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Report RSS The Pitch. Homeworld2: Emergence Mod

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THE PITCH: HOMEWORLD2 - EMERGENCE MOD

HW PIRATE Headers

Contents

  1. Intro
  2. Turanics
  3. Kadeshi
  4. Tobari
  5. Imperialists
  6. Somtaaw
  7. Emergency Fleets
  8. Change Log

Intro

There are small factions fleets in HW universe, has only few multipurpose ships as they got no resources/habits/possibility to build several ships required only for one purpose. Usually these are the pirates (Tobari/Turanics/Kadeshi) or some outcasts, like Somtaaw - the perfect example of small faction, with a lot of universal ships, capable of doing everything.

Let's talk about the Pirates and their possible fleet. So, the pirate tactic is to use only several ships that could do only one thing but they do it good; small ships - for small, big ships - for big:

  • ANTI-FIGHTER
    • Turanic strike craft
    • Kadeshi swarmers
    • Tobari gunships (?)
  • ANTI-CAPITAL
    • Turanic Ion Array Frigate
    • Kadeshi Multibeam Frigate
    • Tobari Frigate (?)
  • CONSTRUCTION
    • Turanic cruiser-carrier
    • Kadeshi cruiser-carrier
    • Tobari carrier (?)

Also, the Abassid Keepers (Progenitors Automates) use the same scheme.

Turanics

So the first pirates we met were Turanic Raiders.

But first-of-all, you need great enemies with whom you need to fight. From this point of view, Turanic Raiders are not best candidates for their fleet growth, as they flee when they meet greater enemy. Or fight till the death - no experience. But still we can see the progress they've made during 15 years - they've developed the mimic/cloaking tech for the Hit&Run tactics. They are upgrading existing ships.

On the other hand there are now Turanic Kingdoms, where could be developed the base for the Bigger Fleet, closer to Imperial Standard Fleet, somewhat like Hiigaran/Vaygr like to a certain point - more like Somtaaw Type Fleet. Maybe with a help of the Taiidani Imperialist bargained technologies. I guess the highest progress would be a Light Destroyer (known as a simply Destroyer in HW1), but more likely to have a carrier-cruiser or a carrier, frigates line, a lot of corvettes, few more fighters, and so on.

So, I've imagined this kind of research tree for them:

Turanic Raiders Research Tree

  1. Turanics can have no facilities, as everything gets taken by research, only "Bandit" and utility ships are available by default;
  2. Light "Cracker" Bomber - idea taken from TEOT mod and Mololu raider tech tree, but I've decided to take the "Safecracker" short variant. It's built on the "Bandit" chassis, so the "Cracker" deals less damage but is faster. Probably, more comparable with Vaygr lance fighters;
  3. Multipurposal "Thief" corvette should have EMP strike, to help salvage victims;
  4. Ion Array Frigate actually is a howitzer: the gun, connected to the drive, hardly can be called a chassis. So, you need to make a chassis to create more frigates! After the chassis research you'll get the salvage frigate; it's named "Thug" as thugs were Kali prayers that killed their victims after becoming friends;
  5. No advanced or anti-cloak sensors (Vaygr alike);
  6. Autoguns idea is taken from Raiders Retreat mission;
  7. Mines idea is taken from HWC;
  8. Probably, almost every ship of Turanic Raiders fleet should have cloak tech;
  9. Well, if we have Missile "Brigand" Corvettes, then we can have Minelayer Corvettes too;

Kadeshi

Religious pirates. For a long time they haven't seen any great enemy, so their little fleet potential seemed to be enough. Then came the Kushans, and killed the Kadeshi. Or not.

Kadeshi already have their territory, but they won't flee (dead = no exp). The Great Evil had arrived to the Gardens of Kadesh, found out about their existence and jumped away. What's next? Will Kadeshi make a totally new big fleet, or will they just improve what they've had?

Every race got their own type of strike craft. Kushans developed their own fighter/corvette chassis, only then they took the Taiidani frigate/capital chassis (without the license, btw! And then Somtaaw was forced to develop their own tech because of the patent holders like S'jet...). So, swarmers will remain, only developed further.

The problem is that Kadeshi have no enemy to prepare for. I believe, they would take as an example the
Kushan fleet in its technological state arriving to the Nebula. Almost everything was already invented there, even destroyers (at least captured, doesn't it?), so the Kadeshi would plan their fleet up to super capital ship chassis. But... Would it be the Imperial Standard Fleet, or Somtaaw Type Fleet — hard to say. But I guess, the mark of the Kadeshi — the Swarmer droids — will be developed very much.

So, I've imagined this kind of research tree for them:

Kadeshi Guards Research Tree

  1. A lot of tech Kadeshi would get by capturing, like other pirates. But might not. Purity, you know.
  2. I've added plasma and pulsar ships as they fit perfectly Kadeshi style: pure energy, no resources spent: plasma swarmer shoots faster than a bomber and deals less damage, like Somtaaw energy cannons (tnx Mololu for inspiration). Probably, more comparable with Vaygr lance fighters;
  3. Advanced swarmers should appear after swarmer chassis research - like Taiidan researches of light and heavy interceptors;
  4. Kadeshi are good with hyperspace, so they get all upgrades for that; same for the sensors;
  5. A swarmer squad size should be 3/6 - because of the fuelpod made for so much swarmers fueling;
  6. Fuel pod is something like a resource controller mixed with light support frigate, so I left it as a ship that is available by default as all the resource controllers in HW2. Only thing that it's hard to understand the ship class of a Fuelpod with it's corvette engines... So, I'd make mix in this ship several: Resource Collector, Resource Controller - thus she would just suck the asteroids dry; then, Support Frigate - to repair big ships, repair fighters, and to be a transport to hyperspace swarmers closer to an enemy. Plus we can give it a Salvage Corvette / Marine Frigate role. So it would become a advanced heavy analogue to a Somtaaw worker.
    Plus I'd would give it a Fire Control Tower / Command Corvette ability to improve Swarmers around.

Tobari

Ex-imperialists, gangsters of the Age of S'jet Era who habit Karos region (look for the HW:Empire draft): they have their little fleet (we have only three Tobari ship concepts: gunship, frigate and the carrier), and don't seem to be expanding their fleet.

So, I've imagined this kind of research tree for them:

Tobari Gangsters Research Tree

Not much to discuss here, actually. But of course, they can have more gunships, more frigates. And more modular turrets on their carrier-cruiser The Tzarrier.

Taiidani Imperialists

These guys have survived the Beast War, and lived happily having their own fleet remains. Of course, they would unite when threated by the Taiidan Republic, but in danger times they would eat each other for breakfast. Makaan consumed all of them into his fleet, defeated the Republic and got lost in a center of a Galaxy, so now their story is in a mist…

All the craft would be reduced to some multipurpose one-two machines, or contrarily, to some several class machines used each for one purpose (as pirates), but the capital ship, IMHO, would be changed - carriers would be modular, to be fast and cheap in massive production (build up later), and the destroyers would be universal, against all. Of course, not everybody would have these machines... So this mean that they would reduce their fleets to a lesser level to have more possibilities for the same money.

The HW:Empire script tells about some Taiidani Confederation (Imperialists). Probably, that's what awaits some Vaygr Taiidani worlds after the death of Makaan and breakage of his short-lived Empire, with Somtaaw-izing Vaygr Grand Fleet for the needs of new owners.

Somtaaw

So, where am I leading to? Of course, to the next pirates. Somtaaw is Tao, which leads to the great victories…

So, at first, Somtaaw had the same pirate fleet structure: they've got one fighter (most probably made from abandoned light defender project), one frigate (actually, a frigate-sized tug), one resourcer - and the controller (they are miners, after all). And Command Ship is the cruiser-carrier.

Only after they met the need to defeat greater enemy, they started to invent something new. But still they preferred to upgrade already existing ships, than to make new ones - only when it was really needed. Missiles for the acolytes, martyrship for the mimics, anti-strike craft missiles for the destroyer & dreadnought… And pervert tactics ))) made for sneaky fights not one-on-one - Siege Cannon, also leeches/hive swarmers/mimics/EMI corvettes…; and on the other hand - MultiBeam Frigate, repulsor weapon made for fighting surrounded by the enemies… (interesting, what combat style Somtaaw have - some mixture of aikido, judo, Tao mortal arts…).

Hiigaran Vortex from Complex mod is probably one of it's famous and best models, fitting the original Hiigaran design. And behaves in the same tactics paradigm the Somtaaw has - like dreadnought's repulsor weapon and multi-beam frigate "cowboy" shooting, Vortex is made for shooting everything around it. This thing even looks very much like Somtaaw Dreadnought:

DreadVortex

It fits the idea of HW2 initial fleet consisting of different kiith vessels, for example, Manaani scout, Naabali interceptor, Somtaaw bomber being a far descendant of an Acolyte model... And for sure there are Kiithid Warrior Fleets with some unique vessels, that we have not seen yet! And there are old Kushanimobiles fleet for the lesser kiiths, new 'Pride of Hiigara' fleet and Somtaaw deep-mining operation vessels that could be called for help (like it was in the beginning of HWC).

So, I've imagined this kind of research tree for them:

Somtaaw Emergency Help Research Tree

As we remember there were two Command Ships of Somtaaw (Faal Corum and Kuun Lan) that can take place as Kushani Shipyards. Or another kiith's help - this kiithid thing gives a space for a wild imagination.

Emergency

So, why I was talking about them.

It was my dream for HW1 - that developers make Kushani call for Kadeshi help, and the Taiidani call for Turanic help; or another option - to make Kadeshi/Turanic playable in the «carrier only» mode, against Kushans, Taiidans, Somtaaw, Beast Carriers…

So, if we think about the idea of a big faction "Emperial Standard Fleet" calling for an ally, smaller faction "Pirate Type Fleet", how could it look like?

  1. Hiigarans might be calling for Kiith Warrior Fleets - Kushans and Somtaaw incarnated;
  2. Vaygr might be calling for the Taiidan Imperialists and Tobari Gansters;
  3. Taiidans might be calling for the Turanic Raiders and Tobari Gangsters;
  4. Kushans might be calling for Somtaaw and Kadeshi, why not?

But of course, this Kiithid thing is pretty Hiigaran exclusive...

And on the other hand - it's Somtaaw might be calling for Kiithid help...

Change Log

  • 10.01.24 - revisited the text a little bit, renamed from HW:Small Fleets -> HW:Emergence Mod;
  • 23.01.24 - removed Somtaaw-Sobani/Kadeshi texts, "added" Fire Control ability to Fuel Pods;

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