low tech space warfare

What would war between two space faring civilizations look like, assuming they both have a tech level equivelent or inferior to our own?

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  1. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    first off you would need too always fire in the opposite direction you are going or else the counter-force from the projectile will slow down or change the trajectory of the ship too much.

  2. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >imagine two incredibly expensive sports cars driving at a set (high) speed around a circular racetrack
    >under incredibly bright spotlights
    >every time they drive past each other the drivers lean out of the window and fire a 40mm grenade launcher at the other car
    It would be ridiculously lethal, but kind of fun to watch from a safe distance. It's going to be a very long time before we have the tech and infrastructure needed to produce ships that would be any better than that.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      I hate joust combat so much

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        True, but again, until we have a fairly massive increase in the efficiency of our rocket engines (which is unlikely on the scale we're talking about here) or come up with some new form of incredibly powerful and efficient propulsion system we're going to be stuck relying on orbital manoeuvres for space ships.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Nascar stock cars are like 180k a pop.
      could probably be made cheaper if they allowed turbocharging.

      we could have this IRL

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        The space shuttle cost $6.744 billion in 1971 (approx. $50,200,000,000 today). Even if we're going to keep this hypothetical sport to ground based cars you'd need to be using souped up Bugatti's to keep the same sort of feel.

        • 11 months ago
          Anonymous

          >thinly veiled MIC welfare project
          >realistic cost indicator
          Pick one.

          • 11 months ago
            Anonymous

            >SPACE SHUTTLE WERE A MILITARY PROJECT!!!!
            You OK there Ivan?

            • 11 months ago
              Anonymous

              Well, stealing sats was one of its main selling points... The second being the cost of course.

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                Source?

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                Most sources on STS development history mention it.

                >The Space Shuttle Task Group final report, issued in July 1969, concluded that an ILRV should be capable of:
                >• Space station logistical support
                >• Orbital launch and retrieval of satellites

                The USAF really wanted that capability even though it crippled the design in many ways (large payload bay and big delta wings for cross range capability). NASA had to play along for funding because it was either that or shutdown.

                If you are not a total moron and actually posses some level of curiosity about the shuttle development mess, you may check out the boomer space forum where you will find a treasure trove of information on the subject. My personal favorite trivia is the landing gear bullshit that intentionally prevented autonomous flights.

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                >retrieving your satellites is the same as stealing someone else's satellites
                OK moron

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                >...ok boomer
                Dysgenics.

                Well what warfare between them look like? Would they even bother with manned ships, or would it just be them lobbing inter-obrital ballistic missiles at each other?

                Missiles and even big guns if the worlds are low g.

                Ground offensives aka colonization before total annihilation of either side seem very unlikely to me as the only thing harder than escaping gravity wells with lots of mass is doing it while an enemy is filling your orbits with ball bearings.

                Now I'm actually curious as to why this theme hasn't been more thoroughly explored in sci-fi.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      I would pay like $70 PPV to see this shut live.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        How much do you think the drivers would expect to be paid to do it?

  3. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Everyone sitting on the ground tossing ASAT missiles at each other's spy and com satellites.

  4. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >war be declared
    >nothing really happens because neither side can into space
    >just talk shit to each other while our sub light-speed ordnance snails forward
    >decades later realize the individuals who pushed for war are now long dead
    >apologize and cease fire long before the munitions reach any targets

  5. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    In a just society we would do what the Ancient Greeks did. Show up in an agreed upon spot, slug it out, one side leaves after a few people die, and then it's over.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      If we're going for trial by champion as a way to resolve international disputes then why bother with space craft? Have the combatants meet on an agreed upon spot on a certain world, with an agreed strength and loadout (it shouldn't be more than a dozen men or so at most). Basically all wars would be decided by a single special forces small unit action, with the rest of the military duties offloaded to either federal police (or their nearest equivalent) and local defence forces/militia.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        Bitch, Gath doesn't exist anymore for a reason.
        That's not practical.

        • 11 months ago
          Anonymous

          There aren't all that many divinely chosen and empowered heroes around these days, so it could well become practical again. In the noble brightness of the far future, there is only honourable duelling.

  6. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    I just want to see early hot Cold War / Space Race boarding melee action.
    Imagine for a moment hacking a cosmonaut to death with a machete inside a breached International Space Station.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      not quite what you're looking for but read Storming Intrepid

  7. 11 months ago
    Anonymous
    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      >The poor fricking boot who gets sent up to space to stencil front towards enemy because they forgot to paint it on back on the ground

  8. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What would war between two space faring civilizations look like, assuming they both have a tech level equivelent or inferior to our own?
    They'd have to be in the same solar system for starters, so that constrains things a certain amount. But given all the weird star systems we've seen now it doesn't seem inconceivable that there could be two planets within a habitable zone, or a planet and then a big moon maybe.

    Even so, just getting around any serious mass inside a solar system between relatively "close" orbits (like no further than Mars to Earth) necessarily implies a MAD situation, either side could go for orbital bombardment that'd be near impossible to stop. So there'd be big incentive to stick to proxy war stuff on moons/asteroids only and both sides agree to not go after each other's homeworlds. Ship combat outside of orbit would be stuff like trying to dump smart munitions into an opponent's flight path.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      What about two habitable moons orbiting a single planet? They'd be really close to each other.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        I'll post a solar system delta-v map, but "close" in terms of distance doesn't actually mean much vs energy. It'd matter more what the gravity well of each moon was, and orbital transitions are still expensive. Still though that could be an interesting "realistic" setting to run with, because the typical problem with low gravity worlds is they are too small to maintain dynamo and protect their atmospheres so they end up like Mars. But with a world like Jupiter is can protect all its moons from solar wind itself, and also tidal heating can mean a liquid core even for something small, see Io. So you could theorycraft 2x habitable moons with maybe 1/3-1/2 g, they could still have relatively recognizable life but get to each other way, way earlier. And once each side could even see each other we can posit accelerated development for both.

        • 11 months ago
          Anonymous

          Well what warfare between them look like? Would they even bother with manned ships, or would it just be them lobbing inter-obrital ballistic missiles at each other?

          • 11 months ago
            Anonymous

            There'd be at least the potential for manned combat which would be more interesting. Looking IRL, our propulsion potential technology was way, way ahead of our computer tech, and lower gravity well would exacerbate that. Look at the Moon or Mars vs Earth with delta-v required to low orbit. Due to the nature of the rocket equation it's massively easier to do lower vs higher, the effects compound. Lower gravity doesn't affect computer development at all though. With a Mars level requirement (and it could be even less) a civilization could be going to orbit with serious mass with probably 1930s era tech and fairly primitive engines, and transfer to another similar moon would also be very attainable from there. So the two moons could have real exchange, be it war or commerce, many decades before computers started getting decent at any sort of real guidance. We can also potentially just eliminate all nukes here, moons might conceivably simply lack much beyond trace uranium and still be habitable and support a fairly conventional life development path. So some kinetic bombardment but also kinda limited due to the primitive engines and lack of nuclear power. Anyway, it'd be a very interesting setting to explore.

            The big improbability would mostly be two sentient civs arising at near identical (in geological scales) times. Because if one was even a few tens of millennia earlier, fraction of a fraction of a percent of solar system lifetime, they'd colonize the other moon before anything else could even show up.

            • 11 months ago
              Anonymous

              >The big improbability would mostly be two sentient civs arising at near identical (in geological scales) times. Because if one was even a few tens of millennia earlier, fraction of a fraction of a percent of solar system lifetime, they'd colonize the other moon before anything else could even show up
              They need not have evolved seperately. One could simply be inhabited by a diaspora from the other, or both could've been colonized from a third world.

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                I guess that could work but it'd bring its own challenges. If one is colonized by the other, than the other is starting from zero vs a fairly serious industrial civilization. In such a setting the original world would utterly dominate, there'd be no war between worlds there. The same factors that make this setting easy to get between also make it hard to be independent.

                I guess that could be worked around, like colony on moon #2 gets self-sufficient (not hard if it's a habitable world) and basic development, then some major disaster deals a huge blow to #1 (but not total extinction level). Both end up with reproduction sufficient numbers of people at a similar pre-industrial level maybe.

                Or alternatively 2+ different countries both colonize moon #2 at about the same time, Allies vs Axis type of thing. So war on #2, war on #1, war in between. An interplanetary (or intermoon anyway) extension of World War 2, with no nukes, that'd actually be pretty fricking wild, particularly if both managed to get dug in for a decade or two on #2 before war actually kicked off.

                Of course non-space aspects would be interesting too. 1/3-1/2 gravity would have big implications for in-atmosphere flight.

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                So yeah I'd love to see a setting like that explored, videogame might be a good way. Could work with a variety of genres.

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                It could be an ancient aliens type situation, where both moons were colonized historically but then lost their technology due to either it being removed by a third party or lost during a large scale civilizational collapse.

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                I guess, though just having things start on one and then include both seems more natural, and you can then draw a lot of inspiration directly from our world wars with a throwback space aesthetic on top which seems kinda rad, no need to get too alien. Although having it be humans kicked off via some STL emergency colonization program might also make it easier.

            • 11 months ago
              Anonymous

              >Look at the Moon or Mars vs Earth with delta-v required to low orbit
              I'm a moron and didn't include the map. Here, it's a good way to get a bit of a feel for traveling around the solar system in rough terms, though chemical rockets all would be using gravity assists and a bunch of other stuff.

  9. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What would war between two space faring civilizations look like, assuming they both have a tech level equivelent or inferior to our own?

    Let's ask ChatGPT!

    It's difficult to say exactly what a war between two space-faring civilizations would look like, especially if they have a technology level similar or inferior to our own, as there are many factors that could influence the conflict. However, we can make some general assumptions based on our current understanding of warfare and space technology.

    Firstly, the distance between the two civilizations' planets would play a significant role in any conflict. It could take years, if not decades, to travel between the two planets using current technology, and even longer if the civilizations have inferior technology. Therefore, it's possible that the conflict would take place primarily in space, with each side using spacecraft to attack the other's ships and space stations.

    Assuming both civilizations have similar or inferior technology to our own, their spacecraft would likely be equipped with weapons such as lasers, missiles, and railguns. They may also have defensive measures like shields and advanced armor to protect their ships. However, the effectiveness of these weapons would depend on the sophistication of the civilizations' technology and the tactics used by each side.

    Another factor to consider is the possibility of cyber warfare. If the civilizations have advanced computer systems, they may be able to hack into each other's networks and disrupt communications or even take control of enemy ships.

    Ultimately, the outcome of the war would depend on a variety of factors, including the size and strength of each civilization's military forces, the effectiveness of their technology, and the strategies employed by each side. It's also possible that a war between two space-faring civilizations could have catastrophic consequences for both sides, given the potentia

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      lol that's amusing in terms of highlighting both the promise and stupidity of current AI stuff, it's putting shit together well but doesn't actually get meaning. In the middle it's limited by dumb scifi make believe that is really common for normie media.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        lol, yeah, it veers off into scifi bullshit really fast even after being told "a tech level equivelent or inferior to our own" GPT is fun to world build with but you have to be very specific with the limits of the scenarios you give it

  10. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Very nasty. Space is a very hostile environment for our current tech and navigating in peace is enough of a challenge, so it would be very easy to destroy each other.

  11. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Interstellar war (or cohesive factions across star systems) in absence of FTL makes no sense, so it wouldn't happen in the first place. More likely you'd just see planetary scale wars, or wars within lunar orbits or langrange points.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Maybe not for modern humans, but it makes perfect sense for species long-lived or mature and responsible enough to plan on the relevant time and scale.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      That's what I was wanting to discuss. Interplantetary or inter-lunar war with chemical and nuclear rockets.

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