Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
At least one TNS report at the start of the FFW refers to Regina as the sector capital, and it, rather than Mora, appears on most maps. I don't think I saw Mora listed as the capital until MT (and it came as a surprise).
IN & IM ranks and ratings insigns...
- Thread starter vermeylenhans
- Start date
BetterThanLife
SOC-14 1K
I guess it depends on when you read it and how much canon you actually possess. (I apparently don't own enough.
) There are actually two Sector Fleets, the Regular IN Fleet and the Reserve Fleet.
I have always thought of the reserve fleet as more of a National Guard style environment. (Which would put it as sort of a cross between the local planetary fleets and the IN.) It would be answerable to the local (subsector/sector) government unless/until called up by the Imperial Government. The Colonial Fleets, (local navies, system defense forces etc.) while falling within the IN command structure during times of crisis being more like the Coast Guard, or the Police.
There is no true canon reference to draw that from but with the layered structure it feels right.
Hans </font>[/QUOTE]
I have always thought of the reserve fleet as more of a National Guard style environment. (Which would put it as sort of a cross between the local planetary fleets and the IN.) It would be answerable to the local (subsector/sector) government unless/until called up by the Imperial Government. The Colonial Fleets, (local navies, system defense forces etc.) while falling within the IN command structure during times of crisis being more like the Coast Guard, or the Police.
There is no true canon reference to draw that from but with the layered structure it feels right.
No he wasn't. Delphine of Mora was the sector duchess (See above).
There is no sector navy. Just a sector fleet which belongs to the Imperial Navy.
Hans </font>[/QUOTE]
BetterThanLife
SOC-14 1K
Why thank you Andrew. I thought i had gone totally senile.
Again though it seems like this is one of those wonderful contradictions that make up the OTU.
vermeylenhans
SOC-11
Regina Subsector Navy (left) and Regina Planetary Navy (right) Captains shoulder pads.
http://fr.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hans_vermeylen/detail?.dir=7a09&.dnm=5749.jpg
I choose an obviously chess-piece-like crown to stress the the fact that it is a queen-crown queen (regina) and not a king-one (rex).
The blue was choosen to match Norie's unicorn and to add some variety, but I guess they could use gold just like IN.
If anyone as better unicorn (the one I used is a vaguely cleaned up version of the small avatar image of this forum) and crown to propose, I'm interested.
http://fr.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hans_vermeylen/detail?.dir=7a09&.dnm=5749.jpg
I choose an obviously chess-piece-like crown to stress the the fact that it is a queen-crown queen (regina) and not a king-one (rex).
The blue was choosen to match Norie's unicorn and to add some variety, but I guess they could use gold just like IN.
If anyone as better unicorn (the one I used is a vaguely cleaned up version of the small avatar image of this forum) and crown to propose, I'm interested.
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Can't see the pic...
vermeylenhans
SOC-11
Should be fixed.
(Please note the distinction I make between navies and fleets. A navy is an organisation. A fleet is a bunch of ships (Roughly speaking).
The only reserve fleets (plural) that is mentioned in Traveller comes from MT material. They're collections of obsolescent ships that belongs to the Imperial Navy and are organized on a subsector-by-subsector basis. Each subsector (in theory, anyway) contains two IN fleets: One numbered between 1 and 320 consisting of regular IN ships and one numbered between 1001 and 1320 consisting of reserve ships (note that this use of the word 'reserve' may or may not be misleading).
The big problem is that MT is inconsistent with previously published material. In CT there were no reserve fleets. Instead there were subsector navies. This is a deliberate change. If you check MT's character generation rules you will find that every reference to subsector naies in CThas been changed to reserve fleets in MT.
Side note: About 'subsector navies' vs. 'duchy navies'. From the very start Traveller material referred to subsectors and duchies as synonymous. But they're not. Some duchies cover more than one subsector. Hence I'd like to encourage people to distinguish between duchy navies (if they exist at all) and subsector fleets. Sure, in 90% of the cases a duchy navy would consist of a single fleet and cover one subsector. But in the interest of greater clarity I think it would be useful to distinguish.
There's quite a lot of canon references. Unfortunately they are contradictory.My solution is to say that the organizational chart in Rebellion Sourcebook only shows the IN structure and simply don't mention the duchy navies, but they're there all right (just as the chart doesn't mention the system navies). Contrariwise the HG description of the setup leaves out the IN reserve fleets, but they've nevertheless been there all along.
Hans
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Could you provide me with the references, please?
</font>[/QUOTE]Regina/Regina (0310-A788899-A) 186-1107
The Admiralty was electrified by the reported appearance of a substantial Zhodani war fleet at Ruie (Regina 0209 C776977-7), scarcely a parsec from the sector capital.
Rhylanor/Rhylanor (0306-A434934-F) 201-1107
Word has today been received by fleet courier of the invasion of Regina, the capital of the Spinward Marches.
BetterThanLife
SOC-14 1K
I think we are getting a bit off topic. Sorry. New thread time.
Care to meet me and discuss this in Fleets, IN organization, and general TO&E?
Care to meet me and discuss this in Fleets, IN organization, and general TO&E?
Well, I'll be... That's the second time in a week that my memory has proven wrong. Though in this case it wasn't actually my memory. Once, long ago, I did an exhaustive search of all canon material that I could lay my hands on for references to the sector capital of the Spinward Marches. I can't imagine how I could miss those two.
OK, I'll retract my previous statement. There are a few bits of evidence that says that Regina is the sector capital of the Spinward Marches. I still maintain that there is overwhelming evidence that it isn't. And not just from the MT days (though that's where it becomes ecxplicit), but certainly also from CT days:
(Numbers are facts, letters are assumptiuons and deductions).
1) In 1105 Santanocheev was a very junior admiral (Rear admiral in charge of the Regina branch of Naval Intelligence).
2) In 1107 Santanocheev was Sector Admiral in charge of the entire Spinward Marches.
a) No one at Capital would have any interest in promoting a junior admiral to sector admiral over the heads of scores of other admirals. I therefore assume that the sector duke gave Santanocheev a brevet promotion when the old sector admiral left for some reason (Such a promotion would, of course be an emergency measure and would have to be confirmed by the Admiralty).
3) Duke Norris does not have any authority over Santanocheev.
b) If Norris had been sector duke he would have had authority over Santanocheev.
Ergo Norris is not sector duke and ergo Regina is not the sector Capital.
Hans
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
From reading the 5FW TNS reports, it certainly sounds like Norris is Sector Duke and Regina is the capital (even ignoring the two I quoted). Why else are they mentioned so much?
Eh? Are you talking about the fact that Norris recieved a declaration of war from the Zhodani? There's no reason to suppose Delphine didn't get one too. What else did Norris do before he got the Debebian Flu and dropped out of sight? He certainly didn't replace Santanocheev or restrain him in any way, even though we've been told that he disagreed very strenuously with the way Santy conducted the war (After all, that's why he went AWOL).
What he did after he came back with his warrant is a whole different ballgame.
Because Regina is the center of the resistance to the Zhodani. The front line HQ. The place where Santanocheev sat up shop.
Hans
Several of Hans assumptions are ignoring the realities of the military:
A) Promotions are often not handed out in seniority order
B) Intell officers often promote amongst the slowest, but occasionally, the right people know about the intell officer's work, and the resultant promotions are 'faster than expected'.
C) There is no reason to believe the marches are terribly admiral-heavy.
D) Intell officers attaining flag rank seldom remain intell officers...
E) Admirals in the field (so called "Working Admirals", who often do less documentable work than the deskbound "Staff Admirals" or "Admirality Admirals") often refuse promotion to remain in the field.
F) it is probable than a number of the admirals in service were past their prime, and retired out, being amongst those in places to realize the war was becomeing more likely.
Now, looking at the tables in Book 5 and in MT:
Bk5 AND MT: There is no rear admiral, but the progression is
O7 Comm
O8 Fleet Adm
O9 Sector Admiral
O10 Grand Admiral
Rear Admiral is probably still an O8 staff-admiral... so he's only a rank below "Sector Admiral".
Which leads me to the following conter conclusions:
SInce he's quite probably a specialist upon the area of most tension, he's probably going to bypass a lot of folks. Additionally, he's familiar with headquarters, and not "insistant upon staying afloat".
Additionally, if regina WAS, at the start of the war, the sector capital, He'd have been able to network with those VIP's.
Regina being sector capital does NOT force the Aledons to be the sector dukes, however... it is entirely possible the sector duke was in fact Delphine, with Norris being the even less effectual (due to the presence of the sector duchess) "Duke of Regina", a Duchy encompasing a little more than a subsector. If Santanocheev is also patronized by Delphine, and thus promoted before more capable O8's... that would explain a lot of Norris' drive. Also, with the warrant, he gets to trump delphine... for the time being.
I don't recall any canon stating the name of the sector duke for the marches. I do know that Delphine is refered to as Duches or Mora... Even when Mora is clearly the Sector Capital.
A) Promotions are often not handed out in seniority order
B) Intell officers often promote amongst the slowest, but occasionally, the right people know about the intell officer's work, and the resultant promotions are 'faster than expected'.
C) There is no reason to believe the marches are terribly admiral-heavy.
D) Intell officers attaining flag rank seldom remain intell officers...
E) Admirals in the field (so called "Working Admirals", who often do less documentable work than the deskbound "Staff Admirals" or "Admirality Admirals") often refuse promotion to remain in the field.
F) it is probable than a number of the admirals in service were past their prime, and retired out, being amongst those in places to realize the war was becomeing more likely.
Now, looking at the tables in Book 5 and in MT:
Bk5 AND MT: There is no rear admiral, but the progression is
O7 Comm
O8 Fleet Adm
O9 Sector Admiral
O10 Grand Admiral
Rear Admiral is probably still an O8 staff-admiral... so he's only a rank below "Sector Admiral".
Which leads me to the following conter conclusions:
SInce he's quite probably a specialist upon the area of most tension, he's probably going to bypass a lot of folks. Additionally, he's familiar with headquarters, and not "insistant upon staying afloat".
Additionally, if regina WAS, at the start of the war, the sector capital, He'd have been able to network with those VIP's.
Regina being sector capital does NOT force the Aledons to be the sector dukes, however... it is entirely possible the sector duke was in fact Delphine, with Norris being the even less effectual (due to the presence of the sector duchess) "Duke of Regina", a Duchy encompasing a little more than a subsector. If Santanocheev is also patronized by Delphine, and thus promoted before more capable O8's... that would explain a lot of Norris' drive. Also, with the warrant, he gets to trump delphine... for the time being.
I don't recall any canon stating the name of the sector duke for the marches. I do know that Delphine is refered to as Duches or Mora... Even when Mora is clearly the Sector Capital.
That's a bit harsh, I think. I won't claim that some of my points can't have alternate interpretations, but I do think every one of them are at least possible.
Didn't say they were handed out in strict seniority order. I just said that a jump from a fairly junior admiral to sector admiral is a large one. That does assume that a rear admiral is fairly junior, but I stand by that assumption.
Who are 'the right people' in this case?
There is one: The fact that the slot of OIC Naval Intelligence for a single subsector is held by an admiral. Or perhaps you think that Naval Intelligence is the only department that rates an admiral? That Supply, JAC, Staff, Medical, Maintenance, etc. does not rate someone o the same general level as Naval Intelligence gets? I certainly do think so. That gives you at least half a dozen rear admirals per subsector (or per fleet). Of which the Spinward Marches has 10 or 11.
No one said that Santanocheev was an intel officer. Just that in 1105 he was in charge of Naval Intelligence/Regina subsector.
I beg leave to doubt that. It might happen occasionally, but 'often'?
What makes that probable? And why would that make the Admiralty promote a junior admiral to the top spot of the sector?
Which is one good reason to suspect that the Imperium has more ranks than the vanilla character generation system. However, let's not go out along that tangent.
Well, 'rear admiral' could hardly be less than an O8. But since there are also mention of vice admirals, rear admiral are likely to at least be in the lower half of the fleets admirals' list - the lower third if (as seems likely), there are also 'full' fleet admirals among the O8s..
I just don't see how an admiral holding the slot of department head for a single subsector can be senior to an admiral who is in charge of an entire fleet. Of which the Spinward Marches have 10 or 11. Then I'd expect at least a few vice admirals per fleet. So even if Santanocheev is the very most senior rear admiral in all the Marches, he'd still be junior to at least 30 other admirals.
What VIP's? He obviously didn't score any points with Norris.
I disagree. Having the sector capital be belong to another duke than the sector duke? How would that work at all? It sounds incredibly clumsy.
What's your point here? A sector duke is (IMO) just first among equals. The sector duke of a sector isn't called the Duke of <Sector Name>, he just runs the sector. Canon specifcally states that the sector duke does not get a special title. [LDNZ:36]
One additional point that I just found in my old notes: Mora is shown as the sector capital of the spinward Marches in the UWPs in Spinward Marches Campaign. That listing is for 1111. Which means that if Regina really was the setcor capital in 1107, then it was while Norris was having fun with his warrant that the capital was transferred from Regina to Mora.
Now does that make a whole lot of sense to you?
Hans
jwcarroll60
SOC-12
Perhaps the Imperial Navy has a provision for promotion similar to that in the 1800's in the US Naval Service (Navy & Marines) which allows ANY eligible officer of a certain threshold rank to be promoted to a flag rank. In the case of the USMC any officer of the rank of Major could be promoted to Commandant (quite a jump Battalion CO?XO to service chief). Maybe Santanocheev had a parton of sufficient rank to effect his promotion.
t is highly likely that the poor performance/readiness in the start of the 5FW was used as an excuse to 'clear out the deadwood' and a whole lot of senior flag officers went into early retirement.
t is highly likely that the poor performance/readiness in the start of the 5FW was used as an excuse to 'clear out the deadwood' and a whole lot of senior flag officers went into early retirement.
Well, obviously Santanocheev was of sufficiently high rank to be promoted to sector admiral. After all, he was promoted to sector admiral
Now, I'm not stating as a fact that sector dukes can fill empty slots as sector admirals. I'm saying that they might, and that that would be a good explanation of how Santy went from being rear admiral in 1105 to being sector admiral in 1107.
And if the sector duke promoted Santy to Sector Admiral, then I'm bloody sure that sector duke wasn't Norris Aella Aledon, Duke of Regina.
IIRC Santy was promoted prior to the outbreak of the war. But that's not really the point. My point is that Santy was jumped. Whether he was jumped one spot or 30 or 60 doesn't really matter. What matters is that if he didn't succeed to the post by being the second most senior admiral in the sector, then someone took an active hand in his promotion. Was that someone Norris? I really, really doubt that.
Hans
One thing that hasn't been brought up is the fact that the Imperium is/was incredibly feudal. In such a political environment, officers in Intelligence (and especially admirals) most likely are well-connected and/or have dirt on quite a few folks. Santy was stationed on Rhylanor, IIRC, and Rhylanor was the designated resistance point for that part of the sector (in effect, Rhylanor was Imperial military HQ).
It wouldn't be the first time someone used the confusion of war (and an intelligence agency's reputation) to make a grab for personal power.
Additionally, there's a bit of a tone throughout the TNS reports about how totally surprised the Imperium was by the Zho DoW. I got the sense that the chain of command was in total disarray and, when that happens, combined with a crisis like the opening stages of a war, oftentimes, the people who act decisively are the ones who end up leading, regardless of the proper chain of command.
Regardless of any (or all) of that, the fact remains that Santy was portrayed as being the head honcho (until Norris snuck back with the Warrant), so Santy was in charge. The reasons why don't always make sense, which is why I lean towards the view that the Imperium in early CT was a lot more feudal than it seemed on the surface, and that degree of feudalism could very well be the main point to explain Santy's antics.
It wouldn't be the first time someone used the confusion of war (and an intelligence agency's reputation) to make a grab for personal power.
Additionally, there's a bit of a tone throughout the TNS reports about how totally surprised the Imperium was by the Zho DoW. I got the sense that the chain of command was in total disarray and, when that happens, combined with a crisis like the opening stages of a war, oftentimes, the people who act decisively are the ones who end up leading, regardless of the proper chain of command.
Regardless of any (or all) of that, the fact remains that Santy was portrayed as being the head honcho (until Norris snuck back with the Warrant), so Santy was in charge. The reasons why don't always make sense, which is why I lean towards the view that the Imperium in early CT was a lot more feudal than it seemed on the surface, and that degree of feudalism could very well be the main point to explain Santy's antics.
vermeylenhans
SOC-11
Does anyone have an idea of the part of a navy (a real world curent navy) budget allocated to personnel costs?
What about an army (again, a current real world one)?
What about an army (again, a current real world one)?
Ok, the ranks from canon-rules-tables from HG2 (I know, you don't buy them as canon. Hans) put three ranks of admiral:
O7 Fleet Admiral
O8 Sector Admiral
O9 Grand Admiral
In a fit of irony, he scouts go to higher O numbers..
Anyway, If we assume there is in fact a duke of the marches, who is separate from the Duke of Regina/Mora, that is one of the "Right People", as are the grand admirals of the various departments. Likewise, there is at least one, maybe more, grand admiral at Domain HQ (Remember, the domains are stated to have been retained in naval use, even tho Strephon finally filled some besides Core... and the others had been vacant for a long time.) Now, such a promotion is only one rank... and obtaining a command slot. NOT a major promotion... no matter how junior an admiral he'd been.
Here's a case where the rules canon provides a clear dichotomy: ranks linked to command level... so a non-commanding Fleet Admiral would probably be a fleet or subsector command staff admiral, like, say intelligence for Regina's nummbered fleets and/or base; the base is probably also commanded by a fleet admiral, as are each of the fleets. Naval history is filled with cases of command by position taking precendent over rank. (And people like D. MacArthur taking command by rank to be dressed down for not havin had authority to do so... because a clear authority had existed which they broke.)
Canon also says that Norris was recalled from Naval service shortly before the 5FW... DUe to both the Duke and the Heir being killed. Norris was the Spare, not the heir. (MT, also the interview with Norris, either TD or MTJ, don't have them handy at the moment to dig for it.)
Working admirals refusing promotion: several in the US Navy have done so, some explicitly saying no thank you, and a couple by threatening to retire if promoted. While I don't recall specifics for either US or UK individuals, I've read that at least two brittish admirals refused promotions that would have moved them from fleet to HQ.
As for the problems of a sector duke and a subsector duke having the same world as headquarters: not really an issue. The sector duke would have very different matters at hand; the local world would be doubly represented in the sector moot, but other than that, one is concerned with local matters, and the other with regional matters. Quite analagous to the US sistuation of the Mayor of a State Capital, or a Count/Duke of a place with a Royal Castle in the middle of his fief... there are several in England which fell that way even during medaevil times.
Id' say that, in all probability, there was no Duke of the Marches until Norris pulled the warrant... and made himself such, setting the stage for the later self-promotion to archduke. The Sector Capital then being a matter of where the NAVY says it's sector HQ is... Likewise, Regina is also pretty evidently one of the major IISS centers... so as a capital, it's got EVERYTHING. Like I said, nothing I've seen says the Aledon line was the duke of the marches. Nothing says they weren't either... but with Norris as DoR, if Regina is capital during his rise, either
1) Norris isn't back yet, and his father patronized Santanocheev
2) Delphine is Duchess of the Marches, and patronizes Santanocheev, and uses the threat/declaration of war to move the capital back to her homeworld
3) Someone else is Duke of the Marches, and Norris gets even by use of the warrant.
4) Norris is DotM, but NavComDomDen promotes Santanocheev to command and tics Norris off.
Likewise, IMTU, Regina has both a Duke of Regina, who is the SS duke, and a Count of Regina, who is the plantary noble; additinally, since there are several significant worlds in the system, each of them is IMTU a Barony (for the lesser significant worlds) or a Knight-Baronette (for the less significant), vassal to the Duke as their Subsector Noble . Not really a problem, again similar situation to Mayor/Governor dichotomy. Different scope, duties, and resources.
If we assume each SS has a FAdm o8 for each departement, plus one for overall command, then add the sector admiral with one per department and one for command, we can make the FAdms total over a hundred. But we then also wind up with about 6-8 SAdms... only one of whom is actually in command. I prefer to think he's Junior in 1105 due to being in a position for a lesser grade, and not having a slot to move to...
As for a graying navy:
4th frontier war 1082-1084. 20 years later, the mid level officers who survived have a vested interest in stying to retire... and the bulge of officers coming in during a war (it is a truism that war begets an increase in enlistment and new officers) are coming to the close of careers; most of the career officers in the mid-grades (commanders) now have sufficient decorations to coast upon the rest of their career... 20 years later, that's 5 promotions, maybe 6, have now filled the commodores and FAdms, and earned retirements... many more will be 25-30 year vets, staying to keep long-standing careers going for the prestige (and potential for something "Ennobling" to happen and get cured by themselves). Almost all the flag officers would be 4FW vets, simply due to the rate of promotions.
Norris, however, is YOUNG enough to not have served in the 4FW (4 terms, IIRC, before becoming duke. He is doing college during or just after the 4FW.) This means he's not tied to the TL14 strategies Santanocheev was raised in. Also, Norris IS canonically an Intel Officer specializing in Intelligence, and serving in the Sector (and probably subsector). Quite Likely, Commander Aledon served under FAdm Santanocheev, and the latter stuck to old theories despite evidence of changes.
If Norris had been Sector Duke, he could probably have cashiered Santanocheev, rather than simply relieved him, during the war.
Additionally, if we assume instead that santanocheev was not fast promoted until reaching flag, and was a career intell officer, it puts him being a pre-4FW mid-grade....
If Norris had served under Santanocheev, that could easily explain the lack of cooperation of the Admiral with the DoR, Norris. Add to that Norris' willingness to concilliation with the Zho's, and the great likelyhood that Santanocheev either saw action or provided intel for action in the 4FW... and you have motive for non-cooperation. Classic staple of military history: Young, bright, and correct leader stopped from taking action by Old, Traditional, Conservative, and wrong higher leader... Until action proves the older no longer capable of winning.
In any case, Norris is listed as Duke of Regina, never as Duke of the marches in the materials I have.
Also, MTIE says (on pg. 15) that the Dukes are titled as Duke of (Name of subsector or sector). Hence, Neither Norris nor Delphine are the sector Duchy holder. Perhaps it was vacant.
O7 Fleet Admiral
O8 Sector Admiral
O9 Grand Admiral
In a fit of irony, he scouts go to higher O numbers..
Anyway, If we assume there is in fact a duke of the marches, who is separate from the Duke of Regina/Mora, that is one of the "Right People", as are the grand admirals of the various departments. Likewise, there is at least one, maybe more, grand admiral at Domain HQ (Remember, the domains are stated to have been retained in naval use, even tho Strephon finally filled some besides Core... and the others had been vacant for a long time.) Now, such a promotion is only one rank... and obtaining a command slot. NOT a major promotion... no matter how junior an admiral he'd been.
Here's a case where the rules canon provides a clear dichotomy: ranks linked to command level... so a non-commanding Fleet Admiral would probably be a fleet or subsector command staff admiral, like, say intelligence for Regina's nummbered fleets and/or base; the base is probably also commanded by a fleet admiral, as are each of the fleets. Naval history is filled with cases of command by position taking precendent over rank. (And people like D. MacArthur taking command by rank to be dressed down for not havin had authority to do so... because a clear authority had existed which they broke.)
Canon also says that Norris was recalled from Naval service shortly before the 5FW... DUe to both the Duke and the Heir being killed. Norris was the Spare, not the heir. (MT, also the interview with Norris, either TD or MTJ, don't have them handy at the moment to dig for it.)
Working admirals refusing promotion: several in the US Navy have done so, some explicitly saying no thank you, and a couple by threatening to retire if promoted. While I don't recall specifics for either US or UK individuals, I've read that at least two brittish admirals refused promotions that would have moved them from fleet to HQ.
As for the problems of a sector duke and a subsector duke having the same world as headquarters: not really an issue. The sector duke would have very different matters at hand; the local world would be doubly represented in the sector moot, but other than that, one is concerned with local matters, and the other with regional matters. Quite analagous to the US sistuation of the Mayor of a State Capital, or a Count/Duke of a place with a Royal Castle in the middle of his fief... there are several in England which fell that way even during medaevil times.
Id' say that, in all probability, there was no Duke of the Marches until Norris pulled the warrant... and made himself such, setting the stage for the later self-promotion to archduke. The Sector Capital then being a matter of where the NAVY says it's sector HQ is... Likewise, Regina is also pretty evidently one of the major IISS centers... so as a capital, it's got EVERYTHING. Like I said, nothing I've seen says the Aledon line was the duke of the marches. Nothing says they weren't either... but with Norris as DoR, if Regina is capital during his rise, either
1) Norris isn't back yet, and his father patronized Santanocheev
2) Delphine is Duchess of the Marches, and patronizes Santanocheev, and uses the threat/declaration of war to move the capital back to her homeworld
3) Someone else is Duke of the Marches, and Norris gets even by use of the warrant.
4) Norris is DotM, but NavComDomDen promotes Santanocheev to command and tics Norris off.
Likewise, IMTU, Regina has both a Duke of Regina, who is the SS duke, and a Count of Regina, who is the plantary noble; additinally, since there are several significant worlds in the system, each of them is IMTU a Barony (for the lesser significant worlds) or a Knight-Baronette (for the less significant), vassal to the Duke as their Subsector Noble . Not really a problem, again similar situation to Mayor/Governor dichotomy. Different scope, duties, and resources.
If we assume each SS has a FAdm o8 for each departement, plus one for overall command, then add the sector admiral with one per department and one for command, we can make the FAdms total over a hundred. But we then also wind up with about 6-8 SAdms... only one of whom is actually in command. I prefer to think he's Junior in 1105 due to being in a position for a lesser grade, and not having a slot to move to...
As for a graying navy:
4th frontier war 1082-1084. 20 years later, the mid level officers who survived have a vested interest in stying to retire... and the bulge of officers coming in during a war (it is a truism that war begets an increase in enlistment and new officers) are coming to the close of careers; most of the career officers in the mid-grades (commanders) now have sufficient decorations to coast upon the rest of their career... 20 years later, that's 5 promotions, maybe 6, have now filled the commodores and FAdms, and earned retirements... many more will be 25-30 year vets, staying to keep long-standing careers going for the prestige (and potential for something "Ennobling" to happen and get cured by themselves). Almost all the flag officers would be 4FW vets, simply due to the rate of promotions.
Norris, however, is YOUNG enough to not have served in the 4FW (4 terms, IIRC, before becoming duke. He is doing college during or just after the 4FW.) This means he's not tied to the TL14 strategies Santanocheev was raised in. Also, Norris IS canonically an Intel Officer specializing in Intelligence, and serving in the Sector (and probably subsector). Quite Likely, Commander Aledon served under FAdm Santanocheev, and the latter stuck to old theories despite evidence of changes.
If Norris had been Sector Duke, he could probably have cashiered Santanocheev, rather than simply relieved him, during the war.
Additionally, if we assume instead that santanocheev was not fast promoted until reaching flag, and was a career intell officer, it puts him being a pre-4FW mid-grade....
If Norris had served under Santanocheev, that could easily explain the lack of cooperation of the Admiral with the DoR, Norris. Add to that Norris' willingness to concilliation with the Zho's, and the great likelyhood that Santanocheev either saw action or provided intel for action in the 4FW... and you have motive for non-cooperation. Classic staple of military history: Young, bright, and correct leader stopped from taking action by Old, Traditional, Conservative, and wrong higher leader... Until action proves the older no longer capable of winning.
In any case, Norris is listed as Duke of Regina, never as Duke of the marches in the materials I have.
Also, MTIE says (on pg. 15) that the Dukes are titled as Duke of (Name of subsector or sector). Hence, Neither Norris nor Delphine are the sector Duchy holder. Perhaps it was vacant.
