Liberty, Equality, Fraternity - An Honorverse Quest

[molemole]

Galaxy map up today, and I'll leave voting open for another twelve hours or so. Mechanics up in a bit.
Edit: Map, courtesy of Wikimedia:

Spoiler: Map

Setting Information:
This is based on the Honor Harrington series of space opera novels by David Weber. I'll try to write it as generically as possible, but please vote above and let me know if I should put together some background on starships and setting.

State of Haven:
The People's Republic of Haven is at present disorganized and chaotic. While Operation Icarus – planned and led by Esther McQueen – has pushed back the Royal Manticoran Navy, the coup d'etat will have left many frontier systems in chaos. A counteroffensive from the RMN and their allies is in the works, and you'd best try to buy time.
From the sector list, each major sector will have assets to protect and revenues listed – such as the naval base in the Barnett System. New contruction will be added to the list. Major sectors under threat are Barnett, Casca, and Lovat. Major sectors lost are Sun-Yat, Elric, and Lowell. Minor sectors yet to be listed.

The Navy is demoralized, and while we've managed to gain intel on the enemy's new carrier designs and new light atack craft (LACs) it's tricky to implement and guard against. Furthermore, Haven is falling further behind in terms of miniaturization, gravitics, drive systems, lasers and so on. The advantage is in numbers. We enjoy parity in numbers for superdreadnoughts (Sds), a 1.5 to 1 ratio for dreadnoughts (DNs), and have over fifty battleships while they have none.

A Note on Ships:
These are broadly divided into deep-space and system-defense types. Deep-space ships are classed as Destroyers (DD), Light Cruisers (CL), Heavy Cruisers (CA), Battlecruisers (BC), Battleships (BB), Dreadnoughts (DN), and Superdreadnoughts (SD) in order of size/displacement. Carriers are a bit of an oddball that are either built on cruiser or dreadnought hulls.

System-defense ships are Light Attack Craft (also aboard carriers), Patrol Cutters, Frigates, and Monitors. All but monitors are easily mission-killed by a modern heavy cruiser, and it can take a dreadnought to properly nail a well-built monitor.

Canon Divergence:
The main PoD is Solarian Military Intelligence and Frontier Security paying proper attention to the conflict, and actively infiltrating Manticore. Haven does the same, and it takes a bit longer to deploy and entirely new weapons system. Realistically, it took more than a decade for navies in the 1930s to formulate a coherent carrier doctrine – Manticore is at base a single-system power, and should be in the same boat.

Haven in consequence can keep up on the battlefield through numbers, and Solarian Intelligence and the transstellar corporations selling them tech and intel. This serves Frontier Security by keeping two militarily powerful states away from the Solarian League's borders. The transstellars meanwhile gain more and more market penetration in the formerly closed PRH.

 

[molemole]

Mechanics:

This'll run on a modified CK2 pattern. Actions each turn with the usual Martial, Diplomacy, Intrigue, Learning, Personal, Stewardship actions. Martial for characters will influence the Naval Command and Ground Command stats, which provide the bonuses to command rolls. Personal combat is damn near irrelevant given the setting, and I'll handle it narratively. All the speed in the world can't outrun pulser rounds. Each turn will be for three months in-universe time.

Shipbuilding is a free action. It will cost you cash to initiate and take time to complete but will not consume a Martial action. For example, I can set aside 2000M credits to build 36 destroyers. These will take six months to complete. I'll upload a system list, and you'll have a certain number of shipyard slips to build in – based off the system details – which will influence how many capital ships you can lay down per turn.

Further, each operation will be roughly divided into three stages: Planning, Preparation, and Execution. Planning will benefit from your advisor or your backgrounds, and will influence the rolls later. Preparation is essentially gathering ships, intelligence and so on. Execution can be off-screen or you can guide whoever you've put in charge in a miniturn.

Ship design will be implemented once you can get the right facilities working. Each ship class will be on an out-of-five scale with respect to the mainline enemy combatant in four areas – Speed, Maneuverability, Firepower, and Durability. For example, if I have a Mars-class heavy cruiser, I'll compare it to an RMN Star Knight-class CA. It'll have a 3/5 in Manuever, a 4/5 in Speed, a 4/5 in Firepower and 3/5 or 2.5/5 Durability due to better RMN point defense. 3/5 is average, 4/5 somewhat superior and 5/5 a whole new technical paradigm. 1/5 is dismal, 2/5 is barely passable. Each will award debuffs to combat rolls.

 

[molemole]

Character Sheet: Esther McQueen

Spoiler: Esther McQueen

Martial: 15
Stewardship: 14
Intrigue: 13
Diplomacy: 9
Learning: 14

Traits:
Brilliant Strategist: You're a remarkably talented commander, and unquestionable a natural when it comes to large-scale warfare. Very few in your country can match your potential – but can you live up to it? +5 to Martial, +10 to all planning, preparation and execution rolls.
Veteran Sailor: You've served in the Navy for decades, from a junior ensign to fleet command. You've fought as a attack craft pilot, as a cruiser captain and as a fleet admiral. You can safely say that you know naval combat. Add 3/4 of Martial to naval command. + 10 to naval related social checks.
Cluster Bomb Admiral:You slaughtered the mobs comprising the Leveler Uprising with orbital strikes, aerial bombardment and – famously – cluster bombs. Suffice to say, the Havenite populace remember. +10 to all Leveler and Radical social/diplo checks' difficulty, malus to reputation with extremist Jacobins.
Ambitious: You may not have been destined for greatness, but you damn well tried to make sure you made it there. +2 to all stats. Opens up certain social options, and closes others.
Charismatic: You've convinced members of the military to risk their lives in a coup d'etat against a tyrannical government. You can safely say you're fairly convincing. +4 to Diplomacy, bonus in certain situations.
Generalissimo: You led a coup against a nominally democratic government. As far as the rest of the galaxy goes, you have some explaining to do, young lady. Potential malus to Solarian League, Silesian, and other relations if left untended. Lack of government legitimacy.

Command Traits:
Strategy: Operational Maneuver: You made your name in the People's Navy by using numerical superiority to break the enemy's defences at weak points located by a series of probing raids. The end result was your masterpiece - Operation Icarus. A series of devastating 'probing raids' that identified the weakly defended systems, then called in Javier Giscard's Twelfth Fleet to pound them till the rubble bounced. Bonus to planning, preparation and execution rolls for operations involving multiple fleets on a wide front. Bonus to command rolls for joint operations by multiple fleets.
Focus: R&D - Your finest hour was the poaching of Shannon Foraker from Tourville's command. She proved her worth in coming up with a skeleton for Havenite point defence doctrine, you've put her in charge of Fleet R&D. Gain chance to recruit technical advisor Shannon Foraker. Bolthole project and Fleet R&D ahead of schedule.

 

[molemole]

Required for later:
Buildings -

Orbital Infrastructure: Provides income, and is required to build other structures, like shipyards.
Shipyards: Add to the maximum number of capital ships you can construct simultaneously – i.e. of battleship displacement and up.
Civilian Shipyards: Add income and required for certain Stewardship actions.
Orbital Defense Grid: Energy weapons and missile tubes on asteroids or moons. Of utility during enemy assault.
Missile Defense Grid: Missile pods, targeting systems and point defense. Useful at long range in an enemy assault.
Fortress station: Heavily armed station, with massive energy and missile armament. Has shielding, but is ultimately vulnerable due to its immobility – missiles can be sent in on ballistic. Still very difficult to crack.
Orbital Settlements: Cities or communities on stations in orbit. Usually O'Neill cylinders. Adds income.
Helium Refineries: Requires a settled gas giant. Provides massive amounts of fusion fuel and income.
Luxury Exports: This planet has a massive luxury goods sector, be it tourism or clothes, that is unique in the settled galaxy. It is also a massive part of the planet's income, with dedicated stations to handle it. Adds income.
Orbital Processing Plants: Asteroid refineries in orbit over developing worlds that cannot develop deep-space infrastructure yet. Adds income.
Minefields: Command or proximity detonated nukes. Massive damage to ships that are close, with radiation additionally blinding enemy sensors. Very slow movement, hence positioning is key..
Naval Base: Indicates the number of ships that can be based without supply issues. Major bases can handle a full fleet (~40-50 capital ships), minor ones a couple of battle squadrons (~24 ships), and massive ones damn near any amount.

System Information: People's Republic of Haven-

Major Systems:

Barnett:
Colonized Worlds: Enki (Urban World, +5000 Income)
Buildings:
Major Naval Base
Major Shipyard (+4 capital ship build slots)
Major orbital infrastructure (+1000 Income)
Major Civilian Shipyard (+1000 Income)
Missile Defense Net III
Orbital Defense Grid II

Cerberus:
Colonized Worlds: Hades (Prison World, Depopulated, -250 Income)
Buildings:
Missile Defense Net III (Depleted)
Orbital Defense Grid IV (Heavily Damaged)
Minefields III (Depleted)


Chantilly:
Colonized Worlds: Vespasien (Urban World, +5000 Income)
Buildings:
Minor Naval Base
Minor Shipyard (+2 Capital Ship build slots)
Major Orbital Infrastructure (+1000 Income)
Luxury Exports (+1500 Income)
Missile Defense Net III
Orbital Defense Grid II

Clarke System
Colonized Worlds: Lois (Developing World, +1500 Income)
Buildings:
Orbital Processing Plants (+500 Income)
Orbital Defense Grid I


Danak System:
Colonized Worlds:
Danak Alpha(Dense Industrial World, +8000 Income)
Danak Beta (Industrial World, +4000 Income)
Buildings:
Major Orbital Infrastructure (+1000 Income)
Orbital Manufactora (+1000 Income)
Massive Shipyards (+8 Capital Ship build slots)
Major Naval Base
Massive Civilian Shipyards (+2000 Income)
Missile Defense Net III
Orbital Defense Grid III
Fortress Station DuQuesne
Minefields I


Haven System:
Colonized Worlds: Haven (Dense Urban World, +10000 Income)
Buildings:
Massive Orbital Infrastructure (+2000 Income)
Massive Shipyards (+8 Capital Ship build slots)
Massive Civilian Shipyards (+2000 Income)
Massive Naval Base
Large Orbital Settlements (, +1500 Income each)
Fortress Stations Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity
Missile Defense Net IV
Orbital Defense Grid IV

La Martine System:
Colonized Worlds: La Martine (Developed World, +3000 Income)
Buildings:
Minor Orbital Infrastructure (+500 Income)
Orbital Defense Grid I
Missile Defense Grid II
Major Naval Base

Lovat System:
Colonized Worlds:
Furnace (Mining World +1500 Income)
Forge (Urban World (+5000 Income)
Anvil (Industrial World (+4000 Income)
Buildings:
Major Orbital Infrastructure (+1000 Income)
Orbital Defense Grid III
Missile Defense Grid IV
Minor Naval Base
Minor Shipyards (+2 Capital Build Slots)
Major Civilian Shipyards (+1000 Income)

Seaford Nine System
No Colonized Worlds
Buildings:
Massive Naval Base
Missile Defense Grid IV
Minefields III
Orbital Defense Grid III

Solon System:
Colonized Worlds:
Arthur (Urban World +5000 Income)
Merlin (Orbital Settlements, Gas Giant +1000 Income)
Buildings:
Major Orbital Infrastructure (+1000 Income)
Orbital Defense Grid III
Missile Defense Grid III
Minor Naval Base
Minor Shipyards (+2 Capital Build Slots)
Minor Civilian Shipyards (+500 Income)
Massive Orbital Helium Refineries (+2500 Income) //From the gas giant's mining stations

Please note, Clarke and La Martine are up because of their status as sector capitals.

 

[molemole]

Still tied. More prep for Turn 1 below:

Have another big list. Since it's AU from Rollins' defeat onwards, I've rolled dice on a 1d100 for skill and boosted up canonical flag officers for fleets where there was no canonical officer. You've got mostly good rolls, a couple of nonentities included.

Fleet Commands:
These are your mobile forces – active fleets that are positioned across the Republic. The 'static' forces are your fortifications and sector defence flotillas. If you transfer ships from SDF to Fleet command, you'll need to give them time to work up to the needed standard.

Capital Fleet: CO: Admiral Amanda Graveson
Stationed in Haven System.
Superdreadnought Battle Squadrons x 5 (40 SDs)
Dreadnought Battle Squadrons x1 (8 DNs, StateSec)
Heavy Cruiser Squadrons x 2 (16 CAs)
Light Cruiser Squadrons x 5 (40 CLs)
Destroyer Flotillas x 8 (80 DDs)

First Fleet: CO: Admiral John 'BJ' Groenewold
Stationed in Seaford Nine, in order to hit Trevor's Star
Superdreadnought Battle Squadrons x 1 (8 SDs)
Dreadnought Battle Squadrons x1 (8 DNs)
Battlecruiser Squadrons x 2 (16 BCs)
Heavy Cruiser Squadrons x 1 (8 CAs)
Light Cruiser Squadrons x 3 (24 CLs)
Destroyer Flotillas x 4 (40 DDs)

Third Fleet: CO: Vice Admiral Jennifer Bellefeuille
Stationed in Secour System, to retake Maastricht
Superdreadnought Battle Squadrons x 1 (8 SDs)
Battleship Squadrons x 3 (24 BBs)
Heavy Cruiser Squadrons x 2 (16 CAs)
Light Cruiser Squadrons x 2 (16 CLs)
Destroyer Flotillas x 5 (50 DDs)

Fifth Fleet: CO: Vice Admiral Genevieve Chin
Stationed in La Martine System, as a mobile reserve
Superdreadnought Battle Squadrons x 1 (8 SDs)
Heavy Cruiser Squadrons x 3 (24 CAs)
Light Cruiser Squadrons x 2 (16 CLs)
Destroyer Flotillas x 5 (50 DDs)

Twelfth Fleet: CO: Admiral Javier Giscard
Stationed in Lovat System, preparatory to hitting Thetis
Superdreadnought Battle Squadrons x 3 (24 SDs)
Dreadnought Battle Squadrons x2 (16 DNs)
Battleship Squadrons x 2 (16 BBs, 8 of them StateSec)
Heavy Cruiser Squadrons x 2 (16 CAs)
Light Cruiser Squadrons x 3 (24 CLs)
Destroyer Flotillas x 6 (60 DDs)

Barnett Sector Command: CO: Admiral Thomas Theisman
Based in Barnett System
Battleship Squadrons x 5 (40 BBs)
Battlecruiser Squadrons x 3 (24 BCs)
Light Cruiser Squadrons x 3 (24 CLs)
Destroyer Flotillas x 8 (80 DDs)

Lovat System Command: CO: Admiral Diego Abbott
Based in Lovat System
Dreadnought Squadrons x 2 (16 DDs)
Battleship Squadrons x 3 (24 BBs, 12 of them StateSec)
Heavy Cruiser Squadrons x 4 (32 CAs)
Light Carrier Squadron x 1 (2 CVLs, understrength, 200 LACs)
Destroyer Flotillas x 8 (80 DDs)

Danak System Command: CO: Vice Admiral Gregor Darlington
Based in Danak System
Heavy System Monitors x 5 (Essentially old SDs with FTL drives ripped out)
Battleship Squadrons x 2 (16 BBs)
Fleet Carriers x 1 (250 LACs)
Battlecruiser Squadrons x 2 (12 BCs, understrength)
Destroyer Flotillas x 5 (35 DDs, understrength)

Note all other system commands are not in any shape to be counter as mobile forces. All your substantial force concentrations are here. The rest are positioned in penny-packets for garrison or picket duty, and are in poor supply and/or poorly trained.
​

 

[molemole]

Briefing: Starships and Star Travel
Star travel has been around for millennia, but it was the discovery of the FTL drive adn hyperspace that changed things. We'll begin with STL, since the FTL drive is an ingenious adaptation of it.

The Impeller Drive:
This is essentially the generation of a gravitic 'wedge' enclosing the ship above and below. The 'wedge' consists of a series of stressed gravitic bands that propel the ship by generation of an artificial mass. Since the mass and force is massive, most weapons cannot penetrate the impeller wedge, and so the 'above' and 'below' portions of starships are effectively immune to direct attack. Military starships generate two layers of band to prevent interference robbing them of mobility, and for greater speed. Since the forward and especially rear of the ship are unprotected by impeller wedges, 'crossing the T' is a common tactical objective. The impeller drive is generated by rings of nodes on the ship. Alpha nodes are the primary generators, while beta nodes provide backup and generate the secondary wedge layer.

The FTL drive was an adaptation of the impeller drive node, called the Warshawski Sail. It was an extended force field at the bow and stern of a starship perpendicular to the axis of the ship. It served as a way to control the forces which gravity waves produced in hyperspace and thus greatly increase safety. It extended several hundred of kilometers and coruscated colorfully with the energies it handled. The sail was ineffective in normal space, but invaluable in hyperspace. Additionally, the sail could tap into the large energy fluxes in hyperspace and so provide enough power to essentially run the entire ship during its time in hyperspace. This reduced fuel expense considerably, making star transport, even of large masses, economically feasible.
The gravitic nodes used to produce the sail had to be tuned to work with each other properly, and if sufficiently out of tune, a sail could fail catastrophically. Maintenance was important as the nodes and tuners used for sails endured considerable stress and had to be replaced, at high expense, relatively often compared to the life of a starship.

The Sidewall:
This is a wall of gravitic energy that shields a ship's sides from harm. Since it must be small in order not to disrupt propulsion by generation of too large an artificial mass, these can be penetrated by missiles or overloaded due to too much energy coming into the system. Energy weapons can also punch through a sidewall by dint of sheer energy applied.Forward and rear shielding would interfere with the artificial masses generated by the impeller wedge, but can be done. Since it reduces mobility, it has been deemed impractical to have both. A bow or rear shield can be done, though. It is simply incredibly energy-expensive.

Weapons:

Energy Weapons: The most common are lasers and grasers. The laser is as you'd expect, an X-Ray laser which transfers energy as heat in a continuous beam, limited by overheating. The 'graser' is a pulsed laser that transfers more energy per 'shot' but has a longer cycle time and somewhat shorter range and power consumption. Energy weapons are used at 1million km or less, and if the target has shielding, from 500000km or less.

Missiles: Once used to probe enemy defences prior to a laser duel, with the spread of missile pods, improved targeting and telemetry and most importantly multiple-drive missiles, killing one's enemy at extreme range is back in vogue. Missiles are launched out of missile tubes on-ship or disposable missile pods towed behind the ship or positioned in-system. They have two main types of warhead - nuclear or laser-head. The laser-head is a bomb-pumped X-Ray laser focused through a gravitic lens - essentially a massive laser shaped charge, that does massive heat damage to the target. It explodes on proximity, and is thus favored for missile duels, since one needs only be 'close enough' to score a kill. Nukes require a direct hit or close to it, but can do damage approaching a laser head. More importantly, nukes release massive amounts of radiation and can baffle many types of sensors and targeting systems. Usually propelled by impeller wedges to near-lightspeed.

Energy Torpedoes: They're short-ranged (<100000km) packets of plasma held together by ravitic fields. On impact, they release huge amounts of energy, and a small volley from a destroyer can conceivable mission-kill a dreadnought. However, they're stopped easily by any kind of shielding and require that shields be dropped to be effective.

Grav-Lance: Once thought the 'holy grail' of weapons tech, this was touted as a way to break an impeller wedge. It is essentially a focused gravitational distortion that can burn out a ship's nodes via interference. Due to the wedge's dual layering, it will not work in permanently burning out the wedge, but can easily take out a sidewall (side shielding, gravitic in nature). Range is also painfully short - (<100000km), with a massive cycle time.


Briefing II: Basic Tactics:

Since the impeller wedge limits one's targeting options and offers an impenetrable defence, most tactics revolve around it. In single ship-to-ship combat, many captains 'spin' their ship about its axis to interpose the wedge to enemy fire, while spinning back to fire their payloads. Positioning is key, and a good position or a speed advantage can allow firing past the wedge or where there is no wedge.

In massed capital ship battle, most weapons aboard are on the broadside. Thus battlefleets form up in a a Wall of Battle, with ships forming up both side to side, and up and down as well, in order to bring the maximum amount of broadside weapons to bear on an enemy formation. Missile technology has altered formations to allow for maximum joint missile defence.

Antimissile Tactics:
The best way is of course not to be there. Evasive maneuvers, EMCON, decoys and ECM, and good use of an impeller wedge can keep a warship alive even without active countermeasures. With the spread of pod-based tactics, active measures are more and more in vogue-

Autocannon- Obsolete. They rely on the principle that if you put enough lead out, it'll hit something. With faster missiles and more intelligent maneuvering from those missiles, autocannon response time is simply too long, and too inaccurate. You'll find these on old warships, or pirates nowadays.
Also, old cruiser-grade autocannon can be useful mounted on shuttles or pinnaces for close support.

Laser Clusters- These are autocannon's replacement. Targeted high-frequency low-cycle-time lasers mounted in groups. They have a short range, but enough power to fry a missile long before detonation. Intelligent targeting systems and properly tuned emitters can cut down a missile swarm to a manageable number. Typically used as a last-ditch point defence.

Countermissiles- Missiles to kill missiles - in existence for ages. With the advent of saturation barrages of missiles from pods, and the use of such 'alpha strikes' to cripple an enemy early, countermissiles have grown in importance. They thin the swarm at long range, so that the point defences and sidewalls can weather the storm. Improved targeting, jammers, faster cycle time on CM launchers, all have contributed to the arms race in missile technology.

Light Attack Craft:
These are typically used as in-system defence ships. A swarm of them can carry enough missiles to knock out a destroyer or cruiser at a lower cost in men and materiel than an all-up warship. Recent studies have shown they can carry capital-grade energy weapons, which potentially puts the fighter swarm back on the table. The Royal Manticoran Navy has been rumored to have developed such 'super LACs' although they have not been confirmed on the battlefield.

 

[molemole]

Briefing II: People's Republic of Haven:

The old Republic of Haven fell prey to a hereditary political elite seeking to retain their grip on power. As such, 'bread and circuses' were used to keep the voting populace (Dolists) happy, who then voted as their Managers (machine politicians) told them to. Profits from the running of government in turn flowed down to the Dolist Managers. It renamed itself the People's Republic of Haven, and went to war to fund this system of government.

The PRH expanded, and in 1901 PD (Post-Diaspora) they decided to expand into Manticore. Its large wormhole nexus would generate massive amounts of cash, perhaps plugging the budgets for another half-century or more. In 1901 they attempted to stage a native uprising on Basilisk System, as a prelude to sending in a 'peacekeeping' force. It failed thanks to Honor Harrington and HMS Fearless, but war came anyway. In 1905 PD the war began with the First Battle of Hancock, where the entirety of Admiral Yuri Rollins' Barnett Sector Command was wiped by a greatly inferior Manticoran force. The Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN) then went on the offensive.

The PRH lost Seaford Nine, Casca, Nightingale, Thetis, and many other systems - and would have lost more if not for the Solarian League. The League's Office of Frontier Security saw a potential threat to its satrapies on the border should Manticore win too easily, and drip-fed higher technology to the PRH. In addition, the League's Naval Intelligence Bureau proceeded to attempt infiltration of RMN facilities once knowledge of the RMN's capabilities came to light. This yielded massive dividends, allowing Haven to recover from the loss of yet another fleet at Grayson in 1907, and build its own secret research facility codenamed Bolthole.

Operation Icarus was staged afterwards with the objective of retaking Barnett, Thetis and Seaford Nine, along with pinning down RMN forces for a knockout blow later in the campaign season. Due to your coup, that will be late, but you did retake Barnett Sector in entirety, and are positioned to take Thetis and Maastricht.

Honor Harrington, then a commodore was captured by then-Vice Admiral Lester Tourville operating as part of Twelfth Fleet during Operation Icarus. She was sent to the prison world of Cerberus, where she staged a massive breakout - more than 100000 prisoners escaped and damaged the system infrastructure in the process. In the escape, Secretary of Public Information Cordelia Ransom was killed, and Tourville was demoted to Rear Admiral as a symbolic mark of censure for the Navy.

At present (1914 PD), the Republic has been severely weakened, but can still fight. Technology transfers form the Solarian transstellar corporations and the Office of Frontier Security, together with StateSec moles in the RMN have enabled the PRH to keep rough parity - no more than a few stages behind in each area. Rumors abound of new Manticoran wonder weapons, but you have one of your own - a concentrated force of fleet carriers is possible, and the doctrine has been worked out. Shannon Foraker at Bolthole has designed LACs to match this, and you have your friends at Solarian Military Intelligence wanting to keep parity between you and Manticore.

Good luck, Admiral.