Planets, development and conquest
Worlds Worth Taking
A planet is a place, not a hit-point bar. It grows, it defends itself, and it can change hands.
Every power in the galaxy lives on its worlds. Population pays for the empire and crews its ships; industry builds the fleet; development decides what a world can do.
Development
A settled world grows. Its population rises towards what its habitation can hold, and each facility built on it shapes its role: more industry, more research, more trade, more defence. For the Solar Dominion, a developed world also means Supply: the capacity to sustain warships. The bigger the territory, the bigger the navy it can keep.
Different powers favour different worlds. Each has a homeworld type on which it thrives, and some worlds that will only ever be outposts to it.
Defence
Worlds defend themselves. Planetary shields stop bombardment while they hold; orbital guns and interceptor missiles engage ships in the well; stations add hangars and sensors. An undefended world is an invitation.
Conquest
Conventional weapons cannot destroy a planet, so war is about control. Taking a world comes in layers:
- Orbital control: win the battle in its gravity well.
- Bombardment: break the shields and the defences on the ground.
- Assault: land the troops and take it.
A war ends when an empire loses its capital world, or every last one of its planets.
See every kind of world on the Worlds page.