Honorverse series, the future..?

Donnachaidh wrote:IIRC during the interview linked/discussed here (about 18 minutes in) David Weber said he'd start on it in the next 2-3 months.

seahawk72s wrote:Having just read "Cauldron of Ghosts" is there word yet on what is next, book wise, for the Honorverse series..?
I've looked but not seen any reference to future story lines.

lyonheart wrote:Then there might be 'their' version of Mistletoe, RD's mounting warheads up to 500 MT (possibly with focused LH's), that might be lurking within the H-L but easily match the inbound SLN trajectories before getting inside the SD's obliteration radius etc.

lyonheart wrote:Hi TheMoster,

I suspect the time involved for the SLN to assemble their larger fleet will allow the Mycroft to come on line.

Even if it doesn't, as others have noted, Truman is probably on a near hair trigger response.

However, given the SLN's tradition of very slow entries back into normal space and concerns about their navigation might mean they might stop short at a nearby system (which could easily be picketed by the GA) to get a better fix for their approach as the PRHN did in Icarus at Basilisk.

The GA might not just picket the possible systems in normal space but the lower alpha hyperspace bands, which would also enable the FTL.com to send messages further and faster so the warning ship might not have to travel as far as the SLN might think to reach other hyper pickets around Beowulf, quite aside from the relatively modern GA DD or CL being able to travel much faster than the reserve BF SD's in hyper in the first place (3000C vs 2200C?), possibly providing several hours of warning time, if the wayside system is ~7 LY from Beowulf etc.

Their slow reentry into normal space also provides plenty of reaction time for Admiral Truman (~10 minutes to travel only 1M km, ~30 minutes for 10 M km), but I wouldn't be surprised if the BSDF that has been exercising with the RMN for decades if not centuries has a few surprises of its own.

If the BSDF were to tractor ~580 MDM pods to each of its 36 SD's (for 20,880 pods) besides more in orbit, as Mike did at Spindle, for a total of 250,560 MDM's; since only 200 were required to kill a BF SD, while the SLN only sent perhaps twice as many SD's, the BSDF alone would have over 6 times the overkill needed before getting to those other pods.

Then there might be 'their' version of Mistletoe, RD's mounting warheads up to 500 MT (possibly with focused LH's), that might be lurking within the H-L but easily match the inbound SLN trajectories before getting inside the SD's obliteration radius etc.

The BSDF might even warn or bluff the BF CO by showing some of the RD's, but not the Mistletoe's, etc.

Given the BSDF's potential, and RFC's post that Beowulf isn't as helpless as some here think, surprises are in store.

L

Weird Harold wrote:

lyonheart wrote:Then there might be 'their' version of Mistletoe, RD's mounting warheads up to 500 MT (possibly with focused LH's), that might be lurking within the H-L but easily match the inbound SLN trajectories before getting inside the SD's obliteration radius etc.

According to textev about the "missiles" used in Yeltsin to assinate Duke Cromarty (et al) RDs with war head were to slow and easily intercepted to be useful in any but the most ideal conditions.

Even the SLN should be able to intercept armed RDs used against ships. Theisman even felt Mistletoe was a minimal threat to Moriarity platforms now that they were known to exist.

lyonheart wrote:First of all, there are orders of magnitude difference between that assassination weapon (which apparently had no active stealth etc) and RMN RD's that can accelerate up to 5000 G's before being detected by RMN sensors.

TheMonster wrote: The way the Mandarins were talking, it's unlikely they'll get anything put together before the plebiscite, and after it, the window is closed, because there will be no problem with GA wallers in Beowulf orbit while Mycroft is being built and tested.

If the attack comes before the plebiscite, then the SLN will still almost certainly get blown away, but in the process the BSDF could take heavy casualties. I still think one of the best things the RMN could do to address that is to have a bunch of its people who have parents or grandparents from Beowulf, and can therefore claim citizenship, put on BSDF uniforms and man a couple of SD(P)s with their smart paint reconfigured to designate them as BSDF vessels, hanging out in an asteroid belt stealthed with their wedges on standby, ready to be used if needed to provide the KH2 fire control for the system-defense pods (both transplanted from MBS and those new ones coming off the Beowulf production lines).

Lyonheart wrote:Hi TheMoster,

I suspect the time involved for the SLN to assemble their larger fleet will allow the Mycroft to come on line.

Even if it doesn't, as others have noted, Truman is probably on a near hair trigger response.

Hutch wrote:They have about 900 units they can contact (2000-500 losses-600 Tasmania-200 at Sol). Say the SLN HQ wants at least 400 additional ships (sent 450 to Beowulf, 150 for Earth SDF). They should be able to alert that many units in a week. Give said units two weeks to make it to Earth (time to get organized and deployed and SD's are slightly slower than Dispatch boats), another two weeks to 'work up' as a fleet, and one week to get to Beowulf--It will take about 6 weeks from orders going out for the Sollies to put a major Battle fleet at Beowulf.

Weird Harold wrote:

lyonheart wrote:First of all, there are orders of magnitude difference between that assassination weapon (which apparently had no active stealth etc) and RMN RD's that can accelerate up to 5000 G's before being detected by RMN sensors.

You do realize that RMN missiles accelerate at 85,000 to 90,000 Gs? Mistletoe style armed RDs are slow enough even the SLN can interdict them once they know they exist.

That makes them only good the first time they're used. Mistletoe armed RDs would probably be slightly more effective than the assassin missiles, but Appollo can do the same thing with eight Laser heads at 17-18 times the acceleration.

The E wrote:

Hutch wrote:They have about 900 units they can contact (2000-500 losses-600 Tasmania-200 at Sol). Say the SLN HQ wants at least 400 additional ships (sent 450 to Beowulf, 150 for Earth SDF). They should be able to alert that many units in a week. Give said units two weeks to make it to Earth (time to get organized and deployed and SD's are slightly slower than Dispatch boats), another two weeks to 'work up' as a fleet, and one week to get to Beowulf--It will take about 6 weeks from orders going out for the Sollies to put a major Battle fleet at Beowulf.

That estimate is very optimistic. You're assuming several major Battle Fleet detachments all in a week's radius from Sol, you're assuming that each and every one of those is able to get moving in a week or two, and you're assuming that the SLN, with all its vast experience in handling large fleet concentrations, will be able to get that fleet into something approaching cohesion with just two weeks worth of training.

And you're assuming that the SLN can pull this off without anyone noticing. Very optimistic indeed.