Naval Procurement Doctrine for Stellar Polities

Curmudgeon · 05-26-2022, 11:21 AM

As mentioned in another thread, I'm undertaking a conversion of FGU's Space Opera to a potential GURPS campaign. In doing so, I'm practically rewriting the game's premises, so for your enjoyment and possible use, here are the procurement strategies that I'm using for some of star nations I'll eventually be using. I'm teetering around on just how high the TL will be, and it is all GURPS 3rd Ed.

The Azuriarch Imperium has the deepest pockets of any of the star nations, so they can indulge their aesthetics. They have the best developed tech and they're the reason I'm teetering around about the TL. I had planned to make them TL 12, but I'm thinking about shifting them to TL13 just to get around the minimum output on one beam weapon, so I can give it a decent cyclic rate. In general, they go for cutting edge technology and put resources into things other star nations either don't or, more often, can't do. For example, if there is a compact option on any component, that's how the Imperium will build it. No other star nation has the money to waste on miniaturization. Likewise, the Imperium uses pop-up turrets and concealed weapons within the turret. Arguably, there's no good reason for it as there's no effective streamlining in space, but the Imperium likes the "clean lines" look that pop-up turrets give. There's some argument that pop-up turrets provide a surprise to attackers who think the vessel is unarmed, but at the ranges most space combat is initiated, no one can tell whether a vessel has turrets or not. The Imperium uses advanced materials wherever possible. The Imperium also puts a fair bit of effort into cloaking and detection technologies. They prefer to see you without you seeing them, until its too late. Their one other tendency is to have a variety of vehicles within a given class. It is usually a safe bet that even if a weapon or feature is nearly worthless, there's a vessel somewhere in the Imperium that mounts it as a testbed vehicle.

The Galactic Peoples' Republic is the Azuriarch Imperium's main rival. If the Imperium is TL 13, the GPR lags a TL behind; if not, they're technological equals. The GPR doesn't have as deep pockets as the Imperium but it can muster more people and its resources are, adequate. The GPR uses standard materials, occasional expensive materials, but it thinks of itself as preferring the tried and true. If anyone is still using UV lasers at TL12, it'll be the GPR. Likewise, they'll prefer the mature neutral particle beam to the new antiparticle beam. In general, the GPR standardizes its ships, usually having a single ship type in each class, and relies on numbers to make up for any lack of versatility. The GPR's view on cutting edge technology can be summed up as "Let the Imperium work the bugs out of it, and then we'll send in a spy or two to bring the design home for production." The Imperium is aware of this and offers GPR spies an uncomfortably warm reception.

The Mercantile League is loaded, but it is a confederation with a weak central government. It could theoretically match the Imperium for deep pockets and it has a penchant for getting the best "money can buy". It's weaknesses are its corporate mindset and decentralization. No one sees a need to spend money on the really big ships. The League has huge numbers of patrol ships and commerce-raiding corvettes, a competitive number of destroyers, and is a little thin on light and heavy cruisers. It has no battlestars (dreadnaughts), unlike the Imperium and the GPR, and only a few starbattleships (I haven't decided how few yet. I'm currently leaning toward one or two, but they almost certainly won't have more than a half-dozen. The Imperium and GPR will probably muster a dozen or more.) I may push them back to TL 10, but that's still up in the air.

The Terran Union is the new kid on the block. They are the most technologically backward of the lot, being TL 8, maybe TL 9. They are willing to play with the "big boys". They don't seem rich, but they have the resources and the willingness to spend those resources to be competitive. Their approach is "a technologically inferior weapon will take them down just fine. It's just a question of making it big enough to do the job."

The Ranan Horde is a stand-in for the communist Chinese, so I'm following the lead of Space Opera's writer. Just as the Imperium will always pick the compact option, the Horde will always go for the cheap option. I haven't quite decided on their TL yet. I might put them in at TL 12 as a third rival to the Imperium and GPR, but I'm leaning more to making them competitors to both the Mercantile League and Terran Union. So, probably TL9, maybe TL 10, making them competitive with the League, and if I do keep the Horde at TL 9, the Terran Union will probably be TL 8.

05-26-2022, 11:21 AM	#1
Curmudgeon Join Date: Sep 2011	Naval Procurement Doctrine for Stellar Polities As mentioned in another thread, I'm undertaking a conversion of FGU's Space Opera to a potential *GURPS* campaign. In doing so, I'm practically rewriting the game's premises, so for your enjoyment and possible use, here are the procurement strategies that I'm using for some of star nations I'll eventually be using. I'm teetering around on just how high the TL will be, and it is all GURPS 3rd Ed. The Azuriarch Imperium has the deepest pockets of any of the star nations, so they can indulge their aesthetics. They have the best developed tech and they're the reason I'm teetering around about the TL. I had planned to make them TL 12, but I'm thinking about shifting them to TL13 just to get around the minimum output on one beam weapon, so I can give it a decent cyclic rate. In general, they go for cutting edge technology and put resources into things other star nations either don't or, more often, can't do. For example, if there is a compact option on any component, that's how the Imperium will build it. No other star nation has the money to waste on miniaturization. Likewise, the Imperium uses pop-up turrets and concealed weapons within the turret. Arguably, there's no good reason for it as there's no effective streamlining in space, but the Imperium likes the "clean lines" look that pop-up turrets give. There's some argument that pop-up turrets provide a surprise to attackers who think the vessel is unarmed, but at the ranges most space combat is initiated, no one can tell whether a vessel has turrets or not. The Imperium uses advanced materials wherever possible. The Imperium also puts a fair bit of effort into cloaking and detection technologies. They prefer to see you without you seeing them, until its too late. Their one other tendency is to have a variety of vehicles within a given class. It is usually a safe bet that even if a weapon or feature is nearly worthless, there's a vessel somewhere in the Imperium that mounts it as a testbed vehicle. The Galactic Peoples' Republic is the Azuriarch Imperium's main rival. If the Imperium is TL 13, the GPR lags a TL behind; if not, they're technological equals. The GPR doesn't have as deep pockets as the Imperium but it can muster more people and its resources are, adequate. The GPR uses standard materials, occasional expensive materials, but it thinks of itself as preferring the tried and true. If anyone is still using UV lasers at TL12, it'll be the GPR. Likewise, they'll prefer the mature neutral particle beam to the new antiparticle beam. In general, the GPR standardizes its ships, usually having a single ship type in each class, and relies on numbers to make up for any lack of versatility. The GPR's view on cutting edge technology can be summed up as "Let the Imperium work the bugs out of it, and then we'll send in a spy or two to bring the design home for production." The Imperium is aware of this and offers GPR spies an uncomfortably warm reception. The Mercantile League is loaded, but it is a confederation with a weak central government. It could theoretically match the Imperium for deep pockets and it has a penchant for getting the best "money can buy". It's weaknesses are its corporate mindset and decentralization. No one sees a need to spend money on the really big ships. The League has huge numbers of patrol ships and commerce-raiding corvettes, a competitive number of destroyers, and is a little thin on light and heavy cruisers. It has no battlestars (dreadnaughts), unlike the Imperium and the GPR, and only a few starbattleships (I haven't decided how few yet. I'm currently leaning toward one or two, but they almost certainly won't have more than a half-dozen. The Imperium and GPR will probably muster a dozen or more.) I may push them back to TL 10, but that's still up in the air. The Terran Union is the new kid on the block. They are the most technologically backward of the lot, being TL 8, maybe TL 9. They are willing to play with the "big boys". They don't seem rich, but they have the resources and the willingness to spend those resources to be competitive. Their approach is "a technologically inferior weapon will take them down just fine. It's just a question of making it big enough to do the job." The Ranan Horde is a stand-in for the communist Chinese, so I'm following the lead of Space Opera's writer. Just as the Imperium will always pick the compact option, the Horde will always go for the cheap option. I haven't quite decided on their TL yet. I might put them in at TL 12 as a third rival to the Imperium and GPR, but I'm leaning more to making them competitors to both the Mercantile League and Terran Union. So, probably TL9, maybe TL 10, making them competitive with the League, and if I do keep the Horde at TL 9, the Terran Union will probably be TL 8.