PACT NOTES 5
ERRATA AND NEW RULES
SHIP ALTERATIONS
I have decided to alter the ship hull chart in the following manner. The “Light Monitor” name has been deleted, and changed to the following:
Hull TL HS Hull Cost Engines TM Spd
DN 7 101-130 7.5 20 5 5
SD 9 131-170 8 25 5 5
The DN is Dreadnought and the SD is of course Superdreadnought. Cheers!
OMEGA DRONES
Just before a ship is destroyed it jettisons a pre-programmed buoy called an “omega buoy”. This buoy broadcasts in broadband the IFF ID code of the destroyed ship. This buoy lasts for 24 hours before running out of batteries and self-destructing.
After discovery of drone technology, the Pact Navy developed the “omega drone”, a item that is programmed to transit back to the nearest population, ICC, or fleet commander and broadcast(in narrow band) the IFF ID code of the destroyed ship. The “omega drone” is identical to a CD and moves at maximum speed. Once it broadcasts the code, the “omega drone” self destructs. No cost or maintenance.
LOW DETECTION SPEED
Ships can attempt to avoid detection by moving at a slower than normal speed, and emitting less drive-field emissions as a result. If a ship is moving at ½(FRD) or less of its cruising speed with engines in LOD mode and with shields down, detection ranges for enemy units are reduced by -75%. This may result in surprise situations but firing will allow the targeting of the LOD vessels. Units using LOD have all its sensor ranges reduced by 50%(FRD).
PDCs
Pact PDCs are a different sort of defensive weapons system altogether, being built to defend from attacks from space. PDCs are cheaper than starships and have many advantages from the unlimited space and resources of the planet. Here are some of the advantages:
*Weapons have more power available and thus PDCs can fire any beam weapon through the atmosphere without penalty(exception, plasma guns).
*All PDCs in adjacent areas can datalink.
*PDC targeting is not effected by starship ECM or evasive maneuvers(exception: certain small craft including fighters, gunboats, sleds, and landing pods). However non-PDC linked ships are effected!
*The PDC can use the planetary population’s sensors. Ground bases on any planet with a high-tech population larger than a colony may draw sufficient sensor capability and fire control from the planetary tech base to track and engage any number of targets without hit probability penalties.
*PDC missile weapons have extended range: +10 hexes for all missile types except G-weapons.
*PDC point defense can protect anything in its own or any adjacent planetary area. Missiles that miss the PDC can destroy population!!!
*Sprint missiles fired at a PDC in atmosphere can be intercepted by point defense at -3.
*PDCs can be enlarged during campaign games without closing down to refit.
Crews only lose grade in situations where they have been morally devastated, when there are massive crew losses, or when the crew is released from duties. All grade losses are permanent unless otherwise noted.
*The grade of any unit that surrenders automatically becomes poor,
*Units lose one grade level after suffering loss of more than ½ their internal systems(not spaces), before emergency repairs.
*Units of a victorious fleet that abandons their personnel from destroyed units may suffer loss of grade. This only occurs if the victorious fleet does not perform S&R.
*Any average or higher crew that survives destruction of their ship has their grade reduced to green.
*”Voluntary failure” to receive maintenance supplies from the empire reduces a grade by one level.
*If a fleet fires upon its own units, the whole fleet immediately suffers a loss of one grade level.
The Pact Navy, because ships of the same fleet have fired on each other(bad for morale), starts out graded poor for six months!
Any monies not spent during a economic turn are considered ‘banked’ and earn 2% interest on the principle.
Governors are the civilian leaders of a large population who are trusted to govern the economy, law, and politics of a planet’s population and influence the economy and politics of the surrounding star system. Graded governors are distinguished governors who have shown a good aptitude towards the job, a likeable personality, and all-around ability to get things done. Experienced governors have the authority and confidence to protect their world with all the resources available to them. In the event that their star system is under attack by enemy forces and there is not an admiral or ICC within one transit of their world, their planet can function as an ICC for the purposes of issuing orders to naval units within one transit of their system. This function is limited to issuing orders to move to the governor’s system to defend it, and giving orders for the defense of that system. All orders from admirals, generals, and actual ICC have precedence over any governor’s orders. Graded governors are more likely to resist caving in to the demands of invaders. A graded governor also negates the bonus an attacker gains for demonstration strikes.
BLOCKADE
Starships of a attacking force may blockade a planet by preventing all access to and from the planet. To do this the invading force must maintain control of space around the planet, but in all other aspects the military is ignored(no invasion occurs). Blockading a planet will cause a 15% reduction in planetary income as it loses trade contact with the rest of the empire. Revolting alien home worlds do not suffer this reduction. Blockading will also produce political pressure to negotiate with the blockading race. After ten turns the race’s RC towards the blockading race is reduced by -10. After 20 turns it is reduced -20. No further modifiers can be gained.
The largest constructions in the known galaxy, Star King Centrals are the only reason why the Pact of Humanity isn’t a client state of the Holot Empire today. These massive space stations are built only in border regions adjacent to the Empire, and in critical systems within the Combat Regions of the Pact. They are built in the following manner:
*Each SS has a central, non-military ‘core’. The core may only consist of non-military systems and may be of any size. This core may be protected by up to 6 outer modules, each with a maximum size of 1,000 hull spaces. Outer modules may mount any system. Each SS module is independent of all the other modules and this type of SS cannot use any form of datalink. Each module may use its point defense to protect the central core. Both the space station core and outer modules have weak hulls, and internal damage is doubled. Each module on a space station is considered a separate target for targeting purposes. Shields are unique on this type of SS. When a point of damage is scored on a module, either one shield system mounted in that module can be damaged or three shield systems on any combination of other modules can be damaged. The protected module does not have to have active shield generators. In order to attack a module, an attack must be from within that module’s firing arc(180 degrees). Each module has a 180 degree firing arc. This fire arc is regardless of the presence of other modules in the adjacent facing. Module fire arcs do overlap on certain hexes. Any SS module can add new systems to the right of the module’s control sheet without shutting down that module. Exception: armor can be added to the left side of the module without shutting it down.
THE CIVIL WAR
Since the assassination of the High Secretary, the federal government failed repeatedly to elect someone to that high post, indeed serious infighting and threats further destabilized the Pact, and Terra Cluster specifically. Many Senators have fled the capital of Humanity, most of who have set up their own personal fiefs in their respective Clusters, with little pretense at creating democratic institutions. Many of these Clusters are teetering on the brink of political and economic collapse, with basic civil liberties curtailed, including the harassment of the press, political parties, and NGOs.
Since the collapse of federal authority, several Cluster’s near Terra have formally broken away from the Pact of Humanity, but opportunities to move forward have been squandered by corrupt political leadership, and an inability to push forward economic reforms. Parliaments and political parties have been created and ‘elections’ have been held in various Clusters adjacent to Terra, but this list of achievements remains just that, a list. On the political front, after the demise of the Pact’s authority, several of these states have undergone changes in executive power, effectively privatizing their states.
Munster and Urbanos’ President’s have suppressed political opposition. In Oldhams, a insular political regime has been established with an extreme personality cult around the President, Sringatta Madhurpur-the self-styled “Mother of Indians” and recently declared “President for Life”-that brooks no other contender for power. To the south of Terra, several Senators returned to power after leaving the capital, facing catastrophic civil wars. In Krasnodar, the current President’s choice of successor appears to be his son, and other serious figures have been marginalized or hounded abroad. In Brandenburg, although the Parliament has emerged as a serious institution, President Barbora Kodetova still dominates political life and a tendency to extreme violence in resolving political questions manifests itself during every election. And in Cleveland, a similar propensity for violence was underscored by the assassination of its Prime Minister and key members of parliament last month.
In Dunkelheim, the Dunkelheim Conglomerate has cracked down on the opposition in such a manner that has resulted in the deaths and disappearances of leading opposition figures, and the arrest and beating of demonstrators at civilian rallies. The Dunkelheim regime has imposed direct state control over the judiciary and the media, and shunned political and economic reform. Dunkelheim has been excluded from membership in the OSU and other organizations and has become politically isolated from all but Terra within the region. The fall elections will be critical in determining how far the Dunkelheim Conglomerate needs to and is prepared to go in order to stay in power.
Even in relatively enlightened Clusters, such as Islands, which was once touted by the Pact government as a bastion of democracy within the Pact itself, the President has cracked down on opposition groups and attempted to ban domestic monitors from observing elections. While in Cordova, which seemed to have firmly embraced integration with the OSU early on, the Premier is implicated in the disappearance and death of several journalists investigating corruption in his inner circle. Networks of elites based on geographical association, common education background, and extended family ties have replaced or simply evolved from the old Pact Senator nomenclature. Flawed privatization programs have served to transfer state assets into the hands of these same cliques, who cluster around the presidents. In Naarland, for example, President Oliphant and his immediate family and associates directly control most media outlets as well as the bulk of the economy. While these elites enrich themselves, the gains in living standards that the rest of the Pact’s population had experienced in the last thousand years has eroded. Billions of people have fallen below the poverty line, with many Clusters falling apart at the seems. In many locales, the government’s influence is confined to the Cluster capital, and a few adjacent systems.
Most Clusters are now moving away from the Pact’s normal economic system, socialism, towards more freer markets. With minor exceptions, state socialism hasn’t led to affluence, equality and freedom, but to a one-party political system, a massive bureaucracy, heavy-handed secret police, government control of the media, secrecy and the repression of intellectual and artistic freedom. Top-down control in socialist states was almost always based on lies and misinformation since reporting bad news up the line was often risky. Additional incontrovertible evidence proved that state-owned enterprises mistreat their employees, pollute the air and abuse the public at least as efficiently as private enterprises. Many have become sinkholes of inefficiency, corruption, and greed. Their failures frequently encourage a vast, seething black market that undermines the very legitimacy of the state.
Out of the chaos of the Civil War has left in its wake hundreds of billions of people wanting security but archaeo-marxists, anarcho-romantics, right-wing fanatics, racist demagogues and religious zealots dreaming of totalitarian technocracies, medieval utopias, or theocratic states. Which one are you???
CLUSTER CAPITALS
Barletta: Barletta is a ancient world, and this omega worlds’ government must contend with an economy that still has a lot of problems, a diverse ethnic mix, and hidden agendas by various groups. The government has formed into a parliamentary system, one that some governmental theoreticians argue is too weak for Cluster rule. Governor Estrela Lavelle has taken over the bureaucracy, promoted diverse political parties, and ensured domestic welfare programs in this Core Cluster but bitter historical memories of alien insurrections have emboldened the Lavelle government to keep local aliens under a supremacist boot. Border claims with Cleveland and Somerset remain unresolved.
Bijapur: Home to nearly 40 billion caste-oriented Indians, Bijapur is also the Cluster capital and location of the newly formed Mauryan Empire, a neo-ethicist state based on Hindu cultures and traditions. A Parliament has been formed, with dozens of political parties, the dominant one being the New Congress Party, headed by Prime Minister Frona Bhadmaya, the former Cluster Senator representative.
Brandenburg Tor: Senator Barbora Kodetova has been confronted by extreme violence within Cluster government circles, mainly from unemployed Dolists. Brandenburg Tor is also the site of Ultradense U, the only ultra dense matter research lab within the Pact. Several parties have formed in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Pact, including the Loyalist, Liberal, Conservative, and Claytonist parties.
Capozzi System: Location of the federal government running Capozzi Cluster, General Igor Dunayev is the current head of the local government following the death of Senator Yuan Kellogg on Terra last month. A system with three inhabitable worlds, Capozzi has unfortunately lost control of most of the Cluster due to Onesider rebellions.
Cleveland: A critical high-population Cluster located near Terra, substantial political instability has arisen, and Clevelanders are trying to solve those problems, but with little luck. Severe infighting within the local government lead to the assassination of the Prime Minister, Steve Stice, and thirteen key members of the parliament last month, including the Speaker and Defense Minister. Also, financial problems at home make special adventures prohibitively expensive, and there are increasing problems just maintaining all the equipment in naval inventory. Political parties include the New Tories, Unity, Democratic, and Loyalist parties, none of which has been able to form a majority government. Important worlds include Califax, Havnor, New Texas, the Tri-System, and of course Manticore, one of the most strategic systems within Pact space.
Dunkelheim: A brutal corporate-style government located on Dunkelheim, it is increasingly willing to involve itself financially, politically, and militarily in foreign disputes. The Dunkelheim Megacorp has nearly 900 billion MCr in the bank. All political parties have been banned and this Fringe Cluster is run by an secret oligarchy, obviously trying to stay out of the sights of KT assassins.
El Hobra Prime: There is nothing that El Hobra’s dictator, High Admiral Victor Nemasov, likes more than power. He has power in this Cluster since seizing it from his unsuspecting mentor and friend, Senator Andrei Franchouce, last month. Now, he is busily trying to build a Presidential ‘mandate’ for the upcoming elections. To make sure there are no slip-ups, he has begun maneuvering three years before the elections are scheduled. Why the hurry? No one knows for sure but El Hobra has been transformed into a single-party state, with all Military Popular Front electors backing Nemasov for the position of President.
Hokkaido: Senator Lu Sing Quaid runs this Cluster with a heavy hand but dozens of political parties have formed and are taking part in the newly formed Parliament. These groups include including Claytonists, Conservatives, the Guardians, the Socialists, and Traditionalists. Loyalist elements have been purged from the political scene on Hokkaido as they were judged disruptive and insurrectionist in the government.
Islands: Once the most economically and socially progressive of all Core Clusters, Islands has suffered under the leadership of the former head of the Kona Tatsu, Sergei Panovo. Senator Stuard Nort is not in the Cluster, he remains on Terra fighting for the High Secretaryship. Many Islanders are eCatholics, a vital and growing religion within the Pact of Humanity. Important worlds include Luush, Old Ocean, and Hydros, all high-population omega worlds.
Jerjerrod: Capital of the Black Forest Zone, moved from disloyal planet from Quintession to Jerjerrod, a megaplanet located near the Saxony border. Governor Anina Astor has taken steps to ensure domestic stability since her return from Terra but with Islamic fundamentalists taking over, economy a mess, and the military in disarray, she has her work cut out for her. A Parliament has been established, with local worlds sending representatives to Jerjerrod to take part, including the newly formed Cyber Party, a pro-technological, anti-Islamic group of technocrats from Cybertron.
Maui System: A double-star system holding two habitable planets, the Maui System is the location of the Cluster government, and an important agroworld, New Croatia. Maui is secure, having the Central Fleet guard the approaches to the system, and New Croatia exports 98% of its agricultural goods to Trantor at a phenomenal profit. The megacorp Hortalez et Cie runs Maui Cluster but has been caught off-guard by the aggressive revolt by the Kangas, a xenocidal local alien race with expansionist tendencies.
Munster: Founded by neo-German ethicists, Munster has one of the largest arms industries in the Pact. Its light-armored vehicles, attack aircraft, trucks, munitions, and missiles provide jobs and foreign exchange. Warlord Toyohama Koga has taken over control of the Cluster while Senator Dsif Farrel is on Terra and declared himself President. Only one political party has been formed, the Warlord Party. Munster is a Core Cluster, with a population in the billions. Important worlds are: Orchards, Oceanview, Spectre B, and the Thayos System.
NeuBrasilia: A ancient area of the Pact, Brasilian leadership has failed to produce a local governor after the death of Senator Ifor Steiner on Terra last month. Militant animal rights activists are now regarded by the Brasilian Cluster government as a bigger threat to public order than the Irreverence Brigades, or any other such terrorist organization. There are fears on NeuBrasilia that their sustained campaign will deter research and investment in Brasilia by megacorporations that have been targeted because they test their products on animals. The High Secretary’s wife and children have fled to Brasilia, only to face serious internal unrest within that Cluster.
New Bethesda: Site of the Cluster capital, it is one of the oldest colonies within the Pact, dating clear back to the Age of Ascension in the early Terran Republic. Bethesda Cluster is also the location of a sizable majority of oriental ethicists, who have been deprived of a voice within the new government. That government, headed by the arrogant Admiral Jose Sao Barja, has been increasingly troubled by various ethnic and political insurgents. The Rim planet Kanagawa is a particular focus of unrest. Although at present the government seems capable of coping with the situation, the potential for a more serious problem remains high. All other political turmoil in the Cluster pales before the ethnic problems. Bethesda has turned into a single party state, with the Socialists gaining in power.
New Jerusalem: Ruled by a religious oligarchy, the New Jerusalem Cluster is the spiritual home of the Reformation Group, a large group of pacifistic religious worlds who have shunned much modern technology as corrupting. Important worlds include New Jerusalem, Dhassa, Solitudo, and Eden Three.
New Lyons: Cluster capital of Topflight Cluster, New Lyons and all worlds within Topflight are in serious danger by the Builders, a techno-organic sect of humans bent on aggressive expansion. Three separate governments are vying for power, the Chatapoultec Alliance, the Dragaeran Empire, and the New Lyons Alliance.
New New York: The Mission Stars capital, NNY is Governed by Estan Poznan, who was elected to the post of Governor after the death of Senator Uel Trannod of Terra. Cluster control has degraded since the civil war began, mainly due to Nietzchean assaults.
Oldhams: President for Life Sringatta Madhurpura rules Oldhams with a iron fist. Oldhams is a cluster with billions and billions of ethnic Indians, mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat on Old Terra. A power-mad woman hungry for even more power, with a vicious penchant for destruction, Sringatta has ordered her local Admirals to genocide any alien race that defies her power. Several important high-population worlds have gone into rebellion as a result of this policy, including Dlan, site of the Oldhams Depot.
Recife System: Governor Aidan Basantpur has seceded into power in Recife Cluster, which is a low-population area of the Pact known as the location of the brutal Magog Homeworld. This area suffered nearly 500 years of continual warfare between the Pact of Humanity and the Magog Abhorrence. The local naval forces seem too small to maintain a quarantine of the Magog but worlds within the Cluster are arming as fast as possible. Local political parties are strong, and include the Maronites, Claytonists, Patriarch Party, and the Followers of God.
Rehovat: The newly founded “national capital” in which, with the exception of the bureaucrats, few people want to live there since all the action is either on Ultimo or Tonowah. Only two major parties have formed in the backlash of the Civil War, the Traditionalists and the Liberals, both of which support federal integrity of the Pact. Although this Cluster is normally run by Senator Erika Flame, she has not left Terra and the local government has elected Warlord Craig Labuda to fill the post of leadership in Rehovat until her return. The presence of his Warlord Fleet has encouraged the populace greatly. Rehovat Cluster is a high-population area of the Pact, with several major worlds, including Ultimo, Tonowah/Takanna, and Atlantis A/B/C.
Trantor: A megaworld located deep within the Pact of Humanity, Trantor’s population of one trillion sentient beings makes governing the planet a supreme task, one to which Governor Bett Farrel is well suited too. Wife of Warlord Selsan Farrel and popular planetary leader, she has lately had to deal with the estimated 200 billion unemployed people sloshing around the planet in search of work. This unemployment has provided a pool of capable and willing followers for a armed leader known as “the Demon”, who preached change. This was especially important where only change would improve a stagnant economy and prospects for the young and ambitious.
Urbanos: The first Senator to declare his independence, Adlai Candiotti is seen by many as the front man promoting the dissolution of the Pact. This has not earned him any support from the pro-Pact Loyalist Party, which dominates many Cluster governments. Also, an internal split within the CNO(Candiotti National Organization) has resulted in open warfare between pro- and anti-Candiotti supporters. The Chesapeake invasion of the high-population world Metroplex has exacerbated the situation.
OMEGA WORLDS
Old Ocean is a vast world ocean, spanning over 20,000 kilometers in diameter(a massive world!) with three large moons, which greatly effect the tidal forces of the planet. Unfortunately most of the planet is covered by a large ocean(97% coverage), although the population has peaked at nearly 80 billion people living on platform cities and underwater habitats. This phenomenal population, for a waterworld, is justified by the fantastic mineral content of the planet and its deep beautiful purple oceans. Governor Terence Nee has ruled the planet for nearly thirty years with a determined hand, seeing the planet through its vicious Onesider rebellion and Cyberope attacks. Old Ocean has been colonized for nearly 6,000 years and is located in the Islands Cluster.
WARLORD OF THE WEEK
Warlord Selsan Farrel is a rarity in the Pact, a alien that has achieved rank within the Pact Navy. Being from the fabulously wealthy Farrel family, a household infamous for intermarrying with Simes in the Saxony Cluster, he was able to convince his superiors, through numerous bribes no doubt, of his abilities and he accelerated his career by using his unique racial abilities, especially augmentation. While augmenting, any Sime can move up to ten times faster than a normal human, think quicker, and move in a hyper-heuristic mode, easily outperforming other human naval officers.
During the 18th Dionii Wave he was temporarily assigned to the fleet flagship, and started a special command to develop techniques for coping with Dionii kamikaze attacks, an extremely critical assignment given that the Pact Navy was involved in planning Operation Typhoon, the invasion of the massive Dionii Hellspont System. Although he served most of the campaign subordinate to carrier admirals, he also demonstrated some ability to handle independent commands, overseeing the occupation of Grannick III and the raid on the Upland System. He made a concerted effort to abolish hazing in the Pact Navy, which was only partially successful. Around 10,950, Admiral Farrel developed innovative techniques for the cooperation of modern battleships and carriers in fleet battles, something that proved vital in the upcoming Dionii Wave. He was an extremely likable officer because he always allowed his subordinates to speak their peace. After losing his flagship(PNS Renown) in a space action off Candisskar in 10,954 he went to flight school and became an unabashed carrier Admiral. Believing they he had little chance to advance further in his chosen career, Sels decided to resign his commission and pursue other goals but was persuaded to remain in service by his mentor, Admiral Alexender Giotti. A meticulous planner and trainer, he is also a fairly good military historian and translator, bringing several military classics from his native Keonatta. While accompanying the High Secretary in a review of the front lines, Admiral Farrel’ forces were ambushed in 10,961, in the beginning of the 20th Dionii Wave. After losing nearly 70% of his fleet, Admiral Farrel stayed awake for fourteen days, augmenting, desperately trying to avoid Dionii forces and awaiting relief from the Fleet. Saving the life of the High Secretary gained him the Warlordship and his personal thanks and since then Warlord Farrel has remained in the Leyte Combat Region, battling Dionii forces to a standstill.
EVENTS TO WATCH
Vicious fighting has broken out by cyber-enhanced members of the Onesider movement, who began attacking federal institutions, power plants, and troops late last month across several Clusters. Although they are native to the Black Forest Zone, these anarchists have spread across the Pact of Humanity in the last seven years, keeping a low profile. Their methods are brutal and their agenda unknown. Several influential government agencies have tried to negotiate with these anarchistic fanatics, but to no avail. A movement to watch.
In a devastating blow to Cleveland Cluster, the enormously popular newly elected Prime Minister Steve Stice and several key Parliamentary members, including his brother the Speaker of the House Harred Stice, were assassinated by Loyalist extremists last month. Serious fighting took place within the newly constructed Parliament House, killing dozens of bystanders and over thirty intervention police. The former Senator will be sorely missed by his constituents, with the grieving period extended to two weeks.
First Texas-class Superdreadnought Commissioned
The first unit in this class, the PNS Houston, has been commissioned in Terradock this month. Although funded in dock, the Houston isn’t fully completed and will not be considered space worthy for several more months. Her impressive broadside of classified plasma guns will make her a formidable opponent in warp point assaults but her lack of capital missile launchers hinder her combat ability in deep space.