Conquest of Solar Systems

[Yurk Embassy]

Well, I have nowhere in this thread mentioned that the solar systems just suddenly change ownership to your empire when the siege is done. It is just meant as requirement before being able to them capture or bombard the cities in the solar system.

I mean your "Planetary Shield" could be used as a lore wise reason if you want. All claimed worlds in a solar system is automatically protected by a world wide shield that makes everything on it invulnerable to attack, so the attacker has to station a warship in the system for x number of days until the shield systems run out of fuel or they hack it or whatever. Mechanical how it works is what matters, how it looks or quacks doesn't matter too much.

I mean, sure, I see your point. I like this idea too, frankly; it might actually be the easiest to make as far as performance and crash/limbo avoidance are concerned. I simply feel like having it done to a planetary scale and involving actual, physical firing at said shields, might make both more immersive and more entertaining (it's just my take, I couldn't know for sure as it's never been tried before, but I do really think the aesthetic and rhythm aspects of battles should not be neglected for war to be enjoyable). Moreover, the idea of having to deliver constant fire might force even the most powerful empires to mind ammunition and fuel logistics when laying a siege. Maybe they'd even make specific designs dedicated to laying sieges: long-range line crafts that'd deliver powerful salvas with great ammo capacity, while being rather undershielded and underarmoured themselves.

Of course, since it would be planet-scaled and not system-wise, time would work a tad differently. Contrary to having to wait for like three or four days before a swift attack, attackers would wait at most 24 hours before a planet's shield is downed, then a more lively battle would ensue as they'd either bomb or capture the planet's cities, and afterwards, they would have to lay siege on another world. Depending on how many planets are occupied, taking/destroying the whole system could take, in fact, a few days in itself. Maybe if they have enough ships, they could have one or two crafts fire at another world's shield to weaken it early before the first planet falls, and the main force arrives later to finish the job. What I mean, is that there would be more variations between long periods of waiting and micro-battles for control over planets themselves; pace might be more interesting, and battles more complex, allowing for more tactics to play out, both from defenders and attackers.

I mean, either way, both your take and mine would impose a severe time constraint on sieges, and force even powerful empires to think "Is it worth it?" before attacking a random noob empire two sectors away from their border. Pragmatic thought might be summonned more often when it comes to the reasons for capturing a world or system: basically, strategic value for the enemy or ourselves.