Sylvan Commonwealth
The Sylvan Commonwealth
Concept: Doomed elvish rebels.
Background
Once upon a time there was a lush and verdant world, a blue and green pearl floating in the void. The primitive natives upon the world had no special name for it, it was just the world, the only one they knew. Among these natives were many various peoples: humans, orcs, dwarves, and of course elves. The elvish empire was the greatest and most powerful of them all, due to their mastery of magic and the experience that came with extremely long lives. With magic and engineering the elves turned their forest homelands into a paradise, letting them live of the land without harming it. Reaching out they tried to tutor the lesser races, helping them achieve the same enlightenment as the elves had. It was a time of great peace and harmony...
When the Masters came they did not think much of elven accomplishments. They simply attacked, within weeks they wrecked the great cities, burned most of the forests, and broke the might of the elven empire. The grand forests provided useful resources, the mighty cities had many artefacts that would fetch a great price, but most of all they wanted to exploit the world for its rich resources. Alas most of the species they found were unsuitable for the work, the humans too short lived, the dwarves too stubborn and infertile, and the orcs flat out too aggressive. Thus it was the elves who became their favoured slaves, forced to aid in the destruction of their homeworld, and sent out among the stars to labour for cruel taskmasters.
After centuries of slavery the elves were somewhat trusted slaves, some of them were able to earn various privileges and to be strawbosses for the Masters. This let the elves gather their surviving Lorekeepers and have them write down their knowledge, preserving the language and mythology of the elves. Despite their cruelty the Masters did not bother to prevent this, seeing the elvish culture as being utterly beneath them. This let the Elves preserve some memory of who they were, but it did nothing to allow them to resist.
Millenia passed and across a vast space elven slaves toiled for their masters, in factories, in mines, in households, and so forth. Wherever some skill and intelligence was needed it was usually an elvish slave that was picked. This was especially true when it came to working with visiting humanoids, who often found the elves to be very good looking. Many of the younger elves, especially the ones given a technical education by the masters, no longer believed the old lore to be literally true. Obviously this was simply the fancy of a conquered people who had once had some minor country of their own. It seemed particularly ridiculous that elves had once been respected and revered. Clearly it simply meant they were admired for their charm and beauty, at least by humanoids.
Then the war came, a great and terrible war. One of the many wars the Masters fought against the Great Enemy. AT first the elves cared nothing for this particular war, they had seen many others. However this time around the Great Enemy tried to inspire them to rebel. Perhaps if the elves had all risen things would have gone differently, perhaps if most of them had risen it would have gone differently. As it were only a small area rebelled, a sector long neglected and used mostly for heavy industry. Here the elves had both the means to resist as well as a motive, the fact that most elves were under an unusually heavy burden.
At first the Great Enemy provided some ships, weapons, and advisers; enough that the rebellion was able to grab control of the sector, and enough to resist the initial attempts by the Masters to crush them. Joining together the Sylvan Commonwealth, as they called themselves, improvised a military from bits and ends they had lying together. With some designs given to them by the Great Enemy they were even able to build proper warships, though not very good ones. In those heady days they dreamed of liberating all elves, or at least of establishing their free elven kingdom.
Of course slave rebellions tend to fail, this one was no exception. The Masters gathered a massive fleet of real warships, with great armies of real soldiers, and began to scour the sector clean of rebels. System after system fell, often after frantic resistance, but what good was it? The Masters advance seemed unstoppable, they executed billions or rebels, they crushed every fleet the elves sent against them.
In desperation the elves gathered their finest mages at a world called Cor Serpentis, here they used various artefacts stolen from the masters, as well as a mass sacrifice in order to fuel an enormous spell. What exactly they did no one knows, because there were no survivors, the whole system was consumed in a great supernova. However the remaining elvish systems were carried away to ... somewhere else.
Year Two
Statistics
Population: Rank 4 (6 points, +2 Infrastructure, +2 Space fleet, -1 Transhumanism, -1 Growth)
Though diminished by the war the Sylvan Commonwealth retains a fairly decent population, one that remains exclusively elven so far.
Transhumanism: Rank 2 (3 points -1)
Elves are lithe, dexterous, beautiful, and unaging. It is not exaggerating to say that they are slightly better than the average human being.
Infrastructure: Rank 7 (5 points +2)
The Sylvan Commonwealth inherited the massive heavy industries developed by the Masters. The sector was a major industrial hub, with enormous asteroid mining operations, as well as orbital spaceyards. Opening up new trade routes have greatly helped in expanding their industrial capacity.
Growth Potential: Rank 2 (3 points -1)
There is a reason that the area is known mostly for its heavy industry, that reason is that most of the worlds are not really habitable. The Sylvan Commonwealth is dominated by older heavier stars without any earth like planets, forcing them to live inside of asteroids or in carefully constructed space habitats. This of course makes it rather difficult to expand anywhere.
Military Support: Rank 5 (5 points)
Another benefit of having inherited massive amounts of heavy industry is that you are quite capable of sustaining a large military.
Space Fleet: Rank 5 (3 points +2)
Though the Sylvan Commonwealth's fleet may be kitbashed, outdated, boxy, and heavily improvised it is quite large. Not only that but the designs emphasise easy of mass production, thus allowing them to manufacture surprisingly large fleets at little notice.
Diplomacy: Rank 3 (4 points)
One thing that being enslaved does is make you very good at sucking up. Overall the Sylvan Commonwealth relies on diplomacy to prevent their neighbours from crushing them like bugs.
Espionage: Rank 2 (2 points)
The Sylvan Commonwealth is competent, but no more when it comes to espionage. In their old universe they were a lot better, but in this one they lack the extensive experience that they had with their Masters.
General Advancement: Rank 0 (3 Points)
Being a backwards area dedicated to heavy industry has its drawbacks. One of them is the overall lack of an electronics industry. However after arriving in the Nexus the Commonwealth has gone to great efforts to remedy the situation, sending out merchants and explorers with orders to bring back new technology. Even if there is little hope of rapidly expanding the domestic industry the Commonwealth hopes to be able to import better electronics.
Unique Technologies: Rank 0
Likewise backwards areas dedicated to heavy industry tend to lack in armaments industries. This of course means that the Sylvan Commonwealth's military relies on repurposed civilian technology.
Emergent Technologies: Rank 0
The Masters had quite a few of these, the Sylvan Commonwealth do not.
Magic: Rank 4 (6 points)
Although elvish magic was never really a threat to the Masters, it can be useful in a pinch. Healing magics, great space maelstroms, and even darker magics like necromancy can be a nasty surprise in a fight.
Sylvan Commonwealth Military
This represents the Sylvan Military at the end of Q2Y2 (note I still haven't included the updated point values. But I will. I will.)
Ground Forces
The Ground Forces are generally made up by rather green recruits who are given a brief amount of training in volley fire, and then sent out with a pat on the back and some good wishes. All units from artillery to infantrymen to the divisions they are both assigned to are basically seen as munitions. They are there to be spent in order to achieve strategic goals. Indeed once you reach the tactical level there's only one way to act: Attack. Preservation of forces is only practised on a strategic level.
The Sylvan mechanized infantry is mostly used as sort of a distraction and reconnaissance operation, something which finds and ties down the enemy so that the artillery can get the job done. This means that tactics are quite simple: Advance rapidly in order to find the enemy, engage aggressively when you have, attempt to overwhelm any defences by way of volley fire and overwhelming force, and then call in an artillery strike.
The average Infantryman is armed with a 60mm GYROC rifle with a three round clip, plus two additional clips. The GYROC rounds contain HEDP, HEAT, or HESH warheads. The Infantryman wears a fully sealed NBC suit with a combination of ceramic and ablative plastic armour. The armour suits helmet carries a full sensor and communications array, as well as targeting aides.
Squad support weapons include an 80mm GYROC machinegun firing a 12 round clip, or a 200mm missile in a single-use launcher. These squad support weapons are generally only deployed in cities or in other areas where the enemy will be forced to advance along a somewhat predictable course.
The main vehicles found at battalion and company level are the Xanthium class IFV; the Taraxacum APC; and the Adido Logistics Vehicle. All of them are based on the same hull and have almost entirely interchangeable parts. All of them have fairly light armour, relying on speed, surprise and concealment to be effective. The main difference is as follows:
The Xanthium class IFV has a large turret with advanced sensor options. Attached to the side of the turret are six 200mm missiles, used to carry kinetic kill warheads or SATNUC. The primary light weapon of the Xanthium is an 80mm GYROC machinegun with semi-guided rounds, allowing the Xanthium to attack the enemy will remaining entirely under cover. Additionally the Xanthium can carry up to 8 infantrymen with it.
The Taraxacum APC is effectively the Xanthium without the turret. It can therefore carry up to 16 infantrymen into battle.
The Adido Logistics Vehicle is once more very similar except that it carries supplies and a supply management system instead of infantrymen. By supply management is meant that it can automatically dispense the needed supplies from the rear hatch, or transfer ammunition to another vehicle by moving along side it.
There are other vehicles like the Ibicella class anti-air system, based on the Xanthium but with a powerful beam-cannon installed in the turret, and the passenger space replaced by a fusion generator. Or the Asina heavy logistics vehicle. Or most importantly the Zamglenie (300mm 12 tube) and Tannura (600mm 4 tube) Multiple Rocket Launchers. However these will be almost exclusively under Brigade or Divisional command, and rarely if ever handed over to lower levels of command.
Additionally magical artillery is also used, though generally in a more ad-hoc manner. Heavy earthquake or thunderstorm spells are often used as distractions or in place of ECM. Mass animation of dead troops and wrecked vehicles is sometimes used to draw out enemy fire. In terms of direct attack they've had some minor success in using meteor swarms, heavy sunbeams, or opening a gateway to an elemental realm and sending armies of angry elementals against the enemy.
Space Forces
The Space Forces are built around easily mass produced vessels. Originally they were little more than repurposed freighters with armour and mass drivers. Nowadays however they are more purpose built, though their clunky, boxy designs do betray their design heritage. Tactics are generally quite simple, consisting of a slow advance towards the enemy while firing everything you got. Either the enemy is defeated or you're forced to flee into hyperspace.
The Sylvan Commonwealth also have a set of space fighters and space torpedo bombers, which can be surprisingly effective in large numbers. Of course to get said large numbers it is quite common to attach clusters of said fighters and bombers onto warships. The pilot will enter his fighter or bomber through the stem of the clusters, at which point he is released and told to attack the enemy. As a rule the carriers do not have enough space to receive back all the fighters launched, but this rarely proves to be a problem in practise.
Armed Merchantman S/S Vincent Galliano: 1 (15 points)
Large Carriers: 3 (10 points each)
Battleships: 25 (10 points each)
Fleet Carriers: 24 (8 points each)
Battle Cruisers: 2 (8 points each)
Heavy Cruisers: 36 (7 points a squadron)
Light Cruisers: 84 (5 points a squadron)
Destroyers: 180 (3 points a squadron)
Capitol Defence District (2 points for the planetary base)
First Fleet
Large Carriers: 3
Battleships: 13
Fleet Carriers: 12
Heavy Cruisers: 9
Light Cruisers: 11
Destroyers: 38
Second Fleet
Battleships: 6
Fleet Carriers: 6
Heavy Cruisers: 5
Light Cruisers: 6
Destroyers: 19
Third Fleet
Battleships: 6
Fleet Carriers: 6
Heavy Cruisers: 5
Light Cruisers: 6
Destroyers: 19
Exploratory Fleet
Armed Merchantman S/S Vincent Galliano
Light Cruiser: 1
The Naval Escort & Raiding Forces lack the rigid structure of the Strike Fleets. Instead they are divided into various squadrons. Each squadron has its own callsign a single letter followed by up to two digits. There is no set pattern to the callsigns beyond that, even the area to be patrolled varies. This is to prevent the enemy from discovering the composition of local forces simply by tracking callsigns.
Battlecruiser Squadron
Battle Cruisers: 2
This squadron will sometimes attach itself to a Heavy Cruiser squadron to provide additional fire support. At other times it will operate independently to hunt down enemy raiders or respond to distress calls.
Heavy Cruiser Squadrons
Heavy Cruisers: 17
Light Cruisers: 17
These squadrons consist of 3-6 heavy cruisers with an equal number of light cruisers to act as screens and scouts. These units are supposed to be the main striking force to neutralize enemy pirates or raiders.
Light Cruiser Squadrons
Light Cruisers: 43
Destroyers: 43
These squadrons consist of 2-4 light cruisers with an equal number of destroyers to act as screens and scouts. These units are used partly as scouts and partly to hunt down light enemy raiders. Though generally viewed as expendable they pack enough of a punch that they can usually bring information back to the admiralty.
Destroyer Squadrons
Destroyers: 61
These squadrons consist of 2-4 destroyers. Light weight units used for scouting or escort duties.