The Army probably costs a lot more than mentioned, since you have to maintain and transport divisions, corps and armies across interstellar distances.
very very true....
The Army probably costs a lot more than mentioned, since you have to maintain and transport divisions, corps and armies across interstellar distances.
BatRon -> 1 Battle tender, 4 battleships, 1 transport, 2 scouts, 4 escorts
The Army probably costs a lot more than mentioned, since you have to maintain and transport divisions, corps and armies across interstellar distances.
Fighting Ships of the Shattered Imperium is not considered canonical by Marc for anything. So if you use it, you're on your own.
I guess troop transport needs are quite version dependent.
In CT, to transport them in low berths is unacceptable (as it would mean about 8% casualties before they reach destination), but in MT, where low berth death is something exceptional (though some damage is not), it would be prefectly aceptable, and a good option when you have to move whole armies.
See that this saves 1.5 dtons and Cr 1900 in life support per trooper and jump (so, assuming 127 men per company and keeping officers awaken (let's say 120 of them in low brths), it saves 180 dtons of shipping and Cr 228000 per jump).
In MgT, the risk, while tolda about, is not specified, and I don't know enough of other ersions to talk about them.
And there it goes, into a black hole after a brilliant flash of light!
I would think that even the inflicting of wounds on revival still creates casualties and reduces your fighting strength, and may not be acceptable.
As regards to light combatants, I'm working out to see how they'll get integrated in a general battle.
Not really sure what the point of escorts are, the game doesn't fight ships that way. Looks great on Fleet Day, but that's not how combat manifests itself.
You need to broaden your view of HG/TCS away from just being a tactical combat game, at which it is so-so (as detailed extensively elsewhere). HG/TCS is better viewed as a strategic warfare game which of necessity requires a combat resolution system. Ideally this combat resolution system should result in gamer behaviours like avoiding placing escorts in front of angry BBs, as their contribution to the end result is negligible and their demise almost certain.
By utilising escorts away from the main fleets, for example raiding commerce, you force the opponent to direct resources away from their own main fleets. If their navy has limited escort class ships, it is inherently designed to dominate one system (perhaps a handful) at a time. The so-called "Alpha-strike" fleet. Meantime a fleet with many escorts can be many places, cheaply. This works because they will refuse to engage in a "stand-up fight", preferring instead to do economic damage until the political imperative (to the cries of "cowards", "not fighting fair", "our brave innocent merchant fleet", the brutalized citizens of xyz") on the other side forces the alpha-strike main fleets to disperse and respond.
So one tactic is to use escorts and attempt to influence and perhaps win, large areas of space or concentrate your forces and drive for the capital, hoping to get there before the economic and political fall-out forces a withdrawal.
HG/TCS doesn't emulate economic warfare and its political consequences particularly well (left up to the ref?), aside from the abstract 100points of weapons causing surrender rule. But it does reward using escorts as pickets in systems and hexes you are interested in and setting up communication links. An expensive task if you are only using BBs.
For example, the Imperiums use of 400tn Patrol Cruisers acting as trip-wires for the fleet and waving the flag along the borders, enabling main fleets to be concentrated and respond from a safe(ish) distance.
There are lots of variations, but essentially without escorts you lack many strategic options. Just don't waste the few escorts you have fighting main fleet battles.
Just my 2Cr, YMMV.
I would think that even the inflicting of wounds on revival still creates casualties and reduces your fighting strength, and may not be acceptable.
I solved this problem by having escorts assigned to capital ships during the decision step.Not really sure what the point of escorts are, the game doesn't fight ships that way. Looks great on Fleet Day, but that's not how combat manifests itself.
Escorts can act as a screen, if you use Book 5, but they tend to not fair well against capital ships.
In truth, none of the games are particularly good at "combined arms" when it comes to fleet combat. It's very difficult for ships to support each other in any of the canon ship combat systems.
The firing player can elect to fire on the capital ship or the escorts, the escorts can use their weapons in defence of whatever the target is.
Part of the problem is canon is all over the place, depending on version.
Some "canon" squadrons:
V&V
Cruron 4221 (16 ships)
-2 Heavy Cruisers
-1 Strike Cruiser
-3 Destroyers
-4 Close Escorts
-6 Auxillaries/Couriers
High Passage 5
810th Fleet (34 ships)
Batron 490 (14 ships)
-1 Uzshu Battleship
-1 Kokirraks Battleship
-3 Gormandoacy Destroyers
-3 Chrysanthemum DE's
-6 Fleet Couriers
Cruron 87 (20 ships)
-8 Sarmonocci Light Cruisers
-3 Gormandoacy Destroyers
-6 Chrysanthemum DE's
-3 Workhorse Ordinance Carriers
SM Campaign
Batron 154 (8 ships, 7 riders)
-1 Lurenti Tender/ 7 Nolikian Riders
-7 PF Sloan Escorts
200 fighters
High Passage 5
Cruron? (5 Ships)
-1 Tempest Cruiser
-1 Gormandoay Destroyer
-2 Gazelle CE
-1 Scout
Clearly Squadron size and composition varies across canon/decanonized sources.
Well, see that's the point.
You can have all of the "canonical" fleets you want, but if the fleets don't work, according to the mechanics of the GAME, then they don't work. And you don't build them, fly them, or play them.