Phoenix: Starbases - Basic

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Starbases
Financing a Starbase
Defending a Starbase
Pickup Authorisations
Assembling/Assigning Complexes
Standard Production
Mass Production
Starport Complexes
Outposts

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Starbases - Basic
Starbases - Full
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Starships - Full

Starbases

Starbases are fixed installations constructed to withstand the harshest environments from the colds of space to the eruptions of molten rock on an unstable moon.

 

The structure of the starbase consists of a mixture of complexes, each designed to fulfil a specific purpose. These complexes are constructed from generic modules. Once constructed they become fixed as a specific complex type and cannot be moved, only demolished. Along with complexes, a starbase requires personnel to man the complexes and it is desirable to have some form of defence should a starbase be threatened.

Financing a Starbase

Starbases employ civilians to run the complexes and employ troops for defence and peacekeeping. Payment is at the start of each week before any revenue is generated. Troops are paid first, in order to avoid a coup, and then the civilians are paid. The payment is taken directly from the political position and a shortfall will result in underpayment and a loss of efficiency. Reduced efficiency applies to all aspects of the starbase. This includes special resources, mining, factory-production, capacity and such forth.

 

Each complex (with a few exceptions) requires 500 work hours per week, a standard employee produces 50 work hours per week. Each employee is paid a standard wage of 1 stellar a week. Starbases therefore cost an average of 10 stellars per complex per week. Added to this is the cost of troops. Each troop is also paid 1 stellar per week.

All weaponry and military ordnance such as tanks require full crew factors if they are to be used effectively in combat. Troops and crew at the starbase will provide these crew factors at the time of the attack.

Defending a Starbase

You can use any military item in a starbase.  This includes fighter bays for launching fighters, shields, scintillators, ground troops and weaponry. Unlike platforms or ships, starbases can not be armoured using armour plates. This makes the starbase more vulnerable to attack.

Defence of a starbase or outpost is therefore normally provided by defence platforms. These positions are constructed from platform hulls and can be increased in size by delivering hulls to them. Each hull provides 50mu space for either ordnance or quarters for troops to defend the platform from boarding actions. Platforms assigned to a starbase use the enemy lists of the starbase. Platforms are treated as independent and need their own sensors and targeting computers as well as life support capacity to run at full efficiency.

Ground defence is provided by troops and ground military ordnance. All military ordnance requires crew factors. This requirement is provided by troops. Standard mercenaries, soldiers, marines and crew provide 1, 1, 2 & 4 crew factors respectively. Shortfalls in crew factors reduce the efficiency of the ordnance during conflicts. The presence of security complexes at the starbase will increase the number of crew factors available.

Pick-up Authorisations

A governor can authorise positions to pick up items instead of making the security code of a starbase freely available. There are three parts to an authorisation. These determine who can pick up what and how much. The options are as follows.

Whom: Individual Position/All Positions belonging to a Political/Affiliation

Item: Specific Item/Item Type/Anything

How Much: Fixed amount/Any amount

A governor is perfectly entitled to change pick-up authorisations at any time.

 

Assembling/Assigning Complexes

Each Complex is assembled from a number of standardised modules. There are five module types, these being: Basic Complex Modules (BCM), Industrial Complex Modules (ICM), Military Complex Modules (MCM), Structural Modules (SM) and Transport Modules (TM). The type of complex determines the number and type of modules required.

 

The build complex order will assemble the appropriate modules from the starbase stockpile into the specified complex. In addition Mines, Resource, Exchange and Research complexes have to be assigned to a specific task and are idle until assigned. This requires a different order for each type. This order may require additional information such as the ID number of a specific resource. This may be in the mineral report or discovered using investigations in the case of special resources.

 

Standard Production

Factories build items from minerals and ores. Items are placed in the production schedule. Schedules can be altered as per orders. Standard production is flexible but inefficient. There is a decreasing return as more factories are assigned.

 

Factory Range

MU's produced per Factory

Total Production possible

1-10

50

500

11-20

40

900

21-30

30

1200

31-40

20

1400

41+

10

1410+

 

 

 

 

 

If strion is present in the starbase, it will be used automatically for standard production. This will increase total standard production by 20%, presuming 1mu of strion is present per 4 factories.

Standard production example

32 factories without strion will produce 1340mu. With strion available, 8mu of strion will be used and the total production will be 1608mu.

Mass Production

Each line of mass production produces a specific item and each factory produces approximately 50mu of production. There are no limits to the number of lines that can be run concurrently although each line must have a minimum of 10 factories assigned to it.

Changing the number of factories producing an item either causes factories to be untooled or tooled depending on the change. Tooling factories takes 4 weeks, untooling takes 2 weeks but this downtime only applies to the factories that are being changed.

Outposts

These are secluded installations that have restricted interaction with the outside universe. As a consequence, compared to starbases they have improved security but are limited to the types of complexes they can support. They cannot have active factory, merchandising or recruitment complexes and they cannot run markets.  Troops and employees demand a standard wage of 1.5 stellars per week. For all other intentional purposes they can be thought of as a starbase.

Understanding the weekly report

Sections of the report deal with specific areas of the starbase. These include orders submitted by the player as well as standard weekly events such as paying personnel and complex output.

Capacity Report - This gives the capacity of the colony to do certain things during the week. These include shuttleport/teleport deliveries, troop training, merchandising complex sales and exchange transactions.

Mineral/Mining Report - This shows which minerals can be mined by the starbase and unique details of the mineral vein. The ID is used when assigning mines to the deposit. The yield is the maximum yield per mine. The actual yield will decrease as more mines tap the same resource. 

Production Report - This is a list of items still to be produced by basic production and lists all the mass production lines.

Market Report - This lists the items that are being bought or sold by the starbase along with the prices set by the governor for the use of complexes and ship patches. It also includes the market message.

Tech Report - This is a list of the blueprints, techs and principles owned by the starbase. There are three sections to this which are tooled tech, untooled tech and tooling tech. Only the tech that is tooled can be used for research and production.

Scan Report - Depending on sensors and optical depth, the starbase will attempt to scan everything in orbit of the world. It will also list all positions that are docked with the starbase.

Recon Report - Platforms that the starbase owns in orbit will scan the planet for landed positions and list them on this report. Success depends on the number of sensors and optical depth.

Space Combat Report - Lists all the offence and defence capabilities of the starbase.

Ground Combat Report - This lists the troops and military equipment at the starbase along with the factors for each type of item.

Enemy Report - This lists the positions and affiliations for which the starbase will actively initiate battle.

Special Resource Report - Lists the resources that are being exploited on the world, and the various parameters concerning them such as rates of exploitation and limits.

Standing Orders - There are various types of standing orders allowing for near automation of the starbase. The player designates if the order is normal or a standing order inside the order editor.

Starport Complexes

Command Centre (1000) - 1 per 100 complexes is needed to ensure normal efficiency   (5 BCM, 5 ICM, 5 MCM, 5 SM, 5 TM)

Factories (1001) - Factories can be assigned to either standard or mass production. See Production. (20 ICM, 5 SM)

Mines (1002) - Each mine must be assigned to a specific ore, known as a deposit, which is present in the sector of the starbase. The rate of ore that can be produced per mine is called the yield. Output per mine will decrease per each multiple of the 10% Drop. (20 ICM, 5 TM)

Resource (1003) - Resource complexes are assigned to specific special resources. A unique ID# is used during assignment, determined by investigations. There are usually limits to how many complexes can be assigned to a specific resource. (15 BCM, 10 TM)

Research (1005) - Research complexes are assigned to a specific project. (Fully detailed in Research.) (25 BCM)

Bunkers (1006) - Bunkers shield the civilian population of a starbase from attacks. Each bunker will give protection to 500 people. (25 SM)       

Domes (1007) - These are need on worlds that cannot support life. World data determines the maximum number of complexes that can be build before a dome is necessary. Airless moons need 1 dome per 20 complexes. These do not require work hours. (25 SM)

Orbital Docks (1008) - Allow a ship without sufficient G to dock with the starbase i.e. moved from orbit to the starport. Only docked ships can interact with complexes other than the hiport. Ship size is limited to 25 hulls per orbital dock. Docking time is 40TU's. (5 BCM, 20 TM)

Mercenary Recruitment (1009 - These can only be built on populated worlds and can recruit up to 10 mercenaries each week. Standing orders can be used to recruit the maximum number per week. . (25 BCM)

Employee Recruitment (1010) - As mercenary complexes but applicable to employees. (25 BCM)

Hospital (1011) - Give protection against disease. 1 per 1000 population is considered standard. (25 BCM)

Security (1012) - The proportion of security complexes per total starbase mass determines the security of the starbase against agents and operatives. (5 BCM,15 MCM, 5 TM)

Shipyard (1013) - 4 hulls will be assembled towards ship completion per complex per week.(20 ICM, 5 SM)

Maintenance (1014) - 200mu ship hull damage will be repaired per complex per visit. 10% integrity loss will be restored per complex per visit. (5BCM, 15 ICM, 5SM)

Shuttle Port (1015) - Shuttle ports move items into and out of the starbase. Standing orders can be used to move items before and after production etc. This is useful for bringing in raw materials from outposts. Each port can move 1000mus per week. (5SM, 20 TM)

Hiport (1016) - Hiports allow orbiting positions to Buy, Sell, Pick-up and Deliver Items to the Starbase, without having to land at the Starport. (25 SM)

Platform Control (1017) - 1 is needed to control platforms and they have 500mus shuttle capacity  (10 BCM, 15 MCM, 10 Platform Hulls).

Training (1018) - Training allows a starbase to specialise mercenaries. The type of training that will be given to them is dependent on the blueprints at the starbase. A maximum of 6 mercenaries can be specialised per week per complex. As training requires blueprints, there is the chance of burnout. Standing orders can be used to designate which troops are produced each week (10 BCM, 10 MCM, 5SM).

Merchandising (1024) - These extract stellars from the population. The amount is based on the world population and relative affluence.(15 BCM, 10 SM).

Recreation (1027) - Provide some stellars from visiting positions.  (20 BCM, 5SM).