[FT] OU Defence Force Website now error checked and corrected

--- Alan and Carmel Brain <aebrain@austarmetro.com.au>
wrote:

Interesting set of concepts--what is it with you folks
on the other side of the equator and modular ships? The IAS has some simillar
ideas.

Not bad, but there are no real capital ships.

> John Atkinson wrote:

> Not bad, but there are no real capital ships.

That might be because Alan is aware that the OU is a relatively minor power
and therefore isn't attempting to create a four- (or was it five-)planet

colonial power which can somehow afford to field a battleline outmassing

l'Astromarine des FSE ;-)

Or, it could be because - as Alan suggests on his homepage - the OUDFN
uses
NAC- or NAC-derived designs for their capitals.

Or, it could be because the ships Alan has given stats for are the ones for
which there are models commercially available right now.

The choice is yours <g>

BTW, Alan - what happened to the note about the BORON program originally

being called "Modular Operational Refit Of Navy"? ;-)

G'day John,

> Interesting set of concepts--what is it with you folks

Its because we know how hard it is to get anything new by a government, but
just slotting bits together you happen to have at hand is something you can
sneak past them;P

> Not bad, but there are no real capital ships.

Once again building on experience...;)

<Who will now go hide as the Aussie naval officers on the list howl in
derision>

> Interesting set of concepts--what is it with you folks

IIRC we came up with the concepts independently. I ripped off the BORON
concept based upon the Danish Standard Flexible (STANFLEX) patrol boats/
corvettes, which I first encountered in the early 90's when doing some
work with Siemens-Plessey, who do the radars for em.

And since the IAS and the OU are quite closely associated, a lot of the
exported River class are in IAS service especially with the Research and
Survey modules.

> Not bad, but there are no real capital ships.

a) The OUDFN's budget barely stretches to having all those zillions of patrol
boats, there's not a lot of money for "Show the Flag" stuff. The Background on
the unofficial GZGpedia states that the majority of the OU defence budget goes
on the Navy, but it's a small nation that claims more star systems than all
other powers combined. So it's spread rather thin. It does, however, mean that
any stellar cartographer doesn't have
to worry about who has claimed all those useless M-class systems that
don't have owners listed - it's the OU. Not that the OU can actually
defend them, just make life difficult for others. The OU diplomatic service
means that should nation A claim rock B (claimed by the OU) then nation C or
even C, D and E might well come in and dispute it. Lots of excuses for minor
conflicts, even amongst allies.

b) The sculptor at Eureka has yet to make any capitals of the same "5th
Element" style. When he does, the OU will magically get a shipyard big enough
to make one. Or even two.

c) There are a number of really nice designs out there apart from the BORON
stuff, some of which are based on NAC hulls according to the pictures (though
I can't find those on Brendan's site any more).

See Brendan Robertson's stuff at
http://home.pacific.net.au/~southernskies/ft/oufleet.htm
and Derek Fulton's at
http://www.users.bigpond.com/derekfulton/OU/OUshipDesgins/OUShipDesigns.
htm

I've deliberately tried to make the background data accomodate these designs
without any contradiction. And from Derek's page, it appears he has returned
the courtesy even before I did this.

> --- aebrain@austarmetro.com.au wrote:

> > Not bad, but there are no real capital ships.

Eh? How many are there? Of course, in my background I incorporate the numbers
from Indy's fleet
rosters--the major powers (Big 4) have 800 or so
combatants.

> The OU diplomatic service means that should nation A

Oh.  So it's not really meant for that line-of-battle
slugging matches.

> I've deliberately tried to make the background data

OK. I have a tendency to skim through background material and focus just on
the ship designs. So it's a particular shipbuilding program, not the fleet.

> a) The OUDFN's budget barely stretches to having all those zillions
The Background on the unofficial GZGpedia states that the majority of the OU
defence budget goes on the Navy, but it's a small nation that claims more star
systems than all other powers combined.

The OU's theory is "Well, we haven't technically been there, but then again no
one ever landed on a star anyway, and we can certainly *see* that star from
here...so we can claim it."

> So it's spread rather thin. It does, however, mean that any stellar

Whereas *useful* M-class are claimed by the Alarishi Empire.  :-)

From: "Laserlight" <laserlight@quixnet.net>

> The OU's theory is "Well, we haven't technically been there, but then

That's what they'd like people to think. Yes, the above is deliberately
ambiguous.

> > So it's spread rather thin. It does, however, mean that any stellar

Not so much claimed as occupied. The Alarishi are so darned useful
as live-in caretakers that if they didn't exist, the OU would be forced
to invent them. Half the time, the OU can plausibly deny little incidents by
blaming it on one lot of Alarishi crazies or another, the other half

> --- Beth.Fulton@csiro.au wrote:

> >Not bad, but there are no real capital ships.

We have him? I didn't know the Aussie naval officer
was on the list.  Must be a busy chap--all 3 enlisted
men to supervise. Must make sure they don't capsize the dinghy. My question is
how does the chief get along in Australian navy? No place on the dinghy to
plug in the coffee maker.

G'day John

> We have him? I didn't know the Aussie naval officer

Actually I think you're thinking of the NZ navy... we've got at least 2
officers and 7 enlisted and have solved he coffee in the dinghy problem (its
called a thermos);P

> At 09:53 31/10/01 +1100, Beth wrote:

> Actually I think you're thinking of the NZ navy... we've got at least 2

Typical American, he probably tries to plug his coffee maker into the nearest
tree;) But what can you expect from a nation that spent millions delevoping a
ball point pen that works in zero g?

> Typical American, he probably tries to plug his coffee maker into

I'm pretty sure we've spent millions on maintaining a Strategic Helium Reserve
for military airships. On the other hand, that is at least useless, not
actually damaging. In comparison, zero g pens look

G'day,

> I'm pretty sure we've spent millions on maintaining a Strategic Helium

OK true, but given I would've just used a pencil...;)

> But what can you expect from a nation that spent

Ah, you *think* they spent millions on that pen. Granted, that's what the
accounting books say, but what do you suppose it was *really* spent on?:)

I hear the sound of the BLACK HELICOPTERS circling..look out Greg...)

> --- Derek Fulton <derekfulton@bigpond.com> wrote:

> Typical American, he probably tries to plug his

Muahahaha...

Two days and I've already got some tiny little country annoyed at me!

A ball point pen that works in zero-g is important.
You'd realize this if you had a space program. How else you do fill out
paperwork in space?

You use the typical government approach you do it all before hand and edit it
as needed....)

A ball point pen that works in zero-g is important.
You'd realize this if you had a space program. How else you do fill out
paperwork in space?

> Not so much claimed as occupied. The Alarishi are so darned useful

Examples: "Watch out, that cargo pod you're hijacking is loaded with
antimat....oh, well."

"Why, no, our meteor defense system doesn't ask whether a meteor is changing
velocity. Yeah it could be a ship, but it could also be a meteor with a gas
pocket or something. It's a lot safer to go ahead and shoot."

"Warning! Approaching ships are advised that they will be crossing an ethics
gradient at approximately 50,000km range."

> At 03:47 30/10/01 -0800, John wrote:

Still a legend in his own mind:)

> A ball point pen that works in zero-g is important.

Like Beth says.....use a pencil;)

> --- Derek Fulton <derekfulton@bigpond.com> wrote:

> >Two days and I've already got some tiny little

You gotta start with being a legend somewhere!

> >A ball point pen that works in zero-g is important.

The issue of graphite dust and sensitive electronics has already been
discussed.

> John Atkinson wrote:

Also in that line, an industrial robot I worked on with IBM had to have all
white wiring... because the black colonant in insulation was carbon, and that
was not a Good Thing on a HDD manufacturing line.

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> On Tue, 30 Oct 2001, John Atkinson wrote:

> A ball point pen that works in zero-g is important.

Long live the bureaucrats!

Um. Pencil?

Cheers,

In message <000b01c1619c$c45b6140$e220f218@hot.rr.com>
> "Don M" <dmaddox1@hot.rr.com> wrote:

> I hear the sound of the BLACK HELICOPTERS circling..look out Greg...)
Must be fakes, you would'nt be able to hear the _real_ Black Helicopters
:-)

> At 06:51 30/10/01 -0800, Grand Poo Baa wrote:

> You gotta start with being a legend somewhere!

And there the legend ends;P

> > [Derek] Like Beth says.....use a pencil ;)

I'll say it again, CRAYON:) What's really scary isn't the fact that the

pen was made, but the fact there was money to spare;)

On Wed, 31 Oct 2001 10:07:07 +1100 Derek Fulton
<derekfulton@bigpond.com> writes:
> At 09:53 31/10/01 +1100, Beth wrote:

Your trees aren't electric? (I was born in Los Angeles city....)

> At 05:50 31/10/01 -0500, Glenn wrote:

> Your trees aren't electric? (I was born in Los Angeles city....)

Oh, of course. All those trees would actually be movie props;)

> --- Derek Fulton <derekfulton@bigpond.com> wrote:

Hrk, hrk, hrk...

If only you knew...

> > > [Derek] Like Beth says.....use a pencil ;)

It's what happens when you have lots and lots of people in a huge country with
plenty of resources, and relatively little government interference in how we
use them.[1]

It's called a functioning economy.

Not for most people in Hell-A.  More like concrete lampposts.

Brian

"The Irish are the only race of people on Earth for which psychoanalysis is of
no use."

                                 - S. Freud

> From: Derek Fulton <derekfulton@bigpond.com>

> At 03:08 31/10/01 -0800, John wrote:

That's one way to describe it:)

On Thu, 01 Nov 2001 10:03:36 +1100 Derek Fulton
<derekfulton@bigpond.com> writes:
> At 05:50 31/10/01 -0500, Glenn wrote:

No, just street lights on the freeway overpasses...

> > I hear the sound of the BLACK HELICOPTERS circling..look out

That's an urban myth, the real Black Helicopters (tm) are not painted black.