Hello folks!
A lurker speaks up again!
I'm dreaming up some fluff for my mercs, and I have some questions that I
think some of you can help me with.
This far I'm thinking of my guys (and gals) as the decendants of the ScanFed
mercs who overran Compville, and as part of the payment they were given an as
yet (at that time) not very explored small peninsula somewhere on that planets
landmass to claim as their
own. Population has been increased by lab-workings and
good deals for ScanFed settlers. I'm also dreaming of having the colony a
fairly high tech one, with agricultural chores in the valleys being handled by
robotic worker vehicles, controlled from family farms, and a pretty big
concentration of
mainly robotic factories in the one city. A mag-lev
train crossing the colony from end to end, bringing everything to a transport
hub near the city, with immideate access to the fairly small but well
functioning spaceport. Size of the colony would be somewhere between 300x300
and 500x500 km, Population ca 55000.
What could make that small colony be a viable economical base to support a
medium tech mechanized force (Hover Vehicles, liquid propellant rifles, HKPs
and Missiles no grav, no PA) of a brigades size in total? Plus a fairly
outdated fleet of 2 destroyers, 4 frigates and a battalions worth of
transports? Only a Battalion will at any time be off planet and drawing
in some cash. A (very) mineral-rich mountain range?
Fossilised fuels? Colony controlled asteroid/moon
mining? Exporting high quality products made from the rich mineral finds?
Any help and ideas would be appreciated!
/Johan the Swedish Leadhead
/REMARK/ Unrelated note: I started this force in 28mm.
Then I discovered the beauty that is Brigades 15mm Vehicles. Dang. Now I can
have the same vehicles in
15mm and 6mm. My 100+ of GZG 6mm vehicles is now
delegated to being my lend-to-others-as-enemies force.
I hate it when it happends. I'm poor, dangit... /END/
> Size of the colony would be somewhere between 300x300
I'd expect a 55K population to support a battalion rather than a brigade. How
to get around that? Well, you could say that the formation is mostly
reservists; or you could say that they're receiving a lot of cash from outside
sources, whether through mercenary contracts or whatever else. If you go the
reservist route, an enemy can wreak havoc by parking
his army on your border--if you don't mobilize, you're inviting
invasion, but if you do mobilize, it wrecks your economy. Egypt did this to
Israel in 67 or 72, IIRC. You could just claim that you're exporting
unobtainium at high prices, but you then have to explain why your neighbors
haven't moved in and taken over.
55K is fairly small anyway--more of a town than a province. Can
you change to a 500K population? That would make supporting a brigade a lot
more likely.
> Hello folks!
Allo' from a fellow lurker!
> What could make that small colony be a viable
One thing your mini colony would probably do to make life easier for itself is
to snag either a decently sized asteroid or a really small moon, since it
offers a myriad of possibilites for your colony. You get a decent source of
basic raw materials already in orbit which saves you resources for boosing
them out of the planet's grav well. You get extra space to expand your
colonists into eventually. You also get a secure fleet anchorage and the
ability to have a decent repair dock. Granted you can have the latter two
without it, but it makes life far easier since you can exploit the asteroid or
moon right there.
I say small moon because you want it to have a weak enough grav field so that
your ships can land on it without any problems. Realistically you're looking
at a Phobos or Demos sized moon (which is pretty much a big asteroid). You can
also have your little asteroid be a resupply station (think galactic Gas an'
Go). Not too much money to be made there, but perhaps enough to make help the
base break even in costs.
Another nice thing is that once you're in zero-g you can automate
production far more easily than planetside. You can have a few small automated
factories cranking out munitions and arms as you need them (also provides for
some interesting scenario ideas as well). And hey, if the plant goes boom,
you'll lose a few workers and the factory. It goes boom planetside and you
have to explain to the Eckermans why they can't go home. Ever.
But I disgress. Those are my suggestions. If you want any elaboration, just
post back to the ML.
> Any help and ideas would be appreciated!
> --- Laserlight <laserlight@quixnet.net> wrote:
I was picturing most of the infantry units to work as in our Home Guard rapid
action platoons, Two nights a week, two weekends a month and two months a year
of service. So that would make them reservists, I guess. (We have that except
for the two months, volontary and unpaid.)Also you would, like here, store
your personal gear, weapon and some ammo at home.
I wasn't really pcturing the neighbors as a threat though. After all,
compville hasn't been descibed as a balcanized colony, and since I had my guys
placed in a not very well explored part, and secured it via a treaty, I didn't
think Compville would move in. Even if they did, these are the guys who kicked
the butts of those compville got kicked by.:)
I could raise it to 200k pop and double the size of the colony, I guess...
That just gives me an excuse to draw new maps.:) The only problem is having
that kind
of pop-growth in such a fairly limited time... Well,
maybe its not all that hard. 20 colonists arriving per day for twenty years
plus their decendants...
Thanks!
> I could raise it to 200k pop and double the size of
Compville girls marrying your soldiers...
G'day,
> I could raise it to 200k pop and double the size of
If they're such high tech they may have reproductive support. Though more
likely still if they use robotics so heavily on farms, why not for bulking out
part of the armed forces too?
Cheers
Cloaking Lurker Mode Off...
Actually, I tend to think of Demos and Phobos as rather small asteroids.
Pallas and Ceres are the large one. Another interesting possiblity is to have
the planet itself be a large moon of a Gas Giant. This would mean numerous
other moons and asteroids sized moons nearby. While most star formation design
systems don't allow a gas giant to be in the biozone of star, the entire field
of star system formation is on the verge of a major overhaul. The problem is
that the more we find out about other star systems, the more difficult it
becomes to explain how they formed under the existing theory. I've had doubts
about that theory for years...
I've been working on varient star system generation systems losely based on
the StarFire system. It allows for migratory systems (StarFire doesn't, but
mine does), so you can Gas Giants that migrated into the inner star system,
including the biozone. If I ever get around to coding it, I'll make it
available to the list.
G'day,
> While most star formation design systems don't allow a
Based on the location of the new planets found so far I think you could just
about place planets wherever you like in a planetary system and it'd be
plausible;)
Cheers
> From: ~ On Behalf Of Johan Böjeryd
> ... I'm thinking of my guys (and gals) as the
Fair enough.
> Population has been increased by lab-workings and
Lab-workings? Please clarify.
ScanFed settlers? Makes good sense, but what's the astropolitical [1] status
[2] of the colony? Is it:
a) A ScanFed enclave on an NFR world? b) A sovereign independant state? c) An
autonomous element of the NFR?
Option (c) could be along the lines of an open-ended
lease; the settlers have perpetual title over their peninsula in return for
defending it (and possibly other areas) against the enemies of the NFR.
> I'm also dreaming of having the colony a fairly
All of which costs plenty of credits.
> Size of the colony would be somewhere between
Too small! If Compville is near terran standard, give them a "just like home"
peninsula the size of
modern-day Scandinavia. (These people liberated the
locals from the evil bureaucrats of Brussels [3], remember?) If Compville is
less hospitable then think about handing out a small continent, though the
settlement would initially be in just one area.
I would agree with Laserlight on the number of people; initially you will have
VERY low population densities away from the enclave's capital.
> What could make that small colony be a viable
Initially the mercenary business has to continue. It's already established and
is necessary in order
to keep equipment and experience up-to-date.
Recruits are keen to join a successful unit, and when they've had enough
soldiering they retire to swell your colony. (Old Earth may have some
prejudices against returning mercenaries.)
If the original unit was armed with ScanFed equipment, you need to maintain
good relations with the minor power in order to keep up the supply of
ammunition and replacement parts.
> A (very) mineral-rich mountain range?
If it's too rich, a major power will want it anyway.
As an alternative / addition to the above, the entire
colony may be an NAC-sponsored continuation of the
original plot to take the planet out of the FSE. They don't want the NFR to
get too independant, after all. This is a nice way to introduce a balancing
force.
> Fossilised fuels?
Would have much lower importance in the 22nd century. A colony might use a
fossil fuel if it's locally available and easily extracted, and can initially
take a more relaxed view on polution, but a growing colony with industrial
aspirations is going to want large amounts of very cheap power and I don't
think coal or oil will do the job.
It's possible to refine alcohol-based fuels from
agricultural products. Low-tech colonies lacking
fossil deposits may do this, but will oil retain its importance in the
manufacture of plastics? [4]
> Colony controlled asteroid/moon mining?
Your core population are SF nationals from a military background or direct
from Earth. If you
push ahead with space-based facilities you could
have to recruit a far more mixed workforce from the region's rock miners and
orbital construction workers. You end up with two distinct communities,
possibly drifting apart. You aleady have the beginnings of a navy; guess where
the most able recruits are going to come from?
> Exporting high quality products made from rich
This makes more money than selling on the raw ore, but it takes time and money
to build factories, train up a local workforce and establish markets.
Manufacturing your own equipment will not be a short-
term project unless you get an off-the-peg solution
from the NAC. What nationality do your figures depict?
Nathan
[1] Was struggling with "geopolitical" until I
remembered Nyrath. New list members see
http://www.projectrho.com/ft/ftmap2.html
[2] If "possession is nine tenths of the law" then
possesion by mercenaries with modern weapons may
well be ninety-nine hundredths.
[3] Anyone know if Strasbourg is rubble after 2101?
It's in a very unfortunate location regarding the breakup of the old EC.
[4] Yes, hydrocarbons can be shunted around into all
sorts of forms, but is it cheaper just to start
with a good old-fashioned barrel of crude?
---snip--
> > Population has been increased by lab-workings and
I don't know the term for it, but I was thinking... Argh.. Language barier...
Synthetic reproduction... There was a discussion on the list abut it a while
back.
> ScanFed settlers? Makes good sense, but what's the
That was just about how I had pictured it, option c with a bit of b.:)
---snip--
> If the original unit was armed with ScanFed
Initially they would keep their equipment from the compville campaign, but I
think the logistics involved would be a bit cumbersome. I was thinking that my
boys
used licence-produced modified NSL, NFR and NAC gear
these days.
(NSL PzGr as Heavy inf, NAC troopers as standard inf,
> From Brigade, the Lynx APC, Kochte MBT, Montsabert
> > A (very) mineral-rich mountain range?
Good idea, I'll use that one.:)
> It's possible to refine alcohol-based fuels from
I don't know enough about modern or coming synthetic materials... How do they
make other composites?
> [quoted text omitted]
You end up with two distinct communities,
> possibly drifting apart. You aleady have the
I'll buy that argument. Makes sense.
> > Exporting high quality products made from rich
I wanted the robotic factories to reduce the level of skilled workforce
needed. The money, however... I don't know how the NFR would value freedom.:)
> Manufacturing your own equipment will not be a
See above.:)
Thanks!
/Johan
> If they're such high tech they may have reproductive
Reproductive support? Is that the term? That was what
I meant by "lab-workings"... :)
And to me, robotic fighters is borderline blasphemy.
:)
> Cheers
Thanks!:)
Johan
***
I don't know the term for it, but I was thinking... Argh.. Language barier...
Synthetic reproduction... There was a discussion on the list abut it a while
back.
***
Cloning?
The_Beast