We are actually very good in extended engagement due to mass use of Holo-Fields and can have fight going on for a very long time if we want while our troops can "duck" out if needed due to the advanced stealth and just cycle our troops as needed (and reposition them).
Same goes for our ships, if they need a bit of time they should almost always be able to get it by stopping to fire for a bit and just going fully invis.
Edit.
This in part takes into account of our grav shields, the conversion fields just further improve on that.
It slightly depends on what we mean by extended engagements here. If we're including cycling troops under cover of our holo-fields, then whether we have rugged or not is less of an issue, as we can cycle vehicles back for their conversion shield units to be swapped out.
Partially this comes back to the question I keep asking.
What are our ground forces for?
Do we intend them to be used as Craftworld garrisons? To conquer strongly defended worlds? To conquer weakly defended worlds? To go a-viking looting the True Stars? To dive back into the Crone Worlds? Sudden assaults from or in the Webway to head-cap high value enemy targets? To board enemy ships? To act in concert with allied forces? To operate alone?
We need to decide these things before we design and build manufacturing facilities for equipment, as what we need will change radically depending on what we want from them.
For example, the light infantry focused setup the leading plan seems to be going for would be well suited for taking and holding weakly defended worlds, where you need a large number of soldiers to root out large numbers of not individually that strong enemies spread out across the world, on the assumption that we won't be fighting alongside our allies who already have very similar troops. Basically, it produces something very similar to our allies' basic Firewave troops. Similar weapons, similar armour, similar shields. Not identical, but with the same design concept. I mean, compare this:
| Category | Us | Them | Comment |
| Weapon | Needler weapons fire spikes of impossibly sharp wraithbone extremely rapidly, thanks to multiple barrels allowing very high rates of fire. While they lack the advanced systems of the Fatecaster weapons from which they are derived, they are thusly far easier to manufacture—and the high fire rate does compensate somewhat for the loss in accuracy. | Hellguns are Lasrifles which have been modified with an enhanced cooling system and large external power-pack to allow them to be fired nearly indefinitely at full-auto, sending pulsing sheets of lasbeams downrange that make them far more dangerous than typical lasguns—though considerably more expensive. | Both very high rate of fire automatic rifles |
| Armour | Wraithweave Brigantine is a type of light armor that incorporates thick Wraithbone-cloth armor reinforced with attacked plates of Wraithbone, over a sealed skinsuit with an advanced sensor package mounted to the helmet. This combines to make it a capable light armor, resistant to most small arms, though it is insufficient in the face of true heavy weapons or those with significant armor-piercing capability. |
The standard model of armor used by the forces of Zahr-Tann, the Forgeguard Warsuit is a light power-assist armor with an integrated Autotargeting system. The vast majority of Zahr-Tann's troops are equipped with these suits. | Light armour, although there's is noticably better thanks to power assist and auto-tarteters |
| Shield |
A Flare Shield is a form of Conversion field which trades overall durability for rapid regeneration and resistance to overload. Such shields might shatter after absorbing a single hit, but within seconds they flare back to life, ready to absorb another blow. | --[] Flaw: Slow On Attack
--[] Flaw: Bulky
--[] Advantage: Low Cost
--[] Advantage: Pressure Resistance | A similar mass produced conversion shield, if we slightly different properties. |
I don't think that invading and occupying planets something we'll ever do. And if we did want to duplicate our allies' forces and strengths so closely, I think we should ask to literally copy their exact designs, not make slightly something different, as at least that way we'd be able to interoperate with them more easily
However. what do we want to design our forces to do? Do we want to do the same as Zahr-Tann, or something different.
