OOC: Legion Expeditionary Fleets
Legion Fleets
Fleets are a Legions tools of conquest, a vast armada which can bring entire star systems into Imperial Compliance with little effort.
Your Primary Fleet will be your only one at the beginning of the Game, this is commanded by your Primarch and to begin with all orders given will be applied to this fleet. See Orders Page for details.
Total Legion Power
As your Legion gains more Ranks in attributes you are able to support additional Fleets. Once your Total Legion Power (Total of all attributes) reaches the required threshold a new fleet becomes available. Once unlocked these new Fleets become Secondary Fleets and must be commanded by a named Special Character.
Total Legion Power
1+ = 1 Fleet Support
65+ = 2 Fleet Support
80+ = 3 Fleet Support
The Turn after you reach the Threshold you can launch a new Fleet. You may celebrate this achievement how you wish or just stoically watch your Legion expand. Your new Fleet will be commanded by an Astartes of Great Status within the Legion near the top of the Hierarchy. Add the character to your Legion Sheet with some details. They do not require additional rules.
All Fleets start at their Legion Homeworld.
Fleet Details
A Fleet has 4 important aspects Location, Strength, Supply Rate, Status
Location
Location is relevant for Active Fleets only and provides details of where the Fleet is currently situated in the game map. This will be either in a Region/Warzone or a Location within a Region or Warzone.
Example: Location - SOL This fleet is in the SOL region but not at any specific Location.
Location - TERRA (SOL) This Fleet is at the TERRA location in the SOL region.
Strength
A Fleet begins with a Strength of 100%. This represents the fully capable and supplied war machine ready to take on anything. All strengths in the Game are relative to a 100% Strength Legion. So a weak enemy would be Strength 10% whereas an immensely powerful foe might have a Strength of 250%. If a Fleet is reduced to 0% Strength it is disbanded and new one must be built using the Muster order. This new Fleet will begin at a Legions Home World.
Supply Rate
As Fleets wage war they will inevitable take loses to ammunition, equipment and personnel. This attrition will reduce the Strength of a Fleet and thus reduce its effectiveness.
All Fleets have an established supply chain to keep them moving and replenishing losses.
Some Legions will be better at this than others due to a variety of factors, this measurement is your Legions Supply Rate.
To calculate your Legions Supply Rate, you look at your ranks in Mechanicus Influence (Primarch), Geneseed (Legion), Population (Homeworld) and Fabrication (Homeworld).
Take the AVERAGE of those ranks and Multiply by 2 (Rounding up). This is your base supply rate and the amount of Fleet Strength which is automatically replenished at the end of every turn.
This can be modified by various other factors including Strategic Planning and the Muster order.
Example:
The Ultramarines Legion has:
Mechanicus Influence +
Geneseed + + + +
Population + + + +
Fabrication + + +
The Average of these ranks is 3, Multiplied by 2 gives the Ultramarines a Supply Rate of 6% Strength per turn. Guilliman realizes his lack of influence with the Mechanicum is causing a supply issue as specialised equipment is being prioritized elsewhere. He will need to build his relations with Mars in order to improve his supply rate!
Status
Status of a Fleet largely dictates which role it is performing. There are 4 different Statues. Active, Passive Support, Passive Garrison, Passive Discovery - All Fleets Start Active.
The main difference between the Active and Passive Fleets is that Active Fleets appear on the Map and can be give specific orders to Move and Attack etc, whereas a Passive Fleet does not appear on the Map and instead provides other Passive Bonuses to your Legion.
Fleets Status is changed using an order. The only order a Passive Fleet can have is Redeploy, this takes a turn to resolve as the Fleet resources are reallocated. If any Passive Fleets are changed to Active Fleets then they will appear on the Map at your Homeworld.
Active - Can give specific independent orders
Your Primary Fleet is always Active. Additional Secondary Fleets in Active status can also be utilized, It would be commanded by a Special Character who was Unlocked at the same time the Fleet became available. As Special Characters are often strong representations of their Primarch, the Primarchs abilities will be used for the various bonuses, though at reduced effectiveness. Can move independently to the Primary Fleet.
Passive Support - Provides Strength boost to active Fleet
As some players do not wish to Micromanage the additional orders required to utilize an additional Fleet they can instead choose to make their Fleet a Support Fleet. In order to do so it use the Change Status order and specify an Active Fleet. The support fleet then attaches to the Active fleet and provides a Flat Strength bonus of 50%. If an additional Fleet attaches this bonus is increased to 100% (So 100% 0 support, 150% 1 Support, 200% 2 Support). Note the Support Fleet does not lose or gain Strength in any way and is just a Bonus applied to the Parent Fleet. Support Fleets do not require any additional orders and the Strength bonus is only removed if the attached Fleet reaches 0% Strength. If the Attached Fleet does reach 0% the support Fleet will revert to being an Active Fleet at your Legions Homeworld on the next Turn.
Passive Garrison - Provides strength boost to Homeworld plus development
This is another option if you do not wish to Micromanage an active Fleet. You can instead make your Fleet a Garrison. To do so you must use the Change Status order, this removes the Fleet from the map as it returns to administer your Homeworld. A Garrison Fleet provides a sizeable defensive bonus to your Homeworld. But also grants a chance to improve a Homeworld Attribute once per turn similar to the Statesman attribute. This Roll is in addition to the Statesmen roll but may only be used on Homeworld attributes.
Passive Discovery - Reports back on Locations of Interest
This is a third passive Fleet option based on dispersing the Fleets vessels across the galaxy in an attempt to locate Locations your Legion has an interest in Locating. This could be a hunt for lost knowledge, a Forgeworld or just leave the Character in command to use his initiative (GM Discretion). To change to a Discovery Fleet you must use the Change Status Order, then you may provide location priority instructions the next turn.