1) Where do I find out about Canon? The link posted to Jerry's archives are
good. But it (I believe)
includes GZGPedia stuff, which (strictly) is non-canonical. This link,
though a few entries shy of the full deal (Yes, another millenial - as
in Y3K - project).
http://fox.nstn.ca/~kaladorn/Gaming/gzghist.htm
2) Here's the approach I'd take in setting up a power. Find out the
links to Indy's fleet pages - this'll give you an idea of how many
points are tied up in a first rate power's forces. Assume your power is not
even second or third rate, but somewhere around 4th if it is to be "beneath
radar". That, to my mind, suggests a fleet of no more than
(since it is three degrees lower) 1/8th the size of a major powers
fleet, and quite plausibly as small as 1/64th the size.
Indy, have some numbers of gross points for ESU and NAC?
This gives you an idea of your large scale military situation - ship
wise. Note that smaller nations may have trouble building or procuring new
ships and may use cast offs from other powers. Additionally, they may have
hull sizing restrictions. Maybe their biggest ship is a heavy cruiser. An old
one.
My Gurkha power (The Empire of Gorkha) has a small fleet, just enough for
defence. It's largest ship is a single CVL and its biggest "battle line" ship
is either a BC or a CH. Most of the ships are old NAC ships (dated CLs phased
out by the NAC), along with a bunch of 2nd or 3rd hand
ESU destroyers and a few ships bought/gifted by the Sultan of Brunei in
the IF. Fighters are popular because basic ones can be locally manufactured.
And they're good bang for the buck in defence.
If you want to locate a planet, somebody should point you to Nyrath the
Eternally Indispensable, Stellar Cartographer to the GZGverse. He may be able
to help you find an unclaimed system or two out on the bum end of space.
Through his kind assistance, I located a system adequate for the Empire of
Gorkha to establish itself.
As for ground forces, to take a modern day comparison, Canada has between 5K
and 20K fieldable ground forces (depending on whose numbers you buy) and it
has a small fleet of SDDs, DDs, and smaller craft. And it has 30 million
people. But the GZGverse sizes down ships (in terms of
size/crew) so these might be CLs and SDDs instead. So that's not too
bad. If the culture is more militant, frontiersy, or threatened, it might have
2 or 3 times that force level, one or two larger ships.
This is still small enough that if the NAC chose to focus even the attention
of a Sector Command on it, there would be ugly consequences (unless another
superpower was willing to help you out).
3) Scottish/Irish - I've got both in my Background. I think Mr.
Reynolds, Mr.Goodall, maybe a Fulton, and some others around here probably can
provide some insights.
Tomb.
> Tomb wrote:
> 2) Here's the approach I'd take in setting up a power. Find out the
I'm not Indy and I probably missed some ships (which is why I've rounded the
figures), but I count:
ESU: 1069 ships (139 capitals, 232 cruisers, 621 escorts, 77 scouts) and 203
fighter squadrons*; total TMF ~49000, total NPV ~170000
NAC: 931 ships (131 capitals, 312 cruisers, 473 escorts, 15 scoutships) and
197 fighter squadrons*; total TMF ~50000, total NPV ~173000
FSE: 840 ships and 112 fighter squadrons (82 capitals, 213 cruisers, 495
escorts, 50 scoutships) and 112 fighter squadrons*; total TMF ~41000, total
NPV ~139000
NSL: 780 ships (119 capitals (15 CVAs?!?), 203 cruisers, 434 escorts, 24
scouts) and 123 fighter squadrons; total TMF ~40000, total NPV ~137000
* Local-defence fighter squadrons based on planets or in orbital
facilities have not been included in these figures.
Corresponding data for John Atkinson's NRE (unless he's changed it very
recently): 738 ships (108 capitals, 204 cruisers, 408 escorts) and 190 fighter
squadrons*; total TMF 42222, total NPV ~144000 (depends a bit on the exact mix
of fighter types). However, since John doesn't list any of his scoutships or
corvettes in the OOB (although he *does* give stats for them in the Jane's
section) these numbers are probably a bit low. (This was the
background to my recent jab about "four-planet colony powers with fleets
that out-mass the entire l'Astromarine :-) )
> --- Oerjan Ohlson <oerjan.ohlson@telia.com> wrote:
> NSL: 780 ships (119 capitals (15 CVAs?!?), 203
IMNSHO, NSL's figures are low. Their fleet should be a bit bigger.
> * Local-defence fighter squadrons based on planets
Ah. I actually have those broken down and will be adding those to my list as I
have time.
> Corresponding data for John Atkinson's NRE (unless
OK, I give up. What's the * for after squadrons?
BTW, Imperial usage is to refer to them as 'flights', squadrons consist of all
fighters of a type assigned
to the same ship. This does lead to one-flight
squadrons.
> doesn't list any of his > scoutships or corvettes in
Neither does Indy. I'm presuming that those small ships are not enough to be a
blip on the radar of total fleet sizes, but if I add them in it'll be just a
lot more work. I'm considering having them seperate from the Imperial Fleet
anyway, in more of a Coast
Guard-type formation.
(This was the > background to my recent jab about
"four-planet > colony powers with fleets
> that out-mass the entire l'Astromarine :-) )
You've been jabbing me about it since I came up with the idea. I still think
it's cool.
;P
Besides, compare (for instance) the US Army and the IDF. IDF has four active
duty divisions, US has 10.
Yet Israel has approximately. . . Hrm, 1/50th the
population base of the United States?
> John Atkinson wrote:
> > * Local-defence fighter squadrons based on planets
Same as for the ESU and NAC (and NSL and FSE too, but I seem to have forgotten
to put it in there). You quoted that footnote; I left it in above (just above
your "Ah. I actually..." comment.)
> >doesn't list any of his scoutships or corvettes in
Indy's OOBs include:
NAC: 39 CTs, 15 SCs (total TMF 558, NPV 1914) ESU: 40 CTs, 77 SCs (total TMF
1022, NPV 3537) NSL: 92 CTs, 24 SCs (total TMF 1480, NPV 4972) FSE: 61 CTs, 50
SCs (total TMF 1254, NPV 4328)
You're partly correct though, since these obviously aren't all the ships
available in these classes - eg., for the NAC FB1 lists 87 Arapahos and
70 Harrisons and mentions "several other small scoutship classes in the NAC
fleet" while Indy's OOBs only lists 39 Arapahos and 15 Harrisons.
> Besides, compare (for instance) the US Army and the
How many reserve and NG divisions does the US have which it can and does
send parts of abroad, eg. to the Balkans? How many equivalent divisions can
the IDF raise in a crisis? How many of those divisions can the US and IDF
respectively keep in the field if the war lasts for longer than two weeks?
Later,
> --- Oerjan Ohlson <oerjan.ohlson@telia.com> wrote:
6 National Guard Divisions, 15 NG Enhanced Readiness Brigades, 2 NG Special
Forces Groups. Reserves no longer include any manuever elements, just support
assets like Engineers (ranging from Combat to Prime
Power), Aviation, etc. So call it 12-15 worth of
combat troops?
How many > equivalent divisions can > the IDF raise in a crisis?
Nine.
How many of those > divisions can the US and IDF
> respectively keep in the field if the war lasts for
That's an interesting question, as full mobilization
of the Zahal requires the able-bodied manpower of
Israel in it's entirety.