Just how big are ships in the setting and how many military assets are on the move? Well lets use the Realm as an example, with the understanding that all of the factions operate on a comparable scale.
A Realm platoon is 30 members and is represented on the table by the Realm Army Box. Each platoon is a member of a company made up of 3 platoons. Each battalion is made up of 10 companies. Every brigade is made up of 5 battalions.
A Realm Chiyou-class cruiser is 1280 feet long. It carries a brigade of augment ground forces and has a crew of 500 personnel making the total compliment of persons aboard around 5000 per ship. A typical House Sidana task force would be:
- 3 Sobek-class corvettes
- 2 Andarta-class frigates
- 2 Tir-class carriers
- 2 Chiyou-class cruisers
- A Shiva-class battlecruiser
The combined troop compliment of this task force would eight brigades. This means that they could deploy and support 36,000 augment troops on a deployment. So while Outward Realms is a platoon sized game, in the lore your roster is almost certainly operating as part of a much larger battle. It is unsurprising that many problems a House encounters can be resolved by the arrival of a single task force given their ability to put a massive amount of troops anywhere they are needed in a very short time frame!
In addition to troops, each ship provides air support with their drones, fighters, or even their smaller atmosphere-capable ships. Supplies are manufactured in orbit and deployed via orbital insertion, making their arrival both timely and negating the need for sustained ground based supply lines. Damaged vehicles and gravely injured personnel can be evacuated as well. The Realm uses drop frames for that purpose. The Batra prefer dropships which would be higher risk were it not for their stealth systems. The Hexagota tend to build hives on the surface to address their supply needs. Whereas the Niphal simply manufacture replacements and send them to the surface directly rather than attempt to refurbish or repair damaged nodes.
So the next time you are engaged in battle you can imagine the bigger picture taking place all around you as your roster goes to war!
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