IntenseDebate - JohnRoth1

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 1 reply · +1 points

So. It looks like we're moving toward a confrontation. If I've got the time sequences right, the BOM happens while Gold Peak is at Tillerman. She also should have a squadron of Rolands waiting for her at Spindle.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Byng gets orders to attack before Admiral Heneke gets back to Spindle.

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 1 reply · +1 points

I wasn't thinking of a deterrent. I was thinking that, since she told Byng she was going to Tillerman, if he's going to attack anywhere, it'll be Spindle, Tillerman or somewhere else. Those options give very different strategic and tactical threads.

She's in the position of having to protect 17 or so systems against a fleet, without the ability to put significant force into each system.

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 4 replies · +1 points

Is Henke's threat assessment based on 17 or 25 heavy cruisers? If it's 17, and she leaves two of her own heavy cruisers there they could well be outgunned.

On the other hand, it might not make a difference, since the other shoe hasn't dropped yet.

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 1 reply · +1 points

Oh, it isn't just this snippet. It's the last three snippets - starting with Anisimovna prepping her fake merchant captain.

Now, I grant you he may very well connect it up later, but so far there's nothing here that really justifies this part of the action taking place on screen.

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 4 replies · +2 points

MadMcAl said:

"It is fascinating how much the entusiasm drops now that the E-ARC is out. "

Oh, I didn't buy the e-arc. It's just that this particular piece of the action is totally boring. As far as I can tell now, almost nothing would be lost if it didn't exist and a short report was placed elsewhere.

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 16 replies · +1 points

Up to a point. I think they're going to keep the CLAC and LACs until they get the system defense version of Apollo installed and operational. IIRC, that was scheduled for about three months after the BOM. Then there's the Lynx Terminus forts, and I don't remember when those are supposed to come online.

As I see it, Byng's function in the Alignment's plan is to get slaughtered so they have an incident that justifies bringing in Crandall's Battle Fleet.

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 18 replies · +1 points

Admiral Crandall has the "100 of the wall" at McIntosh. And Heneke ought to have a squadron of Rolands (destroyers) waiting when she gets back to base, but she won't have anything here. There are some other forces that will be dribbling in from time to time, but I doubt if the major reinforcements will happen after the BOM.

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 0 replies · +1 points

I don't think she's got the option of "defensive fire". If she lets 25 Solarian BCs and an unknown number of Destroyers get within their missile range, she's going to take real damage. If she opens fire at her missile range, she's giving away information that the Admiralty has said it wants kept secret for now.

So if the action starts on the way out, she's going to go for the kill.

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 0 replies · +1 points

You're probably right.

So now we know what they think they know. The basic question is whether Admiral Byng is going to attack Heneke on the way out of the system, or whether he's going to let it go.

14 years ago @ Eric Flint's plac... - STORM FROM THE SHADOWS... · 0 replies · +1 points

I find it very difficult to figure out what the Alignment is thinking. It's either to conquer the Solarian League, or to get their revenge on Beowulf so they can practice their version of genetic "improvement" on a larger scale.

In either case, Manticore is a serious problem simply because they're not being rotted from within on schedule.

Shrug. I think Lois McMaster Bujold did the genetic superman bit a lot better with Cetaganda, but so what? It's still a good series.

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