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Hi folks. I'm new to this forum, so all newbie slaps certainly apply. 
However, I had an idea for a faction whose only real purpose would be to run around and reek havoc. They are derived from Tolkien's Orcs, as seen in the LOTR movies. This would be a "fun" faction, and probably wouldn't be suitable for a more serious game. That being said, here are the core ideas.
"For those who were left abandoned to scratch life from Earth's scorched land, and sustain on waters from its poisoned seas, your time of vengeance has come. This world, claimed by the race who would leave their suffering brethren behind, will become their burial pile. The Age of Men is over. The Time of the Orc has come."
-- High General Gothmog,
"Chiron Manifesto," prologue
Leader: General Gothmog
Origin: Terran wastlands
The gist of this faction is that the "Orcs" are descendants of humans who were left behind on the ravaged Earth. Some time after the Unity departed, and Earth fell further and further into ruin, one group of mutant humans pulled together enough resources to build another interstellar starship, similar to the Unity in design.
This second ship was even more slapdash than the first, and was rife with sub-standard components, badly improvised substitute parts, and other problems. It suffered all kinds of mechanical difficulties, but the Orcs managed to get it working. They loaded up the ship and embarked on an intercept course with the UNS Unity, with the aim of taking Chiron for themselves and punishing the parent race for abandoning them.
The Orc ship embarked on a faster trajectory than the Unity, which would result in it arriving at Chiron within months of the Unity, despite being launched almost 15 years later. The appearance of the second ship probably startled the Unity crew... but they had other concerns at the time.
Because of its faster trajectory, the second ship was designed to jettison its colony pods over Chiron before entering a collision course with Rigel Kentarius, the larger star. That's why you won't find it's wreckage on Chiron's surface. However, given the frequent mechanical problems with the ship, this didn't go quite according to plan. Only two colony pods reached the planet. The rest either failed to jettison and went down with the ship, burned up during landing, or they flew off into space in random directions, dooming their passengers to horrible fates.
Still, the Orcs managed to get a foothold on Chiron, and they still plan to make humanity pay (i.e. they will be wiped out) for what they see as an act of attempted genocide.
At the start, the Orcs will have a base, like everyone else, but with an additional colony pod. They would also have two scout units and one former unit. This gives them a lot of material to start with, but they will have to use them well, because they have major penalties.
Orcs tend to cut corners and take shortcuts when building things. They also tend to argue among themselves a lot. This results in a lot of slapdash equipment and a faulty infrastructure, causing a large (-3 or -4) Efficiency penalty. They would also have a research penalty (-1 or -2), do to their dislike of things academic. They would rather pick up weapons and smash things rather than conduct research.
They would almost have to use a police state model, and none other, as they live in a largely military society.
If possible, probe teams would be unavailable to them. That level of organization and subtlety would be psychologically alien to them. They might also consider such actions a waste of time. Conversely, they would be able to plunder tech from conquered bases (Spoils of War option). Smashing and stealing makes more sense, and it's much easier to set up!
And if possible, they might collect 1-2 mineral points from every opponent unit they destroy. This would represent their tendency to pick up discarded pieces of junk or equipment and put it to their own use.
And finally, diplomacy would be almost impossible for them. Their dislike of humans, and what humans did to them, runs very deep. They want to destroy the human settlements and take Chiron for themselves. If anything, they may have more luck dealing with the Progenitors. They would also be quick to breed native life forms for their own uses, and don't get two hoots about committing atrocities against humans. As far as they are concerned, they are giving back as good as they got.
It's possible that orcs would have a growth bonus, given their tendency to multiply. But given their efficiency penalty, rapid growth is likely to cause more problems than it solves.
Anyway, there is my funny mental exercise. What do you all think?
-r
However, I had an idea for a faction whose only real purpose would be to run around and reek havoc. They are derived from Tolkien's Orcs, as seen in the LOTR movies. This would be a "fun" faction, and probably wouldn't be suitable for a more serious game. That being said, here are the core ideas.
"For those who were left abandoned to scratch life from Earth's scorched land, and sustain on waters from its poisoned seas, your time of vengeance has come. This world, claimed by the race who would leave their suffering brethren behind, will become their burial pile. The Age of Men is over. The Time of the Orc has come."
-- High General Gothmog,
"Chiron Manifesto," prologue
Leader: General Gothmog
Origin: Terran wastlands
The gist of this faction is that the "Orcs" are descendants of humans who were left behind on the ravaged Earth. Some time after the Unity departed, and Earth fell further and further into ruin, one group of mutant humans pulled together enough resources to build another interstellar starship, similar to the Unity in design.
This second ship was even more slapdash than the first, and was rife with sub-standard components, badly improvised substitute parts, and other problems. It suffered all kinds of mechanical difficulties, but the Orcs managed to get it working. They loaded up the ship and embarked on an intercept course with the UNS Unity, with the aim of taking Chiron for themselves and punishing the parent race for abandoning them.
The Orc ship embarked on a faster trajectory than the Unity, which would result in it arriving at Chiron within months of the Unity, despite being launched almost 15 years later. The appearance of the second ship probably startled the Unity crew... but they had other concerns at the time.
Because of its faster trajectory, the second ship was designed to jettison its colony pods over Chiron before entering a collision course with Rigel Kentarius, the larger star. That's why you won't find it's wreckage on Chiron's surface. However, given the frequent mechanical problems with the ship, this didn't go quite according to plan. Only two colony pods reached the planet. The rest either failed to jettison and went down with the ship, burned up during landing, or they flew off into space in random directions, dooming their passengers to horrible fates.
Still, the Orcs managed to get a foothold on Chiron, and they still plan to make humanity pay (i.e. they will be wiped out) for what they see as an act of attempted genocide.
At the start, the Orcs will have a base, like everyone else, but with an additional colony pod. They would also have two scout units and one former unit. This gives them a lot of material to start with, but they will have to use them well, because they have major penalties.
Orcs tend to cut corners and take shortcuts when building things. They also tend to argue among themselves a lot. This results in a lot of slapdash equipment and a faulty infrastructure, causing a large (-3 or -4) Efficiency penalty. They would also have a research penalty (-1 or -2), do to their dislike of things academic. They would rather pick up weapons and smash things rather than conduct research.
They would almost have to use a police state model, and none other, as they live in a largely military society.
If possible, probe teams would be unavailable to them. That level of organization and subtlety would be psychologically alien to them. They might also consider such actions a waste of time. Conversely, they would be able to plunder tech from conquered bases (Spoils of War option). Smashing and stealing makes more sense, and it's much easier to set up!
And if possible, they might collect 1-2 mineral points from every opponent unit they destroy. This would represent their tendency to pick up discarded pieces of junk or equipment and put it to their own use.
And finally, diplomacy would be almost impossible for them. Their dislike of humans, and what humans did to them, runs very deep. They want to destroy the human settlements and take Chiron for themselves. If anything, they may have more luck dealing with the Progenitors. They would also be quick to breed native life forms for their own uses, and don't get two hoots about committing atrocities against humans. As far as they are concerned, they are giving back as good as they got.
It's possible that orcs would have a growth bonus, given their tendency to multiply. But given their efficiency penalty, rapid growth is likely to cause more problems than it solves.
Anyway, there is my funny mental exercise. What do you all think?
-r