Welcome to Sector Command. You will be put in charge of the Defense of an entire Sector of the Terran Mandate.
But first of all you have to choose which sector you wish to command.
The Terran Mandate has not grown much in recent years due to the difficulties at finding new directly habitable worlds and Terraforming Projects take time and money which the Mandate cannot afford at the moment. Thus its entirety consists of Ten Sectors a total of Several Hundred Settled Worlds, and 50 Capital Worlds, 5 per sector.
As it is these Sectors have a fault line between them, a political and systemical division which should very much affect your decision. When the Terran Mandate first began to expand it operated under the Credo of Pluralism in regards to Nationality and Belief and of course operated under a Democratic System. That turned out to be a mistake.
The Core Worlds as they are known today are even several hundred years after colonization still a hotbed of tension, be they religious, nationalistic or of one of the myriad of other reasons human beings like to cave each others heads in. Heavily Industrialized and over populated, the Core Worlds of the Mandate are constantly fighting with Unrests, Riots and Crime. On top of that their reliance on the newly established Streamworlds in regards to luxury goods and food has caused quite some problems with them.
The New Rimworlds are the five sectory who are of a newer descent. They are all no older than 250 years and thus relatively lower populated. However all of these Worlds have been established by Cultural Streaming. Each World has been settled only by people of one political direction, nationality and religion. The Effect was enormous. Streamed Worlds didn't suffer unrest through Nationalism, nor Religious Fanaticism, nor did they suffer problems with political extremists due to all dissenters being brought offworld to their desired destinations or back to the Coreworlds.
The Rim is prosperous and peaceful...well strike out the first. Crushing Taxes and Tariffs from the Mandate has forced the Rim Worlds into a state of bare survival as they attempt to meet quotas set by the Mandate to feed the Core Sectors.
Another unique thing about the Rimworlds is its plethora of Government Forms. Whiel Democracy is encouraged, Empires, Kingdoms, Communism, Syndicalism and everything up and down the Political Spectra can be found in regards to government systems. Which is another point of contention with the Core.
So what will it be High Admiral?
1. Sol-Sector: the most populous of all Sectors, craddle of humanity and bursting with people who want to get the hell out of there. While nominally under the Control of the Earth Goverments the entire Sector is controlled by the Mandate itself from its parliament on the Moon.
A mighty Fleet and the Might of the Mandate Guard itself are on the plus side...with constant riots, overpopulation, supply problems, cities lousy with crime and corruption and constant need of help of the other Sectors turn this into quite the unloved Command Post
2. Any of the Core-Sectors High Infrastructure, High Industrialization, A Prosperous Democratic Sector...thats the theory. The Reality may be anything from the ideal to a complete dictatorial thirdworld hellhole. (You can specify the Sectors Name and History and Political System yourself. However it has to be Democratic or "Democratic")
3. The Rim Worlds A Conglomerate of Newly Established Colonies, Private Colonies and Corporate Colonies, all of these Sectors are Culturally Streamed, Have a record of a docile and generally prosperous population and great potential at becoming major players in the Sectors. The Reality of Forced Agriculture and Low Industry by the Mandate, High Quotas and Tariffs bring their own difficulties. (You can completely go bonkers here. Want your Confederate Revivalist Sector? Your Communist Experiment? Various Long Lost Empires come back from the Ashes? Something completely else? All possible as long as its still human)
This will be a suggestion game and as such we will have only one High Admiral. However we will still need Commanderswhich will lead the troops and as such you can provide characters if you wish...which you cannot control directly however. Just give a Name, History and Perhaps a Specialization (Planetary Sieges, Ground Command, Cruiser Command, Battleship command etc.) and i will try and integrate them if possible. Remember to keep them close to the chosen Sector though. Makes no Sense to have a French Communist Sector with Commanders from an Imperial China one applying
EncyclopediaWhile originally the Mandate fleet has been uniform over the centuries a myriad different Ship Types have emerged. Nonetheless all Human Fleets follow the same rough make up.
Transport
Strength 0
Supply Consumption: 10/turn
can carry 1000 Supplies
Transport-Class Ships all serve one singular purpose. Move Goods from A to B. However Fleets have enormous requirements regarding fuel, food, ammunition and a billion other things. Not to mention supporting ground armies. Military Transports are thus enormously large to transport massive amounts of good. Which makes them slow, inmanouverable and prime targets. But then again they are usually accompanied by large fleets...
Corvette
Strength 1
Supply Consumption: 2/turn
The Smallest Class of Vessel outfitted for Faster than Light travel are Corvettes. With Crews barely over a few dozen (if at all) they are cheap and not very supply intensive. They usually are supposed to be used as patrol crafts and to protect civilian space travel, but there are more than enough recorrds of Swarms of Corvettes taking on ships far beyond their class.
Light Frigate
Strength 2
Supply Consumption: 4/turn
Frigate
Strength 3
Supply Consumption: 6/turn
Frigate Class Ships are usually the smallest type of ship any self-respecting Navy bothers with. Deployed by Carriers in entire Wings they have mostly replaced smaller fighter and bomber vessels.
Assault Frigate
Strength 4
Supply Consumption: 10/turn
Can Carry 1 Division
Assault Frigates, the poor mans Destroyer. Assault Frigates have come to disreputable fame as "Blackbeards Choice" Ships, vessels preferred by pirates. In any case Assault Frigates are perfect for small scale boarding actions.
Destroyer
Strength 5
Supply Consumption: 50/turn
Can Carry 5 Divisions
The Iconic Mandate Ship. The Mandate-Class Destroyer has become so iconic throughout Human Space that its pretty much the only Model used. Mandate-Class Destroyers all are outfitted with an overclock on their Engine-Rooms allowing them to blow themselves up. Well larger ships can do that to, but Mandate-Class Destroyers where the first to be able to do that. Not to mention that Destroyers have a Track Record of the Ship-Class with the highest number of Kamikaze-Actions.
Light Cruiser
Strength 6
Supply Consumption: 60/turn
Can Carry 10 Divisions
Can Carry 1 Warhead
Cruiser
Strength 7
Supply Consumption: 70/turn
Can Carry 20 Divisions
Can Carry 5 Warheads
Heavy Cruisers
Strength 8
Supply Consumption: 80/turn
Can Carry 30 Divisions
Can Carry 10 Warheads
Welcome to the Big Leagues. Cruisers are Transport, Battleship and Orbital Siege Platform all rolled into one and are relatively cost-effective.
Battleship/Carrier
Strength 9
Supply Consumption: 100/turn
Can Carry 50 Divisions
Can Carry 20 Warheads
Dreadnaught/Super-Carrier
Strength 10
Supply Consumption: 200/turn
Can Carry 100 Divisions
Can Carry 50 Warheads
Capital Ships are there to impress. Usually surrounded by squadrons of smaller ships, Carriers and Dreadnaughts bring the real punch to any planetary Siege. However their sheer supply consumption routinely causes Logicsticians to go insane.
Golden-Age Ships
Colour-Coded Orange for your Convenience
Nobody knows where those ships exactly come from, except that they are of human making. Golden-Age Ships are Marvels of Technology. They are stronger and faster, but most importantly these ships are fuel-efficient beyond anything humanity can achieve so far. Due to their relative scarcity, every Golden-Age ship is treasured jealously by the Sectors and many an officer would sacrifice half a fleet before givign up even one of these.