[Spoon]

Invasion of the Hierarchy

Disclaimer:
This is very much a first time experiment for me. The intent is just to have a fun time. This game may be horrible balanced or have absolutely ****ty mechanics, we'll find out by trying. Please don't hate me for it if this turns out to be a total failure.
This post might be sort of lengthy and I might be terrible at explaining things, I apologize in advance.
The rest will follow.

How to play:

First let us take a look at the Starmap:

Here is the starmap at the very beginning (minus every fleet but two). The Hierarchy forces will flood in from Crux and Kardoen. While the Terran fleets are scattered and caught unprepared.
The map is rather obvious, Green systems are under Terran control, Orange systems are being contested while Red systems are secured by the Hierarchy. Each system has an amount of resources (be it raw materials or manpower) to contribute to the war effort, represented by the number next to it. Each friendly system will contribute its resources to the global resource pool each turn. Contested systems will only produce half their resources rounded down and in both cases they can only contribute if they have a unmolested supply line to Sol.
Resources are used to resupply and reinforce fleets and to hire mercenary forces.

Okay, so let's take a look at how you, the player, interact with the game:
Let's say for example that you are in command of the 1st DD fleet. This fleet is all the way in the Silva system, twiddling theirs thumbs and picking their noses. It's high time to rush this fleet to the front lines.

Let's take a look at the orders you can give:

Code: [Select]

Major Action:
Engage Enemy: Orders the fleet to fight target enemy fleet in the same system.
Defend: Fleet takes up defensive positions in friendly controlled system giving a bonus for the next battle in that system.
Secure: Turns hostile system into a friendly system.
Travel: Moves a fleet from one system to another.
Resupply: When in a friendly system with a open supply route, will replenish 30% of the fleet's strength.

Minor Action:
Travel: Moves a fleet from one system to another.
Resupply: When in a friendly system with a open supply route, will replenish 30% of the fleet's strength.
Use Special: Uses your faction's special, putting it on cool down.
You can order your fleet to do 1 Major action and 1 Minor action. The order in which you do these actions matters! You cannot engage an enemy in a different system if you haven't traveled to that system first yet. And if you try to resupply before retreating out of a contested system things could end in disaster.
In this case you want your fleet to move twice so you'll post the following:

Fleet: 1st DD fleet
Major action: Travel to Tamy
Minor action: Travel to Odin

And that's it for this turn. Next turn your fleet will have arrived in the Odin system and ready to receive a new set of orders.
Now the 2nd Nordera fleet has moved into the Hydra system and secured it for the Hierarchy. So you now have to make a decision on what to do next, move into the Hydra system and attack or wait for the Nordera to come to you?

Let's say you wish to attack, you'll issue these orders:
Fleet: 1st DD fleet
Minor action: Travel to Hydra
Major action: Engage Enemy, 2nd Nordera fleet.

It is important to issue a target when you order to engage an enemy fleet!

In case you decide to defend the Odin system this set of orders will be effective:
Fleet: 1st DD fleet
Minor action: Use Special
Major action: Defend

This will give you a significant attack bonus when the Nordera fleet decides to travel into the Odin system.

And that is the general gist of it! Easy enough right? Everyone can be an Admiral.

The mechanics:

So how do the maths and stuff work? Let's find out!

Keeping with the Delest Dynasty Fleet from the previous example, here are the base stats of a fresh DD fleet:

DD Fleet
Fighter attack strength: 17 (18-1)
Capital attack strength: 16 (17-1)

Fighters at 100% Strength, 2nd Gen
Capital ships at 100% Strength
Morale: Low
Special: Barrage

Oh boy, that looks sort of miserable. The men and women of the Delest Dynasty are not exactly eager to do their duty and their fighters are of the previous generation.
Let's break it down:
Fighter attack strength: 17 (18-1)
The amount of damage fighters will do against enemy fighters. In this case 17, in the brackets is the base stat with modifiers applied. In this case the base is 18 with a penalty of 1 for the low morale. Add half the capital attack strength to that number and you'll know how much pain your fleet will be able to inflict on the enemy fighter force.

Capital attack strength: 16 (17-1)
Exactly the same as the above only you add half the Fighter attack strength to this number.

Fighters at 100% Strength, 2nd Gen
How much fighters you have in your fleet. Sooner or later you'll start taking attrition which will have a direct effect on your fighter attack strength.
In this case your fleet has 2nd generation fighters, over time new equipment will become available for your fleet, giving you a bonus to your fighter attack strength.

Capital ships at 100% Strength
Same deal as with your fighters.

Morale: Low
Your crew's Morale is an important factor. High morale gives you bonuses to attack strength while low morale will give a penalty. There will also be events that might affect crew morale or depending on your crew morale will have a different effect. If your fleet's morale reaches critical levels they might rout! Keep in mind that enemy fleets are also affected by morale, something you might be able to exploit!
You can restore morale to its base value by resupplying (and not getting attacked while doing that), or improve it by scoring decisive victories.

Special: Barrage
This is your faction's special ability. These are detailed elsewhere.

Doing battle:
So lets take a look at what happens when your fleet does battle with the Nordera fleet in the Hydra system.

1st DD fleet Fighters: 17+8 = 25
1st DD fleet Capital: 16+9 = 25

Nordera 2nd fleet Fighters: 12+5 = 17
Nordera 2nd fleet Capital: 10+6 = 16

Your fleet deals 25% damage to both the enemy Fighter and Capital ship strength but takes 17% and 16% damage in return.
After this first battle your fleet's condition now looks like this:

Fighter attack strength: 14 (18-1)
Capital attack strength: 13 (17-1)

Fighters at 83% Strength, 2nd Gen
Capital ships at 84% Strength
Morale: Low
Special: Barrage

The Hierarchy usually acts after the players do. The Nordera being master tacticians decide to counter attack.

1st DD fleet Fighters: 14+7 = 21
1st DD fleet Capital: 13+7 = 20

Nordera 2nd fleet Fighters: 10+3 = 13
Nordera 2nd fleet Capital: 6+5 = 11

And so forth. Youtube will give some life to these dry numbers.
After the battles are resolved its important to look at the overall picture. You could press the attack, you'll win this straight up battle of attrition, especially if you use your Barrage special ability next fight. But can the enemy expect reinforcements soon? Can you? These are questions that you should think about when leading your fleet.


Promotions:
If you make the right choices and do well, your faction will notice your performance and bestow promotions on you. With each promotion you can pick a trait that will improve your leadership skillz.

Everyone starts as a Rear admiral, the next ranks are:
Vice Admiral
Fleet Admiral
High Fleet Admiral

The traits you can choose from are:
Breakthrough Specialist: Take no damage on a retreat or blitz
Master in logistics: Resupply recovers 50%
Inspirational leader: Base morale +1, more resistant to morale shocks.
Fortification expert: Defense bonus becomes +6
Aggressive leader: +2 to attack strength

[Spoon]

How to join:
So you wish to enlist and become a stalwart defender of humanity?
Very good!
But humanity has its share of different factions, so let's take a moment to ponder who you'll pledge your allegiance to.

Sol Union

After the UEU's bloody reign ended in a bloody rebellion, Sol was united under the Sol Union banner. While the name would make you believe otherwise, Sol Union has vast holdings outside the Sol system and the largest population base of all factions. It's military arm, Sol Force, is well organized and puts a high emphasis on speed and maneuverability, striking the enemy hard and fast.

A SF Fleet has the numbers and the equipment, giving it strong overall stats.

SF Fleet
Fighter attack strength: 20 (18+2)
Capital attack strength: 18 (18)

Fighters at 100% Strength, 3rd Gen
Capital ships at 100% Strength
Morale: Normal
Special: Blitz

The Blitz ability allows a SF fleet to break through enemy lines and move into an enemy held system, dealing and taking half damage from the target fleet. This ability has a cool down of two turns.


Delest Dynasty

Even to this day the Delest Dynasty remains a mystery to the other factions. Living on the edges of known space, this isolated society is ruled by the iron fist of the Delest family. It is unknown to everyone but the Dynasty how many systems they rule or how large their military is. What IS known is that the Dynasty Defense is technologically advanced and prefers heavy weaponry over mobility.

A DD Fleet has the numbers but suffers from starting with outdated equipment and a low morale. It however have the potential of becoming one of the strongest hitting fleets in the long run.

DD Fleet
Fighter attack strength: 17 (18-1)
Capital attack strength: 16 (17-1)

Fighters at 100% Strength, 2nd Gen
Capital ships at 100% Strength
Morale: Low
Special: Prepare Barrage

The Prepare Barrage ability has the fleet load heavy ordnance in preparation of the next battle, giving it a +4 attack bonus for capital ships for the next battle. This ability has a cool down of two turns.


New Britannia

New Britannia was founded not too long after the Sol Union and has rapidly expanded under the rule of the kings and queens of the Victoria family line. While it has the second largest population base, its economy is struggling to keep up. Regardless the citizens are fiercely loyal to the crown and the Commonwealth Royal Fleet rarely has a lack of new recruits. The CRF has disciplined and well trained pilots and crew but its fleet strength suffers from sub optimal equipment, its own designs tend to be inferior to that of other factions and there are not enough imported SF fighters to go around.

A CRF Fleet has strong stats and hard to break morale but should not expect 4th generation fighters any time soon.

CRF Fleet
Fighter attack strength: 19 (16+2+1)
Capital attack strength: 18 (17+1)

Fighters at 100% Strength, 3rd Gen
Capital ships at 100% Strength
Morale: High
Special: Zeal

The Zeal ability raises the Morale of the fleet by one. This ability has a cool down of two turns.


United Guilds of Commerce

This collection of large corporations and foundations has more wealth than the Sol Union and New Britannia combined while only controlling a small number of systems. It also has all sorts of commercial holdings spread over all known space. To protect these assets they have a small but well equipped military. The UGC Regulars are handpicked skilled individuals (often headhunted from the SF and CRF) who's small numbers are supplemented with mercenaries. Mercenary forces are often contracted for single battles to save on the expenses of keeping a large standing army.

A UGC Fleet is much smaller than that of other factions and thus has low starting stats. However when they contract Mercenary forces their strength is higher than that of other fleets. On the downside, hiring Mercenary forces will put a drain on the global resource pool.

UGC Fleet
Fighter attack strength: 15 (13+2)
Capital attack strength: 15 (15)

Fighters at 100% Strength, 3rd Gen
Capital ships at 100% Strength
Morale: Normal
Special: Mercs

With mercs
Fighter attack strength: 25 (13+2)
Capital attack strength: 22 (15)

Fighters at 175% Strength, 3rd Gen
Capital ships at 150% Strength

The Mercenary ability supplements your fleet with mercenary forces, increasing your Fighter strength by 75% and your Capital ship strength by 50%. This ability has a cool down of three turns and has an initial resource cost plus an upkeep.


League Star Force

The League Star Forces was created to unify every Terran faction under one command as it rapidly became apparent that the Cyrvans could not be halted with every faction fighting on its own accord. The LSF was successful in halting the Cyrvan advance, and successfully started peace talks with the CSA. After peace was signed the fate of the LSF was uncertain, it had developed in a potent military force with personnel and equipment from each faction mixed into it. However with tensions once again rising between the factions, none of them were very eager to commit more resources into the LSF. On the other hand, everyone now agreed that humanity could ill afford to continue fighting costly wars among itself. Eventually all factions agreed on a system of proxy wars, in which conflicts could be resolved through military strength but without lose of life and materials. With the LSF acting as arbiters in these wars, and remaining the unified Terran force that everyone can rally to in case of future alien invasions.

A LSF fleet has a well equipped and trained fighter force but relatively little capital ships.

LSF Fleet
Fighter attack strength: 23 (20+2+1)
Capital attack strength: 15 (14+1)

Fighters at 100% Strength, 3rd Gen
Capital ships at 100% Strength
Morale: High
Special: Combined Arms

Combined Arms: Using all of the tools available, the LSF fleet gains a +1 to attack strength and takes -2 damage in the next battle. This ability has a cool down of two turns.



And that's all five of them.
There's a limited amount of slots available for each faction so take note of that when you apply (More slots may open up in the future, we'll see how it goes). There is no 'first come first serve', I'll look at each application and make an incredibly biased judgment. Be sure to include your flagship's name and if you feel so inclined the name of your admiral (otherwise it'll just be your forum name), you can also name your fleet (though it will not be shown on the map for brevity's sake).
Not every fleet is going to be present on the map from turn 0, most fleets will be put on the reinforcement list and enter the field on later turns.

SF: 4/4
DD: 3/3
CRF: 4/4
UGC: 2/2
LSF: 2/2


In the nearby future there will be two more threads, one for the actual game and one for discussion and with all the rules clearly layed out.

Posting all of this at 4:30am is probably a terrible idea.

[SpardaSon21]

I'm in for the LSF.

Flagship Name: Dire Wolf

[Veers]

Posting all of this at 4:30am is probably a terrible idea.

It made very good sense from my perspective, but my perspective is generally very warped anyway...



If selected, Permission to join the Commonwealth Royal Fleet! "Through Loyalty, Victory!"

Flagship : Silver Arrow
Rear Admiral : Veers (forum name)



So far, how you are setting it all out makes sense. It does not seem that hard to follow right now, but once there are more participants (fleets) to deal with as well as including hostile actions it will possibly step-up in difficulty.

Looking very solid!

[CommanderDJ]

I'd like to join the SF fleet, but otherwise my preferences are as follows:

1. SF
2. CRF
3. LSF
4. DD
5. UGC

Flagship: Hand of Absolution
CO: Rear Admiral Dovorek Iera

EDIT2: Added CO and preference list.

[Lorric]

Hi Spoon. Rear Admiral Lorric reporting for duty! I’m not clear on if you want us to tell you why we want to play, or just our fleet and flagship name. I’ll give you what you’ve specifically asked for, and I hope you’ll pick me!

Order of preference:

1. CRF
2. SF
3. LSF
4. DD
5. UGC

Flagship name: Soaring Spirit (I wanted something to go with the CRF’s morale theme. But it will do for any faction.)

I love the logos, especially the Sol one. I wish you luck with this.

[Lorric]

Ummm, Spoon:

"LSF Fleet
Fighter attack strength: 23 (19+2+1)"

Shoud be 22.

[AdmiralRalwood]

Initially, I thought I'd be content to watch this play out, but now that I've seen the gameplay mechanics, I'd like to apply to be a Delest Dynasty admiral.

Flagship: Aurora
Commanding Officer: Rear Admiral Jason Ralwood
Fleet nickname: Fist of Silva (or whatever system it ends up being based out of)

[Lepanto]

Faction Choice 1: CRF
2: LSF
3: SF

CO: Rear Admiral Carlos Santiago
Flagship: St. Louis IX
Fleet: 4th Fleet

[mobcdmoc3]

I'd be happy to be signed on with the Sol Fleet or the UGC.

Flagship - Sovereign
Commanding Officer - Rear Admiral Aaron Soryu

[AndrewofDoom]

I think I will go with this:

1. UGCR
2. LSF
3. DD
4. SF
5. CRF

Flagship - Garuda
CO - Rear Admiral Michael Mason Andrew Bradwater
Fleet Name: I'll get back to you on that (No, that's not it's name!)

[X3N0-Life-Form]

Alright, let's do this:
1. Sol Force
2. Delest Dynasty
3. United Guilds of Commerce

Flagship: Swift
CO: Rear Admiral Xeus L. Fremont

[Spoon]

Ummm, Spoon:

"LSF Fleet
Fighter attack strength: 23 (19+2+1)"

Shoud be 22.

HaHa. Math, how does it work. 

[Torchwood]

Sounds fun, I'll join.

My factions choices:
1. CRF
2. SF
3. LSF
4. DD
5. UGC

Fleet Name: Task Force 765
CO: Vice Admiral John Harkness
Flagship: Senhime

[Lorric]

HaHa. Math, how does it work. 

Posting all of this at 4:30am is probably a terrible idea.

Cause and effect in motion... 

[Jellyfish]

Let's see:
1. SF
2. LSF
3. CRF
4. DD
5. UGC

Fleet Name: Battlegroup 11
CO: Rear Admiral Jason Windforce
Flagship: Firelance

[Admiral MS]

Alright:
1. DD
2. LSF
3. SF
4. CRF
5. UGC

Flagship: Nova
Since DD has an emblem with cyrillic text and the description sounds a bit as if they are sitting behind the iron curtain:
CO: Rear Admiral Georgiy Kuznetsov

If I end up flying for another faction I might have to find a different name

[Lorric]

Awww, can't you use your HLP name? Then you'll be Rear Admiral Admiral MS 

[Dragon]

OK, let's get to it.
1. LSF
2. SF
3. UGC
4. CRF
5. DD

Flagship: Scimitar
Fleet Name: The Stormlords
CO: Rear Admiral Augustus Corvus

[Spoon]

Sol Force: 4/4
1st Fleet - under the command of Rear Admiral Dovorek Iera (CommanderDJ) on the flagship Hand of Absolution
2nd Fleet - under the command of Rear Admiral Xeus L. Fremont (X3N0-Life-Form) on the flagship Swift
3rd Fleet - under the command of Rear Admiral Aaron Soryu (mobcdmoc3) on the flagship Sovereign
4th Fleet - 'Battlegroup 11' under the command of Rear Admiral Jason Windforce (Jellyfish) on the flagship Firelance

Delest Defense: 2/3
1st Fleet - 'Fist of Silva' under the command of Rear Admiral Jason Ralwood (AdmiralRalwood) on the flagship Aurora
2nd Fleet - under the command of Rear Admiral Georgiy Kuznetsov (Admiral MS) on the flagship Nova

Commonwealth Royal Fleet: 4/4
1st Fleet - under the command of Rear Admiral Veers on the flagship Silver Arrow
2nd Fleet - under the command of Rear Admiral Lorric on the flagship Soaring Spirit
3rd Fleet - 'Task Force 765'  under the command of Rear Admiral John Harkness (Torchwood) on the flagship Senhime
4th Fleet - under the command of Rear Admiral Carlos Santiago (Lepanto) on the flagship St. Louis IX

United Guilds of Commerce Regulars: 1/2
1st Fleet - 'I'll get back to you on that' under the command of Rear Admiral Andrew Bradwater on the flagship Garuda

League Star Forces: 2/2
1st Fleet - under the command of Rear Admiral SpardaSon21 on the flagship Dire Wolf
2nd Fleet - 'The Stormlords' under the command of Rear Admiral Augustus Corvus (Dragon) on the flagship Scimitar


Okay I think I got everyone! (Shout at me and get ANGRY if I somehow managed to miss you!)