Defensive Battle Tactics

To protect themselves from enemy Powers and other hostile forces, Powers can employ a number of defensive battle tactics.

Consolidation
Consolidation is a Power having 75% or more of participating voters in the Cycle’s Consolidation Vote vote Consolidate to achieve the maximum possible Defensive Bonus to its Control Spheres’ Undermining Trigger.

Fortification
Fortification is the enabling of the Fortifying of Control Systems in order to reduce the risk of a Power being successfully Undermined by an enemy Power and pushed into Turmoil. This generally involves ensuring Pledged commanders have the Credits required to purchase enough Fast Tracked Power Commodities to ensure the Power ends the Cycle with a positive CC Balance.

Prep Blocking
Prep Blocking is Preparing a system to prevent another Power Preparing a system. The same system or an alternative within 15ly of the centre of the target Sphere can be used as the Prep Blocker.



To illustrate, in the diagram system with Sphere A is being Prepared by a Power in the same Cycle as a system with Sphere B in order to prevent an enemy Power acquiring Sphere B. Thus, at the end of the Cycle only the system with the highest level of Preparation will be successful and move to Expansion meaning for the Prep Blocking to be succeed the Power Preparing system with Sphere A must haul more Preparation Power Commodities than the Power Preparing system B.

Scouting
The Top 5 Powerplay Bounties Station Services report can give an indication of how many Power Ships have been destroyed by enemy Powers. However, to know precisely which Control Spheres, if any, are being Undermined via a Snipe attack they will each need to be visited by a commander and the ‘merits worth of allied ships lost’ stated in the Power Update Station Services report taken into account.

Scrap
Scrapping is using a self-induced Turmoil to cause the Revolt of loss making Control Spheres from a Power in order to improve its future CC balance.

Sphere Flipping
Flipping a sphere is the replacing of the Controlling Minor Faction in an Expansion of Control Sphere’s systems so that 50% or more of the systems’ governments are a level Stronger for the Power. That is, if a Power is Strong against only 49% of the Controlling factions in the sphere then it is flipped in favour of the Power if enough Controlling Minor Factions are changed so that the Power is Strong against 50% of them. This is to change the Expansion or Fortification Trigger which will either be halved (has Trigger Reduction), normal, or multiplied by 1.5 (has Trigger Penalty) depending upon if a Power is Strong, Neutral, or Weak against 50% or more the Controlling Minor Faction’s government type.

To illustrate, in the table a Power that is Strong against Cooperatives and Weak against Corporate for the Sphere has the Sphere flipped in its favour as the number of Cooperatives and Corporate Controlling Factions changes accordingly from left to right by column.