So, while we're on the subject of the incoming First Defensive War, I did some inventory on our fleet.
- 12 Combat Brig
- 30 Battle Carrack
- 57 Assault Ketch
- 20 Battle Caravel
- 55 Lance Cutter
- 45 Lance Sloop
Here is our current combat ready fleet that we can rely upon in the event of a surprise Biel-Tan warhost excluding the forces we send to Meros, which was previously 5 Brigs, 12 Carracks, 20 Caravels, 25 Ketches, 25 Cutters and 25 Sloops.
So assuming we don't have those on hand / we send the same amount of ships to Meros, the ships at our disposal is 7 Brigs, 18 Carracks, 32 Ketches, 30 Cutters and 20 sloops consisting of our home defense fleet.
Below is our list of damaged, non-combat-ready ships that we can repair using Bonesinger actions.
- 2 Combat Brig (Starcaster Mega-Lance disabled)
- 2 combat brig (Æthersails destroyed)
- 7 battle Carrack (Æthersails destroyed)
- 7 battle Carrack (One to two Weapons Batteries disabled, Plasma Drives offline)
- 10 battle Carrack (Heavy Starlance disabled)
- 32 Assault Ketch (Æthersails destroyed)
- 12 Assault Ketch (Weapons Batteries disabled)
- 7 Assault Ketch (Heavy Starlance disabled)
- 40 Battle Caravel (Æthersails destroyed/Mobility Kill)
- 10 Battle Caravel (Point Defense Grid & 1-2 Weapons Batteries disabled)
- 2 Battle Caravel (Heavy Las-Lance disabled)
- 47 Lance Cutter (Æthersails destroyed/Mobility Kill)
- 32 Lance Cutter (Weapons Battery Disabled/Mission Kill)
- 40 Lance Sloop (Æthersails destroyed/Mobility Kill)
- 30 Lance Sloop (Heavy Las-Lance Disabled/Mission Kill)
This amount totals to around 4 Brigs, 24 Carracks, 51 Ketches 52 Caravels, 72 Cutters and 70 Sloops that we can repair using our BAP (we get 3 escorts per point and 1 capital per point), granted, they might still be somewhat useful as they are right now, but we shouldn't rely upon them as a defense because of their damage.
So, assuming we repair our entire fleet, we will have the grand total of:
• 16 Brigs (11 after Meros deployment).
• 54 Carracks (42 after Meros)
• 108 Ketches (83 After Meros)
• 72 Caravels (52 After Meros)
• 127 Cutters (97 after Meros)
• 115 Sloops (95 after Meros)
To defend the Craftworld, unless Biel-Tan has an armada and is throwing it at us, they won't be able to push through our defenses without drawing blood away from their local territory to settle a grudge in the far north.
(Conversely, building ships is probably going to take a LONG time if we don't use Vaul Forge actions to speed them up).
Our biggest defense right now would really be to just talk to Iyanden and Saim-Hann (and explain to Ulthwe that we're actively working on a solution to Slaanesh) to tell Biel-Tan to stand down, because even with this fleet and our troops, we're outnumbered.
EDIT:
Also I just realised, but manipulating enemies into attacking us could be a way that Alatoic and Biel-Tan can get around any anti-kinstrife rules established "Why no, Sir! That Ork looted D-Cannons and strapped them onto their ships, totally normal Ork ocurrence, I assure you!"
We should probably figure some way to make Alatoic less likely to side against us if we can help it, and making friends with Iyanden is always an option - Beliefs about the Dominion notwithstanding -
Besides, if they do attack, then all of the craftworlds will see firsthand what Biel-Tan means by them "Working to rebuild the Dominion", which involved attacking a peaceful, industrious craftworld in an attempt to rob, vassalize or humiliate them like a bully, and I anticipate that this might even result in an Iyanden|Biel-Tan breakup if it gets bad enough.
It's easy to say you're rebuilding the Dominion when you're killing alien colonists settling on the worlds your ancestors worked to terraform over the span of milennia, it's another thing entirely when the biggest advocate for that mindset of rebuilding is outright willing to MURDER craftworlders because they were "Cowardly traitors" or had a different view to rebuilding the Eldar.
It'd be a massive stain on their reputation.
