You Are: A sector admiral of a strained imperium.

[Gunman]

but I think it is good if we have more plans here.

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Fair enough. Notice how Packrat only made a decision on patrol cutters not getting cheaper? The rest may become cheaper to acquire and we might see an increase in our Sector Budget because they"ll no longer be out to ruin us. There are too many narrative and mechanical benefits to not get the Share, and why pass that up when we're so close? Investments, the intelligence network and other purchases can be done later and easier because they're cheaper. With the share out of the way we can focus on investing enough wealth to support private endeavors without being reliant on prize money.

I think we have time with the governor yet. Especially if we do the other things he wants.

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We're going to do it but by raiding NASP and earning glory for his nephew it is going to be on his mind.

On the other hand, we need 30 to effectively patrol the sector and we have nothing else that does their job.

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Where are you getting 30? Before Fleet Command took away ships it was twelve patrol cutters. Before the war it was 20.

Pre war the sector was about half the size and the sector fleet was six battleships, four heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers, twelve corvettes and twenty patrol cutters.

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I don't think we need more patrol cutters yet. Next turn or the turn after, we can stop on piracy to fix the problem. Fleet Command wants us to raid the border and a squadron of new heavy cruisers will be doing that too. To fight off NASP we"ll need heavier ships than patrol cutters.

 

[fasquardon]

Where are you getting 30? Before Fleet Command took away ships it was twelve patrol cutters. Before the war it was 20.

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Remember, the Empire annexed some territory.

You also need to choose just how to deploy your patrol cutters. Right now you have twelve available and would need thirty to fully cover their patrol and interdiction duties across the sector.

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I don't think we need more patrol cutters yet. Next turn or the turn after, we can stop on piracy to fix the problem. Fleet Command wants us to raid the border and a squadron of new heavy cruisers will be doing that too. To fight off NASP we"ll need heavier ships than patrol cutters.

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On the other hand, if we spend all our sector budget (which we'll do if we get Peregrine ready and buy a cutter), then we'll be better placed to ask for increases to that budget.

The Empire may be an evil place, but it's also a bureaucracy. Spending all the budget will strengthen our hand when we ask for more. Not spending it will increase pressure to cut the budget.

If people would like, I can change the mercenaries to "act as cutout" and forgo spending any political capital just now.

fasquardon

 

[Rikimaru]

Is there any chance of gaining control of shipyards at some point in the future? like buying or building our own and producing cutters?

 

[fasquardon]

[X] Pirates, Imhotep and preparing for the NASP (minimalist version)

[X] Mercenaries: Act As Cutout. The Governor General wants the situation on Imhotep dealt with, he also cannot be seen to be hiring mercenaries directly as a civilian official and member of the Imperial House. You however are a ranking military officer and could hire the colonel's mercenary regiments using his money to solve his problems. (Diplomacy check, may help resolve the Imhotep rebellion more quickly and thus earn some favour with the Governor General, may annoy him on a failure).
[X] Peregrine: Expedite Officially. Spend some of your sector budget on getting the Peregrine back into action faster, purchasing priority materials and running repair crews on triple shifts. (Spend 3 Sector Budget to restore 15% additional readiness, bringing the Peregrine to 75% as she returns to duty).
[X] Cutters: Fleet Support. Task three of your cutters to scouting, screening and communicating between your heavier vessels.
[X] Imhotep: Two Corvettes. Task two corvettes with interdicting the planet and providing support.
[X] Fleet: Hunt Down The Pirates. You have made huge strides here but piracy is still obviously an issue, even if a reduced one. Hunt down and finish the last pirate strongholds.
[X] Intel Funding: Extensive Funding. Ensure Captain Sones has the money and resources to suborn commercial and independent freighter captains, establish agents and observe major noble houses whilst establishing networks on border NASP worlds. (Spend 20 Wealth, 2 Wealth a turn upkeep).
[X] Intel Focus: NASP. You need to know more about the fleet strengths of the various signatory worlds across the border, their response to your successful raid on their fleet base, any planned response from the core worlds of the alliance.
[X] Lifestyle: Extravagantly. Maintain a mansion near the palace of the sector capital, entertain generously, add new luxuries and allow your officers or guests to enjoy moderate vices as part of your hosting them. (+2 Diplomacy, +20% all Political Capital gain, -4 Wealth a quarter after pay).

[X] Buy one patrol cutter with money from sector budget

This is a minimalist version of my previous plan.

The aim is to build up intel assets that will allow us to choose when and where we strike next turn and to frustrate our rivals while also securing Imhotep and trying to end the pirate menace and secure our rear.

It does not spend any PC and it does not spend money on Mercs, running the risk of annoying the governor.

fasquardon

 

[Valerian]

Is there any chance of gaining control of shipyards at some point in the future? like buying or building our own and producing cutters?

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Do you want to pay the upkeep on a military shipyard? *Shudder* I do not.

So who wants to take bets on the young Vicecountess poking one of the larger NASP member nations in the region and getting mauled?

I bet she is operating on the Ducal Scion stat line:

[] A Ducal Scion.

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+2 Diplomacy, -2 Strategy, +2 Prowess, +3 subterfuge.

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Which makes her great at Court maneuvering, like the kind that got her this posting, but not very good at doing her job once she gets here. Though that is what 3 upgraded Heavy Cruisers are supposed to account for.

Still I don't think she will have a good time if she goes after either of these guys:

Chuang Mu is one of the most important independent NASP aligned systems in the border region, a rich system with a garden world and heavy orbital and domed development across virtually every solid body. It's overall population is in the range of seven billion with a highly developed direct democratic government and huge, high tech industry.

The Valinor Regency are a five system interstellar state that is signatory to the NASP tready, insular and theocratic, their Pope Regent ruling in god's stead until They see fit to return to rule the galaxy in person, or perhaps rapture the worthy to heaven, the Empire is generally areligious and you do not know the details. During the war they contributed heavily to the NASP defense that stopped the Imperial push at New Theia.

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But if we keep showing her up and placing the bar higher and higher? I bet she will risk it and pay the price.


On a separate note, I see a bit of an opportunity coming down the road with ships in both the official and private sense of things.

As more of these upgraded ships come off the shipyard slips, the value of the current vessels will begin to drop as they are replaced or sent to second line positions. So the market should begin to be glutted with them in a year or so (unless a full-blown war occurs), so we may starting seeing things like Light Cruisers costing 27-30, Escort Corvettes losing a point or two of cost and Heavy Cruisers dropping to the 40-45 range.

In the official capacity, we can pick them up on the cheap in PC and upkeep and still make great use of them for our sector. (Our Strat and tactics bonus makes the difference in Firepower and Speed negligible in most cases)
Meanwhile, on the private front, it makes it much easier to build up a private flotilla.

TLDR: Old ships will get cheaper, buy cheap and our great stats will still let them outperform the competition.

 

[Zaealix]

I kind of DON'T want to get into a game of chicken with this new Vicecountess with raiding the NASP dudes, because I feel like there's always the possibility of going too far and forcing the Imperium into a war that outright breaks it.
Honestly?
Way I see it we can, if need be, simply trounce her by being better at the job, instead of trying to come up with active screw her over ploys. Just make it clear we're better at this than she is.
...If she does something stupid for glory she's probably going to end up doing it just from our passively being better, but sabotaging her makes dirt for the next sucker to exploit, and I don't want to play those games.

 

[Forgothrax]

[X] Guaranteed Share

 

[Briefvoice]

[X] Fix Imhotep

 

[Gunman]

and forcing the Imperium into a war that outright breaks it

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These aren't modern countries. The Imperium is telling us to raid them, and if war does happen that will be to our benefit.

The Empire may be an evil place, but it's also a bureaucracy. Spending all the budget will strengthen our hand when we ask for more. Not spending it will increase pressure to cut the budget.

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We can do that later when there is the possibility of peerage making it cheaper to increase our budget.

instead of trying to come up with active screw her over ploys. Just make it clear we're better at this than she is.
...If she does something stupid for glory she's probably going to end up doing it just from our passively being better, but sabotaging her makes dirt for the next sucker to exploit, and I don't want to play those games.

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You're underestimating how bad of an idea it is. If we "deniably" give info to NASP to ruin the heiress to a Ducal House not only would it be treason but it would be attempted assasination on one of the most important people in the Imperium. Reinhard and his family would be lucky to get a quick execution.

But if we keep showing her up and placing the bar higher and higher? I bet she will risk it and pay the price.

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I"ll tell you what I think will happen. We become a member of the peerage before she arrives. Our peerage, reputation and political connections makes it too much of a bother for her to try to overtake our command. Instead she settles for becoming Commodore of another sector. She is instructed to help us with raiding and she"ll do that. We"ll raid together and both parties win. In three turns we"ll have the favor of House Wison, good relations with House Jamoor, good relations with a member of House Arril and good relations with House Arslan.

 

[butchock]

I am working on the assumption that you paid off your immediate families' life debts with prize money during the war and set them up so that they no longer need to work, though they are likely more 'comfortable' rather than existing in lavish luxury, either way they are back on the Throne World and so you probably only get to see them twice a decade or so.

You certainly write but the relationship is obviously rather distant given you have not really been able to spend time or talk with any of them for years, though it should be noted that if you were to buy a Share then your siblings and parents would be elevated to Sir/Dame noble status with you as Lord. Setting them up with an allowance or investing some money to support them would probably be seen as a appropriate at that point.

Strauss probably only has 1-2 siblings though and I have not defined them, his parents were both low level clerical workers and he was the oldest child, but any siblings would have benefited from improved education priority thanks to his success and might well be more prosperous even outside of your buying them out of serfdom.

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sorry for asking this again, but i havent seen ths reply, so anyway
Is it still possible to meet the Information Broker and the Pirate Captain? Are they major players in this sector only or do they also have friends and contacts elsewhere?


Edit: also can we ask Sones about the composition of Imperial Intelligence and if its higher-ups is nobility-only? Or can a commoner (like Sones) reach the highest position available?

 

[Random Paul]

[X] Guaranteed Share

 

[Packrat]

@butchock There is a difference between Imperial Intelligence and Naval Intelligence.

Imperial Intelligence is a combination of secret police and national level spy agency, but they are far from ubiquitous because a profusion of more powerful nobles have their own intelligence networks and poach from them. The ministers leading Imperial Intelligence are all close family members of the Empress but virtually everyone below that is a commoner outside of a handful of nobles in key roles. The closest equivalent might be an extra gigantic version of the KGB that has huge holes in its coverage but is still mostly covering a population of around two trillion people. It probably employs hundreds of millions if you include low level informers and administrators.

Naval Intelligence is a much, much smaller organisation consisting of naval officers tasked with letting more senior officers what is going on. At the sector level there is a permanent staff for such things along with things like priority communications channels but it is mostly data correlation. Naval intelligence does not really have human intelligence operations and only has scout ships if patrol cutters are tasked to this. It is not considered as prestigious as commanding ships and so tends to have fewer nobles proportionally but Sones is almost capped out career wise anyway. The highest ranking pure intelligence officer is probably a rear admiral.

Also for discussions of ship prices, changes upon becoming a noble, etc. Keep in mind that the Imperial Navy does not have enough ships, nobody has enough ships, they are crash building more but even if you had been an Imperial Scion you would be drastically under strength. Basically all of the navy's power is being held centrally concentrated to ward off ducal houses from allying and rebelling and even doing that, the combined ducal houses have at least as many ships as the Imperial Navy.

 

[butchock]

@Packrat thanks for the reply! So is it possible for Sones to network with other common-born naval officers in Naval Intelligence to get them to side with us instead of the Admiralty in case of Civil War or if we go Napoleon? Can Sones also look for Imperial Intellgence moles in our fleet and try to flip them to our side or to feed them BS?

 

[fasquardon]

We can do that later when there is the possibility of peerage making it cheaper to increase our budget.

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Had you not noticed that I already changed my plan?

I already changed my plan in consideration of this possibility. (Though given the strain the Imperium is under, I can't imagine asking for budget increases will get cheaper, but at least once we have share the dip rolls will be a bit easier.)

Imperial Intelligence is a combination of secret police and national level spy agency, but they are far from ubiquitous because a profusion of more powerful nobles have their own intelligence networks and poach from them. The ministers leading Imperial Intelligence are all close family members of the Empress but virtually everyone below that is a commoner outside of a handful of nobles in key roles. The closest equivalent might be an extra gigantic version of the KGB that has huge holes in its coverage but is still mostly covering a population of around two trillion people. It probably employs hundreds of millions if you include low level informers and administrators.

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I've got to be honest, that doesn't sound much like the KGB at all.

A strength of hundreds of millions when you include the low level informants is tiny next to a 2 trillion population. I don't think there's a single major country in the world right now with such a proportionally tiny security service. That's including countries that don't have unified security agencies like the US used to.

If Imperial Intelligence has 500 million low level informers, that;s 1 informer for every 4000 people. For them to be even a bit effective with such a sparse network of informants (by contrast, the Stasi of East Germany, which probably ran the tightest surveillance network so far, probably paid something like 1 out of every 7 of its citizens for information, and as yet unclear but certainly millions-strong number of unpaid informants), they'd need to be a highly automated Orwellian super-MI 5+6 that relies heavily on fear and a reputation for knowing everything to cover the fact that its network is more hole than actual net...

Or maybe their automation is really effective, and we should be afraid of CCTV cameras and I.I. death squads, but are unlikely to meet an actual informant of I.I.

fasquardon

 

[Packrat]

@fasquardon It is a mixture of really effective automation and incomplete coverage, keep in mind that virtually every titled noble runs their own intelligence to spy upon/repress the proles in their era of focus.

Take Imhotep as an example with its eight hundred million population, there was an Imperial Governor on the planet with maybe fifty thousand or so Imperial Army combat troops (All long service professionals able to deploy from suborbital transports on short notice), another few hundred thousand offworld staff, support personnel, planetary defense weapon operators, customs officers, etc.

Actual administration of the planet was carried out by a dozen or so noble families with perhaps seventy or eighty actual nobles between them and extensive subornation of the pre existing local government. Plus probably a few million enforces/riot police, informers, spies, etc.

Imperial Intelligence itself then mostly focused on trying (and failing) to ensure that those nobles were paying their taxes whilst keeping an eye open for treachery/rebellion that was threatening beyond the local scale, supporting fire brigade actions of the Imperial Army. Obviously each local noble is very keen to pay as few taxes as possible whilst offsetting as much as possible to Imperial military. Certain wide areas of the economy are technically supposed to 'belong' to the Imperial Corporation and are only locally managed by said local nobles, but in practice? That is mostly a fiction on frontier planets or those where the nobles are particularly strong.

You only start seeing actual low level Imperial Intelligence informers and similar on directly Imperial House ruled areas, which is perhaps a fifth or a quarter of the total population.

Also of course commoners on long standing Imperial worlds basically live under a highly automated panopticon where they are tracked every moment with highly sophisticated systems flagging them up for review if they identify the right (or wrong) patterns of behavior.

 

[Briefvoice]

So what's the risk that plan "Guaranteed Share" ends up provoking a general war with NASP that the Imperium can't support?

 

[Adventwolf]

So what's the risk that plan "Guaranteed Share" ends up provoking a general war with NASP that the Imperium can't support?

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I would say not to likely this is after all a small part of the NASP. They have been raiding us first and they also suffered in the war it wasn't one-sided. They also probably used up whatever favor they had from the Earth sphere.

 

[DarknessSmiles]

So what's the risk that plan "Guaranteed Share" ends up provoking a general war with NASP that the Imperium can't support?

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Probably the same or less as having the heavy cruiser squadron do the same next season.

The major upside is that if we punch them in the gut now, we can get some easy glory and deny that easy glory to the viscountess.

That hole in nasps fleet wont be there long, but the pirates will be there until we deal with them.

Letting the short term advantage slip away is folly.

 

[san]

Probably the same or less as having the heavy cruiser squadron do the same next season.

The major upside is that if we punch them in the gut now, we can get some easy glory and deny that easy glory to the viscountess.

That hole in nasps fleet wont be there long, but the pirates will be there until we deal with them.

Letting the short term advantage slip away is folly.

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I really don't think this going to be easy but sure....

I mean while the ships will be worse they are supposed to have planetary fleets that put together far outnumber the NASP main sector fleet we destroyed.

 

[DarknessSmiles]

I really don't think this going to be easy but sure....

I mean while the ships will be worse they are supposed to have planetary fleets that put together far outnumber the NASP main sector fleet we destroyed.

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But they are isolated. No reinforcements. We can freely pick our targets. Attack where they are vulnerable.

We can do things like what we were trying to do, pounce on mining ops and transport hubs, without risking getting ambushed by a BC.

So yes. It will be easy. We wont be able to hit everywhere, but we can cause some major damage and get some nice loot before booking it.

 

[san]

But they are isolated. No reinforcements. We can freely pick our targets. Attack where they are vulnerable.

We can do things like what we were trying to do, pounce on mining ops and transport hubs, without risking getting ambushed by a BC.

So yes. It will be easy. We wont be able to hit everywhere, but we can cause some major damage and get some nice loot before booking it.

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the real question is how big a sector is and how many planets have ships.... because if only 5-6 planets have ships then they will probs have 2-3 times the ship count we have.

 

[DarknessSmiles]

the real question is how big a sector is and how many planets have ships.... because if only 5-6 planets have ships then they will probs have 2-3 times the ship count we have.

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There is a map on the front page. Its about 30 planets.

 

[Gunman]

the real question is how big a sector is and how many planets have ships.... because if only 5-6 planets have ships then they will probs have 2-3 times the ship count we have.

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We don't have anything to worry about. Their sector fleet is nearly gone and the bulk of the planetary navies are no threat. Their lack of coordination as a confederation makes it harder for them to respond to our raiding. Hitting them has the side benefit of encouraging pirates to attack merchant ships in their part of space instead of ours.

@Gunman Well, strategically they managed to fuck up the planet and fixing it is going to take a long time and a lot of resources.

But you have basically torn the heart out of the NASP sector fleet facing you over the border. In total there are enough ships to outweigh yours about five times over but they are mostly various random independent signatory worlds with their own mini-navies. The 'premium' ships with professional officers and a skilled admiral sent by the core NASP worlds to form the cadre for a sector fleet were annihilated over the course of a few weeks.

The Valinor Regency does have a fair sized fleet lead by zealot 'War Bishops' but they are of dubious competency.

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About to head to sleep here, but while you do not in character know the full strength of NASP forces in the sector across the border you have utterly mauled them over the past few months. More importantly, you have been annihilating their 'core' forces, strike cruisers and their flagship who were likely a cadre from the more distant founder worlds who have large, professional militaries and better-than-imperial-tech shipyards, intended to form the core of their unified fleet.

That does not mean you have appreciably hurt the NASP as a whole, but the bulk of the NASP fleets consist of light or elderly vessels raised by individual worlds and rather grudgingly contributed to any overall strategic vision. They have their absurd super ships but also an awful lot of crap, planetary navies of two corvettes and a cutter or whatever, with half trained crews and limited experience beyond customs enforcement.

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[Packrat]

@san Your sector has 26 systems that were occupied during the war, 23 that are long term Imperial systems, 49 total.

Of these 8 of the occupied systems and 5 of the core systems are mostly or purely under Imperial authority. Jamoor has 5 of the core systems and 8 of those occupied, Arril 8 of the core systems and 4 of those occupied. The remaining 5 core systems and 6 remaining occupied systems are held by various minor nobles and/or heavily influenced by other ducal houses, but have no one clear 'ruler'.

Keep in mind that systems vary hugely in how important or significant they are, Tranri's Strand for example is probably twenty or more times richer than pre uprising Imhotep thanks to its population and development.

 

[san]

There is a map on the front page. Its about 30 planets.

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ah ok, I believe the QM said they have a combined fleet of 2-3x the strength.... going with that and assuming the main fleet had say 12 patrol cutters and at least 1 more cruiser doing whatever.... which is all together the strength we should be at....

huh.... thats only about 2 ships per planet... IF they all have ships and are equally distributed.

We don't have anything to worry about. Their sector fleet is nearly gone and the bulk of the planetary navies are no threat. Their lack of coordination as a confederation makes it harder for them to respond to our raiding. Hitting them has the side benefit of encouraging pirates to attack merchant ships in their part of space instead of ours.

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yeah so the only worry is the Valinor Regency... so I really hope we are not hitting them yet and instead just smashing some planetary fleets. I figure we finish that off next turn and finish the quest at the same time.