Let me get this out of the way: I'm completely pro-Imperial for various reasons. I enjoy the cold war between the Federation and the Empire along with the proxy wars that have come with it. I'm glad that I picked a faction to be loyal to, doing the missions for them and ranking up is pretty fun. Flying into combat zones along side Interdictors gives butterflies in my stomach, I like reading GalNet and forming my own opinions on the political intrigues that are emerging etc. The depth to the story may be limited yes, but the void can easily by filled up with headcanon. And lord, the Clipper. Definitely a ship I want for the future.
The Federation have their Dropship, their own Naval missions, their own Battlecruisers and their own Fighters. Very soon both factions will get their own playable corvettes to rival the Anadconda; the Empire will get the Imperial Cutter and the Federation will get the Federal Corvette. Their faction specific fighters will be playable in the long-run. The Empire will also have a number of other ships, such as the Courier, the Liner and the Trader, which I assume will have Federal counterparts.
So what about the Alliance? According to numerous polls, the Alliance had been ranked second or even first in terms of Commanders who were alligned with them. They have control of some the classic Elite systems, like Lave and Zaonce (where the undeveloped Bank of Zaonce exists) and the Alliance itself is a sizable entity that has maintained their independence from the Federation. It has a number of rare commodities and is located razor-sharp close to the Founders World. To me, the Alliance seems like the perfect area for 84ers, considering the fact that Lave and Co are located there.
The problem is that what I'm seeing in the game, the existence of the Alliance doesn't make sense. The Alliance has no unified navy let alone any capital ships as far as I can tell. They don't have an unique fighters or any unique ships. The only missions you can take from them are missions to unlock permit system like their capital Alioth, so from the point of the view of an independent commander, they are a poor choice to do missions for. Considering that in Elite canon the Alliance was formed out of the Alioth Independents driving away Feds and Imperials, an almost impossible task only accomplished by retrofitting Long Range Cruisers into pocket battleships, wouldn't they have a small fleet at least?
There is the argument that individual systems contribute their own ragtag defence forces to a joint Alliance Navy. However, I don't buy this argument. If Senator Patreus and Senator Torval can afford their own personal battlefleets, I'm sure entire systems can afford to manufacture a small fleet of capital ships and corvettes with their own variation of fighter. Therefore, even if the Alliance Navy is decentralised, then there would be system fleets that have capital ships that could merge with other system fleets in the event of intragalactic warfare.
But I'm gonna go further than that; in my opinion, the Alliance would have centralised space fleet based out of Alioth, with individual systems contributing a number of warships and being set a minimum quota to meet, which can be altered based on the Alliance's needs. The Alliance already seems to have an Alliance-wide police force (Alliance Space Police) in order to ensure that the Alliance-wide bounty system is enforced, therefore a centralised fleet would make sense.
So what if the Alliance didn't have a Navy then past few hundred years, or was made up of decentralised space fleets? Well, put it like this, the Federation would had curbstomped the Alliance and levelled Alioth. The Federation would had built up their strength and invaded with their brand-new Farragut Battlecruisers and their Condor fighters. The Alliance would be too decentralised and too weak to deal with the Federation and it wouldn't exist.
Logically, the Alliance surviving without an unified navy makes no sense. A Battlecruiser can level squadrons of Anacondas with their weapons and can launch many (I wish FD gave a specific figure), many fighters. They can provide constant presence in a system without needing support from a nearby Federation system. Think of it this way; a Federation Python could travel to Lave, pirate Alliance Lakon T9s carrying Lave Brandy and return back to the Battlecruiser to refit and refuel before repeating it again. An Alliance privateer can only raid border worlds before Federal Security and the Navy shows up and has to return to a space station to refit and refuel, which is time consuming.
The Alliance needs a Navy. The question is, how would the Alliance Navy be unique? The Feds get utility, the Imperials style. It's pretty much both sides of the coin used up. And what about their manufacturer? Core Dynamics, with the exception of the Eagle Mk. II which is no longer produced by Core Dynamics itself, is the Federation's manufacturer, whilst the Imperials have Gutamaya. I find it unlikely that Faulcon DeLacy, Zorgon Peterson, Saud Kruger etc would dive out of their comfort zones to produce capital ships for the Alliance.
To find the answer, we need to look at old Alliance ships (http://www.frontierastro.co.uk/Ships/all_ships.html). In previous games, they were very much present. If FD doesn't want to develop new ships for the Alliance, it can poach a few old ones. The Merlin or the Saker Mk. III could easily become the Alliance's faction specific fighter once you've removed the FSD. As for the manufacturer, bring back AAAI. They were the reason why the Alliance managed to survive as an entity. They could carry on with their 'pocket battleship' philosophy and could produce the smallest of the capital ships that is still able to stand up against the Farragut or an Interdictor. As for their playable ships, there are a few counterparts to the roles I expect that they could have (note: using Imperial ships as they have the most confirmed/semi-confirmed upcoming ships):
Imperial Courier - Harris Fighter, somewhat verstatile if albeit combat-orientated. The Wolf Mk. I could fulfill this role too.
Imperial Clipper - Turner Class, just tone it down a bit. In my mind the Dropship and the Clipper are meant to be long-range combat-capable trading ships - the ultimate faction specific multirollers. Outclassed by the Python and the Anaconda though, possibly by the upcoming Vulture in the future, and currently (arguably) on-par with the Asp Explorer.
Imperial Trader - I dunno. FD come up with something unique. Currently we know nothing of faction-specific traders. Will they exceed the formidable Lakons in cargo space? Who knows? Maybe the Mantis could fulfill this role?
Imperial Cutter - An OP Turner Class? Possibly something unique.
Imperial Liner - lack of passenger missions for even the Orca and the absence of the Dolphin and the Beluga means that I'd rather not speculate.
So with AAAI as a manufacturer, what's their unique edge? Alliance ships should be exotic and alien. The Turner Class was this. If the Wolf Mk. I is retconned to be an AAAI ship, than this too will also make sense. AAAI took a great deal of interest in INRA, a Thargoid-fighting organisation of Elite-ranked commanders. The Turner Class used Thargoid technology, as did the experimental Saker Mk. III. Meet an Alliance ship and this theme should be clear; design should have a philosophy that seems 'outwordly', sounds should sound vastly different from other ships, weapons could make slightly different noise, lighting could have unusual colours etc. Their capital ship weapons should seem vastly different from the Imperial beams and the Federations pulses. I like the idea of them being mostly plasma-based.
And of course, with a fleshed out Alliance Navy, we need Alliance Naval missions. The rank structure should be based upon Earth military ranks but should not be a copy of the Federation's rank structure. Use ranks name that the Feds don't use. Perhaps a few Air Force ranks should be 'spacefied'? An example structure:
1. Candidate
2. Designate
3. Crewman
4. Sergeant
5. Colour Sergeant
6. Major (in the French Navy style)
7. Sub-Lieutenant
8. Lieutenant
9. Lieutenant-Captain
10. Flotilla Commander
It's not perfect. If anything, it's terrible. But I thought of this in about 5 minutes and wrote this article in about one hour. It shows that the barebones of what the Alliance should be can be made. Of course, FD would have to find time to implement the Alliance fully. But it would be nice to know that something is coming up for the Alliance and that there is something concrete for them. I have a lot of respect for Alliance players right now, because I know they haven't sided with the Alliance because they want this ship or they want that permit; they want to fight for their beliefs and values, which is represented by the Alliance. Reward them for this with the same content as us Imperial players and the lousy Federation players (sorry, can't help the jibes). They deserve it.
tl;dr: Alliance needs ships. And a Navy. And stuff. Etc.
EDIT: If it is not too much to ask, I'd like to get some Dev input on this. I'd rather know that the Alliance will not fleshed out for whatever reason than blindly cling onto the hope that the Alliance will be their own fully-fledged faction. Also, I'd like to add that I'm not requesting that the Alliance is like this. It is merely an example template of what the Alliance could be. The Alliance should be whatever F-Dev wants it to be.
The Federation have their Dropship, their own Naval missions, their own Battlecruisers and their own Fighters. Very soon both factions will get their own playable corvettes to rival the Anadconda; the Empire will get the Imperial Cutter and the Federation will get the Federal Corvette. Their faction specific fighters will be playable in the long-run. The Empire will also have a number of other ships, such as the Courier, the Liner and the Trader, which I assume will have Federal counterparts.
So what about the Alliance? According to numerous polls, the Alliance had been ranked second or even first in terms of Commanders who were alligned with them. They have control of some the classic Elite systems, like Lave and Zaonce (where the undeveloped Bank of Zaonce exists) and the Alliance itself is a sizable entity that has maintained their independence from the Federation. It has a number of rare commodities and is located razor-sharp close to the Founders World. To me, the Alliance seems like the perfect area for 84ers, considering the fact that Lave and Co are located there.
The problem is that what I'm seeing in the game, the existence of the Alliance doesn't make sense. The Alliance has no unified navy let alone any capital ships as far as I can tell. They don't have an unique fighters or any unique ships. The only missions you can take from them are missions to unlock permit system like their capital Alioth, so from the point of the view of an independent commander, they are a poor choice to do missions for. Considering that in Elite canon the Alliance was formed out of the Alioth Independents driving away Feds and Imperials, an almost impossible task only accomplished by retrofitting Long Range Cruisers into pocket battleships, wouldn't they have a small fleet at least?
There is the argument that individual systems contribute their own ragtag defence forces to a joint Alliance Navy. However, I don't buy this argument. If Senator Patreus and Senator Torval can afford their own personal battlefleets, I'm sure entire systems can afford to manufacture a small fleet of capital ships and corvettes with their own variation of fighter. Therefore, even if the Alliance Navy is decentralised, then there would be system fleets that have capital ships that could merge with other system fleets in the event of intragalactic warfare.
But I'm gonna go further than that; in my opinion, the Alliance would have centralised space fleet based out of Alioth, with individual systems contributing a number of warships and being set a minimum quota to meet, which can be altered based on the Alliance's needs. The Alliance already seems to have an Alliance-wide police force (Alliance Space Police) in order to ensure that the Alliance-wide bounty system is enforced, therefore a centralised fleet would make sense.
So what if the Alliance didn't have a Navy then past few hundred years, or was made up of decentralised space fleets? Well, put it like this, the Federation would had curbstomped the Alliance and levelled Alioth. The Federation would had built up their strength and invaded with their brand-new Farragut Battlecruisers and their Condor fighters. The Alliance would be too decentralised and too weak to deal with the Federation and it wouldn't exist.
Logically, the Alliance surviving without an unified navy makes no sense. A Battlecruiser can level squadrons of Anacondas with their weapons and can launch many (I wish FD gave a specific figure), many fighters. They can provide constant presence in a system without needing support from a nearby Federation system. Think of it this way; a Federation Python could travel to Lave, pirate Alliance Lakon T9s carrying Lave Brandy and return back to the Battlecruiser to refit and refuel before repeating it again. An Alliance privateer can only raid border worlds before Federal Security and the Navy shows up and has to return to a space station to refit and refuel, which is time consuming.
The Alliance needs a Navy. The question is, how would the Alliance Navy be unique? The Feds get utility, the Imperials style. It's pretty much both sides of the coin used up. And what about their manufacturer? Core Dynamics, with the exception of the Eagle Mk. II which is no longer produced by Core Dynamics itself, is the Federation's manufacturer, whilst the Imperials have Gutamaya. I find it unlikely that Faulcon DeLacy, Zorgon Peterson, Saud Kruger etc would dive out of their comfort zones to produce capital ships for the Alliance.
To find the answer, we need to look at old Alliance ships (http://www.frontierastro.co.uk/Ships/all_ships.html). In previous games, they were very much present. If FD doesn't want to develop new ships for the Alliance, it can poach a few old ones. The Merlin or the Saker Mk. III could easily become the Alliance's faction specific fighter once you've removed the FSD. As for the manufacturer, bring back AAAI. They were the reason why the Alliance managed to survive as an entity. They could carry on with their 'pocket battleship' philosophy and could produce the smallest of the capital ships that is still able to stand up against the Farragut or an Interdictor. As for their playable ships, there are a few counterparts to the roles I expect that they could have (note: using Imperial ships as they have the most confirmed/semi-confirmed upcoming ships):
Imperial Courier - Harris Fighter, somewhat verstatile if albeit combat-orientated. The Wolf Mk. I could fulfill this role too.
Imperial Clipper - Turner Class, just tone it down a bit. In my mind the Dropship and the Clipper are meant to be long-range combat-capable trading ships - the ultimate faction specific multirollers. Outclassed by the Python and the Anaconda though, possibly by the upcoming Vulture in the future, and currently (arguably) on-par with the Asp Explorer.
Imperial Trader - I dunno. FD come up with something unique. Currently we know nothing of faction-specific traders. Will they exceed the formidable Lakons in cargo space? Who knows? Maybe the Mantis could fulfill this role?
Imperial Cutter - An OP Turner Class? Possibly something unique.
Imperial Liner - lack of passenger missions for even the Orca and the absence of the Dolphin and the Beluga means that I'd rather not speculate.
So with AAAI as a manufacturer, what's their unique edge? Alliance ships should be exotic and alien. The Turner Class was this. If the Wolf Mk. I is retconned to be an AAAI ship, than this too will also make sense. AAAI took a great deal of interest in INRA, a Thargoid-fighting organisation of Elite-ranked commanders. The Turner Class used Thargoid technology, as did the experimental Saker Mk. III. Meet an Alliance ship and this theme should be clear; design should have a philosophy that seems 'outwordly', sounds should sound vastly different from other ships, weapons could make slightly different noise, lighting could have unusual colours etc. Their capital ship weapons should seem vastly different from the Imperial beams and the Federations pulses. I like the idea of them being mostly plasma-based.
And of course, with a fleshed out Alliance Navy, we need Alliance Naval missions. The rank structure should be based upon Earth military ranks but should not be a copy of the Federation's rank structure. Use ranks name that the Feds don't use. Perhaps a few Air Force ranks should be 'spacefied'? An example structure:
1. Candidate
2. Designate
3. Crewman
4. Sergeant
5. Colour Sergeant
6. Major (in the French Navy style)
7. Sub-Lieutenant
8. Lieutenant
9. Lieutenant-Captain
10. Flotilla Commander
It's not perfect. If anything, it's terrible. But I thought of this in about 5 minutes and wrote this article in about one hour. It shows that the barebones of what the Alliance should be can be made. Of course, FD would have to find time to implement the Alliance fully. But it would be nice to know that something is coming up for the Alliance and that there is something concrete for them. I have a lot of respect for Alliance players right now, because I know they haven't sided with the Alliance because they want this ship or they want that permit; they want to fight for their beliefs and values, which is represented by the Alliance. Reward them for this with the same content as us Imperial players and the lousy Federation players (sorry, can't help the jibes). They deserve it.
tl;dr: Alliance needs ships. And a Navy. And stuff. Etc.
EDIT: If it is not too much to ask, I'd like to get some Dev input on this. I'd rather know that the Alliance will not fleshed out for whatever reason than blindly cling onto the hope that the Alliance will be their own fully-fledged faction. Also, I'd like to add that I'm not requesting that the Alliance is like this. It is merely an example template of what the Alliance could be. The Alliance should be whatever F-Dev wants it to be.
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