House Dvaered is one of the major factions in the Naev universe. It evolved from the simple working class of the Empire during the Second Growth and the Faction Wars and was granted the status of a Great House by the Emperor during the golden age of the Empire. Today, it is governed by the military and the armed forces dominate much of the everyday lives of the Dvaered citizens. Planets are governed by Warlords, former members of the Dvaered High Command, which makes all the most important decisions about the House. The Warlords regulate life on a local basis, while the High Command directs the Faction as a whole. The only way of rising up is usually to join the military and earn medals and commendations.
The Facts
History
House Dvaered came forth from a lower caste in the old Empire, a collection of miners, manual laborers, foot soldiers and outcasts. With the gradual decline in authority of the Empire, the working class became increasingly disgruntled with their social position. They banded together into what could be considered the biggest labor union in all of human history, and started demanding better treatment.
When the Empire was less than forthcoming, the laborers began to take more drastic measures. The labor union turned into a resistance movement that escalated into open rebellion on several worlds. History names this movement the Dvaered Revolts. The origin of that name is unclear, but it became common among the rebelling workers.
Cycles of civil unrest on the working planets and fruitless attempts on the part of the Empire to quell it eventually led the Emperor of that time to agree to the Dvaereds' demands. Their leaders were granted the right to establish a Great House, and direct control over a sizeable chunk of space, in reparation for the lives lost during the Dvaered Revolts.
Eager to claim their place among the other big players, the then-time Dvaered leadership decided that discipline was the only proper way to shape a society. And so House Dvaered evolved into a military regime, and the values of honor and strength were etched into the Dvaered soul.
Government
Today, House Dvaered is ruled by the Generals of the Dvaered military. The amount of Generals varies from time to time, but there are always enough to feed the fires of internal discord. Influence is usually determined by the amount of medals and commendations a General has collected in his career. This at least stands undisputed, for House Dvaered has extensive protocols for dispensing awards. In fact, it can be considered a constitution of sorts.
Warlords
When a General retires from High Command, he often takes with him a small contingent of the armed forces. These are soldiers and captains who have sworn allegiance to the man, not the banner, and they will continue to serve until the bitter end. The General, now known as a Warlord, will then use his little private army to secure rule over one or more Dvaered worlds, usually by usurping the position from another Warlord. This method of local government is commonly accepted to be legal, and no Dvaered citizen will be surprised when suddenly a new set of local laws will be passed to replace another.
Citizens
The Dvaered citizenry itself is barely worthy of the name. There is often more squalor than culture, and more often than not the Dvaered will seek employment in the military, despite the dangers that represents. Nevertheless, there certainly is a Dvaered elite. They often concentrate on the few truly hospitable worlds in Dvaered space, where they pursue their idea of luxury.
Warlords and Dvaered High Command
While every Dvaered controlled world is governed by a Warlord at any given time, it is Dvaered High Command that the Warlords ultimately answer to. Though Dvaered High Command is more military than government, it needs a steady stream of funds, manpower and materials to further its agenda. Each Warlord is required to pay a certain portion of his worlds' resources in tax. Failure to do so results in a swift and permanent removal by Dvaered High Command, after which the worlds previously held by that warlord become available to any other Warlords with the will to take them (which is to say, all of them).
How the Dvaered fight in space
Summary
- Dvaered fleets' main strategy consists in destroying enemy heavy ships in order to force lighter ones to retreat.
- Most Dvaered ships' characteristics are: heavy, slow, bad manoeuvrability, good armour, good cannons.
- Exception: the Phalanx has no speed malus and can more or less keep up with the bombers and fighters to support them with turreted missiles. But it has very bad manoeuvrability and as a result is nearly forced to use turrets.
- Civilian versions are limited because of the high base weight of the designs, but military versions have higher engine mass limit to compensate. As a result, Dvaered ships are less able to stealth.
- Civilian Goddard is quite different from Dvaered version because it is used differently by civilians and Dvaered.
- Most Dvaered designs (except for the Goddard) are modified versions of other factions' obsolete ships.
General doctrine of the Dvaered space navy:
Dvaered have observed during their independence war that the destruction of supply ships and carriers is a safe way to force a fleet to retreat, and to preserve their planets from enemy disembarkment. Their military doctrine is based on direct and very powerful attacks on key assets of the enemy force, that makes the enemy position untenable. They do want to avoid entering in an attrition war as much as possible.
Offensive doctrine: Contrary to what can be expected, Dvaered have never been the aggressor in any large scale war against an other consequent power. This is why the dvaered Generals have paradoxically not much confidence for the invasion of the Frontier. However, during the countless wars that have happened between Warlords, the Dvaered have tested many tactics, and the one that is favoured by the Dvaered generals is the following: A Dvaered attack fleet must use its superior firepower to damage, destroy or take control as fast as possible of the heavy enemy installations (bases on planets, stations or carriers). Without that support, the enemy lighter ships will eventually have to retreat from the system. Dvaered don't want to send expeditionary fleets far away from their space. Their fleets require to be at max at 2 jumps from their bases to operate. Ideally, in the same system.
Defensive doctrine: If the objective of the enemy forces is the invasion, it can be expected that carriers and transports will head towards the allied assets. The goal for the Dvaered fleet will be to destroy those heavy ships as soon as possible in order to force the enemy to abort the invasion. Before those support ships show up, the dvaered ships must be as discrete as possible (stay at dock) in order not to be vulnerable to harassment from the enemy foreguard.
Consequence on the ships design:
Both in attack and defence, Dvaered pilots have to target heavier ships and to ignore lighter opponents that are going to harass them. This is why they favour forward weapons (their target is less manoeuvrable than they are) and require high armour in order to survive harassment from light ships. However, in the case when the enemy light ships try to interpose themselves instead of using missiles, the Dvaered pilots should take the opportunity to pick up the fight and destroy them, if possible in one pass. This requires very powerful cannons, and huge reserves of energy. With their massive attack-focused tactics, the Dvaered don't anticipate long fights. Consequently, the shields and their regeneration rate are not very important.
Dvaered ships are usually able to win a dogfight duel against any other ship of the same class.
Origin of the ships designs (except for the Goddard):
As stealth and speed are not prominent needs, the Dvaered engineers prefer to rely on outdated and well-known ship designs. These designs are then upgraded with more weapon slots, better energy storing, optimized cannons and better armour. After that, the engineers try to optimize the balance of the ship's mass in order to increase the maximal admissible payload. The unoptimized version is sold to civilians, while the optimized version is reserved to Dvaered pilots in order to grant them an advantage. The dvaered engineers are now working on the next generation of ships, mostly based on Empire designs (Lancelot, Pacifier, Hawking).
List of Dvaered Ships
Vendetta (Fighter)
- Role: destroy bombers, swarm and engage medium ships from several directions and get opportunity shots on interceptors and fighters. As they fly in first line, they expect to eat many rockets during the approach phase.
- Characteristics: cheap, heavy, slow, good armour, good cannons (kills small ships in one pass)
- Interest for player: It is the best ship for a dogfight duel. However, its slower top speed makes it vulnerable to multiple lighter attackers, and to missiles.
- History: During the independence war, the Lancelot was a very new ship and the Bat used to be the standard Empire fighter. Dvaered engineers managed to adapt one more weapon slot on it, and to improve its armour, and renamed it the "Vendetta". After the war, a second weapon slot and more armour were added, and given the success of the program, the engineers decided to try and upgrade all empire designs the same way.
Ancestor (Bomber)
- Role: Dvaered bombers fulfil two very different roles: the main one is to swarm and attack enemy capships at close range with powerful unguided torpedoes. The Dvaered don't like to use guided torpedoes, because their use is too time-consuming for their radical attack tactics, and also because of their price. The second role of bombers is to defend a temporary static fleet against light targets (that their Vendettas cannot reach). In that case, they use Headhunter or Fury missiles to target Fighters and Bombers that use their own launchers against heavy Dvaered ships. This second role is however mostly taken by the corvettes.
- Characteristics: cheap, heavy, slow, bad manoeuvrability, good armour, good launchers
- Interest for player: civilian version is the only bomber easily available. It is very effective against heavy ships when used with torpedoes. Military version is an upgrade on the civilian version.
- History: This is a redesign of an old model that was obsolete before the civil war.
Phalanx (Corvette)
- Role: Support fighters and bombers squadrons with turreted missiles, and bring cover if needed. Can also be used to skirt a blocus with supplies.
- Characteristics: heavy, bad manoeuvrability, good armour, good launchers, no speed malus (ie fast by Dvaered standards)
- Interest for player: A very capable corvette when equipped with turrets.
- History: After the independence war, analysts noticed that many fighters and bomber squadrons had been lost because of harassment by enemy light ships. This is why an engineering program was initiated from an imperial prototype recovered on one of the freshly conquered planets. This prototype was a fast but badly manoeuvrable corvette on which the dvaered managed to adapt more ammo space and armour. The design eventually became a missile-platform able to more or less catch up with Dvaered fighters in terms of top speed.
Vigilance (Destroyer)
- Role: Destroy enemy medium ships to defend the fleet, or engage cruisers and carriers with railguns in attack.
- Characteristics: slow, heavy, bad manoeuvrability, good armour, good cannons
- Interest for player: When purposely-equipped, the Vigilance can destroy the casual Kestrel while not fearing lighter ships. As such, it's probably the lightest possible choice for pirate hunt.
- History: The Vigilance began its career as a Sirius prototype, with high defensive capabilities. At some point, the project was abandoned because it did not fit the needs of the Sirius army anymore. When House Dvaered was established, house Sirius sold them the project. Of course, Dvaered engineers made many changes to the design to make it suit better their own needs.
Goddard (Battleship)
- Role: Neutralize Destroyers and up. Thanks to their advanced armour, the Goddards can in some circumstances be used as a ram by the rest of the fleet. What is more, all Warlords and generals of the Space Forces have a Goddard. When two generals have a deep disagreement, they may have a duel with their Goddards. As a consequence, they like to have good cannons.
- Characteristics: heavy, slow, good armour, good cannons
- Interest for player: This is the best choice to destroy heavy enemies escorted by light ships. The Goddard's armour can even survive several Caesar torpedoes.
- History: This ship is built on the Dvaered territory by employees of the Goddard company (and House). It is a many-time-updated version of the very old Goddard-class battlecruiser. Compared to the version sold to the public (and used by House Goddard), the Dvaered version is very different, with stronger cannons and armour, but heavier and worse CPU and shield
Arsenal (Bulk Carrier)
- Role: Carry supplies and troops, mainly for ground operations.
- Characteristics: slow, bad manoeuvrability, good armour
- Interest for player: This ship has the best ratio cargo-space/vulnerability.
- History: After the independence war, Dvaered engineers designed this ship on the model of Melendez's Rhino, but bigger and tougher.
Needed Classes
Scout (I believe they need a good one if they want to apply their military doctrine. Otherwise, they use the Schroedinger.)
Cruiser: They probably need a railgun-truck ship.
Unused Classes
Interceptor: Dvaered don't use Carriers nor harassment tactics. Consequently, they did not develop an interceptor. What is more, the concept of interceptor is recent, and they did not find a foreign obsolete design to adapt. They rely on foreign models (Hyena and Shark) in the rare occasions when they need fast ships.
Carrier: Dvaered don't attack planets far from their bases. Consequently, they do not need carriers. If at some point they need to send a fleet far from their space, they need to borrow, annex or build a base before proceeding. Their lack of carriers is the main reason why the Dvaered never found the FLF base in the nebula. If really needed, Goddards and Vigilances can receive small bays to provide support for a limited number of light ships.
List of Dvaered Outfits
Used Weapons
- Gauss Gun, Vulcan Gun, Shredder and Mass Driver: Standard cannon suite for Dvaered ships. They are the primary equipment of fighters, and secondary for bombers. Mass Driver is part of the equipment of Destroyers as well. This equipment is not specific to Dvaered, even if most of those weapons are fabricated on their planets. Note that the Shredder (light corvette cannon) does not really fit into the Dvaered military doctrine, and as a consequence, it is rarely equipped on Dvaered ships.
- Railgun and Repeating Railgun: Heavy cannons that equip destroyers and up. It is a Dvaered specificity to put heavy forward weapons on their capships, what allows for a better damage/resource ratio, but makes it harder for their heavy ships to hit lighter enemies. Repeating Railgun is Dvaered-specific.
- Turreted Gauss and Vulcan Gun: Turret suite that serves as secondary weapons for corvettes and higher.
- Turreted Railgun: It does not fit into Dvaered military doctrine and is mainly fabricated for export.
- Flak turrets and forward shotguns: {unimplemented} Cannon and turret suite for Dvaered ships that expect to face many light adversaries. Those weapons are mainly developed in anticipation of a potential war against House Za'lek, and were not tested at large scale.
- Mace launchers: Used primarily as a short damage booster for fighters, they can also be a secondary weapon for bombers.
- Banshee launchers: They can be used to make a fighter able to threaten enemy heavy ships (or more realistically destroyers), or as secondary weapons for bombers.
- Repeating banshee launchers: Dvaered-specific. They don't carry more rockets than the standard launchers, but have a much higher firing rate. They are mainly used by bomber squadrons against heavy and medium ships. They can also be equipped as damage-boosters for destroyers or even capships.
- Fury and Headhunter launchers: Turreted versions are used by corvettes, to protect the fleet against missile-harassment. More rarely (when enemy capships are rare), non-turreted versions are equipped to bombers for the same purpose.
- SFC launchers: Dvaered-specific. Super-Fast Collider, also known as Suppository For Capships. This launcher was developed after the independence war in order for Dvaered heavy ships to defend themselves against enemy heavy ships equipped with torpedoes, but it can also one-shot unwise fighters. It is basically a giant mace launcher. It has low ammo and rate of fire, high speed and range, but lower damage per second than Railguns, which makes of it kind of a situational weapon. It requires a Large Weapon Slot.
Unused Weapons
- Guided torpedoes: Dvaered prefer to equip their bombers with unguided weapons and to attack at closer range because it has the advantage of execution speed and lower price. Plus, the Dvaered don't like their bombers to stay static and vulnerable to enemy fighters or rockets.
Particularly used utilities
- Impacto-Plastic Coating: Used on a regular basis on warships to increase their absorption
- Cyclic Combat AI: Used by Destroyers and up to increase their fire-rate, Corvettes on the contrary sometimes use Targeting Arrays for their turrets
- Afterburners: Used in attack, mainly by bombers in their approach phase, in order to have less predictable trajectories, and more rarely in defence by fighters and bombers.
Particularly used structure outfits
- Platings: Passive platings are the most used outfits by Dvaered medium ships and up, followed by the active platings, which are Dvaered-specific, but are limited by their energy consumption. Bio-metal armour (regenerative plating) are nearly never used in massive fights, due to the Dvaered favouring short and intense fights, but they find their place in law-enforcement and counter-insurrection as they allow ships to continue their patrol even if they received hull damage.