Not discouraging as such, since I do this a lot for my own sake, to get better at writing (lolno). But I feel that a quests entertainment value often increases with more players and more discussion. But I'm content just keeping on updating with the ones active now if that is how it ends up. IRL I've held solo campaigns in pen and paper games several times because I've not had many players interested in the same themes or settings, and some of those have been incredibly memorable and fun games.I'm sorry QM that you don't have more players, it must be pretty discouraging.
I wish I had more of an idea of how to have the most optimal builds for the lines of our squadrons, it's hard for me to even know what to begin with. Kinda regret not reading the published Imperial Handbook(s), this is a super important vote since all of our power comes from the barrel of our ships' turbolasers.
At first glance, since we will not receiving any resupply and have to set up our state in the Unknown Regions, it is important that we keep as many of the men and women under our command alive and healthy - definitely going for the MedStar medical frigate in that case. Those advisors groups from our favors will also be a huge boon for us as well, since PC will need trustworthy competent underlings he can delegate actions to.
One choice per block, since they are the standard sizes of a fleet. Favours are additions on top of that which your character has managed to get assigned to him independently of what a fleet should have on paper.Just to be sure, we get one choice per block? Or can we spend DP to get more than one option, such as in the Favors section? Also is there anything else we need to be saving our FP for or is this where we should spend it all?
Everything
That's reassuring that you're content with the current situation, I've seen many cases where low player participation causes the QM to lose all motivation to write and run the quest. Glad to hear that won't be the case.
While thinking about potential fleets, should we keep in mind the infrastructural development and industrial capacity of our new state? It'll be nice to have a Bellator flagship, only for our longest docks to have a capacity for ships up to 2km and we can't repair or refit our 7.2km dreadnought after a battle.
It'll be funny if we turned into a warlord just so we can keep supplying our fleet and most of the potential actions are related to solving logistical issues like negotiating for food, tibanna gas and hyperspace reactor fuel. Can't really fight if your crew is starving, can't fire the turbolasers or even get to the battle.
Regarding our fleets, I think it would be a mistake to have a fleet built for a decisive battle, e.g dedicating each squadron/fleet to a specific role that unit would be very good at what it does, but it would be very vulnerable if it's on it's own. Let's say a "heavy" battle squadron of a force superiorities is dedicated to shipfighting (a Tector battleboat, Vindicator h.cruisers, Carrack l.cruisers and Assassin corvettes) but is vulnerable to strikes from starfighters or would be bad at normal duties (planetary defense or patrols) or putting down revolts planetside.
As players, we will also have to keep in mind which squadron is good at unless the process to relegate squadrons and ships to duties is automated, would be a chore to write the orders of each and every battle line.
Not to mention, that space is huge, and we will have to dedicate our fleet to patrolling and showing off the flag to reinforce our authority.
Spoiler but not really since it will appear in the first story post and is actually important information, you will have partial (or potentially in the future full) access to a deepdock. But yeah, since the warlord era will be starting in the galaxy anyways, that's basically just what is canon behaviour for imperials with power anyways. The difficulties will be in keeping the refit capabilities you have stocked with parts and materials.
Regarding specialization and fleet doctrine, yeah an Imperial Fleet would traditionally be rather generalist as far as I've understood it, and I think that shows in the main Star Destroyer in use, the Imperial. It has a respectable amount of turbolasers, carries a decent number of fighters and houses enough troops for directed strikes or at least holding beachheads. So the idea of building a "Long Patrol" type of fleet that can tackle most problems but isn't exceptional in one specific role isn't out of character.
As for patrols and orders, you will delegate a lot of it. You command the fleet, and while you can command smaller units directly, really you'll have subordinates for that, so most of that will be basically backend stuff that I do based on a bunch of tables I've written, but as far as players are concerned, it's mostly automatic. I should probably get it into macros for ease of use, but I like rolling physical dice, so traditional it is.
which will make it easier to maintain the fleet.At the stern of the vessel were located several hangar/drydock complexes that could fit frigate-scale capital ships for deep space repairs
Alright, here's a first completed plan. This fleet is split across two strategies but based on having a relatively small number of hull types to make repair and logistics easier. Force Superiority 1 is designed to emulate the success of the Rebellion. It features a pair of Secutors coupled with an Impstar Deuce and our Praetor II Flagship, and 10 Victory IIs for a total of well over 700 Star Fighters, many of them upgraded via favors so we have a lot of long-range capable fighters here. The escorts include large numbers of Tartan-class which are specialized in taking down enemy fighters, giving us fighter superiority and anti-fighter protection in any engagement, and Vigil class for decent firepower and speed. The Immobilizer will be added to this fleet to provide it with hyperspace interdiction ability.
Force Superiority II is a more traditional Imperial force with Impstar Deuces forming the backbone, with an Interdictor added for hyperspace interdiction. They have the same escort fleet of Victories, Tartans, and Vigils so fewer fighters, and much fewer of the upgraded models, but a lot more heavy turbolasers pointed at the enemy and still has a very healthy anti-fighter screen to make any X-Wing pilots wince.
Escort fleet I is designed around more of the same, being a mix of Victory IIs, Tartans, and Arquitens to provide a balanced mix of fighters, turbo lasers, and anti-fighter cover. Their recon vessels are a mix of Pacifiers (High firepower recon-in-force vessels) and Skywatchers (Probe Droid platforms letting them recon from a safe distance in dangerous situations).
Escort Fleet II however breaks with the use of similar hulls and is made up entirely of Correllian Corvettes, Carracks, Strikes, SCT Scouts, and a few other ships that are mainly associated with the New Republic. The Nebulon-Bs can be added to this group. As they are ships that can be readily identified with our enemies, these vessels will be used for false-flag and infiltration operations, pretending to be Republic vessels as needed. The DeStab and Renik teams will be assigned here where they'll do the most good. The Lucrehulk, Marauder Corvettes, and Acclamators can also be rolled into this group if more firepower is needed as those are also all ships somebody else might own and won't immediately scream "Imperial Remnant Invasion." When the opportunity arises we shall steal or otherwise obtain Republic starfighters and armor as well in order to complete the illusion.
Despite their firepower I've avoided the Gozanti Cruiser and its variants on the grounds that we really, really don't want to be caught with slow vessels that can't easily escape in a pinch. Generally, I'm going with faster ships where possible. The exception are the 20 IPV-1 Corvettes with no hyperdrive at all, which are going to be used to protect our shipyard and thus will not need to travel interstellar distances.
There are ten points left to polish off a custom team, I'm not 100% sure which ones to go for. I've avoided Dark Troopers as I can't see individual units being that valuable and also don't want to risk Kyle Katarn getting involved. My general leaning is towards getting SpecNav and Death Troopers, I have trouble seeing only four Storm Commandoes as being worth their cost compared with what else is available.
[X]Plan: Antifighter Fleet
Superiority Fleet - Fleet Command - Flagship
[X] - Praetor II-class Star Battlecruiser (10 FP) (110 remaining)
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 1 - Line 1 - Star Destroyer
[X] - Secutor-class Star Destroyer (5 FP) (105 remaining)
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 1 - Line 2 - Attack
[X] - 3x Victory II-class Heavy Cruisers
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 1 - Line 3 - Attack
[X] - 6x Tartan-class Patrol Cruisers
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 1 - Line 4 - Pursuit
[X] - 10x Vigil-class Corvettes
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 2 - Line 1 - Star Destroyer
[X] - Imperial II-class Star Destroyer
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 2 - Line 2 - Attack
[X] - 6x Tartan-class Patrol Cruisers
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 2 - Line 3 - Attack
[X] - 3x Victory II-class Heavy Cruisers
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 2 - Line 4 - Pursuit
[X] - 10x Vigil-class Corvettes
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 3 - Line 1 - Star Destroyer
[X] - Secutor-class Star Destroyer (5 FP) (100 remaining)
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 3 - Line 2 - Attack
[X] - 6x Tartan-class Patrol Cruisers
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 3 - Line 3 - Attack
[X] - 3x Victory II-class Heavy Cruisers
Force Superiority 1 - Battle Squadron 3 - Line 4 - Pursuit
[X] - 10x Vigil-class Corvettes
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 1 - Line 1 - Star Destroyer
[X] - Imperial II-class Star Destroyer
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 1 - Line 2 - Attack
[X] - 6x Tartan-class Patrol Cruisers
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 1 - Line 3 - Attack
[X] - 3x Victory II-class Heavy Cruisers
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 1 - Line 4 - Pursuit
[X] - 10x Vigil-class Corvettes
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 2 - Line 1 - Star Destroyer
[X] - Interdictor-class Star Destroyer (10 FP) (90 remaining)
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 2 - Line 2 - Attack
[X] - 6x Tartan-class Patrol Cruisers
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 2 - Line 3 - Attack
[X] - 3x Victory II-class Heavy Cruisers
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 2 - Line 4 - Pursuit
[X] - 10x Vigil-class Corvettes
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 3 - Line 1 - Star Destroyer
[X] - Imperial II-class Star Destroyer
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 3 - Line 2 - Attack
[X] - 6x Tartan-class Patrol Cruisers
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 3 - Line 3 - Attack
[X] - 3x Victory II-class Heavy Cruisers
Force Superiority 2 - Battle Squadron 3 - Line 4 - Pursuit
[X] - 10x Vigil-class Corvettes
Force Escort 1 - Heavy Squadron 1 - Line 1 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 4x Victory II-class Heavy Cruisers
Force Escort 1 - Heavy Squadron 1 - Line 2 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 8x Arquitens-class Light Cruisers
Force Escort 1 - Heavy Squadron 1 - Line 3 - Attack
[X] - 6x Arquitens-class Light Cruisers
Force Escort 1 - Heavy Squadron 1 - Line 4 - Recon
[X] - 2x MRX-BR Pacifier-class Scout Vessels
Force Escort 1 - Heavy Squadron 2 - Line 1 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 4x Victory II-class Heavy Cruisers
Force Escort 1 - Heavy Squadron 2 - Line 2 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 8x Arquitens-class Light Cruisers
Force Escort 1 - Heavy Squadron 2 - Line 3 - Attack
[X] - 6x Tartan-class Patrol Cruisers
Force Escort 1 - Heavy Squadron 2 - Line 4 - Recon
[X] - 2x MRX-BR Pacifier-class Scout Vessels
Force Escort 1 - Light Squadron 1 - Line 1 - Recon
[X] - 2x Skywatcher-class Deep Space Scout Ships
Force Escort 1 - Light Squadron 1 - Line 2 - Recon
[X] - 2x MRX-BR Pacifier-class Scout Vessels
Force Escort 1 - Light Squadron 1 - Line 3 - Skirmish
[X] - 10x Vigil-class Corvettes
Force Escort 1 - Light Squadron 1 - Line 4 - Pursuit
[X] - 10x Vigil-class Corvettes
Force Escort 1 - Light Squadron 2 - Line 1 - Recon
[X] - 2x Skywatcher-class Deep Space Scout Ships
Force Escort 1 - Light Squadron 2 - Line 2 - Recon
[X] - 2x MRX-BR Pacifier-class Scout Vessels
Force Escort 1 - Light Squadron 2 - Line 3 - Skirmish
[X] - 20x IPV-1-class Corvettes
Force Escort 1 - Light Squadron 2 - Line 4 - Pursuit
[X] - 10x Vigil-class Corvettes
Force Escort 2 - Heavy Squadron 1 - Line 1 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 8x Carrack-class Light Cruisers
Force Escort 2 - Heavy Squadron 1 - Line 2 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 6x Strike-class Medium Cruisers
Force Escort 2 - Heavy Squadron 1 - Line 3 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 6x Strike-class Medium Cruisers
Force Escort 2 - Heavy Squadron 1 - Line 4 - Skirmish
[X] - 12x CR90-class Corvettes
Force Escort 2 - Heavy Squadron 2 - Line 1 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 8x Carrack-class Light Cruisers
Force Escort 2 - Heavy Squadron 2 - Line 2 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 6x Strike-class Medium Cruisers
Force Escort 2 - Heavy Squadron 2 - Line 3 - Heavy Attack
[X] - 6x Strike-class Medium Cruisers
Force Escort 2 - Heavy Squadron 2 - Line 4 - Skirmish
[X] - 4x Lancer-class Frigates
Force Escort 2 - Light Squadron 1 - Line 1 - Attack
[X] - 6x Lancer-class Frigates
Force Escort 2 - Light Squadron 1 - Line 2 - Attack
[X] - 3x Broadside-class Cruisers
Force Escort 2 - Light Squadron 1 - Line 3 - Skirmish
[X] - 12x CR90-class Corvettes
Force Escort 2 - Light Squadron 1 - Line 4 - Recon
[X] - 4x SCT Scout Craft
Force Escort 2 - Light Squadron 2 - Line 1 - Attack
[X] - 6x Carrack-class Light Cruisers
Force Escort 2 - Light Squadron 2 - Line 2 - Attack
[X] - 6x Lancer-class Frigates
Force Escort 2 - Light Squadron 2 - Line 3 - Skirmish
[X] - 12x CR90-class Corvettes
Force Escort 2 - Light Squadron 2 - Line 4 - Recon
[X] - 4x SCT Scout Craft
Force Technical Services - Technical Vessels
[X] - 8x Acclamator I-class Transports (+2 FP) (92 remaining)
Force Technical Services - Escorts
[X] - 8x Nebulon-B-class Frigates
Force Technical Services - Escorts
[X] - 8x Nebulon-B-class Frigates
NAVY FAVORS (Available By Default)
[X] - Replace a Star Destroyers or Heavy Cruisers complement of TIE/LN Fighters with TIE/IN Interceptors (1 FP) (x2 for both Secutors, 90 remaining)
[X] - Add a Squadron of TIE/sr Scouts to your Fleet (1 FP) (89 remaining)
[X] - Add a Squadron of GAT-12g Skipray Blastboats to your Fleet (2 FP) (87 remaining)
[X] - Add an Immobilizer 418 Heavy Cruiser to your fleet (5 FP) (82 remaining)
[X] - Add an Altor-class Replenishment Ship to your Fleet (15 FP) (67 remaining)
[X] - Add a MedStar-class Medical Frigate to your Fleet (2 FP) (65 remaining)
IMPERIAL INTELLIGENCE FAVORS (Available with Imperial Intelligence connections or positive relations)
[X] - Add a DiploServ Advisor Group to your flagship (2 FP) (63 remaining)
[X] - Add a Tech Analysis Group to your flagship (2 FP) (61 remaining)
[X] - Add a Renik and an Infiltration Team to your flagship (10 FP) (51 remaining)
[X] - Add a Destab Team to your Fleet (10 FP) (41 remaining)
IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY RESEARCH FAVORS (Available with IDMR connections or positive relations)
[X] - Add a IDMR R&D Team to your flagship (2 FP) (39 remaining)
STORMTROOPER CORPS FAVORS (Available with Stormtrooper Corps connections or positive relations)
[X] - Add a Squad of Zero-G Assault Stormtroopers to your flagship (2 FP) (37 remaining)
CSA FAVORS (Available with Corporate Sector Authority connections)
[X] - Add a Lucrehulk Battleship to your Fleet (20 FP) (17 remaining)
[X] - Add 8x Marauder-class Corvettes to your Fleet (5 FP) (12 remaining)
[X] - Add a Platoon of Espo Walker 101s to your flagship complement (2 FP) (10 remaining)
I'm not sure if going with an starfighter-focused doctrine is the best idea. Our most common TIE/ln is a deathtrap and we'll be losing our limited amount of pilots, and as lost we are in the Unknown Regions, we won't be receiving a constant resupply and reinforcements of TIEs and pilots from the Empire. We'll have to focus on building up factories to spool up TIE production and start up pilot academies as soon as possible.
Regarding your ships, I like the Tartans, Carracks, Strikes, Lancers, Vigils and Broadsides (would have liked Gladiators instead, oh well) and also would have chosen them. Can you change my mind on the Victories? I thought the Victories were just worse ImpStars and the Vindicators are considerably better than them.
Victory II | Vindicator | |
Hyperdrive | Class 1.0 | Class 2.0 |
Weapons |
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Carried Craft |
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Troops and Cargo Carried |
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Well with the realization that we won't be facing the Rebels or Republic at all, my plan to make a fleet of ships that can pretend to be them is redundant and that was my main reason for going with the Nebulon-Bs. They can be swapped out. Nebulon-Bs aren't terrible ships though, decent mini-Star Destroyer with a mix of guns and fighter compliment.It makes sense to skimp on the Force Technical ships, considering we'll probably be disembarking all of the people on those ships to our spacedocks or planetside facilities. Regarding their escorts, I would have gone with more Tartans and Carracks but I'm alright if we go with Nebulon-Bs instead.
Regarding favors, I'm fine with the Immobilizer, Altor and MedStar choices and also would have chosen them. The TIE scouts are also okay, can't go wrong with more scouting. I'm confused about the role of the Skiprays and what they do.
I agree, the Lucrehulk is a bit pricey but note that while it's slightly more powerful than an Impstar Deuce in terms of guns (64 heavy turbolasers instead of 60 for the Star Destroyer), it carries 1,500 fighters. Granted they're garbage fighters but hopefully we can replace them with something better, given some time to build.I also agree with your advisor groups and teams, we'll use them to create the Science, Diplomacy and Espionage Departments of our state. Regarding the Death Troopers, I'd chosen them as our bodyguard unit and as our troubleshooters (sometimes literally). CSA favors - I like the Marauders, I guess we use the Espo Walkers to improve our AT-STs. I'm kinda on the fence for the Lucrehulk, would be very useful as a big fuck you resupply ship, but that FP cost...
Victory II Vindicator Hyperdrive Class 1.0 Class 2.0 Weapons
- 20 Quad Turbolasers batteries
- 20 Double heavy turbolaser Batteries
- 10 Heavy Ion cannons
- 10 Tractor beam projectors
- 25 Light turbolasers
- 20 Light quad turbolaser cannons
- 10 Point-defense laser cannons
- 10 Point-defense light ion cannons
- 3 Tractor beam projectors
Carried Craft
- 24 TIE Fighters
- 5 Shuttles
- 10 AT-AT
- 15 AT-ST
- 10 Juggernaut Tanks
- 24 TIE Fighters, some models were modified to carry up to 72, not sure which we get.
Troops and Cargo Carried
- 1600 Troops
- 8100 Tons Cargo
- 400 Troops
- 8000 Tons Cargo
Basically, in every way that can be reasonably measured, the Victory II has more, which isn't surprising since it's a third larger lengthwise, so roughly triple the volume. It has more speed, more weapons, more cargo, and carries about twenty times the ground attack capability (four times the troops and about a battalion of vehicles the Vindicator lacks entirely). The Vindicator edges it out significantly in point defense weaponry but my plan is reliant on Tartans providing point defense and the Victories bringing the heavy guns, so a Vindicator's point defense isn't as needed, but there's no available substitute for Heavy Turbolasers and Ion Cannons. The fact that the Victory comes with ground assault capability is the clincher in my mind, we may want those Walkers and Tanks and four times more stormtroopers badly.
Well with the realization that we won't be facing the Rebels or Republic at all, my plan to make a fleet of ships that can pretend to be them is redundant and that was my main reason for going with the Nebulon-Bs. They can be swapped out. Nebulon-Bs aren't terrible ships though, decent mini-Star Destroyer with a mix of guns and fighter compliment.
Skiprays are amazing. They're just a bit smaller than the Millenium Falcon, but have 90% of the maneuverability of an X-Wing, a higher top speed than said fighter, and carry more weapons than smaller capships. They've got ion cannons, laser cannons, concussion missiles, proton torpedoes, and a tractor beam. On top of that their shields are as good as a Frigate or better, but wrapped around a highly maneuverable starfighter.
It's a starfighter with so much firepower and engine output many systems classify it as a capital ship. If the points worked out I'd be willing to buy several squadrons for that price.
I agree, the Lucrehulk is a bit pricey but note that while it's slightly more powerful than an Impstar Deuce in terms of guns (64 heavy turbolasers instead of 60 for the Star Destroyer), it carries 1,500 fighters. Granted they're garbage fighters but hopefully we can replace them with something better, given some time to build.
The ESPO Walkers were pretty much just because I wanted the points to come out even, I don't think they're that critically valuable.
We could halfway on each - go for the Death Troopers and Defenders. I think that the Defenders will be worth the investment - we spend the FP now to save it later. We keep our best pilots alive and we have enough Defenders to take a few apart so we can produce and introduce them to the rest of the fleet. We will also implement their advancements to build a better common TIE starfighter. It'll be difficult to have a doctrine based on starfighters if we'll constantly be losing pilots and fighters due to how bad they are.We have ten points left past what I spent so we could buy the squadrons without any changes, or alternately but the SpecNav and Death Troopers with no change.
Honestly part of my paralysis there is that they seem too expensive to me. After buying eight pocket carriers for only 5 points, when I look at merely getting a dozen fighters upgraded for the same cost, it causes me to reflexively clutch my metaphorical coin purse.
I have no experience in logistics and anything like this, but shouldn't we make the fleet as autonomous as possible? I mean in the sense that any component can deal with multiple issues in and of itself? Maybe, having a large portion of our fleet being smaller warships that we can use flexibly as opposed to having a variety of specialized ships? It just occurs to me that we are essentially behind enemy lines and need to be self-reliant and thus ship losses are more irreplaceable, and thus losing any particular ship will hurt our capabilities in that particular area. So, I am thinking that generalization can avoid that and we can branch into ship specialization later when we have a good industrial base. Further, with generalized ships, we can be more flexible against enemies that are unknown. Just musing, wanted to post something, but much of this is out of my depth.
Though, what I am thinking of may have already been covered. What I am thinking mostly is that we should use finesse, as opposed to force and use a flexible force to tailor our response to our opposition in the moment, rather than at some larger strategic level.
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