The Space War Thread

[Smitty-48]

I use models for the ancillary characters, I model my supporting cast on real people

So like my Space Force Commander is Eagle Claw, because he's modeled on Charles Beckwith

Younger, like he was in Vietnam, before Delta.

Loves me some Charlie Beckwith

[Smitty-48]

Sometimes I draw on the trope of a famous movie character

So like my main character's sidekick is Bocks Car.

He's modeled on the Great Santini

But for graphic novel format he is modeled on Robin Olds. Younger, like he was in Vietnam

Loves me some Robin Olds



Fighting Cock is like the young apprentice and Robin Olds is his Obi-Wan.

His Battalion Commander is Chargin' Charlie Beckwith, Astronaut Delta Force

His HAL 9000 A.I. persona co-pilot looks like Kate Bush. Bithcin' Betty

[Smitty-48]

In terms of the Bad Guys?

They're Russians.

Space Ivan.

Lt Colonel Artyom Imbrahimovic Arkeyev. Callsign Koba

Major Gregory Romanovich Koval. Callsign Zhatka.

Cosmonauts. Enemy Operators with Enemy A.I.

The Russians call their MBD a Boyevaya Mashina Kosmicheskiye. 'Space Fighting Vehicle'

Mikoyan - Sukhoi BMK-2 Vityaz ("Knight") a.k.a. the Vepr ("Wild Boar") Spacemerican reporting name 'Foxbat'

Arkeyev is honorable, but ruthless, he fights to win, not personal, just business

Koval is a sociopath, son of a Russian mobster, rich kid who ignores the rules, Arkeyev's evil deputy and rival

They've come to snuff the Rooster

[Smitty-48]

"Switching to RAILGun"

The CANADARM snatched the discarded RAILRifle in space as Cock One reached for his secondary weapon. "Avenger Hot" Cock reported as he took up the General Electric 30x173mm GAU-8 Avenger rotary electric cannon from it's Hardpoint, attached to the left 'thigh' of the Main Battle Droid he was VR immersive in control of. "Gonna press here, see what I can flush out, extend vertical in overwatch, Bocks" Cock sent on the section net.

Bocks Car acknowledged "Extending vertical, fighting overwatch" The trailing MBD rose on its electric thrusters five hundred meters to the edge of the Ring.

'Tight spot here, Cock, dust is thick, can't see much" Bitchin' Betty chimed in on the ICS

"If we run, they'll shoot us in the back, we gotta fight our way out, Betts"

A quarter mile to the front, the Russian Space FIghting Vehicles laid in wait. Defilade to the advancing American astronauts, observing covertly by remote sensors planted in the rock field no man's land between.
"There is not one, where is the second one ?" Gregory Koval sent to his commander
"The second must be to the flank, we are upwards to the Ring, he must be North of us, go up and look for him" Artyom Arkeyev watched as the American MBD came on, picking its way through the rock field, dashing from rock to rock

Everybody back up,
I run this, I run this,
I'm bigger than a mack truck,
I run this,
I run this,

[Smitty-48]

I changed the look of the XV-11Bravo's head, which is where the A.I. cortex is, with the sensors

Basing them on helicopter crew helmet's now ; less NASA more Gunship :

Easier to draw and reproduce, plus I can stylize them US mil fashion

Plus bug eyed makes sense for VR imaging eyes

[Smitty-48]

I'll do an Orbat for the Battalion.


Name the companies after battles ;

A Company 'Antietam'

B Company 'Bastogne'

C Company 'Chickamauga'

D Company 'Dak To'

'Dak To' Company will be forward deployed RAILRifle Company on the Trace at Titan.


The Platoons will have their own Callsigns

10 Platoon 'Jayhawker'

11 Platoon 'Bushwacker'

12 Platoon 'Knightstalker'


Each Platoon will deploy four Space Reconnaissance Direct Action (SRDA) Troops

Cock One will be a Captain, Troop Leader ;

Delta Troop, 10 Platoon 'Jayhawker', 'Dak To' Company, 1st Space Force Battalion Group (1 SFBG)


Dak To Company deploys from an austere Forward Operating Habitat (FOH)

Outside of the Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) of the Contested Volume of the Saturnian System

This is their Logistics Dock. The Operators & A.I. can be off duty here, the maintainers are all robots.

They call it Fort Apache.

The Fort itself has an A.I. called Red Leg.

[Smitty-48]

Fort Apache is a classic Taurus shaped rotating space station habitat, similar to the one in 2001 : ASO

Except obviously the docks are around the outside of the ring not in the middle

The Taurus is 1G of spinward artificial gravity, there are race tracks where they can run around the station

Like Dave Bowman on Discovery, just the giant sized version of

Between the tracks are the docks, where they work on their MBD with the A.I. running the robotics

Their A.I. can follow them around the station Intranet, as projections of their Personas, in Augmented Reality

The Operators have their 1G quarters, with rooms and showers and toilets and a mess hall, gym, etc

The Fort's A.I. Red Leg runs everything for them, also has automated Field Surgical Hospital (FSH)

The center of the station is the Low G Cargo Dock. More robots running that.

Space Force PT Kit is just like Dave Bowman's, white shoes, socks and shorts, black t-shirt with white USSF crest.

[Smitty-48]

The MBD docks on Fort Apache are like ICBM silos with the MDB standing upright in the middle in 1G

The Halfback Space Shuttle is mounted behind it, the RAILWeapons are racked to the sides of the Shuttle

The A.I. runs the maintenance with a whole slew of CANADARM's,

the Operator supervises like Han Solo on the Falcon. They banter back and forth on the gantries.

The A.I. persona Holoprojection in AR just appears like a real person, follows the Operator around, Virtual 2IC

When the MBD's launch, they drop feet first, then rotate and the Halfback Shuttle blasts off towards the Trace.

[Smitty-48]

The MBD's themselves are not Japanese Gundam style, they're built more like the new Stormtroopers.

Except they have big shoulder guard armor, like the FOX NFL Robot, hence the nickname "Linebacker'

The left shoulder armor shows Old Glory, the right shoulder armor has the Nose Art.

The heads are like a helicopter crew helmet with mask, big bug eyed visor look to them, like USMC crews.

The Helmets are white, some of them are stylized with teeth on the mask, or a colored design on the helm

Outside of the Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) they are overt 'Parade Order' NASA White & Black

When they enter the TEZ they go tactical, all the white and colored parts turn Camo,

Signals that they are legitimate military targets, Direct Participant in Hostilities (DPH) Beast Mode.

They can go Stealth Mode, everything turns black and it projects optical camo, powers down, cools itself off

[StCapps]

The MBD's themselves are not Japanese Gundam style, they're built more like the new Stormtroopers.

Except they have big shoulder guard armor, like the FOX NFL Robot, hence the nickname "Linebacker'

The left shoulder armor shows Old Glory, the right shoulder armor has the Nose Art.

The heads are like a helicopter crew helmet with mask, big bug eyed visor look to them, like USMC crews.

The Helmets are white, some of them are stylized with teeth on the mask, or a colored design on the helm

Outside of the Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) they are overt 'Parade Order' NASA White & Black

When they enter the TEZ they go tactical, all the white and colored parts turn Camo,

Signals that they are legitimate military targets, Direct Participant in Hostilities (DPH) Beast Mode.

They can go Stealth Mode, everything turns black and it projects optical camo, powers down, cools itself off

Oh shit the Jem'Hadar Camo is going to be real soon?


Bad ass.