Sorry this late answer: I have strong flu in the last days and didn’t even turned on the PC.
No, my boarding ships have no sensors: to gain high speed, they have just engine, some fuel and troops bay.
And I didn’t remember I need someone around with active sensors on to detect the enemy ship.
Now, I’m sending that someone. 
The UN security council declared global martial law after a massive explosion at Harwell nuclear research campus. Scientists predict twelve years remain until the aftermath of that event will cause our sun to detonate in a pre-nova explosion which will liquify and evaporate all bodies in the solar system.
Consequently the UNSC directorate council have prioritised the discovery and colonisation of new worlds and an exodus from Earth is underway.
In an unexpected turn of events, an enigmatic race who call themselves the Gandle Ott Theocracy reappeared in Barnard’s Star, a designated research system one jump from Sol, which also provides access to a colony world in 84 Cancri. Previously detected on the fringes of UNSC space, the Ott withdrew from improving diplomatic relations in the midst of their bitter war against the Kingdom of Rewa, a trading partner with the UNSC.
While the UNSC have neutral relations with the Ott, all diplomatic efforts have failed to improve trust between the two states since their withdrawal. It was surprising then that while the UNSC was considering colonising Barnard’s Star I with defences, population and establishing a mission to decode the information present in an alien language in a dormant construct on the planet viewed as a colony of Earth, that an Ott ship should appear in the system.
An extraordinarily fast scout ship was spotted jumping in and observed moving between various bodies by deep space tracking systems already present on Barnard III as part of a mining expedition. UNSC strategic analysts predicted it was inevitable they would became aware of the dormant construct and the UNSC council decided to expedite colonisation of Barnard I.
Tensions were high as the scout ship surveyed Barnard I which was already garrisoned with a ship bearing weaponry potentially able to disable the scout even if the ships of Earth were not able to match its speed in deep space manoevures. The legal counsel of the British delegation prevailed and a fateful decision was made not to start a war while higher priorities took precedence and hopes of a diplomatic entente remained possible.
Academics, under the aegis of the UNSC, decoded the language of the construct and took control of it just as two large and slow Ott ships approached the planet and unloaded ground forces. It would be fair to say panic ensued in the UNSC headquarters on Earth. An initial estimate of tonnage put the Ott forces at ten thousand tons but their composition was unknown. Their size appeared to diminish and UNSC analysts construed they had taken a defensive position.
There ensued an elaborate game of bluff as the UNSC military police force, STO group, engineering corps and xenoarchology expedition were instructed to hold their ground and dig in, in the assumption that the Ott knew as little about UNSC forces composition as UNSC knew about theirs. Fortunately for the UNSC the tonnage of their lightly armed forces significantly exceeded that of the Ott at around sixty five thousand tonnes which they gambled was sufficient to deter hostile action from the Ott forces. The massacre of Beta Telescopii however was still fresh in the minds of the directorate, who knew well a xenoarcheology expedition could not withstand the attack of even an automated military force, whatever its size.
All Space Marine forces training at the bootcamp on Earth and reservists who had previously seen action onboard hostile ships, captured in security operations against a poorly understood piratical enemy, were mobilised and brought to take positions on the front line at Barnards I, bolstering the forces to over seventy thousand tons.
The resulting tense stand off left the UNSC wanting more powerful forces to meet, greet and defeat any potential Ott insurgency so research resources were diverted from the task of improving colonisation technology to the development of ground and space forces capable of defeating the dangerously fast moving, impressively powerful and shielded Ott Armada, which had been spied patrolling the Ott system of Psi Ceti by the UNSC diplomatic station positioned at the jump point to YZ Ceti, which contained a jump point leading directly to Barnard’s Star. It would take all UNSC forces combined to defeat them. The only good news was that they were slower than the Ott scout and more importantly slower than the UNSC fast attack craft developed to seek and destroy piratical interlopers.
Meanwhile the colonisation of Barnard I proceeds apace, population currently stands at just over two million colonists and work proceeds to increase the size of the colony and exploit the 70% advantage in construction and production research which the no longer dormant construct on Barnard I is estimated to provide. Improvements to ground and space firepower and armour are being researched and should bear fruit in the near future. Equipment design is proceeding in anticipation of their future availability, to bolster defences at Barnard’s Star I.
The UN navy is about to undergo it’s first 10 year fleet review, holding design reviews and making a development plan for the period of 1980-1990. On the docket are the following items:
After the tragic loss of a science vessel to ground-based weapons in a Hipparcos catalogue system in the vicinity of Orion, Empress Alysun IV has approved the full force of the Blood Autocracy to deal with the threat.
Armoured Cruiser Norway arrived at the system (now designated “Draknor” as that seems to be what the enemy forces call it in the few communications we’ve been able to intercept) and approached the planet with shields up until it started taking fire. Norway kept at around the maximum range of the ground-based weapons, almost never being hit, and began firing Mk.IV Anti-missile missiles at the sources of the fire. They must have been fortified and heavily armoured, as the AMMs could not destroy the weapon sites even with direct hits. Norway switched to using Mk.V torpedoes with 25 times the explosive yield and eventually whittled down the planetary return fire to nothing.
Upon approaching low orbit around the planet, Norway was struck by a large volume of low damage hits on her shield, apparently from point defence weapons that for some reason did not engage any of the earlier torpedoes. Neither did they engage the following torpedoes, which eventually wiped out all point defence weapons as well. For her work, the captain was awarded several Commendations Green, usually reserved for the army.
With such significant armour, a ground assault against these aliens will be difficult to the point of pointlessness. Larger ground vehicles with higher calibre weapons must be developed. Blood Baroness Innogen Rend has revived her Super-Heavy Vehicle program, and restarted development on the Mammoth, Overlord, Devastator, and Apocalypse tanks.
30th April
“Earlier today, contact was momentarily lost with the Scyphi, which had jumped out of the X-241-2 system through an unexplored jump point.
Initial fears of Orz attack were quickly dispelled when the ship re-established contact, explaining that she had emerged only twenty million kilometres from the primary star in the system.
This star, one of two in the system, is the largest and brightest we have encountered so far, almost twice the size of Lambda-A, and 10% brighter.
Emergency environmental systems in the Scyphi prevented any serious injuries or deaths, but several of the crew were diagnosed with permanent eye damage after a medical examination in the ship’s sickbay.
Once the situation was under control, the crew were able to make an observation of the rest of the system, finding a single planet and asteroid belt in orbit of the secondary star.
This is the fourth system discovered by the Scyphi, who is now en-route to the single planet in the system, which will take her approximately six days.”
2nd May
“Welcome dear viewers. Today we have with us professor Cuitlaxaochitzin, lead propulsion scientist. Can I call you Cuitla?”
“Off course, glad to be here Xoco.”
“Thank you. Now, for those of you who don’t know, Cuitla here is the one responsible for finalizing the understanding of Nuclear Gas-Core engines, and was heavily involved in the design of the new Reeunk engines used for our destroyers.
Cuitla, the question I am asked most is this; Why are the new engines not more powerful than the last generation?”
“A fair question, and the reason is of a strategic nature, not a tactical one.
You see, our earlier destroyers, all the way back to the original Marauders, already were able to surpass the Orz Nemesis in raw speed. However, this speed advantage came at a cost of fuel efficiency and strategic range, limiting the ability of these ships to respond to Orz incursions.
When we achieved thrust by nuclear gas core, we were able to dial down the overclocking we did on the earlier engines, turning them from fuel-guzzlers into, well, they still use a lot of fuel, but we’ve doubled the range of the ships using them.”
“Is that the only advantage?”
“No, they are also more stable, and easier to operate. I mean, easier to keep running.”
“Cuitla, we’ve been fighting the Orz for decades, longer than I’ve been alive. Will this give us an edge over them?”
“I know how you feel Xoco, but I’m afraid this is only one of many steps we need. As I said, the strategic value of the increased range and endurance of our destroyers helps a lot, just like every advance we made in sensors and electronic warfare.
But we still need that one extra push in either weapons range, or rocket reliability. Once we have that, we’ll be able to take down a Nemesis without relying on luck.”
“I understand. One last question, if I may. Some people tell me they are concerned about using the Orz technology. Isn’t it dangerous to reverse-engineer their devices?”
“Not at all. We are not taking parts of their ships and bolting them to ours.
Every component we salvage is disassembled and examined, so that we could learn how they operate. And there is nothing magical or mystical about their ships, they work just like ours do.
In fact, aside from their method of travel between systems, they are only ahead of us in armour and engine technology.”
“Hold on, they have even more advanced engines? I though we used theirs to create our own gas core. And shouldn’t that make their ships faster than ours?”
“You might think that. But to answer your last question first, the Orz seem to prefer, or require, their engines to be efficient. Certainly a lower engine output also lowers their emissions, though that didn’t help them against our sensors.
And yes, they have more advanced engines. We are still learning how they work, and the nuclear gas-core is a stepping-stone towards even more advanced designs.”
“Alright, that’s all the time we had. Thank you for being here with us Cuitla.”
“My pleasure Xoco, pleasure being here.”
6th May
“We have just received word that the Scyphi has reached the single planet in the newly discovered X-275-1 system.
It appears to be a small, airless world a little too close to her sun for comfort, but the explorers assured us that she can be terraformed.
The asteroid belt contains 129 bodies of significant size, as well as the usual spread of small rocks.
Part of the belt is in the habitable zone of the sun, though obviously all asteroids are barren, and too small to be terraformed.
Largest of the asteroids is number 64, which is 890 kilometres in diameter, with a projected population capacity of 88 million.”
The initial expansion of the Sons of Norway has been uneventful to say the least - this small corner of the known galaxy seems to be entirely bereft of life, though there is irrefutable evidence of it having formerly existed. One small ruin in the Obed system. Three wrecks, little more than rotten husks, scattered about the Valtos system. Life obviously exists - or existed - but scholarly consensus is that none yet remains. This view having been accepted by the ruling authorities, complacency reigns… though not entirely unopposed.
The first extrasolar colony has just been established, a terraforming outpost on a moderately mineral rich, tidally locked, airless, desolate asteroid orbiting a mere 36 million kilometers from the G6-V primary of the Alcomdale system, immediately adjacent to the home system. In orbit a single, massive 630 kiloton Alchemist-class space station, recently towed there to lower the intense heat and eventually provide a semi-comfortable environment for the future miners. Though not incredibly rich, the 200k+ Duranium and 32k+ Corundium are sorely needed, and it’s hoped the colony, though limited to a mere 13 million people, will provide incentive and support for civilian industrialists to expand into the numerous lower-gravity and similarly mineral rich asteroids clustered nearby.
Perhaps today will be the day the complacency of the Sons is shattered, or maybe reinforced, as the survey ship NSS Twilight Requiem, first in a new class with newly developed and much more powerful engines, approaches an unexplored jump point in the Midnapore system, the harsh light of the system’s binary B3-II stars casting every shadow with a knife’s edge.
Grasping Shadows IV class Gravitational Survey Vessel 10,000 tons 225 Crew 1,344.1 BP TCS 200 TH 675 EM 0
3375 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-41 Shields 0-0 HTK 56 Sensors 0/0/5/0 DCR 10-10 PPV 0
Maint Life 6.44 Years MSP 1,840 AFR 80% IFR 1.1% 1YR 76 5YR 1,147 Max Repair 200 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months Morale Check Required
Dark Reflection 10k/5350 MJD Max Ship Size 10000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Valkyr Nuclear Gas-Core Engine SV-337.5-M (2) Power 675.0 Fuel Use 13.78% Signature 337.5 Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 1,231,800 Litres Range 160.9 billion km (551 days at full power)
Kyndil Gravity Wave Detection Matrix 18.5m - C (1) GPS 1000 Range 18.5m km RES 100
Gravitational Survey Sensors (5) 5 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposes
A low priority for exploration, though Midnapore lay next door to the home system the massive stars forced the jump points to incredible distances from the point of entry, 15 and 23 billion kilometers respectively. But the time had come to expand the known jump network to 10 systems, a number soon to be expanding more rapidly as resources are diverted to additional survey ships, the base hulls of the NSS Penumbra and Eclipse having just been laid down.
NSS Twilight Requiem approaches the weird distortion in space-time, a dimensionless point leading… anywhere. In a flash she and her 225 crew are elsewhere, emerging just outside the orbit of the sixth planet of seven orbiting a yellow-white F0-V star. Initial readings indicate no obvious signs of life, but that determination will await a more detailed survey.
I’m amazed by the large quantities of minerals most of the players here have/find!
In my last (too many) games, I have to struggle against the lack of Corundium, Gallicite, Mercassium, Uridium, and Vendarite.
Sometimes one or two, other times four or five of them!
So, the Navy is often made only of 4 or 5 frigates (in the range of 14 - 15 kton), a bit more corvettes (8 ktons), and a couple of dockyards (tractored by a tug) to move some fighters around.
Proclamation of the King’s Passing: Know this loyal subjects of DWARVENKIND. This day, the 4th day of the 7th month of the 36th year of the Reign of King Dagstyrr II Luftar is the LAST day of the reign of King Dagstyrr II Luftar, the giver of rings and gifts, the protector of Sogash, the preserver of the ancient ways, the scion and issue of Luftar, he who sits upon the Corbomite Throne…for the King has passed from life into legend in the 68th year of his life. His body shall lie in state within the hall of swearing for 5 days and 6 nights, before it shall be burned in the plasma-fires of the mighty stellerator-beneath-the-mountain. In accordance with his wishes, the Grim Council has proclaimed his scion and issue, DRAGMALL LUFTAR as King beneath the mountain. LONG LIVE THE KING
Quick excerpt from my current AAR:
Twenty-four hours later, another Clouded Leopard transited into Albion from Thetis. The jump point was guarded by two Gibraltar class fortresses, the light cruiser HMS Arethusa and eight Sentinel class defence satellites. Two of the normal complement of four jump point bases were being overhauled at Port Albion, so the light cruiser and the Sentinels were stationed at the jump point in their stead.
The Sentinel itself was completely unlike anything else in the Royal Navy inventory. It was an 800-ton miniature base, armed with an 18” spinal laser that could only fire once every eighteen minutes and was designed to remain in place without the need for overhaul for up to thirty years. While it could effectively only fire once in any engagement, it would inflict a strength-53 hit at anything up to 60,000 km, reducing steadily beyond that range, and was small and cheap enough to deploy in numbers. In the long-term, the Sentinel, or variants on the design, would form the core of the Royal Navy’s jump point defence force. In this case, the Clouded Leopard was blown to pieces by a pair of Sentinels and a broadside from HMS Arethusa.
28th December, 277AI
“Breaking news.
After tugging a Lighthouse research station into orbit of the third planet in the Atrabiin system, the purpose of that station has been released to the public.
It appears that the planet, a small, cold tundra world, is host not just to life, but in fact holds intelligent aliens.”
“And girl let me tell you, they are alien.”, says lieutenant commander Eyvi, senior officer of the Lighthouse station.
“Forget about hens with funny crests, these are the genuine article.
I’m talking ‘sapient patches of moss’ essentially, though they’re mostly made out of roots.
We’ve already gotten into contact with them, and have some basic diplomatic talks going on.
Mind you, they’re primitive, iron-level at best, and not very keen on co-operation.
At least, with each other, which has allowed us to barter a surprising amount of information on their society.
Life on this world is slow, and I doubt even a fraction of them know about us, but they’ve been surprisingly happy to believe us when we tell them we came from beyond the stars.
They’re got a lot of time to look at stars, maybe that helps.”
“Official policy on this world is that we will leave the aliens and their world alone for the time being, though the mineral deposits there are rather tempting.”
Other worlds in the system are likewise viable colonization targets, with two of them even having habitable surface gravity.
11th July, 278AI
Two Kingbreakers and their escort have moved to the X-206-1 system, attempting to engage the automated alien defence base in orbit of the third planet.
Unlike prior attempts, their modern ECCM allow them to actually get a lock on the base from what we assumed was outside of their missile range.
It is not to be though, and once more our brave ships find themselves faced with a full volley of alien missiles.
After defensive fire manages to take down only one of sixty incoming missiles, thirteen slam into one of the Kingslayers, destroying her.
“No! How can this be happening! Oh the Hugh Manitee! Noooo!”
-–Commander Tlacoxochitl on the Restless Bellionaire.
13th October
A Nemesis appears near Ukonvasara, on a course that takes her on a close approach.
When she comes into range, the Seashore Gamer launches missiles at the raider.
After several volleys, the Orz raider is disabled, drifting in Quasispace.
Sensing an opportunity, a pair of Jackal Assault Ships are dispatched from Nublar, arriving to weeks later to find the Nemesis in much the same state.
On approach, they find that at least one of the Nemesis’ railguns is still operational, and the Solo Hunter takes several hits on her approach, as well as later during her retreat.
This means that one of the boarding teams taking part in the action is at reduced strength, and cost the lives of several crewhen on the Jackal as well.
On the hull of the Nemesis, the commanding officer addresses her troops.
“Listen up ladies, we are about to make history.
Our mission is simple, though I doubt it will be easy.
Get in, kill anything that moves. Command will be watching through your suit’s cameras, so let them deal with commentary and intelligence updates.”
She gets ready to enter one of the holes blaster into the raider’s hull, blue fluids pouring past her boots.
“We know their ships have a fluid interior instead of air, so this will be interesting.
Move!”
It only takes thirty seconds before first contact.
Marines swarm the cramped ship, easily finding their targets inside the strange corridors.
For the first time since the raids began, we have visual contact with the enemy.
“Let’s be special together. Spicy games are always fun.”
–-One of the few comprehensible utterings by Orz on the boarded Nemesis
Our weapons easily take down whatever they hit, dozens of aliens shot down. These Orz are clearly not expecting their ships to be boarded, as none of the strange beings are shown to wear armour, nor do they wield anything larger than their versions of pistols.
In return, the aliens manage to take some shots at our marines, whose armour is mostly able to absorb the hits.
One marine goes down, her blood mixing with the alien fluids.
Only four minutes after the boarding began, we take control of the ship.
Discounting the losses suffered during the boarding approach, we have taken only three casualties, along with twenty light wounds.
While two are merely heavily wounded, and will recover eventually, the third was hit in the head, killing her instantly.
Her sacrifice is not in vain, as we now possess a complete, though damaged, Nemesis.
Ships mentioned in the above text:
Lighthouse class Space Station 3,719 tons 10 Crew 105.1 BP TCS 74
No Armour HTK 12 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-2
MSP 17 Max Repair 40 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
10x Laboratory 5x Sickbay 5x Public Space 5x Offices 2x Observatory 2x Landing Pad 2x Garden 2x Entertainment Lounge Docking Bay 5x Crew Cabins - Standard - 15 3x Communal Showers Chapel 2x Canteen 2x Kitchen 2x Warehouse
Sovereign class Missile Defence Base 17,283 tons 419 Crew 1,903.9 BP TCS 346 TH 0 EM 0
Armour 6-59 HTK 153 Sensors 10/10/0/0 DCR 5-2 PPV 96
Maint Life 12.97 Years MSP 12,844 AFR 478% IFR 6.6% 1YR 142 5YR 2,125 Max Repair 120 MSP
Magazine 1,080 / 0
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Morale Check Required
28x Crew Cabins - Standard - 15 5x Chapel 10x Communal Showers 10x Canteen 10x Entertainment Lounge 5x Garden 5x Gym 10x Kitchen 5x Public Space 10x Sickbay Swimming PoolBrannigan Arms Missile Launcher S08/1.0 (12) Missile Size: 8 ROF 85
Brannigan Arms MFC S019 R23 (1) Range 23.3m km RES 19
Brannigan Arms MFC S040 R13 (1) Range 13.4m km RES 40
Brannigan Arms MFC S220 R23 (1) Range 23.6m km RES 220
Brannigan Arms MFC S440 R105 (1) Range 105.1m km RES 440
Rebellion 233 (135) Speed 10,400 km/s Range 106m km WH 9 Size 8 TH: 1,040 / 2,080 / 4,160Honourable R440-12 Sensors (1) GPS 52800 Range 105.1m km RES 440
Dedicated R100-12 Sensors (1) GPS 2400 Range 28.7m km RES 100
Elite R019-12 Sensors (1) GPS 684 Range 20.2m km RES 19
Dedicated R500-12 Sensors (1) GPS 12000 Range 49.1m km RES 500
Dedicated R001-12 Sensors (1) GPS 24 Range 6.2m km MCR 556.2k km RES 1
Dedicated EM2-10 (1) Sensitivity 10 Detect 1000: 25m km
Dedicated TH2-10 (1) Sensitivity 10 Detect 1000: 25m km
Jackal 287 class Armed Boarding Vessel 5,662 tons 106 Crew 610.7 BP TCS 113 TH 893
7881 km/s Armour 1-28 HTK 23 Sensors 8/0/0/0 DCR 2-3
Maint Life 1.75 Years MSP 434 AFR 128% IFR 1.8% 1YR 174 5YR 2,607 Max Repair 223.1 MSP
Troop Capacity 850 tons Boarding Capable
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 10% Morale Check Required
3x Crew Cabins - Basic - 30 2x Canteen 2x Kitchen 2x Sickbay 2x Chapel 2x Entertainment Lounge Crew Cabins - Basic - 18Reeunk Ion Drive 105.446.6 ‘Afterburner III’ (2) Power 892.5 Fuel Use 36.76% Signature 446.25 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 34.6 billion km (50 days at full power)Basic R019-12 Sensors (1) GPS 160 Range 9.8m km RES 19
Civilian Th08 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect 1000: 22.4m km
Nemesis class Raider 9,891 tons 291 Crew 2,465.2 BP TCS 20 TH 276
5803 km/s Armour 2-41 HTK 59 Sensors 24/8/0/0 DCR 5-5 PPV 14
Maint Life 1.21 Years MSP 778 AFR 157% IFR 2.2% 1YR 546 5YR 8,197 Max Repair 574 MSP
Magazine 0 / 54
Commander Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Morale Check RequiredIon Drive EP574.00 (2) Power 1148 Fuel Use 39.34% Signature 137.76 Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres Range 34.7 billion km (69 days at full power)20cm Railgun V40/C4 (2x4) Range 160,000km TS 5,803 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Direct Fire Control R256-TS5800 (2) Range 256,000 km TS 5,800 km/s ECCM-2
Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor R4 (2) Total Power Output 8.5 Exp 5%Size 18 Decoy Launcher (3) Decoy Size: 18 Hangar Reload 212 minutes MF Reload 35 hours
Active Search Sensor AS50-R96 (1) GPS 4608 Range 50.6m km RES 96 ECCM-2
Active Search Sensor AS9-R1 (1) GPS 32 Range 9m km MCR 812.4k km RES 1 ECCM-2
Thermal Sensor TH3-24 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect 1000: 38.7m km
EM Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect 1000: 22.4m km
Cloaking Device: Class cross-section reduced to 10.0% of normalElectronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 2 Missile 2
In the latest phase of the age of strife, the Empire of Zelos has laid claim to the gas giant known as Harp-Strike, on the periphery of the Second-hold system. The armadas of house Vigmundr and Kylafson are closing in about them…a great battle is on the horizon
I have presumably fixed the NPR carrier bug, because I just got attacked by a wave of over two hundred missiles launched by an NPR carrier group 
Great news!
I decided to do a small refit of my frigates to have them in more of an escort role ( in small quick test campaign i play at work ).
So i swapped 2 VLS’s for 8 AMM launchers, got to design my AMMs and discovered to my shock that AMM pulling 14K has only 25% chance of intercepting something doing less than 7k..
MAN removal and its consequences for AMMs have been tragic xD
If I understand well, your AMMs travel at 14,000 km/s, right?
These are very slow missiles, indeed.
May I suggest you to try to design AMMs travelling at least 60,000 km/s?
Size 2 AMMs, using well powered up engines, can reach even higher speed.
Well duh, of course it slow - its literally a nuclear thermal missile with very low tech levels.
Im not talking about speed, its more the sheer ratio of missile speed to target and abyssmal to hit chance.
In VB6 and earlier C# versions at least you could help yourself a bit with higher MAN.
I noticed with my own Ion Drive AMM’s taking out ATG and replacing it with engines improved their interception performance. Probably depends on how good your ATG is an how good your engines are
In the meantime 12 years in and we have yet to encounter a single alien
You could try reducing the warhead size below 1 and adding ATG or extra engine space, or make a larger AMM with retargeting.
UNSC lost their first ship in history.
UNV Pathfinder was conducting a planetary survey of Alpha Centauri A-II, homeworld of a first alien race encountered by mankind when it was suddenly struck by the barrage of 642 energy weapon hits. Defying logic the captain, veteran of UNSC space exploration program, Commander Kate Perkins and 40 out of 100 crew members made it to the lifepods despite Pathfinder being unarmoured and unprotected vessel.
Pathfinder sister ship, UNV Kepler conducting gravitational survey of the Alpha Centauri system raced to the rescue but was too far when the tragedy struck and all 41 crew members perished when their lifepods ran out of life support system.
This unprovoked attack made UNSC Naval Command dust off the Project Archangel, the proposed design for high tonnage assault vessel concept that gathered dust in Naval Ship Bureau.
First of the vessels, officialy named “Revenge” class is now in production - its a simple version of the main destroyer of the small UNSC Navy called the Metal class, just upscaled to 50k tons ( from 15k ).
Unfortunately the UNSC personel problem prevents from building additional slipways to build more than one of those ships.
Fortunately the ALPS, as the hostile species was nicknamed ( contact is still not established despite First Contact happening almost 4 years ago ), dont seem to be capable of space flight - they are constantly spied on by stealth com buoys left by Pathfinder and Kepler and no ship movement of any kind is detected.
UNV Tialoc, just finished building gate into the Alpha Centauri system as none of the military UNSC vessels are capable of unstabilised jump and the first Revenge is rolling of the shipyard in a year.
In other news - wrecks in Psy and YZ Ceti had been salvaged, they appeared to be wrecks of one escort, anti missile ship with small resolution sensor and one FAC or other alpha striker with box launchers. Additional funding had been requested as both Proxima and YZ Ceti have what appears to be ruins of old civilizations but UNSC has no ground units nor means to transport them to fully survey sites.
Luhman is such a weird system - 7 ( so far, grav survey is not done ) jump points in a system that is one sad comet orbiting binary barely shining brown dwarf combo..
