Task Force 2 - Atlas: Comms

[pliant fjord]

looks like they're gonna truck through. Transfering some marines around in transit

should be ok

[jagged pagoda]

I don't think they're boarders, I think they're trying to deconstruct the ship.

[jagged pagoda]

Yes, didn't read that small print XD

[pliant fjord]

We've got deck locations, that means boarders

[jagged pagoda]

Yes, my bad 😅

[pliant fjord]

Yea I had to clarify in Tac-Com chat too, you're good

[turbid kernel]

Reports from the surface. SF team is fighting for their lives

[ember python]

Well, they'll have some backup soon.

[topaz rivet]

Looks like 40FS have invested the Starport

[halcyon ridge]

Aurora has wounded already and A LOT headed their way still Operation Deuce can’t start soon enough

[pliant fjord]

Yea, we'll drop some mechs on their head as soon as we get there

[jagged pagoda]

Did we get any mech doors on any of our ships?

[ember python]

We're looking at boots on the ground next round, can't speak for the other mech jockey, but i'm going to burst out of the pod and rev up to high gear right away and start drawing ire and drawing fire.

[ember python]

Negative on the mech doors.

[jagged pagoda]

Nah, you'll be drawing ire, whilst spitting fire.

[jagged pagoda]

Sadge

[solid hare]

We must apply pressure to the wound... aka, deploy PAI directly to the infected area

[ember python]

I appreciate the confidence, but the flyguys'll tell ya, its not easy to hit stuff when you're dodging and ducking and jiving and bounding and hurtling around, haha.

[pliant fjord]

It won't be next round, we'll exit the transit point next round though.

[jagged pagoda]

If we can get past the enemy ships n' stuff

[pliant fjord]

And if that's what we vote to do

[ember python]

Yeah, our boots will still be in the air, but im guessing at least parts of Storm will be on the ground.

[solid hare]

Mmm there'a also mounting pressure for troops at the city since they are being overrun

[pliant fjord]

EDIT: A Vote for Run the Blockade is a vote to NOT INVESTIGATE the life-signs. It's a tragedy, but we can't sacrifice 40 units for the chance of saving an unknown number of civilians.

EDIT: A Vote for Hold the Line is also a vote to BOARD the enemy BC to try and liberate what we can only assume are Lumaran prisoners. However, this action will DELAY our ground invasion by such a long time, that BG: Storm (40 players) will almost certainly perish. It also has the risk of losing our Boarding Party to wanton orbital weaponry, as TF1 has declared their intention to fire on the BC regardless of our actions.

Pinned comment has been edited as well.

@pallid sequoia Seems like you may have called it here :(.
They've got prisoners maybe.

[topaz rivet]

Oh no

[turbid kernel]

I've changed my vote with this new info. We are the most capable boarding task force and we shouldn't blow up this ship without verifying the life signs. We have to board Tormentor and know what's happening. Even if it delays Elim drop.

[halcyon ridge]

I have to agree. Storm should be able to get through and deliver relief to Elim while we’re delayed

[high pike]

Mhm. Hopefully we take minimal damage from the Harassers/Vulture and maybe destroy it.

[solid hare]

Makes sense, I'm down

[pliant fjord]

Attention Atlas

There is an active [poll](#1382037040438181950 message).

It's possible the enemy BC has prisoners.

[solid hare]

I changed my vote we can take advantage of boarding and deny reinforcements for the bots

[tired patio]

Does ATLAS have a logo?

[pliant fjord]

The Latin means "Sworn to Carry your Burdens" (more or less)

I've updated our TTS tokens and created some cleaner assets as well

[tired patio]

Got it!

[bold atlas]

Just to let you guys know from Tf1 we can only board if engines taken out.

[pliant fjord]

Y'all don't have VTOLs?

[shadow sigil]

Nope

Only 1 HAT.

[turbid kernel]

If we board that will be priority one I imagine for us. But a final plan will have to be decided after the poll

[shadow sigil]

Nothing else has carry capacity

[tired patio]

That works

[pliant fjord]

Kk, let us know soon if you plan on blowing everything up

[turbid kernel]

That looks awesome!

[shadow sigil]

We'll keep you posted

[halcyon ridge]

We do have info about where the BC is planning to go… could the Pearl swing around to fire on its engines? Potentially immobilize it for boarding?

[topaz rivet]

No but we could shoot a boarding pod into it

[pliant fjord]

There's no called shots like that in the rules. If they roll a 4 on their attack, it's a crit, starting a fire and disabling a random system.

But from behind, we've got flanking, and can ignore its armor for boarding.

[merry summit]

boarding pods are definitely called shots

[pliant fjord]

Boarding pods are, yes. But not the main weapons

[merry summit]

ah mb misread the responded msg

[turbid kernel]

If we scan her for her layout we can launch the breaching pod directly into her engine room and disable her movement. Then we can pull alongside and board her. Additionally, both Vtols can blow open an airlock with an Engineer and PAI

[merry summit]

how much repair action do yall think these guys have?

also the bc is completely safe to pull up on the starboard side so far right?

[topaz rivet]

Very true

[shadow sigil]

As far as we know. But those LRMs could hurt you badly

[topaz rivet]

Are we sure those are LRMs?

[halcyon ridge]

I’ve been worried they’re phage launchers

[topaz rivet]

I think that’s more likely

[pliant fjord]

in any case, boarding plan includes:

Double Scan, Comm-Int
Breaching pod (from flanking) with Noble INF
VTOL R.Uber - carrying Ixen and Ignite PAIs
VTOL Gristle - carrying Engi Star

[shadow sigil]

It's the LRM token.
I'd assume he'd use something else

[topaz rivet]

Duck

[river vector]

What’s your plan? Victorum is planning to come in and wipe the board

[topaz rivet]

I think it’d be best to pair the PAI with Eng for the auto breach

[river vector]

Are you boarding?

[pliant fjord]

We have a Boarding option ready to go, but we're not gonna do it if you're gonna fire everything at the BC

[topaz rivet]

Me? Yep. Anything to get off the pioneer :p

[river vector]

Roger will check back in when we have a plan that frigate is definitely exploding but we’ll see about the BC

[pliant fjord]

boarding plan includes:

Double Scan, Comm-Int
Breaching pod (from flanking) with Noble INF
VTOL R.Uber - carrying Ixen and Ignite PAIs
VTOL Gristle - carrying Engi Star

[pliant fjord]

VTOL can only carry 6FS. PAI+Engi = 7

[humble urchin]

Sooooo

When do we start planning operation deuce/shit creek ? 🤣

[topaz rivet]

Tarnation

[shadow sigil]

Can you comm-int the frigate? We've got our own for the BC

Also if there is a flight deck let me know. I can land T5.

[solid hare]

So who's our breach target? The big ship?

[topaz rivet]

Yeah

[turbid kernel]

We're deciding if we push on or board the Tormentor since it has life signs aboard

[solid hare]

https://tenor.com/view/wow-meme-gif-25742319

[humble urchin]

Looks at Victorum with their huge ships coming in soon

Looks at Storm out alone against a singular orbital in elim city

...isn't there reinforcement & more important matters ?

[turbid kernel]

They don't really have boarding capability, no breaching pods, no VTOLs

[topaz rivet]

Were the only ones who can rescue/investigate the life signs

[humble urchin]

hm

[marsh osprey]

I am assuming the plan for Soteria is to head back to the fleet and rearm?

[humble urchin]

I think life signs is the thing making up thoses fuckers #midround-events message

Not civilian in need of rescuing

In my opinion

[turbid kernel]

I believe so. The HMGs will help cover your approach unless they come from the side

[river vector]

Oh ya do you guys need help with boarders?

[turbid kernel]

We don't know that for certain and we do have Intel that the bots are taking prisoners. If it turns out that they're enemies or can't be helped than we know to blow up any orbitals with those launchers from here on out. But we don't know unless we board

[topaz rivet]

I don’t think we want to risk being wrong about it

[humble urchin]

Hm, okay.

Well, do as you wish then. We'll be, uh, gambling waiting in the meantime then.

[turbid kernel]

If we're boarded? Don't think so, we have quite a few troops onboard. Only issue would be if they somehow board us while our troops were busy boarding them lol

[pliant fjord]

If boarding group A disables the engines, we can leave and let TF1 hard dock and send in their own marines

[jagged mulch]

-# Shhh, don't tell them about the casino in their cargo bays

[topaz rivet]

The engines only stay down while someone’s there

[pliant fjord]

Attention Atlas

There is an ongoing [poll](#1382037040438181950 message) to decide if we stay to board, hoping to save some possible civilians, or leave to keep our deployment schedule. Please vote now!

I've included details about the boarding maneuver in the "Operations" tab of the doc.

I need to leave for work in 2 hours, I'll be able to communicate, but not work on maps. I'll see what I can do before then.

[turbid kernel]

They have to approach and dock in the same turn. Will they have enough movement? It seems like this would be something we can handle ourselves if we're already on board and within distance one. But if the situation calls for it I can see us pulling back to defend the Sentinel

[pallid sequoia]

https://tenor.com/view/american-dad-damn-it-nose-pick-gif-3541986

If we need a medic to board, Martini squad is standing by

[turbid kernel]

I think there's room on the VTOL carrying the Engineering team. You could catch a ride with them

[pliant fjord]

The VTOL has room for 6 FS. That's one unit (or two PAI)

[turbid kernel]

You're right, forget the engineering team is 4

[pliant fjord]

and splitting squads is only allowed under very specific, noncombat circumstances

[turbid kernel]

Well, we can round 2 launch the medic using the boarding pods lol

[pallid sequoia]

I knew clown college was going to come in handy. ready to be fired out of a cannon, sirs!

[meager sky]

Hello Atlas. I am a visiting fighter from Victorum. I wanted to know what your plans where for day 3. Any clue where your movement might be to or if you need some extra aerospace support.

[pliant fjord]

We've got two plans:
A. Continue running for the gate, and let you blow up everything.

B. Launch a Boarding Mission to seize control of the Tormentor.

Vote pending, though we're leaning B.
If Victorum is planning on blowing everything up, we have to do A by default.

Our fighters have all fired, and taken a hit or two, so unless they want to be distractions for your Bomber squad, they'll be redocking.

[meager sky]

We are planning of blowing up the frigate at least.

we got 3 squads of fighters that plan on running cover for our own bombers.

so please get your pilots back and get them ready for the next tasking.

[loud mulch]

We're hitting it, but we won't kill it if you don't want us to

[pliant fjord]

Can you choose not to kill it?

I guess you could limit the number of attacks?

[turbid kernel]

Another 2 possibilities.

A) We don't breach the engines but the bridge instead. I'm not sure if bots have a "Captain" or equivalent but according to the rules killing the captain knocks the orbital out of commission. So we kill the bot captain and leave. TF1 can board after and take care of the hostages.

B) We breach where the life signs are and try to quickly rescue the hostages and leave the BC (if they are hostages and can be rescued).

Trying to think up options for getting the hostages and being quick for delivery.

[loud mulch]

We're only gonna do about 5 damage max this turn if I did my math correctly

[topaz rivet]

If we breach the bridge we have to kill everyone to take it out

[pliant fjord]

We can't explicitly target the bridge, even with a layout scan

(from space anyway)

If there are no defenders, we go to the bridge once we're inside

[pliant fjord]

Alright, good enough for me

[loud mulch]

2 MBCs on PV
1 MBC on CA
1 MBC on EX
1 Autocannon on EX

I believe

[turbid kernel]

Ah because the bridge isn't a subsystem. Which means we can't target the room the life signs are in either.

[loud mulch]

If it has hit health similar to ours, it should survive

[bold atlas]

Gotta watch out for fire mechanic

[loud mulch]

We're not hitting it with torpedoes, so it should be fine for now

And if whatever crew is busy putting out fires, that'll make boarding easier

[meager sky]

MBC's still cause fires IIRC

[loud mulch]

They can, but it's not guaranteed

[humble urchin]

Just wondering, if you guys do keep fighting here, you guys think we'll be able to secure the starport ?

And by we I mean the whole OP with storm, 212th logi, us, etc

[topaz rivet]

Yes

[loud mulch]

We can have the BC dead in two turns if we really try hard enough

[loud mulch]

How alive you want it, is up to you

[humble urchin]

But can storm & the civies hold for two turns in Elim?

[pliant fjord]

That's why I'm trying to get Shack to agree to let us TOW the Tormentor

We could fight inside while dragging it behind us

[topaz rivet]

If they can’t we’re probably completely screwed anyways

[turbid kernel]

Oh yeah, Fluffle doesn't seem to plan on stopping last I saw almost all their craft can enter atmosphere and provide support. Plus they have fighter and bombers

[pliant fjord]

If a Logi-Truck can tow an immobilized IFV, I don't see why we couldn't do the same

[humble urchin]

Reason more for going to Elim no ?

Just trying to argue the campaign's case really, I only hope this decision isn't gonna be what dooms us because shit hits the fan up in Elim

[pliant fjord]

We're gonna be two turns anyway, even if we don't board. The enemy is cutting us off, and we only got to move 1 range this turn

[humble urchin]

Alright.

Going to the gym, best of luck I guess

[pliant fjord]

Sorry French. We want to get you there asap too

[humble urchin]

[humble urchin]

https://tenor.com/view/vegeta-vegeta-rain-vegeta-sad-dbz-dragon-ball-z-gif-2167897810151461845

[turbid kernel]

Okay, let's say re examine this. We send a breaching pod and keep the engines off. And we keep making speed to the edge of the map. TF1 sends their fastest ship, which has a speed of 3, to board the disabled ship. At some point that makes sense we send out VTOL to pick up our boarding team and catch up with us. Thoughts?

[pliant fjord]

Assuming we can't tow it with us, that's the best case scenario

I think their fastest ship is a repair-scow, and won't want to do that, but it can't hurt to ask

[turbid kernel]

Yeah, their fighters will be keeping engaging the enemy but their bombers are planning on hitting the frigate but I'm not sure if they can kill it before it targets their ship.

[pliant fjord]

would you coordinate that question? I'm rapidly mapping

[turbid kernel]

Yeah I got you

[shadow sigil]

Note, we can't do this.
Our LF is a repair ship only/

[topaz rivet]

If I can get out of the engine room, I should be able to get to one of our VTOLs

[solid hare]

Seems like we have no choice but to get involved with the tormentor getting in the way like that

[red brook]

Don't worry about sticking around to help us. yall's mission is planet side. We will wipe out the orbis here.

[topaz rivet]

We need to board the BC to investigate the life signs

[turbid kernel]

It's not about you it's a out the life signs. We don't want to knowingly kill civilians when we can do something about it

[pallid sequoia]

We're not doubting your ability to handle the orbitals, we're worried about the potential civilians aboard the Tormentor. We're here to help the Lumar, not warcrime them.

[shadow sigil]

If you board we will not kill them.
We recommend you do not board.
It delays the starport drop and could make things very difficult.
Counter boarding the Warren, will probably be more helpful.

[pliant fjord]

We can't catch up to the Warren unfortunately

But we'll respect you're bigger gun diplomacy if you say we must.

[red brook]

Unfortunately if you do that you jeapordize the entire operation.

[shadow sigil]

Could you use the Strat +1 speed to catch them?

[turbid kernel]

We're already delayed and the NPC freighters don't teleport to Elim from what I know.. it'll still take time.

[pliant fjord]

Here's the (very busy) revised boarding plan if we go with it.

[turbid kernel]

That's a waste of an LS

[red brook]

If that BC kills any of the autofreighters the planet defense could be dead before arrival

[topaz rivet]

RP:staying on the pioneer jeopardizes our continued operation

[turbid kernel]

If we disable it's engines it can't turn to shoot anyone

[topaz rivet]

Shouldn’t endurance stay behind the tormentor?

[turbid kernel]

Yeah I was wondering the same, why go infront of the cannon?

[pliant fjord]

We can all flank right instead

[shadow sigil]

We have 0 boarding capability until it's engines are down or you find an open flight deck.
Good luck. We'll probably be shooting the Tormentor based on our guns.

[red brook]

We are just trying to avoid friendly fire. We are going to blast the hell out of the BC so just be aware of that.

[turbid kernel]

That might be the way we have to go if we want to avoid the business end of the cannon.

[solid hare]

Thing is the Tormentor is right in our flight payh anyway, so either way we'll get slowed down

[turbid kernel]

Your choice but you may want take care of the frigate with the double cannons first

[pliant fjord]

Heard. There will be no Boarding Activity.

Once again, apologies to our lovely boarding crews, but we've been vetoed by Victorum's 5 bajillion Main Battle Cannons.

[solid hare]

Awww

[pliant fjord]

Frigate's out of range of their main guns

[shadow sigil]

You can still do it.

We're bombing the frigate

Our main guns don't have anything else to shoot so there may be friendly causlities

[pliant fjord]

The boarding plan was always continent on whether or not you were gonna shoot

[shadow sigil]

We are always shooting

Unless we don't get a line

[pliant fjord]

That's what I assumed would happen.

[red brook]

Yeah, plus boarding will slow yall's deployment of the BG you're carrying

[loud mulch]

We won't kill it this turn, no matter how much we hit it tho, so if you want to make the choice, you have to make it now

[turbid kernel]

I'm not gonna lie. I think this is a horrible call and we're just giving into bullying from firepower. But not my call to make.

[shadow sigil]

If you can help us shoot that'd be nice.
Otherwise you'd need to be off the ship next turn (Off ship by T4)

[pliant fjord]

It takes a turn to breach anyway. We'll get to open the doors, then have to turn around and leave.

[red brook]

Not bullying, just making you aware of what our actions are going to be.

[shadow sigil]

Victorum Peeps, Lets have only Cael handle this

[pliant fjord]

Compromise:

1 VTOL boarding with both PAI.

We'll get eyes inside, but can still leave if necessary.

[soft sluice]

TF1 just doesn’t have much in the way of boarding capability, and it looks like you’re rushing off to a different location so, only solution remaining is to fire.

[pliant fjord]

The VTOL can catch up with the fleet

[red brook]

Thanks cobalt, I was afraid we were starting to dogpile

[topaz rivet]

The VTOL with 2 PAI can get have one breach and the other board

[pliant fjord]

You sure?

[topaz rivet]

Why not?

[turbid kernel]

By saying we'll shoot you if you do. Look, this is meant to be a fun game. So I'm gonna drop it and leave it at that

[red brook]

I wasn't saying we would shoot you intentionally. Just that we are shooting the BC and idk if shack will have rules of boarding crews taking damage from fire hitting the ship they are boarding.

[topaz rivet]

Presumably not since there’s no rules for crew taking damage from enemy fire on our own ships

[turbid kernel]

Okay, that's fair. I didn't understand you meant by rules you think you might have to shoot. My bad on that. But it's a new rule that might need clarification

[red brook]

The fire rules do cause crew damage, last I checked and MBCs have a 50% chance of causing fires.

[shadow sigil]

There is no rule about that

When an orbital takes damage it has a decent chance to spark a fire. On any attack that rolls a D4 or greater a fire is started and a random system is either shut down, or degraded. If a fire continues to the end of the next round the vessel takes 1 hit worth of damage per fire. A Primary Action by a member of the taskforce is needed to fight the fire.
(However if the ship dies to fires while you are on board you die.)

[pliant fjord]

@red brook
Compromise Mission:

1 VTOL with our two PAI can board to get eyes inside. We can take the heat.
If there are Civvies inside, we call a cease fire, you stop shooting and we delay a turn to transfer control of the Tormentor to Victorum. If not, we can leave immediately, and the VTOL can catch up with the Fleet.

Might as well send both VTOLs, but not the Breaching Pod (sorry Noble).

[red brook]

Also all we can do as a TF is shoot tbh. With the entire remaining BGs coming in behind us we just think it is most prudent to clear these orbis asap. Unfortunately boarding is just time intensive.

[red brook]

That works

[shadow sigil]

Also, it's not a compromise.
You can do your original plan still.
We will be shooting, this may lead to the ship's destruction and your death.
We wanted to make sure you are aware of that.
We want to kill the ship as fast as possible

[topaz rivet]

What’s the plan if there’s enough hostile that it takes 3-4 turns to clear the ship?

[pliant fjord]

It's why we're scanning it and starting in the engine room to disable it.

[ember python]

if TF1 won't hold fire, we shouldn't board.

[pliant fjord]

Then Victorum can hard dock and transfer their own marines aboard.

[turbid kernel]

Can we get a confirmation from Dres or Shack if allied orbitals automatically engage a boarded ship or not? This is a new rules interaction that might help the situation.

[pliant fjord]

The compromise is that you respect the cease fire if it's called.

[turbid kernel]

Cobalt is saying they might not have a choice by rules I believe

[pliant fjord]

Orbitals can pick their targets

[turbid kernel]

But do they always automatically engage a target is the question I believe.

[unborn stirrup]

Generally you can’t attack friendly units which I think would override any auto targeting since you could end up with one player forced to kill multiple allied units if it would work that way

[shadow sigil]

The concern is we cause enough fires to kill the ship.

[topaz rivet]

That seems unlikely

[shadow sigil]

I don’t think shack will let us blow it up instantly if friendly are on board

[turbid kernel]

That's my understanding as well but they believe different. We may need a rules clarification is all.

[shadow sigil]

But fires that the crew didn’t handle could still take it out

[topaz rivet]

You’d have to both start that many fires and the bots would have to not put them out

[shadow sigil]

If having friendlies on board means we can’t shoot that’s not good.
But we can hit it and deal enough damage that the fires from the previous round could kill it.

[red brook]

The ruling for orbis picking targets: #shack-chat message

[shadow sigil]

We can pick targets though

So if you need we can not shoot it

[pliant fjord]

Sounds like 11% of a plan to me.

[topaz rivet]

There may already be friendlies on board, that’s why we want to check

[shadow sigil]

Not confirmed and we already shot it so I assume we can keep shooting.

But if you board we will try not to kill it while you’re on board

It may die anyways and you will too.
New information will change our plans

[pliant fjord]

That risk is one I'm ok with. Up to @solid hare and @twin cypress or @opaque pagoda if they're ok shuttling us.

[twin cypress]

Need a ride?

[shadow sigil]

If you find there's nothing worth saving, we'd like to be able to blow it up.
So on and able to get off fast would be nice.

[pliant fjord]

That is the plan.

[unborn stirrup]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet since it bc seems to be a manufacturer planet we could get a lot of intel on bot equipment from it if we capture it

[topaz rivet]

I am thinking that using the boarding pods without swarming the ship is highly likely to end poorly, since they’ll be unable to withdraw

[pliant fjord]

It's possible there are Civilians aboard the enemy BC. We're considering a risky boarding operation:
You, Me, Dasfier breach to get eyes inside. If there are Civilians, we call a cease fire, and take the ship.

You'd have to shuttle us through possible enemy fire, which is the danger

[twin cypress]

hollup vtols can fly through space?

[topaz rivet]

Yes

[twin cypress]

short distances only then, i suppose

[pliant fjord]

I've gotta head to work, can someone fill in the plan details?

[twin cypress]

ill do anything for some action

[unborn stirrup]

Vtol are aerospace units

[shadow sigil]

Victorum can have fighters in the air nearby

We're doing a bombing run on the frigate

[noble owl]

While I would appreciate the intel into bot operations and production I think valuing possible civilian lives in this instance is not wise unless you’re confident we will have complete superiority and can board in the next two turns

[topaz rivet]

The plan is to load up a VTOL with both PAI and then fly over to the Tormentor (hostile BC). It should be possible to avoid their HMG. First PAI should be able to blow the hatch and the second PAI goes through. With further scanning, we can board close enough to the engines to shut them down. Depending on what we find, either you leave immediately or you stay so the PAI keep the engines shut down until friendly orbitals can board with reinforcements

[topaz rivet]

If we were wise, we wouldn’t have signed up

[noble owl]

Fair enough🤷‍♂️

[unborn stirrup]

Could you use the engineer to destroy the hatch have the vtol leave then deploy the pai vtol?

[pallid sequoia]

Campaign Briefing:
Our job is simple. Help the local population best we can, defend the Lumar, and hold the hostile back long enough for the federal / syndicate fleets to arrive. (emphasis Shack's)

The mission is to value civilian lives. This is why we're here.

[noble owl]

As best we can. I don’t think risking aerospace assets and time for these potential civilian lives is worth it. For all we know they’ve been experimented on and turned into cyborgs already

[pallid sequoia]

Then we have a better idea of what we're up against on the ground, win win

[jagged mulch]

I'd argue it's worth a shot regardless

[tired patio]

Is phalanx involved in this operation?

you aboard either fleets?

[turbid kernel]

We can use both VTOLs I believe, one can carry both PAI and one carries an engineer. We breaching pod the engines and keep them disabled which (as long as TF1 can handle the double cannon frigate), have enemy orbitals disabled or destroyed by the time the auto shuttles show up.

[tired patio]

Endurance is happy to assist. Just need to make sure atlas is all on board for this. We're not the most combaty of Taskforces 😄

[ember python]

The intel would be highly valuable moving forward, however, securing the starbase is critical for the entire operation. its touchy.

[tired patio]

All Battlegroup transports and Victorum are arriving next turn.

[noble owl]

Nope not at all and I see the point. Just wanted to offer a perspective

[tired patio]

So.. we get aboard with a hand full of units see if we can get eyes on any locals.

or Intel.

[pliant fjord]

That's the plan. The boarding party are willing.

[topaz rivet]

… or Banksia uses breaching pods to disable the engines, then Endurance and Picketline dock (I don’t see why this couldn’t happen in one turn). With both VTOLs (2xPAI on one), we could get 6 units (forced docking doesn’t seem to require blowing the hatch) on the BC by the end of next turn

[tired patio]

Can we do so and give victorum a clear shot. Nothing says we can't pound away at some parts of the ship while boarding another.

Thing is a beast. 🤔

[pliant fjord]

The biggest concerns are the fire hazard, and the delay in deploying BG12

[tired patio]

Depends on BG12 is feeling. Could be good to get on the deck a little slower. Better view of the current situation.

[topaz rivet]

BG12 isn’t on our ships yet

[tired patio]

how does BG12 plan on deploying?

[pliant fjord]

They're super antsy, but Storm can't hold forever either.

Plan A is dock at the spaceport.

Plan B is we deploy them from space/LO over two rounds.

[full owl]

As a member of Iron Hammer (BG12) I think I have you answer:

Some of our group Is with Atlas but the majority agrees that this is too big of risk, specially with Storm close to ground and without heavy support...

In the end of the day we gonna respect Atlas decision even if most of us don't agree...

[tired patio]

Lets give it the evening to think.

We just had the info drop.

let others get a chance to chime in.

[pliant fjord]

If we could tow the Tormentor with us, we'd have the best of both worlds.

[topaz rivet]

We can’t transit out next turn regardless. So we can investigate a little bit without delaying the drop

[full owl]

I don't think Shack will let that happen 🤣

[topaz rivet]

If we swarm as above, the best case is we’ll be in nav 1 at the end of next turn instead of over Elim

[pliant fjord]

Hey, if a Logi-truck can tow an Immobilized IFV, surely two Battlecruisers could drag a disabled one?

[tired patio]

We cant tow a active combat vessel

[pliant fjord]

Even disabled? Damn.

[tired patio]

same issue with "picking up" active vehicles on the battlefield with a HVTOL

can't do it.

[pliant fjord]

Understood, we'll make do

[tired patio]

and just taking out main thrust doesnt = disabled.

[topaz rivet]

Current tactical poll: #1382037040438181950 message

[rapid sail]

So what I'm hearing is, I should aim for the weapons next

[pliant fjord]

unless you wanna get a hit on that Frigate

[rapid sail]

I shoot at whatever Captain Cheese gives me a targeting solution for, so that one is more his call than mine.

[pallid sequoia]

Once we've all taken a day to think on it, I hope Iron Hammer gets an equal voice in the decision. We made a commitment to get you to the action and should be respectful of that.

[solid hare]

I was summoned, what are we doing?

[wide quiver]

🥳 New round.

[plain dew]

Regarding the poll on what Atlas should do: I vote to push through. The mission critical objective of our task force and storm is to take the starport to allow our ground forces to deploy. Saving potential prisoners while sacrificing the civilians in the mine, or possibly the entire planet if we fail to secure the starport, seems like too great of risk to me. Also storm is basically on their own right now. There are a ton of unknown signatures there, of which some might be AA capable, which means the longer we leave storm alone the more causalities they will take.

[tired patio]

One pro for helping. If we can clear this area it will make traveling this area quicker. Unless more enemy re-enforcements arrive. No more tactical map would be needed.

[rapid sail]

Would make Logi easier, plus, i don't fancy having hostile guns pointed at my back

[plain dew]

IMO we trust TF1 to handle this one, they are the space force. Our mission is planet side.

[topaz rivet]

If we put our bombers and the AC on it, what are the odds we hurt the BC enough for TF1 to kill it?

Though my vote is to swarm it because I doubt a smaller boarding party will accomplish anything and we’d just have to swarm it afterwards if there are civilians to rescue

[pliant fjord]

No bombers, and our fighters are out of ammo

we'll do at MOST 1 hit

[topaz rivet]

Oh, they all went to Fuffle

[wide quiver]

Logi is your job so if killing them makes logi easier than I think that's what we should do. But if I'm reading this right well then supply comes from us not the gate. So we did great job with what we had but I think we're a wrench and this is a nail.
At the same time how soon do our ground units need supply? If they don't need our help for the next few turns then lets stay here and help who we can now.
I'm asking how soon our ground units need us.

[pliant fjord]

Storm said they're confident holding for 2 turns

which is about how long it'd take for us if we could make it to the gate now, but I don't think we can

[wide quiver]

Holding for 2 turns once they hit the ground or 2 turns now?

[pliant fjord]

not sure, feel free to hop over and ask

[wide quiver]

Well if they need us there in two turns then we have people who need our supply. We should get there asap. But if it's gonna be 4 turns until we need to be in orbit then I think we have 2 turns to spare.

I'll go ask.

[pliant fjord]

Yea, unless we burn LS AND don't get stopped by that Frigate, we won't be able to transfer this turn.

We're speed 2

[plain dew]

We could double move.... I forget how horrible that is to do in combat tho

[wide quiver]

Well if we are so damn slow then I think we need to get moving towards the landing.

My hand is yours if you need me.

[shadow sigil]

RUSH?

That's for ground vehicles only

[plain dew]

Wait a minute...

@pliant fjord

[humble urchin]

Yeah, I think maybe most of us are feeling it'd be better to just go through to come and help storm and get hands on the planet as soon as we can ?
But as darkhen said we'll respect what atlas wants to do

[plain dew]

Our TF can make 4116 faster then the bots

We don't have to go around

[humble urchin]

After all, we're just illegal immegrants in the back of the trunk so far, until you guys have declared us legal and we get on the passenger seats. 🤣

[midnight lotus]

Who is running scanners in atlas this turn?

If you know

[plain dew]

Also need to consider the civie ships... If we bank right there is nothing between them and the bots. Regardless of if we board or not, I think we need to push straight forward and tell the civies to go to the station (they are still positioned to move towards the gate)

[pliant fjord]

Reminder there's a poll:

#1382037040438181950 message

If we run the blockade, we could burn LS, and punch it to race past the BC, but the Frigate could still intercept us and make us stop

Which would mean we wasted the LS

[midnight lotus]

Anyway whoever is scanning, just gonna pop this reminder and suggest you talk with @ Karl and @ sonofskz to coordinate who is scanning for what.

[lusty briar]

How much health does a repair kit fix?

[shadow sigil]

1 hit

Unless you use DCT, then it's 2.

[lusty briar]

Okay I'll see if I can get one more person to pop my second repair kit

[novel oak]

DCT only helps on the ship its on right?

[shadow sigil]

Yes

And it can only work twice.

For 1 crew member.

[novel oak]

I want an upgrade for like ship repair thing at some point

[shadow sigil]

Repair arm exists

[novel oak]

just have a repair ship tag along

oh right

[shadow sigil]

But let’s not gum up Atlas

[novel oak]

that would do it

[novel oak]

sorry

[topaz rivet]

Poll: #1382037040438181950 message

[sage perch]

So for me an Varsson, is it just keep shooting at someone

Probably Brawler/Bruiser

[craggy dragon]

Okay I have three hours till I will be radio silent in the wilderness. I should be back before 6 on Sunday, but would really appreciate a rough idea of what we are doing so I can prep as an engineer. 😁

[pliant fjord]

hooboy, got three plans going with a vote, I'm typing up a doc for it, but not quite done.

Basically:
there are life-signs on the enemy ship, possibly Lumaran Prisoners.

A - Run away fast, get to Elim
B - Board the BC with everything possible and take it to free the prisoners
C - Board it in a fly-by to get eyes inside while under fire

They all have pros and cons

I think from an Engi perspective, you might need to crew up a module, safest bet is a flight deck

[craggy dragon]

Okay

[pliant fjord]

HERE'S THE THREE PLANS

[strange wigeon]

ayo, this is a nice prep

[pliant fjord]

I do try 🙂

[turbid kernel]

You do stellar work, Ixen

Can a Hat hard dock? I thought only Orbitals could do that?

[pliant fjord]

Ah, no. Only Orbitals. It'd have to be the tiny repair crawler to deliver the marines

[sage perch]

we have its planned route, right?

possibly bad idea, 4316W

[turbid kernel]

They don't have enough crew to man all their station and transfer infantry over for a boarding according to cobalt. @shadow sigil , Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[sage perch]

I want to see if Varsson can get a round into their engine

Problem is that might be too sharp of a turn

[pliant fjord]

They can just load up all of their infantry onto the Freighter in preparation for the boarding, no?

Crew can move between ships in the taskforce, they just can't operate equipment that they're not crew for, I thought.

[jolly verge]

do we want to edit/open a new poll for the 3 Options you drafted?

[turbid kernel]

I think that's the thing, they're relying on those infantry to man stations. onboard. I, 100%, could be misunderstanding what they meant though.

[pliant fjord]

Yes, I'll do that soon, want to confirm with Victorum first

[shadow sigil]

Yes, that’s the case

[topaz rivet]

I don't know if TF1's infantry will be enough to take the Tormentor

[pliant fjord]

Ah, that makes sense. God help them if they get boarded.

[shadow sigil]

The infantry can but then we’d need to re dock in order to get them back

[pliant fjord]

Is that gonna be a problem?

[shadow sigil]

All of the ships would need to dock with the Tormentor

[jolly verge]

and i would hold onto one of our (my) scan if we choose one of the options to jump away, so we can more intensively scan the thing above Elim

[shadow sigil]

Well. 1 and then it’s be 2 turns per ship that doesn’t.
And the PV has a lot of guns

It’s okay if they don’t all shoot

[maiden belfry]

yeah Fairlie what are you thinking Scan wise?

we should ask Karl and son of skz as well

though im honeslty not sure which karl it is

[shadow sigil]

It should be Kael

Our TACCOM

[maiden belfry]

oh thank you read a message before that said karl was going to go look thats even easier

[jolly verge]

its my first campaign and i dont know much about this campaign, but im thinking, we need to scan the enemy BC if we want to board it and we also need good intel about the frigate(?) above Elim, because thats the next thing that wants to stop us deploying (and we can also board it for more intel about the bots and might aswell take it as ours if that works)

anyway im off taking my meds, my wrist still hurts :( see you in some time

[maiden belfry]

yeah no worries, agreed, lets see what the poll says

then we can either scan crazy here or perhaps double scan the drop pod ship

[pliant fjord]

Hmm. Double scan the Vulture for plan A, Single scan the Tormentor (layout) for plan B or C?

[maiden belfry]

that's where my brains at, I wonder what er storm is doing as well

looks like they are descending, at least from the plans being drawn up

[jolly verge]

Plan A: Double scan + Comm Int Vulture
Plan B: Double scan (+Comm int ?) the Tormentor
Plan C: One Scan Tormentor - other scan + Comm int Vultre

[jolly verge]

is my proposal

[frigid tartan]

They don't really have an option but to get in ASAP. I don't think they can fight the fighters in VTOLs.

[maiden belfry]

that makes complete sense fair enough

[high pike]

Plan A is y'all booking it for Elim City - High Orbit?

[pliant fjord]

#1382037040438181950 message

[jolly verge]

can we (idk if i can) edit the table, so there is a "How to Fire Control" and that the scanner/Comm Intercept How to are below each other as the Actions are?

[pliant fjord]

Feel free, I'm doing other things

[jolly verge]

Im trying some stuff out and see how it looks, but i dont know how the "fire Control" stuff works

[jolly verge]

ty

so it is also something reactive after the fire has broken out

[pliant fjord]

I think the cons of plan B make it completely impossible

Victorum is basically useless in any boarding operation, and would take so long to get there that the NPC Battlegroups would get there before we do

[turbid kernel]

and TF1 really don't want to board

Oh Ixen, do you have that link for when shack mentioned that TFs don't all need flight decks to move crew around

[pliant fjord]

no, but friendly ships can dock while moving

[turbid kernel]

If B is impossible and TF1 doesn't want to board. We're only left with A right?

[pliant fjord]

We could still do C, and just leave with the info.

It's still possible victorum would be able to disable and board the ship on their own.

or perhaps order it to surrender

[jolly verge]

I dont think some not really sentient electronical calculators will understand/comply with the surrender

[sage perch]

Ix, what do you think of my plan to try and get behind the Tormentor and knock their engine

[turbid kernel]

Unlikely, bots and all. I think they're 100% convinced they should blow it up and not board. We could still get the info but I'm not sure they can evacuate hostages even then.

[halcyon ridge]

I just can’t get behind asking any of our marines to board a ship that has a chance of being destroyed by the end of next round… I really want any intel it has aboard not to mention what’s likely a lot of prisoners that we have the means to extract but I can’t get behind sending them into friendly fire like that

[pliant fjord]

God this whole dilemma sucks ass.

-# sorry

[turbid kernel]

They're choosing to fire though.

[pliant fjord]

Plan A makes the most sense, but it sounds like TF1 is at least going to order it to surrender

If we don't want to abandon Storm, who is alone on the planet with no support, then even with plan C, we're just passing the moral dilemma on to someone else

and if we do abandon storm, we're sacrificing 40 player characters to save civilians

[jolly verge]

I dont think risking any of our people is worth it, if we delay our main objective and our own allys will shoot at us. We sadly cant save potential civilian against both major (space) forces of this campaign

[turbid kernel]

Fair enough. puts a rancid taste in my mouth though.

[pliant fjord]

Sure does

[jolly verge]

yeah mine too, but we cant control our crazy funny guys on the huge guns

[humble urchin]

3 now ?!

Christ

[pliant fjord]

Back down to one, French

[turbid kernel]

Once we drop off hammer, I think we do things our way for the rest of the campaign. No more acquiescing for everyone else's benefit.

[humble urchin]

1 ????

This went from 2 to 1 to 2 to 3 to 1

[pliant fjord]

Well there's a huge moral dilemma here

[humble urchin]

aye, but besides that there's a logistical one

as in, if we no spaceport take, then we campaign over

but how long can the civies hold, how fast can storm get in there ?

idk, do you ?

big problems.

[turbid kernel]

We're rushing Elim, not a guarantee we'll make it though. The Frigate can interdict us

[humble urchin]

You just tell us when we get landed bossman, thoses kind of logistical/moral big dilemmas that take time to solve ain't for us.

[topaz rivet]

If we swarm the Tormentor, TF1 won't have a shot

[humble urchin]

We just smash stuff with our hammers.

[pliant fjord]

yea, it's plan A or slightly more careful plan A

[pliant fjord]

Hey, you came HERE

[humble urchin]

Because I'm curious ! 🤣

I'm trying to keep up a bit !

[jolly verge]

also whats with that vulture? I think our secondary objective next turn should be to intercept it, stop the deployment of their drop troops and maybe board it to get intel (and maybe a new ship we can use)

[shadow sigil]

You can do that.
All of your actions are 100% your choices.

[humble urchin]

I may be an illegal immigrant in the trunk but I like listening to what the drivers are sayin' !

[turbid kernel]

Fluffle will likely get it before we get there

[jolly verge]

I completely forgot they are still with Storm 🤦‍♂️

[halcyon ridge]

My vote is we form up and make best speed for Elim, let Victorum do what they came here for at the gate. The spaceport is still vital to our primary objective. I don’t like it but it’s the best path forward I can see from our current position

[turbid kernel]

Yeah a lot of people seemed to.

[jolly verge]

are they strong enough to delete the vulture in one turn out of existence? otherwise we can still lay out a boarding mission

also is there a possibility to research their wreck?

[turbid kernel]

They're still a zone away but they'll be there next turn. they have bombers and autocannons and fighters. they should be fine

[turbid kernel]

Not my call to make but maybe unlikely? I guess it's dependent on how generous Shack is feeling lol

[sage perch]

So are we continuing on?

[turbid kernel]

yeah

[pliant fjord]

This is a reminder to VOTE in the poll. I've added some more context on the comment below it:
[POLL](#1382037040438181950 message)

No need to delete and remake it I think.

[jolly verge]

Do we know what the situation at the damar rock space station? It could still be that there are enemys too who wants to get taken care of

[sage perch]

can we get all the way to Elim this round

[topaz rivet]

Are we sure Stormblessed can't hold long enough for the NPC freighters?

[jolly verge]

no we arent, the thing is we dont want to find out the hard way

[turbid kernel]

They said they think they could hold for 2 turns. I'm not sure if they accounted for Fluffle's help though

[pliant fjord]

no, but their estimate of how long they can hold out after landing is 2 turns.

[turbid kernel]

We have no confirmed data I believe but Iron Hammer is already getting antsy to land it seems lol

[jolly verge]

yeah but it might be a thing worth it checking out later

[turbid kernel]

Agreed but Fluffle might beat us to the punch. They're planning on exploring the space lanes I believe

[jolly verge]

yeah, it doesnt matter who checks them out, I was just thinking, what if there are some of the toasters doing some atrocius stuff to the population

[pliant fjord]

Atlas,

We've communicated with TF1, and our plans to board are once again basically shot. We'd have no support, be under constant threat of dying to friendly fire, and even if we found Civilians aboard, we'd be abandoning STORM to almost certain death. Nobody here would hold it against you if you still wanted to board and spend the time here to do what we can, we'll do what the majority wants to do.

[THIS](#1382037040438181950 message) is the ongoing poll regarding this decision, it's a big one, and it's not gonna be the last.

I ask that you leave this message visible for a few hours at least, to give Epsilon shift a chance to see it.

[turbid kernel]

Thank you , Ixen. There may be no bosses here but I appreciate your leadership in moving us forward

[strange wigeon]

[pliant fjord]

This is what I've got so far for Plan A: Run the Blockade.
Not as sexy as a boarding, but hey, at least we'll live, and get to the ground faster.

This is clarified a bit in the Operations tab, but feel free to ask questions

If you're just showing up, Plan B: "Board the BC and look for Lumar survivors" is likely to fail for many reasons, including likely friendly fire from TF1, but would also delay us so badly that Storm is likely to perish while waiting for us.

[turbid kernel]

We'll be crossing across all three MBCs. But it's the most direct way to get back on schedule for delivery. I think this is the best path forward to get us to Elim and deliver Iron Hammer to the battlefield.

[pliant fjord]

It's gonna hurt. Damage control/Fire suppression teams be ready, we'll need you soon.
Flight Deck personnel, time to repair and rearm 'Soteria' squad!

If anyone wants to RP hailing the Lumar fleet, we'd love to encourage them to follow us, and split off towards the Mining Rocks.

[merry summit]

Would mirroring the path work to get us there as well? Less chance to get shot by that first mbc

Or was that the point there?

[pliant fjord]

The thinking was we'd want as much wiggle room away from those ships as possible, we're faster than the BC with our Hard Burn, but we also want the Frigate NOT to cut us off either.

But also take the most direct path, to get as close as possible

Happy to hear suggestions, I'm just one person

[turbid kernel]

We would also want to act as shields for the civilian crafts to hide behind. They natively should have speed three as light freighters and should be able to keep up

This path would allow that

[pliant fjord]

-# also realizing the guns on the orbitals are way too small, and I'll re-import them before I submit on Monday.

[merry summit]

Actually new idea: if we dock with the civies can we hand over gate codes for them to get away safely without fear of bots getting those codes from our transmissions?

[pliant fjord]

-# Except the Pearl, the Pearl is perfect as always

Maybe we can do that in transit, and they can deliver the message by hand to the holdouts at the mine?

[turbid kernel]

We also, need to be aware that we are the only targets that can be fired at. Which means we face a very real possibility of those boarding droids latching on to us and boarding. Luckily for us we have plenty of marines looking for a fight

[merry summit]

Not trying to slow us down or anything here just seeing if it’s something we’d look at

[pliant fjord]

docking shouldn't slow us down either

[turbid kernel]

It's a fair point. But yeah, it's something that doesn't have to be done in front of the enemy. They can return when the gate is clear.

[merry summit]

Just making alignments work out is my only slight concern

Or npcs doing something dumb and/or being bugged somehow already

[pliant fjord]

Yea, I think if we avoid a broadcast transmission, there's no chance of giving it to the bots by mistake. And as long as we hold our gate, we can fascilitate some quality evacuations

-# let's not tell fluffle

[merry summit]

-# cuz they can’t be trusted?

Just imagining the npcs zoom past them the next turn sayin seeya

[pliant fjord]

-# na, they just blabbed about how little intel we had, and how they were Task Force THREE. meaning reinforcements were coming.

-# probably not a big deal

[turbid kernel]

https://tenor.com/view/running-fast-escape-gif-14486446

TF 3 in a nutshell

[pliant fjord]

gonna be us next turn lol

https://tenor.com/view/bitcoin-blockchain-cryptocurrency-gains-avalanche-gif-23550515

[turbid kernel]

https://tenor.com/view/im-in-the-need-for-speed-gif-27579403

[signal stream]

I presume we’re spending LS to be ‘Supplied’ (So orbitals and fighters can re-arm)?

[pliant fjord]

Assuming we didn't enter the gate pre-supplied

[signal stream]

Yeah fair point, I just presume we don't start supplied

[turbid kernel]

Yeah, I'm assuming we do but I don't know either way lol.

[pliant fjord]

same, not sure why we would be

I did ask, unanswered

Good Morning Atlas Epsilon,

We've communicated with TF1, and our plans to board are once again basically shot. We'd have no support, be under constant threat of dying to friendly fire, and even if we found Civilians aboard, we'd be abandoning STORM to almost certain death. Nobody here would hold it against you if you still wanted to board and spend the time here to do what we can, we'll do what the majority wants to do.

[THIS](#1382037040438181950 message) is the ongoing poll regarding this decision, it's a big one, and it's not gonna be the last.

[THIS](#1382037040438181950 message) is Plan A as I currently understand it. (It's also on the Operations Tab of the doc).

I am headed to bed, and have a friend's bachelor party most of the day tomorrow. Please keep discussing and planning! I'll be around to check in in the morning, but will otherwise be phone-only. As always, tag me with something important if need be.

[ember python]

and a rear facing HMG -- dakka dakka can help. my current gut thought is the launchers aren't for LRMs like has been assumed, but they launch the swarming virus bots out of the factory.

[jagged pagoda]

That’s my thought exactly

Also, morning, thanks Ixen for the summary, you’re a saint :)

[royal sequoia]

Morning Atlas

I see Atlas is also hightailing it

I was hoping we had a chance to rescue the people on that ship, but Victorum seems to be really itching to use their big guns

[jagged pagoda]

Yeah :/

I’m calling it that the bots need people in the same capacity as the cyber men from DW, in that they need the brain

I hopefully shouldn’t need to define DW until alpha wakes up

[strange wigeon]

Squint you guys were mathing that battlecruiser at 1 hp left... yeah?

[ember python]

I don't think so, no.

I think Tormentor took one damage, not has one left.

Black Pearl cranked it and barely penetrated. and i don't think anything else has fired on it yet

[strange wigeon]

I mean, at the end of this next turn

[ember python]

As far as i know we haven't discussed that

[strange wigeon]

ah I might be getting peeps mixed up then

[ember python]

understandable, there are a lot of us around these parts

[twin cypress]

Ok so no boarding mission?

[plain dew]

I can't sleep, so might as well armco. If we go with the burn fast option, I think we run this path with the fighters in evasion, with olivine at the outer most wing so they are targeted last. It will hopefully burn the BC HMG before TF1 arrives which will give their fighters and bombers free reign. I think all of TF2 should target the fighters, we could get lucky and do just enough to wipe them out basically so TF1 only has to deal with the orbitals. Fleet wise, probably want our two BC on the right hand side to eat those MBC shots, and want our smaller ships tucked away on the left side to avoid accidently getting one tapped.

[plain dew]

Probably not

[twin cypress]

👍(•_•)👍

[humble urchin]

Hey, how's it going Atlas ?

[frigid tartan]

Is there a chance the frigate just dies to Atlas firepower as you advance past?

[halcyon ridge]

Probably not without it getting a shot off we act simultaneously with the bots

[turbid kernel]

We have no real firepower besides Pearl's 1 auto cannon and our HMGs. We're better suited to try to clear out their remaining fighters.

[turbid kernel]

We're burning forward to Elim.

[humble urchin]

I was asking more morale wise then plan wise ngl.

How you guys feeling about all this ?

[tired patio]

I don't allow friendly fire in general. This has been a rule since the first campaign so don't worry about that

Also, who is the asshat that decided that they would fire on a ship that was currently being boarded for rescue operations? I'd love to know who thought that was a good idea

[frigid tartan]

Someone in Victorum was where the idea came from.

[humble urchin]

Burning includes using 1 large supply per ship to get them to go faster yeah ?

I'm not too aware/on point with orbital rules

[tired patio]

No, it's for the entire task force

French, please read the strategic doc in the pins

#meta-comm

That should get you caught up on orbital stuff

[humble urchin]

Alright.

[tired patio]

Let's all remember storm volunteered for their role

We've also got rabbit that'll be able to land anywhere because they're going to the station to pick up the drop ships

And in a couple rounds there will be so many ground forces at the starport. We may not be able to unload them all

[wintry pawn]

We're not making it to the city this round are we?

[royal sequoia]

Definitely not x)

[turbid kernel]

Yeah, I just woke up so I don't have the measure of everyone yet. Either way, I know I'm burning to make our delivery! It's gonna feel great watching Hammer's tanks coming to the rescue

[turbid kernel]

Nope. We'll make it to Nav 1 but we'll be at the city next turn and can begin dropping our drop forces

[royal sequoia]

There's still time to make decisions, so even though I'm not here anymore, I would still urge Atlas to consider the staying here and boarding the battlecruiser option. If they have lifeforms aboard, that means civilians to rescue, and that seems definitely worth the risk.

[wintry pawn]

Welp, I'll just kick my feet up then.

[turbid kernel]

*Iron Hammer's

[humble urchin]

Ay, let's them make their decisions.
They've got enough of 400 players' pressure on 'em, no need to add ourselves in the mix. 😅

And so burning as in atmo-fuel burning then ?

[tired patio]

Another pro for staying is if we can clear this area victorium can get to the Capitol much faster.

Assuming working together we can clear the threat from this area, meaning clear the tactical map.

And it's not like storms by themselves. Fluffle is right behind them

[royal sequoia]

I'm allowed, it's my soul Taskforce :p

Could the boarding of the battlecruiser succeed in one round? With really good rolls or something

After all, Atlas has heavy duty boarding crews, engies to breach doors, PAI to murder through, boarding pods, etc...

[turbid kernel]

The boarding? Yeah we can disable the ships engines and have a 2nd squad of PAI onboard. But we don't know how many are onboard. The fight to clear the ship can take multiple turns.

[royal sequoia]

even if it looses a turn or two, saving civilians (which we are being paid to do) seems worth the effort

with victorum arriving, the risk seems minimal

[jagged mulch]

The biggest risk is by doing so, iron hammers will take longer to get to Elim, possibly risking civilian lives

[turbid kernel]

The risk to Storm is great though even if they volunteered. Plus we will be giving up 5 LS to carry a BG and if we delay too long they might as well have taken the auto shuttles. Feels like we wouldn't be keeping our word to another group. "On time, on target, every time."

[royal sequoia]

You cannot do anything about storm anymore

Whatever you do, their fate is sealed one way or another x)

by the time you arrive to elim the starport will be secured or they'll be all dead

Like, they're landing this turn. Atlas is making it to Elim in 4 turns. Without burning LS that is.

And regarding civilians on Elim, I'd rather have Atlas take the chance now to save people now than the hypothetic chance of saving more civilians later.

[tired patio]

The biggest problem with boarding the battle cruiser is the fact that it's a battle cruiser so it's going to have a good number of crew. Assuming giant robot warships have crew.

[jagged mulch]

Yeah, it would be slightly annoying considering we even closed recruiting so you could only use 5 LS rather than maybe having to use 6 in order to take us 😅

[tired patio]

Storm has a task force directly behind them

Another question is where are we dropping them? Because if we're just dropping them at the starport they might as well take the normal shuttle

I'm not saying boarding is a good idea. Just that some of the reasons are a bit weird on why we can't

The biggest issue is just the number of people we have for boarding. Actually having a chance to win the fight long enough to establish what's going on aboard ship.

[wintry pawn]

I don't think boarding is a good move.

[humble urchin]

Ay, as long as we get landed one day or another, I'm good tbh.

We're landed at the same time as other BGs ? Not a problem, at least we're landed

[turbid kernel]

4 turns? Maybe my math ain't mathing but (assuming all went according to plan, which is a big assumption) we should make it to Nav point 1 at the end of this round and storm makes planet fall. But next round we'll be in orbit and can start (at minimum) dropping some forces into the city. So 2 turns?

[tired patio]

The battlegroup that we're carrying. What kind of group are they?

[humble urchin]

The worst for us would be to have committed to this only for like 3 turns later for Atlas to have been somehow destroyed and "hey, so you're gonna have to take the npc transport, and btw, since you didn't declare you were on it, well, you're late"

[humble urchin]

Bit of everything, pretty much.
Let me fetch you the graph.

Basically a good mix of mechanized units (MBTs, IFVs, light mechs) and of infantry-focused ones (Infantry, engineers, medics), along with a smidge of artillery, and a few VTOLs & Logi trucks for logistical purposes.

(and one HVTOL)

[high pike]

Everything but atmo-flight aerospace

[royal sequoia]

You can drop to Elim only from the center of the map. So Atlas would still have to move from the edge towards to center

Like so

actually five turns for atlas in that case. One to the edge of Lussan gate, two to elim map, and then three within elim map

[turbid kernel]

I thought that's where we needed to be for Space Port access?

[royal sequoia]

anything else is even further away

you'd have to go through the map to one of the exits leading to another orbital point

[tired patio]

Unless the high orbit is already clear

In which case they're just considered in high orbit on the strategic map

I think fluffle is talking about engaging that ship.

[turbid kernel]

So a big part would be if Fluffle can take out the frigate then.

[royal sequoia]

I guess that's the best case scenario. Fluffle is engaging this turn. With a bit of luck we could down the frigate in two turns. Unsure about the fighters though.

[tired patio]

Crazy idea. What if we deployed hammer to board the battle cruiser. Do we still have an armory? Can we pop one of those and give the entirety of hammer guns including all the MBT crews and ifv crews and medics?

Tough because we would need to force the thing to stop to dock with it. Not sure how to do that 1 round.

Though Hammer does have vtols so they do have some way of getting some of the infantry over. 🤔

If we've got the bays to deploy them.

[wintry pawn]

And lose all of our vehicle crews?

That is indeed a crazy idea.

[halcyon ridge]

Love the idea but then we’d REALLY need Victorum to check fire on it

[royal sequoia]

Sadly no armory on Atlas.

[turbid kernel]

Nope, no armory unfortunately. We figured we were armed enough with all the pai and odt lol

[royal sequoia]

Can the engines of the enemy ship be focus fired on by victorum if the ship is scanned?

[humble urchin]

I am not insane enough to agree with this plan 🤣

[jagged mulch]

I on the other hand, am

[tired patio]

Fair enough 😆

[jagged mulch]

My dice agrees too

[wintry pawn]

Cap, I'm going to raid the coffee cabinet in the mess hall.

(In full tactical gear)

[topaz rivet]

The theory was to use a scan to direct the initial boarding party to the engines so we could shut them down next turn even if our boarding party is engaged.

If that works, we can dock along both sides of the ship and, with the VTOLs, put 5-6 combat units on the ship next turn

[turbid kernel]

As I understood it there's no called shots but I'm not sure if the scan would change that or not

[wintry pawn]

I wish I could use my jump packs to do EVA.

[topaz rivet]

The problem is that we might get stuck by the gate for 2+ turns during boarding

[tired patio]

Yeah, boarding operation is going to take a while no matter what happens.

Just due to the nature of a ship that size

[topaz rivet]

Which means we’ll be out of the running to deploy a BG or otherwise support the battle for the star port

[tired patio]

One good thing about this whole conversation is it's opened my eyes to a missing mechanic which is how do we designate a boarding party has successfully completed their objective

In the rules it says if a boarding party goes unopposed they get to shut down a system of their choice that they targeted when they boarded

But there's no rule about what constitutes a successful boarding action to disable a subsystem. For the round

I'm going to add into the rules today. Note saying whichever side on a boarding location rolls highest will have won that rounds battle and successfully made it to the subsystem of their choice.

[topaz rivet]

And there’s a note about using a scanner

[tired patio]

So that we can have boarding parties operate with an objective

[high pike]

Shack, can infantry Dig In immediately after unloading from VTOLs?

[frigid tartan]

We had some plans in BG 12 for that.

#1383066706724913293 message

[tired patio]

Dig in uses all of their movement. Unloading from a vehicle uses movement so no they can't

[frigid tartan]

#1383066706724913293 message

This was a "what to do if Storm can't solo secure the space port"

[humble urchin]

But not final, literally just overthinking to pass the time really.

Things might & probably will change due to civies vs bots
Storm dropping
Atlas coming in
etc, etc

[jagged mulch]

Yeah, as opposed to gambling and polls

[topaz rivet]

Right now our perceived consequences of staying near the gate seem to be no supplies or BG deployments for many turns.

• Does the supply question hold? Can Fluffle put supply on the ground for Stormblessed?
• Does the deploy question hold? How long will it take the NPC transports to get to Elim?

[jagged mulch]

For deploying, 3 or 4 turns if the battlecruiser is dealt with next turn and the frigates and battlecruiser are dealt with

[tired patio]

The transports depend greatly on our ablity to clear the route.

[pliant fjord]

Conversation began around [here](#1382037040438181950 message)
When several players from TF1 came into this chat and told us they were firing on the BC regardless of whatever action we took.
Then, after discussions, I offered a compromise plan around [here](#1382036960356597963 message)
to board, break the engines, and then transfer control of the BC to Victorum. They said it wouldn't work, and said that they already agreed to blow it up, and preferred that we not board, because "not knowing if there are civs aboard would be better than knowing and blowing it up anyway."

That left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, and I had to personally console four players in private DMs, apologizing that some of our player base thinks war-crimes are funny.

I spoke privately with TF1 Tac-Com, and we both agreed the plan was going to be logistically impossible.

[tired patio]

Gotcha.

[pliant fjord]

So TF1 will clear the Route, Atlas will stick to the original plan and rush Elim, and say a prayer for the souls aboard the BC.

We'll do a boarding action over Elim if that Frigate is still alive.

[tired patio]

So friendly fire has never been allowed in this game.

in any form. Its not PvP for this very reason.

But thats disappointing to hear.

But the votes looking like we press on? Assuming all that voted are actually in the TF.

[pliant fjord]

Myself and Dasfier volunteered to perform a scouting boarding mission to confirm the presence of civs, even knowing we'd be under fire, but Victorum really couldn't be bothered to try and make it work.

[tired patio]

End of the day this is our TF. We choose what we do with our units.

just like every other BG and TF.

[pliant fjord]

Yes, votes are legitimate, and it looks like we're pressing on, unless something happens.

[tired patio]

Rgr.

Well for future reference we have details on how boarding works when fighting to disable or complete and objective now in the rules. Fairly simple and direct.

[pliant fjord]

Yup, we've had a solid boarding plan ready to go since day 1 . And we've been really itching to use it, as long as the situation calls for it.

[turbid kernel]

I'm excited to try them out. I doubt we've seen the last of the bots capabilities either.

[pliant fjord]

Agreed. You created a beautifully painful moral dilemma for us, and a couple players thought it'd be funny to blow up the civilians.

[royal sequoia]

Tbh, most of these votes to move on might be due to players not wanting to be boarded, or people thinking they could deliver hammer to elim next turn

[pliant fjord]

it'll be two turns regardless, but it'd be 5-6 if we had to stay and do the boarding ourselves.

[sage perch]

Reminder that if we are fighting the BC I am going to be moving to let Varsson aim for the engines

Cap can Varsson make a called shot to immobilize the BC if we are flanking it

[royal sequoia]

with this piece of art I made, we can see it'd be 4-5 turns to deliver your battlegroup

[pliant fjord]

It's not D&D, we don't move on hexes like pawns on a chessboard

Range 1 is the distance from the center of one hex to another.
When we move at speed 2, we move that far, and are not bound to a hex.

[sage perch]

Ixen, what do you think of 4317NW for my movement this round

might be out of AC range, might have to do 4216NW

[royal sequoia]

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. Could you maybe also do art on the map to show how movement would work for you?

[pliant fjord]

assuming we go with the boarding plan (the vote is 20-6 in favor of leaving for Elim), 4216NW is a solid idea.

[sage perch]

if we go to elim, my order is just stay in formation

imagine a whole TF of Pearls

but bigger, Arty MBCs

[turbid kernel]

Also, keep in mind if the frigate over Elim is destroyed by Fluffle we don't need to use the tactical map over Elim anymore. We're just considered "in orbit over Elim". It would still take time to descend to the Starport but we could use the drop pods as normal.

[alpine condor]

Hey there, how’s it going for atlas?

[sage perch]

still debating what we do

[alpine condor]

(I’m gonna go stir crazy cause my BG won’t get to play for like 2 entire weeks more)

[alpine condor]

Not boarding the big boat anymore then

[turbid kernel]

That's rough but once you in it feels like it goes fast lol. Yeah, some new points were brought up and we believe rushing Elim would be the better plan

[royal sequoia]

that's no different than my beautiful drawing displays

[alpine condor]

No, it’s definitely different. It’s a graphic, not a drawing

[royal sequoia]

well it's a lot more neat

but two hexes is two hexes

[sage perch]

the difference is slight, but there is more range from moving straight

[pliant fjord]

And much more evident when we're moving over multiple turns

[turbid kernel]

We'll need to do it on the Elim Orbit map to know exactly how many turns it would take to reach center.

Btw what program are you using Ixen?

[pliant fjord]

Inkskape

[turbid kernel]

I'll need to look into it. Looks good

[pliant fjord]

I'll probably switch if I can figure out how to cpy/paste settings

[alpine condor]

Ok but Simm is simply just dodging and weaving with his ship

[pliant fjord]

I love TTS, but it's low-res, and harder for Cap

[alpine condor]

Also, very good graphics. Very clear and informative

[turbid kernel]

I think Simm's drawing wasn't the literal path but leaping arrows showing each stopping point at 2 hexes

[pliant fjord]

yea, it's based on the assumption that we're bound to a particular hex, but we're not

the hex coordinates are useful for understanding our location

[alpine condor]

The hex is simply an informational layout, not a moving constraint

[pliant fjord]

and measuring distance in a pinch

[pliant fjord]

You could put down that you're gonna pop a fighter with your AC on the way out.

Fluffle got a shot off mid-move, you should be able to also

[royal sequoia]

Alright I see what you mean, thank you

[pliant fjord]

you betcha

[royal sequoia]

Nah, Cap mentioned it was a mistake on his part. It's not intended use

[pliant fjord]

Ah damn

welp, you could try anyway and see what happens

Good Morning Atlas!

Orders are Open, but please keep discussing!

The current plan is to burn hard to Elim (See Operations in doc), and we should be able to get there in 2-3 turns.

If you're not sure what to do for your order, check the Deployment Logistics tab for the ship module you chose to crew up! Feel free to trade with each other, you're not bound to your ship!

Also, if you haven't introduced yourself to BG 12, go say hi in their chat, they're really bored and would love the attention.

Fighters, you've exhausted your ammo, and should return to the fleet to rearm/repair. Specify the Flight Deck you're docking at please :).

Gunners, keep on it, there's some enemy fighters left.

-# Personally, I'm of the opinion that we should empty our magazines right into the face of that Frigate to tell it to leave us alone. It won't do any damage, but violence is the only language we know they speak.

Anyhoo. I'm off, got a long day of bachelor partying with a friend. I'll draw up some fancy plans late tonight (if I'm not wasted), keep letting people know they can look at BOTH the breaching and the running plan on the doc, and if the vote swings one way or the other, we'll do it together.

Atlas will carry this world

[turbid kernel]

Learning a bit of Inkscape is a game changer lol

[wet shore]

Say, Atlas, does anyone know if you could exchange BGs with the NPC transports in space if you or they were, for some reason, empty?

[strange wigeon]

You can dock with ships and transfer troops. but it'd have to be the ones at the Space Station and not the auto transports

[wet shore]

dang. Hoped I had a thought

[turbid kernel]

We can take on other BGs of 25 units or less but as mentioned not sure if we can do that with the auto transport plus we are planning to take Iron Hammer currently

[wet shore]

Yep, I was just considering a hot-bay situation in which you might fire Pathfinders at that BC and then pick up Hammer from the autotransports to continue to Elim, but probably won't work

[turbid kernel]

You could ask Shack and see.

[turbid kernel]

But I think we would have to recover you for coherency's sake. We can't deposit all of Pathfinder on to the enemy orbital lol. So no leaving Pathfinder behind unfortunately

[river vector]

I am trying to figure out who exactly said that cause I don’t think it’s okay and I’ll being up war crimes to my group as well. Do you have a message link?

[wet shore]

We're not part of your TF: coherency isn't affected. We'd just need 5 bays of transport space, which I would hope would be available from Hammer's now empty transports. But It's not necessary anymore: I saw Shack ruled that autotransports themselves can be directed to board immobilized warships

[turbid kernel]

There was some rules confusion. It seemed they believe that they have to shoot and that the fires might kill the enemy orbital even with friendlies inside. They' weren't explicitly saying they will shoot us. However, Ixen did seem to have a private conversation I wasn't privy to #1382037040438181950 message #1382037040438181950 message

[red brook]

Really don't appreciate the tone here. Not sure what exactly you want me to do. Veto the members orders who have declared their intent to shoot the BC? Like I relayed the compromise plan to the TF.

Like, I thought we had reached a good compromise and that you understood our position. Yet, you have continued to bad mouth our TF and I do not appreciate it.

[pliant fjord]

You, the Tac-Com, have been nothing but respectful and considerate. A few of your members were very dismissive of the idea.

Downright rude in fact

Making fun of us for wanting to try to save the civvies. I'm not home and can't track down this convo. I linked it further up.

I think it was the "I'd rather not know there were civilians aboard" that sealed it.

I had to console 4 of our roster in PMs for that

[red brook]

I get that, and that was why I told them to stay out of your comms. Because I agree they were saying poor taste jokes.

However, after that happened you and I had come to an agreement and were amicable about the situation. I thought the conversation was over and done with and then I find out that you have continued to insult our TF and insinuate that we were intentionally trying to fire on you. To Shack no less.

Which to note, I find it incredibly dissappointing that shack didn't reach out to us for our side of the story.

[pliant fjord]

I never said "intentionally", but I understand your frustration, and admit I was frustrated as well, and probably shouldn't have lashed out.
I'll be less antagonistic in the future, and hope you've spoken to those individuals who made the "jokes".

[pliant fjord]

And Shack is part of our TF, and asked for an update. I gave him the same one I gave to everyone here, which was difficult to explain to say the least.

[red brook]

Because from our point of view, the boarding was more about dicking around and having main character syndrome and slowing down the 400 other players who do not get to play until a path is cleared for them to land.

In anycase, I have made it clear that no one else from our TF is to come into your comms but me and Kael the other Taccom. Hopefully, this doesn't happen again, and I'm sorry for venting some of my frustration here.

I hope we can have better coordination in the future and that this was just growing pains

[pliant fjord]

I tried very hard and repeatedly to explain that our goal was to save potential civilians inside, and was not "dicking around". I've had pushback about that in Tac-Com chat too.

The Primary Mission was and still is to Save the Lumar.

[pliant fjord]

totally understandable, I was out of line to be sure

It IS just a game

[turbid kernel]

I think some friction is natural with so many players and sometimes opposing goals and principles can lead to said friction. I'm glad we can come to understanding and I apologize for my own part in that. But I'm glad we're moving on and finally back to this awesome game.

[pliant fjord]

Indeed.
-# could someone copy/paste the "good morning atlas" post from above?

-# last thing I want is for the normal people with lives who can't read every message to see a big TacCom argument, even if it has a nice resolution

[turbid kernel]

I got you

Good Morning Atlas!

Orders are Open, but please keep discussing!

The current plan is to burn hard to Elim (See Operations in doc), and we should be able to get there in 2-3 turns.

If you're not sure what to do for your order, check the Deployment Logistics tab for the ship module you chose to crew up! Feel free to trade with each other, you're not bound to your ship!

Also, if you haven't introduced yourself to BG 12, go say hi in their chat, they're really bored and would love the attention.

Fighters, you've exhausted your ammo, and should return to the fleet to rearm/repair. Specify the Flight Deck you're docking at please :).

Gunners, keep on it, there's some enemy fighters left.

-# Personally, I'm of the opinion that we should empty our magazines right into the face of that Frigate to tell it to leave us alone. It won't do any damage, but violence is the only language we know they speak.

Anyhoo. I'm off, got a long day of bachelor partying with a friend. I'll draw up some fancy plans late tonight (if I'm not wasted), keep letting people know they can look at BOTH the breaching and the running plan on the doc, and if the vote swings one way or the other, we'll do it together.

Atlas will carry this world

[tired patio]

We dont have a called shot mechanic.

It be to easy to disable ships that way

[tropic solar]

Hey Shovel TCO here! We might self deploy next turn and I wanted to ask if you will use the HMGs again?

[turbid kernel]

We can fire the HMGs again yes. But we only have three and one is pointing to the rear. So we might get one down and the other two hurt if they all hit

[tropic solar]

Alright thank you

Maybe the 212th will also deploy and then the fighter cover also exists that way

[topaz rivet]

TF1 is also going to have a lot of fighters out

[tropic solar]

Yeah but they will hit the battle cruise from the rear

[pliant fjord]

Their fighters/bombers were going for the frigate, last I checked.

[solid hare]

So if I read all this correctly we'll have enough troops deploying in the next turn that boarding actions won't slow us down or lower our needed numbers... soooo dibs on the BC?

[turbid kernel]

No, the issue is that boarding would take an unknown length of time that might delay the auto shuttles since they would have to fly through the tactical map. Plus Iron Hammer kept their BG small to catch a ride and it would be a let down if the auto shuttles beat them to it. For their sake we're full burning to Elim where we'll either board a frigate or hot drop into a bit infested city

[strange wigeon]

Pathfinders were discussing boarding with their auto shuttle anyways

[pliant fjord]

@atomic comet are you caught up with all this, I'm afk til late tonight, and will be in and out from phone only.

[atomic comet]

Not fully caught up but I'll do some reading and keep checking in

[sage perch]

So @atomic comet are we confirmed heading to Elim?

[wet shore]

"discussing" is a bit of an overstatement so far, but I do think it's an option we (Pathfinders) should consider, so I put it out there in case anyone (Victorum) does manage to take out the engines.

[ember python]

hey, real quick, sorry to rehash this, but, i'm seeing lots of different numbers bandied around...
How many rounds will it take for us to get to Elim? if it is 4-5 as i've seen some people claim, there just isn't much point to burning LS, since we won't get there until its far too late to matter.

[topaz rivet]

It depends, at least in part, if that frigate or other hostiles are above Elim. Once we go all strategic move, it’s much faster

[wet shore]

So, basically on whether the fighters follow Storm's VTOLs down?

[atomic comet]

Everything I'm seeing says we're headed to Elim

[sage perch]

first (of our) order for the round

[ember python]

alright, so, looking at the maps, i highly doubt the orbit over elim map will be cleared, so there is, in my mind, no need to bother burning large supply to get there. we aren't getting there in a relevant time period no matter what we do.

[sage perch]

You will note my order is just whatever the rest of you do

[ember python]

furthermore, we should 100% eat crow, apologize to iron hammers, and tell them to deploy w/ the auto-freighters, because there is just no point in spending 5 LS to deliver them basically at the same time they'll get there anyways.

[sage perch]

if we want to kick Frenchy out, we have to do that now

[ember python]

i dont want to kick them out. we just can't get there.

we're too slow.

[topaz rivet]

Do they have to declare NPC transport now?

[ember python]

if they dont they'll be behind

[sage perch]

if they want to get there on time yes

[ember python]

we should at least be up front and say "we aren't sure we can get there, so you folks should discuss if you want to take the auto-frieghters or not"

[jagged mulch]

We don't mind getting their late, if we're late to Elim then we're considering dropping elsewhere on the planet

[ember python]

this does work, like, we could duece you guys into iron hill or cell'dar or something

[merry summit]

Well also if we’re not getting there fast enough why not stay back and board? It doesn’t seem like we’ll be making any large difference over elim if that’s the case

[jagged mulch]

Yeah, my suggestion was Cell'Dar

[merry summit]

So like meet with tf3 at nav w-1 and land at the mine?

[jagged mulch]

Assuming storm has taken elim, yes

Though will have to discuss with the rest of the group

And I imagine you'll scan wherever we go before we end up dropping into it? 😅

[ember python]

so, basically 3 options for Iron Hammer:

• if somehow we end up above Elim and its still "early" we can drop Iron Hammer as planned.
• if we are late we press on to somewhere else (TBD) and drop Iron Hammer there. or,
• Iron Hammer can decide not to risk a late option and instead do the auto-freighters now.

[merry summit]

Sigh I guess where’s the fun in that tho?

[rapid sail]

you want me to just hold fire unless something swings across our bow?

[sage perch]

Pretty Much, I don't expect anything to be in range when we get to Elim, and you can't shoot before then

[frigid tartan]

As far as I know Iron Hammers plan is ride or die with you all. We put our trust in you to get us to the fight.

[ember python]

i'm planning on waiting to put in my order until like a half hour or so before the deadline, just to fill any crewing slot on the Endurance that doesn't end up crewed. In all likelihood i won't be needed, but who knows?

[pliant fjord]

Victorum said they cant kill both ships in one turn, so from the gate, the NPC transports will take what, 4 turns to reach Elim? If we hard burn now, we get to within VTOL/HAT range within 2 if we hard burn.

[pliant fjord]

So we/IH/Storm need to decide if 2 turns early is worth it.

[ember python]

so, projected 2 turns spending LS, 3 turns w/o?

[turbid kernel]

I'm for burning the LS. A lot can happen in 2 turns

[ember python]

i think its fine, also. if the campaign drags, we might regret it, but i don't want to leave Storm high and dry.

[red brook]

Hey guys, wanted to let you know we would like to help pay the cost of your LS burning for speed. However, the logistics of the situation would require us to give you an IOU for it since our HAT can't land, drop off the LS and take off in the same turn

[pliant fjord]

IOU is fine with me, we'll trade favors for favors later!

We should be able to Sortie you some LS in a pinch later.

[merry summit]

Can aero disembark at any point on their hosts path?

[shadow sigil]

I assume so

[pliant fjord]

Yea, player actions are pretty much whenever, except non-HMG guns, which are always last, at the end of ship movement.

[twin widget]

we would appreciated reinforcements within the next 2 turns, situation has already deteriorated quite a bit.

[warm elbow]

“Confirmed: smaller autonomous assault craft approaching—mechanical in origin, low-profile emissions, likely swarm-configured. Standard jamming insufficient due to adaptive protocols. Beginning signal lattice deconstruction.”

“Targeting inter-unit communication threads. These systems rely on tight-loop command bursts—cutting one node fractures cohesion. I will isolate their coordination frequency, intercept primary sync-pulse, and introduce a recursive feedback echo.”

[pliant fjord]

Im curious if that would work. Might be worth a shot, seems logical.

"Uncertainty of successful function, will query command structure. If unanswered, will include in full orders."

[pliant fjord]

Morning Epsilon.

I'm finally home. Gonna clean up our plan map before I head to bed.

Any crazy changes happen I'm not aware of?

[warm elbow]

the voices of the machine abominations s̵̃̕c̸̚͝r̴̍͠e̵͋̈a̷͌̕m̵̔͛though we must face the incessant thrum and let them fall onto deaf ears

[vestal ice]

Good morrow Atlas.

[jagged mulch]

Morning

[pliant fjord]

Morrow

Inkscape is much cleaner looking

[royal sequoia]

Morgen

That's a good looking map

[pliant fjord]

I'll do one for the guns/scanners in the morning, and pitch the overload with the com-int with a pretty picture that will help sell it.

[vestal ice]

Those are some crisp decisive lines

[pliant fjord]

Atlas!

Orders are due <t:1751234580:R>!

We're running this blockade and doing everything we can to save the Lumaran ships. Despite the delay here, we should be close enough to deploy our loaded HATs, VTOLs, and Fighters next turn, and should be within Orbital Drop range by the following. (if we're lucky).

As for the Lumar Freighters, it could be beneficial to have them deliver a physical copy of our Gate codes to the Mining Base (can't be intercepted in transmission), which should help them evacuate the system once Victorum has secured the gate. It'd be nice to have the option, and not have to escort them the whole time if possible.

All INF, Medics, Engis, start thinking about if/how you'd like to deploy. We'll do a modified version of Operation Deuce based on how you all sign up. Use the Deployment Logistics tab to reserve a seat on our HATs, we'll give Iron Hammer the same opportunity.

Fighters, confirm that you're ok with the above flight path.

All Crew, check your stations and ready on those guns!

We've also reached the "delegation" portion of the mission, which will become more and more complex as the game progresses. If you'd like to be considered for one of the following positions, please let me know:

• Marine Commander - Ground Force Operations.
• Flight Lieutenant - 'Soteria' Squad Leader.
• Fleet Officer - Tracking Fleet module crewing and resources.

I'll continue to keep my head in all of these, but it'd help for when I'm not around if someone else could answer questions!

[jolly verge]

im thinking about scanning the enemy frigate for their hitpoints

[pliant fjord]

The local one would be great, make TF1's bombers more confident.

We probably won't be in the same system as the one over Elim

[jolly verge]

this is what i meant

[pliant fjord]

Perfect. Feel free to punch that order in, I'll make sure TF1 has our list tomorrow.

[jolly verge]

also if i understood c nulls order they want to comms intercept this thing

[jolly verge]

yesterday(8hours ago) i searched their orders for scanning, there was only one scan action for the unknown module on the frigate (what was it codename, i forgot?)

[pliant fjord]

Yea, the swarm. There's no explicit offensive use of the equipment, but its clever and creative, and might get rewarded.

(Brawler)

[vague shuttle]

just checking that this (#1385616625293725886 message) is valid syntax for docking

[jagged pagoda]

Morning

[vestal ice]

I accidentally deleted my orders do the admins/mods have access to the delete log for me to recover?

[jolly verge]

id be open for the fleet officer position if nobody else wants to do it.

[sage perch]

@eager pendant please remember to repost an identical to last round order

[plain dew]

Good morning!

Looks like there was alot of discussion yesterday 😂

[tired patio]

The plan is looking good from Endurances in. If the crew is set. Will commit to the course

Are we planning on hard burning this round? Using up a supply?

[turbid kernel]

That's correct, Cap'n. We're hoping to get out of there quick and draw their attention away from the civilian freighters.

[tiny whale]

Are fighters coming back this round? Just seeing if it’d be urgent for me to use my action anywhere - sorry I’ve been lost in the sauce

[olive cliff]

Are the Civilians still planning to dock with us or are we leaving them behind?

NVM I just saw the image with the text "...and come aboard" lol

[turbid kernel]

Yes, fighter should be landing aboard this round.

[pliant fjord]

Yup, think we'll make it to Elim behind Fluffle?

[pliant fjord]

I certainly don't, you could try Dresden, but it's probably faster to just re-submit.

[pliant fjord]

It's fine with me! Maybe a specific flight Deck would help next time, if you're willing.

[pliant fjord]

All good man, just check the "Deployment Logistics" tab for which action needs taking, at a glance, it looks like everything is ok, and you should be good to be "standing by in a hangar"

[tiny whale]

Danke I had a look earlier but had trouble

[pliant fjord]

Bitte. Alles gut! Ich habe Sie auf Flugdeck FD-Bk1. Ist das ok?

[tiny whale]

Yeah of course! :>

[pliant fjord]

@rapid sail Your order is fine and you can leave it as is, but I wanted to point out that you can still be 'Weapon=Hot' meaning "ready to fire at hostiles" even without any known targets. No need to resubmit if you don't want.

[merry summit]

we're transitioning to nav1 this turn?

[pliant fjord]

or Elim Space, depends how lucky we are with how far we have to move on that transfer point before we transfer.

[merry summit]

I might change my orders then to launch at the end of our movement, but stay in the middle of the formation

try and pick up that LS from tf3 next turn

[pliant fjord]

@warm elbow RP aside, this is a warning that your order contains a Custom Action and isn't guaranteed to work. Worst case scenario, you'll lose the action, so if you're ok with that risk, no need to do anything.

[merry summit]

unless there are some BG members that are insane enough to hop on my HAT earlier than scheduled

[pliant fjord]

Might be risky, we're not 100% sure that the Brawler isn't gonna stop us from leaving yet.
-# I'm counting on Shack's kind heart 💔

[merry summit]

even if it doesnt it should be focus firing any orbitals before it goes for an aerospace asset in the middle of the formation

right?

[unborn stirrup]

a question how much speed to you get for using a large supple i cant a actual number for it?

[pliant fjord]

That's true. There's also a fighters still around though, so again a little risky. Ultimately up to you

[pliant fjord]

1 for 1

it's a horrible exchange, but it seems worth it this time

[merry summit]

and fluffle is refunding us for it this time too

[pliant fjord]

wow, so much love coming in

@jolly verge No need to fix this round, but next time be sure to include your callsign in your order. (I know it's in your username, but that can be edited later and get confusing for the archivists.)

[maiden belfry]

Its deservered Ixen lots of works going into this

so pats on back

good timezone Atlas how we doing

[pliant fjord]

Doing good, all set to run the blockade, Shack knows we're burning fuel, you got a scanner target in mind?

We will not be in range of the 'Vulture' this turn (even if we make it to the Elim map), so you could gather some more info on the Tormentor/Brawler/FTRs, or keep it vague going into the dark.

[maiden belfry]

your a beautiful mind reader was just going to ask that

working it out in my head but wanted to be sure haha!

then yeah Intel, so we can know more about the forces well face later on

[pliant fjord]

-# sometimes the minds I read scare me

-# mostly it makes me happy to be in Atlas

[maiden belfry]

single brain cell on overdrive

[unborn stirrup]

ok but yeah seems very costly unless your a battleship

[pliant fjord]

It is very expensive, yes. We're on Battlecruisers, so only a bit faster than the Battleships.

[maiden belfry]

im thinking of also scanning the brawler as the more scans the better, its a "light" craft and I feel its likely well see more of them, perhaps the main cannons so we can understand if they are similar to ours

[pliant fjord]

Feel free to check with TF1 first, they're probably doing some scanning of their own, but that sounds good to me!
-# (the butt-heads have been chastised so you should be received well now)

[maiden belfry]

hahaha!

ill send another message aye

ill just check the orders list first see if they've already made some

[pliant fjord]

Doing great Atlas!
-# whoaaaaaaaaah we're halfway theeeerrreeee

[eager pendant]

Sorry I was sleeping

[maiden belfry]

all good mate you got some time

[pliant fjord]

ur fine, got like 5 hours left. Looks like we're hanging tight to run the blockade and get to the planet ASAP. Should get you some action soon.

[maiden belfry]

It was Bruiser the dual cannon orbital that was kind of phase shifting or something akin wasnt it in the midround events?

wonder if its better to scan see what we can gleam what thats about, if its not resistant to scanning of course

[jolly verge]

oh sorry, i forgot

[merry summit]

how far in to the elim high orbit map would we get dya think?

[pliant fjord]

At most, this round we'd appear on the edge. I don't think we'll get that far, and will instead be most likely ending our turn in Nav-1.

[novel oak]

are yall planning to try your hand at boarding or just blowing up the ship?

[strange wigeon]

https://tenor.com/view/lemon-pear-halfway-whoa-gif-21037099

[jolly verge]

I was in a rush to get it out, i didnt knew how much time I will have this evening, now I know i have time to resubmit later

[maiden belfry]

ive just had a terrible idea but a fun one

maybe ill scan the civilian ships to see if the lifesigns on board match the lifesigns detected on the Tormentor

yeah lets give some fun things for us to think about

[pliant fjord]

Up to you, I don't mind that idea.

[maiden belfry]

its more roleplay and fun things for us and the DM to think about, but yeah im afraid its a tad lacking tactical wise, at least for now

ONE NEVER KNOWS HAHA

[merry summit]

give the Schrödinger's morality guys something to think about

[pliant fjord]

not sure it's worth poking the bear again (drama is bad for morale), but I'll put in whatever you decide.

[maiden belfry]

oh I dont want to upset people thats for sure, what drama happened?

afraid I completely missed that

[jolly verge]

Nah i think its fine and if it doesnt work, i think its worth it to know what they are capable of so we dont run them away or know how in need of repair they are, i think there are plenty of informations a dm can give us by scanning the civilians

[merry summit]

(some) tf1 badly wants to shoot at stuff and was willing to do so even if we confirmed civies on board and had our own guys on board as well

[pliant fjord]

Just some butt-heads who thought blowing up a ship that might have civilians on it was funny. Some friction between the two TCOs, both said some things we weren't proud of, but we hashed it out and it should be ok.

[novel oak]

TF1 being the firepower attracts more of the edgy type unfortunately

[maiden belfry]

my thanks mate, im glad things got talked about, that does sound like a complete pain

thank you for your service

[pliant fjord]

it makes sense, wargames as a whole also have an appeal to those types as well.

[maiden belfry]

Fairlie makes a good point, I dont want to start any drama but I think theres quite a bit we can learn, their ships, their biology things like that, so ill send that over if thats alright

this might not be the last time some lifesigns show up on the planet or up here in space

[pliant fjord]

definitely. either the civ ships, or a more focused scan for lifesigns aboard the BC may shed some light

[jolly verge]

otherwise we might know how/what controls/organizes the bots

[maiden belfry]

possible! a hint at that at least

gave me more of a feeling of a slave ship kinda deal but honestly I have no idea

[pliant fjord]

Inkscape is making more and more sense, it's getting easier and faster than TTS. I'll keep using it!
(Still not final ofc, we're at about 50% orders in)

[maiden belfry]

its brilliant mate

[jolly verge]

yeah same, but thinking of all the options, the ship might even have some organic tissue for some kind of control themselves, idk what kind of science fiction this is

[pliant fjord]

Also, @jolly verge Are you comfortable lightly pinging those who haven't submitted orders in a couple hours?

I'm gonna be out and about, back an hour or so after the deadline.

Updated with Stout's target

[maiden belfry]

gotta head out to a game of Lancer, take care all speak later, this is FUN!!!!!

[pliant fjord]

"Best job in the world" - from a wonderful tank movie called Fury

[red brook]

these are a little old but should give you an idea of our plans

[pliant fjord]

Give 'em hell!

[ember python]

I apologize in advance for the length of my RP section of my order. I promise to reign it in once my orders actually matter

[pliant fjord]

Never ever apologize for good RP. (I can't always read it immediately but I LOVE to read it later)

[jolly verge]

@pliant fjord might it be worth it to change my scan target, to support c nulls custom thing?

[pliant fjord]

Atlas Infantry (INF, Medi, Engi)

next turn we're gonna deploy what we can on HATs and VTOLs, I've reserved SkyWolf's HAT for Atlas Troops. If you're brave and craving some ground action, use the Deployment Logistics Tab to sign up!

[pliant fjord]

probably a "too many eggs in one basket" thing. Custom orders are either wonderful mid-round events, or are ignored completely, especially if there are too many, it's not a good way to get the GM's attention. I'm always ok with you trying, but I can't encourage them.
-# I am a maximum hypocrite, and have submitted custom orders 3 times in previous games, but I've spoken to players who found it annoying. It's a double edged sword. Do it at your own risk!

[atomic comet]

Luckydrp will be ready to rock next round

[jolly verge]

ok then itll stay as it is (still resubmitting due to the forgotten name and for some more rp)

[pliant fjord]

@atomic comet Failhouse, I've asked Fairlie to help out with tagging today (I'm gonna be out and about during the deadline), so you two can coordinate around that!

[atomic comet]

Heck yeah. Sounds good to me

[ember python]

Looks like all of Endurance's modules are crewed (or not needed just yet, cough cough, damage control), so i don't think theres a need for me to wait to submit anymore

[jolly verge]

QUICK REMINDER THAT ORDERS ARE DUE IN <t:1751234340:R>

[jolly verge]

Union, TheFerd, Rainer, ~~Noble ~~(idk why ixen hasnt ticked you off), BRASS, WompRat, 32nd ODT, DrœsT1, Firefox, R.UBER, Gristle, Silvers, Martini, Panacea
Your Orders are still missing (if ixens list is and I am not mistaken)
so pls tell me if you did (ill edit this message crossing everyone out who did), otherwise
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR ORDERS until <t:1751234340:R>

[vestal ice]

Done bro

[jagged mulch]

Right, considering the importance of this operation, I want to ask you all for your opinions on a plan that I've been coming up with since well, cooperation is going to be rather important

Oops

wrong map

One moment

[craggy dragon]

Hey, sorry back from the wilderness. It looks like the Endurance is all covered station wise. Should I continue to dig in or is there something else useful as an engineer to do?

[jagged mulch]

That's better

[jolly verge]

i think you are fine to dig in

[turbid kernel]

Yeah dig in and wait for damage control when we get shot this round lol

[craggy dragon]

Thanks!

I will post it in a couple of mins

[turbid kernel]

My main worry will be scanning some of the unknown spots and the spots that have faded bot skulls

[jolly verge]

I legit dont know anything about ground combat, but it looks colourful <3
but realtalk, are they all groups of your BG and our TF you look to deploy on that areas?

[jagged mulch]

Yes

Well, we have reason to believe some of those may be civilians/allies, such as these ones right here

[jolly verge]

dont you think its a bit too spread out for our forces to effectively cover each other?

[jagged mulch]

Well, the issue I've been finding is making sure we take as little damage as possible when dropping down

I may put the IFVs close to groups Eureka and Skydrop

[solid hare]

I like this plan

[fast cobalt]

put my order in

[turbid kernel]

These places are what is causing my concern. We may want to make a scanner priority list based on these four?

[frigid tartan]

Will Atlas be in range for scans of Elim next turn?

[jolly verge]

I dont know what to think about the large grey ? but i think the large ? in the top right is really useful to know what it is and i think the artillery position might be interesting (also to take it over ourselves)

[turbid kernel]

I'm not certain but we will be in orbit above Elim next turn. I hope that means we can scan the surface.

[turbid kernel]

Agree, my main worry is finding any possible AA before risking the HATs

[topaz rivet]

Second round in a row :p

[jolly verge]

If you think about it, Fluffle has 2 Scanners I think and we too, so well have plenty of scan actions, so maybe no need to clarify