Turn 93 - They'll Never See The Likes Of Us Again!
Turn 93 - They’ll Never See The Likes Of Us Again!
-----
OPERATION - BUMP - Final Report
The Grand Fleet was delayed by 4 months waiting for repairs and resupply, with the remaining Exeter-class ships actually requiring multiple resupply runs in that time due to their extremely low cargo capacity. In early December TF 3 jumped in as planned in the revised plan. Two weeks later, TF 1 and 2 jumped in.
There wasn’t a single actual capital ship left in the system, and as TF 3 closed all of the ‘base’ infrastructure present detonated, even as sheets of capital missiles erupted from the wreckage into the task forces face. At the jump point were 50 highly modified Congress-class Frigates that were immediately identified as CASPAR drones.
The Black Steel forces that remained in the system were destroyed, but losses were heavy, especially among the older ships in the fleet. Not a single ship was left without serious damage, and TF 4 is fully occupied at the moment in simply repairing ships enough to allow them to safely jump back to New Phoenix.
Total losses for Operation Bump are as follows.
-----
Personnel losses weren’t as bad as you feared, the report notes that the CASPAR drones didn’t target escape pods and shuttles, and indeed tended to ignore any dropships that weren’t firing on them, focusing their fire instead on your warships. Reports from your Rasalhaguian allies indicate that they lost a dozen of their oversized wings in the engagement, but are quite pleased with their overall performance.
The NRI had managed to get a half dozen more of their little Corvus corvettes, straight out of the production yard and still with yard personnel on board when they arrived at the staging area. All six had been lost in action. For some reason the CASPAR drones appeared to focus fire on the Corvus as a higher priority target than even your Scharnhorst and Canarias-class heavy cruisers.
All indications are that the Black Steel had withdrawn from Stahlkampfauge in good order, leaving behind a rear guard to bleed you. You have taken the system in which they’d been based, but they are free to set up another base nearby with the same forces. A victory, but not a total one.
Unfortunately, the Griffon’s Eye is not declared secure enough for the engineering crews to bring in the new White Tower stations to re-secure the jump points. All indications are that this will be accomplished in January of next year.
You lost every Fletcher which had been engaged, leaving only those older hulls that lacked the latest upgrades. The ships themselves performed magnificently, the second best of any of the legacy designs deployed behind the Wichita-class Heavy Cruisers who continued to punch well above their weight class. Indeed, HMS Wichita herself was one of the survivors, accounting for no fewer than four times her tonnage in CASPAR drones. At this time, HMS Wichita is the single most successful ship in your fleet, having been involved in every major fleet action and surviving them all, all with multiple enemy kills to her name.
There has been some quiet talk about retiring HMS Wichita and preserving her as the symbolic permanent flagship of the entire Imperial Griffon Navy, permanently spacedocked in the Griffon system. The crew is adamantly opposed to this if anybody brings it up in their presence, declaring that HMS Wichita belongs on the front lines fighting the enemy, she is a fighting ship, not a pretty piece of fluff, and a fighting ship needs to fight, not be protected as some sort of symbol.
You can understand both points of view, and no decision is anywhere close to being made in this matter.
You finally manage to get your hands on an image of the ‘heroic nude’ statue of you in the NRI temples and are quite tempted to go throw General Messerschmidt out of the Tyler Lee Memorial Window of Defenestration. You’d been expecting something tasteless, but it’s actually quite nice in your opinion. Yes, it’s a nude, but it shows you standing in a quite nice pose with your mechwarrior neurohelmet tucked under one elbow. It’s actually quite tasteful in your opinion, despite being a nude.
The relatively low personnel casualties from Operation Bump are a godsend as they allow you to fully man all of the new construction without further cannibalizing your training cadre. Expansion of your training assets is taking place, with five new Wolverines and Ensigns joining the fleet.
That being said, you attend a number of commissioning and keel-laying ceremonies. You took heavy losses in Bump, but your navy is in many ways growing stronger despite the losses.
The colonization of the Grand View system has reached the point where the colony is quite functional, adding a true jewel to the Empire. The system government and judicial systems are likewise in place. Work on Iskra continues, the twin planets requiring one more year to get everything settled before you’ll add that world. Jump point defenses are in place in both systems, thankfully, providing the new colonists with some security. New Eden and Okusawa both see their orbital defenses enhanced with additional Silver Tower stations.
Economic growth this year has been rather moribund across the Empire, unfortunately. However your development foci of Edelsteine and Skala see a welcome boost to their economies. The direct economic investment into the Nowa Warszawa system was similarly quite successful in boosting the local economy into a more healthy state this year. Kainga’s infrastructure has been a bit of a mess since colonization, the DoME focus as well as the major investment work on it have done wonders, although the system is still in rather rough shape for a Core world.
The expansion of the Colonial Office and Civil Service goes ahead as planned.
The sports camps are a great success, albeit at a substantial cost due to just how many of them are opened due to the historically horrible performance at the Olympics. Hopefully this will help address the issue in the next Olympiad.
The overhauls and upgrades to the various strategic materials factories goes ahead on budget and on schedule, significantly boosting production rates of critical materials. According to the analysis, it will be more cost effective for some time to continue upgrades rather than expansion.
The new tranche of ASF factories come online across the Empire, giving you a total of 90 ASF production lines allowing for very solid production levels going forward. General Romanov sends you a memo noting that they won’t be asking for new factories for some time.
The new shipyards all come online by the end of the year, ready for new construction next year. With the increased number of training vessels, hopefully you will be able to properly crew the products of all of these new yards. A memo from the Academy director somewhat squelches that enthusiasm as they note that they are still behind the eight-ball thanks to the production speed improvements, but hope to finally get ahead of the curve in two to three years.
New Phoenix now sports a brand new major fleet base, making the system overall a major military logistics and command & control node for the Empire. Colonists are flocking to the system, along with industry, in order to support the military forces based out of there. At the current growth rates it is believed that New Phoenix will achieve Core status in several years at most.
Terraforming work on Awha, Baris, Pieklo and Skala has been completed to great acclaim by the local residents. The work on Pieklo was particularly successful. All four worlds are petitioning, well begging really, that you seriously consider continuing the terraforming projects through additional stages.
In the R&D area, work on improving agricultural yields has been completed, allowing for substantial boosts to agricultural output across the Empire. It’s not simply staple crops either, but also many ‘garden’ crops and luxury crops which benefit this time. Tuscan melons… yummmm.
Work on the new Assault Battle Armor has been completed. The new suits are quite impressive but come at an unexpected cost, they are too heavy and bulky to be carried on your mechs and require twice the tonnage for infantry bays on IFVs while likewise being too bulky to simply ride on the tanks themselves. On the other hand they effectively have enough armor on each suit to shrug off a full power gauss rifle shot, only a class 20 autocannon can guarantee a one shot kill on a single suit.
Work has begun on refitting all of your ASFs with the new, more compact ferro aluminum armor. Multiple proposals are floating around for how best to handle these upgrades, General Romanov promises you that she’ll have a proposal on your desk soon.
Finally, last but most certainly not least, the new LRM ammunition is now available to the troops. The launcher is substantially identical, with only a minor software patch being required, but the ammunition is able to guide onto targets almost instantly after leaving the launch tube, eliminating the minimum range issue that has long plagued the long range missile system. Distribution of the new ammunition has begun in earnest, with many companies heavily investing in the project.
Meta Event | 14 | |
Dynasty Luck | 47 | |
Successes | ||
Imperial Approval | -1 | |
Approval Change | 0 | |
Political Event | -3 | |
Successes | ||
Imperial Economy | 0 | |
Economic Event | -3 | |
Research Event | 1 | |
Griffon | Econ | 3 |
Health | 0 | |
Event | 3 | |
Nowa Warszawa | Econ | 0 |
Health | 3 | |
Event | 2 | |
Calliope IV | Econ | 1 |
Health | 0 | |
Event | 1 | |
TTP | Econ | 0 |
Health | 5 | |
Event | 3 | |
New Capricorn | Econ | 5 |
Health | 6 | |
Event | 2 | |
Nowy Śląsk | Econ | 6 |
Health | 1 | |
Event | 1 | |
Edelsteine | Econ | 2 |
Health | 4 | |
Event | 1 | |
Nowy Wroclaw | Econ | 0 |
Health | 6 | |
Event | 4 | |
Griff's Leap | Econ | 2 |
Health | N/A | |
Event | 3 | |
New Phoenix | Econ | 5 |
Health | 2 | |
Event | 2 | |
New Eden | Econ | 1 |
Health | 0 | |
Event | 4 | |
New Castor | Econ | 2 |
Health | 5 | |
Event | 3 | |
Okusawa | Econ | 2 |
Health | 0 | |
Event | 4 | |
New Pollux | Econ | 5 |
Health | 5 | |
Event | 0 | |
New Port Royal | Econ | 5 |
Health | 2 | |
Event | 3 | |
Kainga | Econ | 6 |
Health | 1 | |
Event | 5 | |
Chuma | Econ | 0 |
Health | 2 | |
Event | 3 | |
Stahlfurt | Econ | 0 |
Health | N/A | |
Event | 2 | |
Bari | Econ | 3 |
Health | 5 | |
Event | 4 | |
Skala | Econ | 2 |
Health | 0 | |
Event | 2 | |
Pieklo | Econ | 0 |
Health | 5 | |
Event | 2 | |
Nya Köpenhamn | Econ | 2 |
Health | 4 | |
Event | 2 | |
Bauernparadis | Econ | 2 |
Health | 6 | |
Event | 3 | |
Awha | Econ | 1 |
Health | 0 | |
Event | 3 | |
Kaiyo | Econ | 2 |
Health | 2 | |
Event | 2 | |
Bohren | Econ | 2 |
Health | 4 | |
Event | 5 |
Plan: Fine... I'll Upgrade the factories
- Procurement [$ 2,070,975,851.89 ]
-- Lay Down Major Unit [Construction - $265,275,577.00 ] (95)
--- 100 Bainbridge [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 49
Result - SUCCESS
--- 20 Ensign [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 31
Result - SUCCESS
--- 36 Aetna [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 13
Result - SUCCESS
--- 18 Meteor [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 84
Result - SUCCESS
--- 2 Canopus [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 12
Result - SUCCESS
-- Lay down Jumpship [Jumpship Construction - $12,582,036.59 ] (75)
--- 13 Windjammer [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 73
Result - SUCCESS
-- Lay down Warship [Warship Construction - $757,983,327.00 ] (80)
--- 5 Supply [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 37
Result - SUCCESS
--- 5 Wolverine [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 37
Result - SUCCESS
--- 10 Fubuki [85]
Target - 85
Roll – 98, Jarow reroll - 7
Result - SUCCESS
--- 10 England [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 26
Result - SUCCESS
--- 20 Lyr [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 29
Result - SUCCESS
--- 20 Dido [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 42
Result - SUCCESS
--- 7 Vestal [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 27
Result - SUCCESS
--- 10 Prinz Eugen [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 13
Result - SUCCESS
--- 6 Scharnhorst [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 10
Result - SUCCESS
-- Purchase New Units [Minor Unit - $ 20,217,345.60 ] (90)
--- 30 Fighter Wing [auto]
--- 30 Heavy Carrier Wing [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 9
Result - SUCCESS
--- 20 Interceptor Wing [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 10
Result - SUCCESS
--- 30 Garrison Regiments* [auto]
-- Increase Militia Rating of System [$ 14,917,565.70 ] (85)
--- 30 Militia Regiments [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 92
Result - SUCCESS
- General [$ 98,370,451,208.00 ]
-- Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station New Phoenix Nadir* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 5
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station Awha Zenith* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 38
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station Bauernparades Zenith* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 44
Result - SUCCESS
-- Colonize Grand View [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 66
Result - SUCCESS
-- System Government - Grand View [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 50
Result - SUCCESS
-- Legal System - Grand View [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 28
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Jump Point Defenses in Grand View [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Jump Point Defenses in Iskra [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Jump Point Defenses in Griffon's Eye [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 97
Result – Bare FAILURE (auto success next turn)
-- (ECP) Construct Silver Tower 2 New Eden [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 11
Result - SUCCESS
-- (ECP) Construct Silver Tower 2 Okusawa [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 46
Result - SUCCESS
-- Focus Development on Core World Edelsteine [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 60
Result - SUCCESS
-- Focus Development on Peripheral World Skala [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 14
Result - SUCCESS
-- Economic Investment Nowa Warzsawa [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 14
Result - SUCCESS
-- Major Economic Investment Kainga[80]
Target - 80
Roll - 25
Result - SUCCESS
-- (Sports) Fund sports camps to improve performance in low performing Olympic sports [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 46
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Colonial Office (per level) [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 25
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Civil Service [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 45
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All DHS Factories [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 83
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Endosteel Forges [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 34
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Ferro Aluminium Forges [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 73
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Ferro Fibrous Forges [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 52
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Lamellar Ferro Carbide Forges [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 48
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build ASF Factory Complex (95)
--- Okusawa [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 18
Result - SUCCESS
--- Chuma [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 81
Result - SUCCESS
--- New Castor [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 58
Result - SUCCESS
--- New Phoenix [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS
--- New Pollux [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS
--- New Capricorn [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 72
Result - SUCCESS
--- Nowy Wroclaw [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 11
Result - SUCCESS
--- Edelsteine [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 39
Result - SUCCESS
--- Nowa Warzsawa [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
--- Calliope [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 22
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Orbital Shipyards [105]
Target - 105
Roll - 49
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade Refit & Repair Yard [105]
Target - 105
Roll - 25
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard Kainga [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 83
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard Okusawa [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard Nya Kopenhamn [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 46
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard Edelsteine* [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 36
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard New Capricorn [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Medium Warship Yard New Pollux [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 43
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Medium Warship Yard Nowa Warzsawa [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 12
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Medium Warship Yard Calliope* [auto]
-- Build Medium Warship Yard Griffon [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 21
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Medium Warship Yard New Port Royal [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 47
Result - SUCCESS
- DoME [$ 30,500,000,000.00 ]
-- Construct Major Fleet Base - New Phoenix* [70]
Target - 70
Roll – 93, ShadowArxxy reroll - 8
Result - SUCCESS
-- Terraform Awha - Stage 0* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
-- Terraform Bari - Stage 0* [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 24
Result - SUCCESS
-- Terraform Pieklo - Stage 0* [60]
Target - 60
Roll - 3
Result - SUCCESS
-- Terraform Skala - Stage 0* [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 67
Result - SUCCESS
-- Planetary Optimization (Peripheral) - Kainga* [75]
Target - 75
Roll – 97, General reroll - 52
Result - SUCCESS
- Research [$ 87,030,000,000.00 ]
-- Improved Agriculture Lvl 5 [100]
Target - 100
Roll - 56
Result - SUCCESS
-- Assault Battle Armor - Basic [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 57
Result - SUCCESS
-- Advanced Long Range Missiles* [45]
Target - 45
Roll - 5
Result - SUCCESS
-- Advanced Ferro-Aluminum Armor* [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 31
Result - SUCCESS
- Miscellaneous [$ 101,000,000.00 ]
-- People Purchase [100,000,000]
-- Highly Approved Layoffs [1,000,000.00]
- Procurement [$ 2,070,975,851.89 ]
-- Lay Down Major Unit [Construction - $265,275,577.00 ] (95)
--- 100 Bainbridge [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 49
Result - SUCCESS
--- 20 Ensign [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 31
Result - SUCCESS
--- 36 Aetna [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 13
Result - SUCCESS
--- 18 Meteor [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 84
Result - SUCCESS
--- 2 Canopus [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 12
Result - SUCCESS
-- Lay down Jumpship [Jumpship Construction - $12,582,036.59 ] (75)
--- 13 Windjammer [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 73
Result - SUCCESS
-- Lay down Warship [Warship Construction - $757,983,327.00 ] (80)
--- 5 Supply [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 37
Result - SUCCESS
--- 5 Wolverine [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 37
Result - SUCCESS
--- 10 Fubuki [85]
Target - 85
Roll – 98, Jarow reroll - 7
Result - SUCCESS
--- 10 England [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 26
Result - SUCCESS
--- 20 Lyr [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 29
Result - SUCCESS
--- 20 Dido [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 42
Result - SUCCESS
--- 7 Vestal [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 27
Result - SUCCESS
--- 10 Prinz Eugen [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 13
Result - SUCCESS
--- 6 Scharnhorst [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 10
Result - SUCCESS
-- Purchase New Units [Minor Unit - $ 20,217,345.60 ] (90)
--- 30 Fighter Wing [auto]
--- 30 Heavy Carrier Wing [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 9
Result - SUCCESS
--- 20 Interceptor Wing [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 10
Result - SUCCESS
--- 30 Garrison Regiments* [auto]
-- Increase Militia Rating of System [$ 14,917,565.70 ] (85)
--- 30 Militia Regiments [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 92
Result - SUCCESS
- General [$ 98,370,451,208.00 ]
-- Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station New Phoenix Nadir* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 5
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station Awha Zenith* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 38
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station Bauernparades Zenith* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 44
Result - SUCCESS
-- Colonize Grand View [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 66
Result - SUCCESS
-- System Government - Grand View [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 50
Result - SUCCESS
-- Legal System - Grand View [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 28
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Jump Point Defenses in Grand View [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Jump Point Defenses in Iskra [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Jump Point Defenses in Griffon's Eye [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 97
Result – Bare FAILURE (auto success next turn)
-- (ECP) Construct Silver Tower 2 New Eden [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 11
Result - SUCCESS
-- (ECP) Construct Silver Tower 2 Okusawa [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 46
Result - SUCCESS
-- Focus Development on Core World Edelsteine [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 60
Result - SUCCESS
-- Focus Development on Peripheral World Skala [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 14
Result - SUCCESS
-- Economic Investment Nowa Warzsawa [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 14
Result - SUCCESS
-- Major Economic Investment Kainga[80]
Target - 80
Roll - 25
Result - SUCCESS
-- (Sports) Fund sports camps to improve performance in low performing Olympic sports [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 46
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Colonial Office (per level) [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 25
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Civil Service [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 45
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All DHS Factories [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 83
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Endosteel Forges [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 34
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Ferro Aluminium Forges [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 73
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Ferro Fibrous Forges [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 52
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Lamellar Ferro Carbide Forges [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 48
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build ASF Factory Complex (95)
--- Okusawa [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 18
Result - SUCCESS
--- Chuma [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 81
Result - SUCCESS
--- New Castor [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 58
Result - SUCCESS
--- New Phoenix [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS
--- New Pollux [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS
--- New Capricorn [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 72
Result - SUCCESS
--- Nowy Wroclaw [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 11
Result - SUCCESS
--- Edelsteine [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 39
Result - SUCCESS
--- Nowa Warzsawa [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
--- Calliope [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 22
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Orbital Shipyards [105]
Target - 105
Roll - 49
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade Refit & Repair Yard [105]
Target - 105
Roll - 25
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard Kainga [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 83
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard Okusawa [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard Nya Kopenhamn [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 46
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard Edelsteine* [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 36
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Light Warship Yard New Capricorn [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Medium Warship Yard New Pollux [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 43
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Medium Warship Yard Nowa Warzsawa [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 12
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Medium Warship Yard Calliope* [auto]
-- Build Medium Warship Yard Griffon [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 21
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Medium Warship Yard New Port Royal [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 47
Result - SUCCESS
- DoME [$ 30,500,000,000.00 ]
-- Construct Major Fleet Base - New Phoenix* [70]
Target - 70
Roll – 93, ShadowArxxy reroll - 8
Result - SUCCESS
-- Terraform Awha - Stage 0* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
-- Terraform Bari - Stage 0* [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 24
Result - SUCCESS
-- Terraform Pieklo - Stage 0* [60]
Target - 60
Roll - 3
Result - SUCCESS
-- Terraform Skala - Stage 0* [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 67
Result - SUCCESS
-- Planetary Optimization (Peripheral) - Kainga* [75]
Target - 75
Roll – 97, General reroll - 52
Result - SUCCESS
- Research [$ 87,030,000,000.00 ]
-- Improved Agriculture Lvl 5 [100]
Target - 100
Roll - 56
Result - SUCCESS
-- Assault Battle Armor - Basic [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 57
Result - SUCCESS
-- Advanced Long Range Missiles* [45]
Target - 45
Roll - 5
Result - SUCCESS
-- Advanced Ferro-Aluminum Armor* [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 31
Result - SUCCESS
- Miscellaneous [$ 101,000,000.00 ]
-- People Purchase [100,000,000]
-- Highly Approved Layoffs [1,000,000.00]
-----
OPERATION - BUMP - Final Report
The Grand Fleet was delayed by 4 months waiting for repairs and resupply, with the remaining Exeter-class ships actually requiring multiple resupply runs in that time due to their extremely low cargo capacity. In early December TF 3 jumped in as planned in the revised plan. Two weeks later, TF 1 and 2 jumped in.
There wasn’t a single actual capital ship left in the system, and as TF 3 closed all of the ‘base’ infrastructure present detonated, even as sheets of capital missiles erupted from the wreckage into the task forces face. At the jump point were 50 highly modified Congress-class Frigates that were immediately identified as CASPAR drones.
The Black Steel forces that remained in the system were destroyed, but losses were heavy, especially among the older ships in the fleet. Not a single ship was left without serious damage, and TF 4 is fully occupied at the moment in simply repairing ships enough to allow them to safely jump back to New Phoenix.
Total losses for Operation Bump are as follows.
- Heavy Cruisers
- 6 Exeter-class Heavy Cruisers
- 10 Wichita-class Heavy Cruisers
- Light Cruisers
- 13 Cleveland-class Light Cruisers
- 1 Dido-class Light Cruiser
- Destroyers
- 50 Fletcher Flight II-class Destroyers
- Corvettes
- 10 Lyr-class Corvettes
- Dropships
- 35 Bainbridge-class Parasite Destroyers
- 15 Canopus-class Parasite Battleships
- 10 Saipan-class Parasite Carriers
- ASF
- 10 Heavy Carriers Wings completely destroyed
- Severe losses impacting wing quality for all involved units, will take 2 turns to restore quality level
-----
Personnel losses weren’t as bad as you feared, the report notes that the CASPAR drones didn’t target escape pods and shuttles, and indeed tended to ignore any dropships that weren’t firing on them, focusing their fire instead on your warships. Reports from your Rasalhaguian allies indicate that they lost a dozen of their oversized wings in the engagement, but are quite pleased with their overall performance.
The NRI had managed to get a half dozen more of their little Corvus corvettes, straight out of the production yard and still with yard personnel on board when they arrived at the staging area. All six had been lost in action. For some reason the CASPAR drones appeared to focus fire on the Corvus as a higher priority target than even your Scharnhorst and Canarias-class heavy cruisers.
All indications are that the Black Steel had withdrawn from Stahlkampfauge in good order, leaving behind a rear guard to bleed you. You have taken the system in which they’d been based, but they are free to set up another base nearby with the same forces. A victory, but not a total one.
Unfortunately, the Griffon’s Eye is not declared secure enough for the engineering crews to bring in the new White Tower stations to re-secure the jump points. All indications are that this will be accomplished in January of next year.
You lost every Fletcher which had been engaged, leaving only those older hulls that lacked the latest upgrades. The ships themselves performed magnificently, the second best of any of the legacy designs deployed behind the Wichita-class Heavy Cruisers who continued to punch well above their weight class. Indeed, HMS Wichita herself was one of the survivors, accounting for no fewer than four times her tonnage in CASPAR drones. At this time, HMS Wichita is the single most successful ship in your fleet, having been involved in every major fleet action and surviving them all, all with multiple enemy kills to her name.
There has been some quiet talk about retiring HMS Wichita and preserving her as the symbolic permanent flagship of the entire Imperial Griffon Navy, permanently spacedocked in the Griffon system. The crew is adamantly opposed to this if anybody brings it up in their presence, declaring that HMS Wichita belongs on the front lines fighting the enemy, she is a fighting ship, not a pretty piece of fluff, and a fighting ship needs to fight, not be protected as some sort of symbol.
You can understand both points of view, and no decision is anywhere close to being made in this matter.
You finally manage to get your hands on an image of the ‘heroic nude’ statue of you in the NRI temples and are quite tempted to go throw General Messerschmidt out of the Tyler Lee Memorial Window of Defenestration. You’d been expecting something tasteless, but it’s actually quite nice in your opinion. Yes, it’s a nude, but it shows you standing in a quite nice pose with your mechwarrior neurohelmet tucked under one elbow. It’s actually quite tasteful in your opinion, despite being a nude.
The relatively low personnel casualties from Operation Bump are a godsend as they allow you to fully man all of the new construction without further cannibalizing your training cadre. Expansion of your training assets is taking place, with five new Wolverines and Ensigns joining the fleet.
That being said, you attend a number of commissioning and keel-laying ceremonies. You took heavy losses in Bump, but your navy is in many ways growing stronger despite the losses.
The colonization of the Grand View system has reached the point where the colony is quite functional, adding a true jewel to the Empire. The system government and judicial systems are likewise in place. Work on Iskra continues, the twin planets requiring one more year to get everything settled before you’ll add that world. Jump point defenses are in place in both systems, thankfully, providing the new colonists with some security. New Eden and Okusawa both see their orbital defenses enhanced with additional Silver Tower stations.
Economic growth this year has been rather moribund across the Empire, unfortunately. However your development foci of Edelsteine and Skala see a welcome boost to their economies. The direct economic investment into the Nowa Warszawa system was similarly quite successful in boosting the local economy into a more healthy state this year. Kainga’s infrastructure has been a bit of a mess since colonization, the DoME focus as well as the major investment work on it have done wonders, although the system is still in rather rough shape for a Core world.
The expansion of the Colonial Office and Civil Service goes ahead as planned.
The sports camps are a great success, albeit at a substantial cost due to just how many of them are opened due to the historically horrible performance at the Olympics. Hopefully this will help address the issue in the next Olympiad.
The overhauls and upgrades to the various strategic materials factories goes ahead on budget and on schedule, significantly boosting production rates of critical materials. According to the analysis, it will be more cost effective for some time to continue upgrades rather than expansion.
The new tranche of ASF factories come online across the Empire, giving you a total of 90 ASF production lines allowing for very solid production levels going forward. General Romanov sends you a memo noting that they won’t be asking for new factories for some time.
The new shipyards all come online by the end of the year, ready for new construction next year. With the increased number of training vessels, hopefully you will be able to properly crew the products of all of these new yards. A memo from the Academy director somewhat squelches that enthusiasm as they note that they are still behind the eight-ball thanks to the production speed improvements, but hope to finally get ahead of the curve in two to three years.
New Phoenix now sports a brand new major fleet base, making the system overall a major military logistics and command & control node for the Empire. Colonists are flocking to the system, along with industry, in order to support the military forces based out of there. At the current growth rates it is believed that New Phoenix will achieve Core status in several years at most.
Terraforming work on Awha, Baris, Pieklo and Skala has been completed to great acclaim by the local residents. The work on Pieklo was particularly successful. All four worlds are petitioning, well begging really, that you seriously consider continuing the terraforming projects through additional stages.
In the R&D area, work on improving agricultural yields has been completed, allowing for substantial boosts to agricultural output across the Empire. It’s not simply staple crops either, but also many ‘garden’ crops and luxury crops which benefit this time. Tuscan melons… yummmm.
Work on the new Assault Battle Armor has been completed. The new suits are quite impressive but come at an unexpected cost, they are too heavy and bulky to be carried on your mechs and require twice the tonnage for infantry bays on IFVs while likewise being too bulky to simply ride on the tanks themselves. On the other hand they effectively have enough armor on each suit to shrug off a full power gauss rifle shot, only a class 20 autocannon can guarantee a one shot kill on a single suit.
Work has begun on refitting all of your ASFs with the new, more compact ferro aluminum armor. Multiple proposals are floating around for how best to handle these upgrades, General Romanov promises you that she’ll have a proposal on your desk soon.
Finally, last but most certainly not least, the new LRM ammunition is now available to the troops. The launcher is substantially identical, with only a minor software patch being required, but the ammunition is able to guide onto targets almost instantly after leaving the launch tube, eliminating the minimum range issue that has long plagued the long range missile system. Distribution of the new ammunition has begun in earnest, with many companies heavily investing in the project.
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