[Colonol Dekker]

That's why wing commander 3 worked so well. It focused on a task force and allowed you to bond with it.
 
I suspect that BP appealled to me for the same reason.
 
 
So. . . . . . . WiH has you start on a Karuna I imagine?

[General Battuta]

Not telling!

[Colonol Dekker]

Ahah!
 
I read between your words and deduce my own conclusions which will forever remain my own secret.
 
 
 
 
Anyway. Titan VS Raynor.
 
 
Who wins?

[Insomniac34]

Ahah!
 
I read between your words and deduce my own conclusions which will forever remain my own secret.
 
 
 
 
Anyway. Titan VS Raynor.
 
 
Who wins?

Just tested it, the Raynor almost every time. The Titan has rediculous forward firepower which severely damages the Raynor, but once the battle goes broadside, its not even close. The Raynor's Eos launchers neuter the Titan's beams and its broadside MBlues and Bslashes tear into her.

The only situation where the Titan wins is if both ships engage eachother pointing face forward from a long distance. In this case the Titan's immense forward array has enough time to garner a second shot, which ends the Raynor's life.

[-Norbert-]

Destroyers should not be casually spent. Losing one should be a major blow. (To this end, all our destroyers are heavily escorted and make use of jamming, smart subspace jumps, and fighter deployment to safeguard themselves.)

And that is how I like it. I still remember what shock it when I played FS1 for the first time and the Galatea was destroyed. I was just sitting in front of my screen well after the Lucifer jumped out dumbstruck, hardly beliefing my eyes. And it's still an emotional part when replaying it, unlike the destruction of the Psamtik or Colossus. At least the Psamtik death scene had the shock moment of a secend Sathanas appearing, but the Colossus... nothing. Especially that stupid: We will buy the Bastion all the time we can... which is about 10 seconds. As if the shivans couldn't just send another one of their 80 Juggernought after the Bastion if they really wanted to bring her down.

[NGTM-1R]

That is nothing. Strange that the number is so small. All the other campaigns that include re-establishing contact with Sol make it so Sol has much more than that. This also means that the largest ship class they have is destroyer class, right?

Destroyers are power-projection assets. In Sol, there is no call to project power, to move large groups of fightercraft and their attached logistics and technical support to distant systems. Fighter support can be centrally located in planetary or orbital bases, easing supply and defensive problems, yet still able to reach all possible deployment areas. A third of the traditional role of the destroyer, that of roving fighter base, is useless when confined to one system. Even the inclusion of small fighter groups aboard the Karunas is an expression of the desirabilty of organic escort, not because the UEF has any need to move fighters.

I would honestly expect a UED to serve either a battle direction or shock assault role exclusively, as there's very little reason for one to have the sort of fightercraft wing to offer serious power projection.

[Colonol Dekker]

I know there are only three, but is there a UED class name? Solaris has been mentioned once or twice.

[The E]

They are indeed classified as Solaris-class vessels.

[Colonol Dekker]

There being a UED Solaris, first of its class?

[The E]

While we are not generally following the "lead ship" rule (There is no GTD Titan or GTD Raynor, for example), in this case, we have.

[General Battuta]

That is nothing. Strange that the number is so small. All the other campaigns that include re-establishing contact with Sol make it so Sol has much more than that. This also means that the largest ship class they have is destroyer class, right?

Destroyers are power-projection assets. In Sol, there is no call to project power, to move large groups of fightercraft and their attached logistics and technical support to distant systems. Fighter support can be centrally located in planetary or orbital bases, easing supply and defensive problems, yet still able to reach all possible deployment areas. A third of the traditional role of the destroyer, that of roving fighter base, is useless when confined to one system. Even the inclusion of small fighter groups aboard the Karunas is an expression of the desirabilty of organic escort, not because the UEF has any need to move fighters.

I would honestly expect a UED to serve either a battle direction or shock assault role exclusively, as there's very little reason for one to have the sort of fightercraft wing to offer serious power projection.

Pretty much exactly correct. The Solaris destroyers are fairly formidable shock assault platforms (though they spend most of their time as deterrents). However, it's worth pointing out that UEF fighters are high-intensity and low-endurance, so they need to RTB fairly often. Solarises are equipped to handle lots of rapid flight ops in order to keep sorties running quickly.

[High Max]

;-)

[General Battuta]

We have a pretty extensive history of what happened in Sol after it was cut off, and it was not by and large an environment that would have favored a massive military buildup.

[headdie]

I'm guessing system wide government struggled to adapt to suddenly being cut off from the wider GTA meaning shortages of materials rare in the sol system, civil unrest with the occasional civil war???

[Insomniac34]

Yeah I don't see how the UEF can really hope for long-term victory. Unless the Shivans return somewhere else in GTVA space, I don't see how they can possibly win. Strength in numbers is nice and dandy, but superior weaponry too? Hmm.

[High Max]

;-)

[-Norbert-]

There are two possibilities for the UEF to win I guess. The GTVA is on the brink of economic collapse. If the UEF can draw the war out long enough, the GTVA might become unable to sustain the offensive.

Secend possibility is, that the GTVA civies learn of the war and all the unhappyness that was close to getting the GTVA government thrown down (which was only barely prevented by focussing the people on returning to Sol, if I interprete the proses correctly) will erupt back in full froce and cause the ones who initiated the attack to be driven form office and replaced with people who then sign a peace treaty with Sol.

Or maybe the will really lose the war...

There is also a very big possibility that Darius will do something I really don't expect  

But however it will continue, I'm really looking forward to it.

[High Max]

;-)

[The E]

Not to mention that the GTVA is probably much more skilled and had more fighting experience with Shivans.

Already mentioned earlier. GTVA Pilots are more skilled than UEF pilots, but the last engagement against Shivans was 18 years ago. Only very few pilots who were active back then are still on the front lines during WiH, they mostly are filling command slots or run training cadres.

However, fighting Shivans and fighting Humans are two very different things, both morally and in terms of challenge. The tactics employed differ somewhat.

Secend possibility is, that the GTVA civies learn of the war and all the unhappyness that was close to getting the GTVA government thrown down (which was only barely prevented by focussing the people on returning to Sol, if I interprete the proses correctly) will erupt back in full froce and cause the ones who initiated the attack to be driven form office and replaced with people who then sign a peace treaty with Sol.

Nope. The GTVA public is at the wrong end of a very capable propaganda machine. While most of them probably don't like the idea of having to fight a war, their government has put forth some rather convincing evidence that this war is necessary for the survival of the GTVA.
Never forget that there are literally no free communication channels from Earth to the rest of the GTVA. EVERYTHING coming through the Delta Serpentis Node is scrutinized and filtered to a degree that countries here on Earth can only dream of.

[General Battuta]

There are two possibilities for the UEF to win I guess. The GTVA is on the brink of economic collapse. If the UEF can draw the war out long enough, the GTVA might become unable to sustain the offensive.

Secend possibility is, that the GTVA civies learn of the war and all the unhappyness that was close to getting the GTVA government thrown down (which was only barely prevented by focussing the people on returning to Sol, if I interprete the proses correctly) will erupt back in full froce and cause the ones who initiated the attack to be driven form office and replaced with people who then sign a peace treaty with Sol.

Or maybe the will really lose the war...

There is also a very big possibility that Darius will do something I really don't expect  

But however it will continue, I'm really looking forward to it.

This is a good analysis. I'm not saying that either of these scenarios is remotely correct, but, yes they are to varying degrees possible.  

And yes, The_E's caveats hold true, although I want to point out that the GTVA is in general just better at war - not because of philosophical differences, but because of institutional ones.