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HOMEWORLD: TAIIDANI FLEET - THE KEY TO A VICTORY

HW TDN FLEET - Z K 2 A VICTORY!

Contents

  1. The Sources
  2. Change Log
  3. Kushans
  4. Taiidans
  5. Vaygr
  6. Hiigarans
  7. Pirates

The Sources

  • HW1 - Homeworld 1, manual, game
  • HWC - Homeworld Cataclysm/Emergence, manual, game
  • HWCO - Homeworld Cataclysm, outtakes
  • HWWOS - HW and HWC ship descriptions, well of souls
  • HW2 - Homeworld 2, manual, game
  • HW2PR - Homeworld 2, Prima Official eGuide
  • HWDOK - Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, Expedition Guide, game
  • HWR - Homeworld: Revelations RPG
  • HWRS - Homeworld: Revelations RPG Story Seeds
  • HWM - Homeworld: Mobile, homeworldsource.net
  • HW3 - Homeworld 3
  • HWDST - Homeworld Dust Wars drafts

Change Log

  • 10.01.24 - updated text and included "Taiidan & Vaygr" and "Taiidani Republicans and Imperialists" articles with pretty much the same topics;

KUSHANS

HW TISF Z Kushani v2

So, let's begin with Homeworld triumphers.

In the first game Kushan and Taiidan fleets were actually the same. Yes, it can be explained by developer's lack of time to make really different race, but even this thing can be taken as a part of game universe logic.

As we remember, in the game's beginning Kharaki space fleet consisted of collector, scout, research ship and drag-n-puller "salvette", thus meaning that Kharakians had only one fighter class battle ship. Yes, there were plans for scout chassis development, thus getting the interceptor; research for making something at the size of "salvette" using it's chassis; and the research ship as an example of something pretty close to the frigate class.

What helps Kharaki engineering to make the leap jump? Salvaging of the Empire's frigate. Immediately we can build resource controller - non-combatant frigate-engines based ship. It seems, that Taiidani frigate tech made capital ship production available. This has launched frigate production - support, assault... And a bit later from the third hands (be it Bentusi trade or Turanic/Taiidan frigate salvage) - here comes the ion frigate.

Taiidani were tactical and strategical inspiration for the Kushani fleet. Kushani learned on the fly, copying the most effective enemy solutions. And as they had no experience with that before, they copied almost everything except for the most advanced tech, like Defense Field Generator Frigate and Defense Fighter, ships that mark the fleet being not afraid of going into the middle of a battle, thus accepting the losses that might occur. But that's the strategy of a fleet that has 150 star systems behind with 360 billion souls behind.

Kushani, with only 600k Sleepers and few thousand active members onboard the Mothership, had to be careful, trying not to waste any pilot life. And for that they had invented covert-ops Stealth Fighter and AI-based Drone Frigate to minimize human casualties. In their time Somtaaw has continued this strategy in a more specific way.

But still, as Kushani had the Taiidani fleet as a core in their own fleet, they had to hold to the Taiidani Art of War with a minimal difference.

TAIIDANS

HW TISF Z Taiidani v2

So, the Rebellion: The Empire is melting in a Civil War. Quite a lot of worlds decided that their path is not the Taiidani one, and quite a lot of Taiidani didn't share the ideals of The Republic.

After 5 years of skirmishes and all-out battles, the Taidan Republic finally stabilized and established an uneasy peace within itself...but by the time the shooting stopped, only 60 out of a 150 star systems were willing to call themselves Taidani. Most of these loyal worlds are centered in the Galactic Core, while the spiral regions of the old Empire have splintered into a variety of small kingdoms, duchies and independent democratic states.
(c) HWC, p.15, C1 Historical Brief, The Taidan Republic

So The Taiidan Empire had divided into:

  • The Taiidan Republic, ruled by the Rebels;
  • The Imperialist's Worlds, ruled by the Loyalists;
  • The others, ruled the ones that are not that important in this case;

The Republicans got some tech from Bentusi. Many consider that because of this Republic's new fleet should renovated, becoming technologically advanced and reduced in numbers, but Loyalist's - vice versa, remaining the same old Taiidan Empire Fleet.

FIRST, it might have been true, if the number of Republic worlds would be less or equal to Loyalist ones. Then the Republicans would seek, like Somtaaw, new ways and non-standard decisions to achieve victory... But in this case - the Taiidan Empire heritage was left in the hands of the Republicans. I doubt that military centers would be situated in the star systems which loyalty could be doubted - like those who didn't wanted to consider themselves as Taiidani.

Taiidani Republic got 60 worlds, with big factories, supported by a system, a little bit broken as some the parts of the Empire was absent, but still working, with ability to produce ships of the famous Taiidani fleet; and on the other hand - divided Imperialists worlds that had no potential alone.

With a few years of planning time, the Republic has stopped trying to match the Imperialist factions on a gun-to-gun basis, and are now trying to seize the high ground by using advanced technologies.
(c) HWC, p.15, C1 Historical Brief, The Taidan Republic

Besides that, not only production capabilities are bigger for the Republic, but also the research ones. Besides the totally new projects like Nomad Moon, the Republicans would not simply produce more and more of the ships with an old equipment inside but they would upgrade them, having their fleet more superior though with the pretty much the same visual look. Actually, Hiigarans look like simple Progenitor tech scavengers compared to the inventive Taiidans!

And though it was never a real issue, the Taiidan Republic fleet was unmatchable having 2.5x more carrier groups unified than the Taiidan Imperialists divided.

At the Empire's fall there were 137 Saarkin Cho on active duty, and by the time the ashes of the civil war cooled approximately 70 of these heavy carriers were still active, 19 of these flying the colors of the Imperialist faction.
(c) HWC, p.116, C4 Ships, Imperialist Taiidan Vessels, "Saarkin Cho” Class Carrier

So, even if the Republic had some issues with the Imperialists, at the moment of the Beast War they were gone: especially considering that those Loyalists tried to have a war on two fronts, having no luck even with a single world of Hiigara!

SECOND, if we take Vaygr War times fleets, then we can see, that in general the technology remained the same: railguns, ions, plasma, missiles… I believe the same thing has happened to the war machines of World War 2: they had been improved in armor, caliber, engine, but from outside it remained the same, was named the same and served same purposes.

But can we compare 4 years of WW2 and 115 years between the Homeworld Wars? But the same infantry with spears or swords was used for centuries, until rifles changed the picture of the battle. Airplane's piston engine would still be used if not the reactive ones. But what can you change in space? No aerodynamics, no landscape, and no rule-changing tech at least until the Age of S'jet. More then that: Vaygr didn't use ion tech, but Hiigarans have borrowed a concept of Taiidan Defense Field Generator Frigate - the result seems to be something in between of Somtaaw force field and Taiidani invention.

Well, it really looks like Liu Xicing "The Three-Body Problem" universe, where aliens have managed to block all the fundamental science research, leaving earthlings to sharpen the tech of 21st century...

So, we can say that the Republic has remained with the same Imperial standard fleet. And that's good, as the Empire fleet appeared to be the most powerful: if we take a look at The First Homeworld War, then we can understand that Taiidani fleet was fighting against the same "Taiidani" fleets (Kushan and Rebellion ones), so it could not bring any strategical table flips changing ship roles or adding new ones; it would only bring new tactics to fleet manuals operating the same units.

Totally different thing is about the Loyalists. They had been left in minority, with completely different production capabilities and broken logistic lines. While a frigate can be built in a carrier or a space station, the super capital ships would require some bigger factory and greater economics. Yes, Kushans managed to do this, but they were in Total War mode. How long would a typical world survive this without a proper motivation?..

Beast War events shows us that at least for 15 years the Loyalists were using Imperial Standard Fleet. But the same events shows us the crisis of the Loyalist militarism: the are forced to ally with the Turanic Raiders and later - even with the Beast, as they felt that they are helplessly falling behind...

What am I pointing to? The Loyalists, similar to Somtaaw kiith, were forced to move to the ship modular production system. This would allow ships to be upgraded according to the situation, to use some "local" technologies, and in general to get cheaper production. Of course, this forced to change the battle strategy, distancing from Imperial Standard Fleet, getting closer to the Pirate Type Fleet, maybe something similar to Somtaaw one. But being honest, the Loyalists already bowed down to the Turanics level...

VAYGR

HW TISF Z Vaygr v2

Vaygr. It seems that it must be the force that can smash the Taiidan Republic fleet. But it seems only from the first sight. Was Makaan's victory something "natural" or was it only because of some jokers in his arm? Let's see what of consists his fleet.

First, despite the fact the Vaygr mostly rely on strike craft, they have have their own Uberwaffe - super capital ship, a cruiser with "Trinity" cannon and loads of heavy missiles. What can it tell about their fleet?

If we recall pirate factions, like Kadeshi or Turanic Raiders, then we can find some similarities with Vaygr: these also relied heavily on strike craft with anti-capital ship support of frigates and carrier-cruisers.

Of this we can get several conclusions:

  • First, it seems, that Makaan has started his career as a pirate/raider or/and miner, alike Somtaaw: this guess may be supported by the fact that it was not really known about the Vaygr threat before;
  • Second, Makaan's fleet strategy relied heavily on strike craft, well known to him as he had no options to build bigger vessels;
  • Third, he has no access to the advanced tech like ion cannon or stealth, as these belong to the big Galactic Core empires, not some dawgs from the Eastern Outer Rim;
  • Forth, most of Vaygr worlds have not required big efforts to be conquered, as the strike craft was enough;

So, Makaan comes to the big world. Somehow he finds a Great Hyperspace Core. Something happens and then he is mislead, he counts himself as a prophet and Messiah. And his goal is to collect all the three GHC's. But this is no easy task: one is possessed by the Bentusi, the other - by Hiigarans, and both are defended by the Galactic Council, who has an ally of the Taiidan Republic with it's victorious fleet.

Usually it's taken as granted that Taiidans have simply joined Vaygr Crusade, but I believe it was not that easy as the Hiigaran propaganda has stated it. Kushans had their own problems with the "Kiithless" - the oppressed Hiigaran Taiidans, and that caused some actions from the Taiidans - militaristic tensions from the Loyalists, and diplomatic questions from the Republic. And while the Taiidan Republic politicians closed their eyes on the issue to co-exist in the Galactic Council, though it was not very good for their political image, boosting the popularity of radical populists with revanchist ideas, the Hiigaran Republic still didn't trust them especially them having some of the lords from the Taiidan Empire Assembly - of course, formally not involved in any war criminal activity but you never know... Thus Hiigaran agenda and stereotypes about Taiidans being the evil guys dreaming to revive the Taiidan Empire remained actual.

We cope with this anger in various ways, but our society still boils with resentment of the Taidani in general. Of course, most of our people are capable of distinguishing between the Imperium, which wronged us so cruelly, and the current besieged Taidan Republic, which is still ruled by the Rebels who helped us win back Hiigara... but sadly, not everyone can make this distinction. With the constant threat of Imperialist rule, for many Kushan, the only good Taidani is a dead one and even the moderates are pushing for the annexation of nearby former Taidan worlds in the name of security for Hiigara.
(c) HWC, p.6, C1 Historical Brief, The Rude Awakening

HW TISF Z Makaan

But what had Makaan done in this situation?

He found allies within the Taiidan Imperialists. He showed them the V-power, probably in an old Admiral Riesstiu style, demonstrating his force - and half-conquered, half-joined the Loyalist forces giving them a hope of reviving the Empire, thus enlarging the numbers of his Crusade and advancing it. So, a quite short stop at the Loyalists worlds allowed Vaygr to make a technological leap (you know, Vaygr tech tree is very similar to HW1 one...) and to become more Taiidani alike.

But has this changed things drastically? No, the Loyalist fleet structure was half-pirate, pretty much the same as Vaygr one, and too deep modernization would make the Crusade slower, more uncontrollable because of different technologies used, untested, expensive and that would require strategy rework. Thus Makaan gets more squadrons and moves forward.

The only problem on his way are the giant outposts and hyper-inhibitors defenders, that blocks the path to the Homeworld of Taiidan. Lessons of Kushans who managed to destroy one of the Great Hiigaran Hyper-Inhibitors silently, were taught well...

Here Makaan would need some craft that would efficiently destroy non-moving objects, similar to the Nomad Moon. And Makaan gets one - the "Humpback" battlecruiser with her Trinity Cannon as a main weapon being something pretty unique to the overall missile madness of Vaygr. It's even a separate project built in a Shipyard. But was this cruiser the reason why the Taiidan Republic failed?.. I don't think so.

Makaan had a Joker: the Great Hyperspace Core, which allowed him to make super-long jumps, and Taiidani strategists where not ready for this. To catch Makaan, the Republicans would need to split their fleet to parts, and that would be a suicide without a lot of powerful Hyper-Inhibitors, like, at least mothership-sized. And all the Taiidani key worlds were known to Makaan - it wasn't useless to join with the Loyalists, with their spies, relations and knowledge of the Republican secrets.

And thus, the Republic wasn't able to answer this move: it was check & mate. As the result, divided from inside ("Makaan the Sajuuk Khar!", "Free Hiigara!" etc) and outside, the Republic has given up. I believe a trick with Taiidan-origin ADWs and seemed-to-be-Bentusi-tech "Planet Killers" we've seen above Hiigara and Kharak, was also promised to be done to the Taiidan Homeworld, bringing Taiidans to their knees - "Join us or be removed at once" (c). But their sacrifice gave time to someone else...

With the power of a far-jump hyperspace core to fuel his conquest, Makaan smashed the Taiidan Republic and began an overwhelming assault on the rest of the galactic core. The force of his attack shattered the unity of the Galactic Council, and only the leadership and dedication of the Hiigarans managed to prevent the galaxy from being overrun.
(c) HWM, The Second Homeworld War

After that Vaygr has targeted Hiigara. But Hiigarans weren't dumb enough to simply sit and watch enemy's coming: they've studied this enemy for a long time already, and they had an understanding of the advantages of the GHC - well, they've already used it twice pretty much for the same purpose. And they did know that if Makaan wins he would turn to them, as he already claimed himself as the "Sajuuk Khar"...

HIIGARANS

HW TISF Z Hiigarans v2

…And Hiigara starts preparations for upcoming war:

  1. Kiithid fleets were sent to the allies, like the Sobani or Manaani one;
  2. A construction of a new ship to be capable of large fleet maintaining initiated - and that was the Pride of Hiigara: Hiigarans had some time to prepare, but they didn't have a century to plan out a brand new Mothership, so they basically brushed off the dust from an old project and upgraded it with a few modern solutions;

A new fleet was quite Vaygr alike. Of course, we for sure can say that it's been influenced by it, but it was also a consequence of a fleet paradigm change made 30 years ago (GSY 9595 or KDS 1302, by admirals Paktu & Riif-Sa - see HW1 manual ;)): as the Imperial standard fleet wasn't a major problem to Hiigarans anymore.

We can even compare Vaygr and Hiigaran fleets:

  1. First, Hiigaran fleet basis are frigates;
  2. Second, Hiigaran carrier is more universal, and is able to act independently;
  3. Third, unlike Vaygr, Hiigarans were more anti-strikecraft concerned;
  4. Forth, Hiigaran battlecruiser was thought more as mobile target threat, unlike the Vaygr one;

Also, the same as we've taken look at Vaygr fleet, we can take a look how correlates Taiidan and Hiigaran fleets: Hiigarans have more frigates then everyone else, and that means that since the Beast War their main enemies were pirate type fleets, that didn't required too big ships for their defeat.

So we can see that a new Hiigaran fleet mixes the mobility of a pirate type fleet and the solidness of the Imperial standard fleet, and that would be used later in Nimbus Galaxy exploration...

But the Taiidan fleet have 3 Vaygr War era destroyer-size ships: 2 light destroyers and a heavy one (by Imperial era standards - standard & missile destroyers and a heavy cruiser), which means that they are ready to kill even bigger guys on a regular basis even without the special project of Battlecruiser-class ships. And if not being so jumpy, Makaan would have had a lot of troubles…

PIRATES

HW TISF Z Kadeshi

…But we've missed two important moments in Taiidani history: Kadeshi and the Beast.

Let's start with Kadeshi.

Analyzing Kushani Nebula breakthrough, we can notice two circumstances giving undeniable advantage to the Exiles. First, they had a GHC, allowing to make an uberjump, but it's not that important (especially in the face of it being HW2 retcon) in face of a second fact: the Mothership was able to give an adaptive response to the changing conditions.

Taiidani reconnaissance carrier groups, sent to Nebula, were not so flexible in construction capabilities to research and build almost immediately a better anti-fighter vessel; in sensor calibration to find a hiding hyper-inhibitor ship; and their Hypermodule most probably would be not that powerful to jump out of the Nebula in case of any possibility window... As a result, Taiidani groups, even they would win the first battles, would give up to Kadeshi themselves…

Does it means, that the Kadeshi are the force that can smash Imperial Standard Fleet? Of course, not. Kadeshi just knew how to use surrounding circumstances for good thus they were having an ally of cosmic scale. Outside, no one had knowledge of what awaits in the Nebula, тo one could tell, what ships is using enemy and what tactics is good against him. And a fear has big eyes: "no one returns…".

The same problem was about the Beast: new, unknown before, strategy of the enemy. But as soon as the Somtaaw have invented a vaccination against the Beast, removing its only advantage, everything got back to it's places. Of course, Pirate/Somtaaw Type Fleets might gain tactical advantage, but on larger scale the good old and trustworthy Taiidan Imperial Standard Fleet will march victoriously…

HW TISF Destroyer

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