias]

Yes but LordPomposity makes a good argument about that plot hole. Not sure if it was explained away with some excuse or not, but I agree it's not the most robust of war plots one could imagine.

Now, we must also understand that the Sekr team "had it covered", were it not for the UEF beamz trick. So it made sense for the defense team to be what it was, and when **** was hitting the fan, Steele did bring up a Raynor (I think don't remember all too well).

[Mars]

Remember that the forces present at the node were expected to hold. If the Imperiuse had been brought in, it may have destroyed the Karunas, but it would have been at risk from the Big T, and the element of surprise lost. At the point the Tev forces began to show signs of weakening, the best contingency for Steele was probably to wait.

A ship held back in reserve is always a bigger threat than a ship that is sortied.

As for the losses, the Tevs seem to have no particular difficulty repairing damaged ships. There's no information on how expensive Diomedes are, but corvettes in general seem to be glorified cruisers in the eyes of the GTVA.