Which Version Of Humaniti (because that's what Loroi call us) Tech and Setting Would Better Help Loroi War Effort?

[Bamax]

Replace Outsider Earth solar system with either:


1. Earth Alliance from Babylon 5 before it was totally corrupted by president Clark.

2. A united solar system of space factions from The Expanse


Not sure. Either way they will be outclassed, Expanse has really fast missiles though so there is that.

[RedDwarfIV]

Honestly I don't think Earth Alliance would do any better or worse than the TCA. Their ships are somewhat fragile and require spinning sections for artificial gravity. On the plus side, they do have Hyperdrive Jump Engines, so they can at least tac-jump into close range (where the TCA could never reach unless the enemy let them.)

Expanse humanity is even worse off for tech. Their missiles do have impressive acceleration, one estimate based on the Anubis' firing on the Canterbury put it at 200G. That's on the low end for Loroi and Umiak missiles, except Expanse missiles can maintain it for minutes on end, while Outsider missiles burn out in less than one minute. The problem is, Expanse missiles are shown to be quite effectively countered by PDCs, which are basically just short-range rotary autocannons using weight of fire to make up for their inaccuracy. The Loroi and Umiak both have point defence lasers and anti-missile missiles. They are used to dealing with large swarms of missiles travelling at high velocity. Expanse missiles may be moving much faster but there will be far fewer of them.

Honestly, the earliest Earth Alliance warship I would expect to have any degree of success against the Umiak would be the Omega X, which had very effective armour and weapons, but that's during Clark's presidency.

Thinking about it, you didn't ask which would be more effective in battle, you asked which would better help the war effort. That is indisputably the Earth Alliance. Their hyperspace tech would allow the Loroi to ignore jump drive limitations, strike at any point in Umiak territory they liked without warning, and the EA ships could bring Loroi ships with them when they performed short range tactical jumps.

[SaintofM]

Haven't seen the show or read the books for the expanse but do remember Babylon when I watched it as a kid. It depends on which faction. If it the Babylon 5 Station, yes.

[Ithekro]

The Earth Alliance of the early 2240s or late 50s would probably be more useful to the Loroi due to having several useful colonies and a viable economy that can be placed on a war footing relatively quickly. The Minbari War depleted EA would still need time to rebuild, and the Clark era wouldn't help a fly. 2230s era pre-Dilgar War EA might also be useful though with a few less pieces of combat technology and experience they gained fighting the Dilgar.

One advantage the Earth Alliance has over the TCA is numbers of ships. While human ships drive like pigs and likely have terrible acceleration verses Loroi War era ships, they do have substantial numbers of weapons and viable anti-missile defense systems. Earth weaponry isn't bad. It does ample amounts of damage to older races ships. Its largest issue was gaining target locks against the Minbari. But seeing that the Narn, who have the same lasers as the Humans, were able to defeat Shadow Cruisers with combined fire, EA ships shouldn't have a problem destroying Umiak ships if they can hit them. The Jump Drives help as well since they aren't limited in the same way as Loroi drives are. They are limited in other ways (needed to know where the location they are heading is in hyperspace, needing a large ship with a jump drive to enter or exit hyperspace, as Loroi and Umiak systems will not likely have a Jump Gate in system).

Earth Alliance Explorers could be useful in building a small Jump Gate network in Loroi space to expedite logistics between the EA and Loroi. With Jump Gates and at least some navigation software, Loroi ships could enter hyperspace and follow beacons to EA space or other Loroi Union jump gates, faster than conventional Loroi jump travel. Setting up a gate off the Umiak flank...or in a system within Umiak space could allow Loroi forces to get to that system and then use conventional jump technology to invade Umaik space.

[Bamax]

The Earth Alliance of the early 2240s or late 50s would probably be more useful to the Loroi due to having several useful colonies and a viable economy that can be placed on a war footing relatively quickly. The Minbari War depleted EA would still need time to rebuild, and the Clark era wouldn't help a fly. 2230s era pre-Dilgar War EA might also be useful though with a few less pieces of combat technology and experience they gained fighting the Dilgar.

One advantage the Earth Alliance has over the TCA is numbers of ships. While human ships drive like pigs and likely have terrible acceleration verses Loroi War era ships, they do have substantial numbers of weapons and viable anti-missile defense systems. Earth weaponry isn't bad. It does ample amounts of damage to older races ships. Its largest issue was gaining target locks against the Minbari. But seeing that the Narn, who have the same lasers as the Humans, were able to defeat Shadow Cruisers with combined fire, EA ships shouldn't have a problem destroying Umiak ships if they can hit them. The Jump Drives help as well since they aren't limited in the same way as Loroi drives are. They are limited in other ways (needed to know where the location they are heading is in hyperspace, needing a large ship with a jump drive to enter or exit hyperspace, as Loroi and Umiak systems will not likely have a Jump Gate in system).

Earth Alliance Explorers could be useful in building a small Jump Gate network in Loroi space to expedite logistics between the EA and Loroi. With Jump Gates and at least some navigation software, Loroi ships could enter hyperspace and follow beacons to EA space or other Loroi Union jump gates, faster than conventional Loroi jump travel. Setting up a gate off the Umiak flank...or in a system within Umiak space could allow Loroi forces to get to that system and then use conventional jump technology to invade Umaik space.

The thing about the Umiak is that their forces outnumber the Loroi and the only reason they have not totally overrun the Loroi is because Loroi ships have superior offenses.

With the new ability to strike deep into Umiak territory the Loroi could negotiate a Umiak surrender so long the Umiak are unprepared when the Loroi show up at their doorstep and cause massive damage to their war supply infrastructure.

Take away the Umiak manufacturing ability and you have them by the balls more or less since without resupply the Loroi will crush them sooner later. Umiak are not as good at war tactics as the Loroi and rely more on pure bulk to crush enemy forces.